Module 1 Lecture and PowerPoints

MGT 140 Week 1 - Lecture

Introduction

Welcome to week one of MGT 140, Organizational Behavior. This week we will be learning about organizational behavior (OB) and opportunity along with OB challenges for managers. We will examine human behavior in organizations in the context of organizational hierarchy and diversity in the workplace. We will identify the difficulties and challenges managers face when working with employees from various cultures, diversities, and ethical backgrounds.

Organizational behavior and opportunity

Human behavior in organizations is complex and often difficult to understand. Organizations have been described as clock-works in which human behavior is logical and rational, but they often seem like snake pits to those who work in them (Schwartz, 1987). The clockwork metaphor reflects an orderly, idealized view of organizational behavior devoid of conflict or dilemma because all the working parts (the people) mesh smoothly. The snake pit metaphor, on the other hand, conveys the daily conflict, distress, and struggle in organizations. Each metaphor reflects reality from s different perspective – the organization’s versus the individual’s.

Chapter one provides an introduction to the subject of organizational behavior.  It begins by providing an overview of human behavior in organizations, the interdisciplinary origins of that behavior, and behavior in changing times.  Next, it describes the organizational context in which that behavior occurs. Third, it discusses the open systems view of organizations, which suggests that organizations are composed of formal and informal elements. This is followed by a consideration of the diversity of organizations and the opportunities that arise in times of change. The chapter closes with a discussion of the different ways that people learn about organizational behavior.

Organizational behavior (OB) is individual behavior and group dynamics in organizations. The foundation of organizational behavior is human behavior, so the study of OB involves understanding workers’ behavior in terms of their history and personal value systems and examining the external factors to which a person is subject. Organizational behavior has grown out of contributions from psychology, sociology, engineering, anthropology, management, and medicine.

Change

Change is an opportunity when one has a positive attitude, asks questions, listens, and is committed to succeed. People in change situations often become rigid and reactive, rather than open and responsive. This behavior works well in the face of gradual, incremental change. However, rigid and well-learned behavior may be counterproductive responses to significant change.

Organizations are open systems composed of people, structure, and technology committed to a task. The organization as a system also has an external task environment composed of different constituents, such as suppliers, customers, and federal regulators. The organization system takes inputs, converts them into throughputs, and delivers outputs to its task environment.

Organizations have formal and informal elements within them. The formal organization is the official, legitimate, and most visible part that enables people to think of organizations in logical and rational ways. The informal organization is unofficial and less visible. The informal elements of the organization are often points of diagnostic and intervention activities in organization development.

Variety of organizations

Large and small organizations operate in each sector of the company, which include manufacturing, service, government, and non-profit organizations. Understanding a variety of organizations will help you develop a greater appreciation for your own organization and for others in the world of private business enterprises and nonprofit organizations.

Global competition is a leading force driving change at work, creating performance and cost pressures that impact peoples’ work behavior.  However, the outcomes of these competitive pressures are not inevitably negative.  Too much change results in chaos, and too little change results in stagnation; the key is finding a balance. Global competition requires substantial changes and greater responsiveness on the part of organizations.  Economic competition puts pressure on employees to be productive and add value to their firms.  At the same time, cost-cutting strategies create uncertainty and insecurity for employees. Quality has become a “hot topic” in organizations when discussing what will make the organization more competitive. 

Although organizational behavior is an applied discipline, a student is not “trained” in organizational behavior. Rather, one is “educated” in organizational behavior and is a co-producer in learning.

Challenges for managers

Key challenges that managers face today stem from the fact that business is increasingly global in scope (Hitt, Hoskisson, & Harrison, 1991). Globalization is driven by the spread of economic logics centered on freeing, opening, deregulating, and privatizing economies to attract investment as well as technological innovations that are revolutionizing communication (Barkem, Baum, and Mannix, 2002). The resulting challenges for managers can be viewed as both opportunities and threats.

CEO

Chief executive officers of U.S. corporations have cited four challenges managers must overcome in order to remain competitive: (1) globalizing the firm’s operations to compete in the global village: (2) leading a diverse workplace: (3) encouraging positive ethics, character, and personal integrity: and (4) advancing and implementing technological innovation in the workplace (Harper, 1992).

Globalization

Globalization suggests that the world is free from national boundaries and is borderless. In transnational organizations, the global viewpoint supersedes national issues; organizations operate across long distances and employ a multicultural mix of workers. Social and political issues affect global operations and strategy development.

Diverse Cultures

Individualistic cultures emphasize and encourage individual achievement whereas collectivist cultures view group loyalty and unity as paramount. Other factors affecting work-related attitudes are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus femininity, and time orientation. Developing cross-cultural sensitivity training, cultural task forces, and global human resource management is critical to success.

Diversity  

Diversity encompasses all forms of differences among individuals, including culture, gender, age, ability, religion, personality, social status, and sexual orientation. Benefits from diversity are: human talent, marketing, creativity and innovation, problem solving, and flexibility. Potential problems are: resistance to change, lack of cohesiveness, communication, conflicts, and decision making.

Ethical theories help us understand, evaluate, and classify moral arguments; make decisions; and then defend conclusions about what is right and wrong. Ethical theories can be classified as consequential, rule-based, or character.

Ethics  

Organizations experience a variety of ethical and moral dilemmas such as employee rights, sexual harassment, organizational justice, whistle-blowing, and social responsibility. Managers can use ethical theories to guide them through moral choices and ethical decisions.

Technological advances have prompted alternative work arrangements, improved working conditions, increased skilled jobs, and brought disadvantaged individuals into the workforce. It has also generated stress, workaholics, and fear of being replaced by technology or being displaced into jobs of lower skill levels.

References

Barkem, H.G., Baum, J.A.C., & Mannix, E.A. (2002). Management challenges in a new time. Academy of Management Jounral 45, p. 916-930.

Harper, S.C. (1992). The challenges facing CEOs: Past, present, and future. Academy of Management Executive 6, p. 7-25.

Hitt, M.A., Joskisson, R.E., & Harrison, J.S. (1991). Strategic competitiveness in the 1990s: Challenges and opportunities for U.S. executives.  Academy of Management Executive 5, p. 7-22.

Nelson, D.B. & Quick, J.C. (2013). ORGB (3^rd Ed.), Mason, OH: South-Western, CENGAGE Learning.

Schwartz, H. (1987). The clockwork or the snakepit: An essay on the meaning of teaching organizational behavior. Organizational Behavior Teaching Review 11, No. 2, p. 19-26.