Perspectives on managing organisational behaviour Flashcards
Definition of Organisational Behaviour
How people interact with one another inside of an organization, which subsequently influence how the organization itself behaves and how well it performs.
What are the 4 behavioural disciplines that affect OB?
1) Psychology
2) Sociology
3) Anthropology (Economics)
4) Political Science
What are the 3 OB Levels of analysis?
1) Individual Level
2) Group Level
3) Organisational Level
Individual Level aspects
-Personality
-Perception
-Motivation
-Learning
-Leadership
Group Level aspects
-Building back of groups
-Group and team effectiveness
-Conflict
-Leadership
-Communication
Organisational Level aspects
-The context
-Structure
-Strategy
-Culture
-Change
Organisations as a machine
-Organisations are viewed as being made up of interlocking parts that fits together in logical order, increasing efficiency and maximising labour in order to produce a repeatable output
2 People who viewed organisations as machines
1) F.W Taylor
2) Max Weber
Taylor’s Beliefs
Believed that managers should take full responsibility for planning, coordinating and controlling of work and offer financial incentive to workers. (Scientific Management)
Taylor’s Objectives
1)Efficiency
2)Predictability
3)Control
Taylor’s 5 principles of scientific management (1911)
1)Clear division of responsibilities between management and workers
2)Use scientific methods to determine the best way of a doing a job
3)Scientific selection of person to do job
4)Training of selected worker
5)Surveillance of workers through hierarchies and supervision
Disadvantage of Taylorism
1)Didn’t recognise group pressures affect on individuals
2)Ignored psychological needs
3)Ignored subjective side of work (Significance of work, social relationships)
4)Ignored importance or rewards (achievement, satisfaction, recognition)
Webber’s Beliefs
Concerned with the best way to structure an organisation using ‘legitimate authority’ and ‘bureaucracy’.
Bureaucracy emphasised speed, precision, regulation, clarity, reliability, and efficiency.
6 characteristics of bureaucracy
1) Job Specialisation
2) Authority Hierarchy
3) Formal Selection
4) Rules and Procedures
5) Impersonality and impartiality (equality with rules)
6) Recording
Advantages of bureaucracy
1) Standardisation of work (predictability)
2) Less waste of resources to analyse if goals are being met
3) Less time spent on decision making
Advantages of bureaucracy
1) Standardisation of work (predictability)
2) Less waste of resources to analyse if goals are being met
3) Less time spent on decision making
Disadvantages of bureaucracy
1) bound by ‘too much red tape’ leading to negative aspects/dysfunctions
2) psychological needs not considered (creativity)
3) jobs become boring and routine
4) only the minimum level of acceptable performance are achieved
5) climate of alienation
Hawthorne Studies (1920-30)
Individual behaviours is modified both positively and negatively by the group they are a member in.
Elton Mayo Experiment
Workers were more responsive to social forces of their own peer group than management.
He placed groups at the centre of out understanding of human behaviour in organisations.
Mayo Experiment Example
Bank Wiring Observation Room (1931-32)
The men agreed on a suitable output they should produce for the day to deter negative consequences from managers (higher expectations, piece rate cut)
Hawthorne Experiment Example
Relay Assembly Test Room Experiments (1927-33)
6 women had changes made to their environment (rest pauses, hours of work,) showing continuous improvement to output due to increase attention from researchers.
Mary Parker Follett Theory
Advocated replacing bureaucracy with group networks in which people solve problems
Organisations as a brain
Organisations monitor and sense important aspects of their environment reporting it to operating authorities that guide their behaviour. Additionally detect and correct discrepancies.
Culture in organisations
Values and beliefs help build shared meanings and assumptions between coworkers through social interactions and groups.
Helps to create a vision enabling a clear direction to attain org objectives
Organisations as a political system
Organisations have patterns of competing interests, conflicts and power plays.
Can be viewed as the unofficial way things happen
Plato’s Cave
Plato uses the cave as a symbolic representation of how human beings live in the world, contrasting reality versus our interpretation of it. These two ideas reflect the two worlds in the story: the world inside the cave, and the world outside.
Organisations as Flux and Transformation
Orgs are able to adapt and change continuously (new products, processes).
Organisations as an instrument of domination
An organization is a means to impose one’s will on others and exploit resources for personal gains.
Dilemma of organisational design
The inconsistency between individual needs and aspirations compared to the organisations
OB involves the examination of what factors?
External environment
Internal structure
Functioning and performance of org
Behaviour of groups and individuals
Positivist perspective
Use research methods and modes of explanation in natural science to study/understand business.
Reactive effects from knowledge of study affects results.
Constructivist perspective
Because we are self-defining creatures who attach meanings to our behaviour, social science is different from natural sciences. ‘Reality is socially constructed’.
Variance explanation of OB
Identifies relationships between independent and dependant variables.
Quantitative and based on positivist perspective
Process explanation of OB
Uses narratives which show how factors produce and outcome by combining and interacting over time in a given context.
Quantitative and qualitative.
Both positivist and constructivist.
