Organizations & Behavior Approaches to Management

Organizations & Behavior

Approaches to Management

The Human Relations Approach

In 1930s scientific management was heavily criticized for dehumanizing workers and treating them like a mere cog in the machine of production. This reflected not just a more enlightened philosophy of work, but a renewed understanding that organizations are made up of people and not just functions. By robbing the worker of any sense of contribution to the total product or task, the organization was losing out an important source of energy and creativity. A new approach to set out to redress the balance.


• Elton Mayo– This approach emphasized the importance of human

attitudes, values and relationships for efficient an effective functioning of work organizations.

– Elton Mayo was pioneer and said: ‘ We have thought that first class technical training was sufficient in a modern and mechanical age . As a consequence we are technically competent as no other age in history has been, and we combine this with utter social incompetence ’


• Neo-Human Relations– Mayo's ideas were followed up by various

social psychologists including Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor who emphasized that people have more than merely physical and social needs.

– Attention shifted towards their higher psychological needs for growth, challenge, responsibility and self-fulfillment.


• Job Enlargement: is a way of increasing the satisfaction available in a job by adding tasks, for greater variety and interest.

• Job Enrichment: is a way of increasing the satisfaction available in a job by adding responsibility and challenge, for greater scope and involvement.


• An Appraisal Of The Human Relations Approach– Awareness of the influence of the human

factor at work on organizational performance and the need to offer job satisfaction to employees.

The Systems Approach

As we have seen early theories saw the organization primarily as a structure of tasks and authority which could be drawn in an organization chart. But that is like a snapshot of an organization, showing what it looks like frozen at a particular moment in time. In fact organizations are neither self-contained nor static: they are open systems.


• The systems approach to organizations was developed at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in 1950s.

• There is no universally accepted definition of system, but it can be defined as ‘an entity which consists of interdependent parts’

• Every system has a boundary which defines what is inside and what is outside the system.


• System can be closed and can be open

• Organizations are open social system

• There are inputs to an open system in form of capital, information and materials

• There are outputs in form of information, products and satisfied customers


• The Socio-Technical System– The systems approach also emphasizes the

existence of sub-systems, or parts of the bigger system.

– Trist and Bamforth developed an approach which suggested that an organization can be treated as an open socio-technical system. That is, a system consisting of at least three sub systems.


a) A structure ( division of labor, authority relationships and communication channels )

b) A technological system ( the work to be done, and the techniques and tools used to do it )

c) A social system ( the people within the organization, the ways they think and interact with each other )


• An appraisal of the systems approach– The organization is not a static structure as

conventional organization chart suggest: it is continuously reacting to internal and external changes.

– Sub-systems of the organization each have potentially conflicting goals which must be integrated often with some compromise

– An awareness of the environment of the organization is vital if the organization is to survive

The Contingency Approach

Once you see the organization as a system it becomes clear that there can be no one best way to design and manage such dynamic and varied processes. This is where contingency theory comes in.


• The contingency approach developed as a reaction to the idea that there are universal principles for designing organizations

• There are number of variables to be considered in the design of organizations and their style of management.


• An appraisal of the contingency approach– Encouraging managers to identify and define

the particular circumstances of the situation they need to manage and to devise and evaluate appropriate ways of handling them.

– Encouraging responsiveness and flexibility to change.

Functions Of Management

French industrialist Henri Fayol listed the functions of management as follows

• Planning: this essentially means looking to the future. It involves selecting the ends which the organization wishes to achieve ( its objectives ) an the means ( plans, policies, programs and procedures) it will adopt in order to achieve them.


• Organizing: the work to be done (in order to fulfill the plans) must be divided structured into tasks and jobs, within a formal structure of authority and communication. Organizing includes work scheduling (what is to be done when) and work allocation (who is to do what).


• Commanding: Fayol called this maintaining activity among the personnel. It involves instructing and motivating subordinates to carry out tasks.

• Coordinating: This is the task of harmonizing the activities of individuals and groups within the organization, reconciling differences in approach, timing and resource requirements in the interest of over all organizational objectives.


• Controlling: this is the task of monitoring the activities of individuals and groups , to ensure that their performance is in accordance with the plans, standards and objectives set for them. Deviations must be identified and corrected.

Nature Of Managerial Authority

• Authority: is the right to do something, or to get others to do it.– A manager is usually given authority from

above, by virtue of the position in the organization hierarchy to which he has been appointed.

– A team leader is given authority from below.


• Delegation: is a process whereby superior A gives subordinate B authority over a defined area which falls within the scope of A’s own authority.– Managers can not bestow on others the right

to make decisions which are outside the scope of their own authority.

– They are also sharing responsibility.


– A remains responsible for the results of the tasks and decisions which have been delegated to B.

– The delegated authority of a manager of a subordinate in a direct line down the chain of command is sometimes called line authority


• Authority is delegated for following reasons:– There are physical and mental limitations to

the work load of any individual– Routine or less important decisions can be

passed down the line, freeing the superior to concentrate on more important aspects of the work which only she has the authority to perform.


– Employees in today's organizations have high expectations with regard to job satisfaction, including participation in decision making.

– The continuity of management depends on subordinates gaining some experience of management processes in order to be groomed for promotion.


• Managers are often found reluctant in delegating authority due to following reasons– Low confidence and trust in the abilities of

subordinates– The burden of responsibility and

accountability for the mistakes of subordinates

– A desire to stay in touch with the department or team


– Unwillingness to admit that subordinates have developed to the extent that they could perform some of the manager’s duties

– Poor control and communication systems in the organization so that the manager feels (s)he has to do everything if (s)he wants to keep track of what is going on

– Lack of understanding of what delegation involves: that is not giving the subordinates total control


• Responsibility: is the liability of a person to be called to account for the way he has exercised the authority given to him. It is an obligation to do something, or get others to do it.


• Power: is the ability to do something, or get others to do it.– There is a difference between authority and

power.– Authority: right to do something– Power: being able to do something


• In an organization an individual can have following different types of powers.– Physical power: power of a superior force– Personal power: the personal charisma and

popularity of a particular individual– Position power: the power associated with a

particular job or position in the organization as well as delegated authority


– Resource power: control over resources which are valued by others.

– Expert power: possessing knowledge and expertise which is recognized and needed by others.

Managerial Roles

Henry Mintzberg carried out research into how managers actually do their work, and argued that the classical view says that the manager organizes, coordinates, plans and controls; the facts suggest otherwise . Managers do not spend scheduled chunks of time analyzing formal reports and systematically planning events: managerial work is disjointed and fragmented, and planning is often conducted on a day to day basis, in between more urgent tasks.

Managerial Roles

• Mintzberg identified ten managerial roles in three major categories.– Interpersonal roles– Informational roles– Decisional roles

Managerial Roles

• Interpersonal Roles: Mintzberg recognized that management is an interpersonal process, and outlined three basic roles which managers adopt in relation to other people.– Figurehead: performing ceremonial and social

duties as the organization’s representative. This is mainly the role of senior figures.

Managerial Roles

– Leader: selecting and training team members, and uniting and inspiring the team to achieve its objectives.

– Liaison: communicating with people outside the work unit or the organization: building up an informal system of information exchange.

Managerial Roles

• Informational roles: managers does not only leave or hang up the telephone in order to go back to work. In a large part communication is his work. A manager is likely to have a wider network of contacts within and outside the organization than his subordinates so he is the best person to gather and spread information.

Managerial Roles

– Monitor: receiving information from the environment and from within the organization. Much of this may be obtained informally, say from chatting with contacts or subordinates: managers do not rely solely on formal reports.

– Disseminator: passing on information to subordinates.

– Spokesman: transmitting information to interested parties outside the work unit or organization.

Managerial Roles

• Decisional Roles: the manager’s formal authority and access to information put him in a strong position to take decisions.– Entrepreneur: being a fixer, mobilizing

resources to get things done and to seize opportunities.

– Disturbance handler: coping with the unexpected, rectifying mistakes and getting operations and relationships back on course when necessary.

Managerial Roles

– Resource allocator: distributing limited resources in the way that will most efficiently achieve defined objectives.

– Negotiator: bargaining for example for resources and influence.

Documents

Organizations & Behavior Approaches to Management