Transcript Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today

THE FIELD OF
ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR
After reading this chapter you should be able to:
1. Define the concepts of organization
and organizational behavior.
2. Describe the field of organizational
behavior’s commitment to the
scientific method, and the three
levels of analysis involved.
3. Trace the historical developments
and schools of thought leading up
to the field of organizational
behavior.
4. Identify the fundamental
characteristics of the field of
organizational behavior.
5. Describe how the global economy
shapes the field of organizational
behavior today.
6. Explain how the workforce has
become increasingly diversified
and how this has led to the
development of flexible working
arrangements.
7. Describe how technology has led to
the development of new
organizational forms.
8. Explain how rising expectations
about quality and ethical behavior
have influenced the field or
organizational behavior.
Organizational Behavior (Pp. 3, 4)
Defining the Field - a field that seeks knowledge of all aspects of behaviors
in organizational settings by the use of the scientific method
Characteristics of the Field
Commitment to scientific method
- systematic observation and measurement in order to:
- gain insights into the effects of organizations on
people
- apply insights to improve organizational
functioning
Analyze phenomena at the level of the:
- individual - perceptions, attitudes, and motives
- group - communication and coordination processes
- organization - effects on individuals and groups
Figure 1.2
Three Levels of Analysis Used in
Organizational Analysis
Group Processes
(e.g., communication)
Individual Processes
(e.g., work attitudes)
Organizational Processes
(e.g., structure)
Historical Overview of the Field
Scientific Management (Pp. 6,7)
Personalities
Frederick Winslow Taylor - founder of the approach
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
Focus - emphasized the importance of designing jobs as efficiently
as possible
Principles
Careful selection and training of employees
Wages should be commensurate with productivity
“One Best Way” to perform the job
Methods
Time and motion study
- classified and streamlined individual movements
needed to perform a job
Historical Overview of the Field (cont.)
Human Relations Movement (Pp. 7-9)
Personalities
Elton Mayo
Focus - the noneconomic, social social processes in the workplace
Principles
Worker effectiveness depends on the physical aspects
of working conditions and on the social
conditions they encounter
Methods - Hawthorne studies
- illumination studies
- Relay Room
- Bank Wiring Room
Standard work
conditions
15-min. rests + lunch
Standard
Same + Sat. a.m. off
15-min. rests + lunch
Same + 4 p.m. stop
Same + 4:30 p.m. stop
15-min. rests + lunch
Six 5-min. rests
Two 5-min. rests
Percentage of Standard Output
Figure 1.4
Results from the Relay Assembly Test Room
In general, productivity
increased with each change
in work conditions
132
124
116
108
100
Historical Overview of the Field (cont.)
Classical Organizational Theory (Pp. 9-11)
Personalities
Henri Fayol
Max Weber
Focus - the efficient structuring of overall organizations
Principles
Division of labor
Managerial authority
Scalar chain
Unity of command
Subordinate given initiative
Methods - describe the ideally-designed large organization
Contemporary Organizational Behavior (Pp. 11 - 15)
Fundamental Assumptions
Work can be both productive and pleasant
Theory X - people are lazy, irresponsible, and must be
forced to work
Theory Y - people are capable of working productively
and accepting responsibility for their work
There is no “one best” approach to managing people
Contingency approach - behavior is contingent on many
different variable at once, including:
- personal characteristics
- situational factors
- environmental context
Organizations are dynamic and ever-changing
Open systems - transform environmental resources into
output (e.g., finished product)
Figure 1.7
Theory X Versus Theory Y
Theory X
(traditional approach)
Theory Y
(modern approach)
Distrusting
Orientation
toward people
Accepting, promotes
betterment
Basically Lazy
Assumptions
about people
Need to achieve
and be responsible
Low (disinterested)
Interest in working
High
(very interested)
Work when pushed
Conditions under
which people
will work hard
Work when
appropriately trained
and recognized
Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today
International Business and the Global Economy (Pp. 16 - 19)
Globalization - process that is interconnecting the world’s
people regarding the culture, political, technological, and
environmental aspects of their lives
- increase in international trade due to:
- lowered costs of transportation and communication
- less restrictive trade laws
- expansion of exports from Third World
International nature of today’s organizations
Multinational Corporations (MNCs) - have significant
operations spread throughout various nations but
headquartered in a single nation
Role of culture in organizations
Convergence hypothesis
Divergence hypothesis
Figure 1.10
Acceptance of New Culture
High
Understanding
Optimism
Frustration
Low
1
2
3
4 5 6
Months Living in New Culture
Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.)
Trends Toward Diversity Within Organizations (Pp. 19 - 21)
Melting pot - people from different racial, ethnic, and religious
backgrounds are transformed into a common American
culture
Cultural pluralism - social harmony does not require people from
various cultures to assimilate or “melt” together into one
but that people’s separate identities should be maintained
and accepted by others
Demographic trends creating the diverse workforce
- greater participation by women in workforce
- greater participation by racial and ethnic minorities
- people live and work longer
- baby boom generation - generation of children
born in the economic boom period following
World War II
Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.)
Flexible, New Working Arrangements (Pp. 23 - 25)
Flextime programs - employees have discretion over when they
can arrive and leave work, thereby making it easier to adapt
their work schedules to the demands of their personal lives
lives
- leads to improvements in performance and job satisfaction
- results in drops in employee turnover and absenteeism
Compressed workweek - work fewer days each week but longer
hours each day (e.g., four 10-hour days)
Job sharing - form of regular part-time work in which pairs of
employees assume the duties of a single job, thus splitting
its responsibilities, salary, and benefits
- often a temporary arrangement
Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.)
Flexible, New Working Arrangements (cont.)
Voluntary reduced work time (V-time) - allow employees to
reduce the amount of time they work by a certain amount
with a proportional reduction in pay
- typically a 10 to 20 percent reduction in time
- popular among various state agencies in the U.S.
Telecommuting - use of communications technology to perform
work from remote locations (e.g., the home)
Flexplace
IBM study - telecommuting resulted in:
- 55 percent reduction in real estate space
- reduced the number of fixed computer terminals
necessary for work
- improved customer satisfaction
- 83 percent of employees preferred telecommuting
to traditional office environment
Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.)
New Organizational Forms (Pp. 25 - 28)
Leaner organizations - technology has made it possible for fewer
people to do more work than ever before
Informate - process by which workers manipulate objects
through “inserting data” between themselves and
those objects
- information technology changes a physical task
into one that involves manipulation of a
sequence of digital commands
Outsourcing - hiring outside firms to perform non-core
business operations (i.e., peripheral tasks)
- core competency - organization’s key capability
Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.)
New Organizational Forms (cont.)
Leaner organizations (cont.)
Contingent workforce - temporary employees hired to
work as need for finite periods of time
- includes freelancers, subcontractors, and
independent professionals
- enables organization to shrink or grow as needed
- growing numbers of people in contingent
workforce
Virtual corporation - a highly flexible, temporary
organization formed by a group of companies to a
specific opportunity
- various companies come together for special
projects (e.g., making a movie)
Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.)
Quality Revolution (Pp. 28 - 30) - “making things better”
Total Quality Management (TQM) - organizational commitment
to improving customer satisfaction by developing
techniques to carefully manage output quality
- W. Edwards Deming - make whatever innovations are
necessary to improve quality
Benchmarking - process of comparing one’s own
products or services with the best from one’s
competitors
Quality control audits - careful examinations of how well
a company meets its standards
Malcolm Baldridge Award - given annually to U.S.
companies that practice effective quality
management and significantly improve the quality
of their goods and services
Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.)
Corporate Social Responsibility (Pp. 30 - 33) - public is increasingly
intolerant of unethical business activity
Promoting ethical behavior in organizations
Code of ethics - describes what an organization stands for
and the general rules of conduct it expects from
employees (e.g., to avoid conflicts of interest, to be
honest, and so on)
Ethics audit - process of actively investigating and
documenting incidents of dubious ethical value
within a company
Challenge rationalizations - examine excuses for unethical
behavior