An organization is a group of people who work together to achieve individual goals or group goals. Individual goals are what group members want to achieve themselves within the group, for example earning money, gaining respect, and so on. The study of organizational behavior provides concepts and theories that help to understand, analyze and describe the behavior within organizations, and provides tools for making decisions in order to achieve organizational goals.
The study of organizational behavior aims, on one hand, to better understand behavior and on the other hand to provide insights that can be applied in achieving the organizational goals. The organizational culture and structure influence the behavior of individuals and groups. A manager must understand employee behavior. He can do this by improving self-confidence, adjusting the reward system or changing the work design.
The management has four functions: 1) planning, 2) organizing, 3) managing and 4) monitoring. For this, they must assume a role. There are ten management roles: figuratively, leader, liaison, monitor, disseminator, spokesperson, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator.
Management needs skills to perform well: conceptual, human and technical skills. An 'open system', in which resources from the environment are converted and new resources are placed back in the environment, consists of three phases: 1) input, 2) conversion and 3) output phase.
An organization is faced with various challenges. 1) The social and cultural environment changes. As a result, ethical values can be compromised. The diversity among staff is increased. 2) The global environment is changing. Time has to be put into global learning. 3) Information technology is changing very quickly. 4) The relationship between organization and employees has changed. There are downsizing, empowerment, and outsourcing.
Individual differences are the ways in which people differ from each other. There are two categories of individual differences: 1) personality differences and 2) capacity differences.
Personality refers to the combination of relatively stable patterns in cognition, that affect the behavior of a person. It is an important factor in explaining the behavior of individuals within an organization. sources of personality can be divided into hereditary factors (nature) and environmental factors (nurture). Both explain about 50% of personality. Personality is a good predictor and explanatory factor for cognition, affect and behavior in work situations. However, the situation also affects behavior; when the situational pressure is large, the freedom to vary behavior is smaller and personality has less influence.
According to the Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) model of Schneider, an organization attracts people with similar personalities (attraction) and selects them (selection), while rejecting other types of personalities (attrition). This creates a kind of 'typical' personality of the organization.
The Big Five Personality Model is a hierarchical model of 5 personality traits 1) extraversion, 2) neuroticism, 3) altruism, 4) conscientiousness and 5) openness which in turn consists of specific sub-traits. Each draft can be placed on a continuum.
More important personality traits (in organizations) are Locus of control, the extent to which an individual believes to have control over the situation in which he/she is located. A distinction can be made between internal and external locus of control. Self-monitoring refers to the extent to which a person actively tries to influence how he/she presents himself to others. A high degree of self-monitoring leads strongly to socially acceptable behavior. Self-esteem is the degree to which someone is satisfied with themselves and their own skills.
In the dichotomy between Type A and Type B personality, Type A is ambitious, competitive and impatient; Type B refers to a relaxed and flexible attitude.
There are three needs that everyone has varyingly: 1) need for success, 2) need for solidarity and 3) need for power.
Two types of capacities can be distinguished: 1) cognitive capacities and 2) physical capacities. Cognitive capacity can be defined in different ways, for example as general intelligence with different partial capacities. Cognitive capacity is predictive of career success, provided that the type of cognitive capacity is relevant to the specific work. Physical capacity consists of condition and strength, and motor capacity (the ability to deal effectively with objects).
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and deal with your own and other people's feelings. A high level of emotional intelligence is positively related to functioning and well-being at work. A low level of emotional intelligence can be restrictive.
Managers can find the right person for a job in three ways: selection, placement, and training.
Work values are the personal views of an employee about what one expects to get from work and how one should behave at work. There are intrinsic and extrinsic labor values. In addition, there are ethical values, moral legal values, usefulness values, and justice values.
Two work attitudes influence the behavior of an organization: 1) job satisfaction and 2) commitment to the organization. Work attitudes consist of three components: affection, cognition, and behavior.
A work mood can be influenced by environmental factors. Workplace incivility can have negative consequences. Under workplace incivility, rude social conduct reflect a lack of respect towards others. In emotional labor, one must keep one's own feelings under control. With emotional dissonance, one has to express an emotion that one does not experience. Emotional dissonance happens when employees are expected to express a certain emotion that they do not actually feel at that moment.
Four factors influence the level of job satisfaction: 1) personality, 2) work situation, 3) values and 4) social influence. There are four theories about job satisfaction. 1) The Facet Model of Work Satisfaction. 2) The Motivator-Hygiene Theory of Job satisfaction of Herzberg, where two types of needs are central: motivator needs and hygiene needs. 3) The Discrepancy Model of Job Satisfaction. 4) Steady State Theory of Job Satisfaction.
Consequences of job satisfaction can be absence, staff turnover, self-dismissal, organizational citizenship behavior, and well-being.
There are two types of organizational commitment: affective and persistent commitment.
Perception consists of three components: 1) perceiver, 2) target and 3) situation. Perception of the perceiver depends on schemas, needs and wishes, and feelings. A stereotype is a dysfunctional schema. Characteristics of the purpose of perception are 1) ambiguity, 2) social status and 3) impression management (behavioral matching, self-promotion, confirmation of norms, flattering of others and staying consistent). The environment provides the rest of the information for interpreting a target. How the situation influences the interpretation of a target and how salient the target is are important factors to perception.
A prejudice/bias is a fallacy. It is important for members of an organization to be aware of the prejudices to avoid errors in evaluations and to be able to better understand each other and to interact with each other. Types of biases are primacy effects, contrast effects, halo effects, similar-to-me effects, average tendency biases, knowledge or predictor biases, and self-fulfilling prophecies.
The Attribution Theory describes how people explain the causes of their own behavior and the behavior of others. People generally attribute behavior to external and internal causes. Types of attribution errors are actor-observer effects, fundamental attribution errors and self-serving attributions.
There are four steps to make a shop floor more diverse. 1. Ensure diversity in top management. 2. Training in diversity. 3. Education. 4. Mentoring.
There are two types of sexual harassment: 1) quid pro quo intimidation or a 2) hostile work environment sexual harassment. In the workplace, steps must also be taken to prevent sexual harassment.
Learning is a relatively permanent change in knowledge or behavior that results from exercise and experience.
Operant conditioning is a fundamental learning process in which behavior is guided by its consequences. This can take place in the form of positive and negative reinforcement, extinction and punishment. Antecedents can also contribute to operant conditioning processes. Shaping is a specific form of operant conditioning in which behavior that approximates the desired behavior is reinforced.
Reinforcement can take place on a partial or continuous basis. In addition, there are four possible excitation schemes: 1) fixed interval, 2) variable interval, 3) fixed ratio and 4) variable ratio. The effectiveness of reinforcement is more dependent on the association between behavior and consequence than on the schema.
The systematic application of operant conditioning principles in an organization is known as Organizational Behavior Modification (OB MOD). This can be effective, but ethical dilemmas also apply.
According to Social-Cognitive Theory, the contribution of social, affective and mental processes are crucial for learning. Observational learning (vicarious learning) is an important process here. For vicarious learning, various conditions must be met. Observational learning plays an important role in organizations. This happens both consciously, for example in training sessions and unconsciously, for example, because employees see each other performing routines (taking a break at specific times) and copying professional skills from each other.
Independent learning depends on self-control and self-empowerment. For independent learning, various conditions must be met.
Self-efficacy is the feeling of trust in one's own functioning. A high degree of self-efficacy contributes to learning because they set higher goals, put in more effort and persevere when faced with a difficult challenge.
Experiential learning is learning based on experience. This is in some cases the only way to learn certain new things that can not be combined with theoretical knowledge.
Creativity is the generation of new and useful ideas, a process that leads to innovation and continuous learning. Creativity is difficult to predict, but there are some personal and situational factors that contribute to creativity.
Organizational learning is the process whereby managers stimulate everyone in an organization to come up with new ways to make the organization function better. Knowledge management is an important aspect of this.
Scientific management is an attempt to try to increase the motivation of employees. This can be done through job simplification or job specialization. 'Job simplification' is the breaking up of a job into the smallest possible tasks in order to easily identify them. 'Job specialization' is the assignment of small, simple tasks to the employees. The emphasis is on the extrinsic motivation of employees.
Given the many drawbacks of scientific management, two more procedures have been devised that would make work easier for employees: job enlargement and job enrichment. This concerns horizontal job loading and vertical job loading respectively. Job enrichment is mainly based on Herzberger's Motivator-Hygiene Theory. Both procedures are more focused on intrinsic motivation.
The job characteristics model gives five dimensions that influence the intrinsic motivation of employees: 1) variation in skills, 2) task identity, 3) task importance, 4) autonomy and 5) feedback. A questionnaire (motivating potential score) examines how a person experiences the core dimensions. A high score can lead to four important outcomes: 1) high intrinsic motivation, 2) a good performance at work, 3) high job satisfaction and a 4) low absence rate and staff turnover.
Another model of task design is the social information processing model. It explains why people with the same job differ in motivation and satisfaction: the role of the social environment and the role of the employee's past behavior.
The social identity theory explains why and how goals of the organization can contribute to more motivation of the employee. The goal-setting theory explains how different types of goals influence motivation and performance: a specific and difficult goal leads to more motivation and performance.
There are two types of psychological contracts: transactional and relational. Performance can be evaluated. Three sources of information are used in a psychological contract: 1) direct communication with employees and supervisors, 2) observation of what is actually happening and 3) written documents. The pre-delivery of a realistic job interview is sensible.
A beating evaluation gives an employee two pieces of information: how well employees do their work and to what extent they put their attention and time into the business. Performance evaluation can also be used in administrative decisions, by dividing the outcomes well and using the skills as effectively as possible. Management can be alerted when there are problems and employees can be helped in planning their careers.
In developing a performance appraisal system, four choices must be made: what kind of mix of formal and informal evaluations? What factors are evaluated (employee characteristics, behavior or results)? Which method of evaluation is used (graphic rating scale, behavioral anchored rating scale or behavioral observation scale)? Who carries out the evaluation?
There are various forms of evaluation: self-evaluation, peer appraisal, supervisor appraisal, subordinate appraisal, customer/client appraisal and 360-degree appraisal.
An example of a performance reward is merit pay. You can pay at the individual level (piece-rate pay, commission pay) or group/organization level (gain sharing, profit sharing), via salary increase or bonuses.
A career can be divided into different categories: steady state, linear, spiral or transitory. A career progresses at different stages: preparing for a job, entering an organization and early, middle and late career. A boundaryless career means that careers are not tied to one organization and that people have experiences in different environments.
Stress is personal and includes three aspects: 1. possibilities/threats, 2. importance and 3. uncertainty. Stress can have physical, psychological (such as burnout) and behavioral consequences.
There are five types of sources of stress. 1. Personal stressors: these can be major life events or minor life events, positive or negative. 2. Work-related stressors: this can be a role conflict, overload, underload, promotion or challenging assignment, or have to do with economic security or work guarantee. 3. Group and organization-related stressors: this can be due to globalization, a culture shock, uncomfortable working conditions, unsafe work or change in a company. 4. The imbalance between private and work. 5. Uncertain environment.
How people deal with stress depends on their coping style. This can be problem-oriented or emotion-oriented. The first includes, for example, time management, getting help from a mentor or negotiating a role. Emotion-focused coping may include, for example, physical activity, meditation, social support, and clinical assistance.
How organizations deal with stress also depends on problem-oriented coping (such as job security and working from home) or emotion-oriented coping (such as sports facilities, days off), but this is done differently.
There are formal and informal groups. Four important formal groups are a command group, a task department, a team, and a self-managing working group. Two important informal groups are a group of friends and an interest group.
According to Tuckman, groups go through 5 phases: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.
Different group characteristics influence the behavior of members: group size, group composition, group function, group status, group effectiveness, and social facilities.
There are three mechanisms by which groups coordinate the behavior of their members: role division, rules, and norms. Rules about the best way to perform a task are called standard operating procedures. People adhere to standards because of obedience, identification, and internalization.
There are six ways for role socialization: collective vs individual, formal vs. informal, sequential vs random, fixed vs variable, serial vs disjunctive and divestiture vs investiture. This creates an institutional or individual role orientation.
The potential performance is the highest possible level of performance that a group can achieve at a certain moment. Process gains are increases in the potential performance that are the result of new ways of motivating and coordinating the group members. For an effective working group, process gains must be increased and process losses reduced. Social loafing is an example of a process loss. This can lead to the sucker effect.
Process losses can also arise if (due to the nature of the work, for example) it is difficult to determine exactly what the employee's contribution is to the task. Thompson has a model in which he describes interdependence based on interdependence of tasks. Thus there is pooled, sequential and reciprocal interdependence.
Group cohesion concerns the cohesion of a group. Factors influencing cohesion are group size, the similarity of group members, competition between groups, success, and exclusivity. Cohesion has various consequences: level of participation and communication in the group, level of conformity to group norms and achieved group goals.
Four types of working groups are described: top management teams, self-managed work teams, research and development teams and virtual teams (synchronous versus asynchronous technology).
The distinction between formal and informal leaders is made. The 'traits approach' states that there are characteristics of the leader that can work effectively or ineffectively. The 'behavioral approach' includes the specific behaviors of effective leaders. Behaviors usually relate to consideration and/or the application of structures. This can focus on reward or punishment.
The circumstances theory of leadership (Fiedler) describes the characteristics of leaders on the basis of the situation in which they find themselves. He identifies two leadership styles: task-oriented or relationship-oriented. The suitability varies per situation. Three characteristics determine the degree of suitability: the leader-employee relationship, the structure of tasks and the power position of the leader. This results in 8 leadership situations: octants.
The House's route-goal theory describes how leaders can motivate subordinates. There are three guidelines: look at the goals the subordinates want to achieve at work, reward subordinates, and let them believe that they can achieve the desired goals. A leader can engage in four types of behavior: directive, supportive, participative or achievement-oriented. The Vroom and Yetton model describes how leaders have to make decisions and to what degree subordinates should make them. A leader can choose from four decision-making styles: autocratic, consultative, group, and, delegated. The leader-member exchange theory describes the relationship between the leader and the members.
Steven Kerr and John Jermier argue that leadership substitutions and neutralizations sometimes cause the influence of leaders to diminish. Subordinates sometimes want to believe that leaders can really make a difference and assign them qualities or powers that they do not actually possess. This is called the romance of leadership.
Bass distinguishes between transactional and transformational leadership. In transactional leadership, leaders motivate their subordinates only by giving rewards for good performance and punish poor performance. Transforming leaders have a vision of how different aspects of an organization can be improved. This leads to higher satisfaction, performance, and trust among subordinates.
Power is a means of managing and controlling organizational goals and activities. Organization politics are the activities that managers undertake to increase their power and to pursue their goals in favor of their personal and group interests. Managers can increase their power by draining sources of power from departments/functions, recognizing who has the power (through sources, consequences, symbols, reputation or representation), managing the agenda, and getting an expert or form coalitions/alliances.
Formal power can take various forms: legitimate, rewarding, punishing or informational power. Sources of informal power are expert, referent or charismatic power.
There are several sources that can lead to organizational conflicts: differentiation (differences in functional orientation or status inconsistencies), task relationships (overlapping authority, mutual task dependency or incompatible evaluation systems) or scarcity of resources. Pondy sees a conflict as a dynamic process with different stages: latent conflict, perceived conflict, felt conflict, the manifestation of the conflict and the aftermath of the conflict.
There are five ways to negotiate: compromise, cooperation, adaptation, avoidance, and competition. A manager can promote negotiation by emphasizing shared goals, concentrating on the problem instead of the person, concentrating on interests, creating opportunities, concentrating on what is fair and negotiating with trade unions.
Communication is one of the most crucial aspects in the management of organizations. Effective communication is defined by two characteristics: 1) sharing information between two parties and 2) the emergence of mutual understanding. Communication has four main functions: to convey knowledge, to motivate, to coordinate and to express feelings.
There are four forms of communication networks: 1) the wheel network, 2) the chain network, 3) the circle network and 4) the all-channel network. Within an organization three types of informal communication networks can be used: 1) the advisory network, 2) the trust network and 3) the communication network.
In the communication process, there is a sender and a receiver who exchange messages with each other. The process consists of encoding the steps, choosing a medium, decoding it and the feedback loop. In the communication process, there may be noise that disrupts optimal communication. Six common problems are filtering and information disruption, poor listening behavior, lack of feedback, gossip and rumors, diversity in attitudes and cultural and linguistic differences.
Determining the medium (the type of communication to convey the message). When choosing the medium, the information density of the medium, the time investment and the use of written or digital communication are taken into account. In terms of information density, four medium can be sorted from high to low: face-to-face communication, electronically transmitted verbal communication, personally written communication, and impersonal written communication. Non-verbal communication increases the information density.
By conviction, various factors in the communication process influence the effectiveness: characteristics of the sender, active listening, the content of the message, the chosen medium and characteristics of the receiver.
Communication in crisis situations can cause problems for the hierarchy of the organization. In crisis situations, communication problems can occur in a predetermined plan.
In the case of problems, an unprogrammed or programmed decision can be made. The classical decision-making model is a prescriptive model. However, it is based on two unrealistic assumptions. The administrative decision-making model is descriptive.
Decision-making problems are the maintaining of rules of thumb/heuristics and the tendency of people to invest even more after bad decisions. Well-known rules heuristics are availability, representativeness, and anchoring and adjustment heuristics.
Making decisions in group form has advantages: there is a large availability of skills, it increases the memory for facts, there is a greater ability to recognize errors and accept decisions. Disadvantages are the time it takes to make a decision and the risk of groupthink. Other consequences are diffusion of responsibility, group polarization and risk of conflict.
There are different techniques to optimize group decisions: brainstorming, the nominal group technique or the Delphi technique. Total Quality Management uses two techniques: comparative research or authorization.
March describes two strategies for organizational learning: exploration and exploitation. Principles for creating a learning organization are developing personal mastery, developing complex mental models, learning in a team, building a shared vision and thinking in systems.
Organizational design is the process whereby managers select various components of an organizational structure that match the goals of the organization.
According to the contingency theory, the structure of an organization must be tailored to the circumstances that most influence it and cause the most uncertainty. There are three important factors (contingencies) that influence the organization: the nature of the environment, technological developments and the characteristics of human resources. In the contingency theory, a distinction is made between an organic structure, which is flexible, and a mechanistic structure, which fits more with stability.
With organizational design, you can choose for classification by function or division by division. The advantages of a functional structure are that people with the same function can easily communicate with each other and learn from each other and that managers can motivate in a targeted way. Disadvantages are that difficulties can arise when the production of the organization increases or various consumer groups are attracted. Advantages of a divisional structure are that each division can specialize in a specific product or a specific consumer group or region, thereby increasing the quality of the products/services. In addition, the communication between functions improves and motivation and autonomy develop within each division. Disadvantages are that the operating costs may increase, communication between divisions may suffer and competition between divisions may arise.
A matrix structure is the most flexible and complex organizational structure, whereby employees are classified according to both function and type of product/service. The advantages of a matrix structure are that new products are developed quickly, communication and collaboration is maximized and innovation and creativity are stimulated. Disadvantages are that work dissatisfaction and stress can arise among employees and that it is difficult for them to show their personal contribution.
To coordinate functions and divisions, a clear hierarchy of authorities is needed. The more decentralization, the taller the hierarchy. According to the principle of the minimum chain of command, an organization must create as few hierarchy levels as possible.
Employees who are at an equal level of the organizational hierarchy can work in a coordinated way through various integration mechanisms: direct contact, liaison roles, teams, task forces, and cross-functional teams.
Standardization is another way to coordinate the organization. It can take place in three stages: input, the conversion process, and output.
Information technology (IT) has effects within and between organizations. Within organizations, communication becomes faster and easier and more decentralization is possible. When decentralization is used to its maximum, it is called a virtual organization. Between organizations, as a result of developments in IT, more and more use is being made of outsourcing. A network structure is created for maximum outsourcing.
Organizational culture consists of the norms and values that influence how employees think, feel and behave. Values can be divided into terminal and instrumental values. Standards are specified to ensure that people follow the values. An organizational culture arises under the influence of four important factors: personal and professional characteristics of people within the organization, ethics of the organization, the nature of the working relationships and the organizational structure.
Standards and values are transferred to new employees through various socialization techniques, such as formal training and informal observation. Every organization has specific rituals and language and symbol use, which means that the norms and values are defined.
An adaptive culture is an organizational culture whose norms and values stimulate growth and change; an inert culture is an organization with norms and values that lead to stagnation and a lack of motivation. Adaptive organizational cultures are characterized by three types of values: bias for action, the mission of the organization and the way the organization works. An ethical culture can be created using the right incentives and reinforcers for ethical behavior, by choosing a strong board, and by taking care of following the law.
The culture of an organization is largely influenced by national culture. According to Hofstede, there are five cultural dimensions: individualism versus collectivism, power distance, performance versus care-oriented, uncertainty avoidance and long-term versus short-term orientation.
Change in an organization is facilitated by four groups of factors: 1) competition, 2) political, economic and, modal influences, 3) social and demographic factors and 4) ethics.
Resistance to change can occur at the level of the organization, the group, and the individual. At the organizational level resistance is caused by power and conflict, differences in functional orientation, mechanistic structure, and organizational culture. At the group level, resistance is caused by group norms, group cohesion, and groupthink. At an individual level, resistance is caused by uncertainty, selective perception, and habits.
According to the force field theory, facility forces and resistance move in the opposite direction; until the moment that the forces and resistance are equally strong, no change will occur. Only when the facilitating forces become stronger than the resistance will change be brought about.
Evolutionary change is a gradual process. Two forms of evolutionary change are socio-technical system theory and total quality management. Revolutionary change is a fast and drastic process. Three forms of revolutionary change are e-engineering, restructuring, and innovation.
Action research is needed to facilitate the retention of change. It consists of five steps: diagnosis, determination of the desired state, implementation, evaluation, and institutionalization.
According to organizational development, there are various methods to combat resistance to change: information, participation and empowerment, facilitation of working relationships, negotiation, manipulation, and pressure.
Organizational development also offers methods to facilitate change, such as counseling, sensitivity training, team building, and confrontation meetings.
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