D eN e
Ind ial P ch l g
O gani a i nal Beha i
Chapter 1:
What is Organisational Behaviour?
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,Global vs South African management and organisational
behaviour practices
Global trends SA trends
US management literature and research Large proportion of SA’s economically
dominated the OB discipline active population has low literacy and
internationally considered economically illiterate.
High levels of skills shortages
This trend is supported by the SA workforce highly unionised and
idealisation of US lifestyle by US strongly regulated by labour legislation
television and film industry
Trend is further reinforced by global Unique demands imposed on local
operations of US companies dominating business leadership to compete
world trade internationally
Therefore, most countries including SA No unique SA management philosophy,
are influenced by US / Western accepted by all cultures, has emerged
management philosophies yet
US has well developed and researched SA management approaches mainly
knowledge base on management and based on US/ Western literature
leadership
The importance of interpersonal skills
Understanding human behaviour plays a role in determining manager’s
effectiveness
Developing managers’ interpersonal skills helps organisations attract and
keep high performing employees
o Regardless of labour market conditions, outstanding employees are
always in short supply
o Companies known as good places to work (Unilever, Old Mutual,
Microsoft, Nestle) have a big advantage
o Culture of the best companies includes:
Commitment to quality of work
Trust between managers and employees
Teamwork
Positive relationships
Job satisfactions
Willingness to go the extra mile
Social relationships among co-workers and supervisors strongly related to
overall job satisfaction
o Also associated with lower stress and lower intentions to quit
Having managers with good interpersonal skills makes workplace more
pleasant
o Which makes it easier to hire and keep qualified people
o Also makes economic sense = companies with reputations as good
places to work generate superior financial performance
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, In today’s competitive and demanding workplace, managers cannot succeed
on technical skills alone, they also need good people skills
What managers do
Managers get things done through other people
o They make decisions, allocate resources, and direct activities of others
to attain goals
Organisation is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of 2 or more
people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common
goal
Manufacturing & service firms, schools, hospitals, churches, military units,
retail stores, government departments are all organisations
Management functions
Four management functions:
1. Planning
Defining an organisation’s goals,
establishing an overall strategy for achieving these goals,
developing a comprehensive set of plans to integrate and coordinate activities
This function increases the most as managers move from lower- to mid-level
management
(define goals and means for achieving them)
2. Organising
Determining what tasks are to be done,
who is to do them,
how the tasks are to be grouped,
who reports to whom,
and where decisions are to be made
(design organisations structure)
3. Leading
When managers motivate employees,
direct their activities,
select the most effective communication channels,
resolve conflicts among members
(direct and coordinate people)
4. Controlling
Monitor organisations performance and compare it with previously set goals,
if there are significant deviations, management must get the organisation back
on track
(monitoring, comparing, potential correcting)
Management roles
In the late 60s, Henry Mintzberg concluded that managers perform 10 different,
interrelated roles, or sets of behaviours.
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, These ten roles are primarily 1. Interpersonal, 2. Informational, 3. Decisional
1. Interpersonal roles
Figurehead:
ceremonial and symbolic duties
factory supervisor giving a group of high school students a tour of the plant /
chancellor of university confers degrees
Leader:
hiring, training and developing, motivating and disciplining employees
Liaison:
contacting others who provide the manager with information
internal liaison relationship: obtaining info from another manager in your
organisation
outside liaison relationship: obtaining info from other managers at a trade fair
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