CHAPTER 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

A Breakthrough View on Management? –Incentive pay –Employee ownership –Employment security –Selective recruiting –Competitive wages –Information sharing –Participation & empowerment –Cross-training –Promoting from within –Self-managed teams Ten policies and practices to adopt to change the culture and increase employee productivity:

What is Organizational Behavior? A relatively new field of inquiry concerned with scientific study of behavioral processes that occur in work settings Encompasses topics like employee attitudes, motivation, and performance Extends to larger organizational and societal factors

What is Organizational Behavior? (cont.) OB borrows from behavioral and social sciences such as psychology, sociology, political science, and anthropology. Most of what is borrowed comes from psychology (Maslow, Herzberg, Skinner).

Why Bother? Or, Three Reasons for Studying Organizational Behavior Practical applications Personal growth Increased knowledge

Organizational Behavior Systematic study of the behavior and attitudes of both individuals and groups within organizations

Organizational Theory Focuses on organization as the unit of analysis e.g. organizational goals, technology, and culture Macro level perspective (across organizational approach) Uses distinctly different research methods, mostly surveys and case studies

Fields Related to OB Human Resource Management Organizational Development

Human Resource Management Applies principles of behavioral sciences in the workplace Concerned with applied techniques and behavioral technology Links the individual and the organization by designing systems to attract, develop, and motivate individuals within an organization

Organizational Development Involved in the introduction of successful changes in organizations Macro perspective Focuses on changing structure and changing values of organization

Emergence of OB - Historical View Scientific Management Human Relations Approach Contingency Approach Culture-Quality Movement

Scientific Management Developed by Frederick Taylor Detailed analysis of tasks and time-and- motion studies Piece-rate pay schemes to improve productivity “One best way” to perform task

Criticisms of Scientific Management Lots of work and time involved to arrive at standards Workers resist having their effort and productivity measured Workers oppose changes in pay schemes

Example of Pay Scheme Schmidt, a pig-iron handler Hauled pig-iron Increased output by 280%, yet pay increased only 61% Taylor believed inequity was justified because management was entitled to substantial profits

Human Relations Approach Emphasized importance of motivation and attitudes in explaining worker behavior Drew strength from Hawthorne Studies (important because social factors influence worker behavior)

Human Relations Approach (cont.) Important studies and aspects of this approach –Relay Assembly Room Study –Hawthorne Effect –Conclusion –Problem

Relay Assembly Room Study Objective was to determine what effect changes in work setting would have on women’s productivity Introduced various different changes: rest periods, free lunch, shortened work day, five day work week, variations in pay method

Relay Assembly Room Study (cont.) All changes followed an upward trend in productivity over the course of the study.

Hawthorne Effect People will act differently when being studied than they do in normal situations.

Conclusions Social effects on the work setting are very important to employees.

Problem Assumes that workers who are satisfied will be more productive Has never been proven

Contingency Approach Acknowledges the difficulty of offering simple general principles to explain or predict behavior in organizational settings Seeks to identify the factor necessary for a given principle to hold Recognizes interdependency

Culture/Quality Movement Quick interest in corporate culture and quality improvement Emphasizes quality, service, high performance, and flexibility Productivity and financial returns are enhanced

Challenges Confronting Managers in the 21st Century Workforce diversity Contingent workers Expression of emotions at work

Workforce Diversity One major conclusion of the Work Force 2000 study was that a large proportion of the new entrants to the labor force for the near future will be from demographic categories other than that of white males. Many managers still face the challenge of how diversity should be specifically “managed”.

Contingent Workers The use of contingent, or temporary workers, is surging. –Over 400% percent in the past 15 years The superficial advantages to employers are greater flexibility and savings on perks.

Contingent Workers (cont.) However, it is not at all clear that many temps benefit from the supposed “gateway” opportunity that contingent employment may offer. A major concern for managers is how to effectively manage employees who do not have a sense of commitment or loyalty to their employer.

The Expression of Emotions at Work Evidence of this growing tendency is given by data on the rise of workplace violence. –Murder in the workplace is the fastest growing of homicides. –The increase in hate crimes in society in general has been also spreading into the workplace.

The Expression of Emotions at Work (cont.) Factors that contribute to greater violence at work include: failure to screen for unstable applicants, mediocre supervision that fails to manage potential conflict, and perceived inequities. The propensity to act on strong positive emotion is also an emerging challenge for managers.

The Expression of Emotions at Work (cont.) –Workplace romances –There is a growing concern with the misuse of power in the work place: instances of sexual harassment

Criticisms of the Field Findings in field are too obvious –Reading in results of studies –Findings are self-evident to anyone –Hindsight Bias (the tendency to claim that we would have foreseen the relative inevitability of an outcome)