Organizational behaviour lession 1 development of ob

Organizational Behaviour

Unit 1Development

of Organizational Behaviour

Toward a definition of OB

• The concept of organizational behaviour is somewhat misleading because OB refers to the behaviour of people in an organization.

• An organization is a system of two or more people, engaged in cooperative action trying to reach a purpose(Kilduff and Doughberry sired in Champoux, 2006 p6).

• Hellriegel, slocum and Woodman (1995 p4) define organizational behaviour as a study of human behaviour, attitudes and performance in an organization.

Toward a definition of OB

• It is interdisciplinary, drawing from concepts from social and clinical psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, industrial engineering, and organizational psychology.

Historical foundations of OB

• Scientific Management – Frederick W. Taylor (1911)– The four principles of Taylor’s scientific

management:1. Carefully study the jobs to develop standard work

practices. Standardize the tools used by workers.2. Select each worker scientifically.3. Management and workers cooperate to ensure that

work is done according to standard procedures.4. Management plans and makes task assignments;

workers carry out assigned task.


• Theory of Administration– Henri Fayol (1919)• Fayol’s theory described the major management

functions and several principles that act as a administrative guide.• Five functions of management:

1. Planning2. Organizing3. Commanding4. Coordinating5. controlling


• Fayol (con’t)– “all must observe the same general principles”. The

principle of administration were central to his theory of administration. They are set tools a manager needs to perform the function of management. • Division of labour• Authority and responsibility• Centralization• Delegation of authority• Unity of command• Unity of direction


• Bureaucracy (Max Weber, 1922)– An administrative structure with well defined

offices and functions and hierarchical relationships among the functions.

– The bureaucracy defines the authority when it develops its division of labour. The person who takes authority assumes the authority of that position.


• Bureaucracy (con’t)– Features:

• Clearly defined and specialized functions• Use of legal authority• Hierarchical form• Written rules• Technical trained bureaucrats• Appointment based on technical competence• Clearly defined career path

– Fixed formal relationships among clearly defined hierarchically organized functions.


• Mary Parker Follet’s (1925) and Chester Bernard (1938) – humanistic perspective on management that emphasized:– Importance of understanding human behaviours– Needs and attitudes in the work place– Social interaction and group processes


• Human Relations Movement– The human relations school considers that effective control

comes from within the individual rather than from strict, authoritarian control.

– The relations movement emphasized satisfaction of employee’s basic needs as key to increased productivity.

– The Hawthorne Studies (1939) is a significant qualifying perspective as it emphasized the extent to which social pressures affect employees in the work place and how the relationship between managers and operatives influence the level of productivity in the work environment.

– Maslow and McGregor (1960) – motivation of the individual


• Peter Drucker (1995)– Proposed the philosophy of management by

objectives (MBO) and self-control.– Managers and employees define goals for every

department, project, and person and use them to monitor subsequence performance.

Why study OB?

• To attain the competencies needed to be an effective employee, team leader, and/or manager.

• Knowledge and skills gained should help to diagnose, understand, and explain what is happening around to an employee in his or her job.

Issues in OB

• Issues in organizational behaviour are likely to result from areas of :– Workforce diversity– Changes in the work force and customers– Gender– Race and ethnicity– Age– Quality management– Technology– Global environment– Ethics

Categories of Diversity

Primary Categories•Age•Race•Ethnicity•Gender•Physical abilities and qualities•Sexual and effectional orientation

Secondary categories•Education•Work experience•Income•Marital status•Religious beliefs•Geographical location•Parental status•Behavioural style

Effects on Organizational

Behaviour

Stages of development of OB

Organization

Group

Individual

Business

Organizational behaviour lession 1 development of ob