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Organizational psychology
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1Organizational Psychology
The examination will consist of approximately 40 multiple-choice questions, each with three
possible answers. The standard correction for guessing will be applied to this examination.
The examination material will consist of:
- The literature for each lecture. The information for each lecture contains the reading list
of required literature.
- All the material that has been covered in the lectures and interactive lectures including
the extra materials that were discussed during the lectures (such as PowerPoint slides,
background information, etc.).
1. Organizational Theory
What is organization?
“An organization is a collection of people who work together and coordinate their
actions in order to achieve individual and organizational goals”.
An organization has 6 parts. On top we
see the strategic apex which is the
leadership of the organization. They give
direction, set the strategy and in most
cases it comes from the top of the
organization (CEO, CFO, COO…).
There is a middle line that links the
operating core of the organization to the
strategic apex. This is referred to as the
line organization (like the production line
that makes the products, the workers),
they are the operating core. In the middle
line there are team leaders, managers,
supervisors… who are not part of the
leadership team but often act as the
linking pin between strategic apex and
operating core.
Then there may also be support staff like facilities, building, technical maintenance,
cantine… that facilitates and supports the organization.
Technostructures are the technical specialists enabling the organization to perform:
legal, finance, HR (you could argue if HR is actually technostructure)…
Finally they have an ideology or basic philosophy of an organization.
, 2
Classical View
Goal and basic idea: We need to improve the organizational STRUCTURE in order to
increase efficiency.
It is quite a normative view. Influencers: Mooney & Reiley, Taylor, Ford, Weber…
4 different principles: An
organization should be
coordinated (clear
structure…), vertically
divided (authority on top,
at the bottom people
execute orders that come
from this hierarchy),
horizontally divided
(specialized divisions,
functions, product
groups…)
The distinction was made: Staff is meant to have the authority of ideas (leadership
thinks) and the Line (doing the work, production work, command and direct people)
instead of the authority of ideas which belongs to the staff of the organization.
, 3
The most influential one: Scientific management or Taylorism
- He really observed and studied worker behavior and he made it a science, not
just rule of thumb!
- His second principle, people should interact in harmony to achieve the
organizational goals, not chaos or discord. HArmony between the people and the
production line.
- Coordination is important; the orchestrated and concerted effort to achieve the
goal.
- Development was necessary and specialized training to get employees to the
point of their greatest efficiency and propensity (which is the natural tendency to
behave in a certain way).
Taylorism and Fordism have been criticized: Scientific management is de-skilling the
worker, because workers are specialized and no longer understand the whole product. In
McDonalds nobody can really cook, it doesn't take all the motor and technical skills to
make a car park. There is little or no control for workers, the control was part of different
parts of your life (healthcare…): The contribution to knowledge, the earnings were huge
and this also led to less physical stress because machines took over most of the
physical labor.
, 4
There are similarities… Many companies today still apply the scientific management
philosophy. But this sparks protests and strikes about bad working conditions.
Max Weber first introduced the term Bureaucracy. In organization back in the early
1900s, there was nepotism and favoritism. People got advantages when they had the
right relationships, family with the boss… and this led to unequal payment and unethical
circumstances. To avoid that, bureaucracy was the answer.
In a bureaucracy, the positions in the organization are specialized. You have specific
positions for specific jobs, not generalized positions. If you have a specialist, they will
work more efficiently because they know.
You also need a clear chain of command and hierarchy.
Formal selection based on objective criteria. Not just friendship or family. Objective
criteria you can really measure.
Also the system of rules and regulations. Full or rules down to every detail and
procedures to follow. If everyone obeys then it can be very efficient. Following strict rules
can be very efficient.
Career orientation was another characteristic of bureaucracy, they are looking for career
professionals. Not being status-driven, do the right thing for the organization.
Rules are applied uniformly and impersonally, cold and distant organization.
Examples of this are healthcare or governmental organizations. We need this because
otherwise there would be chaos.
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