1. Exploring Organisational Roles
Chapter 17:
Exploring Organisational Roles
Learning Objectives:
Appreciate work roles as a significant link between individuals and their organisations through groups to which they belong
Clarify basic concepts related to organisational roles
Understand the mutual influence that organisational structure and role dynamics have on each other and understand how they affect the organisational outcomes together
Explore how organisational roles can be made more effective by reducing barriers to role performance

2. Introduction: Organizational Roles Organizational Role is a set of expectations one tries to fulfill in one’s organization, not just what tasks one performs

3. In order to understand the impact of ones expectations, we need to see the organizations as “Role Systems”. The “linking pin” concept of Rensis Likert (1967) puts together the socio-structural elements within the organization.

4. Relevance of Studying Roles
Often a performer is like a ‘new’ actor playing a character, which was played by another actor in a TV serial
People around us prefer constancy
Performance occurs in a network of interdependent relationships with others through our roles
The boss is not the only one having expectations form a performer
Performance is rated in terms of expectations satisfied, not all of which are explicit
We cannot even begin to understand how organisations survive and grow in the face of the challenges posed by its environment, unless we understand the boundary roles played by various employees such as sales or purchase executives
Finally, the concept of role performance allows the integration of the individual with the organisation

5. Organizational Roles – Basic Definitions
A pattern of expected behaviours engaged in while performing job tasks, not necessarily defined in terms of specific job tasks’
Role Set
The plurality of others with whom one has role relations
Role Expectations
These expectations may contain preferences with respect to specific acts, personal characteristics or styles, what that person should do, think or feel, and how that person should relate with others

6. Organizational Roles – Basic Definitions
Sent Role
The role expectations that the members of a role set have from the holder of a role, do not remain just within the role set, they get communicated in various ways to the role holder
Role Pressure
You can see that the role sending is not just transfer of information. It is an attempt to influence the holder of the role so that performance by him/her would be as per the expectations of the role set, these attempts to create conformity are called role pressure
Role Forces
The work environment of any role holder is created by his/her role set members and the role pressures sent by them

7. Negative Impacts on Role Performance
Role Conflict
Role Ambiguity
Personal Inadequacy
Role Erosion
Role Inadequacy
Role Isolation
Personal-role Conflict
Role Stagnation

8. Organizational Structure as a Source of Challenge to Effective Role Performance
Interdependence is an unavoidable part of working in organisations
The basic bureaucratic model of the organisation depends upon the principles of hierarchy, impersonal and clearly defined rules and division of labor
Line positions are the ones that carry out the business process of the organisation so that the revenue is generated at the end of it
Staff positions on the other hand support the line activities by providing expert advice - the Human Resource Management and Development activities are examples of staff functions

9. Organisational Structure as a Source of Challenge to Effective Role Performance
Functions within the organisation have their own orientations
The structural position of the members of the organisation at the top vests them with more authority and control through policy and decision making. The people at the bottom of the organisation generally happen to have direct interaction with the various stakeholders
The extent to which formal systems and predetermined procedure decides what is to be done or how, there is a greater degree of formalization in that organisation
If the environment in which the business is operating is highly dynamic and complex, it may be difficult to clearly establish as to who has the final authority to resolve the matter, or who has the final responsibility to bring results

10. Organizational Role Dynamics in India
Presence of highly bureaucratic organisations with their high degree of formalization is known to create high role stress, lower organisation commitment as well as high level of alienation
Alienated employees are likely to care little about their work, expend little energy on their work, and perform work only for extrinsic rewards
In India it is often found that the top and the bottom parts of the organisations are more democratic, while the middle managers are not
Perhaps this is so because at the top of the organisations democracy is required for successful integration, and the bottom because of the power of the unionized staff

11. How to Make Organizational Roles Effective
Create and Support Boundary-Spanning Roles
Create and Clarify Inter-role linkages:
Managing the conditions that moderate the relationship between role ambiguity and job performance
Role Analysis: A Technique for Reducing Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity
Helping the role holders perceive the centrality of the role
Role making
Role Negotiation
Increasing the Person-Role Congruence – coming full circle to understanding personality
Role Motivation