Organizational Theory & Behavior Study Guide
Index
Pgs 2-34 - Reframing Organizations
Pgs 34-39 – Judgment and Managerial Decision Making
Pgs 39-40 – Attribution Theory
Pgs 40-42 - Promise and Peril of Pay-For-Performance
Pgs 43- 45 – Learning to Fail Intelligently
Pg 45 – Actionable Feedback
Reframing Organizations – Bolman & Deal
Chapter 1- Introduction
Virtues & Drawbacks of Organizations:
n Prevalence of large, complex organizations is historically recent
n Much of society’s important work is done in or by organizations, but…
n They often produce poor service, defective or dangerous products and…
n Too often they exploit people and communities, and damage the environment
Signs of Cluelessness:
n Management errors produces 100s of bankruptcies of public companies every year
n Most mergers fail, but companies keep on merging
n One study estimates 50 to 75% of American managers are incompetent
n Most change initiatives produce little change; some makes things worse
Strategies to Improve Organizations:
n Better management
n Consultants
n Government policy and regulation
What is a Frame?
n Mental map to read and negotiate a “territory”
n The better the map, the easier it is to know where you are and get around (a map of New York won’t help in San Francisco)
n Frame as window: enables you to see some things, but not others
n Frame as tool: effectiveness depends on choosing the right tool and knowing how to use it
Structural Frame:
n Roots: sociology, management science
n Key concepts: goals, roles (division of labor), formal relationships
n Central focus: alignment of structure with goals and environment
n Metaphor for organization : Factory or machine
n Central Concepts: Rules, roles, goals, policies, technology, environment
n Image of Leadership: Social architecture
n Basic Leadership Challenge: Align structure to task technology, environment
Human Resource Frame:
n Roots: personality and social psychology
n Key concepts: needs (motives), capacities (skills), feelings
n Central focus: fit between individual and organization
n Metaphor for organization: Family
n Central concepts: needs, skills, relationships
Political Frame:
n Roots: political science
n Key concepts: interests, conflict, power, scarce resources
n Central focus: getting and using power, managing conflict to get things done
n Metaphor for organization: Jungle
n Central Concepts: Power, conflict, competition, organizational politics
n Image of Leadership: Advocacy
n Basic Leadership Challenge: Develop agenda and power base
Symbolic Frame:
n Roots: social and cultural anthropology
n Key concepts: culture, myth, ritual, story,
n Central focus: building culture, staging organizational drama
n Metaphor for organization: Carnival, temple, theater
n Central Concepts: Culture, meaning, ritual, ceremony, stories, heroes
n Image of Leadership: Inspiration
n Basic Leadership Challenge: Create faith, beauty, meaning
Expanding Managerial Thinking
Traditional management thinking / Artistic thinkingSee only one or two frames / Holistic, multi-frame perspective
Try to solve all problems with logic, structure / Rich palette of options
Seek certainty, control, avoid ambiguity, paradox / Develop creativity, playfulness
One right answer, one best way / Principled flexibility
Conclusions from Chapter 1:
ü Narrow thinking leads to clueless managers
ü Multiple frames improve understanding, promote versatility
ü Multiple frames enabling reframing: viewing the same thing from multiple perspectives
Chapter 2 - Simple Ideas, Complex Organizations (refer to Learning to Fail Intelligently article)
Properties of Organizations:
n Organizations are complex
n Organizations are surprising
n Organizations are deceptive
n Organizations are ambiguous
Sources of Ambiguity:
n Not sure what the problem is
n Not sure what’s going on
n Not sure (or can’t agree) on what we want
n Don’t have the resources we need
n Not sure who’s supposed to do what
n Not sure how to get what we want
n Not sure how to know if we succeed or fail
Organizational Learning
Peter Senge-We learn best from experience, but often don’t know consequences of our actions. Systems Maps
Barry Oshry-Asymmetric relationships (top-middle-bottom-customer)—“Dance of blind reflex”
Argyris and Schon:
-actions to promote learning actually inhibit it
-defenses: avoid sensitive issues, tiptoe around taboos
Coping with Ambiguity and Complexity:
-what you see what you expect—and what you want
-conserve or change?
n Advantages of relying on existing frames and routines
n Protect investment in learning them
n They make it easier to understand what’s happening and what to do about it
n …but we may misread the situation, take the wrong action, and fail to learn from our errors
n Change requires time and energy for learning new approaches but is necessary to developing new skills and capacities
Common fallacies in Organizational Diagnosis
n Blame people
n Bad attitudes, abrasive personalities, neurotic tendencies, stupidity or incompetence
n Blame the bureaucracy
n Organization stifled by rules and red tape
n Thirst for power
n Organizations are jungles filled with predators and prey
Conclusion
n Complexity, surprise, deception and ambiguity make organizations hard to understand and manage
n Narrow frames become rigid fallacies, blocking learning and effectiveness
n Better ideas and multiple perspectives enhance flexibility and effectiveness
Chapter 3 – Getting Organized
Structural Assumptions
n Achieve established goals and objectives
n Increase efficiency and performance via specialization and division of labor
n Appropriate forms of coordination and control
n Organizations work best when rationality prevails
n Structure must align with circumstances
n Problems arise from structural deficiencies
Origins of the Structural Perspective
n Frederick Taylor – Scientific Management
n Efficiency, time and motion studies, etc.
n Max Weber – Bureaucracy
n Fixed division of labor
n Hierarchy of offices
n Performance rules
n Separate personal and official property and rights
n Personnel selected for technical qualifications
n Employment as primary occupation
Structural Forms and Functions
n Blueprint for expectations and exchanges among internal and external players
n Design options are almost infinite
n Design needs to fit circumstances
Basic Structural Tensions
n Differentiation: dividing work, division of labor
n Integration: coordinating efforts of different roles and units
n Criteria for differentiation: function, time, product, customer, place, process
n Sub-optimization: units focus on local concerns, lose sight of big picture
Vertical Coordination
n Authority (the boss makes the decision)
n Rules and policies
n Planning and control systems
n Performance control (focus on results) vs. action planning (focus on process
Lateral Coordination
n Meetings
n Task Forces
n Coordinating Roles
n Matrix Structures
n Networks
n Strengths and Weaknesses of Lateral Strategies
McDonald’s and Harvard: A Structural Odd Couple
n McDonald’s: clearer goals, more centralized, tighter performance controls
n Harvard: diffuse goals, highly decentralized, high autonomy for professors
n Why have two successful organizations developed such different structures?
Structural Imperatives
n Size and Age
n Core Process
n Environment
n Strategy and Goals
n Information Technology
n People: Nature of Workforce
n The case of Citibank
Conclusion
n Structural frame – examine social context of work
n Differentiation and integration
n Structure depends on situation
n Simpler more stable à simpler, more hierarchical and centralized structure
n Changing, turbulent environments à more complex, flexible structure
Chapter 4 – Organizing Groups and Teams
Tasks and Linkages in Small Groups
n Structural Options
n Situational Variables Influencing Structure
n What are we trying to accomplish?
n What needs to be done?
n Who should do what?
n How should we make decisions?
n Who is in charge?
n How do we coordinate efforts?
n What do individuals care about most?
n What are special skill and talents?
n What is the relationship?
n How will we determine success?
n Basic Structural Configurations (Shown in the following figures)
n One Boss
n Dual Authority
n Simple Hierarchy
n Circle
n All Channel
Figure 5-3: Simple Hierarchy
Figure 5-4: Circle
Figure 5-5 All-Channel
Teamwork and Interdependence
n Baseball
n Football
n Basketball
Determinants of Successful Teamwork
n Determining an appropriate structural design
n Nature and degree of task interaction
n Geographic distribution of members
n Where is autonomy needed, given the team’s goals and objectives?
n Should structure be conglomerate, mechanistic, or organic?
n Task of management:
n fill out line-up card
n prepare game plan
n Influence flow
Team Structure and Top Performance
n Six distinguishing characteristics of high-performing teams
n Shape purpose in light of demand or opportunity
n Specific, measurable goals
n Manageable size
n Right mix of expertise
n Common commitment
n Collectively accountable
Saturn: The Story Behind the Story
n Quality, Consumer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty
n Employees granted authority
n Assembly done by teams – Wisdom of Teams
n Group Accountability
Conclusion
n Every group evolves a structure, but not always one that fits task and circumstances
n Hierarchy, top-down tend to work for simple, stable tasks
n When task or environment is more complex, structure needs to adapt
n Sports images provide a metaphor for structural options
n Vary the structure in response to change
n Few groups flawless members; the right structure can make optimal use of available resources
Chapter 6 - People and Organizations
Human Resource Assumptions
n Organizations exist to serve human needs
n People and organizations need each other
n When the fit between individual and system is poor, one or both suffer
n A good fit benefits both
Human Needs
n The concept of “need” is controversial
n Economists: people’s willingness to trade dissimilar items disproves usefulness of concept
n Psychologists: need, or motive is a useful way to talk enduring preferences for some experiences compared to others
n Needs are a product of both nature and nurture
n Genes determine initial trajectory
n Experience and learning profoundly influence preferences
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
n Needs arrayed in a hierarchy
n Lower needs are “pre-potent”
n Higher needs become more important after lower are satisfied
n Maslow’s hierarchy:
n Self-actualization
n Esteem
n Belongingness, love
n Safety
n Physiological
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
n Theory X
n Workers are passive and lazy
n Prefer to be led
n Resist change
n Theory Y
n Management’s basis task is to ensure that workers meet their important needs while they work
n Either theory can be self-fulfilling prophesy
Argyis: Personality and Organization
n Traditional management principles produce conflict between people and organizations
n Task specialization produces narrow, boring jobs that require few skills
n Directive leadership makes workers dependent and treats them like children
n Workers adapt to frustration:
n Withdraw – absenteeism or quitting
n Become passive, apathetic
n Resist top-down control through deception, featherbedding, or sabotage
n Climb the hierarchy
n Form groups (such as labor unions)
n Train children to believe work is unrewarding
Human Capacity and the Changing Employment Contract
n Handy – Shamrock form
n Core group of managers
n Basic workforce – part-time or on shifts to increase organization’s flexibility
n Contractual fringe – temps, independent contractors
n Lean and mean (win through low costs): downsize, outsource, hire temps and contractors
n Invest in people (win with talent): build competent, well-trained work force
n Shift from production economy to information economy produces skill gap
Conclusion
n Organizations need people and people need organizations, but the trick is to align their needs
n Dilemma: lean and mean vs. invest in people
Chapter 7 – Improving Human Resource Management
Build and Implement a Human Resource Philosophy
n Develop a public statement of the organization’s human resource philosophy
n Build systems and practices to implement philosophy
Hire the Right People
n Know what you want and be selective
n Hire people who bring the right skills and attitudes
n Hire those who fit the mold
Keep Employees
n Reward well and protect jobs
n Promote from within
n Powerful performance incentive
n Increases trust and loyalty
n Capitalizes on knowledge and skills
n Reduces errors
n Increases the likelihood to think longer-term
n Share the Wealth: give workers a stake in organization’s success
Invest in Employees
n Invest in learning
n Create opportunities for development
Empower Employees
n Provide Information and Support
n Make performance data available and teach workers how to use them
n Encourage workers to think like owners
n Everyone gets a piece of the action
n Foster Autonomy and Participation
n Redesign Work
n Build Self-Managing Teams
n Promote Egalitarianism
Promote Diversity
n Develop explicit, consistent diversity philosophy, strategy
n Hold managers accountable
Putting it all Together: TQM and NUMMI
n Total Quality Management
n High quality is cheaper than low quality
n People want to do good work
n Quality problems are cross-functional
n Top management is ultimately responsible for quality
n New United Motors Manufacturing, Inc.
Getting There: Training and Organization Development
n Barriers to better human resource management
n Management reluctance
n Disrupts established patterns, relationships
n Lack of communication and interpersonal skills
n Training and OD to build capacity
n Group interventions: T-groups, large-group interventions (e.g., “Workout’ at GE)
n Survey feedback
Conclusions
n High-involvement management strategies
n Strengthen employee-organization bond
n Pay well, share the benefits
n Job security
n Promote from within
n Training and development
n Empower and improve quality-of-work-life
n Participation, democracy, egalitarianism
n Job enrichment, teaming
n Promote diversity
Chapter 8 – Interpersonal and Group Dynamics
Interpersonal Dynamics