HBO Module.doc
- 1. 1 1 Human Behavior in Organization (HBO) MODULE No. 1 Understanding Organizational Behavior Organizations are social systems. If one wishes to work in them or to manage them, it is necessary to understand how they operate. Organizations combine science and people technology and humanity. Technology is difficult enough by itself, but when you add people you get an immensely complex system that almost defies understanding. However, society must understand organizations and use them well because they are necessary to achieve the benefits of civilization. Modern society depends on organizations for its survival. Human behavior in organizations is rather unpredictable as we now see it. It is unpredictable because it arises from peoples deep-seated needs and value systems. However, it can be partially understood in terms of the frameworks of behavioral science, management, and other disciplines. There are no simple cookbook formula for working with people. There is no perfect solution to organizational problems. All that can be done is to increase our understanding and skills so that human relationships at work can be upgraded. The goals are challenging and worthwhile. Definition Organizational behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people act within organizations. It applies broadly to the behavior of people in all types of organizations, such as business, government, schools, and service organizations. Wherever organizations are, there is a need to understand organizational behavior. The key elements in organizational behavior are people, structure, technology and the environment in which the organization operates. When people join together in an organization to accomplish an objective, some kind of structure is required. People also use technology to help get the job done, so there is an interaction of people, structure and technology. People make up the internal social system of the organization. They consist of individuals and groups. Groups are dynamic. They form, change and disband. People are the living, thinking, feeling beings who created the organization to achieve their objectives. Organizations exist to serve people, rather than people exist to serve organizations. Structure defines the official relationships of people in organizations. There are managers and employees, accountants and assemblers. These people have to be related in some structural way so that their work can be effective. These relationships create complex problems of cooperation, negotiation and decision making. Technology provides the resources with which people work and affects the tasks that they perform. They cannot accomplish much with their bare hands, so they build buildings, design machines, create work processes, and assemble resources. The great benefit of technology is that it allows people to do more and better work, but it also restricts people in various ways. It has costs as well as benefits. Environment. All organizations operate within an external environment. A single organization does not exist alone. It is a part of a larger system that contains many other elements, such as government, the family and other organizations. All of these mutually influence each other in a complex system that becomes the lifestyle of a group of people. Historical Development of Organizational Behavior Robert Owen, a young Welsh factory owner, about the year 1800, was one of the first to emphasize human needs of employees. He refused to employ young children. He taught his workers cleanliness and temperance and improved their working conditions. He was called the the real father of personnel administration by an early writer. Andrew Ure incorporated human factors into his The Philisophy of Manufactures, published in 1835. He recognized the mechanical and commercial parts of manufacturing, but he also added a third factor, which was the human factor. He provided workers with hot tea, medical treatment, a fan apparatus for ventilation, and sickness payments. Interest in people at work was awakened by Frederick W. Taylor in the United States in the early 1900s. He is often called the father of scientific management, and the changes he brought to management paved the way for later development of organizational behavior. His work eventually led to improved recognition and productivity for industrial workers. He pointed out that just as there was a best machine for a job, so were there best ways for people to do their jobs. In the 1920s and 1930s Elton Mayo and F. J. Roethlisberger at Harvard University gave academic stature to the study of human behavior at work. They applied keen insight, straight thinking, and sociological backgrounds
- 2. 2 2 to industrial experiments at the Western Electric Company, Hawthorne Plant. The result was the concept that an organization is a social system and the worker is indeed the most important element in it. Their experiments showed that the worker is not a simple tool but a complex personality interacting in a group situation that often is difficult to understand. Fundamental Concepts Every field of social science has a philosophical foundation of basic concepts that guide its development. In accounting, for example, a fundamental concept is that for every debit there will be a credit. In physics, a basic philosophy is that elements of nature are uniform. Organizational behavior deals with a set of fundamental concepts revolving around the nature of people and organization. The Nature of People There are four (4) basic assumptions ; Individual differences. The idea of individual differences comes originally from psychology. Form the day of birth, each person is unique, and individual differences after birth tend to make people even more different. Individual differences mean that management can get the greatest motivation among employees by treating them differently. A whole person. When management practices organizational behavior, it is trying to develop a better employee, but also it wants to develop a better person in terms of growth and fulfillment. Research suggests that jobs do shape people somewhat as they perform them, so management needs to be concerned about its effect on the whole person. Motivated behavior. From psychology we learn that normal behavior has certain causes. These may relate to a persons needs and/or the consequences that result from acts. In the case of needs, people are motivated not by what we think they ought to have but by what they themselves want. This fact leaves management with two basic ways to motivate people. (1) It can show them how certain actions will increase their need fulfillment, (2) or it can threaten decreased need fulfillment if they follow an undesirable course of action. Motivation is essential to the operation of organization. No matter how much machinery and equipment an organization has, these things cannot be put to use until they are released and guided by people who have been motivated. Value of the person (human dignity). This concept is of a different order from the other three because it is more an ethical philosophy than a scientific conclusion. It recognizes that because people are of a higher order, they want to be treated with respect and dignity and should be treated this way. Every job, however, simple, entitles the people who do it to proper respect and recognition of their unique aspirations and abilities. The Nature of Organization Social Systems. From sociology we learn that organizations are social systems; consequently, activities therein are governed by social laws as well as psychological laws. Just as people have psychological needs, they also have social roles and status. Their behavior is influenced by their group as well as by their individual drives. In fact, two types of social systems exist side by side in organizations. One is the formal (official) social system, and the other is the informal social system. Mutual Interest. Mutual interest is represented by the statement Organizations need people, and people also need organizations. Organizations have a human purpose. They are formed and maintained on the basis of some mutuality of interest among their participants. People see organizations as a means to help them reach their goals, while organizations need people to help reach organizational objectives. If mutuality is lacking, it makes no sense to try to assemble a group and develop cooperation. Holistic Organizational Behavior When the six fundamental concepts of organizational behavior are considered together, they provide a holistic concept of the subject, Holistic organizational behavior interprets people-organization relationship in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. Issues are analyzed in terms of the total situation affecting them rather than in terms of an isolated event or problem. Basic Approaches An Interdisciplinary Approach- an integration of many disciplines Organizational behavior is interdisciplinary. It integrates social sciences and other disciplines that can contribute to the subject. It applies from these disciplines any ideas that will improve the relationships between people and organizations. Its interdisciplinary nature is similar to that of
- 3. 3 3 medicine, which applies physical, biological and social sciences into a workable medical practice. A Human Resources (supportive) Approach support of employee growth and development for effectiveness The human resources approach is developmental. It is concerned with the growth and development of people toward higher levels of competency, creativity and fulfillment, because people are the central resource in any organization and society. The human resources approach is supportive. It helps employees become better, more responsible persons, and then it tries to create a climate in which they may contribute to the limits of their improved abilities. A Contingency Approach allowance for different behaviors required by different environments for effectiveness No longer is there a one best way. Each situation must be analyzed carefully to determine the significant variables that exist in order to establish the kinds of practices that will be more effective. The strength of the contingency approach is that it encourages analysis of each situation prior to action while at the same time discouraging habitual practice based on universal assumptions about people. The contingency approach also is more interdisciplinary, more system-oriented, and more research-oriented than the traditional approach. Thus it helps to use in the most appropriate manner all the current knowledge about organizations. It also is called the situational approach, because appropriate action depends on situational variables. A Productivity Approach a ratio that compares units of output with units of input Productivity often is measured in terms of economic inputs and outputs, but human and social inputs and outputs are important. For example, if better organizational behavior can improve job satisfaction, a human output or benefit occurs. In the same manner, when employee development programs leads to a by- product of better citizens in a community, a valuable social output occurs. A Systems Approach interaction of all parts of an organization in a complex relationship Conceptually a system implies that there are multitude of variables in organizations and that each of them affects all the others in a complex relationship. An event that appears to affect one individual or one department actually may have significant influences elsewhere in the organization. Thjs means that managers in taking actions must look beyond the immediate situation in order to determine effects on the larger system. Reading : John Perkins, age about fifty, worked as assistant manager of a branch bank in a large banking system. He had been an assistant manager for eleven years. His work was so mediocre that no branch manager wanted him. Usually his current manager would arrange to move him out of the way by transferring him to a new branch that was opening; so John worked in eight branches in eleven years. When he became assistant manager at his ninth branch, his manager soon learned of his record. Although tempted to transfer John, the manager decided to try to motivate him. The manager learned that John has no economic needs because he had a comfortable inheritance and owned several apartment houses. His wife managed the apartments. His two children were college graduates and had good incomes. John was contented. The manager made little headway with John and twice considered discharging him. Occasionally John developed a drive for a few weeks, but then he lapsed into his old ways again. After a careful analysis of Johns situation, the manager concluded that although Johns need for tangible goods were satisfied, he might respond to more recognition; so the manager started working in that direction. For example, on the branchs first birthday the manager held a party for all employees before the bank opened. He had a caterer prepare a large cake and write on top an important financial ratio that was under Johns jurisdiction and was favorable at the moment. John was emotionally inspired by the recognition and the kidding that his associates gave him about the ratio. His behavior substantially changed thereafter, and with further recognition he improved to become a successful manager of another branch within two years. In this instance Johns performance was improved because his manager carefully analyzed the situation and used behavioral skills, such as recognition, to achieve a result beneficial to both parties. That is the essence of organizational behavior. Assignment : 1. Comment on the statement Organizations need people, and people also need organizations. 2. Select one of your friends and discuss the qualities that make that person individually different from you.