Overview

The best way to think about 'Introductory topics' is to realise that to understand management you first need to understand what is being managed that is, organisations. So the Module starts out with a discussion of organisations, not from any single perspective, but by adopting a number of points of view to allow a more comprehensive appreciation of what organisations are about. From there, we proceed to a discussion of the nature of managerial work. Finally, the Module presents some material on the founding schools and theories of management which, far from being superseded in the manner typical of scientific theories in the conventional sense, tend to persist in influencing the field of management even today.

Topics
Topics covered in this Module are: 1.1 Thinking about organisations and management 1.2 Managerial work 1.3 Founding views of management

Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this Module you should have:

an appreciation of some of the diverse ways of interpreting organisations and how being able to think about organisations in different ways contributes to understanding the task of management

an understanding of a diversity of approaches to thinking about managerial work

an understanding of some of the formal founding theories of management, their strengths and limitations, and their enduring contributions to modern views of management

some experience at applying some of these perspectives on organisations and managerial work to examine your own approach to management, the workings of your organisation and some case studies.

1.1 Thinking about organisations and management

Reading 1.1

Introduction
This topic introduces you to management issues within organisations. It looks at the need for management and discusses this in the context of the complex and dynamic nature of organisations. In learning about the organisations and management we will examine the following issues:

1.1.1 Why do we need to manage?

As a way of getting to grips with the subject as a whole, let us first of all ask what management is, and why we need to do it. This is a little like asking what is a 'family, what is 'money, or trying to explain walking. In a way, the question is ridiculously easy, because we know these things well and encounter them all the time. But from another

point of view, trying to explain them exhaustively, and in a way which would enable someone who had never encountered them to understand them and try to use them for themselves, means that the question is quite difficult. Because we organise, we need to manage... What we know at the outset, is that people have needs of all kinds: to eat, to entertain themselves, to get from one place to another, to have shelter, to get an education, and so on. We also know that, as a generality, there is a scarcity of time, energy and other resources to meet these needs, especially if one person tries to do everything on their own. This has always been true; we can imagine that from the time cave-people decided that it was time to catch the next mammoth, it seemed like a good idea to work in unison to achieve certain ends. In brief, people form organisations. It has been argued, in fact, that it is largely because of humans' capacity to organise and work together that they have come to dominate the planet as a species, not because they are physically stronger. It is because they are more cognitively capable, can manage tools, can think conceptually, and operate in groups that is, plan things, cooperate with each other and coordinate the doing of tasks that humans have come to be so successful. As we know from our own experience, people magnify their abilities by working with others.

The needs of organisations

But organisations themselves have needs. We are all familiar with organisations which were once vibrant and viable, but which are no longer so, and whose members have simply slipped away. Organisations need:
A goal: some reason for being that is understood at least in general terms by its

members. Mutual attraction: Of course, members of organisations will have their own needs as well, which will not necessarily be those of the organisation. So the point about mutual attraction is that organisations need to supply some way by which the members can meet their own needs as well as those of the organisation. We need only think of the fact that organisations pay employees and managers to come and fulfil the goals of the organisation.
Resources: Organisations need something with which to work. These can be of all

kinds, but labour, land and capital and sometimes technology are some of the basic resources organisations need to do their work. Management: Because of the previous three items that we can see that organisations need management. Keeping the organisation's goals understood, aligned with the needs of members, keeping the organisation itself on track towards the goal by the allocation of its various resources, starts to look like a complicated task. Organisations need management to keep the whole show on the road.

Defining management
In the light of what and why we manage, it makes sense to define management as: the activity whereby we obtain, allocate and use human efforts and physical resources to get something done.

The pervasiveness of organisations

Given this obvious and yet perhaps not quite so obvious explanation for the value of organisations, it is perhaps easier to see why there are so many of them. And

indeed, virtually every aspect of our lives is touched on by organisations in some form. There is the company that made the blankets and sheets we threw off as we got out of bed, and the manufacturers of toasters, bread, marmalade and coffee. From the distributors of electricity, to the cars we got into to go to work; it is time to appreciate more about these familiar, pervasive and yet mysterious creations: organisations.

Conclusion
It is clear from what has preceded that organisations are complex; they resist explanation via a single tool or mechanism. We need multiple views to come to grips with them. Organisations are changing entities existing within a variety of contexts that are themselves often unstable. It is probably clear by now why studying an organisation chart feels not much more informative than studying a faded photograph if you are trying to capture an understanding of the organisation as a 'moving target'. Even using more complex perspective such as the ones offered in this Module will have different results according to the purposes and perspective of the person applying it.

1.2 Managerial work

Introduction
This topic examines the issue of work from a variety of points of view. It looks at the motivations for work, attitudes to work and theoretical viewpoints on the nature of work. Managerial work examines the roles and performance issues related to management.

1.2.1 The nature of managerial work

Managerial roles
For a long time, partly as a result of Fayol's work (which we will describe later in this Module), it was thought that the best description of managerial work lay in classifying it according to a series of roles: planning, organising, leading, and controlling. This descriptive system remains popular today. However, such a view of the calm and orderly approach to managerial work seemed to be seriously questioned when Rosemary Stewart wrote up the results of a study of what managers really do. From her observations of 100 managers she found that over a four-week period each of them had, on average, only nine periods of half-an hour without interruption, which is less than one every other day. This does not leave much time for systematic planning, organising, leading and controlling. Following this initial work, Mintzberg (1975) produced a classic paper in which he tried to dispel some of the myths and folklore about what a manager really does. See Robbins (textbook) for a summary of Mintzberg's findings. Mintzberg, as a result of his study, identified ten roles for a manager. These were grouped into Interpersonal roles, Informational Roles and Decisional roles, as follows:

Interpersonal roles

figurehead

leader

liaison

Informational roles

monitor

disseminator

spokesperson

decisional roles

entrepreneur

disturbance handler

resource allocator

negotiator. The balance of these roles in a particular managerial job may vary, but basically all managers will need at least some skills in each of the roles.

Management skills (or competencies)

Another relatively simple view of management at least in terms of the number of parts in which it classifies the management field is Katz's (1974) conceptualisation of three broad management skills: technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills. It is important to note that Katz and many other authors consider the balance of skills should not remain the same as a manager's career progresses. That is, the importance of technical skills tends to indeed ought to decline in favour of human skills and then conceptual skills as managers move further up the organisational hierarchy. The need for this shift arises because the nature of what is required of managers changes depending on their level in the organisational hierarchy. These variations could be described briefly as follows: At lower or operational levels, managers are generally involved in the supervision of non-management personnel. They are essentially technical managers responsible for producing products or services. At the tactical level, middle managers translate the goals of the organisation into specific objectives and activities. There is responsibility for the coordination of resources particularly at the departmental level. They direct and control the work of others. At the strategic level, senior managers are responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation as a while. They manage the interaction with the external environment. A long-term, future-oriented focus is required in order to set the most appropriate organisational mission and goals. The types of management associated with these levels are, respectively, supervisory, middle management and senior management.

Another functional view

In considering the nature of managerial work, we began by discussing managerial roles (Mintzberg) via a discussion of Fayol's basic managerial functions. From there we moved to a discussion of managerial skills. We return now to a somewhat more elaborate view of the functions of management work, which is now often discussed in the context of forming effective teams. This view is presented by Margerison and McCann (1985). Margerison and McCann's work categories comprise nine component functions. The authors argue that all of these work functions must be present in the various levels of an organisation if the organisation is to achieve high performance. The functions are:

advising acquiring and distributing information

innovating, creating and experimenting with ideas

promoting seeking and presenting opportunities

developing assessing and developing practical plans

organising implementing and pushing for action

producing following through and completing task outputs

inspecting auditing and controlling systems and procedures

maintaining upholding and enhancing quality and standards

linking integrating and coordinating the work of others through meetings and faceto-face contact.

Effective vs successful managers

Luthans (1988) and others have made special contribution to the field by pointing out which managerial activities lead to success (in terms of how quickly the manager is promoted) compared to which activities appear to be associated with managerial effectiveness. Clearly, the importance of social and political skills, which we will examine further in Module 4, should not be underestimated. Kotter, in a 1982 study, presents a typology that is similar to the list of managerial activities provided by Mintzberg. He presented the following common 'job demands' on managers: 1 Setting basic goals, polices and strategies despite great uncertainty surrounding key factors. 2 Achieving a balance in the allocation of organisational resources among the various claimants. 3 Monitoring activities so as to be able to identify problems and quickly resolve them. 4 Getting information, cooperation and support from those further up 5 Getting cooperation from groups over which they have no direct authority (for example, unions, customers, suppliers, other departments or divisions) 6 Motivating and controlling staff; managing conflict. But Kotter also goes somewhat further, presenting these job demands as part of an overall three-part process: that is agenda setting, network building and executing (getting networks to implement agendas).
Agenda setting centres on developing a set of loosely connected goals and plans,

sometimes resulting in formal documents, sometimes remaining as ideas in the manager's head. The managers develop these agendas based on their own knowledge of the business and organisations involved, plus information gathered primarily from discussions with people.
Network building involves the developing of a network of cooperative relationships

with people who could make an important contribution to the successful implementation of the agenda. Thus managers develop relationships with superiors, subordinates, peers and various other individuals and groups, both inside and outside the organisation. The more dependent the managers are on a particular group or individual, the more they try to develop the relationship. As managing generally involves getting things done through people, it is not surprising that these managers put a lot of effort into developing support among key people for the set agenda. Network building involves encouraging the various network members to identify with

the managers' agendas as well as fostering a sense of cooperation and commitment among them. It involves developing, maintaining and shaping an informal network of relationships.
Execution involves the mobilisation of support from the network for the implementation

of the agenda. Often this is done paradoxically by 'standing back': giving those with the capacity to accomplish a task successfully the authority to do just that and not directly intervening. Sometimes direct intervention occurs to ask, demand, cajole, threaten, praise or reward. Some actions involve the use of the manager's formal power; others are based on informal persuasion. Kotter's view reinforces the political emphasis of Luthans et als view of management. Taken together, these studies and similar work describe the real world of managing. Perhaps it comes as a relief to find that the frenetic reality of your job is at least being acknowledged in research. But it is disquieting, for example, to discover that the formula for success in management is not the same as the formula for effectiveness, and that management is by its nature a highly political activity. In all, the research confirms that management is a demanding and complex activity, and that chaos, drama, power plays, bargaining, negotiating and demanding schedules 'go with the territory'. By now, you can perhaps add a number of new fads to the list. Consider for example the popularity of Total Quality Management or TQM (late 80s to early 90s) and the current predilection for various forms of corporate re-engineering. This is not to argue that such 'recipes' have no value, but rather that any single precept in management is unlikely to be capable on its own of solving complex problems. In all, the readings indicate the complexity of managerial activities, including some things various management jobs have in common as well as differences between them, say as managers move further up the hierarchy (Mintzberg), or according to the functional areas of the organisation they occupy. It may be useful at this point to summarise what these studies tell us as a whole about managerial activities. The pace of work is hectic, often fragmented and unrelenting. Particularly as managers reach the top levels of major organisations, workloads become considerable (50 hours and more per week for even relatively junior managers). Breaks become less frequent, and there are continual demands for information. Despite the intention to plan and reflect on future strategy, the manager's day tends to be subsumed in 'fire-fighting' unexpected problems. The content of managerial work is varied and fragmented. All the studies show that managers typically engaged in a large number of activities covering ten or more

different types depending on whose model is being used to classify them. Such activities tend to be disjointed, with little connection between them, because so many are initiated by others. There always seem to be more problems than one person can handle, and this increases the further up one goes in an organisation. Problems present themselves 'out of the blue' and in random order. There is little time for careful analysis, and so managers are inclined to ignore the 'fuzzy' and difficult to diagnose areas, concentrating on areas they know best, and resorting to styles of approach born out of habit and personal preference rather than considered analysis. They find it

difficult to think beyond their immediate domain of responsibility, or to define solutions that involve more than their usual resources. Interactions often involve peers and outsiders. The contributions of Luthans, Kotter, Kanter and others show that successful managers tend to be those who can communicate across functions, divisions and with people outside the organisation. So networking at times surpasses even the higher level conceptual skills as managers develop skills and sensitivity to mobilise their workforce. The high need for lateral and external contacts is explained by managers' needs for information to reduce levels of uncertainty. If the story of the 1990s and the early part of the new century is the need for organisations to manage change, then the need to reduce uncertainty increases correspondingly. As Kanter notes, the successful entrepreneurial manager builds coalitions of supporters, starting with their peers and, over time, adding superiors. Interactions typically involve oral communication. Across studies, managers are reported as using a variety of methods to obtain information. These include written messages, phone messages, scheduled and unscheduled meetings and observational tours. Byrne extends these terms to include idea scavengers and management by walking around. Estimates put the amount of time managers spend in oral communication as varying between one quarter and three-quarters. Managers need to pay attention to gossip and rumours: they represent up-to-date information whether or not their content is factually based. Even joking and small talk are necessary for maintaining personal networks. Decision processes are disorderly and political. Managers seldom make major decisions immediately, but rather take a series of small steps towards the larger decision. Organisational decision processes are highly political, and decisions can drag on for months due to delays, political in-fighting and compromises. The political phenomena associated with decision-making will be dealt with more formally in the Module 'Organisational culture and power and politics', and also in the Module 'Control and decision making'. Most planning is informal and adaptive. The descriptive studies on which this part of the Module has been based show that while some planning does occur, it tends to be informal and implicit. Kotter's work identifies how managers define agendas that consist of loosely connected goals. Kotter found that the achievement of agenda items is a gradual, continuous process, in which managers use a range of influence techniques to shape opinion and mobilise support. Contrary to conventional models of strategic management, which portray management as an essentially top-down process, it appears that the objectives and strategies adopted by many firms emerge from more bottom-up processes.

1.3 Founding views of management

Introduction
This topic examines several key models of management theory. These are standard theories you are required to be familiar with, but you are also encouraged to critique and evaluate them. In this topic we will examine the following issues:

scientific management

administrative management

the human relations movement

bureaucracy

systems theory

other approaches.
Textbook ReadRobbins, Chapter 1, for a discussion of management functions, roles and skills.

1.3.1 Scientific management

Formal theories of management emerged with the scientific management approach in the early 1900s. Its proponents sought to find and apply 'one best way' to complete production tasks. Selection, training of workers and the standardisation of processes, procedures and equipment were also emphasised. The name most commonly associated with scientific management is that of Frederick Taylor. Taylor believed that managers should: 1 Study each job and determine the best way to do it. 2 Select and train workers capable of doing the job. 3 Monitor the work to make sure employees are doing it in the best way. 4 Assume all planning and organising responsibilities while the workers carry out their assigned tasks. The focus was on increasing productivity through the work of individual employees. Lilian and Frank Gilbreth and Henry Gantt are also closely linked with scientific management. The Gilbreths tried to improve the performance of workers by identifying the most efficient set of motions for any task that would at the same time reduce worker fatigue. Their study of bricklayers in action and the techniques devised to triple their daily output is a well-known example of their work. A legacy of Gantt's work still used today is the Gantt Chart, a means of charting production scheduling. The major advantages of scientific management were increased efficiency and productivity in manufacturing. Scientific analysis of the workplace including task breakdown and selection and training of workers also had a significant impact on managerial practice. We recognise in these practices the forerunners of today's job descriptions and duty statements. The linking of higher performance with greater rewards and the focus on cooperation between management and workers are also features of the modern workplace. In essence, however, the scientific approach considered workers as extensions of their equipment or 'human machines. Moreover, many of the assumptions about human motivation were simplistic, such as the view that individuals were only motivated to behave in self-interested ways that would accommodate their economic and physical needs. Issues such as personal recognition, status and achievement played no part. The scientific approach assumed that workers must be rigidly controlled by management as, otherwise, they would be unreliable and uninterested in their work. The approach to leadership was, accordingly, an authoritarian one. The emphasis was on the internal functioning of the organisation rather than its capacity to respond to the external environment.

1.3.2 Administrative management

The administrative management approach began in the early 1900s and extended into the 1950s. The reason for its delayed influence was not only the predominance of scientific management, particularly in the United States, but the fact that the book,
Administration Industrielle et Generale, written by the movement's principal proponent,

Henri Fayol, was not translated from the French until the mid 1940s. There were other like-minded thinkers, however, including Chester Barnard and Mary Parker Follett. A central theme of the administrative management approach was the identification of the major principles and functions that managers could use to achieve superior organisational performance. Accordingly, in place of scientific management's emphasis on the individual job and how best to do it, administrative management thinkers took a broad overview of management functioning. Chester Barnard, for example, recognised the necessity of balancing the goals of the organisation with the needs of individuals and identified the importance of informal groups within organisations. Follett emphasised that managerial principles and techniques should be applied in accordance with the particular requirements of individual situations a tenet which is equally applicable to today's managers operating in a turbulent environment. Henri Fayol, a French mining engineer and executive, focussed on the administrative level of organisations. He recognised that skills in technical, commercial, financial, security, accounting and managerial activities were at least as important as engineering approaches to enhanced productivity. Of all these activities, management was the one least clearly defined. Despite this, Fayol believed that its skills could be made explicit and taught as a profession. Managers in different positions in organisations were observed to use different skills. Generally, in lower level positions, managers needed to use high levels of specific technical skills combined with some managerial ability for first line supervision. As they progressed to higher levels, they needed to exercise fewer technical skills and a much greater range of managerial ability. We have already referred to Fayol's four principal management functions, but we define them now more exactly as follows: 1Planning: Deciding on the ways in which the organisation will meet its goals. 2Organising: Allocating human and physical resources to carry out organisational plans. 3Leading: Directing employees to carry out required tasks. 4Controlling: Monitoring how organisational plans are being carried out and taking corrective action when needed. Fayol also described fourteen principles of management, which are briefly described as follows: 1Divisions of labour: Tasks and responsibilities are specialised to achieve maximum efficiency. 2Authority and responsibility: Orders are supported by formal and personal authority and with the associated power to apply rewards or penalties. 3Discipline: Respect for organisational rules is accompanied by penalties for

breaking them. 4Unity of command: Each employee should have only one direct supervisor. 5Unity of direction: There should be only one manager and one plan for operations of the same type. 6Subordination: of individual interest to the organisation interest. Organisational interests and goals take precedence. 7Remuneration: Appropriate and fair reward for effort provides incentive. 8Centralisation: A balance between centralisation of authority and responsibility in a manager and delegation to employees should be maintained. 9The hierarchy or scalar chain: The line of authority and communication should run from top to bottom, although managers need to communicate laterally with their peers. 10Order: All resources should be correctly positioned to support the organisation's direction and goals. 11Equity: Friendliness among employees and managers and fair discipline increase commitment. 12Stability of staff: A lower turnover rate of employees and long-term commitment are necessary for an efficient organisation. 13Initiative: Employees should be encouraged to conceive new ideas and carry out plans without fear of failure. 14Esprit de corps: High morale and team spirit are organisational assets. No doubt you will see applications of many if not all of these principles in your organisation today, whether as stated or in some variant form. The need to see their value but to adapt them for each organisation's needs may almost appear self-evident. This was not always the case, however. While it was Fayol's intention that the principles be applied flexibly, at first they tended to be taken as rigid prescriptions without regard to environmental, technological, personnel or other factors. Today the need to apply a 'customised' view of them is better recognised and the fact that organisations still so frequently use Fayol's precepts or some version of them is evidence of their fundamental value.

1.3.3 The human relations movement

The human relations' movement emerged in the 1930s. It emphasised people rather than machines, and focussed on the recognition that informal groups in organisations had a significant impact on organisational life. In contrast to the scientific management approach, it held that worker satisfaction at a personal level, and the unpredictable aspects of some facets of organisational life needed to be taken into account. The Hawthorne Studies conducted during the 1920s and early 1930s by Harvard researchers Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger are perhaps, collectively, the best known research associated with this movement. The studies took place at the Chicago factories of the Western Electric Company. They aimed at least at first to investigate how physical working conditions affected the productivity and efficiency of factory workers. It was found, however, in the course of the famous 'illumination

studies, that worker efficiency did not go up and down with improved and decreased quality of lighting in fact that it increased continually. It was concluded that the attention paid to the workers by the researchers made them feel important, take pride in their work and increased their motivation an effect known now as the 'Hawthorne Effect. Worker attitude and morale, as well as informal group norms, were recognised as affecting productivity in powerful ways.

1.3.4 Bureaucracy
The German sociologist, Max Weber, contended that the structure of an organisation had much to do with its level of efficiency, and that a clearly structured organisation with well-defined roles and responsibilities a bureaucracy provided at least a theoretically ideal organisational form. Some features of Weber's ideal bureaucracy include:

there is a division of labour where each position is well defined and appropriate authority is delegated

standardisation and control are achieved by using formal rules and standards

positions are in a hierarchy of authority

selection and promotion depend on competence and qualifications

rewards and penalties are applied according to standardised procedures

loyalty to the organisation results in long-term job security. Weber's bureaucracy was designed to enable large organisations to carry out a wide range of activities in an orderly and efficient manner. It focuses on positions rather than on the people occupying them, implying that the structure of organisations should and could remain relatively stable over the longer term. While many organisations retain features of Weber's bureaucracy, it is generally accepted that its desirable features are most easily achieved in routine and predictable environments. Other more flexible and responsible organisational structures are required in situations of rapid or unpredictable change.

1.3.5 Systems theory

Even the administrative management approach, with its attempt to look at overall management functioning, still tended to overlook the relationship between organisations and their external environments. Systems theory, which originated in the biological sciences, attempts to consider the organisation as a whole system made up of various interrelated parts of sub-systems. This theory took as its starting point the idea that organisations are created for particular purposes and have multiple goals. In contrast to the scientific and administrative approaches which tended to regard organisations as complete unto themselves, that is as closed systems, systems theory drew attention to the interaction of the organisation with its environment, that is as an open system. Inputs, transformation processes, outputs and feedback are the key elements of all open systems, and managers need to focus on the interrelationship of these elements.

1.3.6 Other approaches

There are, of course, numerous other formal and informal approaches to management, most of which combine elements of the approaches just described. Total Quality Management (TQM), for example, aims to combine the measurement emphasis of

scientific management and its continual search for improvement in task processes with the attention to human factors that characterises the human relations approach. Another approach, known as Theory Z, emphasises the need for a global vision. The Theory Z model, developed by Ouchi, attempts to integrate common U.S. and Japanese business practices into a single middle-ground framework. In brief, the characteristics of traditional American organisations, which include:

short-term employment

individual decision-making

individual responsibility

rapid evaluation and promotion

explicit control mechanisms

specialised career path

segmented concern for employee as an employee are combined with elements of 'Type X' or Japanese organisations, such as:

lifetime employment

collective decision-making

collective responsibility

slow evaluation and promotion

implicit control mechanisms

non-specialised career path

holistic concern for employee as a person to yield 'Type Z' organisations which offer the best of both, as follows:

long-term employment

collective decision-making

individual responsibility

slow evaluation and promotion

implicit, informal control with explicit, formal measures

moderately specialised careers

holistic concern, including family. The contingency perspective, which argues that managers should make decisions in a way that is most suitable for a given situation, appears to be a general philosophy rather than a defined approach. There is a recognition that there are no universal principles and always more than one way to achieve the same goal. Nevertheless, careful analysis of key variables is vital: for example the way organisational size, technology, changes in the environment, and the characteristics and needs of human resources are affecting the relationship between the organisation and its environment. Managers can be either reactive, that is adapting and responding to situations as they arise, or pro-active, that is, anticipating future opportunities or problems and taking steps to influence the situation to the advantage of their organisations.

Leadership
Overview

'Groups, teams and leadership' continues the theme of 'what is managed' but on a smaller scale by examining the nature of groups and the subtle distinctions between groups and teams. Groups and teams are seen to present both advantages and problems for managers as well as the people in them, and you are invited to examine the groups you are part of to find out how their functioning can be improved. Finally, we examine the complex area of leadership: theories about it, (which seem to multiply despite the vast number of theories and concepts that already exist), and substitutes for it (since we know that some jobs get done without any clear leader seeing that it happens). Finally we look at some practical work on the kind of leader you are, and how your style of leadership can be improved.

Topics
Topics covered in this Module are: 2.1 The nature of groups and teams 2.2 Team roles 2.3 Leadership.

Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this Module, you should have:

an understanding of the stages involved in forming a group, as well as some of the controversy surrounding this topic

an understanding of the nature of groups, both formal and informal, and what distinguishes groups from teams

an understanding of the kinds of needs groups fulfil, and the mechanisms by which they do it

gained some experience at analysing a number of the groups and teams you are involved in, and working out how their functioning can be improved

an understanding of the theories surrounding the nature of leadership and what they have in common

gained some experience at analysing leadership situations and improving your own capacities as leader.

2.1 The nature of groups and teams

In learning about the place of groups and teams in organisations and how best to manage them we will examine the following issues:

functions of formal and informal groups

characteristics of groups

creating an effective team.

Introduction
One of the notable consequences of the human relations movement discussed in 'Introductory topics', was the greater and more positive attention given to groups in management and organisation theory. To Mayo, McGregor and even Weber, groups were a fact of life, central to psychological well-being because they reflect a basic human need for social bonds. Researchers such as Likert continued the human relations tradition in arguing that the primary task of management was to ensure that groups functioned in ways which supported rather than undermined management objectives. This contrasted with the Scientific Management view of groups which was that they undermined productivity by determining that individual efficiency fell to the level of the least efficient worker in the group. Traditionally, and despite the prominence given nowadays to teamwork, managers have generally been ambivalent towards groups. Managers are aware of the

importance of interdependent cooperative action, and even of the synergies another term for enhanced outputs which can be generated, but they are also wary of the influence that groups can have over their members (Bramel & Friend, 1987). In the first part of this Module, we will examine a range of aspects of the significance of groups and teams for an understanding of their behaviour and effects in organisations. Then, in the second part of the Module, we will consider the even more vexed question of the nature of leadership. It will be clear from an early point that, perhaps even more than in some other Modules, the material considered under 'Groups and teams' necessarily overlaps with issues considered elsewhere. For example, some of the roles that individuals assume within teams overlap with our consideration of management roles in 'Introductory topics'. This is because managerial work usually involves coordinating participants on complex tasks that are best carried out interdependently more simply: 'getting things done through other people'. As a further example, the function of socialisation and establishment of 'norms' that we will see to be one of the functions of groups, is also closely linked to the issue of organisational culture. Group assessment and reward issues will be dealt with further under Human Resource Management topics in 'Human Resource Management and Conflict Negotiation'.

2.1.1 Definitions of groups: two caveats

Robbins, our textbook, is particularly comprehensive in its coverage of groups and teams, and the distinction it makes between the two is a useful one, namely that group output is a result merely of the summation of individuals' efforts whereas teams generate positive synergy through coordinated effort. However it is a good idea to remember that individual writers vary in their use of the terms 'group' and 'team', so be aware as you read that disparities among various authors' implied or overt definitions are likely. The textbook provides classic and fairly standard material on groups. The base being used is essentially social psychology a discipline that is both theoretically and methodologically strong. Thus the textbook defines groups, as well as different types of groups, and discusses the effects of various external and internal (structural) influences on the group. In a welcome development, the textbook also provides a counterbalance to the ideas of group formation, which are frequently presented in an uncritical way. The section on the punctuated equilibrium model of group development (see Robbins' textbook) provides a more realistic model for the less smooth and predictable path that groups traverse to achieve their goals. Essentially, the textbook's definitions of groups have a central notion of belonging, and also frequently a sense of common purpose, so that to invoke the classic contrast groups are differentiated from a mere collection of individuals waiting for a bus. Despite this, it is important to note that, in practice, the term 'group' tends to be applied to a range of situations where the existence of a sense of belonging or of collective identity must be speculation at best. For example, some production processes are organised around collectivities that have been formed by management as the basic unit for production. Such collectivities may be labelled groups before, and in the absence of, any evidence of the existence of the group characteristics the textbook describes. So the study of groups in organisations is likely to be the study of:

the collectivities that conform to the definition of 'group, and

collectivities to which the label 'group' has been applied.

2.1.2 Functions of formal and informal groups

The textbook's Table 8.1 illustrates the reasons people join groups. We may link this more overtly to the notion of formal and informal groups that the textbook addresses briefly. Schein (1980) defines the formal functions of groups as follows:

a means of working on a complex task that cannot easily be undertaken by an individual or by a number of independent individuals; that is, where interdependence is important

a means of generating new ideas where important information is widely dispersed or where mutual stimulation enhances creativity

a liaison or coordination device, particularly if the group includes members from the various parts to be coordinated

as a problem-solving mechanism, if the issue is complex, requiring inputs from a range of perspectives and/or with ramifications for the organisation as a whole

a means to facilitate the implementation of decisions where diverse parts of the organisation are involved and can affect the success of the change

a means of socialisation whereby a common message can be given and a common perspective reinforced through group pressure The informal functions are:

a means of fulfilling social needs, that is, needs for friendship and social interaction

a means of developing, enhancing and confirming a sense of identity and selfesteem

a means of establishing and testing beliefs and understandings. Through shared experiences and shared discussions, shared meanings are developed

a means of reducing feelings of insecurity, anxiety and powerlessness

as a problem-solving, task-accomplishing mechanism for informal objectives. These separate lists help make it clear that formal groups such as committees or departments may be defined as such by edict, yet it is often unclear whether they really reflect the internalised common orientations of employees within the group. Informal groups, by contrast, are often applied from the outside as with the sociometry analysis example in the textbook as a result of observing group-like behaviour.

2.1.3 Other arguments concerning the formation of informal groups

While the explanation above about supplying personal, mostly social, needs is the most commonly offered reason for the formation of informal groups, there are other explanations. They can be grouped as follows:

Political/economic reasons
Trahair (1985), Grzyb (1981) and Fox (1985) have analysed work situations where informal groups seem to be aimed at increasing worker control over their work, forming bonds which enhance acts of solidarity (as in industrial action) or defending and advancing job interests. Accordingly, such groups often serve a 'counter-organisational function, as the basis for an alternative system of power and influence which can act to subvert the formal goals of the organisation. Managers, in turn, may attempt to prevent

such groups forming through their arrangements of the workplace layout or by rotating the leaders of such groups.

Structural explanations
Katz (1973), Dalton (1959) both also dispute the social needs interpretation, arguing that informal groups develop because formal structure is never absolute in terms of its determination of the actions of workers. That is, informal groups may fill in the gaps in formal practices in a way that supports the general intentions of management, rather than being a form of resistance to them. Dalton argues that informal groups contribute to organisational effectiveness.

2.1.4 Characteristics of groups

There are several dimensions by which groups can be described. Of the many that the textbook discusses, we will consider four in particular: roles, norms, conformity and cohesiveness. Interestingly, much of the research on groups has focussed not so much on what makes groups function more effectively, but on what can go wrong with groups

Faculty of Business, University of the Sunshine Coast Course Work Managing Organisational Behaviour MGT701 Page 23 Graduate Studies Program

(Janis 1988). The phenomenon of groupthink, for example, which arises from a combination of the effects of norms, the pressure to conform, and group cohesiveness, has received a great deal of attention. In considering these four dimensions, we will consider not only the problems that arise from one or more of these characteristics of groups, but the ways in which they help groups to endure.

Roles
Our earlier discussion of the differentiation of roles in management can be extended to a consideration of different roles within the group. Group activity requires both taskfocussed and maintenance-focussed actions. The former directly address what is needed to carry out the work task of the group; the latter attends to the maintenance of interpersonal relations and cohesion within the group. Dunphy (1981) has provided a summary of these task and maintenance roles, plus those often seen as disruptive:

Role function
A TASK

Initiator: Most active in setting objectives and initiating action Expert: Has and provides specialist advice Evaluator: Assesses progress; analyses problems Implementer: Focuses on implementation details, timing and methods Procedural technician: Emphasises the importance of rules and procedures and

precedent B MAINTENANCE

Exemplar: Spokesperson/liaison/negotiation for the group Encourager: Praises; supports; empathises Confronter: Brings conflicts out into the open Harmoniser: Mediates; conciliates Tension reliever: Reduces formality; introduces humour

C DISRUPTIVE

Dominator: Seeks to dominate discussion and to impose own views/objectives Absentee: Withdrawn, uninvolved Aggressor: Attacks others; ridicules, hostile, sarcastic Smotherer: Compulsively nice; stifles attention to conflict Recognition-seeker: Boastful; highlights own achievement Confessor: Reveals personal fears, failings; uses group as a therapy session

Conformity
Conformity is an issue closely linked to the issue of norms. Read carefully the account in the textbook of the Zimbardo experiment carried out at Stanford University. There is a further experiment you may have heard of: the Asch study in 1951 that also demonstrated the impact of conformity pressures on group members. It is notable that these pressures to conformity existed despite the fact that these 'groups' were hardly groups at all in the strict sense of the word. That is, they were a collection of individuals thrown together for the purpose of the experiment, who would have had no opportunity to establish normative ties. The significance of this is that it would be reasonable to assume that such tendencies to conformity would be even greater in many established groups. However, Perrin and Spencer (1981) question the universality of Asch's results. In their replication of Asch's study almost thirty years later using British students, they found an almost total lack of compliance to the unanimous majority. The difference, they argued, could have been due to the fact that Asch's study took place during and in the conformist culture of 1950s America. They comment:
Asch's subjects expressed their fear of 'sticking out like a sore thumb', 'being felt sorry for', 'being thought that they had something wrong with them'. The present students, in contrast, felt that to conform to a group majority they believed to be erroneous would make them look 'weak', 'ridiculous' and 'stupid'.

It might still be argued that, given the British students feared appearing in an unfavourable light to others, some norms of conformity were still operating. (I have always wondered whether students 30 years or so later hadn't gradually got wind of the point of the experiment!) Nevertheless, it is important to note that the pressures towards conformity are likely within well-established groups, and even those that are less than well established.

Cohesiveness
The textbook lists a number of contributors to group cohesiveness, and also discusses the consequences of group cohesiveness. As a general rule, it can be concluded that greater cohesiveness leads to:

increased quantity and quality of communication between members

greater influence by the group over individual members' behaviour

a higher level of job satisfaction of group members

improved or reduced performance depending on whether the group norm is for high or low performance.

Groupthink
Groupthink, or the tendency to suppress critical thinking as a result of the concern to retain group unity, is one of the possible deleterious consequences of working in groups. Janis (1971) sets out a number of symptoms of groupthink, which are summarised in the textbook as follows:

'rationalising away' any resistance to the group's assumptions

pressures to conform applied to doubters

silence on the part of those who are doubters

an illusion of unanimity. To these we might add:

the illusion of invulnerability, which leads the group to dismiss potential dangers and take great risks; a belief in the inherent morality of the group's position

the stereotyping of enemy leaders, for example, as too evil, corrupt or primitive to be a threat

mindguards: some members of the group sometimes act as mindguards, keeping adverse information from reaching members and the leader in particular.

Effects of Groupthink
As a result of Groupthink the group limits its discussion to a rather limited range of alternatives, with little time given to identifying non-obvious gains, or to seeking solutions to costs that could change the relative merit of alternatives. The advice of experts even within the same organisation who might have more accurate and useful data, is ignored or not even sought. The group fails to reconsider the decision if unanticipated risks or problems are brought to their attention. Group members show interest in information that supports their decision, and ignore those that do not. Little time is spent considering how the decision could be sabotaged in the course of being implemented, which means, in turn, that there is no contingency plan for such an event.

Explanation of Groupthink
Janis says that Groupthink is best understood as 'a mutual effort among the group members to maintain self-esteem and emotional equanimity by providing social support to each other, especially at times when they share responsibility for making vital decisions' (1971, p 43). He argues that the prime condition for Groupthink is group cohesiveness and that it is reinforced where the group is insulated and where the leader is promoting his or her preferred solution. He later qualifies this by noting that it is particularly so where cohesiveness is due to the desire of individuals to be members

of a particularly prestigious or socially pleasant group, rather than because they want to be part of an effective and competent task-focussed group. Leana (1985) goes further, arguing that the leadership factor (mentioned above) is the prime determinant rather than cohesiveness.

Preventing Groupthink
Janis (1988) lists the following means of preventing groupthink:

the leader of a policy-forming or decision-making group should assign the role of critical evaluator to each member and encourage expression of objections and doubts

leaders should begin by adopting an impartial stance instead of stating preferences at the beginning

several groups should work on the same matter, including some from outside the organisation

each member should discuss the group's views with colleagues in their own unit of the organisation

the group should invite one or more outside experts to each meeting and encourage them to challenge the group's views

whenever a meeting is held at which policy alternatives are discussed, at least one member should be assigned the role of devil's advocate

whenever the issue involves relations with a rival organisation the group should allocate plenty of time to a study of all warning signals from the rival

the group should from time to time split into two or more subgroups which meet separately, then come back together to identify and resolve any differences.

2.2 Team roles

Belbin (1981) identified a number of key roles in teams. According to this formulation, there are eight necessary functions in a successful team. 1Chairperson: the one who unites, communicates with and presides over the team and coordinates its efforts to meet external goals and targets. 2Shaper: the 'task' leader who, in contrast to the Chairperson who is concerned with the social aspect of a project, is more concerned to give shape and urgency to the team's efforts. 3Plant: the ideas person, the source of creative input, suggestions and proposals. May be more concerned with the innovative and exciting aspects of the project than with the feasible and realistic. 4Monitor Evaluator: the person who provides measured and dispassionate analysis of the team's progress, and who will prevent the team from committing itself to a misguided project. 5Company Worker: the practical organiser who turns decisions and strategies into defined and manageable tasks that people can actually get on with. This person is concerned with what is feasible and logical. 6Resource Investigator: the member of the team who goes outside the group and brings information, ideas and developments back to it. 7Team Worker: the person who monitors and attends to the emotional needs of individuals within the team, and working to produce harmony especially in times of stress and pressure. If someone produces an idea, the instinct of the Team Worker is to build on it rather than demolish it. 8Finisher: the person who worries about details and what might go wrong. The Finisher maintains a permanent sense of urgency, and keeps the team to its predetermined deadlines and standards.

In Belbin's formulation, it is clear that people may occupy more than one role within a team. In any team of fewer than eight or nine people this would have to be so. All the functions are necessary, but people's different personalities mean that they will find some functions easier to fulfil than others. For example, Belbin classifies the functions as follows:

Chairperson, Plant, Resource Investigator and Shaper: 'outward-looking' functions

Company Worker, Monitor-Evaluator, Team Worker and Finisher: 'inward-looking' functions. Note that Belbin later added a ninth team role, that of the Expert who has specialist knowledge or expertise (e.g., Information Technology).

2.2.1 Creating an effective team

In this Module so far we have considered what distinguishes groups from a random collection of people in terms of the functions of groups, the distinction between formal and informal groups, some specific characteristics of groups and some of the problems and advantages which flow from these characteristics. It is clear from all this, that some of what makes a group effective some people might say: what makes a group a team arises from these inherent features of a group. The next reading sets out the results of a study into what features of a group can and are most likely to act in concert to promote task effectiveness.

Reading 2.1
Wageman, R. 2001, Critical Success Factors for Creating Superb Self-Managing Teams, in The Oganizational Behavior Reader, eds J.S. Osland, D.A. Kolb, & I.M. Rubin, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. (See Chapter 9, pp. 231242).

Teambuilding
Of course, managers tend not to simply leave the task of making groups effective creating teams simply to the inherent characteristics of the group. The process by which active interventions are made in order to improve the functioning of a group is known as team building. Problems that team building processes aim to eliminate include poor productivity, low morale, lack of coordination, complacency, miscommunication, uncertainty as to goals and responsibilities, internal conflicts, lack of leadership and lack of commitment. Team building interventions can be tailored to the particular nature of the group and the problems it is facing. Dunphy (1981, p 215) lists the following as key intervention strategies:

Goal setting and goal classification: The purpose is to develop a clear, concrete

statement of goals which is agreed on by the group and management, and which can then be used as a basis for defining roles and responsibilities and for producing more detailed action plans.

Role analysis and role classification: This approach focusses on developing

and agreement among team members as to how goals are translated into specific roles responsibilities for team members.

Group problem-solving and decision-making: This approach focusses attention

on such matters as the characteristics and the application of an effective problem- solving process, and how to avoid some of the potential problems associated with group decision-making.

Understanding and contributing to group process: This type of intervention is

based on the idea that groups need to perform two kinds of general function if they are to be effective: task functions directly related to the group's objectives and maintenance functions related to the maintenance of interpersonal relations and commitment within the group. Group process interventions develop and understanding of the roles commonly associated with these functions and an ability to recognise behaviour said to disrupt these general functions. These task, maintenance and disruptive roles have been discussed previously.

Reviewing and revising group norms: The objective is to identify and discuss

existing group norms in regard to both task and personal objectives and to see whether they should be modified. According to Dunphy (1981, p 237), 'norms are

renegotiated and a new contract drawn up. Given the earlier discussion about the largely informal nature of norms, that is, the way they typically evolve unconsciously rather than come into existence by fiat, it is advisable to be sceptical about the notion of planned norms.

Improving the use of group resources: This strategy is used to improve the

effectiveness of resources. It involves classifying resources according to whether they are: A) over-utilised B) utilisation is OK C) under-utilised D) not-utilised

Resource use is then adjusted accordingly

Reading 2.2
Rogers, C.R. & Farson, R.E. 2001, The Meaning of Active Listening, inThe Organizational Behavior Reader, eds. J.S. Osland, D.A. Kolb, & I.M. Rubin, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. (See Chapter 7, pp. 185-189).

Do we overvalue teams?
Dunphy (1981) provides considerable detail on the nuts and bolts of the techniques associated with team strategies in his book Organisational Change by Choice. This book is one of the most widely used and cited, both in academic and practitioner circles, and is deservedly regarded as a management classic. Nevertheless, like many other similar texts, it is based on a rather uncritical concept of the group as a team, that is, as a collectivity fundamentally driven by common interest, but which periodically suffers from dysfunctional practices. The concept of 'team' is a highly evaluative one, associated as it is with the idea of cooperation and a common goal. That is, it brings with it considerable ideological baggage. Morgan (1986) notes that its usage by managers may reflect their preference about how their groups operate, but may not be a particularly accurate characterisation of relations between the individuals concerned. In fact, by invoking the image of a team, a manager may be trying to bring about a unity of purpose that is currently lacking. As Kanter (1983) points out: 'Declaring people a "team" does not necessarily make them one'. Forming a team does not in itself mean that various differences in perspective and interest, which already exist, will disappear. In the article just cited, Kanter argues that 'the myth of team' is a counterproductive one. This myth holds that differences among members do not exist (because they are now a team). This can lead to the delegitimisation of differences, a head-in-the-sand disinclination to confront the reality of the situation. The remaining readings for this part of the Module are especially useful in expanding upon the special uses of groups and teams. They cover autonomous and semiautonomous work groups, the importance of cultural factors in the use of teams, and in the analysis of more participatory styles of management, with Japanese management practices as a primary example. Observations of how Japan uses the group are reported in the discussion of corporate social responsibility in U.S. and Japanese organisations (Wokutch) and in descriptions of the strategic use of quality circles in this country (McGraw and Dunford). Together these articles provide a good interpretation of Japanese management practices, and the difficulties in developing and running quality circles. The message is that Japanese management methods need to be adapted carefully when applied in other places, since they can be very much at variance with established social norms in western countries.

Reading 2.3
Lipnack, J. & Stamps, J. 2001, Virtual Teams: The New Yay to Work, inThe Organizational Behavior Reader, eds J.S. Osland, D.A. Kolb, & I.M. Rubin, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. (See Chapter 9, pp. 242-249).

Conclusion
The topics covered in the textbook and the readings, highlight a major difficulty in examining the topic of the group the wide range of applications where group issues affect the behaviour and decision-making of managers, and yet the difficulty of making hard and fast rules about this. If anything, the next topic, Leadership, reinforces this finding.

2.3 Leadership
Introduction
As the textbook points out, leadership is one of the most researched topics in the management literature, yet it is also probably one of the most frustrating in terms of identifiable practical and reliable applications for managers. Yet we have no difficulty in finding stories about great military, political, religious and social leaders, and it seems reasonable to assume that there are obvious lessons from their stories. Why did Gandhi, Mohammed, Julius Caesar and Churchill become great leaders and why, in many cases, did they later lose their followers' support? How did some undistinguished people, like Adolf Hitler rise to positions of power? Some of the broad areas in which researchers have worked in an effort to answer these questions have been:

personality traits

abilities

behaviours

sources and uses of power

features of the situation. The textbook provides a comprehensive treatment of the various theories that have emerged about leadership. Not surprisingly, theories of leadership now constitute a vast area of the applied social sciences literature. The first difficulty in examining this literature is providing a satisfactory definition of leadership. As the textbook points out, there are almost as many definitions as researchers in the area, and different theorists provide various interpretations of leadership and leadership effectiveness. There are also debates about the similarities and differences between leadership and management. Typically both terms are used interchangeably, but many argue quite persuasively for different definitions for both concepts. We will also examine the following issues:

core definition and elements

changes in emphasis in leadership approaches

points of convergence across leadership theories.

2.3.1 Core definitional elements

The definitions of leadership that are made explicitly or implicitly in the theories discussed in the textbook do appear to have at least some core elements. Leadership generally:

is a group phenomenon

involves influence by a leader over followers

this leader influences group members to comply with his or her requests willingly

2.3.2 Points of convergence across leadership theories

Theories of leadership that have considered traits, style, the situation or other factors have resulted in numerous answers to questions such as who becomes a leader, what is the behaviour of effective leaders, and how do leaders inspire organisational members during periods of change. Despite the disparity in points of detail, several significant points of convergence emerge. They concern:

leader-subordinate relations

relationships with peers and superiors

the importance of information

the importance of managerial decision-making; and

the role of leaders as motivators and as sources of influence. These will now be considered in turn.

Leader-subordinate relations
Effective leaders establish cooperative relationships with their staff. They achieve high levels of mutual trust and loyalty. Leaders especially provide an important source of influence over the effort and commitment of staff. Favourable leader-subordinate relations are more likely for leaders who are friendly, open and helpful to their staffs needs, and take actions to advance the careers of this group. Also, several traits and skills are more predictive of being an effective leader. These skills include tact, empathy for others and good listening and counselling skills. Many of these are the human resource management skills we will review in Module 3.

Relationships with peers and superiors

In this area, evidence across the various theories indicates that leaders without 'clout' to represent their staff lose status and influence with staff. Research on management activities (see 'Introductory topics') shows a high incidence of interaction by leaders with peers, superiors and outsiders. Much of their time is spent monitoring events, network building and as a representative of their work groups. In addition, several traits and skills are predictive of managerial success in dealing with peers, superiors and outsiders, including tact, social insight, charm and a positive attitude to authoritative figures.

The Importance of information

The third area of convergence across theoretical frameworks about leadership shows that leaders exert control over information downward, laterally and upward in the organisation. This control allows leaders to exaggerate their successes, hide their mistakes, and to define realities and interpret events in ways that meet their personal needs and ambitions. In terms of the behaviour, managers are information gatherers, analysers and disseminators. Face-to-face and oral communication dominates their daily activities, and effective managers communicate clear expectations, goals and evaluate results via feedback from their staff.

Managerial decision-making
A fourth area of convergence is that of managerial decision-making. Successful decision-making assists leaders in gaining and retaining power. Managers, however, seldom make important decisions as discrete actions at a point in time. Rather as we saw in 'Introductory topics' managerial decision-making tends to be confused,

disorderly, emotional rather than rational, and covers domains from high levels of strategic importance to the highly trivial. Contingency theories of leadership reveal that leaders are judged more highly if they use participative processes in their decisionmaking. Managers with the traits of being proactive, and having an orientation towards efficiency and decisiveness are more likely to take the initiative about decisions and to take moderate levels of risks. Managers with a high regard for others are more likely to encourage staff participation, and they seem less concerned about protecting their own power base. For more on this topic, see related readings and other material on decision-making in 'Control and decision-making'.

Leaders as motivators and sources of influence

The final area about which leadership theories provide quite a comprehensive picture is the importance of motivating and influencing others. Successful leaders make skilful use of reference and expert power (see further material in 'Organisational culture and power and politics'). Power-sharing strategies improve their success via increased staff commitment. Motivating behaviours by leaders include inspiring commitment to new objectives and strategies, being models of exemplary behaviour and being quite explicit in their use of recognition and rewards for desirable behaviour among subordinates. At the same time, leaders are well aware of contingencies that influence levels of motivation, including the level of difficulty, risk and frustration for staff associated with tasks, staff levels of education, different cultural values and the influence of organisational culture. Finally, trait research reveals that leaders with high levels of self-confidence and high needs for power make more influence attempts upon staff. Related readings on the use of power are presented in 'Organisational culture and power and politics'.

Persuasion Overview
Motivation and persuasion examines the theories of motivation which have sought to enlighten managers about 'what works' in terms of encouraging people to do the best possible job. From discussing these basic theories, including their strengths and limitations, we move to an examination of some specific human resource management practices, which are based on one, or several of the theories of motivation just mentioned. After all, the effectiveness of any specific practice is likely only to be as good as the theory on which it is based. In the latter part of the Module, we examine the use of persuasion in both society in general and organizations specifically. Well examine the difference between persuasion and propaganda, discuss why we should learn the basics of persuasion, and in some detail work through the fundamental principles underlying persuasion and strategies of influence.

Topics
Topics covered in this Module are: 3.1 Motivation 3.2 Persuasion

Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this Module you should be able to:

explain various theories of motivation: the differences between them and the strengths and weaknesses of each

describe an entirely different way of thinking about the meaning of work, the orientations to work approach, and its relationship to other schools of thought about what managers need to do to get the best out of their workforce

explain the ways specific motivation theories have informed a number of human resource management practices, such as performance appraisal and compensation

identify other contemporary HRM issues, and theories supporting them

understand the fundamental principles of persuasion and influence and how they can be used in the modern workplace.

gain some experience in the practice of persuasion.

3.1 Motivation
In this topic we will examine the following issues:

theories of motivation

Theory X and Theory Y

process theories

orientation to work approaches

applications of motivation theories to human resource management

other HRM issues.

Introduction
In 'Introductory topics' in the context of the Human Relations' movement, we touched on some early approaches to motivation, especially the ideas of Maslow (the 'hierarchy of needs') and McGregor (Theory X and Theory Y). In the first section of this Module we will return to ideas about motivation, particularly as they relate to some specific aspects of human resource management: job design, management by objectives (MBO) and compensation (pay) management. The reason for linking these issues is that beliefs about what motivates people directly influence a variety of management practices, so an understanding of both the theories and the specific practices is enhanced by dealing with the two together. Subsequently, we will deal with some other issues in the area of HRM, particularly career development issues, personnel selection and performance appraisal. Don't feel that this is the end of possible explorations within the field of HRM! This is a vast area which is changing rapidly, especially with new legislation such as antidiscrimination legislation and changes to dismissal laws. This Module introduces you to the topic with particular reference to motivation theory, but you may well want to take a number of issues further.
Textbook Robbins' textbook, Chapters 6 and 7.

3.1.1 Theories of motivation

Content theories
Motivation theories are generally divided into two types:

those that focus on the idea that people have a core set of basic needs which provide the motive force for their actions (content theories), and

those that focus on the cognitive processes which explain how people make decisions as to how to act. The two theories that you have met briefly in 'Introductory topics', Maslow's hierarchy of

needs and McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y, belong to the first type. You may want to return to 'Introductory topics' to refresh your memory of the basic ideas in these two theories. We said in 'Introductory topics' that there had been some important qualifications to this theory and these are outlined in the textbook. It is important to note that Maslow himself was the author of these qualifications, which basically amount to saying that the theory has been misunderstood as indicating a simple rather than a complex relationship between needs and behaviour. Specifically, Maslow (1987) pointed out that:

needs may exist but not necessarily be acted on

any given behaviour may be determined by several or all of the basic needs; and

there are many determinants of behaviour other than needs and desires, such as habit and conditioning. In fact, 'most members of our society who are normal are partially satisfied in all their basic needs and partially unsatisfied in all their basic needs at the same time' (Maslow, 1987, pp. 2728). Despite this, as the textbook notes, Maslow's theory with its intuitive logic has achieved great popularity among managers even if its proposals have not been borne out by hard research. This is also despite the fact that Maslow's was a general theory of motivation with no specific attention given to motivation within work organisations. However Maslow came to believe that management practices provided practical application of his ideas. He believed that people operated at their optimal level when organisations developed practices that recognised the multidimensional nature of human motivation and that such practices would mutually benefit workers and management. In brief, organisational effectiveness and individual satisfaction would both gain from the application of practices based on this theory.

Additional reading
For those who would like to explore further the criticisms of Maslow's theory, find and read one or more of the following authors and their comments on Maslow: Aungles, SB and Parker, AR 1989, Work, organisations and change, Allen and Unwin, Sydney. Miner, JB 1980, Theories of organisation behaviour, Dryden Press, Hisdale IL. Watson, TJ 1986, Sociology, work and history, academy of management executive, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.

Theory X and theory Y

These contrasting approaches to motivation that were developed by McGregor were also discussed briefly in Module 1. McGregor wanted managers to discover the way both employees and the organisation stood to benefit from a style of management consistent with Theory Y assumptions. However, as the textbook points out, there is a lack of evidence that actions consistent with Theory Y assumptions lead to more motivated workers. Watson (1986) in the article mentioned above, also discusses the inadequacies of McGregor's theories, arguing that they make 'grandiose claims and vast generalisations. However Watson also argues that inviting manages to think

about the behavioural assumptions they make in their work is in itself a useful thing, even if it has led to simplistic Theory XTheory Y assumptions.

ERG theory
Clayton Alderfer (1972) provides a revision of Maslow's needs-based theory of motivation in which the basic needs are reduced to three: existence, relatedness and growth, hence ERG. These needs are arranged in a hierarchy as in the Maslow model but the relationship between the levels is more complex. Rather than there being a one-way progression up the hierarchy as needs are satisfied, Alderfer argues that if an individual is not able to satisfy needs at a particular level this frustration leads to regression. That is, a return to a focus on further satisfying needs at a lower level (the frustration-regression effect). There is regression from a more abstract (and therefore uncertain and ambiguous) higher level to a more concrete lower level; from a more to a less cognitively demanding task. This provides a rationale for the frustration-regression effect (Landy and Becker, 1987). However, as Landy and Becker note, ERG theory has not received much more empirical support than Maslow's original foundation.

McClelland on achievement, affiliation and motivation Reading 3.1

David McClelland's approach to motivation is based on the view that people have three needs: for achievement, for affiliation and for power (McClelland et al., 1953, McClelland, 1961, 1975). The need for achievement (nAch) is indicated by such things as liking to set goals and having responsibility for reaching them, liking problem-solving and getting feedback on performance. The need for affiliation (nAff) is the need to have close, friendly relations with other people and is associated with an ability to empathise with opposing views, a preparedness to consult and discuss, and a preference for consultative practices. The need for power (nPow) is the need to influence. This may be self-serving, with personal gain the driving force, or it may be based on seeking to improve the performance of staff and, with it, management objectives for the organisation. McClelland was especially interested in the connection between these needs and management performance. He argued that high-performing managers rated highly on achievement needs, although without at least a moderate level of affiliation needs, such individuals would sometimes fail to attend to the interpersonal aspects of managing. A reasonably high need for power was also deemed to be important for managers (McClelland and Boyatzis, 1967), although it is power of the social not person nature which has been found to correlated with successful management (McClelland and Burnham, 1976). High nAff without a reasonable level of nAch and nPow is not likely to produce a successful manager, for example, because the desire to be liked may override the necessity for important decisions to be made. McClelland considers all people to have these needs, at least at a minor level, but individuals vary greatly in how developed such needs are above this level. McClelland sees the degree of development of these motives as dependent on influences felt during childhood socialisation. He also believes that the achievement motive could and should be developed through training programs although evidence of the success of such programs in unclear (Vechhio, 1988; Lee, 1980). Also a major cross-cultural study by Hofstede (1980a) has concluded that McClelland's motivation model could not be seen as universally valid.

The Herzberg heritage

Frederick Herzberg's 'two-factor' theory (1959, 1968) has become almost as well known as Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The textbook's Figure 6.3 portrays the results of Herzberg's study of 203 Pittsberg engineers and accountants. According to the study, job satisfaction depended on five to six factors, including achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and advancement; and that job dissatisfaction was related to company policy and administration, supervision, salary, interpersonal relations and working conditions. Given that these factors do not line up with each other (that is, a different set of factors leads to dissatisfaction from that leading to satisfaction), it follows that the opposite of dissatisfaction is not satisfaction but no dissatisfaction. The reverse is also true: that is, the opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction but no satisfaction. By medical analogy, and to argue that the causes of dissatisfaction should be prevented rather than cured, Herzberg (1959) labelled the factors causing dissatisfaction 'hygiene' factors. The research findings were consistent both with the underlying hypothesis that there was a difference between the factors leading to satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The findings also bore out Herzberg's own beliefs in the dual nature of people's needs: those related to the 'basic drives' and 'survival needs' of human existence, and those related to an individuals 'compelling urge to realise his [or her] potentiality for continuous psychological growth. Herzberg acknowledges that here was some evidence in the study of individuals who do seem to associate satisfaction with hygiene factors, but this he explains in terms of employees not having reached a stage of personality development at which self-actualisation needs are active. They are 'fixated at a less mature level of personal adjustment. The study also concluded that job satisfaction is 'functionally related to the productivity, stability and adjustment of the industrial working force' (Herzberg, 1968, p 96). Thus, the message to managers is: do not expect hygiene factors to do the job that only motivators can do. The message for managers implied by Herzberg's theory was that greater performance was to be gained from employees not through improvements in pay or job conditions, but through designing workplace processes an practices that enhanced sense of achievement, of autonomy, or personal growth, etc; that is, undertaking job enrichment.

A critique of Herzberg
The textbook gives a comprehensive list of the criticisms of Herzberg's research. The criticisms tend to be of two kinds: that Herzberg's research was methodologically flawed, and that there is a lack of supporting evidence from other studies. As with Maslow and McGregor, the value in Herzberg's approach has not been in the specific details of the theory per se because of the substantial problems listed, but because it has been what Watson (1986) refers to as a 'sensitiser' bringing to managers' attention the motivational prospects of intrinsic job factors.

General limitations of content approaches

It is not difficult to see that the needs approaches 'map on' to each other. That is, Maslow's self-actualisation and esteem needs correspond roughly to Alderfer's need for growth, McGregor's Theory Y, McClelland's nAch, and Herzberg's motivators. At the lower level, Maslow's physiological needs correspond roughly to Alderfer's existence needs, McGregor's Theory X, and Herzberg's hygiene factors. Despite this general theoretical cohesion, however, the needs approaches have some generic limitations:

Needs approaches tend to be characterised by an assumption of 'psychological universalism, that is, they assume the existence of a general set of human needs applicable across time and space. All needs theories share the common assumption that normal health individuals seek intrinsic rewards from their work organisation. There is no allowance made for differences that may exist on the basis of gender or class or any number of other factors. Needs-based theories are blind to cultural variations, leading to the accusation that they are expressions of the high individualisation characteristic of American culture with limited universal application.

Needs approaches have tended to treat the workplace as the site at which fulfilment of needs is sought rather than just one site.

Content approaches to motivation focus on what are supposedly the fundamental motives influencing behaviour. This approach ignores the process aspect of motivation. That is, in content models the connection between needs and behaviour is assumed to be unproblematic, rather than as a process to be investigated. The process theories of motivation seek to deal with this latter deficiency.

3.1.2 Process theories of motivation

As noted earlier, process theories of motivation seek to explain the cognitive process whereby individuals decide how to act. In contrast to content theories, they direct attention to explaining motivation as a dynamic process. The following three approaches, goal setting, equity theory, and expectancy theory, are all examples of attempts to examine this process.

Goal setting
The goal setting approach to motivation focuses on the role of goals in determining behaviour. In this approach the motivation process involves the conscious intentions of an individual that, his or her goals being the critical intervening variable between an incentive and actual performance (Locke and Latham, 1984). Key assumptions within the goal-setting approach are:

specific goals motivate more than general ones such as the exhortation to 'do your best

difficult but attainable goals motivate more than easily attained ones

participation in the setting of a goals is likely to lead to a higher level of motivation than goals issued as directive, but primarily due to its effect on increasing the chances of a goal being accepted as a target for action

feedback on performance enhances the motivational effect. Acceptance of the goal is the critical factor, that is, the effect of all other factors that may affect the motivational process is filtered through this factor. For example, it is argued that if a person accepts a goal as his or her target, then whether or not this was

arrived at by participative means becomes of little significance in terms of its motivational effect. Research evidence has substantially supported the goal-setting approach, although there are certainly reservations as to whether acceptance deserves to be given quite the overwhelmingly dominant role as a causal factor that it is generally assigned. Pfeffer (1982) provides a useful and succinct discussion of this and other reservations about the goal-setting model of motivation.

Equity theory
J Stacy Adam's equity theory is based on the belief that employees' behaviour is influenced by their perception of the degree of equity in the outcomes (for example, salary, position) they receive for the input (for example, effort, experience) they make. Equity is assessed in a continuing process of comparison with the inputs and outputs of someone they see as in an equivalent position. Workers who believe that their outcome-to-input ratio is either higher or lower than those with whom they compare will have resulting feelings of inequity that lead them to take action to remove the inequity. Those who feel deprived may ask for higher pay (increased output), reducing the effort they put into their work (decreased input), revising downward their assessment of the difficulty of their job, or changing the person they use as their point of comparison. Alternatively, they may focus on the others, hoping to bring about a reduction in their pay, or an increase in their effort or a reassessment of the difficulty of that job. If the other's job is newly perceived as more demanding the inequity may disappear. If none of these solve the problem, or are simply not tried, the perceived inequity may be resolved by internal transfer or resignation. Adams argues that parallel reactions also exist for those whose assessment of equity leads them to believe that they are relatively privileged. According to the theory, the privileged will also seek to restore equity. A detailed view of the evidence on the validity of equity theory found that there was support in laboratory tests but that studies in actual organisations provided little clear evidence of such validity (Carrell and Dittrich, 1978).

Expectancy theory
Expectancy theory, as the term implies, draws on the notion that, in addition to the preferences and desires that someone has (which might be addressed through one or more need theories of motivation), they have a certain level of expectation of achieving that outcome, given other factors. The theory thus combines the strength of individual needs with the level of expectation. Accordingly, the motivational effect varies according to the strength of each of the following three factors:

a certain outcome to be desired and available (valance)

a belief that specific behaviours will lead to that outcome (instrumentality)

a belief that one has the ability to complete the required behaviours successfully (expectancy). As an example, a middle level marketing manager, Jim, may be told by his boss, Mary, that part of his job will now involve accessing computer records held elsewhere in the organisation. In addition, using some new computer packages, he will be required to devise and draw up new information about the company's marketing performance. Mary promises that if Jim is able to carry out the additional tasks successfully, she will strongly recommend him for a promotion and a performance bonus at the end of the year.

According to expectancy theory, the degree to which this proposition influences Jim's motivation is dependent on how Jim judges all of the following:

how much he wants the promotion and bonus

the extent to which he believes that he will actually be recommended for the promotion and bonus, and whether the recommendation will in fact result in the promised rewards.

(NB: You may wish to consider this latter point in relation to views of leadership that argue that leaders with 'clout' tend to be better respected and more successful within their organisations.) See the 'Groups, teams and leadership' Module.

the extent to which he believes he can learn the new packages and produce reports of the required standard. (The textbook's discussion of self-efficacy is relevant here.) In addition to the interaction of these factors, the situation may be complicated by efforts on Mary's part to influence the various judgements. For example by providing information on why Jim ought to be interested in the promotion, reassurances about her capacity to provide it, and her views on how confident Jim ought to be about reaching the goal. The textbook discusses attempts to validate expectancy theory, and outlines some ways in which experimental design has been improved and how these, in turn, have lent support for the theory. A more complex integrative model of expectancy theory is presented in the textbook; see the diagram and the accompanying discussion

Organisational change

6.1 Organisational change

Introduction
The management of change has been at least an underlying theme of every Module in the course. For example, the ways in which people act and react with regard to decision-making, or leadership or cultural phenomena, are fundamentally influenced by comparisons between the nature of past, present and possible future practices. Organisations by their nature are sites of change, whether incremental or revolutionary. The first part of this Module seeks to highlight behaviour in the context of change and to identify ways in which people seek to manage the change process. In the second part of this Module, 'Management Issues of the Future', we set out some of the forces which are increasingly acting on organisations from both the interior and the exterior which heighten the need for them to change and adapt. In this topic we will examine the following issues:

perspectives on managing change

the OD approach to managing change

managing change as a political process

contingency approaches to managing change.

6.1.1 Perspectives on managing change

It could be argued that there are as many schools of organisational change as there are perspectives or metaphors of organisation. However, in this Module we will focus on two perspectives, which have dominated the literature. The first is based on the assumption of the Human Relations 'organisation as organism' metaphor. To refresh your memory of this approach, see the section on metaphorical perspectives in 'Introductory topics'. In this context, organisational change is referred to as organisational development (OD). This is the perspective, which predominates in this and most management textbooks. Another perspective, however, which has been at least as important in research, has been based on the view of the 'organisation as political system', in which conflict, change and resistance to change are inevitable. As mentioned in Module 1, the idea of the organisation as organism emphasises the related notion that it needs to adapt to ensure its survival. For an organisation its environment includes such factors as competitors' activities, consumer preferences, process technologies, legislation (for example equal employment opportunity, trade practices or dismissal laws), resource costs and economic conditions (interest rates, and so on). As we discussed in 'Control and decision-making' keeping an eye on all these sources of change is one of the reasons organisations put so much time and effort into scanning their environment in the hope of predicting and hence minimising the impact of such change.

Focal points of change

Common focal points for organisational change are structure, strategy, culture, technology and job design. Structural change occurs when there is an alternation to the formal 'clustering' of tasks and responsibilities in the organisation. A common reorganisation is to move from a functional structure whereby all the activities involved in a given function (e.g. marketing) are located together, to a marketing based structure, where organisation is determined by what is produced, for whom and where. Other common structural changes today include lowering the number of levels in the hierarchy, changing the level in the organisation at which specific decisions are made (centralising or decentralising) refer to 'Introductory topics' for further information about the effects of this type of change on managerial work.
Strategy changes when the underlying premises generally set by senior

management are changed, for example to expand an organisation's product base (diversification), to 'reposition' a product in the market or to sell off 'non-central' aspects of a business and rely on subcontracting.
Culture changes when the taken-for-granted beliefs and understanding of people in an

organisation change. Technology changes when the means of provision of goods or services is altered, for example through computerisation. Job redesign occurs when the tasks or responsibilities associated with a job are changed. This may involve the further fragmentation of task leading to individual jobs becoming more specialised. In itself, this says nothing about whether de-skilling or 'enskilling' is involved in such fragmentation but the possibility of one or other occurring is very likely. The notion that organisational change can be explained in terms of an organisation responding to environmental pressures is a useful one, but it needs to be recognised

as a very general and potentially simplistic idea. The textbook makes a start by alerting you, first, to the difference between planned and unplanned change and, within the arena of planned change, the differences between linear and continuous change, which is referred to as 'first order change' and change that is multi-dimensional, multilevel, discontinuous and radical, which is called 'second order change'. The second part of this Module will enlarge more on the latter type of change. Even so, however, the discussion needs to be taken further to avoid an impression of organisations being simply passive recipients of the winds of change, and their members reacting in concert to a clearly defined course of action. For example,
organisations themselves may seek to alter environmental factors rather than

themselves being the ones to change. Consider tactics such as political lobbying, public relations and collusion between competitors as means to this end. The 'organisational as political arena' model alerts us to the idea that there is likely to be considerable diversity in what various organisational participants see as the objective of organisational activities, and diverse interpretation of appropriate courses of action even where a common objective is agreed on. It is not uncommon, as Kanter (1983, p. 281) points out, for managers to make strategic choices based on their own areas of competence and career payoff.The textbook discusses this issue, and there it is clear that the very real losses of status and position in the hierarchy that would come from some forms of change would be sufficient to motivate change that favours particular managers' career preferences. But in addition, as the discussion in 'Control and decision-making' on the garbage-can model of decision-making pointed out, it can be difficult for managers and others even to see the avenues for change which arise from areas other than their specific type of competence. Finally, change can play a symbolic role. When external constituencies question the worth of existing practices, organisations promise reform and stage a ritual drama called change (Bolman & Deal, 1991, p. 274). For further discussion on change in terms of its political and cultural elements, see Pettigrew (1985, 1987).

Resistance to change
Overcoming resistance to change is an understandable concern of those seeking to implement change. Indeed, one of the reasons change tends to be studied as an issue in itself (and the early studies by Coch and French go back to 1948) is to try to find answers to this perceived problem. While it is most common to talk of resistance to change as a problem that managers confront, it is also a behaviour they may manifest, as the preceding discussion makes clear.

Reasons for resistance to change

It is sometimes proposed that resistance is a natural response, and indeed the textbook does this in citing habit, security, and fear of the unknown as 'basic human characteristics. However, a problem with this argument is that change within organisations is likely to be sought because somebody or some group is seeking it. This means that it is not particularly productive to talk about whether it is either natural or unnatural to be either for or against change.

6.1.2 The organisation development approach to

managing change
The term most usually associated with planned organisation change is organisation development (OD). It has been defined by Huse (1982, p 555) as:
the application of behavioural science knowledge in a long range effort to improve an organisation's ability to cope with changes in its external environment and increase its internal problem-solving capabilities.

Exponents of OD also usually stress the importance of various forms of collaborative management, rather than purely hierarchically imposed kinds. It also usually assumes incremental rather than revolutionary change an assumption that is a possible source of problems, as is explained later in this Module.

Doing OD
Any given OD exercise is based on the application of one or more structured activities (called 'interventions') and it is typically orchestrated by a 'change agent' generally an external consultant. The OD approach has traditionally emphasised and sought to enhance the process of learning by the group. That is, rather than make pronouncements as 'experts' on the solutions to problems, change agents have sought to develop problem-awareness skills and problem-solving skills among their clients. The change agent may undertake a preliminary diagnosis and data collection but from there the group takes charge of both problem and data, discussing it, interpreting it, and developing action plans for their own preferred courses of action. OD is also intended as an ongoing interactive process (French and Bell, 1978). Huse identifies the following assumptions within OD about the behaviour of people:

most people want and need opportunities for growth and achievement

when the basic needs have been satisfied, most people will respond to opportunities for responsibility, challenge and interesting work

organisational effectiveness and efficiency are increased when work is organised to meet individual needs for responsibility, challenge, and interesting work

personal growth and the accomplishment of organisational goals are better attained by shifting the emphasis of conflict resolution from smoothing to open confrontation

the design of individual jobs, group tasks, and organisational structure can be modified to more effectively satisfy the needs of the organisation, the group and the individual

people hold many false assumptions about individuals, groups and organisations that could be rectified through open confrontations

many so-called personality clashes result from problems of incorrect organisational design (Huse, 1982, p. 256). From this list it is possible to discern the strength of the Human Relations and unitarist thinking within the OD approach, especially in the assumptions concerning individual motivation, the appropriate view of conflict, and so on. Robbins reviews a number of the specific technologies of OD, including sensitivity training, survey-feedback, process

consultation and team building. To these classic OD approaches have been added interventions that incorporate a focus on structure, that is on the design of jobs, on the technology used and on the structure of the organisation. These interventions include job enrichment (expanding the range of skills in a job) (see textbook discussion) and the greater use of teams. However the focus on process remains central, through the emphasis on the need for a consultative participative approach.

Does OD work?
The effectiveness of OD as a strategy for managing planned change has been difficult to assess for the following reasons:

the wide range of interventions to which the term OD has been applied means it is difficult to talk about a single overall OD effec

theInability of researchers to distinguish clearly the effect of an intervention from that of other variables

lack of clear empirical evidence: Few studies have been carried out with

sufficient methodological soundness and incorporating sufficient numbers of organisations for conclusions to be drawn. However, according to the prime proponents of OD, its originators French and Bell (1978, p. 226), failures in OD interventions are not an indicator of problems with the method itself, but rather are due to 'mistakes or inattention' with regard to the following 'conditions for optimal success:'

perceptions of organisational problems by key people

perceptions of the relevance of the behavioural sciences in solving these problems

the introduction into the system of a behavioural scientist consultation

initial top-level involvement, or at least support from a higher echelon with subsequent top management involvement

participation of intact work teams, including the formal leader; The operationalising of the action research model (see the discussion by Robbins of action learning on pp. 730731)

early successes, with expansion of the effort stemming from these successes

an open, educational philosophy about the theory and the technology of OD

acknowledgement of the congruency between OD and many previous effective management practices

involvement of personnel and industrial relations people and congruency with personnel policy and practice

development of internal OD resources

effective management of the OD process

monitoring the process and the measuring of results. As noted earlier, French and Bell's explanation of problem with OD is essentially 'technical'; that is, it relates to incorrect implementation rather than the fundamental characteristics of the approach. However other theorists of change management point to three other issues: the pace of the change, participation in the change process and power as an organisational issue.

The pace of the change

OD involves an 'ideology of gradualism' (Dunphy & Stace, 1988), whereby effective change is assumed to require small incremental steps. The pace of change is to be slow and steady, continuous rather than abrupt. However, as Dunphy and Stace (1988) argue, this assumes that there are no conditions that are so pressing that a rapid response is required.

Participation in the change process

A classic, OD-based paper by Coch and French (1948) introduced a new paradigm for introducing change in organisations. This paradigm was that of consulting workers in advance of the change, and allowing them to make suggestions. It means that management can greatly modify or virtually remove group resistance to changes (Coch and French 1948, p. 531). However, as with the Interpretation of Hawthorne this may be a case of the perpetuation of management mythology. A review of the original evidence for this claim showed that the evidence was thin, the experimental design faulty, and the conclusions took no account of other possible explanations for the results. Overall, perhaps too much can be expected of participation. Where proposed change conflicts too greatly with the interests of one or more parties, participation will provide at most a way of confronting the political issues involved in change, not a way of smoothing them away.

Power as an organisational issue

OD practitioners have paid little attention to the 'organisation as political arena' metaphor in their approach to change management. It has been argued (Woodworth & Nelson 1979; Dunphy & Stace, 1988) that this has been to the advantage of management in keeping change focussed on individual and group adaptation, and not on issues that may lead to a more fundamental reassessment of organisational practices. On the other hand, even some OD practitioners have argued more recently that lack of attention to power has affected the efficiency of OD. Schein (1985) presents the following range of strategies as useful aids to successful OD interventions:

present a non-threatening image by learning the range of acceptable arguments

and cast proposals in these terms. This does not amount to distortion, rather a presentation in a manner likely to increase receptiveness.

diffuse opposition and bring out conflict rather than stifle opposition; seek to

diffuse it by encouraging open suggestions and criticisms. This may help to keep conflicts within manageable boundaries as well as allowing 'die-hard' resisters to be identified and monitored.

align with powerful other develop support from both top management and key

line managers.

develop information interaction patterns and regular formal contactsbetween

change and staff members in line departments.

first give attention to aspects that are small but important to the client, thereby

building up credit for larger, more complex tasks.

'strike while the iron's hot' follow up a success quickly to cash in on the credit established.

research can provide the consultant with credibility and expert powerin

difficult situations, especially those where the topics is particularly emotionally charged.

a small experimental study may be viewed as non-threatening and its success

may provide the basis for a more widespread application.

start with a small change, get key people on side, build up their confidence, and

then push for more significant changes.

if a number of groups become involved in the change, all claiming

organisational change expertise, it may sometimes be wisest to withdraw fro the melee, especially if too many cooks are spoiling the broth. When the change program is assessed as less than successful, the group that withdrew from the exercise may have retained or even enhanced its influence. Schein's approach, while 'grafting on' some attention to political dynamics to the key dynamics and assumptions of OD, is a modification rather than a radical overhaul of the approach. We move now to a consideration of organisational change as a political process.

6.1.3 Managing change as a political process

In contrast to the OD approach to organisational change, there is a school of thought, which emphasises the inherent politicality of change. A typical tenet of this approach is that the method of producing change is not a critical issue 'because the ability to produce change is more a function of power the ability to influence than method' (Lee, 1980, p. 249). Stephenson, in similar vein, produces a set of ten tactics that he argues can be used to enhance the prospects of successful change:

seek out quick successes so as to provide an easy reward for participants in the

change

if there is resistance, take advantage of 'natural' occurrences to modify proposals for change without losing face

go with the grain use as much of the existing status and power systems as

possible, incorporating elements of previously accepted arrangements into the new proposals

stress structure modifications such as location, control and the division of

labour, rather than conversion or attitudinal changes

use ceremony to gain recognition for both the profundity and the legitimacy of the

various elements of change

give assurances that those affected will be fairly treated, and recognise that the

response to this will depend in part on the previous history of similar assurances and in part on the perceptions of those affected by the change

be realistic about the amount of time required for adaptation, the longer the

time span, the greater the probability of modification

managers and employees who feel threatened need substantialsupport, there needs to be a moratorium on critical evaluation

expect to have to deal with three different situations at the same time: the old methods, the in-between-not-certain and the new methods

be prepared for the unexpected, it may help or hinder the change.

Power, anxiety and transition

According to Nadler and Tushman (1988) there are three types of problems that accompany any significant attempt at organisational change: The problem of power: the upsetting of the existence of the existing balance of

power. The problem of anxiety: the likelihood that the proposed changes will generate fears, anxiety and uncertainty among some organisational members and hence counterproductive behaviour from the standpoint of those introducing the change. The problem of organisational control: the likely disruption to existing control systems during periods of change. All three need to be managed. To manage power, you need to:

get support of key power groups

demonstrate leadership in support of the change

use symbols

build in stability. To motivate constructive behaviour, you need to:

create dissatisfaction with the current state

obtain appropriate levels of participation in planning implementing change

reward desired behaviour in transition to the future state

provide time and opportunity to disengage from the current state. To manage the transitional stage of the change you need to:

develop and communicate a clear image of the future state

use multiple and consistent leverage points

use transition devices

obtain feedback about the Transition State, evaluate success.

Wholesale destruction of the status quo

Paterson (1983) is critical of the assumption inherent in OD approaches that change can be accomplished incrementally. He uses the headings 'Bases', 'Strategy and 'Tactics' to outline a series of recommendations to destabilise the existing system: Bases

ensure that you have support from above

speak directly and often to employees as a whole. Direct communication reduces the possibility of your message being distorted

ensure that your personal behaviour is above reproach to avoid any incident being used against you. Do not pretend to have knowledge you do not have

build your prestige outside the organisation. Understand and use the media

symbolic significance will be read into your actions; ensure that they convey the message you intend

be well-read and well-practised in basic organisational and interpersonal skills. Strategy

identify weak links in the current system that can be attacked at little cost for early victories. If necessary attack by exploiting existing divisions

identify individual strengths and weaknesses. Make maximum use of internal expertise but bring in external expertise in its absence

reform senior management first. Testing incumbents will speed up the departure of those who must go and build up the confidence of those who measure up. Tactics

pace is the key tactical variable; your average pace must be such as to defeat the adaptive processes of the old system. Vary the pace on different 'fronts' to dictate the terms of battle

timing should, as far as possible, conform to a planned schedule for change

never cease scouting for recruits. Use selection and training processes to improve desired skills

handle industrial relations skilfully. Reliance on the old industrial system should decline as managerial skills improve, but where the old system is involved, act with competence and promptly in order that the old system doesn't benefit

make the client your ally. Properly mobilised, external pressures can be used against internal resisters.

6.1.4 Contingency approaches to managing change

As with contingency approaches to leadership, which stressed the way variations in the situation should influence the style and/or tactics of the leader, contingency approaches to managing change focus on the way the context does or should influence the nature of change practice. Rather than relatively generic courses of action, such as proposed by Nadler and Tushman, and Paterson, these approaches emphasise variation by context.

Faculty of Business, University of the Sunshine Coast Course Work Managing Organisational Behaviour MGT701 Page 113 Graduate Studies Program

The centrality of resistance to change

Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) identify and discuss six approaches to managing change, using resistance to change as the key variable whereby the context for the use of each is described. Kotter and Schlesinger's approach involves the following broad approaches:

education and communication

participation and involvement

facilitation and support

negotiation and agreement

manipulation and cooptation

explicit and implicit coercion

depending on the demands of the situation.

Fit, resistance and urgency

Dunphy and Stace (1990) have produced a model for change strategies that vary along two dimensions: scale of change and style of change leadership. Scale of change refers to whether the changes are based on:

fine tuning of existing practices, or

small changes (incremental adjustments), or

major change in some part of the organisation (modular transformation), or

major change, which is organisation-wide (corporate transformation). The key distinction is between the first two types and the latter two types. The first two involve incremental approaches characterised by a series of adjustments. The latter two types involve discontinuous but substantial change. (Compare this to the textbook's distinction between first-order and second-order change).

Style of change leadership refers to whether the change process:

involves employees in decision about both the goals and means of change (collaborative), or

requires managers to consult employees(consultative), or

is characterised by managers issuing edicts based on their formal authority (directive), or

is characterised by the use of explicit or implicit force(coercive). On the basis of these two dimensions, Dunphy and Stace define four change strategies:

participative evolution: characterised by incremental change and participation

(OD strategies are typically of this type

charismatic transformation: characterised by transformative change and

participation

forced evolution: characterised by incremental change and non-participation

dictatorial transformation: characterised by transformational change and non-

participation. (This resembles the approach recommended by Paterson, 1983)

according to Dunphy and Stace there should be a definite relationship between the circumstances of the organisation and selection of a change strategy. Specifically:

participative evolution is appropriate when the organisation is either 'in fit' but needs minor adjustment, or is 'out of fit' but time is available and key interest groups favour change

charismatic transformation is appropriate when the organisation is 'out of fit', the need to change is urgent and key interest groups support substantial change

forced evolution is appropriate when the organisation is either 'in fit' but needs minor adjustment or is 'out of fit' and, although time is available, key interest groups oppose change

dictatorial transformation is appropriate when the organisation is 'out of fit', the need to change is urgent, but key interest groups oppose substantial change. The authors recognise that the model is necessarily a simplification. For example, the two change dimensions (scale and style) are continuous rather than discrete variables and that different sections of the organisation or workforce may be subject to different strategies. They also recognise that managers have different 'interpretative schemes' and that this may limit management's recognition of the changes necessary to attain fit. These things are not incorporated into the model, and as a consequence, the degrees of fit, or resistance and of urgency are treated as relatively unambiguous. Nevertheless, the model is valuable in that it encourages reflection in regard to the change strategy-context relationship.

Conclusion
Despite the shortcomings of the organisational development approach, it is still regarded as a very attractive model for guiding change. The 'organisation as political arena' change model, on the other hand, has the advantage that it takes into account the complex and non-deterministic nature of organisations. The contingency approaches do something of both, allowing for the possibility of both OD and political

approaches depending on the external circumstances of the organisation and managers' capacity to judge them.

6.2 Organisational Behaviour and HRM

Introduction
The quality of an organisation is, to a large degree, determined by the quality of the people who work for the organisation. With this in mind, it could be soundly argued that the most important goal for present and future managers is to develop a progressive philosophy for managing our most important resource,people Jack Welch, the head of the 220,000-employee General Electric Corporation, had this to say about succeeding in today's highly competitive global economy:
"If you're not thinking all the time about making every person more valuable, you don't have a chance. What's the alternative? Wasted minds? Uninvolved people? A labor force that's angry or bored? That doesn't make sense."

To become a highly performing organisation starts with being able to recruit and select the best applicants for various positions within the organisation. Job training and personal and professional development are other activities that are also an important part of managing a companys human resources. In this topic we will examine the following issues:

Why HRM?

The Human Resource Management Process

6.2.1 Why HRM?

Whether or not an organisation has a human resource department, every manager is involved with human resource decisions. Various studies have concluded that an organisation's human resources can be a significant source of competitive advantage. To achieve this, managers have to fundamentally rethink the organisation's workforce and how they view the work relationship. It also involves working with and through people and seeing them as partners, not just as costs to be minimised or avoided. Studies that have looked at the link between HRM policies and practices and organisational performance have found that certain ones have a positive impact on performance. These high-performance work practices are human resource policies and practices that lead to high levels of performance, and include self-directed work teams and total quality management, coaching and mentoring, use of employee suggestions and attitude surveys, employee involvement and problem solving groups.

Reading 6.3
Pfeffer, J, & Veiga, J, 1999, Putting People First For Organizational Success, inThe Organizational Behavior Reader eds J.S. Osland, D.A. Kolb, & I.M. Rubin, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. (See Chapter 17, pp. 471-484).

6.2.2 The Human Resource Management Process

Human resource planning is the process by which managers ensure that they have

the right personnel who are capable of completing those tasks that help the

organisation reach its objectives. Managers begin with a current assessment of the organisation's human resources and reviewing their status. This is typically done through a human resource inventory or audit i.e., what mix of skills & experience do we have? For example, such a report or database might include education, training, prior employment, languages spoken, specialised skills of each employee. Another part of the current assessment is the job analysis, which is an assessment that defines jobs and the behaviours necessary to perform them. From this information, management can draw up a job description, which is a written statement of what a jobholder does, how it is done, and why it is done. From this, management can also develop a job specification, which is a statement of the minimum acceptable qualifications that an incumbent must possess to perform a given job successfully. Future assessment involves a determination of future human resource needs by looking at the organisation's objectives and strategies. Demand for human resources (i.e., employees) is a result of demand or estimated future demand - for the organisations products or services. Developing a future program involves matching estimates of shortages of needed personnel with forecasts of future labour supply. Recruitment is the process of locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants. Decruitment involves techniques for reducing the labour supply within an organisation. Sources for recruitment are varied and should reflect: 1. Local labour market for eg, if the University of the Sunshine Coast wanted a lecturer in org. behaviour, they would have to advertise nationally, or even internationally, as the local supply is virtually non-existent. 2. Type or level of position forklift driver, or CEO? 3. Size of the organization family business or office of a national firm? Obviously, these considerations all interact. Note that recruitment and selection AND decruitment both lead to competent employees the rationale behind this has been explained elsewhere as the importance of getting the weeds out of the garden.

What skills do employers want?

In 2000, Morgan & Banks reported that in a national survey of Australian workplaces, employers stated that new graduates were most lacking in communication skills (oral & written) and the ability to think critically this is ironic, given that one might assume that those are the very core skills that universities might be expected to equip any graduate with The major sources forrecruitment include internal search, advertisements, employee referrals, public employment agencies, private employment agencies, school placement, temporary help services, and employee leasing and independent contractors.
Decruitment options include firing, layoffs, attrition, transfers, reduced workweeks,

early retirements, and job sharing.

The selection process is screening job applicants to ensure that the most appropriate candidates are hired. It is also an exercise in prediction, since any selection decision can result in four possible outcomes.