Organizational Behavior:A Management ChallengeChapter 1Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 20021.1

Chapter Overview Management: A Prescriptive ViewLawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 20021.2 Organizational Behavior: A Descriptive View

The Organizationis the form of every human association for the attainment of a common purposethe framework of every group moving toward a common objectiveIt refers to the complete body, with all its correlated functionsIt refers to the coordination of all these [functions] as they cooperate for the common purpose.Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 20021.3(J. D. Mooney, The Principles of Organization, 1939)

The Knowing-Doing GapThe differences between what management believes produces success and what is actually practiced in their organizations - Pfeffer and Sutton (2000). The Knowing-Doing Gap.Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 20021.4

Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap1. Understand why before how2. Knowing comes from doing and teaching others how3. Action counts more than elegant plans and concepts4. There is no doing without mistakes5. Fear fosters knowing-doing gaps; drive out fear6. Fight the competition, not each other7. Measure what matters8. What leaders do, how they spend their time, and how they allocate resources matters1.5Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 2002

Management: A Prescriptive ViewPlanningOrganizingCoordinatingCommandingControllingFunctions of ManagementLawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 20021.6

Organizational Behavior: ConflictLawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 20021.7 Uncertainty ComplexityA Descriptive View

Organizational GoalsFormal OrganizationEfficiency and EffectivenessInformal OrganizationIndividual GoalsPolitics and Power Conflict in OrganizationsLawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 20021.8

Sources of UncertaintyInternalIndividual:PerceptionsGoals/Motivations

Organizational:Means-endsrelationshipsOrganizational goals

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Sources of UncertaintyExternalConstant Changes:In the workforceIn values and expectationsIn technologyIn the legal environment

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The overwhelming number of concerns that managers must keep track of and manageComplexityLawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 20021.11

The Organizational IcebergThe Formal OrganizationMission/ goals Operating policiesHierarchical levelsPersonnel practicesMeasures of efficiencyJob descriptionsEmotionsGroup sentiment and normsSatisfactionThe Informal OrganizationEmergent powerRole perceptionsTrustRelationshipsSource: Selfridge, R. J., & Sokolik, S. L. (1975). A comprehensive view of organizational development. MSU Business Topics, 47. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 2002 1.12

Managers ActivitiesFrom The Nature of Managerial Work by H. Mintzberg, 1973. Distribution of HoursDistribution of Number of Activities1.13Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, Copyright 2002

This book is about organizational behaviorthe description and explanation of how people behave in organizations. As a broad-based field, organizational behavior encompasses the study of leadership, power and politics, performance management, organizational design, and much more. Throughout this course we will examine the challenges which face management as they try to close the gap between what is known about how and why people behave in organizations, and what we can do about managing those people successfullyi.e. the knowing-doing gap.

This chapter presents an overview of the challenges that face management as they try to manage employees effectively. First we will look at how to generally define the term organization and how organizations may have a knowing-doing gap. Then, two alternative viewpoints will be discussed: 1) The prescriptive view, which defines organizational life in terms of a production system concentrating on effectiveness, efficiency, and managerial functions; and 2) a descriptive view which presents the idea of the organization as a social system, and how organizational life is rarely an orderly progression of activities.

Before we can begin discussing organizational behavior, we must first agree on what we mean by the word organization. J. D. Mooney provides a good working definition of the word in his book, The Principles of Organization.

Jeffery Pfeffer and Robert Sutton coined the term the knowing-doing gap as an explanation for the relationship between what management knows regarding effective business practices and what appropriate actions they often fail to do. In a survey of a restaurant chain, Pfeffer and Sutton found that the restaurant managers recognized the importance of sharing information with employees, providing feedback, and involving them in initiatives to improve operations. However, there were big differences between what the managers believed produced success and what they reported was actually practiced in their restaurant.

Pfeffer and Sutton suggest the following eight guidelines for closing the knowing-doing gap.

For an organization to be effective and efficient, managers must successfully plan, organize, coordinate, command, and control. This means that managers must determine the mission or goals of the organization, as well as how the organization will achieve the mission or goals. Managers must then create a structure of jobs and departments and a physical structure in which to operate. Managers must supply people to fill this structure and, finally, make sure that the people and the organization itself are meeting expectations. Measurement of performance may lead to changes in the organizations plans, structure, and staff.

Teaching Idea: Use the following examples to get students thinking about what actually goes on in organizations. For each position, ask students to brainstorm ways in which the manager would carry out each of the functions of management. You can encourage ideas to flow by writing them down on the overhead projector or board. It is less important that students be completely accurate about the tasks of each position than that they begin to visualize the activities of a business organization. The head manager at a computer store An entrepreneur who wants to start a new business The president of General Motors A foreman at a GM plantLife in organizations is hardly an orderly progression of activities and functions, each following logically from the one preceding it. Defining organizational life in terms of five managerial functions overestimates the extent to which organizations pursue deliberate, planned activities focused on production and effectiveness. Clearly there is more to organizational life than thoughtful orderly planning and execution. A complete portrait includes three additional elements: conflict, uncertainty, and complexity.

The functional approach to managing organizational behavior is limited; for example, conflicts arise between the goals of organizations and the goals of individuals in the organizations. An organizations goals are represented and carried out by the formal organization. When individuals seek to attain more personal goals, they usually use informal channels. The organization seeks efficiency and effectiveness, but individuals hamper this search by seeking their own ends through politics and power. Teaching Idea: For each of the following examples, ask students whether there is a conflict between the persons goals and the organizations goals. Students should explain the nature of the conflict. Assume that the organization is a jewelry store with a goal to increase profits by 10 percent this year. The stores owner wants a reputation in the community as a successful businessperson. The stores accountant wants to go into business for herself someday. The stores cashier wants to make as much money as possible without going to college. The stores sales clerk wants to be around beautiful things, especially those with gemstones.

In at least some cases, students may notice partial but not complete goal congruence. This overlap of goals can help with conflict management.

Managing uncertainty in an organization is a challenge all managers must face. In order to deal with this challenge, managers must be aware of the various sources of uncertainty affecting their organization, both internal and external. Here examples of internal sources are presented.

Examples of external sources of uncertainty include changes in the workforce, in employees values and expectations, in technology, and in the legal environment.

With all the conflict and uncertainty that managers must face, it should come as no surprise that complexity is also a defining feature of life in organizations. Part of this complexity arises from the fact that any organization is really two organizations: the formal and the informal.

The formal organization consists of the formal reporting relationships, rules, and procedures, and the informal organization consists of what really goes on in the organization, including beliefs and social relationships.

Mintzbergs study of executive managers revealed that managerial work is best characterized by variety, brevity, and fragmentation; many different tasks and little time to spend on each.