ORGNISATION BEHAVIOUR

Organizations are social systems. If one wishes to work in them or to manage them, it is necessary to understand how they operate. Organizations combine science and people – technology and humanity. Unless we have qualified people to design and implement, techniques alone will not produce desirable results. Human behavior in organizations is rather unpredictable. It is unpredictable because it arises from people’s deep-seated needs and value systems. However, it can be partially understood in terms of the framework of behavioural science, management and other disciplines. There is no idealistic solution to organizational problems. All that can be done is to increase our understanding and skills so that human relations at work can be enhanced

ORGNISATION BEHAVIOUR - CONCEPTS

Organizational Behaviour is field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behaviour within organization. It is the study and application of knowledge about how people act within organizations. It is a human tool for human benefit. It applies broadly to the behaviour of people in all types of organizations, such as business, government, schools and services organizations. It covers three determinants of behaviour in organizations: individuals, groups, and structure. OB is an applied field. It

applies the knowledge gained about individuals, and the effect of structure on behaviour,

in order to make organizations work more effectively. OB covers the core topics of

motivation, leadership behaviour and power, interpersonal communication, group structure

and process, learning, attitude development and perception, change process, conflict, job

design and work stress.

Before studying organizational behaviour, it is desirable to know the meanings of

organization and management.

Organization

Organization as a purposeful system with several subsystems where individuals and

activities are organized to achieve certain predetermined goals through division of labor

and coordination of activities. Division of labor refers to how the work is divided among

the employees and coordination refers to how all the various activities performed by the

individuals are integrated or brought together to accomplish the goals of the organization.

The term organizing is used to denote one aspect of the managerial activities when he or

she is preparing and scheduling the different tasks that need to be completed for the job to

be done.

Management

It refers to the functional process of accomplishing the goals of the organization through

the help of others. A manager is an individual who is given the responsibility for

achieving the goals assigned to him or her as part of the overall goals of the organization

and who is expected to get the job done. The terms o f top management, lower

management are frequently used to indicate the hierarchical levels of those who are

engaged in the process of getting the goals of the organization accomplished.

Key Elements of Organisational Behavior

The key elements in organizational behavior are people, structure, technology and the

external elements in which the organization operates. When people join together in an

organization to accomplish an objective, some kind of infrastructure is required. People

also use technology to help get the job done, so there is an interaction of people, structure

and technology. In addition, these elements are influenced by the external environment,

and they influence it. Each o f the four elements o f organizational behavior will be

considered briefly.

people

People make up the internal social system of the organization. They consist of individuals

and groups, and large groups as well as small ones. People are the living, thinking,

feelings beings who created the organizations. It exists to achieve their objectives.

Organizations exist to serve people. People do not exist to serve organizations. The work

force is one of the critical resources t hat need to be managed. In managing human

resources, managers have to deal with:

i) Individual employee who are expected to perform the tasks allotted to them

ii) Dyadic relationships such as superior-subordinate interactions

iii) Groups who work as teams and have the responsibility for getting the job

done,

iv) People out side the organization system such as customers and government

officials

Structure

Structure defines the official relationships of people in organizations. Different jobs are

required to accomplish all of an organization’s activities. There are managers and

employees, accountants and assemblers. These people have to be related in some

structural way so that their work can be effective. The main structure relates to power and

to duties. For example, one person has authority to make decisions that affect the work of

other people.

Some of the key concepts of organization structure are listed as below:

a) Hierarchy of Authority: This refers to the distribution of authority among

organizational positions and authority grants the position holder certain rights

including right to give direction to others and the right to punish and reward.

b) Division of Labor: This refers to the distribution of responsibilities and the way

in which activities are divided up and assigned to different members of the

organization is considered to be an element of the social structure.

c) Span of Control: This refers to the total number of subordinates over whom a

manager has authority

d) Specialization: This refers to the number of specialities performed within the

organization.

e) Standardization: It refers to the existence of procedures for regularly recurring

events or activities

f) Formalization: This refers to the extent to which rules, procedures, and

communications are written down

g) Centralization: This refers to the concentration of authority to make decision.

h) Complexity: This refers to both vertical differentiation and horizontal

differentiation. Vertical differentiation: outlines number of hierarchical levels;

horizontal differentiation highlights the number of units within the organization

(e.g departments, divisions)

Organizations can be structured as relatively rigid, formalized systems or as relatively

loose, flexible systems. Thus the structure of the organizations can range on a continuum

of high rigidity to high flexibility. There are two broad categories of organization: i)

Mechanistic form of organization ii) Organic form of Organization

Mechanistic form of Organisation

It is characterized by high levels of complexity, formalization and centralization. A

highly mechanistic system is characterized by centralized decision making at the top, a

rigid hierarchy of authority, well but narrowly defined job responsibilities especially at

lower levels, and extensive rules and regulations which are explicitly make known to

employees through written documents. In mechanistic organization, labor is divided and

subdivided into many highly specialized tasks (high complexity), workers are granted

limited discretion in performing theirs t a sks and rules and procedures are carefully

defined (high formalization); and there is limited participation in decision making which

tends to be conducted at the highest levels of management high centralization.

Organic form of Organisation

A highly organic system is characterized by decentralized decision-making which allows

people directly involved with the job to make their own decisions, very few levels in the

hierarchy with flexible authority and reporting patters, loosely defined job responsibilities

for members, and very few written rules and regulations. It is relatively simple, informal

and decentralized. Compared with mechanistic organizations, employees in organic

organizations, such as design firms or research labs, tend to be more generalist in their

orientation.

Jobs and Tasks

Job refers to the sum total of an individual’s assignment at the workplace. Tasks refer to

the various activities that need to be performed to get the job done. The nature of tasks,

it’s executives by various individuals, nature of interdependence and inter-relatedness,

group activities etc have implication for organizational effectiveness. Thus the jobs and

tasks have to be designed and managed properly.

Core Job Characteristics: There are five job characteristics which are central to

providing potential motivation to workers. They are: Skill variety, Task identity, Task

significance, Autonomy, and Feedback from the job itself.

i) Task Variety: This denotes the extent to which any particularly job utilizes a

range of skills, abilities and talents of the employees. If number of different skills

is used by the employee on the job, the job is going to provide challenge and

growth experience to the workers.

ii) Task Identity: This indicates the extent to which the job involves a ‘whole’

and identifiable piece of work. If the job involves the whole components (eg

– painting a portrait), then the individual can identify with the ultimate

creation turned out by him and derive pride and satisfaction from having done

a good job.

iii) Task significance: This refers to the meaningfulness or significance of the

impact that a job has on the lives of others – both inside and outsider of the

organization. If what one does has an impact on the well being of others, the

job becomes psychologically rewarding to he person who performs it.

iv) Autonomy: This refers to the extent to which the job provides an

employee the freedom, independent and discretion to schedule work and make

decision and formulate the procedures to get the job done without interference

from others. The greater the degree of autonomy, the more the person doing

the job feels in control.

v) Feedback from the Job itself: This indicates the extent to which the

person who is working on the job can assess whether they are doing things

right or wrong even as they are performing the job. That is, the job itself is

stimulating one and enjoyable.

Job Design: Jobs can be designed to range from highly simple to highly complex tasks in

terms of the use of the workers skill. Some of the job design options are as follows:

i) Job Simplification: The jobs are broken down into very small parts as in

the assembly line operations where a fragmented task is repeatedly done

over and over again by the same individual.

ii) Job Rotation: This involves moving employees among different tasks

over a period of time. Management does not have to bother with

combining tasks, but at the same time, the workers do not get bored with

doing one simple task over several years. The employee is periodically

rotated from one job to another within the work setting

iii) Job Enlargement: This involves simply adding more tasks to the job so

that the workers have a variety of simple tasks to perform rather than

doing just one task repetitively. Two or more tasks are combined and the

individual does the combined tasks altogether.

iv) Job Enrichment: This offers a greater challenge to the workers because it

requires the use of variety of skills possessed by them. This involves

building in motivating factors into the job, giving the workers more

responsibility and control over work, and offering learning opportunities

for the individual on the job.

Technology

Organizations have technologies for transforming inputs and outputs. These technologies

consist of physical objects, activities and process, knowledge, all of which are brought to

bear on raw materials labor and capital inputs during a transformation process. The core

technology is that set of productive components most directly associated with the

transformation process, for example, production or assembly line in manufacturing firm.

Technology provides the physical and economic resources with which people work. They

cannot accomplish much with their bare hands, so they build buildings, design machines,

create work processes and assemble resources. The technology that results has a

significant influence on working relationships. An assembly line is not the same as a

research laboratory, and a steel mill does not h ave the same working conditions as a

hospital. The great benefit of technology is that it allows people to do more and better

work, but it also restricts people in various ways. It has costs as well as benefits.

Classification of Technology:

Thomson classified technology into three categories: Long-linked technology, Mediating

Technology and Intensive Technology.

i) Long linked Technology: In this, tasks are broken into a number of

sequential and interdependent steps, where the outputs of one unit become the

input of the next. (eg. Assembly line) this facilitates to have high volume of

output and efficiency. This technology calls for mechanistic structures with

high levels of specialization, standardization and formalization.

ii) Mediating Technology: This links different parties who need to be brought

together in a direct or indirect way (eg. Banks – use mediating technology to

lend money to borrowers by taking money from depositors)

iii) Intensive Technology: It is used when a group of specialists are brought

together to solve complex problems using a variety of technologies (eg.

Hospital – parties are treated with the help of experts drawn from different

fields of specialization). Coordination of the different activities is achieved in

the system primarily through mutual adjustment among those engaged in

solving the problem in the different units. Organic structures would fit in this

system using intensive technology.

Environment

All organizations operate within an external environment. A single organization does not

exist alone. It is part of a larger system that contains thousand of other elements. All these

mutually influence each other in a complex system that becomes the life style of the

people. Individual organization, such as a factory or school cannot escape from being

influenced by this external environment. It influences the attitudes of people, affects

working conditions, and provides competition for resources and power.

Every organization interacts with other members of its environment. The interactions

allow the organization t o acquire raw material, hire employees, secure capital, obtain

knowledge, and build, lease or buy facilities and equipment. Since the organization

process a product or service for consumption by the environment, it will also interact

with its customers. Other environmental actions, who regulate or over see these

exchanges, interact with the organization as well (distributors, advertising agencies, trade

associations, government of the countries in which business is conducted)

Two Distinct Sets of Environment:

i) Specific Environment: This includes the suppliers, customers, competitors,

governments’ agencies, employees, unions, political parties etc.

ii) General Environment: It includes the economic, political, cultural,

technological and social factors in which the organization embedded.

Organizations are embedded in an environment within which they operate. Some of the

external factors may be completely beyond the control of the organization to change,

such as the cultural, social or economic, or governmental aspects. However, many of the

other factors such as sizing up the market, being in tune with the technological changes

takes place, being a step ahead of competition, or stocking up and buffering supplies

when certain materials are likely to be in short supply, are all within the control of the

organization. Effectively managing these situations, however, requires constant and close

vigilance, adaptability to changes, and being able to manage problematical situations

through good decisions making. Those organizations which are proactive (that is,

watchful and take action before crisis situations occur) and can manage their external

environment are more effective than those that are reactive (that is, caught off guard and

wake up after facing the crises situation) and are unable to cope effectively.

Fit between Environment and Structure: Firms facing a fast changing or turbulent

external environment were very effective when they had more organic structures which

provided flexibility for quick changes to be make within the internal environment of the

system. Similarly, firms which operated in a relatively stable external environment were

very effective when they had more mechanistic structures. This mechanistic structure

allowed the system to operate in a predictable manner since authority, responsibility,

procedures, and rules were clearly specified.

Basic Approaches of Organisational Behavior

i) An Interdisciplinary Approach: It is integrating many disciplines. It integrates

social sciences and other disciplines that can contribute to the Organizational

Behavior. It draws from these disciplines any ideas that will improve the

relationships between people and organization. Its interdisciplinary nature is

similar to that of medicine, which applies physical, biological and social science

into a workable medical practice. Organizations must have people, and people

working toward goals must have organizations, so it is desirable to treat the two

as a working unit.

ii) Scientific Management Approach: The fundamental concern of the scientific

management school was to increase the efficiency of the worker basically through

good job design and appropriate training of the workers. Taylor is the father of the

scientific management movement and he developed many ides to increase

organizational efficiency. Taylor showed that through proper job design, worker

selection, employee training and incentives, productivity can be increased. The

scientific management school advocated that efficiency can be attainted by

finding the right methods to get the job done, through specialization on the job, by

planning and scheduling, by using standard operating mechanisms, establishing

standard times to do the job, by proper selection and training of personnel and

through wage incentives.

iii) A Human Resources (Supportive) Approach: It is developmental approach

concerned with the growth and development of people toward higher levels of

competency creativity and fulfillment, because people are the central resource in

any organizations and any society. It helps people grow in self-control and

responsibility and then it tries to create a climate in which all employees may

contribute to the limits of their improved abilities. It is assumed that expanded

capabilities and opportunities for people will lead directly to improvements in

operating effectiveness. Work satisfaction will be a direct result when employees

make fuller use of their capabilities. Essentially, the human resources approach

means that better people achieve better results.

iv) A Contingency Approach: Traditional management relies on one basic principle

– there is one best way of managing things and these things can be applied across

the board in all the instances. The situational effect will be totally ignored in this

traditional management. Situations are much more complex than first perceived

and the different variables may require different behavior which means that

different environments required different behavior for effectiveness. Each

situation much be analyzed carefully to determine the significant variables that

exist in order to establish the kinds of practices that will be more effective.

Contingency theorist argues that the external environment and several aspects of

the internal environment govern the structure of the organization and the process

of management. Effective management will vary in different situations depending

on the individual and groups in the organization, the nature of jobs, technology,

the type of environment facing the organization and its structure. For example, if

the employees are highly matured and willing to take more responsibility, the

managers can follow delegating style and give full freedom to their employees. If

the employees are not so matured and avoid taking any responsibility, the

managers must follow directing style. Depends upon the situation, that is,

employees level of maturity, managers will adopt different style of leadership to

ensure more successful results.

v) A Systems Approach: This implies that organization consists of many inter

related and inter dependent elements affecting one another in order to achieve the

overall results. Conceptually a system implies that there are a multitude of

variables in organization and that each of them affects all the others in complex

relationships. An event that appears to affect one individual or one department

actually may have significant influences elsewhere in the organization.

Systems theorists describe the organization as “open to its external environment”,

receiving certain inputs from the environment such as human resources, raw

materials etc, and engaging in various operations to transform those raw materials

into a finished products and finally turning out the “outputs” in its final form to be

sent to the environment. The organization, since it is open to the environment,

also receives feedback from the environment and takes corrective action as

necessary. This input-transformation process-output model with the feedback

mechanism can be illustrated through a simple example.

Let Us Sum Up

In this unit, we have briefly discussed about the concepts and key elements of

organizational behaviour. The key elements in organizational behavior are people,

structure, technology and the external elements, in which the organization operators,

various approaches have been developed for managerial analysis. We have also discussed

the five major approaches to organizational behaviour.