Organization of the Organization

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Organization of the Organization

• Area is concerned with the impact of group
  structure, decision making, rules, roles, and
  norms on morale, efficiency, and productivity
• Logical place to begin is organizational
  structure
• Bureaucracy
• Participatory Democracy

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Bureaucracy

• A formal, orderly, and rational approach to
  organizing businesses
• Today, represented by red-tape and inefficiency
• Webers initial intentions were good. Proposed
  system would eliminate social and personal
  injustice
• Rational organization would remove bias
• Workers could advance on the basis of their skill

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Organizational Charts

• Existed even before Weber the 1850s
• Show organizations hierarchy and flow of
  information
• Weaknesses include view people as inanimate
  objects, no participation of workers in decision
  making, isolation from upper management, new
  developments viewed as threats

4
Participatory Democracy

• Emphasis on behaviors and needs of employees
  instead of a rigid focus on tasks
• Similar to Theory Y belief that workers are
  motivated to seek and accept responsibility for
  their work

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Participatory Democracy

• Requires high involvement management
• Three assumptions
• Human relations treat people fairly and with
  respect
• Human resources people are valuable resources
• High involvement people can be trusted to
  develop knowledge and skills

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Quality of Work Life Programs

• Organizational programs based on active employee
  participation in decision and policy making
• Studies generally show an increase in work
  satisfaction and a smaller increase in work
  quantity and quality
• Many success stories but these programs do not
  always work

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Why Do These Programs Fail?

• Doing a complete job (e.g., building a whole car)
  may be more difficult and intense than imagined
• Some workers do not want responsibility for
  decision making
• Some managers cant relinquish authority

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Specific Programs

• Quality Control Circles employee groups
  organized to deal with specific production
  problems
• Goal is enhanced quantity and quality of
  production
• Average group is 7-10 employees.
• Voluntary membership
• Receive training in human relations and problem
  solving
• Higher performance ratings and promotion rates

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Specific Programs

• Self-Managing Work Groups Employee groups that
  manage all facets of work
• Requirements include
• Maturity and responsibility
• Clear organizational direction about production
  goals
• Technical support staff
• Adequate material resources
• Managers must be willing to become facilitators

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Introducing Change in Organizations

• Change is often met with hostility, production
  slowdowns, strikes, increases in absenteeism,
  increases in turnover
• Organizational Development (OD) the study and
  implementation of planned, total, organizational
  changes

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OD Information

• Survey-feedback Technique assess feelings and
  attitudes of employees. Provides feedback to
  higher management
• Team Building Technique work with small groups
  to enhance team morale and problem-solving
  abilities
• Change Agents outside consultants who work to
  implement change. Increased chance of success
  with employee participation

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Encouraging Effective Change

• Think like a beginner ask stupid questions,
  constantly ask why things are being done a
  certain way, dont assume
• Dont be complacent about something that is
  working. Keep looking for ways to improve
• Make your own rules (e.g., Dominos Pizza)
• Rather than penalizing mistakes, reward employees
  for the attempt to change

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Stages of Change

• Denial
• Defense sense of inherent criticism (why do we
  need to change?), try to justify positions and
  ways of doing things
• Discarding start to accept change, get rid of
  old ways
• Adaptation learn how new system functions
• Internalization become comfortable with new
  system

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Socialization of New Employees

• Learn role, and appropriate values and behaviors
• Crucial. Fulfilled expectations correlate with
  job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and
  the intention to remain with the company
• Role ambiguity poorly defined role
• Role conflict job demands contradict personal
  standards
• Resocialization just as challenging as initial
  socialization

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Transmitting Organizational Culture Socialization

• Careful selection of entry-level candidates
  those who do not fit the culture are encouraged
  to apply elsewhere.
• Humility-inducing experiences that cause
  newcomers to question prior behavior, beliefs,
  and values like boot camp in the army. Show
  the new worker that they still have a lot to
  learn.

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Transmitting Organizational Culture
Socialization, Cont.

• Meticulous attention given to rewards system
  Critical success factors are inclueded in the
  performance appraisal system.
• Careful adherence to firms core values Managers
  make sure that their decisions reflect stated
  values of company.
• Reinforcing Folklore company legends reinforce
  corporate culture. Proctor and Gamble workers
  are told story of manager fired for exaggerating
  claims (ethics more important than )

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Transmitting Organizational Culture Stories

• As mentioned above, stories help to reinforce the
  core values of a company.
• For example, Bill and Dave (as Hewlett and
  Packard are commonly addressed) called their
  first instrument the 200A so that people would
  not know they were just starting out.
• Also, they started the company with just 538 in
  the garage behind Daves rented house

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Transmitting Organizational Culture Symbols and
Rituals

• Type of building and office décor convey meaning.
  Look at the relaxed atmosphere that many
  dot.coms created.
• Mary Kay pink Cadillacs symbolize determination
  and achievement.
• Rituals help to reinforce the culture. The
  rituals remind the employees that they belong to
  a unique group.

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Organizational Culture/Climate

• Organizations pattern of beliefs, expectations,
  and values as manifested in company practices
• Person-Organization Fit degree of congruence
  between employee and organizational values
• Can be maximized through recruitment, selection,
  and socialization processes

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Organizational Culture/Climate

• Person-Environment Congruence Match between an
  employees perception of the requirements and the
  actual requirements of the organization

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Labor Unions

• Workers act collectively to protect and promote
  their interests
• Labor membership is dropping 35 in 1945, 16 in
  1995, 5 in 2000
• Almost 1/3 of union members are female, yet hold
  only 8 of elected offices

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Union Benefits

• Paid up to 33 more than non-union workers
• Better working conditions and fringe benefits
• Grievances a formal mechanism for resolving
  complaints between unionized employees and
  management
• More frequent in monotonous and unrewarding jobs

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Informal Work Groups

• Cohesiveness
• Social Loafing accountability is the issue
• Social Facilitation