Organisational Behaviour

Learning objectives

• After completing this chapter you should be able to:

• explain the meaning and nature of organisational behaviour and

provide an introduction to a behavioural approach to management;

• detail main interrelated influences on behaviour in work organisations

and explain the nature of behavioural science;

• outline contrasting perspectives of organisations and different

orientations to work;

• recognise the importance of management as an integrating activity;

• assess the nature and importance of the new psychological contract;

• review the need for a cross-cultural approach and the importance of

culture to the study of organisational behaviour;

• summarise the complex nature of the behaviour of people in work

organisations.

The study of organisational behaviour (OB) embraces an

understanding of :

• The behaviour of people

• The process of management

• The organisational context of management

• Organisational processes and the execution of work

• Interactions with the external environment of which the organisation is

part

The meaning of OB

• OB is a convenient shorthand that refers to the numerous interrelated

influences on, and patterns of behaviour of people within organisations

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 • The study and understanding of the individual and group behaviour
and patterns of structure in order to help to improve organizational
performance and effectiveness

• Most complex and perhaps least understood academic elements of

modern general management

• The name OB is strictly a misnomer, why?

Influences on OB

• Individuals

• Groups

• The organisation itself

• The environment

Individuals

• Are a central feature of OB

• Are a necessary part of any behavioural set

• Bring to the organisation their personality, skills and attributes, values,

needs and expectations

• Can create conflict if their needs and the demands of the organisation
are incompatible

Management and the individual

• Management’s task is to integrate the individual & the organisation,

providing a working environment that permits the satisfaction of
individual needs & attainment of organisation goals

Groups

• Exist in all organisations

• Are essential to organisational working and performance

• Comprise a range of different individuals

• Can develop their own hierarchies and leaders

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 • Can have a major influence on behaviour and performance of
individual members

• Have their own structures and functions, role relationships and

influences and pressure

An understanding of group structure and behaviour complements a

knowledge of individual behaviour

The organisation

• Individuals & groups interact within the structure of the formal

organisation

• Organisational structure is created by management to:

- establish a relationship between individuals & groups

- provide order and systems to direct efforts of the organisation

into goal seeking activities

• The formal structure allows people/groups to carry out organisational

activities to achieve aims & objectives

• Behaviour is affected by patterns of organisational structure

Environment

The environment affects the organisation through:

• technological & scientific development

• economic activity

• social & cultural influences

• government activities

The effects of the operation of the organisation within its

environment are reflected in the:

• management of opportunities & risks

• successful achievement of organisational aims & objectives

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Environment – its rate of change

• The increasing rate of change in environmental factors highlights the

need to study the total organisation & the processes used to adapt to
external demands

• Example: globalisation has placed greater emphasis on organisational

processes rather than organisational functions

Contrasting but related approaches

Psychological Sociological

1.Looks at individuals within 1.Look at human behaviour

in Society the organisation

2.A narrow approach 2.A broader approach

Behavioural science – a multidisciplinary approach

• A multidisciplinary behavioural science approach can make an

important contribution to the field of OB

• Behavioural science has three main disciplines:

- Psychology – personality systems

- Sociology – social behaviour

- Anthropology – science of mankind & study of human behaviour

(cultura systems)

Social
Personality
System(Sociolo
System
gy)
(Psychology)

Cultural
System
Politi
(Anthropolgy) cal
Econom
ics
Scien
ce
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The organisational iceberg

• One way to recognise why people behave as they do at work is to view

an organisation as an iceberg

• What sinks a ship isn’t always what sailors can see, but what they
can’t see

The organisational iceberg Formal (overt) aspects

• Customers

• Technology

• Formal goals

• Organisational design

• Financial resources

• Physical facilities

• Rules & regulations

• Surface competencies & skills

The organisational iceberg Behavioural (covert) aspects

• Attitudes

• Communication patterns

• Informal team processes

• Personality

• Conflict

• Political behaviour

• Underlying competencies & skills

Challenges of management People, capital, & technology

• somewhere within our views or organizations we need to acknowledge

the differences between machines and man.

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 • … the question of time is crucial, both because we humans operate in
time with the past, the present & the future assuming importance’ and
because they are phases, sequences of times and rhythms which are
essentially human.

Organisational metaphors

• Machines Political System

• Organisms Psychic prisons

• Brains Flux &Transformation

• Cultures instrument & Domination

The metaphors are not fixed categories and are not mutually
exclusive

Orientations to work

• Instrumental orientation – individuals view work as a means to an

end, there is a calculative or economic involvement with work

• Bureaucratic orientation – work is defined as a central life issue,

there is a sense of obligation to the work of the organisation & positive
involvement in terms of a career structure

• Solidaristic orientation – work situation is viewed in terms of group

activities, there is an ego involvement with work groups rather than
with the organisation itself, work is more than just a means to an end.

Challenges to work ethics

• Division of labour – work has been fractured in task and sub divided
into special sub tasks

• Destruction of continuity in employment – individuals are likely to

re-enter the job market several times, jobs are no longer for life

The psychological contract

• The series of mutual expectations & satisfaction of needs arising from

the people / organisational relationship

• Process of giving & receiving by the individual & the organisation

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 • Covers a range of expectations of rights and privileges, duties and
obligations that do not form part of the formal agreements but still has
important influence of people’s behaviour

• The significant of the contract depends on the extent it is perceived to

be fair

Formula for balancing unwritten needs of employees with the needs

of the organisation:

• Caring – demonstrating genuine concern for individuals

• Communicating – really talking about what the company hopes to

achieve

• Listening – hearing not only the words but also what lies behind the
words

• Knowing - those who work for you, their families, personal wishes,
desires & ambitions

• Rewarding – money is not always necessary

Moral contract

• Increasing global competition & turbulent change requires a

management philosophy grounded in a different moral contract

• People should not be seen as a corporate asset from which value can
be appropriated, but as a responsibility and a resource to be added to

• This demands more from individuals – to abandon the idea of lifetime

employment & embrace the concept of continuous learning & personal
development.

Factors leading to an increase in the global business environment

• Improvements in international communication facilities

• International competitive pressures

• The spread of production methods & other business processes across

nations & regions

• International business activity, e.g. overseas franchising or licensing

agreements

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Five dimensions of culture

• Power distance

• Uncertainty avoidance

• Individualism

• Masculinity

• Confucian work dynamism

Cultural differences that can affect OB

• Relationship & rules

• Individual or collective preferences

• Type of societies - neutral or emotional societies

• Diffuse or specific culture

• Achievement-based societies

• Time

• Attitude to the environment

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