mas 264: organisational behaviour · organisational behaviour dr. (mrs) florence ellis departmentof...
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MAS 264:ORGANISATIONALBEHAVIOUR
DR. (MRS) FLORENCE ELLIS
DEPARTMENTOF HUMAN RESOURCES & ORGANISATIONALDEVELOPMENT
(KNUST SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (KSB)
KwameNkrumah University ofScienceandTechnology(KNUST)
January - may, 2018
LECTURE CONTENT
PART (UNIT) ONE: INTRODUCTION
• Introduction to the field of Organisational behaviour.
Lecture (UNIT) ONE:Introduction to the field of organisational behaviour:
Lecture OBJECTIVES
After studying this lecture, you should be able to:
Defineorganisationsand describe itscharacteristics;
Defineorganisationalbehaviour, workandunderstand their origins;
Compareand contrast the majortheoretical perspectives and conceptualisations(metaphors) fororganisations;
Debate the organisational challenges;
Compareand contrast the perspectives of organisationaleffectiveness;
Explain why it is important to study organisations and organisationalbehaviour.
The field of organisational behaviour
Competition in the 21stcentury's global economyis complex, challenging, and filled with competitive opportunities and threats.
Therefore, organisations (in all sectors) need to be innovative, employ skilled and motivated people who can work in teams, have leaders with foresight and vision, and make decisions that consider the interest of multiple stakeholders.
The field of organisational behaviour
However, an organisation’scan achieve its competitiveadvantageonly whenthere is the understanding of the attitudes and behaviour ofemployees.
This is becausehuman behaviourat the workplace andthe complex interplay between organisational structure and its external environment would significantly contributeto individual, group, organisational and social objectives.
Understanding organisational behaviour first begs the question?
WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES SURROUNDINGthe field of
organisationalbehaviour
What are Organisation?
WhatIs OrganisationalBehaviour?
WhatAre The Different Level Of Organisational Behaviour?
WhatIs Work In Organisations?
TheoriesUsed In Explanation OfOrganisationalBehaviour
what are the contemporary challenges for organisations?
perspectives of organisational effectiveness
WhyStudy Organisational Behaviour?
KEY ISSUE 1: WHAT is an organisation
An organisation is:
“the collection of people who work together and coordinate their actions to achieve a wide variety of goals” (George and Jones, 2008);
“is a socially designed unit, or collectively, that engages in activities to accomplish a goal or set of objectives, has an identifiable boundary, and is linked to the external society”
(Bratton et al., 2007)
what is an organisationsCONT’d
The definitions implies that:
Workorganisationscan be demarcated
from other social entities or
collectivities
byFourcommon
characteristics:
what is an organisationsCONT’d
The Four characteristics are:Objecti
ves/Go
al
Orient
ation
•Wh
ati
nd
ivi
du
als
are
tryi
ng
to
acc
om
plis
h
by
bei
ng
me
mb
ers
of
an
org
ani
sat
ion
,
e.g
.
enj
oyi
ng
a
sat
isf
yin
g
wo
rk
ex
per
ien
ce,
etc
.
•Wh
at
an
or
ga
nis
ati
on
as
a
wh
ole
is
tryi
ng
to
acc
om
plis
h,
e.g
.
pro
vid
ing
inn
ov
ati
ve
go
od
s
an
d
ser
vic
es
tha
t
cus
to
me
rs
wa
nt,
etc
.
Objecti
ves/Go
al
Orient
ation
•Wh
ati
nd
ivi
du
als
are
tryi
ng
to
acc
om
plis
h
by
bei
ng
me
mb
ers
of
an
org
ani
sat
ion
,
e.g
.
enj
oyi
ng
a
sat
isf
yin
g
wo
rk
ex
per
ien
ce,
etc
.
•Wh
at
an
or
ga
nis
ati
on
as
a
wh
ole
is
tryi
ng
to
acc
om
plis
h,
e.g
.
pro
vid
ing
inn
ov
ati
ve
go
od
s
an
d
ser
vic
es
tha
t
cus
to
me
rs
wa
nt,
etc
.
Identi
fiable
boun
dary
Identi
fiable/
nomin
al
bound
ary:
the
existe
nce of
an
identi
fiable
bound
ary
that
establ
ishes
comm
on
memb
ership
distin
guishi
ng
peopl
e who
are
inside
and
outsid
e the
organi
sation
.
Identi
fiable
boun
dary
Identi
fiable/
nomin
al
bound
ary:
the
existe
nce of
an
identi
fiable
bound
ary
that
establ
ishes
comm
on
memb
ership
distin
guishi
ng
peopl
e who
are
inside
and
outsid
e the
organi
sation
.
Linke
d to
envir
onme
nt
A
conne
ction
to
exter
nal
societ
y –
becau
se
organi
sation
al
activit
ies
and
action
infue
nce
the
enviro
nmen
t or
larger
societ
y –
e.g.
politic
al,
econo
mic,
social
-
cultur
al and
techn
ologic
al etc.
Linke
d to
envir
onme
nt
A
conne
ction
to
exter
nal
societ
y –
becau
se
organi
sation
al
activit
ies
and
action
infue
nce
the
enviro
nmen
t or
larger
societ
y –
e.g.
politic
al,
econo
mic,
social
-
cultur
al and
techn
ologic
al etc.
Social
ly
desig
ned
unit
or
collec
tivity:
Orga
nisati
onsar
e
alwa
ys
invol
ved
with
peopl
e,
and
they
arech
aract
erise
dby
their
mem
bers
andi
nter
actio
ns
and
relat
ions
hips
betw
een
and
amo
ng
the
m.
Social
ly
desig
ned
unit
or
collec
tivity:
Orga
nisati
onsar
e
alwa
ys
invol
ved
with
peopl
e,
and
they
arech
aract
erise
dby
their
mem
bers
andi
nter
actio
ns
and
relat
ions
hips
betw
een
and
amo
ng
the
m.
what is an organisations CONTD’
Work organizations also vary in terms of their: Products or Services; Size, Purpose, Ownership, Management, etc.
Workorganisationscan traditionally also be distinguished in terms of two main groups:
• Public sectororganisations– are created by government, and tend not to have profit as their goal.
• Private enterpriseorganisations- are owned and financed by individuals, partners, or shareholders in a joint stock company and are accountable to their owners or members.
what is an organisations CONTD’: classification
A common classification of organisations (by their major purpose),
e.g.
• Business firms (economic organisations)
• Armies, trade unions and police force (protective organisations)
• Clubs and societies (associative organisations)
• Local authorities (public service organisations)
• Churches (religious organisations)
Key issue 2: the meaning of organisational behaviour
“is the study of the many factors that have an impact on how people and
groups act, think, feel, and respond to work and organisations, and how
organisations respond to their environment”
(George and Jones, 2008)
“involves the systematic study of attitudes and behaviours of individuals
and groups in organisations, and provides insight about effectively
managing and changing them” (Bratton et al., 2007)
the meaning of organisational behaviour cont’d
Organisational behaviour
“is concerned with the study and understanding of individuals and group behaviour, and patterns of structure in order to help improve organisational performance and effectiveness” (Mullins, 2006)
“is the study of what people think, feel, and do in and aroundorgansations”
(McShane and VoncGlinow,2010)
the meaning of organisational behaviour cont’d
“amultidisciplinaryfield of inquiry, concerned with the systematic study of formal organisations, the behaviour of people within the organisation, and the important features of the social context that structures all the activities that occur inside the organisation”
(Bratton et al., 2007)
MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE OForganisationALBEHAVIOUR
Organisational Behaviour (OB) is anapplied sciencethat is built on a numbers of behavioural disciplines.
This implies that it has no agreed boundaries and sources in the manner of other management fields (e.g. economics).
It also means that OB draws on theory and findings from a number of other disciplines, including:
MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE OForganisationALBEHAVIOUR
cont’d
Psychology:the systematic study ofbehavioursand mental processes(Plotnik, 2005).
Sociology:the systematic study of the pattern ofsocial relationshipsthat develop between human beings.
SocialPsychology: is the scientific study of theinteraction of mental stateand immediatesocial situations.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE OForganisationALBEHAVIOUR
cont’d
PoliticalScience–the study of individual and groupbehaviourwithin
a political system.
Anthropology–the scientific study of mankind, especially of
theirsocieties and customs.The focus is on cultural systems, the
beliefs, ideas and values within a group orsociety.
Economics– the study ofproduction and the consumption of
goodsand the transfer of wealth to produce and obtain those
goods.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE OForganisationALBEHAVIOUR (figure 1-1)
Social System
(Sociology)
Social System
(Sociology)
Personality System
(Psychology)
Personality System
(Psychology)
Cultural Systems
(Anthropology)
Cultural Systems
(Anthropology)
EconomicsEconomics
Contributions to the study of organisational behaviour
Political
Science)
Political
Science)
Social
Psychology
Social
Psychology
MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE
OForganisationALBEHAVIOUR cont’d
In recent times, some of the emerging field that are contributing
to the understanding oforganisationalbehaviourinclude:
• Industrial engineering – e.g. job design; communication –
• Information technology – e.g. team dynamics, decision making
and knowledge management;
• Women studies – e.g. power relations between men and
women inorganisationsand perceptual biases.
key issue 3: What are the levels of analysis that influence organisational
behaviour
The
individual:Organisations are
made up of individuals. The
individual is a central feature
of organisational behaviour
and an necessary part of any
behavioural sit.
The group:Groups exist in
all organisations and are
essential to their working and
performance.
The
organisation:Individuals
and groups interact within
the structure of the formal
organisation.
The environment:The
organisation functions as part
of the external environment
of which it is a part
key issue 4: Work in organisations
Work refers to physical and mental activity that is carried out at
a particular place
and time,
according to explicit
or implicit instructions,
in return for remuneration’
(Bratton et al., 2007).
Work in organisations
The definition implies that:
(1)Workhas an economic component. The notion of ‘physical
and mental’ characteristicin the definition suggest that a
‘carpenter’ and a ‘lecturer’canbe considered aswork.
(2)Work has‘space and time’ component that locates work in a
social context. The specific location, ‘8 to 5’ work hours and in
recent times fexi-place and fexi-time (e.g. time zones).
Work in organisations CONT’D
(3) Work always involves “social relations”between people:between employer and employees, co-workers, management and trade unions, and between suppliers and customers.
(4)Work is “remunerated” (reward). There are two types of rewards, intrinsic and extrinsic.
(5)Work involves apsychological contract-a metaphor that captures awide variety of largely unwritten expectations and understanding of the two parties involved in the relationship,(employer and the employee) about their mutual obligations.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF Work
Traces the evolution of work from pre-industrial work, early capitalism to post-industrial times.e.g:
agriculture employment,
factory system,
specialise occupations;
clericalfunctions or knowledgework.
knowledgework- internet-based‘network society ‘
Key issue5: APPROACHES TO STUDYING WORK IN
ORGANISATIONS
Prior to the 20thcentury, the management literature tended to be based around the writings of individuals scholars who tried to bring their own perspectives and experience to the attention of a wider audience.
The list of these people is almostendless.They include:
Scientific Management (Taylorism)
Scientific Management (Taylorism)-a process of determining thedivision of work into smallest possible skill elements possible, and how the process of completing each task can bestandardised to achieve maximum efficiency.
It was pioneered by Frederick Taylor, who developed his ideas while working as a superintendent at a steel company in Pennsylvania.
Scientific Management (Taylorism)
He believed workers weremotivated solely by money and were too stupidto develop the most efficient way of performing a task.
Therole of management was therefore to‘scientifically’analyse all the tasks to be undertaken, and to design jobs to be as efficient as possible, with minimal worker autonomy.
Scientific Management (Taylorism) cont’d
Taylor (and others) argued thatefficiency, standardisation and
disciplinewould result from a process of scientific management of
tasks and this include:
A cleardistinction is made between planning a job, a
management role and a worker’s role;
Jobs should be standardised and simplified;
Everyworker should conduct a minimum of movements, preferably
involving just one set of actions;
Scientific Management (Taylorism) cont’d
Forexample, managementdecided the time that was to be spent on each task;
There isone best way of organising any set of tasks to be performedand it was management’s responsibility to conduct exhaustive measurements in order to achieve this desired state.
Many modern organisations adopt similar principles in order to maintain or increase productivity.
Scientific Management -fordism
Fordismwas pioneered by Henry Ford (1863-1947),who applied Taylor’s principlesin his car assembly factories.
To this he added the idea of the assembly line, the recording of job times and the standardisation of commodities to gain economies of scale.
Fordism:aterm used to
describe mass production
using assembly-line technology
that allowed for greater division
of labour and time and motion
management.
AFTER TAYLORISM AND FORDISM
Many criticisms have been levelled at Taylorism and Fordism, such as:
•Simplification of tasks led to boredom and dissatisfaction, leading to absenteeism and quick staff turnover.
•The emphasis onproductivityandefficiency, and the piece-rate pay system made workers feelundervalued, dehumanizedandexploited- no room was left for trade unions to bargain.
“HUMAN RELATIONS” SCHOOL
A school of management that emphasizes the importance ofsocial processesin the organisation (data gathered at theHawthronePlant of Western Electric Companies – Elton Mayo and colleagues).
This human relations school of thought developed as aresult of disenchantment with the scientific management/classical approaches.
The “HUMAN RELATIONS” SCHOOL
It places focus on thesocial context of work, e.g.employee motivation, employee attitude and group dynamics, autonomy and trust and opennessin managerial and organisational matters.
Thehuman relations strove for a greater understanding ofpeople’s psychological and social needs at work as well as improving the process of management.
Italso recognises the importance ofinformal organisationwhich will always be present within the formal structure.
The HUMAN RELATIONS SCHOOL cont’d
It further demonstrates thatpeople go to work to satisfy a complexity of needs and not simply for monetary rewardand it gives recognition to the work organisation and the importance ofgroup, group values and group norms.
Acriticism of this theory includes: theorists conceptualised the ‘normal’ of the work organisation in harmonious terms, and forgetting that workplace confict is exists.
The SYSTEMS THEORY
Systems theory (developed from earlier work developed in the biological sciences) involves anholistic explanation to social phenomenon.
It refects how a number of elements orsubsystemsinteract within a cohesive whole.
It shows the relationships and interactions between elements which, in turn, are said to explain the behaviour of the whole.
The SYSTEMS THEORY
Workorganizations according to the systems theory are said to beopen systems.
Thisis because they acquireinputsfrom the environment(e.g. raw materials,money,employees,information and equipment),transformtheminto
services or products,and
dischargesoutputs
(e.g. products,
pollutants) to the external environment.
SYSTEMS THEORY cont’d
Systems theory: DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANISATION
cont’d
The systems theory has the tendency to treat societies as having characteristics similar to those oforganic matter or organisms- anew theory of organisation built on the idea that individuals, groups andorganisations like biological organisms operate more effectively when their needs are satisfied.Organisations canbe viewed as livingorganisms.
Morgan(1986, 1997) draws attention to the idea that there are a number of competing metaphors for organisations.
Systems theory: DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON
ORGANISATION cont’d
Metaphors thus, draw attention features of organisations
that are considered to be most important and interesting.
A metaphor isa figure of speech in which a terms is
transferred from the object it ordinarily designates to
another object it can designate by implicit analogy.
Somemetaphors described by Morgan (1986, 1997)(he calls the
different imagesof organisation) include:
Systems theory: DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANISATION
cont’d
(1) organisationsas machines- organisations aremachines in
which people are part.
Peopleare therefore expected tooperate like clockwork by
working to certain procedures, rest according to certain rules
and repeat that in a mechanical way.
Systems theory: DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANISATION
(2)Organisations as organismswhichemphasisegrowth, adaptation,
survival and environmental relations(employees are people with complex
needs that must be satisfied – motivation);
(3)Organisations as brains-asinformation processors that can
learn(learning organisations and decision making);Organisationscannot
function without processing information, communicating,
andmaking decisions.
Systems theory: DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANISATION
(4)Organisations as culturesbased on values, norms, beliefs,
rituals, etc.Culture therefore shapesorganisations,
andorganisationsaremini-societieswith their own different
subcultures within national cultures with frequently subcultures
withinsubcultures.
(5)Organisations as systems of change and fluxcanadapt and
change,(change in systems, structures, rules hierarchies and culture).
Systems theory: DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON
ORGANISATION
(6)Organisations as political systems-interests, confict and power
issues predominate(power, politics), where theconcepts of authority,
power and superior-subordinate relationships dominate management
andorganisations(same in political principles).
Systems theory: DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON
ORGANISATION
(7)Organisations as psychic prisonsin which people are trapped by their mindsets(employees living their lives
as prisoners).
(8)Organisation as dominationwith the emphasis on exploitation and imposing your will on others(infuence and domination).
The Systemstheory
Another feature of open systems thinking is that organisations have manyinterdependent parts (called subsystems)that must coordinate with each other in the process of transforming inputs tooutputs.
Subsystemsinclude various processes (such as communication and reward systems, task activities (such as production and marketing), and social dynamics (such as informal groups and power dynamics)
CONTINGENCY THEORY
Contingency theory, seen as the extension of the systems theory, focuses on the relationship between structure, contingency and outcomes.
Contingency, as it applies to work organisations, argues that the effectiveness of a particular strategy, structure, or managerial style among depends upon thepresence or absence of other factors or forces.
CONTINGENCY THEORY
Forexample, the structure of the organisation and its ‘success’ are dependent, that is, contingent upon, the nature of tasks with which it is designed to deal and the nature of environmentalinfluences.
Consequentlythere are no single ‘best’ strategies, structures or styles and one best way of organising.
CONTINGENCY THEORY
Managementmust be concerned above all with achieving ‘good fits’ or ‘best fits’,
An implication that work organisations should emphasise“best-fit”asopposed to the“best-practice” approach.
THE VALUE OF the Theories
The theories cannot be separated from management practice itself:
They are used both to defend existing management and organisational practices and to validate new ones.
To understand the nature of the employment relationship, which is clearly an issue of central importance to understanding human behaviour in work organisations.
KEY ISSUE6:what are the contemporary challenges
forORGANISATIOns
Some of the challenges include:
Globalisation: e.g.
on cultural values
Globalisation: e.g.
on cultural values
Increasing workforce
diversity: e.g.
Millennials (Gen Y)
Increasing workforce
diversity: e.g.
Millennials (Gen Y)
Emerging
employment
relations:
e.g. work-life
balance
Emerging
employment
relations:
e.g. work-life
balance
anchors of organisational behaviour knowledge
To understand other topics, the field of organisational
behaviour relies on a set of basic belief or knowledge, which
can be called theconceptual anchors:
They include:
anchors of organisational behaviour knowledge
The Multiple
levels of
Analysis
Anchor:
•This involves
the study
oforganisation
al behavior
from the
multiple
levels of
analysis,
individual,
group,
organisationa
l and the
environment
The Multiple
levels of
Analysis
Anchor:
•This involves
the study
oforganisation
al behavior
from the
multiple
levels of
analysis,
individual,
group,
organisationa
l and the
environment
The
Multidiscipli
nary Anchor:
•This involves
the inherent
intersections
betweenorgani
sational
behavior and
most
disciplines
that study
human
beings.
The
Multidiscipli
nary Anchor:
•This involves
the inherent
intersections
betweenorgani
sational
behavior and
most
disciplines
that study
human
beings.
The
Contingency
Anchor:
•People are
complex and
therefore the
need to identify
that a
particular
action may
have different
consequences
in different
situations.
The
Contingency
Anchor:
•People are
complex and
therefore the
need to identify
that a
particular
action may
have different
consequences
in different
situations.
KEYISSUE7: perspectives of organisational effectiveness
Almostall oftheories have implicit or explicit objective of makingorganisationsmore effective –organisationaleffectiveness (e.g.organisationalperformance, success, goodness, health, competiveness, excellence).
Theorganisationaleffectiveness perspective is made perspectives including:
(1)Open System Perspective: viewsorganisationsas complex organisms that “live” within the environment.
Open systems perspective oforganisations
As open systems,organisationsdepend on the external environment for resources (e.g. raw materials, job applicants, information), that affect the environment through their output, and consist of internal subsystems that transform inputs into outputs.
Someoutputs (e.g. products) may be valued by the external environment, while some other outputs (e.g. pollution) are undesirable by-product that may have adverse effects on the environment and theorganisation’srelationship with the environment.
Open systems perspective oforganisations
According to the systems theory,organisationsare effective when there isorganisational-environment fit(O-E Fit), how well theorganisationinternally transform inputs into outputs and how well the subsystems coordinate with each other (internalorganisationalfit) and managing their external environment and that is why it is important to think aboutsustainability competencies….looking at issues from a broaderperspective/holistically – across multiple domain – e.g. departments/ social/economic/environmental/.
perspectives of organisational effectiveness cont’d
(2)Stakeholder perspective–organisationsare more effective when they consider the needs and expectations of any individual, group, or other entity that affects and are affected by theorganisation’sobjectives and action (internal and external stakeholder: ethicalbehaviour,organisationalcitizenshipbehaviour(OCB), (CSR)
KEY ISSUE8:why study ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
The move towards more knowledge-based work and the growing
acknowledgement that people are the key to sustainable
competitive advantagestrengthens the case
forbehaviouralstudies in modern managementeducation.
StudyingOrganisational Behaviourleadsto:
Better understand how organisations work
Understanding of the complexities of the world of work.
Understandingof how they interact with each other
KEY ISSUE8:why study ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Make sense of and predict the world in which we live
Use the theories to question our personal beliefs and
assumptions and to adopt more accurate models of
workplacebehaviour.
Helps us get things done inorganisations.
Giveseveryone more insight into how to prepare to become
employees in the twenty-first-century.
whystudy ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
equip you with the theories, concepts and tools that can enable
you to find and create the answers that can help successfully address
questions that come up as a member of an organisation.
Gives everyone more insight into how to prepare to become
employees in the twenty-first-century.
ORGANISATIONALiceberg
“one way to recognise why people behave as they do at work is to view an
organisation as an iceberg. What sinks ships isn’t always what sailor see, but what
they can’t see”. (Just like the story of the titanic) (Hellriegelet al., 1998)
summary
Thebehaviourof employees is the key to achieving effectiveness
Individuals, groups,organisationand society infuence thebehaviourin work andorganisations.
Work is an important component oforganisationallife
A number of contributing disciplines stand out such as psychology, sociology and anthropology.
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
Schein, E. (1985)Organisational Culture and Leadership - A Dynamic ViewLondon:Jossey-Bass.
Senge, P. (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation. London: Century.
Thomas, K. W. (1976) Confict and Confict Management. In M. D.Dunnette(ed.),Handbook of Industrial and Organisational Psychology(pp. 889-935) Chicago: Rand-McNally.
Tannenbaum, R. M. andShmidt, W.H. (1973) How to Choose a leadership pattern, Harvard Business Review, May-June
Tuckman, B. and Jensen, N. (1977) Stages of Small Group Developmentrevisited.,Groupand Organisational studies, 2.
Vecchio, R. V. (2006). Organisational Behaviour: Core Concepts, 6thEdition. Australia: Thomson South-Western.
Watson, C. M. (1983) Leadership, Management, and the Seven Keys, Business Horizons, 8-13.
Wheelen, T. L. and Hunger, J. D. (1998) Strategic Management and Business
Policy: Entering the 21stCentury Global Society, Harlow, England: Addison-Wesley.
Zoogah, D.B. andBeugre, C.D. (2013) Managing Organisation Behaviour in the African Context. London, UK:Routledge.