PEOPLE AND THEIR BEHAVIOR IN AN ORGANIZATIONAs we discussed in the earlier lectures that human resource management is the management of human as important resources of organization. Each human is different from one another. This difference is due to the difference of behavior of each employee. In order to manage the humans well, managers need to know the behavior of people in order to take the best out of them. Today we will be discussing some basic concepts of the Organizational Behavior. We will have detail discussion on individual behaviors and the factors influencing the individual behavior.Concepts of people working togetherWhy to work in organizations?People can be more productive when working in groups than when working alone. What Managers can do and what Managers cannot do while managing people, organizations and society is the myths of management.Basic purpose of the working or existence of organization is:• Link individuals into relationships• Allocate the tasks to fulfill the objective• Allocate authority to perform individual tasks• Coordinate the objectives and activities of separate units• Facilitate the flow of work

Organizations and human behaviorVariables Influencing the Individual Human Behaviors:In simple word behavior is the function of Person and Environment in which he/she is working.The following two factors mainly influence the individual behaviors…1. The Persons2. The Environment of the OrganizationThe Persons No single measure of individual differences can provide a complete understanding ofan individual or predict all the behaviors of an individual. It is therefore more useful to consider a variety of differences that explain aspects of employee behavior. These can be:• Skills & Abilities• Personality

• Perceptions• Attitudes• Values• EthicsSkills & Abilities:Mental and physical capacities to perform various tasks. This comes from knowledge, learning, and experiences.Personality: Research has shown five major dimensions to be consistent components of personality. The Big Fivepersonality dimensions are conscientiousness, extroversion/introversion, and openness to experience, emotional stability, and agreeableness. Conscientiousness - defined as being reliable anddependable, being careful and organized, and being a person who plans - is the dimension most strongly correlated to job performance. Extroversion/introversion refers to the degree to which a person is sociable, talkative, assertive, active, and ambitious. Openness to experience is the degree to which someone is imaginative, broad-minded, curious, and seeks new experiences. Emotional stability is the degree to which someone is anxious, depressed, angry, and insecure. Agreeableness refers to the degree to which a person is courteous, likable, good-natured, and flexible. Managers must remember that the relevance of any personality dimension depends on the situation, the type of job, and the level at which a person is working. Four personality traits that have been consistently related to work-related behavior are locus of control, Type-A behavior, self-monitoring, and Machiavellianism. Locus of control indicates an individual's sense of control over his/her life, the environment, and external events. Those with an internal locus of control believe that their actions affect what happens to them, while those with an external locus of control believe that outside factors affect what happens to them. People who exhibit Type-A behavior try to do more in less and less time in an apparently tireless pursuit of everything. Type-A people feel great time urgency, are very competitive, try to do many things at once, and are hostile.Self-monitoring, the fourth personality trait is the degree to which people are capable of reading and using cues from the environment to determine their own behavior. Strong self-monitoring skills can help managers and employees read environmental and individual cues quickly and accurately and adjust behavior accordingly. People with elements of a Machiavellian personality put self-interest above the group's interests and manipulate others for personal gain.Perceptions:We use the mental process of perception to pay attention selectively to some stimuli and cues in ours environment. There are two types of perception. Social perception process is the process of atheling, selecting, and interpreting information about how we view themselves and others. In contrast, physical perception focuses on gathering and interpreting information about physical objects rather than people. Closure permits us to interpret a stimulus by filling in missing information based on our experiences and assumption.Attitudes:

Attitudes are comprised of feelings, beliefs, and behaviors. One important work-related attitude is job satisfaction, the general attitude that people have toward their jobs. Main five factors contribute to job satisfaction: pay; the job itself; promotion opportunities; the supervisor; and relations with co-workers. The relationship between job satisfaction and work performance is complex and influenced by multiple organizational and personal factors. Managers have more influence over job satisfaction than any other individual difference discussed in this chapter.Values: Values are long-lasting beliefs about what is important, worthwhile, and desirable. A person's value system is the way he/she organizes and prioritizes values. Terminal values are goals for behavior or for a certain result that someone wants to achieve. Instrumental values are the means—the instruments—that people believe they should use to attain their goals. Cultural values can affect personal valuesETHICS. A key work-related value is the employee's ethics. Those who hold a relativist's view of ethics believe that what is right or wrong depends on the situation or culture. Those with a Universalist’s view believe that ethical standards should be applied consistently in all situations and cultures. Value conflict occurs when there is disagreement among values that an individual holds or between individual and organizational values. To avoid value conflict, managers should work toward integrating and fitting the values of different employees with the values of the organization.The Environment of Organization• Work group• Job• Personal lifeInside the organization, the work group or the relationship between the group members can affect the individual behavior. Organizational culture can also have impact on the individual behavior.Cultural values indicate what a cultural group considers important, worthwhile, and desirable. People share the values of their culture, which form the basis for individual value systems composed of terminal values and instrumental values. A key work-related value is a person's ethics. Value systems affect ethical behavior in organizations. Managers must be most concerned with interpersonal and person-organization value conflicts. Interpersonal value conflicts occur when two or more people have opposing values, which can prevent co-workers from working together effectively. Person-organization value conflicts occur when someone's values conflict with the organization's culture, causing frustration and possibly disrupting personal performance. The factors that influence job satisfaction are pay; the job itself; promotion opportunities; supervisors; and co-workers. The link between job satisfaction and work performance is complex and influenced by multiple organizational and personal factors. The link appears to be stronger for professionals than for employees at higher organizational levels.

Individual and group behaviorIn every organization, there develops over time a system of beliefs, attitudes and values that are shared by most members of the organization. Examples of shared beliefs might be a belief in the importance of people as individuals, or a general

belief in encouraging innovation or quality. These beliefs and attitudes can be described collectively as the culture of the organization. Culture can be reinforced by the use of symbols (for example, associations with the company name or brand) and rituals (for example, management using the same facilities as non-management employees such as canteen and car parking spaces).Handy identified four broad categories of organization culture.• The power culture (or Zeus culture) is one in which powerful individuals within the organization seek control over their subordinates. The general attitude is competitive and the focus is on growth. They acquire new businesses, and acquire and dismiss staff without any apparent regard for human values or general welfare. In a small business, there is likely to be a dominant individual, often the owner. In larger businesses, there are key individuals who take the major decisions. However, the power culture is generally found in small organizations, and its success in adapting to change often depends on the adaptability to change of the dominant leader.

• The role culture (or Apollo culture) is one based on legality and legitimacy. Actions are guided by rules and procedures, and there is a strong emphasis on responsibility and authority, hierarchy and status. This type of culture is found in a bureaucracy.

• The task culture (or Athena culture) is based on a belief in getting tasks done and contributing to the organization’s goals. Authority of individuals is based on their knowledge and competence, and not on their official role and position in the organization. There is an emphasis on flexibility and collaboration. This type of culture is therefore often found in teams that are set up to achieve a specific task, such as project teams.

• The people culture (or Dionysus culture) is one in which the organization exists to satisfy the requirements of a particular individual within the organization. This type of culture is rare, but can be found in organizations where a key individual heads a support team. Members work together and help each other to support the requirements of their leader. An example might be the consultancy practice of a leading medical expert.

Handy suggested that the culture within an organization affects the way that it operates and its members behave. One type of culture is not necessarily better than another; although one type of culture might be more appropriate than others in particular circumstances.For example, a role culture could be appropriate when the organization exists in a fairly stable environment. A role culture could have difficulty in adapting to change. In contrast, power culture or task culture are probably more effective in conditions of change.Management in an organization might take the view that to be successful; the organization must be innovative, and continually look for new markets, new and better products and improved processes. Innovation is often associated with the task

culture. It can therefore be tempting for management to try to change the culture of their organization, so that it’s become more task-oriented.

PETER Anthony argued that it is extremely difficult to change a well-established culture. This is because the culture is deep-rooted, and extends to all the beliefs, attitudes and values of the organization’s members. Management cannot simply make a decision to alter culture by altering work structures and basing them around project teams.Anthony went on to argue that there is no reliable evidence that a change in culturecan be managed, and if it occurs that it will have the desired effect. He suggested thatit might be sufficient for the organization’ s purpose to influence the way that employees behave, and allow cultural change to happen in its own way and at its own pace. Changing behavior is a much more straightforward management task than changing an entire culture.

INDIVIDUALS AND WORK GROUPS(a) When work is organized around individuals, each individual is given specific responsibilities and authority. The responsibilities might be set out formally in a job description, and the individual job holder is accountable to a superior for his work performance. Traditional organizations are structured around the individual.An alternative approach is to structure work around a work group. Responsibility and authority are given to the group as a whole, but not to individuals within the group. The group might even be invited to nominate its own spokesman or leader. The work is then organized and decisions taken by the group as a whole.(b) There can be some advantages in organizing work around work groups.(i) It may encourage innovation, when a work group is given a task or project to complete. Innovation might come from the interchange of ideas between group members. Organizing project work around individuals can suffer from a lack of co-ordination and co-operation.(ii) If the work group can develop a strong cohesion and has a positive attitude towards the work that it does, work performance could improve through positive motivation. This motivation would come from a relaxed working environment, participation of everyone in decision-making, good communication within the group and a willingness to co-operate and coordinate efforts. A strong work group could therefore deliver benefits of ‘synergy’, whereby the performance of the group as a whole is greater than the performance of its separate individuals alone would be.However, there can be disadvantages to organizing work around groups.(i) If the group is not positive-minded, and is hostile towards the organization and is management, it might behave in ways that are damaging for the organization.(ii) The group might adopt a ‘norm’ that is a low standard of output and productivity.(c) Cohesive and positive-minded work groups can bring important benefits to an organization by operating effectively and efficiently. Tuckman identified eight factors that contribute to group cohesiveness.(i) Similarity of work. When everyone in the group is doing similar work, they identify with each other more closely.

(ii) Physical proximity at work. A group is more cohesiveness when its members work close to each other in the work place, for example when everyone is in the same office.

Processes of Communication in a Business OrganizationThe process of communication would be as follows:Message conceived – decision made to send message and reasons why. Message encoded – information for notice and what sort of layout is going to be used etc. Communications medium selected – communication method selected, in this case notice. Message decoded – language and knowledge used to send out the right message.Message interpreted – meaning of notice, recipients’ view.Feedback supplied – feedback supplied to sender e.g. opinions, response etc.Trough this process we can deal with Human beings & their working behavior in the organization.

Methods of Communication

The importance of the two-way nature of communication in which the success of the process depends heavily upon the sender receiving feedback. The sender requires assurance that his / her points are being received and understood, e.g., on a notice board, if a petition has been put up, the group organizing the petition need others to put their name on the petition to give feedback, and show that the message is being spread across.  It is the use of a common system of symbols, signs and behavior in exchange for information, ideas and emotions.

Communication Process

SENDER --> MESSAGE --> VISUAL / ORAL / WRITTEN -->RECIPIENT

Example:

Sender                        Recipient

Teacher                       Students

Manager                     Employees

The small number of employees in a small organization means that most of the communication is informal.  In a larger business, communication becomes more formal as each employee / worker will come into personal contact with few others outside their own area of work.  There are lots of different types of communication. 

Some of them combine with other methods as both types of communication can be used.

Formal: Communications which are routed through what have been known as ‘official channels,’ for example, a written memorandum from a managing director to his / her departmental heads to call a meeting.

Informal: Information is passed on by word of mouth among interested colleagues who have received it from various sources e.g. visits.

Diagonal: There is no obvious line of authority through which a middle manager may want a service or job to be done.

Vertical: The principal channel for routing directions, instructions and policies from top decision makers down through the organisation to the people, who at various levels will implement them.

Verbal: Includes speaking to another person over the telephone, face to face etc, in a discussion, debate, interview, presentation etc.

Non – verbal: There is no spoken language e.g., eye contact, body language, sign language etc.

 

Visual: When information is displayed in various ways e.g., tables, advertisements etc.

Written: When the message being sent is displayed in writing, e.g. email, letters, fax etc.

Internal and external are another two methods of communication.  There are various methods of internal communication, which can be used in an organization.  These include notices, bulletins, newsletters, tannoy, fax, letters, telephone, memos, and communication by computer, face to face, reports, memorandums etc.