Lecture 11 & 12 Flashcards
What is organisational behaviour?
Draws upon Sociology, anthropology, psychology, economics and political science to study how orgs and their members behave
At what levels does organisational behaviour look at?
- Individual
- Groups/teams
- Organisation
- Environment
What is the entity view of what an organisation is?
“Organisation refers to social arrangements such as factories, bureaucracies, armies, research and development teams and so on, created to achieve technical, productive ends” (Buchanan & Huczynski, 1997, p.552)
What is the process view of what an organisation is?
Karl Weick (1979) describes organizations as “ongoing processes of organising,” where the focus is on the continuous actions and
sense-making activities of individuals rather than a fixed structure.
What is the concept view of what an organisation is?
James D. Mooney (1931) defines “organizations is the form of every human association for the attainment of common purpose”
What is the scope of OB?
behaviour, motivation, teamwork, leadership, org culture
What are the goals of OB?
Foster positive and efficient workplace environment
What are the approaches used in OB?
Research-based, interpretive, focuses on psychological dynamics
What is the focus of OB?
Psychology, sociology, anthropology
What is the measurement focus of OB?
Intangible aspects like morale, culture, job satisfaction
What are the applications of OB?
Theoretically oriented, informs HRM and leadership practices
What are example activities of OB?
Studying motivation theories, analysing leadership effectiveness
What are mainstream approaches of OB?
Inspired by an engineering perspective, provide standard solutions to management problems
What are key characteristics and assumptions of the mainstream OB approach?
Orgs closed, predictable systems, Emphasis on maximising productivity, employee effort, focus on firm’s purpose as maximising profit, performance, prescriptive analysis
Assumptions: managers role to maximise employee output
What are critical approaches of OB?
Inspired by social science to understand org dynamics within capitalist framework, objective to examine and critically understand dynamics within org, especially interactions and influences
What are key characteristics of critical approaches to OB?
- orgs are open, unpredictable without rigid boundaries
- Broader managerial role, managers navigators of power dynamics, social relations, beyond management techniques
- Descriptive analysis, focus on observing actual behaviour, dynamics and interrelations
What are assumptions of critical approaches to OB?
- Flexible org boundaries: relationships include internal employees, contractors, suppliers, outsourced services, etc
- Power and social interactions, factors central to org functioning and impact employee productivity, experiences
