Lecture 2

Definition of organisation and organisational

behaviour (OB)
Determinants of OB
Influences on OB
Interface of Management and OB
Definition of organisational goals
OB linkage with Organisational goals
Organisational culture (OC)
- What is a culture?
- Why is culture important?
- Why is it important to study organisational culture?
- Types of cultures
- OC and its characteristics
- Organisational culture v/s Organisational climate

It is very important to note the difference between Organisation

and Organisational Behaviour

ORGANISATION

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Defined as a collection of people

who works together to achieve a
wide variety of goals

Defined as actions and attitudes of people in

an organisation
Study of the way people interact within groups
Attempt to create a more efficient business
organisation
Subject is becoming more important as people
with diverse backgrounds and cultural values
have to work together effectively and efficiently
Seeks to emphasise the understanding of
behaviour in organisations so as to develop
competencies in foreseeing how people are
likely to behave
Knowledge may help in controlling those
behaviours that are not befitting the objectives
of organisations

The main determinants of OB are:

- Individuals
- Groups
- Structures
OB applies the knowledge gained abbout
individuals, groups and the effect of structure
on behaviour to make the organisation more
effective

Mission, vision, objectives set up

Organisational Culture and climate
Change in management people used to
work in a X manner but with change will
have to work in Y manner
New policies taken by Senior Management
without consultation
Continuously working in an atmosphere of
competitive advantage

Concept of interface
Inter-relation with X factor which is the inter-relation of Management and
OB in this topic!
Normally organisation have managers with titles like marketing manager,
director of public relations, vice president of HRM and so on. But there is no
organisation which has a position called Organisational Behaviour Manager
Reason for this is simple organisational behaviour is not an organisational
function or area. Instead, it is best described as a perspective or set of tools
that all managers can use to carry out their jobs more effectively
By understanding OB concept, managers can better understand and
appreciate the behaviour of those around them
Managers can also use their knowledge from the field of OB to better
understand their own behaviours and feelings (e.g. Understanding personal
needs and motives; how to improve decision-making capabilities, how to
respond and control stress; how to better communicate with others...)
Provides useful insights in understanding attitudinal processes, individual
differences, group dynamics, OC and so on

GOALS

Vision / Missions

Functions tasks /
Activities (What/Why)
Procedures (How)

STRATEGIES
Roles and
Responsibi
lities
(Who)

STRUCTURE

SYSTEMS
CULTURE

Core Values

Personality, perception, skills and attitude

development
Learning
Motivation
Leader Behaviour and power
Interpersonal communication
Group structure and processes
Change processes

Culture of any group of people is that set of

beliefs, customs, practices and ways of
thinking that they come to share with each
other through being and working together.
It is a set of assumptions that people simply
accept without question as they interact with
each other
At the visible level, the culture of a group of
people takes the form of ritual behaviour,
symbols, myths, stories, sounds and artefacts
(Stacey, 96)

Can affect degree of employees motivation

Can affect staff turnover
Can affect morale and goodwill of employees
Can affect absenteeism and punctuality
Can have an effect on productivity and
efficiency
Can affect quality of work produced
Can affect an employees willingness to
accept change/rapid change of environment

People are affected by culture in which they

live
An individual working for any organisation
with a firmly established culture will be
taught values, beliefs and expected
behaviours of that organisation
Study of organisational culture is important
for the understanding and practice of OB
(Luthans, 98)

TYPES

EXPLANATION

POWER CULTURE Spider web

Illustrated as spiders web with all

important spiders sitting in the centre
because key to whole organisation sits in
the centre surrounded by influences and
intimates
Closer you are to spider more powerful and
influence you are
Heavily dependent on people with abilities
in middle
Performance judged on results

ROLE CULTURE

Illustrated by building with columns and

beams
Each column and beam has specific role to
play to keep building up
For employees, this culture offers security
and opportunity to acquire specialist
expertise
This culture is frustrating for ambitious
people who are power orientated

TYPES

EXPLANATION

TASK CULTURE

Job or project oriented

Often associated with organisation that
adopt matrix structural designs
Emphasis is on getting the job done and the
culture seeks to bring together the
appropriate resources and the right people at
the right level in order to assemble relevant
resources for completion of particular project
Depends highly on teamwork to produce
results

PERSON CULTURE

Is an unusual culture
People is at the focal point

OC is the set of important understandings such as norms, values, attitudes and beliefs
shared by organisational members
OC has its key functions and they include sense of identity, enhancement of
commitment and reinforcement of behaviour
Primary characteristics of an OC are as follows:
1. Innovation and Risk Taking: It can be described as the degree or extent to which
employees are encouraged to take innovative steps and calculated risk.
2. Attention to Detail: It can be described as degree or extent to which employees are
expected to pay attention to details.
3. Outcome Orientation: It can be described as the degree or extent to which management
focuses on outcome rather than on process to achieve outcome.
4. People Orientation: It can be described as the degree or extent to which management
gives attention to effect of decisions on people working in the organisation and on its
shareholders.
5. Team Orientation: It can be described as the degree or extent to which works are
organised around team rather than individuals.
6. Aggressiveness: It can be described as the degree or extent to which people are aggressive
or competitive rather than unconcerned or relaxed.
7. Stability: It can be described as the degree or extent to which maintaining status quo is
emphasized in contrast to growth.
8. Individual Autonomy: It can be described as the degree or extent of responsibility,
independence, and opportunities for exercising initiative that individuals in an organisation
have.
9. Structure: It can be described as the degree or extent of rules and regulations and the
amount of direct supervision that is used to supervise and control behaviour.

10. Support: It can be described as the degree or extent of assistance and warmth
managers provide for their subordinates.
11. Identity: It can be described as the degree or extent to which members identify with
the organisation as a whole rather than with their particular work group or field of
professional expertise.
12. Performance-Reward: It can be described as the degree or extent to which reward in
the organisation are based on employee work performance.
13. Conflict Tolerance: It can be described as the degree or extent of conflict present in
relationships between peers and work groups as well as the motivation to be honest and
open about differences.
14. Attitude towards Change: It can be described as the response given to new methods,
ways, and values.
15. Focus: It can be described as the vision of the goals and objectives of an
organisations operations as communicated by those in control.
16. Standard and Values: The levels of performance and behaviour considered to be
acceptable by both types of criteria formal and informal.
17. Rituals: It can be described as the expressive events that support and reinforce
organisational standards and values;
18. Openness, Communication, and Supervision: It can be described as the amount and
type of interchange permitted. The communication flow can be downward, upward,
across the organisation, and in other directions as spelled out by the culture.
19. Market and Customer Orientation: It can be described as the degree or extent to
which the organisation is responsive to its markets and customers.
20. Excitement, Pride, and esprit de corps: It can be described as a perceptibly good
feeling about the organisation and its activities.
21. Commitment: It can be described as the degree or extent to which individuals are
willingly working towards goals on a long-lasting basis

Organisational culture is concerned with the nature of

beliefs and expectations about organisational life, its
about a set of values, assumptions and norms that is
present in an organisational life.
Organisational climate is an indicator whether those
beliefs and expectations are being fulfilled.
Organisational climate has strong impact on the
performance of the organisation. The climate
indicates whether an organisation is healthy or
unhealthy and this is what is going to determine the
successfulness of the organisation.
Organisational culture and organisational climate can
also be compared to personality and mood whereby
the former is enduring and the latter is temporary

Organisational culture has 2 levels visible that

can be seen on the surface (dress codes, office
layout) and invisible cannot be seen on the
surface (stories about the people performance...)
Organisational climate makes an assessment of
the organisational culture (the 2 levels) and thus
providing the answer via the climate of the
organisation:
- Structure
- Responsibility
- Risk
- Warmth
- Support
- Conflict
- Trust