Lec 1 Mgt Theory

Mullins, Essentials of Organisational Behaviour, 2nd Edition © Laurie Mullins 2008

Slide 1.1

Chapter One

People and Organisations


Slide 1.2

A framework for analysis

Figure 1.1 Organisational behaviour: a convenient framework of analysis


Slide 1.3

Influences on organisational behaviour

• The individual

• The group

• The organisation

• The environment


Slide 1.4

The individual

• Individuals are central to the study of organisational behaviour.

• Organisations are made up of individual members.• Conflict arises if needs and demands of the

organisation and the individual are incompatible.

The task of management is to integrate individuals and the organisation as a means to attaining organisational goals.


Slide 1.5

The group

• Groups are essential to organisation work and performance.

• Can be formal or informal.• Often develop their own hierarchies and leaders.• Can influence individual behaviour and

performance.

Managerial understanding of group processescan help the task of integration.


Slide 1.6

The organisation

• Formal organisational structure is created by management.

• It establishes internal relationships.• It provides order and systems.• It helps to direct the organisation towards the

achievement of organisational goals.

Organisational design can have an impact onthe behaviour of people within organisations.


Slide 1.7

The environment

External environment affects organisationsas the result of:

• Technological and scientific development• Economic activity• Social and cultural influences• The impact of government actions.

Management needs to assess and manage the opportunities and risks presented by the external environment to the achievement of goals.


Slide 1.8

Organisational behaviour – a multidisciplinary approach

Figure 1.2 Organisational behaviour – a multidisciplinary approach


Slide 1.9

Three main disciplines

• Psychology– The study of human personality and behaviour,

including perception, attitudes and motives.

• Sociology– The study of social behaviour, relationships and

order, including social structures, social position and leader–follower relationships.

• Anthropology– The study of mankind, including cultural systems,

beliefs, ideas and values and comparisons between such systems.


Slide 1.10

Orientations to work andthe work ethic

• Instrumental orientation– Work is not central to life, just a means to an end.

• Bureaucratic orientation– Work is central to life and there is a sense of obligation

both to the work and the organisation.

• Solidaristic orientation– Work is about being part of a group and these

relationships are more important than the organisation.

Goldthorpe et al.


Slide 1.11

International and cultural influences

‘The protestant version of the work ethic prevails, implying heads-down work, focused agendas, punctuality, efficiency. In French and Spanish offices, it takes the first hour to kiss everyone, the second to discuss local gossip and the third to pop out for a coffee and croissant. In Britain, these activities would count as sexual harassment, time-wasting and absenteeism.’

Reeves


Slide 1.12

Organisational stress

‘Stress is the adverse reaction people have to excess pressure. It isn’t a disease. But if stress is intense and goes on for some time, it can lead to mental and physical ill health (e.g. depression, nervous breakdown, heart disease).’

The Health and Safety Executive


Slide 1.13

Pressure and stress

• Pressure can be seen as a positive factor:– People respond to challenges– Leads to more effective performance.

• Stress is generally negative:– The build up of too much pressure– A continuous and negative response arising

from extreme pressure– Resulting in an inability to cope.


Slide 1.14

Results of stress

‘The results of unrelieved stress on the individual and on business are worrying. The result may be higher accident rates, sickness absence, inefficiency, damaged relationships with clients and colleagues, high staff turnover, early retirement on medical grounds, and even premature death… The cost of stress is huge. It is devastating to the individual and damaging to the business…’

Simon Armson, Chief Executive of The Samaritans


Slide 1.15

Coping with stress

• Changing viewpoints

• Identification of causes

• Humour, jokes and laughter

• Relaxation techniques

• Management education about stress

• Counselling and support


Slide 1.16

HSE’s stress management standards

Examines seven key workplace stressors

• Culture

• Control

• Relationships

• Change

• Demands of the job

• Role and support

• The individual


Slide 1.17

Management as an integrating activity

Figure 1.3 Management as the cornerstone of organisational effectiveness


Slide 1.18

The organisational setting

Figure 1.4 A basic framework of study


Slide 1.19

Organisational conflict

• The unitary perspective– An organisation is a harmonious whole.– Conflict is dysfunctional.

• The pluralist perspective– Conflict between subgroups is inevitable.– It must be handled and managed carefully.

• The radical perspective– Conflict is a challenge to the established order.– It results from power struggles between capital and

labour, and reconciliation is not, ultimately, possible.


Slide 1.20

Positive effects of conflict

• Production of better ideas and new approaches

• Problems surfaced and resolved

• Clarification of views

• Stimulation of interest and creativity

• Opportunities to test individual capacity


Slide 1.21

Negative effects of conflict

• Possibility that some feel defeated or demeaned

• Distancing effect between individuals

• Mistrust and suspicion can occur

• Individuals and groups focus on narrow interests

• Resistance

• Higher employee turnover


Slide 1.22

Conflict is healthy

‘A good manager doesn’t try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people… If you’re the boss and your people fight you openly when they think you’re wrong – that’s healthy. If your people fight each other openly in your presence for what they believe in – that’s healthy. But keep all the conflict eyeball to eyeball.’

Townsend


Slide 1.23

Strategies for managing conflict

• Clarification of goals and objectives• Resource distribution• Human resource management policies and

procedures• Non-monetary rewards• Development of interpersonal skills• Group activities• Leadership and management• Organisational processes• Socio-technical approach


Slide 1.24

The psychological contract

• A series of mutual expectations and satisfaction of needs arising from the people–organisation relationship.

• Rights, privileges, duties and obligations, which are not part of a formal agreement, but have an important influence on behaviour.


Slide 1.25

The importance of line managers

‘Managers at all levels can have an influence on employees’ perceptions of the psychological contract. It is, however, the relationship between individual employees and their line manager that is likely to have most influence in framing and managing employees’ expectations.’

Emmott.


Slide 1.26

The Peter Principle

‘In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence.’


Slide 1.27

Parkinson’s Law

‘Work expands to fill the time availablefor its completion.’

The ‘rising pyramid’ effect– An official wants to multiply subordinates, not

rivals– Officials make work for each other


Slide 1.28

Results of globalisation

• The ‘boundaryless organisation’

• Project teams, networks and less hierarchical organisational structures

• Challenge to management to reduce the effects of a bureaucratic mentality


Slide 1.29

Managing people from different cultures

‘Differences in national culture may have a bearing on how organisations deal with each other and also on behaviour within organisations which comprise a mix of nationalities.’

Brooks


Slide 1.30

Importance of peopleand organisational behaviour

‘One way to recognise why people behave as they do at work is to view an organisation as an iceberg. What sinks ships isn’t always what sailors can see, but what they can’t see.’

Hellreigel, Slocum and Woodman


Slide 1.31

The organisational iceberg

Figure 1.6 The organisational icebergSource: Hellriegel, D., Jackson, S.E. and Slocum, J. W., Jr., Management, Eighth Edition, South-Western Publishing (1998), p. 6. Reprinted with the permission of South-Western,a division of Thomson Learning (www.thomsonrights.com / Fax: 800-730-2215)


Slide 1.32

Management theory

‘Every managerial act rests on assumptions, generalizations and hypotheses – that is tosay, on theory. Our assumptions are frequently implicit, sometimes quite unconscious, often conflicting: nevertheless, they determine our predictions that if we do “a”, “b” will occur. Theory and practice are inseparable.’

McGregor


Slide 1.33

Main approaches to organisation, structure and management

Figure 1.7 Main approaches to organisation, structure and management


Slide 1.34

The classical approach

The organisation is considered in terms of:– Purpose– Formal structure– Planning of work– Technical requirements– Principles of management– Rational and logical behaviour.

In order to find:– The most effective structure.


Slide 1.35

Subgroups of classical approach

Common principles can be applied to all organisations, taking into account:

• The particular situational variables of each organisation• The social and psychological factors relating to members

of the organisation.

Scientific Management

F.W.Taylor

Bureaucracy

Max Weber


Slide 1.36

Scientific management

F.W. Taylor, 1856–1917

• Belief in the possibility of a ‘best way’ to undertake a job

• Analysis of work into discrete tasks

• Identification of the ‘one best way’

• Use of the ‘rational–economic’ concept of motivation


Slide 1.37

Principles to guide management

• The development of a true sciencefor each person’s work

• Scientific selection, training and development of workers

• Co-operation with workers to ensurework is carried out in the prescribed way

• The division of work and responsibility between managers and workers


Slide 1.38

Taylor’s legacy

• Standard performance manuals and systems

• Systematic procedural training

• Payment by results

‘Taylor… shaped the first coherent school of thought with application to the industrialised world.’

Stern


Slide 1.39

Bureaucracy

Max Weber, 1864–1920• Concept arose from his sociological studies of

power and authority• Belief in the superiority of an organisational

structure which can survive changes in individual personnel

• That it is a means of introducing order and rationality into social life

• Emphasis on both expertise (the rule of experts) and discipline (the rule of officials)


Slide 1.40

Main characteristics of bureaucracies

• Organisational tasks are allocated as duties between organisational positions

• Clear-cut division of labour and high degree of task specialisation

• Uniformity of decisions is achieved through rules and regulations

• Impersonal behaviour by officials when dealing with each other and with clients

• Employment is based on technical qualifications


Slide 1.41

Four main features of bureaucracy

• Specialisation

• Hierarchy of authority

• System of rules

• Impersonal behaviour

Stewart


Slide 1.42

Critique of bureaucratic organisations

• They over-emphasise rules, procedures,record-keeping and paperwork.

• They tend to emphasise status and ritual behaviour.

• Individual initiative can be stifled by rules.• They cannot adapt quickly to changed

circumstances.• They can cause officious and secretive

behaviour.• Their rigidity can restrict the psychological

growth of their members.


Slide 1.43

How high performing organisations respond to complexity

• Decentralised and flatter structures

• The use of multiple structures

• Converting into learning organisations

• Sharing of expertise and knowledge including that located in the periphery of the organisation

Ridderstrale


Slide 1.44

The human relations approach

Elton Mayo, 1880–1949• The Hawthorne experiments at the Western

Electric Company • Attention given to social factors at work rather

than purely rational organisation• Studies focus on individual psychological and

social needs• Recognised the informal organisation and group

norms as an important influence on worker behaviour


Slide 1.45

Critique of the Hawthorneexperiments

A flawed experiment?– Failure to take environmental factors into

account– Adoption of a unitary frame of reference to

worker/employer relationship– Over simplification of complex behaviours– Ignores external social factors on worker

behaviour, e.g. the ‘sex power’ differential


Slide 1.46

The legacy of the Hawthorne experiments

They emphasised the importance of thewider social needs of individuals and gave recognition to the work organisation as a social organisation and the importance of group values and norms.

The Classical School was about ‘organisations without people’ whereas the human relations school is about ‘people without organisations’.


Slide 1.47

The systems approach

• A reconciliation of classical and human relations approaches

• Considers:– The total work organisation– The relationship between structure and behaviour– The range of variables within an organisation.

• The organisation as an ‘open system’

• Socio-technical system


Slide 1.48

The contingency approach

• Rejects the idea of ‘one best form or structure’ or ‘optimum state’ for an organisation

• Focus placed on more general principlesof organisational analysis and design

• Successful design is dependent(i.e. contingent) upon:– The nature of tasks– The nature of the environment.


Slide 1.49

Social action

Sociologically based• Views the organisation from the standpoint of

individual members (the ‘actors’).• Individual goals and interpretations of the work

situation are important in explaining behaviour.• Conflict is seen as an organisational norm.• Rejects the ‘unitary’ and adopts a more ‘pluralist’

approach to understanding organisational life.


Slide 1.50

Unitary or pluralistic view

‘With the unitary approach, the organisation is viewed as a team with a common source of loyalty, one focus of effort and one accepted leader. The pluralist approach views the organisation as made up of competingsubgroups with their own loyalties, goalsand leaders. These competing subgroupsare almost certain to come into conflict.’

Mullins p. 32

AQ: Please confirm whether the name of the book is to be mentioned here or whether it is understood that it is from this book.

AQ: Please confirm whether the name of the book is to be mentioned here or whether it is understood that it is from this book.


Slide 1.51

Development of approachesto organisation and management

Figure 1.9 An outline of developments of approaches to organisation and management


Slide 1.52

Relevance to management and organisational behaviour

• Helpful to students in the arrangement and study of their material

• Provides a setting in which to view the field of management

• Traces major lines of argument developed by different writers and managers

• Offers a framework for comparisons between management principles and practices

• Helps organisational analysis and problem identification• Enables managers to select ideas from a range of

approaches which best suit their situation


Slide 1.53

Caveats to be noted

• Various approaches represent a progression of ideas, not competing ideas.

• Categorisations tend to be arbitrary.

• The distinction between ‘schools’ of thought is rarely clear or accurate.


Slide 1.54

The importance of cultural contexts

‘Traditionally, the greatest aspiration of researchers is to discover objective, universalistic principles of behaviour.The tacit assumption behind this is that these principles may be discovered without reference to cultural contexts.’

Cheng, Sculli and Chan


Slide 1.55

Benefits to the manager

• Helps to explain the complexitiesof modern organisations

• Provides comparisons

• Prepares managers for the future

• Encourages managers to abandon complacency

• Can shed new light on old problems

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