Organizational Behavior

Introduction
Organizational Behavior (OB) is the study and application of knowledge about how
people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. It does this by taking a
system approach. That is, it interprets people-organization relationships in ter
ms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system
. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, or
ganizational objectives, and social objectives.
As you can see from the definition above, organizational behavior encompasses a
wide range of topics, such as human behavior, change, leadership, teams, etc. Si
nce many of these topics are covered elsewhere in the leadership guide, this pap
er will focus on a few parts of OB: elements, models, social systems, OD, work l
ife, action learning, and change.
Elements of Organizational Behavior
The organization's base rests on management's philosophy, values, vision and goa
ls. This in turn drives the organizational culture which is composed of the form
al organization, informal organization, and the social environment. The culture
determines the type of leadership, communication, and group dynamics within the
organization. The workers perceive this as the quality of work life which direct
s their degree of motivation. The final outcome are performance, individual sati
sfaction, and personal growth and development. All these elements combine to bui
ld the model or framework that the organization operates from.
Models of Organizational Behavior
There are four major models or frameworks that organizations operate out of:
Autocratic - The basis of this model is power with a managerial orientation of a
uthority. The employees in turn are oriented towards obedience and dependence on
the boss. The employee need that is met is subsistence. The performance result
is minimal.

Custodial - The basis of this model is economic resources with a managerial orie
ntation of money. The employees in turn are oriented towards security and benefi
ts and dependence on the organization. The employee need that is met is security
. The performance result is passive cooperation.

Supportive - The basis of this model is leadership with a managerial orientation

of support. The employees in turn are oriented towards job performance and part
icipation. The employee need that is met is status and recognition. The performa
nce result is awakened drives.

Collegial - The basis of this model is partnership with a managerial orientation

of teamwork. The employees in turn are oriented towards responsible behavior an
d self-discipline. The employee need that is met is self-actualization. The perf
ormance result is moderate enthusiasm.
Although there are four separate models, almost no organization operates exclusi
vely in one. There will usually be a predominate one, with one or more areas ove
r-lapping in the other models.
The first model, autocratic, has its roots in the industrial revolution. The man
agers of this type of organization operate out of McGregor's Theory X. The next
three models begin to build on McGregor's Theory Y. They have each evolved over
a period of time and there is no one "best" model. The collegial model should no
t be thought as the last or best model, but the beginning of a new model or para
digm.
Social Systems, Culture, and Individualization
A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many ways
. Within an organization, the social system includes all the people in it and th
eir relationships to each other and to the outside world. The behavior of one me
mber can have an impact, either directly or indirectly, on the behavior of other
s. Also, the social system does not have boundaries...it exchanges goods, ideas,
culture, etc. with the environment around it.
Culture is the conventional behavior of a society that encompasses beliefs, cust
oms, knowledge, and practices. It influences human behavior, even though it seld
om enters into their conscious thought. People depend on culture as it gives the
m stability, security, understanding, and the ability to respond to a given situ
ation. This is why people fear change. They fear the system will become unstable
, their security will be lost, they will not understand the new process, and the
y will not know how to respond to the new situations.
Individualization is when employees successfully exert influence on the social s
ystem by challenging the culture.
Impact Of Individualization
On A Organization
_______________________________
High | | |
| | |
| | |
| Conformity | Creative |
| | Individualism |
| | |
Socialization |_______________|_______________|
| | |
| | |
| | |
| Isolation | Rebellion |
| | |
| | |
Low |_______________|_______________|
Low Individualization High
The chart above (Schein, 1968) shows how individualization affects different org
anizations:
Too little socialization and too little individualization creates isolation.
Too high socialization and too little individualization creates conformity.
Too little socialization and too high individualization creates rebellion.
While the match that organizations want to create is high socialization and high
individualization for a creative environment. This is what it takes to survive
in a very competitive environment...having people grow with the organization, bu
t doing the right thing when others want to follow the easy path.
This can become quite a balancing act. Individualism favors individual rights, l
oosely knit social networks, self respect, and personal rewards and careers. It
becomes look out for number 1! Socialization or collectivism favors the group, h
armony, and asks "What is best for the organization?" Organizations need people
to challenge, question, and experiment while still maintaining the culture that
binds them into a social system.
Organization Development
Organization Development (OD) is the systematic application of behavioral scienc
e knowledge at various levels, such as group, inter-group, organization, etc., t
o bring about planned change. Its objectives is a higher quality of work-life, p
roductivity, adaptability, and effectiveness. It accomplishes this by changing a
ttitudes, behaviors, values, strategies, procedures, and structures so that the
organization can adapt to competitive actions, technological advances, and the f
ast pace of change within the environment.
There are seven characteristics of OD:
Humanistic Values: Positive beliefs about the potential of employees (McGregor's
Theory Y).
Systems Orientation: All parts of the organization, to include structure, techno
logy, and people, must work together.
Experiential Learning: The learners' experiences in the training environment sho
uld be the kind of human problems they encounter at work. The training should NO
T be all theory and lecture.
Problem Solving: Problems are identified, data is gathered, corrective action is
taken, progress is assessed, and adjustments in the problem solving process are
made as needed. This process is known as Action Research.
Contingency Orientation: Actions are selected and adapted to fit the need.
Change Agent: Stimulate, facilitate, and coordinate change.
Levels of Interventions: Problems can occur at one or more level in the organiza
tion so the strategy will require one or more interventions.

Quality of Work Life

Quality of Work Life (QWL) is the favorableness or unfavorableness of the job en
vironment. Its purpose is to develop jobs and working conditions that are excell
ent for both the employees and the organization. One of the ways of accomplishin
g QWL is through job design. Some of the options available for improving job des
ign are:
Leave the job as is but employ only people who like the rigid environment or rou
tine work. Some people do enjoy the security and task support of these kinds of
jobs.
Leave the job as is, but pay the employees more.
Mechanize and automate the routine jobs.
And the area that OD loves - redesign the job.
When redesigning jobs there are two spectrums to follow - job enlargement and jo
b enrichment. Job enlargement adds a more variety of tasks and duties to the job
so that it is not as monotonous. This takes in the breadth of the job. That is,
the number of different tasks that an employee performs. This can also be accom
plished by job rotation.
Job enrichment, on the other hand, adds additional motivators. It adds depth to
the job - more control, responsibility, and discretion to how the job is perform
ed. This gives higher order needs to the employee, as opposed to job enlargement
which simply gives more variety. The chart below (Cunningham & Eberle, 1990) il
lustrates the differences:
Job Enrichment and Job Performance
_______________________________
Higher | | |
Order | | Job |
| Job | Enrichment |
| Enrichment | and |
| | Enlargement |
| | |
Accent on |_______________|_______________|
Needs | | |
| | |
| Routine | Job |
| Job | Enlargement |
| | |
Lower | | |
Order |_______________|_______________|
Few Many
Variety of Tasks
The benefits of enriching jobs include:
Growth of the individual
Individuals have better job satisfaction
Self-actualization of the individual
Better employee performance for the organization
Organization gets intrinsically motivated employees
Less absenteeism, turnover, and grievances for the organization
Full use of human resources for society
Society gains more effective organizations
There are a variety of methods for improving job enrichment (Hackman and Oldham,
1975):
Skill Variety: Perform different tasks that require different skill. This differ
s from job enlargement which might require the employee to perform more tasks, b
ut require the same set of skills.
Task Identity: Create or perform a complete piece of work. This gives a sense of
completion and responsibility for the product.
Task Significant: This is the amount of impact that the work has on other people
as the employee perceives.
Autonomy: This gives employees discretion and control over job related decisions
.
Feedback: Information that tells workers how well they are performing. It can co
me directly from the job (task feedback) or verbally form someone else.
For a survey activity, see Hackman & Oldham's Five Dimensions of Motivating Pote
ntial.
Action Learning
An unheralded British academic was invited to try out his theories in Belgium --
it led to an upturn in the Belgian economy. "Unless your ideas are ridiculed by
experts they are worth nothing," says the British academic Reg Revans, creator
of action learning [L = P + Q] -- learning occurs through a combination of progr
ammed knowledge (P) and the ability to ask insightful questions (Q).
Action learning has been widely used in Europe for combining formal management t
raining with learning from experience. A typical program is conducted over a per
iod of 6 to 9 months. Teams of learners with diverse backgrounds conduct field p
rojects on complex organizational problems requiring use of skills learned in fo
rmal training sessions. The learning teams then meet periodically with a skilled
instructor to discuss, analyze, and learn from their experiences.
Revans basis his learning method on a theory called "System Beta," in that the l
earning process should closely approximate the "scientific method." The model is
cyclical - you proceed through the steps and when you reach the last step you r
elate the analysis to the original hypothesis and if need be, start the process
again. The six steps are:
Formulate Hypothesis (an idea or concept)
Design Experiment (consider ways of testing truth or validity of idea or concept
)
Apply in Practice (put into effect, test of validity or truth)
Observe Results (collect and process data on outcomes of test)
Analyze Results (make sense of data)
Compare Analysis (relate analysis to original hypothesis)
Note that you do not always have to enter this process at step 1, but you do hav
e to complete the process.
Revans suggest that all human learning at the individual level occurs through th
is process. Note that it covers what Jim Stewart (Managing Change Through Traini
ng and Development, 1991) calls the levels of existence:
We think - cognitive domain
We feel - affective domain
We do - action domain
All three levels are interconnected -- e.g. what we think influences and is infl
uenced by what we do and feel.
Change
In its simplest form, discontinuity in the work place is "change."
Our prefrontal cortex is a fast and agile computational device that is able to h
old multiple threads of logic at once so that we can perform fast calculations.
However, it has its limits with working memory in that it can only hold a handfu
l of concepts at once, similar to the RAM in a PC. In addition, it burns lots of
high energy glucose (blood sugar), which is expensive for the body to produce.
Thus when given lots of information, such as when a change is required, it has a
tendency to overload and being directly linked to the amygdala (the emotional c
enter of the brain) that controls our fight-or-flight response, it can cause sev
ere physical and psychological discomfort. (Koch, 2006)
Our prefrontal cortex is marvelous for insight when not overloaded. But for norm
al everyday use, our brain prefers to run off its "hard-drive" -- the basal gang
lia, which has a much larger storage area and stores memories and our habits. In
addition, it sips rather than gulps food (glucose).
When we do something familiar and predictable, our brain is mainly using the bas
al ganglia, which is quite comforting to us. When we use our prefrontal cortex,
then we are looking for fight, flight, or insight. Too much change produces figh
t or flight syndromes. As change agents we want to produce "insight" into our le
arners so that they are able to apply their knowledge and skills not just in the
classroom, but also on the job.
And the way to help people come to "insight" is to allow them to come to their o
wn resolution. These moments of insight or resolutions are called "epiphanies" -
- sudden intuitive leap of understanding that are quite pleasurable to us and ac
t as rewards. Thus you have to resist the urge to fill in the entire picture of
change, rather you have to leave enough gaps so that the learners are allowed to
make connections of their own. Doing too much for the learners can be just as b
ad, if not worse, than not doing enough.
Doing all the thinking for learners takes their brains out of action, which mean
s they will not invest the energy to make new connections.