Human Resources Approaches Chapter Three

Human Resources Approaches Chapter Three

PREVIEW The classical approaches sees worker as cogs in a machine that can be easily replaced. The role of workers in these theories is to provide physical labor. Classical manager would look at employees with the perspective “workers work”, the human relations manager would look at employees with the perspective “workers feel”

Human Resources Approach
Individuals in organizations have feelings that must be considered and also recognize contributions from employees: thoughts & ideas.

Impetus for Human Resources Approach
Humanistic theories were developed to promote the CONCERNS of the individual worker in an atmosphere that was too focused on production (FOCUS ON RELATIONAL & MAINTENANCE FUNCTIONS) The Hawthorne studies --- springboard the move from classical to human relations. Human relations approach states that higher-order needs can be satisfied through job design, management style, other organizational factors. When the higher-order needs are satisfied, employees should be happier. When employees are happier, they should be more productive.

Principles of Human Relations Theory
Human relations theory is characterized by a shift in emphasis from TASK to WORKER Go beyond physical contributions to include creative, cognitive, and emotional aspects of workers Based on a more dyadic (two-way) conceptualization of communication. SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS are at the heart of organizational behavior--effectiveness is contingent on the social well-being of workers Workers communicate opinions, complaints, suggestions, and feelings to increase satisfaction and production Origins (Hawthorne Studies & work of Chester Barnard) Human Relations School of Management - Elton Mayo (Harvard

Origins of Human Relations Theory
“The Hawthorne Studies Hawthorne Works of Western Electric Company Chicago Research focus: Relation of quality and quantity of illumination to efficiency in industry Four Important Studies

“The Hawthorne Studies”
Illumination Study (November 1924) Designed to test the effect of lighting intensity on worker productivity Heuristic value: influence of human relations on work behavior Relay Assembly Test Room Study ( ) Assembly of telephone relays (35 parts - 4 machine screws) Production and satisfaction increased regardless of IV manipulation Workers’ increased production and satisfaction related to supervisory practices Human interrelationships are important contributing factors to worker productivity Bottom Line: Supervisory practices increase employee morale AND productivity Interviewing Program ( ) Investigate connection between supervisory practices and employee morale Employees expressed their ideas and feelings (e.g., likes and dislikes) Process more important than actual results Bank Wiring Room Observation Study (November May 1932) Social groups can influence production and individual work behavior RQ: How is social control manifested on the shop floor? Informal organization constrains employee behavior within formal organizational structure

Hawthorne Studies - Implications
Illumination Study (November 1924) The mere practice of observing people’s behavior tends to alter their behavior (Hawthorne Effect) Relay Assembly Test Room Study ( ) Relationships between workers and their supervisors are powerful Human interrelationships increase the amount and quality of worker participation in decision making Interviewing Program ( ) Demonstrated powerful influence of upward communication Workers were asked for opinions, told they mattered, and positive attitudes toward company increased Bank Wiring Room Observation Study (November May 1932) Led future theorists to account for the existence of informal communication Taken together, these studies helped to document the powerful nature of social relations in the workplace and moved managers more toward the interpersonal aspects of organizing.

Hawthorne Studies - Criticisms
Not conducted with the appropriate scientific rigor necessary Too few subjects (N=5) No control groups Subjects replaced with more “cooperative” participants WORTHLESS GROSS ERRORS INCOMPETENCE

The Emergence of Communication
Chester Barnard Considered a bridge between classical and human relations theories The Functions of the Executive (1938) Argues for . . . strict lines of communication - classical theory a “human-based system of organization” The potential of every worker and the centrality of communication to the organizing process Six Issues Relevant to Organizational Communication Formal vs. Informal Organization Cooperation Communication Incentives Authority Zone of Indifference

Six Issues Relevant to Organizational Communication
Formal vs. Informal Organization Formal Organization - a system of consciously coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons. (definite, structured, common purpose) Persons are able to communicate with one another Willing to contribute action To accomplish a common purpose Informal Organization - based on myriad interactions that take place thourghout an organization’s history. Indefinite Structureless No definite subdivisions of personnel Results: customs, mores, folklore, institutions, social norms, ideals -- may lead to formal organization

Critical to cooperation The most universal form of human cooperation, and perhaps the most complex, is speech The most likely reason for the success of cooperation and the reason for its failure System of communication: known, formal channels which are as direct (short) as possible, where the complete line of communication is used, the supervisory heads must be competent, the line of communication should not be interrupted, and every communication should be authenticated. Barnard’s system lacks relationship formation and maintenance mechanisms

Incentives Should be available Not discussed in detail Authority Associated with securing cooperation for organizational members The interrelationship among the originator of the communication, the communication itself, and the receiver Authority of position OVER Authority of Leadership (knowledge & ability).

Zone of Indifference - orders followed Marks the boundaries of what employees will consider doing without question, based on expectations developed on entering the organization. Barnard drew attention away from formal organizational structures toward communication, cooperation, and the informal organization. His work was integrated by other theorists in the human relations movement.

Flowchart of Human Relations Principles
Satisfaction of Higher-Order Needs Job Satisfaction Work Factors Productivity Flowchart of Human Relations Principles

However, years of research have failed to support this. WHY?
Satisfaction of Higher-Order Needs Job Satisfaction Work Factors Productivity Flowchart of Human Relations Principles

Theory X and Theory Y: Douglas McGregor
Articulated basic principles of human relations theory The Human Side of Enterprise (1960, 1985) To understand human behavior, one must discover the theoretical assumptions upon which behavior is based Especially interested in the behavior of managers toward workers “Every managerial act rests on assumptions, generalizations, and hypotheses--that is to say, on theory Theory and practice are inseparable.” Two Objectives: Predict and control behavior Tap Unrealized potential Theory X - Classical Theory Theory Y - Human Relations Theory FOCUS: Manager’s assumptions about HUMAN NATURE

Theory X and Theory Y: Douglas McGregor
Theory X - Classical Theory Three Assumptions The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it. Most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition, wants security. Neither explains nor describes human nature

Theory Y - Human Relations Theory
Assumptions Physical and mental effort in work is similar to play / rest. External control and the threat of punishment are not the only strategies Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek responsibility The capacity to exercise a high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and creativity in the solution of organizational problems is widely distributed in the population Intellectual potentialities of the average human being are underutilized A more positive perspective of human nature The KEY to control and quality production is commitment to organizational objectives

Theory Y Prototype: The Scanlon Plan
Participative Management Two Central Features Cost-reduction sharing for organizational members - sharing the economic gains from improvements in organizational performance Effective participation - a formal means of providing opportunities to every member of the organization to contribute ideas for improving organizational effectiveness. Must be implemented appropriately Wastes time and undermines managerial power? Magic formula for every organizational problem? CONCERN for RELATIONSHIPS in the organization. As the need to increase commitment grows, so does the need to develop strong, communication-based relationships among organizational members, particularly between supervisor and subordinate.

Miles’ Human Resources Theory
Difficult to adopt principles of human relations theory -- misapplications and misunderstandings of both classical theory and human relations theory led to Human Resources Theory The key element to Human Relations Theory, participation, was used only to make workers feel as if they were part of the organizational decision-making processes

Key to classical and human relations theory is compliance with managerial authority Workers are told that they are important but were not treated as such Major Distinctions between Human Resources and Human Relations Theory All people (not just managers) are reservoirs of untapped resources - manager responsibility to tap physical and creative resources Many decisions can be made more effectively and efficiently by workers most directly involved with their consequences Relationship between employee satisfaction and performance - improved satisfaction and morale contribute back to improved decision making and control

Increased satisfaction is related to the improved decision making and self-control that occurs due to participation that is genuinely solicited and heard Two prevalent Human Resources Theories Rensis Liker Blake & Mouton (Blake & McCanse)

Four Systems of Management: Rensis Likert
Management is crticial to all organizational activities and outcomes Continuum that ranges from more classically oriented system to one based on human resources theory Of all the tasks of management, managing the human component is the central and most important task High producing departments and organizations tend toward System IV; low producing units favor System I System I - Exploitative Authoritative System II - Benevolent Authoritative System III - Consultative System IV - Participative

Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid
Stresses interrelationship between production (task) and people Management’s main purpose is to promote a culture in the organization that allows for high production at the same time that employees are fostered in their professional and personal development Managerial Grid - now Leadership Grid (Blake & McCanse) (Figure 3.3, p. 59) FOCUS: Manger’s Assumptions about CONCERN for PEOPLE and CONCERN for PRODUCTION Assessment instrument does not represent personality traits of the manager -- instead, indicate a specific orientation to production and people

Concern for PRODUCTION
Concern for PEOPLE Degree of personal commitment to one’s job Trust-based accountability (vs. obedience-based accountability) Self-esteem for the individual Interpersonal relationships with co-workers Concern for PRODUCTION Use of people and technology to accomplish organizational tasks Concern for is not about quantity or quality Assessment instrument does not represent personality traits of the manager -- instead, indicate a specific orientation to production and people

Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid
Authority Compliance (9,1) Classical theory Country Club (1,9) Informal grapevine Impoverished (1,1) Laissez-faire Middle-of-the-Road (5,5) Compromise (carrot & stick) Team (9,9) Human Resources Approach Promote the conditions that integrate creativity, high productivity, and high morale through concerted team action

SUMMARY Humanistic Theories of Organizations
Human Relations Theory The Hawthorne Studies Chester Barnard McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y Human Resources Theory Likert’s Systems Theory (Four Systems of Management) Blake and Mouton’s (Blake and McCanse) Managerial Grid The principles of human resources theory attempt to integrate the concern for production from classical theory with the concern for the worker from human relations theory -- more effective and satisfying!

PREVIEW Classical theorists – organizations could be best understood by comparing them to machines that are predictable and full of replaceable parts. However, many theorists found this metaphor as unsatisfying and believed that organizations did not behave in predictable and machinelike ways.

Systems Approaches Chapter Four

A new metaphor emerged -- organizations as complex organisms that must interact with their environment to survive. Systems or organismic.

Organization theory has become a kind of biology in which the distinctions and relations among molecules, cells, complex organisms, species, and ecology are paralleled in those between individuals, groups, organizations, populations (species) of organizations and their social ecology.

Systems approaches – consider how an organismic metaphor can provide insight into organizational communication processes. A systems approach shifts our attention to how we should study behavior in an organization.

Three theoretical concepts:
Cybernatics Karl Weick’s theory of organizing “new science” systems

The systems Metaphor and Systems Concepts
System Components Hierarchical Ordering Interdependence Permeability System Processes System Properties

The origins of Systems Theory
Systems theory originated from the fields of biology and engineering. Founded by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, a theoretical biologist who studied living systems. He published, General Systems Theory (1968) a book about systems theory that he believed as appropriate for social sciences.

Application of systems theory to organizational processes
The Social Psychology of Organizations -- Katz and Kahn (1966) Organizations in Action – Thompson (1967) Communicating and Organizing -- Farace, Monge, and Russell (1977)

The Social Psychology of Organizations – Katz and Kahn in 1966
“Organizations should be conceptualized as complex open systems that requires interaction among component parts and interaction with the environment to survive” (Katz and Kahn (1978).

System Components System is made up of parts or components. In a biological system the parts = cells and organs. In an organizational system, these components are people and departments, in society as a system, organizations, institutions make up the society.

Three concepts characterize system components:
Hierarchical Ordering Interdependence Permeability

Hierarchical Ordering
System components are arranged in highly complex ways that involve subsystems and supersystems. E.g. human body made up of cardiovascular system, the digestive systems, etc and these systems are made up of subsystems. E.g. cardiovascular system includes heart, lungs and blood vessels.

Organizational system
e.g. a hospital is made up of a number of departmental subsystems including surgical units, recovery units, the emergency room, etc. these subsystems are composed of smaller work groups and individuals.

Question What’s the difference between the term hierarchy used by classical management theorists and the system theorists?

Answer According to the classical theorists hierarchy is the relatively straightforward lines of authority represented by the organizational chart. While the system theorists refer to hierarchy as hierarchical ordering within a system. It is how the system is made up of smaller subsystems and is embedded within a larger supersystem.

Interdependence The functioning of one component of a system relying on other components of the system. E.g. the brain needs a constant supply of blood to function, the heart relies on the lungs to bring in the oxygen that fuels the blood. Both heart and lungs rely on brain for neurological signals that facilitate the functioning.

An organization as a system is also interdependent. E. g
An organization as a system is also interdependent. E.g. In our hospital the surgical units function effectively with the assistance of laboratories to provide test results. The lab. depend on supplies department for test tubes, etc.

Permeability Permeable boundaries allow information and materials to flow in and out. Some degree of permeability is required to survive. Permeability to the system (open to its environment) and components within the system. e.g. human body open to its environment to take in air, food, water and the human body must also be permeable to allow the flow of materials among organs and organs system.

System Processes Systems are characterized by input-throughput-output processes. A system “inputs” materials or information from the environment through its permeable boundaries. The system then works on these inputs with some kind of transformational process – “throughout”

The system returns the transformed “output” to the environment. e.g.
Furniture Factory chairs public Raw materials “input” “throughput” “output”

Two kinds processes: Process of exchange -- input and output require exchange processes with outside environment. Exchange processes related to permeable boundaries. Some organizations have high permeable boundaries to facilitate change others may be relatively closed.

Feedback Feedback – information that helps to facilitate the interdependent functioning of system components. negative feedback, corrective feedback, or deviation-reducing feedback. Positive, growth, or deviation-amplifying

12 February 2008

Holism Equifinality Negative entropy Requisite variety
System Properties Holism Equifinality Negative entropy Requisite variety

Holism Togetherness -- in a system there is a need for interdependence. Members need to cooperate to ensure success of the system. Instead of solving problems individually, members of a system should work it together.

Equifinality The system property states that “a system can reach the same final state from differing initial conditions and by a variety of paths” components of a system is integrated in highly complex ways. There are various ways to get to the end.

Negative entropy Ability to sustain and grow. An open system that allow for the flow of information and materials between the environment and the system. An open system engages in interchanges with the environment and that interchange is essential for the viability of the system.

Requisite variety Internal workings of a system must be as diverse and complicated as the environment in which it is embedded. Needs for “matching complexity” Such would allow for organization to be able to deal with info and problems in the environment.

Summary Organization is a system made up of collection of components that are hierarchically arranged, interdependent, and permeable to each other and the environment. The organizational system is characterized by input– throughput – output processes.

Summary of Systems Basics
System Components Principle Hierarchically ordered A system consists of smaller subsytems and is embedded within larger supersytems. Interdependence System components depend on each other for effective functioning. Permeable A system is open to its environment and system components are open to each other.

Input-throughput-output Processes
Principle Exchange processes Input and output processes require exchange between the system and the environment. Throughput require exchange among system components. Feedback processes System control is maintained through feedback. Corrective (negative) feedback serves to keep a system on a steady course. Growth (positive) feedback serves to transform or change a system.

System Properties Principle Holism Because of component interdependence, a system is more than sum of its part. Equifinality Because of component interdependence, there are multiple paths to any system outcome. Negative entropy Because of system openness, a system has the ability to avoid deterioration and thrive. Requisite variety Because of system openness, a system should maintain the internal complexity necessary to cope with external complexity.

Chapter 5 CULTURAL APPROACHES

Classical approaches conceptualize organizations as machine.
System approaches look at the organismic aspects of organizational structure and functioning. Anthropological approaches regarded organization from the cultural perspectives.

What is Culture? When you think of Malaysia, what comes to mind? Values?

Cultural metaphor allow us to look at organization as “What it is” i.e. its qualities.
What makes McDonald’s different from Burger King? Pizza Hut different from Domino Pizza? What makes UPM different from UKM? What makes Maxis different from Celcom?

Each organization has its own way of doing what it does and its own way of talking about what it is doing. 2 different perspective about culture What an organization has What an organization is

Prescriptive Views of Culture
Increasing interest to examine organizational culture during the last part of the 20th century. The concept was accepted: The cultural metaphor resonated with both academics and practitioners. Cultural metaphor open up new and fruitful areas of research

Four components of a strong culture:
Values Heroes Rites and rituals Cultural network

Excellent Cultures A Bias for Action – Excellent organization react quickly and do not spend excess time planning and analyzing Close Relations to the Customer – Excellent organizations gear decisions and actions to the needs of customers. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship – Excellent organizations encourage positive and respectful relationships among management and employees. Productivity through People – Excellent organizations encourage positive and respectful relationships among management and employees. Hands-On, Value-Driven – Excellent organizations have employees and managers who share the same core value of productivity and performance

Excellent Cultures Stick to the Knitting – Excellent organizations stay focused on what they do best and avoid radical diversification. Simple Form, Lean Staff – Excellent organizations avoid complex structures and divisions of labor. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties – Excellent organizations exhibit both unity of purpose and the diversity necessary for innovation.

Success in the business world can be achieved when employees hold on to strong culture.
Value engineering – effective cultural leaders could create “strong” cultures, built around their own values. Weaknesses of prescriptive approaches: There is no one single cultural formula that can ensure organizational success. Prescriptive approaches treat “culture” as thing that an organization has.

Alternative Approaches to Culture
Culture is being seen as the emerging and sometimes fragmented values, practices, narratives, and artifacts that make a particular organization “what it is” Louis (1980) stated that the approach seek to describe an organization’s unique sense of place.” Putnam (1983) introduced this interpretive approach requires a consideration of “to the way individuals make sense of their world through their communicative behaviors.” Four elements distinguishing between prescriptive approaches to culture and the approaches taken by most cultural scholars: Culture is complicated Culture is emergent Culture is not unitary Culture is often ambiguous

Organizational cultures are complicated
Beyer and Trice (1987) argue that an organization’s culture is revealed through its rites. Rites of passage, rites of degradation, rites of enhancement, rites of renewal, rites of conflict reduction, and rites of integration. Dandridge (1986) looks at organizational ceremonies as indicators of culture. Quinn and McGrath (1985) focus on the role of values and belief systems in the transformation of organizational cultures. Boje (1991) and Meyer (1995) contend that culture can best be revealed through stories that organizational members tell. Organizational cultures can be studied through rites, ceremonies, values, belief systems, metaphors, stories, communication rules.

Assimilation Processes
Chapter 7 Prepared by: Dr. Hamisah Zaharah Hasan

Introduction Assimilation refers to “those ongoing behavioral and cognitive processes by which individuals join, become integrated into, and exit organizations.

Socialization, Individualization
Socialization -- occurs when individual learns about the requirements of the job. Individualization -- occurs when employee may try to change some aspect of the organization in order to better suit his/her needs/abilities/ desires.

Models of Organizational Socialization
Phases of Socialization: Process that individual experience as they enter organizations. Anticipatory socialization Encounter Metamorphosis

Anticipatory socialization
Socialization that occurs before entry into organization. Encompasses both socialization to an occupation and socialization to an organization.

Anticipatory socialization involves ideas about the nature of specific careers or occupation.
“ When you’re growing up what is it that you want to be when you grow up?”

Encounter Sensemaking stage that occurs when a new employee enters the organization. The newcomer must let go of old roles and values in adapting to the expectations of the new organization.

….. encounter Encounter experience are change, contrast, and surprise, and newcomer must work to make sense of the new organizational culture.

Metamorphosis The state reached at the “completion” of the socialization process. The new employee is now accepted as an organizational insider.

……..metamorphosis Adjustment to new job. Being accepted, a participating member of the organization by learning new behaviors and attitudes and/ or modifying existing ones.

Content of Socialization
What must be learned to adapt to work. 1) role-related -- skills, procedures, rules. 2) Organizational culture – cultural values and assumptions.

Summary of Socialization Models
The “when” of socialization The “what” of socialization Through the “when” and “what” are a variety of processes; formal training programs, mentoring, interviewing, relationships, etc.

Communication Process during Assimilation
The Employment Interview The Interview as a Recruiting and Screening Tool The Interview as an Information-Gathering Tool The Interview as a Tool for Socialization

…………cont. Newcomer Information-Seeking Tactics
Role-Development Processes Role-Taking Phase Role-Making Phase Role-Routinization Phase

a) The Employment Interview
Recruitment: College placement center, career day, the organization, employment office, phone interview.

The Interview as a Recruiting and Screening Tool
Gather information in a structured ways. Communication ability is the most important element. “Fluency of speech, composure, appropriateness of content, ability to express ideas in an organized fashion.”

The Interview as an Information-Gathering Tool
Interview – provides glimpse of a possible future employer. Applicants prefer open-ended questions as that allowed them to better expressed themselves.

The Interview as a Tool for Socialization
Employment interview serves as newcomer’s adaptation to the organization if she/he is offered the job.

Newcomer Information-Seeking Tactics
Seven modes of information-seeking; Overt questions, Indirect questions, Third parties, Testing limits, Disguising conversations, Observing, Surveillance.

Overt questions Newcomer solicits information by asking direct questions of information targets. Indirect questions Soliciting info by asking noninterrogative questions or by hinting. Third parties Soliciting info by asking a secondary source e.g. co-worker rather than primary source e.g. supervisor. Testing limits Solicits info by breaking or deviating from organizational rules and observing reactions. Disguising conversations Solicits info by disguising the info-seeking attempt as a natural part of the conversation. Observing Solicits info by watching behavior in salient situations. Surveillance Solicits info by making sense of past observed behavior.

Role-Development Processes
Organizational members accomplish their work through roles. Individual developed their roles through interaction with others in the organization.

Three Phases of Role Development
Role-taking phase Role-making phase Role-routinization phase

Role-taking phase Evaluation by superior through the role played by the new member. E.g a leader may request his/her new member to conduct a certain assignment and he/she will observe and evaluate the performance.

Role-making phase Involves the social exchange process. The member can offer time, skills, and effort. The leader can offer formal rewards, info., support, attention.

Role-routinization phase
The phase where members understand the role of subordinates and the expected behavior of supervisors. The formation of relationships between supervisors and subordinates.

Organizational Exit Leaving the organization due to retirement, layoff, frequently changing jobs.

Human Resources Approaches Chapter Three

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