37755856 Organisational Behavior Notes

Organisational Organisational behavior •

Organisational Organisational Behaviour is the study of human behavior.

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The study is about behavior in organizations.

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Know Knowle ledg dgee abou aboutt huma human n beha behavi vior or woul would d be usef useful ul in impro improvi ving ng an organisation’s effectiveness.

Definitions “Organisational Behaviour” is the study and application of nowledge about •

how people ! as individual and as groups ! act within organizations. organizations. •

"t is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals# groups and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such nowledge towards improving an organisation’s organisation’s effectiveness.

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Organisational Behaviour means the study of behavior of individuals, and   groups in organizations and organizations themselves# as they act and interact to attain desired outcomes.

Goals of OB ob$ective ive is to descri describe be ! how people behave • To describe ! The first ob$ect

under a variety of conditions. •

To understand ! as to why people behave as they do.

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 is another goal of OB. To predict ! %redicting  future employee behavior  is &anagers would have the capacity to predict which employees may be dedicated and productive or which ones might be absent or disruptive on a certain day so that the manager could tae preventive actions.

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To control ! The final goal of OB is to control and develop some human

activity at wor. &anagers also want to mae an impact on employee  behavior# sill development# team team effort and productivity. productivity. &anagers should be able to improve the results through their own and their  employee’s actions.

Features of Organisational Behaviour The essential characteristics of organisational behaviour are as follows' (i) An Integral Part of Management . OB is a part of general management and not the whole of management. "t represents behaviour approach to management . "t is significant to note that because of the importance of  human behaviour in organisations# OB has assumed the status of a distinct field of study. A Field of Stud . OB is a field of study baced by a body of theory# (ii) research and application associated with a growing concern for people at the worplace. "ts study helps in understanding the human behaviour  in wor organizations. "t includes creative thining among the managers to solve human problems in organisations. Inter!disciplinar Approach. The field of organisational behaviour is (iii) heavily influenced by several other behavioural sciences and social sciences. The prominent among these are psychology, sociology and  anthropology. Organisational behaviour draws a rich array of research from these disciplines. *hat maes it a field in its own right is the attempt to integrate various aspects and levels of behaviour. "evels of Analsis# OB involves three levels of analysis of behaviour –  (iv) individual behaviour, group behaviour and behaviour of the organisation itself. "t helps in demolishing +incorrect’ assumptions one may hold about  behaviour. "t provides a rational thining about people. (v) Goal!Oriented#  OB is an action ! oriented and goal,directed discipline. The ma$or goals of organisational behaviour are to understand# e-plain and predict human behaviour in the organisational conte-t so that it may  be moulded into result,yielding situations. "t provides a rational thining about people and their behaviour. $uman Tool# OB is a human tool for human benefit. "t helps in (vi) understanding and predicting the behaviour of individuals. "t  provides  generalisations that managers can use to anticipate the effects of certain actions on human behaviour. (vii) Science and Art#  OB is both a science as well as an art. The systematic nowledge about human behaviour is a science. The application of   behaviour nowledge and sills clearly leans towards being an art. owever# organisation behaviour is not an e-act science lie physics or  chemistry. "t cannot provide specific answers to all organisational  problems. The e-act prediction of behavior of people in organisations is also not possible. "t is possible to predict relationships between variables on a broad scale# but it is difficult to apply predictive models in all situations. (viii) Satisfaction of %mploees& 'eeds.%eople may get need satisfaction and the organisation may attain its objectives. Thus# both organisation and individuals can be benefited by each other.

"evels of Analsis of OB Organisational Behaviour focuses on three levels of analysis# viz.# (i)  Individual  (ii) Group, and (iii) Organisation. The performance of individuals# groups (say class or section) and the institute as a whole ! are all important and outstanding performance of each individual and group is recognized and highlighted. Behaviour at all three levels is interdependent and interrelated. PS()$O"OG(

"ndividual /evel' %ersonality# %erception 0ttitudes and 1alues "ndividual 2ecision,maing /earning &otivation# 3ob,satisfaction 4ocial# 5ultural and Other 6actors *or 4tress

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7roup /evel ' 7roups and Teams /eadership 5ommunication 5onflict# 2ynamics of 5hange 6ormal and "nformal Organisation 4tatus and 8oles

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5hange in 0ttitude and Behaviour  7roup %rocesses ' 9orms 5ommunication 7roup 2ecision,maing

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Organisation 4ystem /evel ' Organisational 5ulture 4tress &anagement Organisational 5hange and 2evelopment &orale and %roductivity 5ross,cultural 0nalysis

O*GA'ISATIO'

Organisational Behaviour

:.)  Behaviour at the Individual Level   , Organisations are made up of their  individual members. The individual is a central feature of organisational  behaviour# whether acting in isolation or as part of a group# in response to e-pectations of the organisation# or as a result of influence of the e-ternal environment. The behaviour of individuals is a comple- phenomenon and is affected by a large number of factors such as personality, attitudes, perception, learning, motivation, social, cultural and other factors. The study of behaviour of an individual woring in the organisation is also nown as micro organisational behaviour . ;.)  Behaviour at the Group Level   Behaviour pattern of individuals is also influenced by the groups to which they belong. 8esearch studies have shown  people behave differently in groups than as individuals . 4everal factors influence the behaviour of groups such as group goals, norms, communication, leadership, cohesiveness # etc. (participative). "t is similar to the assumptions of &c 7regor’s Theory F. The supportyive model is  based on the assumptions that human beings move to the maturity level and they e-pect the organizational climate which supports this e-pectation.

The organizational processes lie communication# leacdership# decision maing# interaction# control and influence help employees to fulfill their higher order needs lie self,actualisation and esteem. The supportive model is best suited when employees are self motivated. ence# the focus is not on the economic resources of the organization but its human aspect. &anager’s role is to help employees achieve their wor rather than supervising them closely. This model is specially effective with nations with affluence and comple- technology because it caters to higher,order needs and provides intrinsic motivational factors. "t is more suitable for employees at managerial levels rather than on operative levels. )O""%GIA" MOD%" ! This model is an e-tension of supportive model. The term “5ollegial” refers to a body of people having a common purpose. "t is based on the team concept in which employee develops a high degree of understanding towards others and shares common goals.

“8esponsibility” is e-pected out of the employees. mployees need a little direction and control from the management. 5ontrol is through self disciple from the team members. The collegial model is conducive to self fulfillment C self,actualisation. "t can be more beneficial with unprogrammed wor re@uiring behavioural fle-ibility and intellectual environment and $ob freedom. S(ST%M MOD%" ! "t is one of the emerging models of OB. erein# there is a strong search for a higher meaning at wor by the employeesE they want more than a pay chec C $ob security from their $obs. They loo for a wor that is ethical# enfused with integrity C trust and provides an opportunity to e-perience a growing sense of community among co,worers. To accomplish this# the managers demonstrate caring and a compassionate attitude and are sensitive to the needs of a diverse worforce. The role of a manager is to facilitate employee accomplishments through a variety of actions.

"n turn# the employees realize and recognize the mutuality of company,employee obligations in a system model. There is a sense of psychological ownership for the organization and its products D services. The employees tae a responsibility for  their own goals and actions# hence are self motivated. ence# the employees needs are higher,order needs (social# status# esteem# autonomy# self,actualisation).

The various models (0utocratic# 5ustodial# 4upportive# 5ollegial and 4ystem &odel) of OB are based on the assumption of the human characteristics and how they can wor best. They are basically constructed around need hierarchy. 0s the need hierarchy differs for different people# the same model cannot be used for all of them. The need hierarchy changes with the level of a person# level of his education# maturity level# personality factors and the type of wor environment.

)hallenges and Opportunities for OB *esponding to Globalisation  ! Organisations are no longer limited by •

national borders. &anagers have to be capable enough to wor with  people across cultures. Being a manager# one needs to manage a wor!force which is different in needs# aspirations and attitudes. To wor  effectively with these people# one needs to  understand their culture, how it has shaped   them and how can the management style be adapted to suit their differences. Managing /or0force diversit ! *hile globalization focuses on differences between people from different countries# worforce diversity focuses on differences among people with given countries . *orforce diversity means that organizations are heterogenous in terms of gender# race and ethnicity. The challenge for organizations# thus# is to mae themselves more accommodating to diverse groups of people by focusing on their different lifestyles# family needs and worstyles# while at the same time not discriminating . This involves providing diversity training, and revamping benefit programs to accommodate the different needs of  different employees. 2iversity# if properly managed# can increase creativity and innovation in organizations as well as improve decision ma!ing  by providing different perspectives on problems.   If diversity is not properly managed, it leads to a higher turnover, more difficult  communication and more interpersonal conflicts. •

Improving 1ualit and Productivit  ! The managers often confront challenges to improve their organization’s productivity and the @uality of   products and services they offer. 6or this# they often have to implement  programs of Guality management and %rocess 8eengineering. •

"uality #anagement  ! (i) Constant attainment of customer satisfaction through the continuous improvement of all organizational processes.

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(ii) "mprovement in the @uality of everything that the organization does  !  how the organization handles deliveries# how rapidly it responds to complaints etc. (iii)  Accurate measurement  ! Guality &anagement uses statistical techni@ues to measure the performance variables and then compare them with the standards D benchmars. (iv) mpo!erment of employees ! Guality management involves the people in the improvement process. Teams are used in G& programs as empowerment vehicles for finding and solving problems.  $rocess %eengineering  ! helps managers to reconsider how wor would be done and the organization restructured if they were starting over from the scratch. *esponding to the labour shortage ! conomic ups and downs are difficult to predict. "n :HHIs# the labour marets were tight as the world economy was robust. "t was difficult to fill vacancies with silled worers. "n ;II:# there was an economic recession ! lot of layoffs too place and hence the silled worers were in plenty. "t is also predicted that there will be a labour shortage for atleast :I,:? years. "n the latter part of the ;I th century# there was a huge increase in the number of women entering the worforce which was a new supply of  talented and silled worforce. 0lso# the older worforce seem to be less interested to wor which can be attributed to improved pension plans# e-panded social security benefits and a healthy stoc maret. 2uring labour shortage# good wages and benefits are not the only means to get and eep silled employees. 9ewer recruitment and retention strategies have to be developed with the help of OB. ! OB can contribute to improving an • Improving customer service organisation’s by showing managers how employee attitudes and behavior  are associated with customer satisfaction. The management should focus on creating a customer & responsive culture  ! a culture in which employees are friendly and courteous# accessible# nowledgeable# prompt in responding to customer needs and willing to do what’s necessary to please the customer. • Improving people s0ills   ! Techni@ues should be developed to design motivating $obs# to improve upon the listening skills and to create effective teams. •

%mpo/ering people  ! There has been a complete change in the

relationship between managers and the employees.  "ecision making  now happens at the operating level. mployees have started having a full control of their wor. There is also a concept of  self#managed teams wherein worers operate largely without bosses. By empowering

employees# managers are learning how to give up control# and employees kno! ho! to take responsibility  for their wor and mae appropriate decisions. •

)oping /ith 2Temporariness3  ! J.  )ommunication technolog

5  %eople do their wor from any place at

any time.  "onger hours put  Dual!career

in by the employees.

couples ! as a result married couples have lesser time to

fulfill commitments bac home. 4o# managers should help in maing their worplace and $obs such that it helps the employee deal with wor D life conflicts.

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Improving ethical behavior  ! mployees at times# face ethical dilemmas

i.e. situations in which individuals are re@uired to define right and wrong conduct. 6or e-ample# 4hould they follow orders with which they don’t  personally agreeL 4hould they uncover illegal activities taing place in the companyL Managers and organi-ations are tring to tac0le this problem b  ! o *riting and distributing codes of ethics to guide the employees. o

 'eminars, wor!shops,  similar training programs to try and improve

ethical behavior. o

%rovision

for

an

inhouse

advisor  who

can

be

contacted

(anonymously) for assistance in dealing with an ethical issue. 0lso# they provide with protection mechanisms for employees who reveal internal unethical practices. "imitations of OB •

Behavioural bias 5 Behavioral bias gives a narrow viewpoint to the employees

that emphasizes satisfying employee e-periences while overlooing the broader  system of the organization. "t is more lie a tunnel vision in which people have narrow viewpoints as if they were looing through a tunnel. The concern for  employees can be so greatly overdone that the original purpose of bringing  people together, productive organizational outputs is lost. "t is wrong to assume that the ob$ective of OB is simply to create a satisfied worforce without worrying about customer service and productivity. @ually# if a person is continuously concerned with production outputs without regard for employee needs is misapplying OB. Behavioural bias can harm the employees as well as the organizations.Too much of care can mae the employees dependent and unproductive. They may find e-cuses for failure and avoid taing responsibility for progress. They lac self  discipline and self respect. •

The "a/ of Diminshing *eturns   ! The /aw of diminishing 8eturns is a

limiting factor in OB as in conomics which produces negative results. "n OB# this law states that at some point# increases of a desirable practice produce declining returns# eventually zero returns# and then negative returns asmore increases are added. 6or any situation# there is an optimum amount of a desirable  practice# such as recognition or participation. *hen that point is e-ceeded# there

is a decline in returns. 6or e-ample# too much security may lead to less employee initiate and growth. $ence6 organi-ational effectiveness is achieved not b ma7imi-ing one human variable but b /or0ing all sstem variables together in a balanced /a# •

,nethical manipulation of people 5 The nowledge and techni@ues of OB are

at times used to manipulate people unethically as well as to help them develop their potential. %eople who lac respect for the basic dignity of the human being could use OB for selfish ends and use people in unethical ways.