Organisational Behavior - Report Example

Organisational Behaviour Submitted by: XXXXXX Number: XXXXXX of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Organisational Structure and Culture: All organisations have different structures. Two important structures are: a) Product / Service Based Structure: Most of the educational institutes are structured based on the services. Thus all the business schools discuss this model. This however is further divided into specialisation subjects like accounting, corporate strategy, etc (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p477). This is beneficial for companies that have a number of different products. This will help the company have a better hold and account of the various products, and keep the various departments separate. This also proves to be beneficial in terms of costing of the products. Also the company will find it easier to delegate duties easily and in a more organised manner. This however can have a few issues. The shareholders/ investors can have problems to decide whether or not to invest in the company as there are a number of products thus consolidation of the information at a higher level can be an issue. This structure of organisation has more number of benefits than drawbacks. The figure below gives a clearer view of the structure (Open Learning Foundation, 1996). Chief Executive Figure 1: Product Structure (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p479) b) Geographical / Territory Structure: This is grouping on the basis of the location where the service is most effective. Most companies that deal with repair and maintenance generally used this model of organisational structure. This is mostly to ensure that the issues faced by the customers are resolved at the earliest (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p479). This is very beneficial as already mentioned for organisations that deal with repairs and maintenance services. Ideally organisations like AAA (Car repairs), will fall into this category. This is because the main importance is given to rapid deliver of service. However the drawback, as the structure is focused on geographical locations, hence it requires more investments and the cost of operations also increases. The overall overheads of the company also prove to be higher than that in other structures (Dale, 2001). Figure 2: Geographical Structure (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p479) Examples of Organizations: a) Product Structure: The best example for this type of organization is Amazon.com. This is because amazon.com deals with numerous products, if the structure is subdivided as per the products then the operations becomes much easier and more effective. However if the business is designed based on other structures, then the company will have issues based on effectiveness. This is simply because the company deals with a number of different products which require a proper planning and separate operations overall. b) Geographical Structure: The best examples for this type of organization are AAA car repairer, pizza shops, etc. Here the organization requires being as close as possible to the customers to ensure faster service delivery. If these organizations have just one store / outlet in the city centre, the time to reach out to the customers will take a longer time. This would not only cause the customers to be dissatisfied but will also cause the expenses of the company to be much higher. Individual Behavior: The behaviors of individuals within the organizations are influenced largely based on the structure of the organization. Incorrectly chosen structures can lead to employees becoming de – motivated. Also the working time work loads will be much higher if the choice made is wrong (Scottish Government, 2008). Management approaches: There are many approaches to management and many theories have been put forth. However Taylor’s scientific management approach and the Systems theory of management are the most important and are widely accepted. The Systems theory is becoming increasingly popular and is being adopted in many fields including software and information technology related companies. Scientific Theory of Management: The core ideas and the theory of scientific management were developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor. The scientific approach emphasizes that there should be a clear division of roles and responsibilities within the organization. For each job, scientific methods are employed to figure out the best possible way of completing the task. The employees are selected and trained with this method of performing the job. The tasks are monitored closely using hierarchies of authority and supervision (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p429). The scientific approach will enable the management to increase productivity of the employees and the efficiency of the processes is improved. However there is a downside to this theory as well. The best possible method set by the management may not apply to all individuals in the organization and this will limit the effective application of this approach (Gazendam, 1993). The scientific approach can be applied to any task within an organization. The first step in implementing this method is to develop a clear hierarchy and set roles to the employees at different levels. Then, the tasks at the operational level are identified and experimented to figure out the best possible way to complete them. These tasks are then trained to the employees so that they can perform well and be highly productive. Systems Theory of Management: The systems approach emphasizes on the holistic view of the organization. It focuses not only on the elements of the system, but also the interrelationships that exist within them. The new properties that emerge from these interrelationships provide valuable information on the methods to improve the system on a whole. In short, the systems approach to management emphasizes the “interdependence between the various parts of an organization, and also between the organization and its environment” (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p441). The management should understand the ways different divisions of the company are interconnected and should take decisions taking these interdependencies into account. This will increase the synergy of the various sections within the company. The management should make the individuals understand their part in the organization as a whole, so that they are aware of the consequences of their activities across the whole organization. Thus the Taylor’s scientific theory and the Systems theory can be implemented in organizations. They are both effective methods with their own merits and demerits. However, it is imperative to note that the systems approach is fast gaining popularity and is being adopted in various fields. Organizational Change and Leadership: Taking an example of an organizational change where the operations of the company face a few changes for example automation of a process. This will involve a number of changes that will have to be taken care of at the same time. Automation of processes requires a lot of management, and leadership. In a change that can involve a number of processes to be changes within an organization, it is essential special care is taken. Here the best method of leadership will be the Participative or democratic leaders (Grint, 2001). This is due to the simple reason that the systems are completely new and it is essential that a certain amount of strictness is present while training the employees on the change however being authoritative will only ruin the process and could lead to a lot of issues in terms of production and effectiveness (Hesselbein, et.al., 2006). Motivation: Abraham Maslow in developed the theory in 1943. This theory aimed at understanding why the needs of individuals change over time. Abraham Maslow named this theory as the needs hierarchy of employees. He developed that there is a difference between the motives and drives and every individual has nine main needs and motives to work. He developed a hierarchy of the needs and expressed them as featured in the diagram below. Figure 5: Needs Hierarchy Theory: Abraham Maslow (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004) As mentioned above Maslow argued that an individual has nine needs. He classified the needs in hierarchy as shown in figure 5. 1. Biological requirements: these needs include the basics like sunlight, food, water, sexual expression, rest, and oxygen. These are the basic requirements in everyone’s lives without which anyone would die. 2. Safety needs: The need for security, comfort, tranquility, freedom from fear, and threat from the environment. These needs form the next highest needs of a human being. If these needs are not met, individuals could fell inferior and helpless and unsatisfied. 3. Affiliation needs: these refer to the needs of attachments, affection, love and belonging. If these needs are not met individuals would loss confidence however if a persons needs are satisfied the individual would become a self – confident. 4. Esteem needs: These refer to the individual need for achievement, self – esteem, independence, prestige, attention and appreciation. These needs basically refer to the need for a stable life and respect from others. 5. Knowing and Understanding: It is human nature to have a need to know and understand the various things around one self. This need is based on the curiosity, experimenting, philosophizing, learning and exploring. 6. Aesthetic needs: These refer to the needs of individuals for beauty, looks and order. 7. Transcendence: Apart from the above mentioned needs, individual also have spiritual needs which basically refer to the needs of being one with the universe, or identification of god. 8. Freedom of enquiry and expression: These needs act as a pre requisite for all the other needs and it is an essential part for every individual to have the freedom of expression. 9. Self – actualization needs: These are the highest form of needs in an individual’s life. These refer to the need of individuals to have a clear need to know them selves completely and develop to the full potential. Maslow argued that each of these needs required to be fulfilled in the order of the hierarchy since the needs would not be effective motivators unless the needs lower were completely satisfied. However he also noted that a satisfied need was not necessarily a motivator and it is human tendency to keep moving up to a higher level of need once the lower level is satisfied, and a person who reaches the self actualization stage, would need up with a desire for more in life. He argued that once a person had attained self actualization once, would want to keep aiming at achieving another. Maslow has not expected this theory to be rigid and the hierarchy to be a rigid form of the human development. His theory has received a lot of criticism and a number of authors have pointed out the fact that the individual behavior is such that it can respond to a number of different needs at a given point in time. Also similar needs tend to be responded to differently by different individuals. The human nature is such that a level cannot be set as a level of complete satisfaction and thus making the theory very vague. Also there are certain types of individuals who would tolerate a lower level in the aim of reaching higher levels in the future. Also the theory does not have enough empirical evidence and the model is argued to be based on the middle class workers in the UK and US where Maslow undertook researches. Team work, Team Dynamics: Teams vs. Groups: Teams within organizations are a set of people who are put together by the management to do a particular process or a particular task. These are official teams and are divided based on the experience, techniques and qualifications that fit appropriately to the job. Groups on the other hand can be varied. Grouping within organizations is not always an official. Groups can be made out in terms of the cultural values, where people belonging to similar cultures get together and tend to remain within those groups. Also other groups at workplaces can be a set of employees who are interested in similar things. Groups prove to be very beneficial at times as it has been noted that the best of an individual is brought out when in a group. Groups tend to play a motivating factor for individuals performing well in organizations (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). Large Organizations: The nature of role of teams in a large organization proves to be very different from that in smaller organizations. The processes here are mostly more standardized and teams need to work in accordance with those procedures. Also the groups here tend to be more so based on cultural backgrounds etc. and this kind of grouping within the organization can lead to poor performance of the job roles. Small Organizations: These organizations are much smaller and hence all the teams work in close coordination with each other. The teams here require more team work and better communication. Also the teams within these organizations do not have any fixed standardized processes hence the processes can have a few variations at times. Team Building: Teams play a very important role within any organization irrespective of the size of the organization. Thus team building becomes a very essential part as well. While working in an environment where teams exist, it is essential that employees understand the importance of individual understand the importance of their contributions to the team as well as to the organization. It is the efforts of managers, executives and every staff member for the organization to work towards building the profits of the company. The manager can effectively build their teams and motivate the employees by paying serious attention to the following: Clear Expectations: First and foremost it is essential that the manager is able to clearly communicate to the members of the team the expectations from the team, in terms of time, requirements, discussion etc. All the important points that are needed for the teams to meet the expectations should be laid down clearly. Context: The next essential point to pay attention to is the fact if the team members understand their roles within the team. Also if the team members have a clear idea of the big picture of the organization and if where their work fits in. Commitment: To improve the team motivation it is essential for the members of the team to understand the importance of the mission of the team. A team will be more successful only when the team members are committed to the team and understand the teams aims. Control: Giving the team the freedom yet ensuring the team knows their limits is called balanced control. Managers need to ensure the teams understand the limitations while working in the team yet the type of leadership does not go into authoritative leading. Apart from the above mentioned points one of the important points that need to be considered and followed. Communication: This is one of the most essential aspects of management. It is important that managers correctly communicate to the employees the priority of the tasks. Also good communication in terms of regular feedbacks plays a very important role. It is in the hands of the managers to ensure the correct information goes to the correct people in the teams and neither too much nor too little should be disclosed about the top level strategies (Heathfield, 2008). In the case of multinational companies this plays a very important role as the number of teams is large and information should be passed to the right people. This is a very important point as if incorrect information, excessive or even less information is passed on to the people it could directly affect the employees’ performance. Also the operations of multinational companies are very vast and hence communication plays a very important role for employee performance. Bibliography Buchanan D. and Huczynski A., 2004, Organizational behavior, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, Essex Dale, R., 2001, Organisations and Development: Strategies, Structures and Processes, 19 March 2001, 1st edition, Sage Publication Pvt. Ltd. Open Learning Foundation, 1996, Organisation Structure and Processes: An Active Learning Approach, 12 February 1996, Wiley - Blackwell Gazendam, H.W.M, 1993, ‘Variety Controls Variety: On the use of Organisation Theories in Information Management’, Groningen: Wolters – Noordhoff, 400p Scottish Government, 2008, Organisation Performance Management in a Government Context, Accessed on 1 December 2008, Retrieved from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/25142353/1 Robertson, J.I., 2001, Standing Lika a Stone Wall, 3 April 2001, Atheneum Hesselbein, F., and Goldsmith, M., 2006, The Leader of the Future 2: Visions, Strategies and Practices for the new Era, 18 September 2008, Jossey - Bass Grint, K., 2001, The Arts of Leadership, 12 July 2001, Oxford University Press, USA Heathfield, S.M., 2008, ‘Six more tips for Team Building’, Accessed on 2 December 2008, retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/twelve_tip_team_2.htm Appendix Figure 3: Morgan’s metaphors for Organisations (Gazendam, 1993) Figure 4: The Human Resource Cycle (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p686) (Gazendam, 1993) Read More