Gedrag en Communicatie in Organisaties college aantekeningen:
Les 1: Introduction
-Wat is een organisatie?:
>’’a system of consciously coordinated activities of forces of two or more persons’’
-Four common characteristics:
>Coordination effort
*Achieved by policies, rules and regulation
>Common goal
>Division of labour
*Individuals perform separate but related tasks to achieve the common goal.
> Hierarchy of authority
* Chain of command dedicated to make sure that the right people to the right things at the
right time (often reflected in organizational chart)
-Wat is organizational Behavior (OB)?:
>’’an interdisciplinary field dedicated to understanding and managing people at work’’.
Interdisciplinary?
>Knowledge from different disciplines, e.g., organization sciences and communication
science.
>But, not so much coordinated…
>Multidisciplinary?
Historical perspective:
-Scientific management
>1880-1930
>Creating standards established by facts or truths gained through systematic observation,
experiment, or reasoning to improve organizational efficiency (tayloisme).
>Negative connotations
*Associated with mass production, assembly line, negative perception of workers
*See also: McGregor’s Theory X (Human Relations Movement)
>Ground-breaking
*Scientific selection and training of people
*Scientific job redesign based on time-motion research
-Human Relations Movement
>1930-1970
>From a negative set to a positive set of assumptions about people
*McGregor’s Theory X vs Y.
-Quality Movement
>1980
>Organization dedicated to training, improvement and customer satisfaction
*Total Quality Management (TQM).
-The internet and social media movement
>1990s
>Virtual organizations
*Organizations where people work (party) independent of location, supported by ICT
>Examples
*Teleworking in contact with central office
*Organizations without an office
,*New world of working – Microsoft Austria
*Working from home.
Diversity:
-Wat is diversiteit?
>A characteristic of groups that consists of 2 or more individuals
*Usually refers to demographical differences between group members
>Demographical characteristics:
*Gender
*Ethnicity
*Religion
*Nationality
*Education, expertise
*Social status
Definition:
>Diversity represents the multitude of individual differences and similarities that exist among
people.
>Based on four layers
-Personality
-Internal (surface-level) dimensions (diversiteit binnen deze cursus past hierbij)
-External (secondary) dimensions
-Organizational dimensions (work location)
-Why should we strive for diversity?
>Business care: Diversity is the smart thing to do
*It can lead to better performance, productivity and creativity.
>Moral case: Diversity is the right thing to do
*Equal opportunities for all individuals.
-Diversity is a mixed blessing
>For teams, organizations
-Positive effects:
>Higher performance
>More creativity
>More flexibility
->Different perspectives, backgrounds and approaches
-Negative effects:
>Less satisfaction, commitment
>More conflicts
-> categorization processes
-Information/Decision-making Theory:
>Diversity leads to better task-relevant processes and decision making, because diverse
groups…
*Are better at early stages of problem solving by using their diverse
backgrounds to generate a more comprehensive view of a problem
*Uncover more alternatives during problem-solving activities
*Enhance the number of contacts they have available which provides
access to (new) information and expertise
,A process model of Diversity:
-Negative effects of diversity are stronger when ‘fault lines’ are more salient.
>Categorization processes become more likely
>Fault line: Hypothetical dividing line that splits groups into demographically based
subgroups.
-Social Categorization Theory:
>Diversity leads to categorizing the self and others into groups, resulting in
negative outcomes for groups
*Similarities and differences creates ingroup (“us) vs. outgroup (“them”)
*Liking of ingroup members, ingroup favouritism
*Disliking of outgroup members, outgroup derogation
*Conflict between ingroup and outgroup
*Evidence from the minimal group paradigm
*But, can you benefit from diversity with categorization processes?
Categorization:
Superordinate/inclusive level -> Subordinate/low level: more diversity (hier zie je subgroepen
en diversiteit) ->Individuals
*Je wisselt continu tussen de verschillende levels
Waarom doen we dit?
>Uncertainty reduction (je weet wat er van je verwacht wordt, wat je moet doen)
*I am a member of a group
>Self-esteem
*’I am happy to be a member of this group
Nadeel van categorization:
>Stereotyping (dit is een cognitief (mentaal) proces) Stereotypering is niet hetzelfde als
discriminatie! (op subordinate level)
*Intergroup bias and conflict
*Ingroup vs. outgroup
*Competition over resources (e.g., promotion)
>Discrimination -> behavioral
>Prejudice -> emotional
>Stigma (is ook emotioneel maar kan ook gebaseerd zijn op persoonlijke kenmerken, niet
altijd de kenmerken van een groep).
-Altering the categorization process scan reduce intergroups bias and conflict.
>Re-categorization (superordinate level)
*One group, superordinate categorization, common ingroup identity, dual identity.
*Responses to former outgroup members become more positive -> Less outgroup
derogation.
>De-categorization (individuals)
*Separate individuals, personal identity
*Responses to former ingroup members become less positive
*Less ingroup favoritism
>But categorization at the subordinate level also has positive effects: Diversity! (subordinate
level)
>How to manage this?
, *Make fault lines less salient
*Strengthen the overarching identity -> re-categorization (of the team of organization).
-What is culture?
>A set of shared, taken for-granted implicit assumptions that a group holds and that
determines how it perceives, thinks about and reacts in various environments.
-Societal culture [Chapter 4]
>A set of beliefs and values about what is desirable and undesirable in a
community of people, and a set of formal or informal practices to
support the values
-Organizational culture [Chapter 3]
>Shared values and beliefs that underlie a company’s identity
-Understanding cultural differences
>High-context vs. Low-context cultures
Bij high-context heb je echt een context nodig, bij Low-context heb je niet echt de context
nodig want alles in uitgeschreven in een afspraak.
>Individualism vs. Collectivism.
*Personal freedom, choice and responsibility vs. shared goals.
-What is organizational culture?
>Societal culture
>Organizational culture (work culture)
*Shared values and beliefs that underlie a company’s identity
>It impacts our behavior at work
*Motivation, satisfaction, turnover.
>Passed on through socialization process.
>Cultural differences at work affect OB.
*Expatriates report to experience anxiety due to new expectations.
-Organizational culture has 3 fundamental layers/levels:
>Observable artifacts (logo)
*Physical manifestation of an organization’s culture
*Relatively easy to change
>Espoused values
*Explicitly stated values and norms that are preferred by an organization.
>Basis assumptions
*The core of organizational culture
*Highly resistant to change
Les 2: Individuals in Organizations
-Self-concept:
>The concept the individual has about themselves.
>Makes sure we recognize ourselves as a distinct human being.
Self-esteem: Belief about one’s own self-worth based on an overall self-evaluation.
>Can also be specific: Social, performance, and appearance self-esteem.
How can you enhance your self-esteem?:
>The social Comparison Theory (Festinger 1954):
