THE FIELD OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

After reading this chapter you should be able to: 1. Define the concepts of organization and organizational behavior. 2. Describe the field of organizational behavior’s commitment to the scientific method, and the three levels of analysis involved. 3. Trace the historical developments and schools of thought leading up to the field of organizational behavior. 4. Identify the fundamental characteristics of the field of organizational behavior. 5. Describe how the global economy shapes the field of organizational behavior today. 6. Explain how the workforce has become increasingly diversified and how this has led to the development of flexible working arrangements. 7. Describe how technology has led to the development of new organizational forms. 8. Explain how rising expectations about quality and ethical behavior have influenced the field or organizational behavior.

Organizational Behavior (Pp. 3, 4) Defining the Field - a field that seeks knowledge of all aspects of behaviors in organizational settings by the use of the scientific method Characteristics of the Field Commitment to scientific method - systematic observation and measurement in order to: - gain insights into the effects of organizations on people - apply insights to improve organizational functioning Analyze phenomena at the level of the: - individual - perceptions, attitudes, and motives - group - communication and coordination processes - organization - effects on individuals and groups

Three Levels of Analysis Used in Organizational Analysis Figure 1.2 Three Levels of Analysis Used in Organizational Analysis Group Processes (e.g., communication) Individual Processes (e.g., work attitudes) Organizational Processes (e.g., structure)

Historical Overview of the Field Scientific Management (Pp. 6,7) Personalities Frederick Winslow Taylor - founder of the approach Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Focus - emphasized the importance of designing jobs as efficiently as possible Principles Careful selection and training of employees Wages should be commensurate with productivity “One Best Way” to perform the job Methods Time and motion study - classified and streamlined individual movements needed to perform a job

Human Relations Movement (Pp. 7-9) Personalities Elton Mayo Historical Overview of the Field (cont.) Human Relations Movement (Pp. 7-9) Personalities Elton Mayo Focus - the noneconomic, social social processes in the workplace Principles Worker effectiveness depends on the physical aspects of working conditions and on the social conditions they encounter Methods - Hawthorne studies - illumination studies - Relay Room - Bank Wiring Room

Figure 1.4 Results from the Relay Assembly Test Room 15-min. rests + lunch Same + Sat. a.m. off Standard In general, productivity increased with each change in work conditions 132 124 Same + 4:30 p.m. stop Same + 4 p.m. stop 116 Percentage of Standard Output Two 5-min. rests Two 10-min. rests Six 5-min. rests 15-min. rests + lunch 108 100 Standard work conditions

Classical Organizational Theory (Pp. 9-11) Personalities Henri Fayol Historical Overview of the Field (cont.) Classical Organizational Theory (Pp. 9-11) Personalities Henri Fayol Max Weber Focus - the efficient structuring of overall organizations Principles Division of labor Managerial authority Scalar chain Unity of command Subordinate given initiative Methods - describe the ideally-designed large organization

Contemporary Organizational Behavior (Pp. 11 - 15) Fundamental Assumptions Work can be both productive and pleasant Theory X - people are lazy, irresponsible, and must be forced to work Theory Y - people are capable of working productively and accepting responsibility for their work There is no “one best” approach to managing people Contingency approach - behavior is contingent on many different variable at once, including: - personal characteristics - situational factors - environmental context Organizations are dynamic and ever-changing Open systems - transform environmental resources into output (e.g., finished product)

Theory X Versus Theory Y (traditional approach) Figure 1.7 Theory X Versus Theory Y Theory X (traditional approach) Theory Y (modern approach) Distrusting Accepting, promotes betterment Orientation toward people Basically Lazy Need to achieve and be responsible Assumptions about people Low (disinterested) High (very interested) Interest in working Work when pushed Work when appropriately trained and recognized Conditions under which people will work hard

Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today International Business and the Global Economy (Pp. 16 - 19) Globalization - process that is interconnecting the world’s people regarding the culture, political, technological, and environmental aspects of their lives - increase in international trade due to: - lowered costs of transportation and communication - less restrictive trade laws - expansion of exports from Third World International nature of today’s organizations Multinational Corporations (MNCs) - have significant operations spread throughout various nations but headquartered in a single nation Role of culture in organizations Convergence hypothesis Divergence hypothesis

Figure 1.10 High Understanding Optimism Acceptance of New Culture Frustration Low 1 2 3 4 5 6 Months Living in New Culture

Trends Toward Diversity Within Organizations (Pp. 19 - 21) Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.) Trends Toward Diversity Within Organizations (Pp. 19 - 21) Melting pot - people from different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds are transformed into a common American culture Cultural pluralism - social harmony does not require people from various cultures to assimilate or “melt” together into one but that people’s separate identities should be maintained and accepted by others Demographic trends creating the diverse workforce - greater participation by women in workforce - greater participation by racial and ethnic minorities - people live and work longer - baby boom generation - generation of children born in the economic boom period following World War II

Flexible, New Working Arrangements (Pp. 23 - 25) Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.) Flexible, New Working Arrangements (Pp. 23 - 25) Flextime programs - employees have discretion over when they can arrive and leave work, thereby making it easier to adapt their work schedules to the demands of their personal lives lives - leads to improvements in performance and job satisfaction - results in drops in employee turnover and absenteeism Compressed workweek - work fewer days each week but longer hours each day (e.g., four 10-hour days) Job sharing - form of regular part-time work in which pairs of employees assume the duties of a single job, thus splitting its responsibilities, salary, and benefits - often a temporary arrangement

Flexible, New Working Arrangements (cont.) Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.) Flexible, New Working Arrangements (cont.) Voluntary reduced work time (V-time) - allow employees to reduce the amount of time they work by a certain amount with a proportional reduction in pay - typically a 10 to 20 percent reduction in time - popular among various state agencies in the U.S. Telecommuting - use of communications technology to perform work from remote locations (e.g., the home) Flexplace IBM study - telecommuting resulted in: - 55 percent reduction in real estate space - reduced the number of fixed computer terminals necessary for work - improved customer satisfaction - 83 percent of employees preferred telecommuting to traditional office environment

New Organizational Forms (Pp. 25 - 28) Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.) New Organizational Forms (Pp. 25 - 28) Leaner organizations - technology has made it possible for fewer people to do more work than ever before Informate - process by which workers manipulate objects through “inserting data” between themselves and those objects - information technology changes a physical task into one that involves manipulation of a sequence of digital commands Outsourcing - hiring outside firms to perform non-core business operations (i.e., peripheral tasks) - core competency - organization’s key capability

New Organizational Forms (cont.) Leaner organizations (cont.) Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.) New Organizational Forms (cont.) Leaner organizations (cont.) Contingent workforce - temporary employees hired to work as need for finite periods of time - includes freelancers, subcontractors, and independent professionals - enables organization to shrink or grow as needed - growing numbers of people in contingent workforce Virtual corporation - a highly flexible, temporary organization formed by a group of companies to a specific opportunity - various companies come together for special projects (e.g., making a movie)

Quality Revolution (Pp. 28 - 30) - “making things better” Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.) Quality Revolution (Pp. 28 - 30) - “making things better” Total Quality Management (TQM) - organizational commitment to improving customer satisfaction by developing techniques to carefully manage output quality - W. Edwards Deming - make whatever innovations are necessary to improve quality Benchmarking - process of comparing one’s own products or services with the best from one’s competitors Quality control audits - careful examinations of how well a company meets its standards Malcolm Baldridge Award - given annually to U.S. companies that practice effective quality management and significantly improve the quality of their goods and services

Corporate Social Responsibility (Pp. 30 - 33) - public is increasingly Forces Shaping Organizational Behavior Today (cont.) Corporate Social Responsibility (Pp. 30 - 33) - public is increasingly intolerant of unethical business activity Promoting ethical behavior in organizations Code of ethics - describes what an organization stands for and the general rules of conduct it expects from employees (e.g., to avoid conflicts of interest, to be honest, and so on) Ethics audit - process of actively investigating and documenting incidents of dubious ethical value within a company Challenge rationalizations - examine excuses for unethical behavior