Organisational Behaviour

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Organisational Behaviour
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Organizational Behavior (OB) is the study and
application of knowledge about how people,
individuals, and groups act in organizations. It
does this by taking a system approach. That is,
it interprets people-organization relationships
in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole
organization, and whole social system. Its
purpose is to build better relationships by
achieving human objectives, organizational
objectives, and social objectives. As you can see
from the definition above, organizational
behavior encompasses a wide range of topics, such
as human behavior, change, leadership, teams,
etc. Since many of these topics are covered
elsewhere in the leadership guide, this paper
will focus on a few parts of OB elements,
models, social systems, OD, work life, action
learning, and change.
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Elements of Organizational Behavior The
organization's base rests on management's
philosophy, values, vision and goals. This in
turn drives the organizational culture which is
composed of the formal organization, informal
organization, and the social environment. The
culture determines the type of leadership,
communication, and group dynamics within the
organization. The workers perceive this as the
quality of work life which directs their degree
of motivation. The final outcome are performance,
individual satisfaction, and personal growth and
development. All these elements combine to build
the model or framework that the organization
operates from
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Models of Organizational Behavior There are four
major models or frameworks that organizations
operate out of Autocratic - The basis of this
model is power with a managerial orientation of
authority. The employees in turn are oriented
towards obedience and dependence on the boss. The
employee need that is met is subsistence. The
performance result is minimal. Custodial - The
basis of this model is economic resources with a
managerial orientation of money. The employees in
turn are oriented towards security and benefits
and dependence on the organization. The employee
need that is met is security. The performance
result is passive cooperation. Supportive - The
basis of this model is leadership with a
managerial orientation of support. The employees
in turn are oriented towards job performance and
participation. The employee need that is met is
status and recognition. The performance result is
awakened drives.
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Collegial - The basis of this model is
partnership with a managerial orientation of
teamwork. The employees in turn are oriented
towards responsible behavior and self-discipline.
The employee need that is met is
self-actualization. The performance result is
moderate enthusiasm. Although there are four
separate models, almost no organization operates
exclusively in one. There will usually be a
predominate one, with one or more areas
over-lapping in the other models. The first
model, autocratic, has its roots in the
industrial revolution. The managers of this type
of organization operate out of McGregor's Theory
X. The next three models begin to build on
McGregor's Theory Y. They have each evolved over
a period of time and there is no one "best"
model. The collegial model should not be thought
as the last or best model, but the beginning of a
new model or paradigm
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Social Systems, Culture, and Individualization
A social system is a complex set of human
relationships interacting in many ways. Within an
organization, the social system includes all the
people in it and their relationships to each
other and to the outside world. The behavior of
one member can have an impact, either directly or
indirectly, on the behavior of others. Also, the
social system does not have boundaries...it
exchanges goods, ideas, culture, etc. with the
environment around it. Culture is the
conventional behavior of a society that
encompasses beliefs, customs, knowledge, and
practices. It influences human behavior, even
though it seldom enters into their conscious
thought. People depend on culture as it gives
them stability, security, understanding, and the
ability to respond to a given situation. This is
why people fear change. They fear the system will
become unstable, their security will be lost,
they will not understand the new process, and
they will not know how to respond to the new
situations. Individualization is when employees
successfully exert influence on the social system
by challenging the culture.
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Impact of Individual on an Organisation
High
Conformity Creative Individualism
Isolation Rebellion
Socialisation
Low
Low
Low
High
The chart above (Schein, 1968) shows how
individualization affects different
organizations
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Too little socialization and too little
individualization creates isolation. Too high
socialization and too little individualization
creates conformity. Too little socialization and
too high individualization creates rebellion.
While the match that organizations want to
create is high socialization and high
individualization for a creative environment.
This is what it takes to survive in a very
competitive environment...having people grow with
the organization, but doing the right thing when
others want to follow the easy path. This can
become quite a balancing act. Individualism
favors individual rights, loosely knit social
networks, self respect, and personal rewards and
careers. It becomes look out for number 1!
Socialization or collectivism favors the group,
harmony, and asks "What is best for the
organization?" Organizations need people to
challenge, question, and experiment while still
maintaining the culture that binds them into a
social system.
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Organization Development Organization
Development (OD) is the systematic application of
behavioral science knowledge at various levels,
such as group, inter-group, organization, etc.,
to bring about planned change. Its objectives is
a higher quality of work-life, productivity,
adaptability, and effectiveness. It accomplishes
this by changing attitudes, behaviors, values,
strategies, procedures, and structures so that
the organization can adapt to competitive
actions, technological advances, and the fast
pace of change within the environment. There are
seven characteristics of OD Humanistic Values
Positive beliefs about the potential of employees
(McGregor's Theory Y). Systems Orientation All
parts of the organization, to include structure,
technology, and people, must work together.
Experiential Learning The learners' experiences
in the training environment should be the kind of
human problems they encounter at work. The
training should NOT be all theory and lecture.
Problem Solving Problems are identified, data
is gathered, corrective action is taken, progress
is assessed, and adjustments in the problem
solving process are made as needed. This process
is known as Action Research. Contingency
Orientation Actions are selected and adapted to
fit the need. Change Agent Stimulate,
facilitate, and coordinate change. Levels of
Interventions Problems can occur at one or more
level in the organization so the strategy will
require one or more interventions.
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Quality of Work Life Quality of Work Life
(QWL) is the favorableness or unfavorableness of
the job environment. Its purpose is to develop
jobs and working conditions that are excellent
for both the employees and the organization. One
of the ways of accomplishing QWL is through job
design. Some of the options available for
improving job design are Leave the job as is
but employ only people who like the rigid
environment or routine work. Some people do enjoy
the security and task support of these kinds of
jobs. Leave the job as is, but pay the employees
more. Mechanize and automate the routine jobs.
And the area that OD loves - redesign the job.
When redesigning jobs there are two spectrums to
follow - job enlargement and job enrichment. Job
enlargement adds a more variety of tasks and
duties to the job so that it is not as
monotonous. This takes in the breadth of the job.
That is, the number of different tasks that an
employee performs. This can also be accomplished
by job rotation. Job enrichment, on the other
hand, adds additional motivators. It adds depth
to the job - more control, responsibility, and
discretion to how the job is performed. This
gives higher order needs to the employee, as
opposed to job enlargement which simply gives
more variety. The chart below (Cunningham
Eberle, 1990) illustrates the differences
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Job Enrichment and Job Performance
Higher Order
Job Enrichment Job Enrichment Enlargement
Routine Job Job Enlargement
Accent on Needs
Lower Order
Few
Variety of task
Many
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The benefits of enriching jobs include Growth
of the individual Individuals have better job
satisfaction Self-actualization of the
individual Better employee performance for the
organization Organization gets intrinsically
motivated employees Less absenteeism, turnover,
and grievances for the organization Full use of
human resources for society Society gains more
effective organizations There are a variety of
methods for improving job enrichment Skill
Variety Perform different tasks that require
different skill. This differs from job
enlargement which might require the employee to
perform more tasks, but require the same set of
skills. Task Identity Create or perform a
complete piece of work. This gives a sense of
completion and responsibility for the product.
Task Significant This is the amount of impact
that the work has on other people as the employee
perceives. Autonomy This gives employees
discretion and control over job related
decisions. Feedback Information that tells
workers how well they are performing. It can come
directly from the job (task feedback) or verbally
form someone else.
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Action Learning An unheralded British academic
was invited to try out his theories in Belgium --
it led to an upturn in the Belgian economy.
"Unless your ideas are ridiculed by experts they
are worth nothing," says the British academic Reg
Revans, creator of action learning L P Q --
learning occurs through a combination of
programmed knowledge (P) and the ability to ask
insightful questions (Q). Action learning has
been widely used in Europe for combining formal
management training with learning from
experience. A typical program is conducted over a
period of 6 to 9 months. Teams of learners with
diverse backgrounds conduct field projects on
complex organizational problems requiring use of
skills learned in formal training sessions. The
learning teams then meet periodically with a
skilled instructor to discuss, analyze, and learn
from their experiences.
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Revans basis his learning method on a theory
called "System Beta," in that the learning
process should closely approximate the
"scientific method." The model is cyclical - you
proceed through the steps and when you reach the
last step you relate the analysis to the original
hypothesis and if need be, start the process
again. The six steps are Formulate Hypothesis
(an idea or concept) Design Experiment (consider
ways of testing truth or validity of idea or
concept) Apply in Practice (put into effect,
test of validity or truth) Observe Results
(collect and process data on outcomes of test)
Analyze Results (make sense of data) Compare
Analysis (relate analysis to original hypothesis)
Note that you do not always have to enter this
process at step 1, but you do have to complete
the process. Revans suggest that all human
learning at the individual level occurs through
this process. Note that it covers what Jim
Stewart (Managing Change Through Training and
Development, 1991) calls the levels of existence
We think - cognitive domain We feel - affective
domain We do - action domain All three levels
are interconnected -- e.g. what we think
influences and is influenced by what we do and
feel.
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Change In its simplest form, discontinuity in
the work place is "change." Our prefrontal cortex
is similar to the RAM memory in a PC -- it is
fast and agile computational device that is able
to hold multiple threads of logic at once so that
we can perform fast calculations. However it has
its limits in that it can only hold a handful of
concepts at once. In addition, it burns lots of
high energy glucose (blood sugar), which is
expensive for the body to produce. Thus when
given lots of information, such as when a change
is required, it has a tendency to overload and
being directly linked to the amygdala (the
emotional center of the brain) that controls our
fight-or-flight response, it can cause severe
physical and psychological discomfort. Our
prefrontal cortex is marvelous for insight when
not overloaded. But for normal everyday use, our
brain prefers to run off its "hard-drive" -- the
basal ganglia, which has a much larger storage
area and stores memories and our habits. In
addition, it sips rather than gulps food
(glucose).
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When we do something familiar and predictable,
our brain is mainly using the basal ganglia,
which is quite comforting to us. When we use our
prefrontal cortex, then we are looking for fight,
flight, or insight. Too much change produces
fight or flight syndromes. As change agents we
want to produce "insight" into our learners so
that they are able to apply their knowledge and
skills not just in the classroom, but also on the
job. And the way to help people come to
"insight" is to allow them to come to their own
resolution. These moments of insight or
resolutions are called "epiphanies" -- sudden
intuitive leap of understanding that are quite
pleasurable to us and act as rewards. Thus you
have to resist the urge to fill in the entire
picture of change, rather you have to leave
enough gaps so that the learners are allowed to
make connections of their own. Doing too much for
the learners can be just as bad, if not worse,
than not doing enough. Doing all the thinking
for learners takes their brains out of action
which means they will not invest the energy to
make new connections.
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Reference Cunningham, J. B. Eberle, T.
(1990). "A Guide to Job Enrichment and Redesign,"
Personnel, Feb 1990, p.57 in Newstrom, J.
Davis, K. (1993). Organization Behavior Human
Behavior at Work. New York McGraw-Hill. Knoster,
T., Villa, R., Thousand, J. (2000). A framework
for thinking about systems change. In R. Villa
J. Thousand (Eds.), Restructuring for caring and
effective education Piecing the puzzle together
(pp. 93-128). Baltimore Paul H. Brookes
Publishing Co. Koch, C. (2006). The New Science
of Change. CIO Magazine, Sep 15, 2006 (pp 54-56).
Also available on the web http//www.cio.com/arch
ive/091506/change.html Revans, R. W. (1982). The
Origin and Growth of Action Learning. Hunt,
England Chatwell-Bratt, Bickley. Schein, E.
(1968). "Organizational Socialization and the
Profession of Management," Industrial Management
Review, 1968 vol. 9 pp. 1-15 in Newstrom, J.
Davis, K. (1993). Organization Behavior Human
Behavior at Work. New York McGraw-Hill.