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Summary PYC4810 Exam Prep - Comprehensive study notes
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
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Section 1: OB in a changing SA + World Chapter 1 and 2Organizational Behaviour: Its Basic Nature
Organizations:
o Structured social system.
o Consist of people, work alone and together in groups to attain common goals.
OB is the multidisciplinary field that focusses on behaviour in organizational settings by systematically studying individual, group,
and organizational processes.
There are 4 central characteristics of OB.
grounded in scientific method.
3 levels of analysis; individuals, groups, and organizations.
interdisciplinary in nature.
basis for enhancing organizational effectiveness and individual well-being.
Fundamental Assumptions
1. OB Recognizes the Dynamic Nature of Organizations
dynamic and ever-changing entities or open systems;
self-sustaining systems that transform input from the external environment into output, which the system then returns to the
environment.
The dynamic nature of organizations = functioning continuous system.
Considerations linked to the view that organizations are dynamic entities are the conditions under which organizations change, the
way organizations are structured and the way in which organizations interact with their environments.
2. A contingency approach
OB holds the perspective that OB is affected by a large number of interacting factors.
There is no one best way to motivate, to lead, and to make decisions. In other words, a certain behaviour occurs “contingent upon”
the existence of certain conditions—therefore, the name.
OB Then and Now: A Capsule History
Frederick Winslow Taylor –
first person to carefully study human behaviour at work
the inventor of the time-and-motion-study in his search for ways to perform tasks that resulted in the fewest wasted movements.
designing jobs to make people work more efficiently. Comparable to machines.
This is dehumanizing and destroyed the soul of work as people are not machines and cannot be treated in the same way.
Elton W. Mayo
father of the human relations movement
o a perspective on organizational behaviour that rejects the primarily economic orientation of scientific management and
recognizes, instead, the importance of social processes in work settings.
Hawthorne studies- 1927
o Determining how to design work environments in ways that increased performance.
o What they found is called the Hawthorne effect- the tendency for people being studied to behave differently than they
ordinarily would.
o a whole new way of thinking about behaviour at work.
o It suggests that to understand the way people behave on the job, we must fully appreciate their attitudes and the
processes by which they communicate with each other
classical organizational theory
focused on the efficient structuring of overall organizations.
there is an efficient way to organize work in all organizations.
Henri Fayol who believed
o division of labour- the practice of dividing work into specialized tasks that enable people to specialize in what they do best.
Max Weber
, proposed the bureaucracy- an organizational design that attempts to make organizations operate efficiently by having a clear
hierarchy of authority in which people are required to perform well-defined jobs.
Henry Ford openly endorsed “the reduction of the necessity for thought on the part of the worker.”
These particular organizational forms have not proven to be the perfect way to organize all work but paved the way for
contemporary OB.
1940s
the science of organizational behaviour
o emergence of textbooks and degrees not much later on.
1970s
active programs of research were going on— investigations into such key processes motivation and leadership, and the impact of
organizational structure.
The Gordon and Howell report of 1959
an analysis of business education in the USA, paved the way for OB becoming a multidisciplinary, hybrid science.
As we became more aware of the importance of the human element in the workplace, it became fashionable to treat people in a
more humane fashion.
OB Responds to the Rise of Globalization and Diversity
Globalization
process of interconnecting the world’s people with respect to the cultural, economic, political, technological, and environmental
aspects of their lives.
Three major forces driving Globalization:
1. Technology has been involved in several ways
2. laws restricting trade generally have become liberalized throughout the world.
3. developing nations have sought to expand their economies by promoting exports and opening their doors to foreign companies
seeking investments.
the primary vehicles of globalization are multinational enterprises (MNEs) –
Organizations that have significant operations spread throughout various nations but are headquartered in a single nation.
large numbers of people who are citizens of one country but who live and work in another country for some extended periods of
time.
Expats- people who are citizens of one country, but who live and work in another country.
While working abroad, people are exposed to different cultures—the set of values, customs, and beliefs that people have in common
with other members of a social unit (e.g., a nation).
When people are faced with new cultures, become confused and disoriented—culture shock.
People also experience culture shock when they return to their native cultures after spending time away from it— a process of
readjustment known as repatriation.
During the 1950s and 1960s,
Management scholars tended to overlook the importance of cultural differences in organizations.
2 key assumptions;
o that principles of good management are universal, and that the best management practices are ones that work well in the
United States (the convergence hypothesis)
o the divergence hypothesis, the approach to the study of management which recognizes that knowing how to manage
most effectively requires clear understanding of the culture in which people work.
The Shifting Demographics of the Workforce: Trends towards Diversity.
It is interesting to note that many of the organisations today are diverse in terms of gender, race and ethnicity.
Globalisation plays a large role in the fact that many organisations consist of a diverse workforce.
This could be due to liberal immigration policies and the birth rate of different races and ethnicities.
Half workforce comprised of women
Social acceptance of women outside home
Minority changing. Minority groups in the workforce now outnumbering traditional majority group
People living longer than before
, o Older people in workforce – drain on healthcare system
o Offer skills that time alone can provide
OB Responds to Advances in Technology
As more work is shifted to digital brains, work that once was performed by human brains becomes obsolete.
New opportunities arise
The implications of this for OB are considerable.
Rapidly advancing computer technology- Internet and wireless tech
Prominent trends in the world of work:
Leaner Organizations: Downsizing and Outsourcing
Informate
process by which workers use computer information technology to transform a once-physical task into one that involves
manipulating a sequence of digital commands.
Organizations have been rapidly reducing the number of employees needed to operate effectively—a process known as downsizing.
involves more than just laying off people
It is directed at adjusting the number of employees needed to work in newly designed organizations and is therefore also known
as rightsizing.
Many organizations need fewer people to operate today than in the past.
Another way organizations are restructuring:
eliminating those parts of themselves that focus on noncore sectors of the business (i.e., tasks that are peripheral to the
organization)
hiring outside firms to perform these functions instead—a practice known as outsourcing.
By outsourcing secondary activities, an organization can focus on what it does best, its key capability—what is known as its core
competency.
The Virtual Organization
A highly flexible, temporary organization formed by a group of companies that join forces to exploit a specific opportunity.
Telecommuting: Going to Work Without Leaving Home
Telecommuting (also known as teleworking-
Using communications technology to enable work to be performed from remote locations,
requires careful adjustments in the way work is done.
people don’t have the kind of self-discipline needed to get work done without direct supervision.
OB Is Responsive to People’s Changing Expectations
2 areas of concern to the field of OB
Employees’ and employers’ desire for engagement
(mutual commitment between employers and employees to do things to help one another achieve goals and aspirations)
Organizations take steps to engage their employees and employees respond by engaging their organizations. This takes several forms
high levels of pride in the organization
pride in the organizations’ products and services
belief that the organization helps employees do their best
willingness to help others on the job
understanding “the big picture” and being willing to go beyond formal job requirements when necessary.
The 4 key drivers of engagement are as follows:
Involving employees in making decisions
giving employees opportunities to express their ideas and opinions
providing opportunities for employees to develop their jobs
showing concern for employees’ well-being as individuals.
flexibility employees expect from employers.
Compressed work week
Practice of working fewer days each week but longer hours each day
Improved balance between work and personal life
Not appropriate for all jobs
Flexible hours
Flexitime programs-discretion over when can arrive and leave work
Contingent workforce
People hired by org temporarily to work as needed for finite periods of time.
Idiosyncratic work arrangements
Unique agreements between employee and employer to benefit both
Job Sharing
, Form of regular part-time work where 2 or more employees assume the duties of a single job splitting responsibilities, salary,
and benefits
Voluntary reduced worktime programs- reduce time reduce pay.
Justice
Org Justice:
Study of people's perceptions of fairness in orgs
Fairness- multifocal approach to justice(people take into account both indi’s and larger units when assessing fairness
Forms of org justice + effects pg. 68
1. Distributive justice- focus on people’s beliefs that they have received fair amounts of valued w-r outcomes
2. Procedural Justice – perceptions of the fairness of the procedures used to determine outcomes they receive
3. Interpersonal justice- perceptions of fairness of the manner in which they are treated by others
4. Informational justice- fairness of the info used as the basis for decision making
Strategies to promote
1. Pay worker what they deserve
2. Offer workers a voice (fair process effect)
3. Explain decisions thoroughly and in a manner demonstrating dignity and respect
4. Train workers to be fair
Ethical Behaviour
Ethics
Standard of conduct that guide people’s decisions and behaviour
Moral values
Fundamental beliefs regarding what is right or wrong. Good or bad.
Law
Ethical not the same as Legal
Indi differences in cognitive moral development
Cognitive moral dev
Kohlberg’s theory of cog moral dev
Preconventional thinking level moral reasoning
Conventional level moral reasoning
Postconventional level moral reasoning
Situational determinants of unethical behaviour
Managerial values undermine integrity
Bottom line thinking
Exploitative mentality
Madison avenue mentality
Orgs encourage behaviour that violates ethical standards
Stonewalling
Counter norms
Workers emulate unethical behaviour of their superiors
Promoting ethical behaviours
Components of corporate ethics programs
Code of ethics
Ethics training
Ethics audits
Ethics committee
Ethics officer
Mechanism for communicating ethical standards
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