Into to OB

8/14/2019 Into to OB

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What is an organization?

An organization is a consciously coordinatedsocial entity, with a relatively

identifiable boundary, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a

common goal or a set of goals. (S.P. Robbins, 1990)

Images of Organization (Morgan , 2006)

As machines

As organisms

As brains

As cultures

As political systems

As psychic prisons

As flux and transformation

As instruments of domination

Some important milestones in development of OB as a specialized field of

study

Adam Smiths Division of Labour (1776):

Great increase of the quantity of work, owing to:

1. Increase in dexterity in every particular workman

2. Saving of the time commonly lost in passing from one species of work to other

3. Invention of a great number of machines which facilitate and abridge labour

Frederick Taylors Principles of Scientific Management (1911)

Replacement of rule of thumb methods with scientific measurement

Scientific selection and training of workers

Cooperation of management and labor to accomplish work objectives

More equal division of responsibility between managers and workers

Henri Fayols Principles of Organization (1916)

Division of work


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Authority

Discipline

Unity of command

Unity of direction

Subordination of individual interests to general interests

Remuneration

Centralization

Scalar Chain

Order

Equity

Stability of tenure of personnel

Initiative

Espirit de corps

Max Webers Bureaucracy (1946)

Six key elements:

Specialization

Hierarchy of offices Rules and regulations

Technical competence

Impersonality

Formal, written communications

Douglas McGregors Theory X- Theory Y (1960)

Theory X-

1. Employees inherently dislike work and, whenever possible, attempt to avoid it

2. Employees must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment to achieve

desired goals


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3. Employees will shirk responsibilities and seek formal direction whenever possible

4. Most workers place security above all other factors associated with work and will

display little ambition

Theory Y-

1. Employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play

2. Human beings will exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the

objectives

3. The average person can learn to accept, even seek, responsibility

4. Creativity, i.e. the ability to make good decisions-is widely dispersed throughout the

population and is not necessarily the sole province of managers

The Hawthorne Studies

Individual behaviors may be altered because they know they are being studied was

demonstrated in a research project (1927 - 1932) of the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric

Company in Cicero, Illinois. This series of research, first led by Harvard Business School professo

Elton Mayo along with associates F.J. Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson started out byexamining the physical and environmental influences of the workplace (e.g. brightness of lights

humidity) and later, moved into the psychological aspects (e.g. breaks, group pressure, working

hours, managerial leadership). The ideas that this team developed about the social dynamics of

groups in the work setting had lasting influence - the collection of data, labor-managemen

relations, and informal interaction among factory employees.

The major finding of the study was that almost regardless of the experimental manipulation

employed, the production of the workers seemed to improve. One reasonable conclusion is that

the workers were pleased to receive attention from the researchers who expressed an interest in

them. The study was only expected to last one year, but because the researchers were set back

each time they tried to relate the manipulated physical conditions to the worker's efficiency, theproject extended out to five years.

Four general conclusions were drawn from the Hawthorne studies:

The aptitudes of individuals are imperfect predictors of job performance. Although they give

some indication of the physical and mental potential of the individual, the amount produced is

strongly influenced by social factors.

Informal organization affects productivity. The Hawthorne researchers discovered a group life

among the workers. The studies also showed that the relations that supervisors develop with

workers tend to influence the manner in which the workers carry out directives.

Work-group norms affect productivity. The Hawthorne researchers were not the first to

recognize that work groups tend to arrive at norms of what is "a fair day's work," however,

they provided the best systematic description and interpretation of this phenomenon.

The workplace is a social system. The Hawthorne researchers came to view the workplace as a

social system made up of interdependent parts.

For decades, the Hawthorne studies provided the rationale for human relations within the

organization. Then two researchers used a new procedure called "time-series analyses." Using


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the original variables and including in the Great Depression and the instance of a manageria

discipline in which two insubordinate and mediocre workers were replaced by two differen

productive workers (one who took the role of straw boss - see below). They discovered that

production was most affected by the replacement of the two workers due to their greate

productivity and the affect of the disciplinary action on the other workers. The occurrence of the

Depression also encouraged job productivity, perhaps through the increased importance of jobs

and the fear of losing them. Rest periods and a group incentive plan also had a somewhat

positive smaller effect on productivity. These variables accounted for almost all the variation in

productivity during the experimental period. Social science may have been to readily to embrace

the original Hawthorne interpretations since it was looking for theories or work motivation tha

were more humane and democratic. Franke, R.H. & Kaul, J.D. "The Hawthorne experiments: Firs

statistical interpretation." American Sociological Review, 1978, 43, 623-643

(Source: http://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/history/hawthorne.html)

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http://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/history/hawthorne.htmlhttp://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/history/hawthorne.htmlhttp://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/history/hawthorne.htmlhttp://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/history/hawthorne.html

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