Exercise

Creation of an hypothetical organization

UNIT 1

Basic Understanding of
the context of OB
 AGENDA
I. What is Organizational Behaviour

II. Understanding national culture and

Indian setting

III. Changes occurring in the context and

their impact on organizational Behaviour
(I) What is Organizational
Behaviour
 What is an Organization

A consciously
coordinated social
unit, composed of
two or more people,
that functions on a
relatively continuous
basis to achieve a
common goal or set
of goals.
 INTRODUCTION
 To learn about yourself and how to deal with others in the
organization in which you work.
 OB focuses on how to improve productivity, reduce absenteeism and
turnover and increase employee citizenship and job satisfaction.
 Robbins (2003) – OB is a field of study that investigates the impact
that individuals, groups and structure have on behaviour within an
organization, then applies that knowledge to make organizations work
more effectively.
 The field focuses on individuals who will often be working within
groups, which themselves work within organizations.
 OB involves study of people and process in a social system.
 Meaning
 Eg: Manufacturing units, service firms MNC’s, schools, hospitals,
churches, military units, retail stores, police departments, volunteer
organizations, local bodies, state and federal government agencies,
etc. are all examples of organizations.
 Organizational Behaviour – The study of human behaviour,
attitudes and performance within an organizational setting; drawing
on theory, methods and principles from such disciplines as
psychology, sociology and cultural anthropology to learn about
individual perception, values, learning capabilities and actions while
working with groups and within the total organization and its human
resources, missions, objectives and strategies (Ivancevich &
Matteson, 1998).
 Contd…
 OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that
individuals, groups and structure have on behaviour
within organizations for the purpose of applying such
knowledge towards improving an organization’s
effectiveness.
Features –
• OB is the study of human behaviour

• The study is about behaviour in organization

• Knowledge about human behaviour would be useful in

improving an organization’s effectiveness.

 Meaning and Definition of OB
 A field of study that investigates the impact that
individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior
within organizations, for the purpose of applying such
knowledge toward improving an organization’s
effectiveness.
 OB refers to the behaviour of individuals and groups
within organization and the interaction between
organizational members and their external
environment.
 A study of human behaviour in organizational setting.
Characteristic features of OB
 Interdisciplinary
 Behavioural science foundation
 Scientific method foundation
 Three levels of analysis
 Contingency orientation
 Concern for application
 Evolution of OB as a field of
study and practice

 Industrial relations
 Scientific management
 Human relations movement
 Hawthorne studies
 Organizational behaviour
 Evolution of OB
Time Period Contributors
Early Theories – Industrial Revolution • Adam Smith
• Charles Babbage

Classical Era – Scientific Management • F. W. Taylor

• Henry Fayol

• Max Weber

Human Relations Movement • Elton Mayo

•Abraham Maslow

• Douglas McGregor

Behavioural Science Theorists • B. F. Skinner

• David McClelland
•Frederick Herzberg

Modern Theories • System approach

• Contingency approach
 Foundations of OB
 Individual differences
 Whole person
 Caused behaviour
 Human dignity
 Social system
 Mutuality of interest
 Holistic approach
 Need for management
Basic Model of OB
Major Disciplines & their contributions to OB
Psychology
The science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the
behavior of humans and other animals.
Sociology
The study of people in relation to their fellow human beings.
Social Psychology
An area within psychology that blends concepts from psychology
and sociology and that focuses on the influence of people on one
another.
Anthropology
The study of societies to learn about human beings and their
activities.
Political Science
The study of the behavior of individuals and groups
within a political environment.
 Positive OB
 Road map to our lives  Managing self competency
 Understand and predict  Managing communications
organization life  Managing diversity
 Influence events  Managing ethics
 Individual understands himself  Management across cultures
 How things are done  Managing teams
 Industrial relations  Managing change
 Marketing  Increasing productivity
 Career in management  Reducing absenteeism
 Sustain development  Reducing employee turnover
 Increase job satisfaction  Employee’s individual behaviour
 Organizational citizenship  Group behaviour
 Organizational development
 (II) Understanding National culture
and Indian Setting
 Meaning and definition of national culture
 Impact of national culture on behaviour within an organization
 Dimensions of national culture
 Cultural differences across nations
 Changes in the national culture
 Major features of national culture of India
 Implications of national culture for OB
 Leveraging cultural characteristics for greater effectiveness

Source: Ref: Another slide of “The impact of national culture on

OB”
 National culture
 Factors affecting national culture
 Perspectives on Culture
Hofstede
 Dimensions
 Individualism v/s Collectivism
 Power Distance
 Masculinity v/s Femininity
 Uncertainty Avoidance
 Long-term v/s Short-term Orientation
Individualism v/s Collectivism
Individualism Collectivism
 Individual  Group harmony

achievement  Cohesiveness

 Freedom  Consensus

 Competition  Cooperation
 Example  Example
 United States  Japan
 Implications
 High collectivism
 Favor managers from favored groups
 Promotions based on seniority and age
 Organizations take care of their employees
 High individualism
 Reward systems geared towards the individual
 Job selection based on universalistic criterion
 Power Distance:
Expectations regarding equality
among people

High Low
 Inequalities exist  Social welfare

 Gap between rich programs reduce

and poor gaps
 Example  Example

 Malaysia  France
 Germany
 Implications of High power
distance
 Concern for hierarchy and inequality
 Managerial jobs are reserved for elites
 Managers must be authoritarian –
they should look as powerful as possible
 Decisions are made at the top
 Centralized decision making
 Example-
power distance in negotiation
 Send only highly qualified and older
managers when negotiating with high power
distance country
 Age and seniority is seen as signs of wisdom
E.g., Asian cultures
 Respect titles and formality of behaviors
E.g., Germany, Italy and Mexico
 Dress formal
 Masculinity vs. femininity
Masculinity Femininity
 Assertiveness  Quality of life

 Performance  warm personal

 Success relationships
 Competition  Service

 Results-oriented  Caring

 Example  Example

 United States  Denmark

 Sweden
 Uncertainty Avoidance:
how people react to uncertainty
Low High
 Easygoing  Rigid

 Value diversity  Intolerant

 Tolerant of  Conformity

differences  Structure
 Example  Example
 United States  Japan
 Hong Kong  France
 Implications
 Management systems to make things
predictable
 Long term planning, contingency
planning
 Provide employees with job protections
 Long-Term v/s Short-Term
Orientation
Long-term Short-term
 Thrift  Personal stability

 Persistence  Happiness

 High savings rate  Living in the present

 Patience  Example

 Example  United States

 Japan  France
 Hong Kong
Table - Culture Dimensions
 Cultural shock and
culture shift
 Cultural shock: The startling
experiences and difficulties first
encountered when entering an alien
culture

 Culture shift: Culture change, the

extent to which a culture can change and
the speed at which such changes occur.
 Organizational behavior and
national culture

 Culture and individual behavior: from

ethnocentric to global
 Culture and motivation: security needs,
uncertainty avoidance, achievement needs, power
needs,
 Culture and leadership: power distance
 Culture and structure: power distance and
uncertainty avoidance
 (III) Changes occurring in the
context & their impact on OB
 Major changes/challenges
 How do managers respond to the changes
 Major changes/challenges
 Managing diversity
 Changing demographic at workplace
 Changed employee expectation
 Globalization
 Technological transformation
 Ethical behaviour

Source – Aswathappa, k. (2008). Organizational

Behaviour. Himalaya Publishing House.
 Contd…
Source – Robins, S. (2009). Organizational
Behaviour

 Increased foreign  Improving people skill

assignments
 Stimulating innovation and
 Working with people from change
different cultures
 Coping with “Temporariness”
 Overseeing movement of
jobs to countries with low
 Working in networked
cost labor organization
 Managing people during
 Helping employees balance
the war time work life conflict
 Improving quality and
 Creating a positive work
productivity environment
 Improving customer
service
 Managers respondence to
changes
 How to manage diversity effectively
 How to cope up with the demographical
changes
 How to meet the employee expectation
 How to face the problem of globalisation
 How to meet the changing technological
demands
 How to manage ethics