Chapter 1 Introduction:Organizational Behavior in the 1990s Nelson

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Chapter 1IntroductionOrganizational Behavior in
the 1990sNelson Quick
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Organizational Behavior
The study of individual behavior and group
dynamics in organizational settings
Organizational Variables
Performance appraisal Work design
Human Behavior
Communications
Organizational Design
Organizational Structure Jobs
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Organizational Vs Individual Point of View
Clockworks or Snake pit?
Human Behavior in the Organization
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Internal/External Perspective of Human Behavior
Each Perspective has produced motivational
leadership theories.
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Sociology the science of society
Psychology the science of human behavior
Engineering the applied science of energy
matter
Interdisciplinary Influences on Organizational
Behavior
Anthropology the science of the learned
behavior of human beings
Medicine the applied science of healing or
treatment of diseases to enhance an
individuals health and well-being
Management the study of overseeing activities
and supervising people in organizations
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Components of an Organization

• Task - an organizations mission, purpose, or
  goal for existing
• People - the human resources of the organization
• Structure - the manner in which an organizations
  work is designed at the micro level how
  departments, divisions, the overall
  organization are designed at the macro level
• Technology - the intellectual and mechanical
  processes used by an organization to transform
  inputs into products or services that meet
  organizational goals (ch02)

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Organizations as Systems
Based on Harold Levitt, Applied Organizational
Change in Industry Structural, Technological,
and Humanistic Approaches, in J.G. March (ed.),
Handbook of Organizations, Rand McNally, Chicago,
1965, p. 1145. Reprinted by permission of James
G. March
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Formal vs Informal Organization

• Formal Organization - the part of the
  organization that has legitimacy and official
  recognition
• Informal Organization - the unofficial part of
  the organization

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Formal Informal Elements of Organizations
Formal organization (overt) Goals
objectives Policies procedures Job
descriptions Financial resources
Social Surface
Informal organization (covert) Beliefs
assumptions about people, work, the
organization Perceptions attitudes Values Feelin
gs, such as fear, rage, despair, hope Group
norms
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U.S. Gross Domestic Product
Total 8.1 Trillion
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15
12
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40
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Six Focus Organizations

• Ford
• Gateway 2000
• Southwest Airlines
• Starbucks
• Harpo Entertainment
• American Red Cross

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Change

• Too much change chaos
• Too little change stagnation
• How do you view change?

Threat
Opportunity
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International Competition in Business

• Thurow the next several decades in business will
  be characterized by intense competition between
  the U.S., Japan, and Europe in core industries.
• Success will require
• positive response to the competition in the
  international marketplace
• responsiveness to ethnic, religious, and gender
  diversity in the workforce

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Quality

• A potential means for giving organizations in
  viable industries a competitive edge in
  international competition
• A rubric for products and services that are of
  high status
• A customer-oriented philosophy of management with
  implications for all aspects of organizational
  behavior
• A cultural value embedded in successful
  organizations

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Cannot be optimized
Quality
Is not a fad
Is not an end in itself
Three key questions in evaluating
quality-improvement ideas
1. Does the idea improve customer response? 2.
Does the idea accelerate results? 3. Does the
idea raise the effectiveness of resources?
YES means the idea should improve overall
quality
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Total Quality Management

• Total Quality Management -
• the total dedication to continuous improvement
  and to customers so that the customers needs are
  met and their expectations exceeded

Total Quality is NOT - a panacea for all
organizations - a guarantee of unqualified
success
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CEOs Advance Total Quality by

• Engaging in participative management
• Being willing to change everything
• Focusing quality efforts on customer service
• Including quality as a criterion in reward
  systems
• Improving the flow of information regarding
  quality improvement successes or failures
• Being actively personally involved in quality
  efforts

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Seven Categories in the Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award Examination

• Leadership
• Information and analysis
• Strategic quality planning
• Human resource utilization
• Quality assurance of products services
• Quality results
• Customer satisfaction

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Challenges to Managing Organizational Behavior

• 1. Increasing globalization of organizations
  operating territory
• 2. Increasing diversity of organizational
  workforces
• 3. Continuing technological innovation with its
  companion need for skill enhancement
• 4. Continuing demand for higher levels of moral
  ethical behavior at work

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Learning about Organizational Behavior
Objective knowledge knowledge that results
from research and scholarly activities
Skill development the mastery of abilities
essential to successful functioning in
organizations
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The Organizational Behavior Student is

• a critical consumer of knowledge related to
  organizational behavior--one who is able to
  intelligently question the latest research
  results and distinguish plausible, sound new
  approaches from fads that lack substance or
  adequate foundation.

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Learning from Structured Activity
Individual or group structured activity (e.g.
group decision activity)
New or modified knowledge or skills (e.g.,
consensus group decisions are better)
Systematic review of the structured activity
(e.g., compare individual group results)
Conclusions based on the systematic review (e.g.,
the group did better)
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Three Assumptions Required for Learning from
Structured Activity

• Each student must accept responsibility for
  his/her own behavior, actions, learning
• Each student must actively participate in the
  individual/group structured learning activity
• Each student must be open to new information, new
  skills, new ideas, and experimentation

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Skills Identified by U.S. Department of Labor

• Resource management skills
• Information management skills
• Personal interaction skills
• Systems behavior performance skills
• Technology utilization skills

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Watchwords for Organizationsin These Changing
Times