Designing Organizational Frameworks

forHigh Performance

Organizational Processes for high performance

1. Communication

2. Decision Making

3. Team Work

CommunicationI speak you hearI speak you seeI speak you understandI speak you respond

A perfect communication is when a thought or idea was transmitted so that the mental picture perceived by the receiver was exactly as envisioned by the sender

Communication helps us:• To sort out, categorize, understand and interpret messages we

receive from others. • To understand, interpret and create our own responses to

messages we have received.

Functions of Communication

Information: provides the information that individuals and groups need to make decisions

Control: acts to control member behavior

Motivation: fosters motivation by clarifying the employees what is to be done to improve performance

Emotional expression: provides a release for emotional expression of feelings and frustrations.

Choice of Communication Media

Information richness – The potential information carrying capacity of data– High (more information) to low (less information)– Measured by four factors

• Feedback: immediate to very slow• Channels used: audio and visual to limited visual• Type of communication: personal to impersonal• Language source: body language, verbal or numeric

Complexity– Degree of importance, seriousness and difficulty

Information Richness for Different Media

Medium Information richness

Feedback Channel Type Language source

Face-to-face

High Immediate Visual, audio

Personal Body, verbal

Telephone High/mod Fast Audio Personal Limited body, verbal

Personal

written

Mod Slow Limited visual

Personal Verbal

Formal written

Mod/low Very slow Limited visual

Impersonal Verbal

Formal numeric

Low Very slow Limited visual

Impersonal Numeric

Communication Media

Match the choice of media with the complexity of the issue for effective communication– Complex issue - rich media

– Overload: if the medium provides more information than is necessary

– Oversimplification: if the medium does not convey sufficient information

Media usage and organisational levels– Senior managers, more time in face to face meetings

Directions of Communication

Downward Communication

Upward Communication

Sideward Communication

(For details refer to seminar)

Grapevine

An informal channel of sharing information of interest between employees with no reporting responsibility

Fast, often accurate, efficient, and fulfils employees’ social, security, and esteem needs

Can be used to spread false rumours and destructive information but also effectively supplements the formal channels of communication

Interactive Behavior Categories

Study on Verbal Communication carried out by Research Team in UK in late ‘80s

13 major interactive behavior categories

1. Proposing: putting forward a new concept, suggestion, course of action, plan etc.

2. Building: extending or developing a proposal which has been made by another person.

3. Supporting: a conscious and direct declaration of agreement or support for another person or his ideas.

Interactive Behavior Categories4. Disagreeing: a conscious, direct and reasoned

declaration of different of opinion or criticism of another person's ideas.

5. Defending/attacking: attacking another person or defensively strengthening own position.

6. Blocking: placing a difficulty or blocking in the path of a proposal without offering any alternative.

7. Testing understanding: seeking to establish whether or nor an earlier contribution has been understood.

Interactive Behavior Categories

8. Summarising: restating in a compact form, the content of previous discussions.

9. Seeking information: seeking facts, opinions or clarifications from others.

10. Giving information: offering facts, opinions or clarifications to others

11. Bringing in: a direct and positive attempt to involve others.

12. Shutting out: excluding or attempting to exclude others.

13. Encouraging: expressing the feeling of being friendly to others.

Effective Verbal Communication

• Use initiating, responding and clarifying/ seeking verbal behavior in a balanced way

• Avoid strong negative responding behaviors

• Avoid negative behavior spirals and behavior chaining

• Flag positive verbal behaviors

• Use positive supportive behaviors

Decision & Decision Making

Decision– A choice of a course of action

Decision making– A process of choosing among alternatives in relation to

a situation

Decision making process – Intelligence activity (searching the environment for

conditions calling for decision making)– Design activity (inventing, developing and analysing

possible courses of action)– Choice activity (selecting a particular course of action)

Organizational Decisions

Programmed decisions– Decisions made according to pre-established routines

and procedures

Non-programmed decisions– Decisions made about novel, non-recurring problems

for which there are no pre-specified courses of action

Strategic decisions– Non-programmed decisions, typically made by high

level executives, regarding the direction the organisation should take to achieve its

Criteria for Decision Effectiveness

Quality– Desired outcome while meeting relevant criteria and

constraints

Timeliness– Closer to the time when a response to the situation is required

Acceptance– Ownership of the decision and willingness to take

responsibility to implement it

Ethical appropriateness– Within the boundary of moral and legal norms

Decision Rationality

Rationality: the key basis for making decision: – Choosing a means to reach a desired end– The degree of rationality determined by the

degree of appropriateness of the means chosen– Ideally, decisions should be fully objective and

logical (i.e. rational), made with complete knowledge

– In actuality, decisions are made with varying degrees of rationality

Types of Rationality

Objective rationality: if a decision maximises given values in a given situation

Subjective rationality: if a decision maximises attainment relative to knowledge of the given subject

Conscious rationality: if a decision involves a conscious process in making adjustment of means to end

Deliberate rationality: if a decision involves a deliberate adjustment of means to end

Organisational rationality: if a decision is aimed at the organisational goals

Personal rationality: if a decision is aimed at the individual’s goals

Models of behavioral decision making

Economic Rationality Model

Social Rationality Model

Bounded Rationality Model

Judgemental Heuristic and Bias Model

For details, refer to seminar slides

Decision Making Styles

Analytical Conceptual

Directive Behavioural

Hi

Lo

Tol

eran

ce f

or

Am

bigu

ity

Task and technical concerns

People and social concerns

Value Orientations

Decision Making Styles

Directive style– Efficient, pragmatic and systematic in problem solving– Focus on facts and quick accomplishment – Action oriented, short run focus, autocratic leadership

style

Analytical style – Analyse situations in detail and evaluate more

information and alternatives– May take a long time to reach a decision– Respond well to new or uncertain situations– Also autocratic leadership style

Decision Making Styles

Conceptual style– Take a broad perspective in problem solving and

consider many options– Discuss to gather information and then use intuition to

decide– Good at taking risks and generating creative solutions– May also foster an idealistic, indecisive approach

Behavioural style – Work well with others and like opinion sharing– Receptive to suggestions, supportive– Avoid conflicts and prefer verbal communication– Difficulty in saying no and making tough decisions

Participative Decision Making

ConceptsParticipation, a key theme in decision making

– Unit: individuals or teams– Structure: formal or informal– Type: intellectual, emotional and physical

involvement– Degree: no participation to full participation

Participative Decision Making

Individual participation techniques– Those in which a subordinate makes an input or somehow

affects the decision making of a superior

Team participation techniques– Range between consultative and democratic

Evaluation of participative techniques– Effectiveness influenced by leadership styles and

personality of the parties involved as well as situational, contextual and ideological factors

– Different outcomes of different forms of participative techniques (e.g. informal: productivity and satisfaction, representative: only satisfaction, short-term: no outcomes)

Participative Decision Making

Problems– Time consuming– Participation sought but not allowed to be

intellectually and emotionally involved or suggestions not utilised

Group Decision MakingSocial schemes to predict outcomes of group

decision making– The majority - wins scheme (initial majority position,

when no objectively correct decision)– The truth - wins scheme (recognition of one objectively

correct approach with more information/ discussion)– The two - thirds majority scheme (initial favour of two-

thirds)– The first - shift rule (decision that reflects the first shift in

opinion)

Status quo tendency– Group resistance to change

Group Decision Making

Delphi technique– A panel of experts, no face-to-face interaction– Anonymous prediction or inputs into the problem– Anonymous feedback from all other members– Another round of inputs– For an agreed upon number of times or until the

composite feedback remains the same

Evaluation– Anonymity encourages flexibility and concern for good

decision– Time consuming, costly and lack of scientific basis

Group Decision Making

Nominal group technique– A group in name only: no verbal exchanges initially

– Silent generation of ideas in writing

– Round-robin feedback from group members

– Discussion of each recorded idea for clarification and evaluation

– Individual voting on priority ideas

Importance of Group– An important sociological unit of analysis for studying

organisational behaviour

– Organisational goals generally achieved by groups

– A growing emphasis on team approach to improving organisational performance and productivity

– Considerable influence on individual behaviours and performance

– Group dynamics is concerned with

• How groups form

• Their structure and processes

• How they function and affect members, other groups and the organisation

Theories of Group of Formation

Propinquity theory

Balance theory

Exchange theory

(for details, refer to seminar slides)

Stages of Group Development

Forming: marked by uncertainty; group members not sure about the purpose, structure, task, or leadership of the group

Storming: characterised by conflict, disagreement, and confrontation among group members about group and task roles

Norming: determination of behaviour rules and beginning of shared responsibility, cohesion, and collaboration

Performing: fully functioning group devoted to effectively accomplishing the tasks agreed upon; increased collaboration, and problem solving

Adjourning: task completion and disbanding or new composition of group

Types of Groups

Primary groups– Feelings of comradeship, loyalty, and a common sense of

values (family, peer group, also work group)

Coalitions (very powerful groups in organisation)– Interacting group of individuals– Constructed deliberately for a specific purpose– Independent of formal organisation structure– Lacking a formal internal structure– Mutual perception of membership– Issues oriented to advance purposes of members– Concerted member action

Types of GroupsOther group classifications

– Membership groups: to which the individual actually belongs

– Reference groups: to which an individual would like to belong because he/she identifies with them

– In groups: those who share the dominant values– Out groups: those who are on the outside looking in– Formal groups: designated work groups defined by the

organization’s structure.– Informal groups: groups that are neither formally

structured now organizationally determined; appear in response to the need for social contact.

Research on GroupsSchachter’s study

– Tested how group cohesiveness and induction affect productivity

– Cohesiveness: the average force acting on members to remain in the group (high or low)

– Induction: influences (positive or negative)

Implications for OB– Highly cohesive group, more influenced (either

positively or negatively) than the low cohesive groups

The “Pitchfork” Results from theSchachter Study

Control

Hi Co, - Ind

Lo Co, + Ind

Lo Co, - Ind

Hi Co, + Ind

Pro

duct

ivit

y

Induction

Research on Groups

Implications for OB– Hi Co and +ve influence (leadership): highest

productivity– Lo Co and +ve influence (leadership): next

level of productivity– Lo Co and -ve influence (leadership): low

productivity– Hi Co and -ve influence (leadership): severely

restricted output

Group Effectiveness

Use of groups to enhance satisfaction and performance– Organising work around intact groups– Having group charged with selection, training and

rewarding members– Using group norms for enforcement of behaviours– Distributing resources on a group rather than an

individual basis– Promoting intergroup rivalry to build within group

cohesiveness

Group EffectivenessFactors determining group effectiveness

– Task interdependence (how closely group members work together)

– Outcome interdependence (whether, and how, group performance is rewarded)

– Potency (members’ belief that the group can be effective)

Factors determining success level of group– The type of task being performed

– The formation and composition of the group

– The group’s ability to adapt to change

The Dysfunctions of Groups

Violation of group norms : result in antisocial behaviour

Role ambiguity: unclear about what to do

Role conflict: requirement for conflicting tasks or different values

Groupthink: in a highly cohesive group, from pressure to conform

Social loafing: reduction in efforts and performance as a group member

Work Teams

• The most important group phenomenon in organisations– Project teams, parallel teams, permanent work

teams

• Teams go beyond traditional formal work groups by having shared leadership roles, collective decision making, and synergistic effect.

Work TeamsCross-functional team as result of a move toward

horizontal organisational design– Individuals from various departments or functional

specialists

– To improve coordination• Choose team members effectively• Clearly establish the purpose of the team• Ensure everyone understands how the team will function• Conduct intensive team building up front so that everyone

learns how to interact effectively• Achieve noticeable results for morale

Work Teams

Virtual team a result of advances in IT– Individuals interacting and working from a

distance– Effective because they are flexible and driven

by information and skills rather than time and location

– Limited by task nature

Work Teams

Self managed team– A group of employees empowered to manage

and perform technical tasks that result in a product or service being delivered to a customer

– Increased job satisfaction, improved customer service and stringer organisational commitment

Team Effectiveness

• Supportive environment– Reward systems, communication systems and

physical space allow to work in a productive atmosphere

• Design of interdependent tasks

• Selection of members based on motivation and competence

• Encouragement of team cohesion

Team Effectiveness Model

Team building– Establishes a sense of partnership and allows members to

see the team as a unit and attractive work arrangement

– Succeeds when individuals share collective intelligence and experience a sense of empowerment

– To fit with the corporate culture

Collaboration– Learning how to improve interpersonal interactions in

group settings with committing to a common goal

Team Effectiveness Model

Group leadership– How members are selected

– What tactics are used to affect those members

Understanding of culture and diversity issues– Learning how to improve interpersonal interactions in

group settings with committing to a common goal