Introducing Organizational Behaviour

Chapter 1: pp. 28-41Organizational Behavior 261

Gabrielle Durepos

Reminders

• Attendance

• Check the Globe and Mail often for articles for your assignment– You want to avoid being limited to articles that appear in the week that

the assignment is due

• When emailing me:– Please put your course number and section in the subject line

• Group sign up– Due Wed Sept 28th

– Via Moodle

Outline

• Overview of different approaches to OB:– Review of Managerialist– Actionalist– Radical– Feminist– Racioethnicity

• Norma Rae Exercise

• Conclusions

Quick overview of different approaches to OB:

The Managerialist Approach

• Steams from the work of Taylor, Gilbreth, Roethlisberger and Dickson and others

• The most dominant; usually taken for granted as being the only approach

• From the managers point of view

• Concern with:– Understanding how behavior leads to: Improved efficiency, productivity, profitability,

growth

• Definition is:– Investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structures have on behavior

within organizations to improve effectiveness

• Also known as (sort of):– Mainstream– Functionalist– Clinical

Quick overview of different approaches to OB:

The Actionalist Approach

• From the organizational member’s point of view

• Concern with:– Understanding organizational processes

– The study of behaviour at work to contribute to our knowledge of human behaviour

– How certain work processes become normal, taken for granted

• Definition is:– The study of how people negotiate meaning at work and how they develop a

“sense” of organization

• Also known as:– Interpretive approach

Quick overview of different approaches to OB:

The Radical Approach

• From the worker’s point of view

• Concern with:– Exploitative nature of work– Work organizations lead to depersonalization and repressed identities– Work organizations as places that sustain hegemonies– Exposing how workers thoughts, ideas and behavior are shaped and controlled by the

organization

• Definition is:– Field of study that looks at the impact of individuals, groups and structures on

behavior within organizations– To understand how this impact is used to control the behavior of employees to

achieve managerial ends– Focus on the potential detrimental nature of work on the worker

• Also known as:– Critical approach

Quick overview of different approaches to OB:

The Feminist Approach

• From the woman’s point of view

• Concern with:– Identifying and exposing processes of sexual discrimination

– Identifying the nature of the interrelationships between men and women in the organization and the effect this has on women

• Definition is:– Feminist OB investigates the impact of:

• Individual men• Individual women• Groups of men• Groups of women• Masculinist values and behavior• Feminist values and behavior

– This is about men AND women AND how relationships are sustained between these groups

• There are many different forms of feminism– Liberal (a very common form), Critical, Socialist, Poststructuralist, Post…

Quick overview of different approaches to OB:

The Racioethnicity Approach

• From the person of color’s point of view

• Concern with:– Identifying, exposing and addressing processes of racial or

ethnic discrimination– Race can be identified through visual cues– Ethnicity can not; it is a cultural/religious acquisition/background

• Definition is:– Looks at the impact of race, ethnicity, racist and ethnocentric

values and ideas on behavior within organizations– To identify and address racial and ethnic discrimination

“Norma Rae” Exercise

1. Watch the “Norma Rae” Clip

2. Get into groups of 5 individuals

3. I will assign each group an OB ‘lens’

4. Answer these questions:– Begin by defining your lens– Wear your lens to explain what happens in the clip

• This means, adopt your assigned perspective of OB to explain what happens in the clip

– Why are these different approaches to OB important?• Are they useful for understanding the workplace?

– What happens when two workplace groups approach the same problem through a different lens? Does this lead to:• Conflict? • Increased understanding?• Decreased understanding?• Mutual respect?

5. You have 10 minutes to discuss in your group

6. This will be followed by a class discussion

Conclusions

• Different approaches to OB yield different definitions

• No approach is “superior” or “correct”

• The approach you take depends on personal preferences and what you are trying to achieve or illustrate