Chapter 1 – Explaining Organizational Behaviour
Organization = a social arrangement for achieving controlled performance in pursuit of collective
goals
- Social arrangement = deal with people
- Collective goals = reach something (be a sustainable organization)
- Controlled performance = work according to the plan
o Cybernetics: The scientific study of control and communication in the animal and the
machine
o Regulative systems
Organizational behaviour = the study of the structure and management of organizations, their
environments and the actions and interactions of their individual members
Organizational dilemma = how to reconcile inconsistency between individual needs and aspirations
and the collective purpose of the organization
Managerial perspective = inadequate
- Power
- Agenda
- Multiple stakeholder
- Fashion victims (follow trends, popularity)
Fundamental attribution error = the tendency to emphasize explanations of the behaviour of others
based on their personality or disposition, and to overlook the influence of wider contextual
influences
- Context factors (PESTLE)
- Individual factors
- Group factors
- Structural factors
- Management process factors
Organizational effectiveness = a multi-dimensional concept defined differently by different
stakeholders, including a range of quantitative and qualitative measures
Balanced scoreboard = an approach to defining organizational effectiveness
Human Resources = the function responsible for establishing integrated personal policies to support
organizational strategy
- Employees must…
o Ability: have job skills and knowledge, including how to work well with others
o Motivation: feel motivated to do the work and do it well
o Trust: be able to use skills, and contribute to team and organizational success
- Improve performance by obtaining insight into the process related to recruitment and
selection, training and development, career opportunities, communication, involvement,
teamwork, performance appraisal, pay, job security, challenge and autonomy, work-life
balance
- Employment cycle
,Discretionary behaviour = freedom to decide how work is going to be performed
Goal of science Practical implications Social science struggles
Description Measurement Invisible and ambiguous
variables and people change
over time
Explanation Identify the time order of Timing of events is not always
events, establish casual links clear, it is not always possible
between variables to see interactions
Prediction Generalizing from one setting Uniqueness, complexity and
to another lack of comparability between
settings
Control Manipulation Ethical and legal constraints
Positivism = the world can be understood in terms of relationships between observable and
measurable variables
Constructivism = objective reality is defined by us, it depends on how we see it
Eight metaphors for an organization
- Machine
- Living organism (growing, emotional appeal)
- Brain (network, exchange things)
- Culture
- Political system
- Psychic prison
- Flux and transformation
- Instrument of domination
,Chapter 2 – Environment
Organizational environment = issues, trends and events outside the boundaries of an organization,
which influence the internal decisions and behaviours
Stakeholders = anyone who is concerned with how an organization operates, and who will be
affected by its decisions and actions
o Government
o Customers
o Competitors
o Suppliers
o Culture
o Press & media
External environment factors, trends and developments lead to change in internal organization
structures, processes and behaviours environmental uncertainty
- Political
- Economic
- Social
- Technological
- Legal
- Ecological
Environmental complexity and environmental dynamism (Robert Duncan)
Degree of complexity
Degree of dynamism Low – simple High - complex
Low - stable Small number of similar Large number of different
external factors changing external factors changing
slowly: beer distributor, florist slowly: insurance company,
university
High - dynamic Small number of similar Large number of dissimilar
external factors changing external factors changing
frequently: fashion designer, frequently: airline, bank
book publisher
The father of strategic management (Igor Ansoff)
Environmental change Organization strategy Management attitude
Repetitive Stable Stability-seeking
Little or no change Based on precedent Rejects change
Expanding Reactive Efficiency-driven
Slow incremental Incremental change Adapts to change
change based on experience
Changing Anticipatory Market-driven
Fast incremental Incremental change Seeks familiar change
change based on extrapolation
Discontinuous Entrepreneurial Environment-driven
Discontinuous but Discontinuous new Seeks new but related
, predictable change strategies based on change
observed
opportunities
Surprising Creative Environment-creating
Discontinuous and Discontinuous new Seeks novel change
unpredictable change and creative strategies
Environmental pressures organizational development (the post-modern organization)
- Four flaws:
1. Environmental determinism = the argument that internal organizational responses are
primarily determined by external environmental factors
2. Boundaries between organizations and their environments are often blurred
3. Strategic choice = the ability of an organization to decide on the environment in which it
will operate
4. Continuity (no rapid/radical change)
Environmental scanning = techniques for identifying and predicting the impact of external trends
and developments on the internal functioning of an organization
Three major trends affecting most organizations
o Technology
Increased number of ‘knowledge workers’
o Globalization
Causes: technological innovation, international trade, mature markets, end
of ‘cold war’
Consequences: more dangers, more competition, more speed vs. more
opportunities, new markets, fewer barriers
o Demographics
Ageing population
Solutions: coach their replacements, phased retirement, etc.
PESTLE analysis
- Environmental scanning tool identifying Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and
Ecological factors that affect an organization
- Scenario planning = the imaginative development of one or more likely pictures of the
dimensions and characteristics of the future for an organization
Strengths:
1. Encourages consideration of the range of external factors
2. Convenient framework for ordering a complex set of factors
Weaknesses:
1. Some factors may not be significant
2. Difficult to anticipate ‘defining events’
3. Can involve time-consuming and expensive collection of data
4. Inhibits a rapid and effective response, due to the amount of time spent in analysing
Organization = a social arrangement for achieving controlled performance in pursuit of collective
goals
- Social arrangement = deal with people
- Collective goals = reach something (be a sustainable organization)
- Controlled performance = work according to the plan
o Cybernetics: The scientific study of control and communication in the animal and the
machine
o Regulative systems
Organizational behaviour = the study of the structure and management of organizations, their
environments and the actions and interactions of their individual members
Organizational dilemma = how to reconcile inconsistency between individual needs and aspirations
and the collective purpose of the organization
Managerial perspective = inadequate
- Power
- Agenda
- Multiple stakeholder
- Fashion victims (follow trends, popularity)
Fundamental attribution error = the tendency to emphasize explanations of the behaviour of others
based on their personality or disposition, and to overlook the influence of wider contextual
influences
- Context factors (PESTLE)
- Individual factors
- Group factors
- Structural factors
- Management process factors
Organizational effectiveness = a multi-dimensional concept defined differently by different
stakeholders, including a range of quantitative and qualitative measures
Balanced scoreboard = an approach to defining organizational effectiveness
Human Resources = the function responsible for establishing integrated personal policies to support
organizational strategy
- Employees must…
o Ability: have job skills and knowledge, including how to work well with others
o Motivation: feel motivated to do the work and do it well
o Trust: be able to use skills, and contribute to team and organizational success
- Improve performance by obtaining insight into the process related to recruitment and
selection, training and development, career opportunities, communication, involvement,
teamwork, performance appraisal, pay, job security, challenge and autonomy, work-life
balance
- Employment cycle
,Discretionary behaviour = freedom to decide how work is going to be performed
Goal of science Practical implications Social science struggles
Description Measurement Invisible and ambiguous
variables and people change
over time
Explanation Identify the time order of Timing of events is not always
events, establish casual links clear, it is not always possible
between variables to see interactions
Prediction Generalizing from one setting Uniqueness, complexity and
to another lack of comparability between
settings
Control Manipulation Ethical and legal constraints
Positivism = the world can be understood in terms of relationships between observable and
measurable variables
Constructivism = objective reality is defined by us, it depends on how we see it
Eight metaphors for an organization
- Machine
- Living organism (growing, emotional appeal)
- Brain (network, exchange things)
- Culture
- Political system
- Psychic prison
- Flux and transformation
- Instrument of domination
,Chapter 2 – Environment
Organizational environment = issues, trends and events outside the boundaries of an organization,
which influence the internal decisions and behaviours
Stakeholders = anyone who is concerned with how an organization operates, and who will be
affected by its decisions and actions
o Government
o Customers
o Competitors
o Suppliers
o Culture
o Press & media
External environment factors, trends and developments lead to change in internal organization
structures, processes and behaviours environmental uncertainty
- Political
- Economic
- Social
- Technological
- Legal
- Ecological
Environmental complexity and environmental dynamism (Robert Duncan)
Degree of complexity
Degree of dynamism Low – simple High - complex
Low - stable Small number of similar Large number of different
external factors changing external factors changing
slowly: beer distributor, florist slowly: insurance company,
university
High - dynamic Small number of similar Large number of dissimilar
external factors changing external factors changing
frequently: fashion designer, frequently: airline, bank
book publisher
The father of strategic management (Igor Ansoff)
Environmental change Organization strategy Management attitude
Repetitive Stable Stability-seeking
Little or no change Based on precedent Rejects change
Expanding Reactive Efficiency-driven
Slow incremental Incremental change Adapts to change
change based on experience
Changing Anticipatory Market-driven
Fast incremental Incremental change Seeks familiar change
change based on extrapolation
Discontinuous Entrepreneurial Environment-driven
Discontinuous but Discontinuous new Seeks new but related
, predictable change strategies based on change
observed
opportunities
Surprising Creative Environment-creating
Discontinuous and Discontinuous new Seeks novel change
unpredictable change and creative strategies
Environmental pressures organizational development (the post-modern organization)
- Four flaws:
1. Environmental determinism = the argument that internal organizational responses are
primarily determined by external environmental factors
2. Boundaries between organizations and their environments are often blurred
3. Strategic choice = the ability of an organization to decide on the environment in which it
will operate
4. Continuity (no rapid/radical change)
Environmental scanning = techniques for identifying and predicting the impact of external trends
and developments on the internal functioning of an organization
Three major trends affecting most organizations
o Technology
Increased number of ‘knowledge workers’
o Globalization
Causes: technological innovation, international trade, mature markets, end
of ‘cold war’
Consequences: more dangers, more competition, more speed vs. more
opportunities, new markets, fewer barriers
o Demographics
Ageing population
Solutions: coach their replacements, phased retirement, etc.
PESTLE analysis
- Environmental scanning tool identifying Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and
Ecological factors that affect an organization
- Scenario planning = the imaginative development of one or more likely pictures of the
dimensions and characteristics of the future for an organization
Strengths:
1. Encourages consideration of the range of external factors
2. Convenient framework for ordering a complex set of factors
Weaknesses:
1. Some factors may not be significant
2. Difficult to anticipate ‘defining events’
3. Can involve time-consuming and expensive collection of data
4. Inhibits a rapid and effective response, due to the amount of time spent in analysing
