Margie Parikh & Rajen Gupta

Chapter 1

Organisations and Organisational Behaviour

Meaning of Organisations
Social Organisation Family or community made of members of the same caste where membership is by birth. Work Organisation are created to accomplish work goals and they are different criteria for membership.

Differing Perspective of Organisation in different region

Organisations are made by people who operate within them, and when these people enter organisations, they bring in with them their soft luggage of beliefs, experiences and much more.

For example The outlet of Pizza hut ,they are not the same everywhere, even when the organisations have the same product.

Western Perspectives of Organisations v/s Indian Perspective of Organisations

Indian Perspective
Work and personal lives overlaps.
Modern Design of organisations in India carry the influence of westernization of work as introduced by the British. Organisational design reflect rational work arrangement , but underlying organisational process reflect fusion of family centrality. Highly divergent and layered sociocultural context adds complexity to already complex organisation dynamics. The organisational roles often conflicts with r\traditional value and culture. Features of Indian organisations are dominated relationship, personalized loyalty, external locus of control.

Western Perspective
Work and personal domains are clearly separate.
Modern Design of organisations developed during industrial revolution in the west. Highly work centered structures give first priority to work discipline.

Organisational theories, structures and the context of socio-cultural environment are in tandem. Organisational values are derived and evolved from protestant work ethic. The qualities considered to be highly functional are readiness to take responsibility, autonomy, initiative.

Definitions of Organisations
Bernad (1938) - A system of consciously coordinated activitiesof two or more persons.
Weber (1947) A social membership which limits or closes admission of outsiders by rulesso for as its order is enforced by the action of specific individuals. Bakke (1959) A continuing system of differentiated and coordinated human activities utilizing, transforming and welding together a specific set of human, material, capital, ideational and natural resources into a unique problem solving whole engaged in satisfying particular human needs in interactionwith other system of human activities and resources in the environment.

Features of Organisations
An organisation is a powerful tool created by human beings Organisations become versatile entities with far greater potential than any individual Organisations live longer Organisations are not open for everybody Organisations are systems designed for stability and control Organisational process go beyond being simply rational

Organisational relationships are interdependent

Features of Organisations
Contd

An organisation is a powerful tool created by human beings whether this tool is applied for accomplishment or problem solving or whatever purpose, it is satisfying some human need. The resultant activity may be aimed at providing forprofit service or not-for-profit social service, or for producing consumer goods.
Organisations become versatile entities with far greater potential than any individual with their purposeful existence, strength of the members, command over multiple resources, They can serve as well as harm intentionally or unintentionally the society, though most organisations fall somewhere in between the two extreme possibilities.

Features of Organisations
Contd

Organisations live longer As organisations strive to achieve their objectives, they may live far beyond the tenure and even life of their individual members, unless the organisation is severely mismanaged or is forced to close down. The organisations have a life cycle with different phases that we can call Launch, Growth, Maturity and Pause. Even in the last phase of decline, the managerial effectiveness can launch the organisation in to the next cycle of renewal and launch into the next cycle of organisational life.

Features of Organisations
Contd

Features of Organisations
Contd

Organisations are not open for everybody

Appointed members can act within and on behalf of them. Thus, organisations are separated from their environments by a boundary. Within the boundaries, the members share roles, responsibilities and entitlements associated with these roles. In acting out of the roles, members enjoy access to and use of privileges, organisations resources and facilities that are out of bounds for non-members.
Organisations are systems designed for stability and control Organisations have stable arrangements for work and related matters. These include assignment of work to people, assignment of places for specific activity and determining procedures that define how things should be done.

Features of Organisations
Contd

Organisational process go beyond being simply rational Various activities and processes are subject to ambiguity, uncertainty and possibility of unfavorable outcomes. In contrast, organisational members participating in these processes may prefer predictability, control, certainty and favorable outcomes. Organisational relationships are interdependent People with higher authority and status also need to depend on subordinates because of work pressure, demands of various work roles and personal styles, preferences and limitations.

Organisations as Metaphors

Morgan (1986) wrote about viewing organisations symbolically, as metaphors. He described it as a means that allows us to grasp and deal with many sided character of organisational life. This is a relevant perspective for going beyond structural understanding of organisations.

Organisations as Metaphors
Contd Metaphor Machines Orientation Efficiency Features - Importance of predication, control, precision, exact timing and calculation and identical properties of given material - Are made by using assembly-subassemblies - Evolve within changing environment - Complex thinking systems. - Collect and process information in logical order

Organisms Brains

Adaptation Learning

Cultures

Social

- Members construct their own realities which shape their actions and interrelationships in turn
- Decision making and other important internal process shaped by activity of politically motivated groups seeking outcomes favorable to themselves

Political Systems

Success

Organisations as Metaphors
Contd

Metaphor
Psychic Prisons

Orientation
Oftenunconscious ideological trapping of the individuals

Features
- Trapped in their own frames and patterns of beliefs from which there is no escape, affects the behaviour and performance

Flux and Transformation

Continual change

- At first glance they might appear stable, but they undergo continual change of different scales, which should be understood
- Positions within organisations give power and control to a few in a way that individual actions can impact the entire organisations, people within and the people around

Vehicle of domination

Control

Meaning of Organisations Behaviour

Peter Drucker (1974) - Effectiveness is doing the right things. Efficiency is concerned with doing things right. We can say that effectiveness is equivalent to success in achieving the goals that matter. Since organisations are likely to have several goals and often competing ones, we can also say that effectiveness reflects how many goals can be achieved and how well.

Definition of Organisational Behaviour

Organisational behaviour is an applied field of inquiry encompasses the study of all aspect of behaviour in and by formal organisations. It treats as units of analysis everything from individuals acting, feeling and thinking in an organisations to groups, larger subunits such as departments or divisions, the organisations as a whole and even populations of organisations and their relationship to larger social structures such as the state and the society.

Organisational Behaviour as one of Several Approaches to Management

Features of OB

A Field of Inquiry Focus on Behaviour Within the Organisation Humanistic and Positive Importance of Groups Ongoing Process

Features of OB
Contd

A field of inquiry A field open to inquiry is open to anyone who wants to examine, explore and understand. Even evaluate and predict. That makes all of us lay scientists of sorts, because all of us have our own theories that describe, explain and prescribe behaviour and some of us want to test them, share them and improvise upon them. A scientific theory explains a phenomenon on the basis of a plausible general principle or body of principles. Focus on behaviour within the organisation OB requires not just individual or group focus and inquiring how they behave at work, but also the characteristic patterns of organisational actions over time, which reflect that organisations knowledge, values and goals, the kind of people, the system, and the control methods it employs, as well as the sociopolitical and economic context in which those actions occur

Features of OB
Contd

Humanistic and positive Everyone in organisations has such a potential for development, learning and choice, then collective human effort should be organized in a democratic manner and through goodwill and fairness and to nurture, support and facilitate the effort to realize the human potential. This would lead to satisfaction and a feeling of well-being for the individual and effectiveness of the organisation.

Importance of Groups A work group is generally understood as a collectivity of people who have individual as common work goals, and who depend on each other for achieving those goals. Just like the family, work group also has a strong impact on the individuals behaviour.

Features of OB
Contd

Ongoing Process Organisational effectiveness as an objective for OB implies continuous effort to change and develop in the context of dynamic environment. Thus, OB assigns special importance to planned change, individual as well as organisational learning and creation of organisational culture that supports these.

Major Contributions in the Development of OB Field

1911:Fredric Taylors writes on scientific management 1922:Max Weber gives the concept o Bureaucracy 1925:Mary Parker Follette writes on Power, conflict and leadership 1938:Chester Bernard writes about Functions of Executive 1939:Hawthorn studies are carried out and its findings are published 1947:Herbort Simon wrote about Bounded rationality in decision making 1949:Second translation of Henry Fayols Management principles is published 1951:Kurt Lewins Field Theory about managing change is published 1954:Abraham Maslow discusses Humanistic theory of personality and motivation 1960:Douglas McGregor gives theories X and Y 1961:Rensis Likert gives employee centered management style 1985:Peter F. Drucker gives the concept of MBO 1990:Peter Senge writes about Learning and Change

A Comprehensive Review of Research in the Field of OB

Sociology

Psychology

Economics

Disciplines Contributing to the Knowledge of OB

Political Science

Anthropology

Disciplines Contributing to the Knowledge of OB

Sociology
Concerned with the study of groups, and how membership of formal and informal groups affects the behaviour of people.

Disciplines Contributing to the Knowledge of OB

Psychology
How the mental functions of a person including physiological and neurological processes affect human behaviour.

Disciplines Contributing to the Knowledge of OB

Economics
Views all human behaviour as a relationship between limited means and their alternative uses - after all, the work organisations are systems created for business, even if not-for-profit.

Disciplines Contributing to the Knowledge of OB

Political Science
How power for decision-making and action is allocated and transferred across diverse groups.

Disciplines Contributing to the Knowledge of OB

Anthropolgy
It traces evolution of human behaviour over long term and its branches like cultural anthropology studies differences in human behaviour across cultural groups.

Division of Organisation Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

Micro OB

Macro OB

Individual

Group Behaviour

Whole Organisations

Micro OB deals with the dynamics individual and group behaviour within organisations, Macro OB, also called Organisational Theory, studies whole organisations, how they adapt, and the strategies and structures that guide them.

Model of Organisational Behaviour

Cultural Context

Changes in the Changes in the Organisational Environment

Understanding Individuals in Organisations

Perception Attitude Motivation Personality

Individual Effectiveness Individual Effectiveness Effectiveness of Effectiveness of Group Relationships Group Relationships Effectiveness of of Effectiveness Organisational Roles Organisational Roles

Effectiveness Through Managing and Leading Human Behaviour at Work Understanding Groups in Organisations
Thresholds of Interpersonal Behaviour Understanding Groups & Teams Communication Conflict, Stress & Negotiation Decision Making Power & Politics

Group Group Effectiveness Effectiveness

Organisational Organisational Effectiveness Effectiveness

Effectiveness of Effectiveness of Systems and Systems and Processes Processes

Organisational Organisational Organisational Organisational

Understanding How Organisations Shape Behaviour

Design Structure Roles Culture

Features of the Model of OB

1. The central concerns for study and practice of Organisational Behaviour concepts are two-fold: the first is the core focus on organisational effectiveness, and not the traditional concern for understanding, managing and controlling the behaviour within the organisations. The emphasis on understanding and managing that would be instrumental in controlling can be put to dysfunctional, selfserving or arbitrary ends, just like the two faces of power. 2. The central role of leadership in enhancing the organisational effectiveness reflects the need of the hour. In the face of the unprecedented decline, slow-down and down-turn in the developed world since the World War II, India has just entered a phase that promises to be a sustained phase of growth and development for the economy, but at the same time remarkable contribution to the world economy and markets.

Features of the Model of OB

Contd

3. The individual, group and organisational dynamics of behaviour determine the organisational effectiveness under the OB perspective. The three factors leading to organisational effectiveness are related to one another: The individuals influence the organisational design and systems through their role relationships. Individuals are also related to others in the organisation through interpersonal and group relationships. Similarly, the groups are related to the rest of the organisation through the work systems and processes.