Showing posts with label OB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OB. Show all posts

Summary - Management Process

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Organizational behavior (OB) is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within an organization, then applies that knowledge to make organizations work more effectively (Robbins, 2003). An affective and efficient manager should focus
on two key results. The first is task performance—the quality and quantity of the work produced or the services provided by the work unit as a whole. The second is job satisfaction—how people feel about their work and the work setting. management functions have been grouped into four categories: planning, organizing, leading and controlling.


Planning involves the process of defining goals, establishing strategies for achieving these goals, and developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities. Every organization needs to plan for change in order to reach its set goal. Effective planning enables an organization adapt to change by identifying opportunities and avoiding problems. It provides the direction for the other functions of management and for effective teamwork. Planning also enhances the decision-making process. All levels of management engage in planning in their own way for achieving their preset goals. 


Organizing involves designing, structuring, and coordinating the work components to achieve organizational goal. It is the process of determining
what tasks are to be done, who is to do, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made. A key issue in accomplishing the goals identified in the planning process is structuring the work of the organization. Organizations are groups of people, with ideas
and resources, working toward common goals. The purpose of the organizing function is to make the best use of the organization's resources to achieve organizational goals. Organizational structure is the formal decision-making
framework by which job tasks are divided, grouped, and coordinated.
Formalization is an important aspect of structure. It is the extent to which the units of the organization are explicitly defined and its policies, procedures, and goals are clearly stated. It is the official organizational structure conceived and built by top management. The formal organization can be seen and represented in chart form. An organization chart displays the organizational structure and shows job titles, lines of authority, and relationships between departments.


Leading involves team building, consensus building, selecting and training. An organization has the greatest chance of being successful when all of the employees work toward achieving its goals. Since leadership involves the exercise of influence by one person over others, the quality of leadership exhibited by supervisors is a critical determinant of organizational success. 


Controlling
involves monitoring the employees’ behavior and organizational processes and take necessary actions to improve them, if needed. Control is the process through which standards for performance of people and processes are set, communicated, and applied. Effective control systems use mechanisms to monitor activities and take corrective action, if necessary. According to Mintzberg (1973), managerial roles are: Informational roles, Decisional roles and Interpersonal roles. Katz (1974) has identified three essential management skills: technical, human, and conceptual. Luthans (1988) found that all managers engage in four managerial activities: (i) Traditional management— This activity consists of planning, decision making, and controlling, (ii) Communication—This activity consists of exchanging routine information and processing paperwork, (iii) Human resource management—this activity consists of motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and training, and (iv) Networking—this activity involves socializing, politicking, and interacting with outsiders.

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Effective vs. Successful Managerial Activities - Management Process

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Luthans (1988), on the basis of his study, found that all managers engage in four managerial activities.


1. Traditional management— This activity consists of planning, decision making, and controlling. The average manager spent 32 percent of his or her time performing this activity, whereas successful managers spend 13% and effective managers spend 13% of their time in this activity.


2. Communication—This activity consists of exchanging routine information and processing paperwork. The average manager spent 29 percent of his or her time performing this activity while successful manager spends 28% and effective managers spend 44% of their time in this activity.


3. Human resource management—This activity consists of motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and training. The average manager spent 20 percent of his or her time performing this activity, while successful manager spends 11% and effective managers spend 26% of their time in this activity.


4. Networking—This activity involves socializing, politicking, and interacting with outsiders. The average manager spent 19 percent of his or her time performing this activity, while successful manager spends 48% and successful manages spend 11% of their time in this activity.


It was found that successful managers spent more time and effort in socializing, interacting and networking. They did not spend much time to the traditional management activities or to the human resource management activities (Luthans, 1988).

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Management roles and skills - Management Process

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Managerial Roles



According to Mintzberg (1973), managerial roles are as follows:


1. Informational roles


2. Decisional roles


3. Interpersonal roles


1. Informational roles: This involves the role of assimilating and disseminating information as and when required. Following are the main subroles, which managers often perform:


a. Monitor—collecting information from organizations, both from inside and outside of the organization


b. Disseminator—communicating information to organizational members


c. Spokesperson—representing the organization to outsiders


2. Decisional roles: It involves decision making. Again, this role can be subdivided in to the following:


a. Entrepreneur—initiating new ideas to improve organizational performance


b. Disturbance handlers—taking corrective action to cope with adverse situation


c. Resource allocators—allocating human, physical, and monetary resources


d. Negotiator – negotiating with trade unions, or any other stakeholders



3. Interpersonal roles : This role involves activities with people working in the organization. This is supportive role for informational and decisional roles. Interpersonal roles can be categorized under three subheadings:


a. Figurehead—Ceremonial and symbolic role


b. Leadership—leading organization in terms of recruiting, motivating etc.


c. Liaison—liasoning with external bodies and public relations activities.


Management Skills


Katz (1974) has identified three essential management skills: technical, human, and conceptual.


Technical skills: The ability is to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. All jobs require some specialized expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job. Vocational and on-the-job training programs can be used to develop this type of skill.


Human Skill : This is the ability to work with, understand and motivate other people (both individually and a group). This requires sensitivity towards others issues and concerns. People, who are proficient in technical skill, but not with interpersonal skills, may face difficulty to manage their subordinates. To acquire the Human Skill, it is pertinent to recognize the feelings and sentiments of others, ability to motivate others even in adverse situation, and communicate own feelings to others in a positive and inspiring way.


Conceptual Skill : This is an ability to critically analyze, diagnose a situation and forward a feasible solution. It requires creative thinking, generating options and choosing the best available option.

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Controlling - Management Process

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It involves monitoring the employees’ behavior and organizational processes and take necessary actions to improve them, if needed. Control is the process through which standards for performance of people and processes are set, communicated, and applied. Effective control systems use mechanisms to monitor activities and take corrective action, if necessary. There are four steps in the control process. They are as follows:


Step 1. Establish Performance Standards. Standards are created when objectives are set during the planning process. A standard is any guideline established as the basis for measurement. It is a precise, explicit statement of expected results from a product, service, machine, individual, or organizational unit. It is usually expressed numerically and is set for quality, quantity, and time. Tolerance is permissible deviation from the standard.


Step 2. Measure Actual Performance. Supervisors collect data to measure actual performance to determine variation from standard. Written data might include time cards, production tallies, inspection reports, and sales tickets. Personal observation, statistical reports, oral reports and written reports can be used to measure performance. Management by walking around, or observation of employees working, provides unfiltered information, extensive coverage, and the ability to read between the lines. While providing insight, this method might be misinterpreted by employees as mistrust. Oral reports allow for fast and extensive feedback. Computers give supervisors direct access to real time, unaltered data, and information. On line systems enable supervisors to identify problems as they occur. Database programs allow supervisors to query, spend less time gathering facts, and be less dependent on other people.


Step 3. Compare Measured Performance Against Established Standards. Comparing results with standards determines variation. Some variation can be expected in all activities and the range of variation the acceptable variance has to be established. Management by exception lets operations continue as long as they fall within the prescribed control limits. Deviations or differences that exceed this range would alert the supervisor to a problem.


Step 4. Take Corrective Action. The supervisor must find the cause of deviation from standard. Then, he or she takes action to remove or minimize the cause. If the source of variation in work performance is from a deficit in activity, then a supervisor can take immediate corrective action and get performance back on track.




Types of Control


Controls are most effective when they are applied at key places. Supervisors can implement controls before the process begins (feed forward), during the process (concurrent), or after it ceases (feedback).


Feed forward controls focus on operations before they begin. Their goal is to prevent anticipated problems. An example of feed forward control is scheduled maintenance on automobiles and machinery.


Concurrent controls apply to processes as they are happening. Concurrent controls enacted while work is being performed include any type of steering or guiding mechanism such as direct supervision, automated systems (such as computers programmed to inform the user when they have issued the wrong command), and organizational quality programs.


Feedback controls focus on the results of operations. They guide future planning, inputs, and process designs. Examples of feedback controls include timely (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual) reports so that almost instantaneous adjustments can be made.

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Leading - Management Process

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An organization has the greatest chance of being successful when all of the employees work toward achieving its goals. Since leadership involves the exercise of influence by one person over others, the quality of leadership exhibited by supervisors is a critical determinant of organizational success.
Supervisors can learn about leadership through research. Leadership studies can be classified as trait, behavioral, contingency, and transformational. Earliest theories assumed that the primary source of leadership effectiveness lay in the personal traits of the leaders themselves. Yet, traits alone cannot explain leadership effectiveness. Thus, later research focused on what the leader actually did when dealing with employees. These behavioral theories of leadership sought to explain the relationship between what the leader did and how the employees reacted, both emotionally and behaviorally. Yet, behavior can't always account for leadership in different situations. Thus, contingency theories of leadership studied leadership style in different environments. Transactional leaders, such as those identified in contingency theories, clarify role and task requirements for employees. Yet, contingency can't account for the inspiration and innovation that leaders need to compete in today's global marketplace. Newer transformational leadership studies have shown that
leaders, who are charismatic and visionary, can inspire followers to transcend their own self-interest for the good of the organization.



Leading involves the following functions:


1. Team-building


Rigid department boundaries and fixed teams are giving way to ad hoc squads whose membership changes with every project. Flexible networks of team based structures are occurring within and between companies, as well as across national borders. Competitive arenas require quick decisions by knowledgeable employees who work close to the source of problems. Teams enable knowledge-based and innovative decision making. This collaboration is a revolution in the workplace.


2. Consensus Building


Top performance demands the joint effort of many people, working together toward a common goal. When an individual works together with others, effectiveness grows, creating greater productivity for all involved. Together, employees can do more than the collective efforts of each individual working
alone.


3. Selecting


Selecting competent, high performing employees capable of sustaining their performance over the long run is a competitive advantage. The selection process consists of forecasting employment needs, recruiting candidates, interviewing applicants, and hiring employees.


4. Training


After employees are selected, they enter an orientation program to be formally introduced to their jobs. Orientation sets a tone for new employees' work by describing job-related expectations and reporting relationships. Employees are informed about benefits, policies, and procedures. Specific duties and responsibilities and performance evaluation are clarified. During orientation, the supervisor has the opportunity to resolve any unrealistic expectations held by the employee. Training refers to improving an employee's knowledge, skills, and attitudes so that he or she can do the job.
All new employees (or current employees in new jobs) should be trained. Cross training prepares an employee for a job normally handled by someone else. Also, training is advisable when new processes, equipment or procedures are introduced into the workplace. Training starts with an organization analysis. By focusing on strategy and examining sales forecasts and expected changes in production, distribution and support systems, employers can determine which skills will be needed and to what degree. A comparison with current skill levels is used to estimate staff and training needs. Task analysis identifies the elements of current or future tasks to be done. Personal needs analysis involves asking employees and managers, either in an interview or in a self-administered questionnaire, to analyze their training needs. In general, agreement between managers and employees tends to be low, so it is important that both parties agree to decisions about the training of employees.

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Organizing - Management Process

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It involves designing, structuring, and coordinating the work components to achieve organizational goal. It is the process of determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made. A key issue in accomplishing the goals identified in the planning process is structuring the work of the organization. Organizations are groups of people, with ideas and resources, working toward common goals. The purpose of the organizing function is to make the best use of the organization's resources to achieve organizational goals. Organizational structure is the formal decision-making framework by which job tasks are divided, grouped, and coordinated. Formalization is an important aspect of structure. It is the extent to which the units of the organization are explicitly defined and its policies, procedures, and goals are clearly stated. It is the official organizational structure conceived and built by top management. The formal organization can be seen and represented in chart form. An organization chart displays the organizational structure and shows job titles, lines of authority, and relationships between departments.



The steps in the organizing process include:


1. Review plans


2. List all tasks to be accomplished


3. Divide tasks into groups one person can accomplish a job


4. Group related jobs together in a logical and efficient manner


5. Assign work to individuals


6. Delegate authority to establish relationships between jobs and groups of
    jobs.

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Management Functions - Management Process

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Follett (1933) defined management as "the art of getting things done through people". [2] One can also think of management functionally, as the action of measuring a quantity on a regular basis and of adjusting some initial plan.


Management functions are as follows (Fayol, 1949):


1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Commanding
4. Coordinating
5. Controlling



However, in recent time, management functions have been regrouped into four categories, since the managerial tasks have become highly challenging a fluid in nature making distinctions redundant to a certain extend. The four functions are as follows:


1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Leading
4. Controlling

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Management Process - Introduction

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Organizational behavior (OB) is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within an organization, then applies that knowledge to make organizations work more effectively (Robbins, 2003). In recent times, we notice the following changes in the organizational set up:


1. Demise of traditional hierarchical structure
2. Emergence of workforce with different expectations form organizations
3. Advancement of information technology
4. Increasing importance on empowerment and teamwork
5. Concern for work-life balance


An affective and efficient manager therefore, should focus on two key results. The first is task performance—the quality and quantity of the work produced or the services provided by the work unit as a whole. The second is job satisfaction—how people feel about their work and the work setting. 


OB directs a manager’s attention to such matters as job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment, as well as measures of actual task performance. OB also recognizes the need for changing behavior, attitude and managerial styles in the context of the above. Hence, management processes and functions are vital to organizational effectiveness. An understanding of the basis management functions helps in comprehending the key roles managers need to play to run organizations effectively.

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Performance evaluation and organizational effectiveness - OB

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One essential component of asuccessful appraisal system is the existence of clear and well communicatedgoals. Without an understood standard, the evaluation has little meaning. Thereis a great deal of evidence stating that particiation is an important part ofimplementing an appraisal system. When people feel that they have participatedin setting goals and establishing guidelines, they appear less resistant to thechanges such systems inevitably produce.

Orgnisational effectiveness isgenerally associated with goal accomplishment. Although this is an accuratemethod of examining effectiveness, problems arise when we rely completely on thegoal approach. Reality is, in most cases, too complex to expect an organisationto proceed directly from the accomplishment of one goal to another.

Amore realistic approach is the systems model which considers numeroussubsystems and elements. The chapter attempts to look at selectedorganizational outputs. The first is effective performance and second isorganisational effectiveness defined in a specific manner.

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Power relations in organizations - OB

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Thechapter begins with a review of the sources of power and reveals that the powerto influence can come from many sources. These sources range from extremelypersonal things such as charisma to structural or positional influences. Theuse of power is really a question of leadership styles. The power one holdsover another is associated with dependency. When one person is influenced byanother for something he or she values, the former is more easily influenced bythe latter.

Complexinterrelationship between organizational goals and the political process knownas coalition formation is discussed. Regardless of whether one accepts thenatural systems view or the individual view of organizational goals, one mustexplain how the desires of various interest groups and/or individuals aretranslated into objectives of organizations. This is where theory of politicalcoalition becomes an important issue.


Viewingpower and goal formation as political processes adds processes evident inorganizations of every type. Human beings important to recognize this aspect oforganizational behavior.

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Environment, Organizations and Behavior - OB

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Inthis chapter the specifics of the complex linkage between environmentalexternalities, organization and individual behavior have been explained. Insociotechnical systems, social relationships in work groups can be associatedwith the technological demands of their tasks. In spite of the enthusiasm ofthe proponents of the sociotechnical view, considerable controversies existwith respect to the nature of the effect of environmental factors onorganizational structures and consequently on behavior.

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THE ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL - OB

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The purpose of this chapter hasbeen to provide a transition between group behavior and the influences oforganizational design. In addition, some rather specific goals have beenestablished for the analysis. The attempt has been to not overestimate orunderestimate the importance of structure on organizatioanal behavior.

The objectives having beendefined, the authors surveyed various views of the individual’s interactionwith the organisation. Both the Weber’s theory of bureaucracy and the newdeveloping contemporary structural view advocated by Charles Perrow have beenelucidated. The point of agreement in both formulations is the importanceattached to positions and roles rather than to personality factors.

Then the non structural argumentsby Chris Argyris and Warren Bennis were dealt with. The former propounded thatthere is incongrruency between the needs of the mature adult personality andthe demands of the formal organization. This incongruency is capable ofproducing many things, including frustration and apathy on the part oforganizational members. Warren Bennis’ idea was regarding the inability ofbureaucracy to adequately respond to change. These ideas are relevant to theissue of organizational behavior because they propose a drastic shift from thetraditional bereaucratic views regarding human nature, power and democraticprocesses in oranisations.

The chapter concludes with a lookat two different views of the organization, developing a relation between thetwo relating to the ease with which organizations interact with environmentalforces. The first view which is regarded as the machine model of organizationtends to minimize the importance of environmental factors in influencingorganizational behaviors. The second is the open systems model which recognizesthe necessity of organizational – environmental interaction. A view of theholistic character of organizational behavior shows that environmental forcesare explicitly acknowledged as determinants of structure. The structureconsequently influences behavior which in turn has reciprocal impact on design.

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LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR AND EFFECTIVENESS - OB

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Avariety of topics relating to leadership has been presented in this chapter.Some important aspects are highlighted here.

Early leadership theoryconcentrated on the traits possessed by leaders. The interest in traitsprogressed from an analysis of physical-cultural characteristics such asheight, nationality, race and so on, to more complex socio-psychological traitssuch a competitiveness, intelligence, and aggressiveness.

This approach continues to have acertain intuitive appeal. For example, the International Herald Tribune (1976)in reporting the death of MaoTse-tung, noted that the Chinese leader wasgreatly influenced by a book entitled Great Heroes of the World, in which heread about Napolean, Catherine the Great, Abraham Lincoln, George Washingtonand others. Even today the temptation to look at the important traits ofrecognized leaders is great.

Recent leadership research hasbeen directed more carefully towards the situational or relative view ofleadership. Rather than taking the view that leadership is a personalphenomenon related to the traits of individual personalities, the approachlooks more clearly at the impersonal aspects of the situation. Although thisappears to many people to be a more productive approach, the definition of thesituation is far from simple. Some researchers have taken a positional approachand have examined an individual’s position within the network of groupinformation flow. The conclusion has been that leadership is related to thecontrol of information. Thus, a person who is ‘central’ or controlsinformation, appears to have a greater probability of emerging as a leader.Other factors such as visibility also appear to offer promising opportunitiesfor further research.

A more developed theory ofleadership effectiveness that has been successful in relating leadership styleto group effectiveness is known as contingency theory. Through the use of theleast preferred co-worker score (LPC), leaders are first classified as task orrelation oriented. The leadership situation then is categorized according tothe leader’s position power, the structure of the task, and the favorableness ofleader-follower relations. By relating a person’s leadership orientation andthe situational favorableness, the contingency model proposes a rather complexset of associations.

The chapter concludes by brieflyintroducing path-goal theory to provide an extension of the previouslydiscussed models and to relate leadership to the earlier discussions ofinstrumentality theories of motivation.

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INTRODUCTION TO SMALL GROUP BEHAVIOR - OB

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This chapter has discussed theconcept of the small group and has illustrated the importance of the smallgroup within the broader topic of organizational behavior. Small group has beendefined as a collection of interacting individuals who have common goals,similar values, and a structure of relationships. Groups come in a variety offorms, depending on the classification schema utilized.

The problem of defining the sizeof a small group is particularly troublesome. Because of their uniqueness,dyads and triads are considered special cases. Consequently, the main body ofsmall-group theory that we discussed was related to groups of four or more, upto some theoretical limit where personal interaction is no longer possible.

One of the more importantcharacteristics discussed is the nature of normative behavior in groups. Anextremely complex relationship exists among such factors as group norms,conformity, cohesiveness, and group performance. Since performance is amanager’s primary concern, care has been taken to examine thisinterrelationship in detail and specific examples given of ways in whichknowledge of this process has been used by the managers of organizations.

No discussion of small groupbehavior is complete without an analysis of the structures that inevitablydevelop in the group context. For this reason, role relations have beenexamined, including clarity, ambiguity, and conflict, along with the extremelyrelevant topic of status. In all cases, care has been taken to report the hardresearch data that have developed with respect to these topics.

One is too familiar with the factthat the role expectations and status hierarchies exist in all kinds of groups.A careful reading of the research should help to understand why this is trueand even necessary for proper group functioning. Recent attention has beengiven to other topics involving group interaction. One of the important areashas to do with the effectiveness of groups as problem solvers. After thediscussion the pros and cons of individual versus group problem solving,guidelines were offered for effectively using a combined interacting-nominalgroup process.

Remarkson sociometry and interaction process analysis were included as methods ofunderstanding group behavior. There are other methods of analyzinginterpersonal behavior. Particular methods were selected primarily for purposesof illustration – to show that there are indeed systematic techniques forgaining insights into small-group phenomena.

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THE COGNITIVE BASIS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR - OB

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This chapter has examined thecore cognitive processes and has illustrated their importance to organizationalbehavior. To begin with, it looks at perception and specifies threecharacteristics of the perceptual process. Perception was first characterizedas a selective activity. People cannot perceive all the stimuli confrontingthem from the surrounding environment. Thus, it is safe to say that managerialaction usually takes place on the basis of imperfect or incomplete information.The stimuli that are selected are usually those that reinforce the attitudes ofthe perceiver.

Perception is furthercharacterized by closure. Even though people selectively screen environmentalstimuli, they fill in gaps and complete the perceptual picture as if they hadcomplete information. Finally, perception takes place within a context. Thecontext helps people to orient themselves to reality. In practical terms, theperceptual process is important is important to management because this processdetermines the quantity and quality of information upon which decisions aremade.

Learning is discussed as acognitive process. a distinction is made between classical and instrumentalconditioning, in classical conditioning a stimulus is presented prior to orsimultaneously with a response. In instrumental conditioning a response occursin anticipation of some consequence. In recent years some of the most importantimplications of learning theory for management have been in the area of motivation.

The cognitive process of humanproblem solving has been examined. Its noted that few real-world situations,present individuals with one, and only one, course of action. Usually, one mustmake a choice among alternatives and engage in problem solving. Applications ofproblem solving were shown to be evident in the managerial activity of decisionmaking. Two approaches to decision making have been analyzed. Normativedecision theory tells us how decisions ought to be made if maximizing behavioris to be achieved. Behavioral decision theory tells us how decisions areactually made and does not attempt to prescribe normative guidelines. Theobjective of core cognitive processes has set the stage for discussion of modernmotivation theory and practice, which is the next topic.

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MOTIVATION THEORY AND SELECTED RESEARCH - OB

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In this chapter, an attempt hasbeen made to review selected topics in motivation. The format wasmethodological primarily to illustrate that considerable controversy exists inthe area, even though motivation has consumed much of the energy of writers in thebehavioral sciences and management.

The important point to recognizeis that the generality and pragmatic usefulness of a particular approach tomotivation is closely related to the manner in which that approach isdeveloped. Rational-deductive theories such as the Barnard-Simon model(exchangetheory) and expectancy theory are based on certain prior assumptions aboutrational human choice. Consequently, they are extremely general, in ascientific sense, because they can be applied to a wide range of situations andcircumstances. Herzberg’s two-factor theory and operant conditioning are moreinductive and empirical. Thus, they are more specific and less universallyadaptable.

Given the present sate ofmotivation theory, the best strategy for a prospective manager is to become asfamiliar as possible with all of the theories currently available. The truth isthat thee is something new and something true in all of them. The manager’sproblem is to carefully choose those new things that are true, and toskeptically decide which true things are really new. This, of course, is not aneasy dilemma for the manager to resolve. Even behavioral scientists who devotemost of their time studying motivational problems find the issue complex andfrustrating.

Once the essential foundations ofmotivation theory and practice are understood, one is able to confront the morephilosophical questions of how behavioral science knowledge should be used inthe managerial context. Issues of this nature immediately converge on suchquestions as the ethics of behavior modification. This issue cannot be avoidedby any managers because of very real pressures from society, including legalintervention into motivational practices and the protection of individualrights on and off the job.

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PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AND ATTITUDES - OB

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In this chapter there are severalthings of special importance that have been considered. First, personality isbriefly traced and attention given to the contributions and limitations ofpsychological theory, trait-factor theory, and the need theories of Maslow andMcClelland. All of these important formulations provide some useful informationabout the behavior of individuals in organizations.

Next, a systems view of humanbehavior was proposed to illustrate how cognitive processes and needs act uponenvironmentally induced stimuli. This interaction results in actions that areonce again subjected to the influence of environmental forces. In this section,attention is given to the complex problem of how heredity (nature) andexperience (nurture) interact in determining human behavior. The conclusiondrawn is that most important aspects of behavior are neither genetically norenvironmentally determined. Instead they result from the influence of the two.

An attempt has also been made toexamine the relationship between culture and behavior. Since culture includesall learned behavior, the discussion is restricted to the influence ofgenerational values and the specific importance of value differences amongsocial classes and work groups.

The final major topic ofdiscussion related to attitudes and attitude change. A careful analysis is madeof attitude formation and the controversial relationship between attitudes andbehavior. Although some studies question any casual association betweenattitudes and behavior, most of the discrepancies can be explained onmethodological grounds.

Withregard to attitude change, it’s noted that congruent changes (changes inmagnitude rather than in direction) are easier to effect than incongruentchanges. Behaviorally, factors such as communicator credibility andattractiveness are important determinants of the ease alteration. 

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METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

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In this chapter a detailed lookhas been taken at the alternative methods available for generating validknowledge in organizational behavior. Primary emphasis has been placed on therequirements for an acceptable deductive argument and the elements necessaryfor accurate empirical analysis. The problems of behavioral measurement arealso analyzed. The chapter concludes with an examination of the functionalexplanation, which is frequently encountered in the biological and behavioralsciences.

Rather than reiterating here thearguments developed, the need for devoting a chapter to the discussion ofselected philosophical problems of the inexact sciences is reviewed. Theobjective is not abstraction for the sake of abstraction. Sir Roy Harrod, thegreat British economist, once said that, “the barrenness of methodologicalconclusions is often a fitting compliment to the weariness entailed in theprocess of reaching them.” Such discussions do indeed sometimes seem unusuallyboring and tiresome. However, in the area of organizational behavior, methodologicalissues are especially pressing. As the analysis is continued throughout theremainder of this book , frequent reference is continuously made to issues ofknowledge generation, measurement, and associated topics that are allmethodological in character. This is the method that unites science. If asystematic understanding of the concepts of organizational behavior is to bedeveloped, then the methods employed in formulating them has to be appreciated.

Therefore, it is hoped that thischapter has provided a brief introduction to the methodology of the behavioralsciences. Of special significance is the recognition that althoughorganizational behavior is scientific in character, it deals with human beings.Human beings are different from inanimate objects and organizational behavioris an empirical discipline. The application of the strict and unmodifiedinductive method, however, fails to account for many unique qualities ofhumans. The objective is to be as scientific as possible, while remaining open tothe realities of human behavior.


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Organizational behavior – Defining the field

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Organizations are collections ofinteracting and inter related human and non-human resources working toward acommon goal or set of goals within the framework of structured relationships.Organizational behavior is concerned with all aspects of how organizationsinfluence the behavior of individuals and how individuals in turn influenceorganizations.

Organizational behavior is aninter-disciplinary field that draws freely from a number of the behavioralsciences, including anthropology, psychology, sociology, and many others. Theunique mission of organizational behavior is to apply the concepts ofbehavioral sciences to the pressing problems of management, and, moregenerally, to administrative theory and practice.

In approaching the problems oforganizational behavior, there are a number of available strategies we canutilize. Historically, the study of management and organizations took aclosed-systems view. The preoccupation of this view is to maximize theefficiency of internal operations. In doing so, the uncertainty ofuncontrollable and external environmental factors often were assumed away ordenied. This traditional closed-systems view of organizations made substantialcontributions to the theory of organizational design. At the same time, foranalytical reasons, organizations came to be viewed as precise and complexmachines. In this framework, human beings were reduced to components of theorganizational machine.

More recently, the study oforganizations and the behavior of human beings within them have assumed a moreopen-systems perspective. Factors such as human sentiments and attitudes, aswell as technological and sociological forces originating outside theorganizations, have assumed greater importance in analyzing organizationalbehavior.

This book adopts the openperspective, because this is a contemporary and more meaningful way to vieworganizations and human behavior within them. After some preliminary issues, weshall examine the individual. We shall move from the individual to the smallgroup, to the complex organization, and finally to some environmental factorsimportant to the process of organizational change.

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