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Summary Organizational Behaviour
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ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR SUMMARYChapter 1 – Introducing organizational behaviour
It is about human behaviour in a work environment: how human behaviour is impacted by
leadership, culture, group norms, organizational structure, and power and politics. It is about how
we learn, communicate, are motivated, and interact. About how we work in teams, how we can
bring about change, and how we can make sure people are acting in ethically sound ways. It is about
the psychology and behaviour of individuals, understanding how our personalities and perceptions
shape how we work; also about sociology, how the wider social environment shapes the way we
think and behave.
Key teams in organizational behaviour:
Organizations aim to create standardized, predictable, and efficient working models so that
management gain maximum control over, and efficiency from, workers. This control is enhanced by
the use of data and computer technology.
One of the problems with the rationalization approach is that it ignores people.
Elton Mayo (1949) proposed that organizations should be seen as social spaces, full of people with
feelings and desires, rather than as machines. Another way of seeing Mayo's interpretation of the
Hawthorne studies is as a more powerful and subtle way of controlling people. This more humanistic
approach may be, in its ultimate ambition of seeking to get the maximum productivity out of
workers, not too dissimilar to that of Frederick Taylor.
Models such as Belbin's theory of group membership (2010) present techniques which claim to
make teams more effective.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs (1943) is a familiar tool for analysing human motivation.
There are two major models of change: the emergent approach and the planned approach.
Hofstede (1980) noted that national cultures still have their own unique differences, and this
presents multinational companies with significant challenges in managing the differences between
cultures.
What we are interested in within organizational behaviour is people: how they are managed,
motivated, and shaped by the world around them, and how they behave.
,Underlying disciplines, which think about the world in different ways:
1. Sociology explores how society shapes people. Helps us understand that no action takes
place in a social vacuum and helps us appreciate how individual experiences are part of
broader society.
2. Psychology seeks to measure, explain, and occasionally change human behaviour. Often
considered the science in the mind.
3. Social psychology bridges sociology and psychology and tries to understand the impact the
group has on the outlook of the individual.
4. Anthropology examines rites and rituals that shape how groups and cultures work.
5. Political science, applied to organizational behaviour, examines the role of power within
organizations.
The disciplines that underlie the study of organizational behaviour:
Adams’s equity theory (Adams, 1963), argues that individuals will calculate the ratio of their inputs
(time, effort, and skill) against the outputs (e.g. pay, job security) and against those of others. If they
feel someone is receiving greater levels of output in relation to their input, then this will cause
dissatisfaction.
Theorists such as Milton Friedman argue that it is immoral to spend shareholders’ money on
something just because you as a manager believe it is ethical.
Point of views:
- Sociological perspective; looking from the point of view of society
- Psychology perspective; looking from the point of view of the individual
Study skills: the difference between personal opinion and an academically-informed perspective
,Levels of critical thinking:
To really develop critical thinking requires asking different types of questions and focusing on
different levels of thought.
- Surface level: Description. You simply describe the theory, giving details of what it is, how it
works, and its basic concepts. You discuss the basic facts, models, or theories, and will show
familiarity with the theories. This level involves repeating back the theory.
- Explanation, Comprehension and Evidence. You show that you really understand the theory
and its relevance to this question and to real life practice. You can apply the theory to an
organization and show the implications for organizational practice. You can identify the
relevant points of the theory to the actual question asked. This shows a far deeper level of
understanding as it takes a stronger appreciation of what the theory entails in order to apply
it to practice. Within this level is also the application of theory. You link what you have
learned to actual organizational examples. Theories are tools that can both explain what
happens in real life organizations and make recommendations for how organizations might
solve particular management issues.
- Analyse. Looks at the theory's strengths and weaknesses, identifying the advantages and
disadvantages of the theory or the benefits and drawbacks that the theory offers. This form
of analysis is common at post-16 qualifications (e.g. A-level) and demonstrates a stronger
appreciation of the theory itself and how it works in practice.
- Synthesis, comparison, evaluation, creativity. It requires a much higher level of thinking
because it doesn't merely assume that the theory is correct but looks as much at what the
author does not say and who it impacts. You need to really understand the theory and its
implications, read between the lines, and not accept things at face value but question
everything. It involves judgement, weighing-up of the relative merits of the theory, and then
drawing conclusions to see if the perspective offered is fair and valid.
Taylorism, outlines a way of designing work to make it more efficient.
The differences between post-16 and degree-level thinking:
, Critical thinking can also mean a political view that asks you to question the underlying assumptions
and values of theories for the purpose of understanding and challenging their impact on society –
e.g. workers, the environment – and that is seen in opposition to mainstream theory (used in this
sense, its often called ‘critical management studies perspective’)
The mainstream or dominant view represents the general established thinking about management.
This perspective is concerned with creating theory that helps to understand management practice
better and generally to improve it. The goal of management theory, within this perspective, is to
achieve performance, efficiency, productivity, order, and control. The critical view argues that these
mainstream views systematically favour elite interests at the expense of disadvantaged groups. The
critical perspective suggests that there is a ‘dark side’ to organizations that these mainstream
accounts rarely discuss. The critical perspective argues that organizations should exist for freedom
and fulfilment, creativity and expression, and for the benefit of society, not just for shareholders.
The similarities between study skills and employability skills:
Chapter 2 – Organizational structure, design, and bureaucracy
Key theorists:
- Max Weber: A sociologist who observed the increasing dominance of bureaucracy within
society, noting its technical achievements but also its negative impacts on people.
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