Principles of Management

Behavioral Approach of Management

Organizational Culture
Behavioral Viewpoint:
The behavioral management theory is often called
the human relations movement because it addresses
the human dimension of work. Behavioral theorists
believed that a better understanding of human
behavior at work, such as motivation, conflict,
expectations, and group dynamics, improved
productivity.
Contributors to the Studies:
Four people stand out as early advocates of the OB
approach. These include Robert Owen, Hugo
Munsterberg, Mary Parker Follett, and Chester
Barnard.
Robert Owen was an 18th-century factory owner who
emphasized reform. Unlike many other factories
during the Industrial Revolution, Owen's factories
emphasized the happiness and well-being of its
employees.
Hugo Munsterberg created the field of industrial psychology,
the scientific study of individuals at work to maximize their
productivity and adjustment.
Mary Parker Follett was a social philosopher who thought
the manager’s job was to harmonize and coordinate group
efforts.
Chester Barnard, president of New Jersey Bell Telephone
Company, saw organizations as social systems that required
human cooperation.
a. He believed that managers’ major roles were to
communicate and stimulate subordinates to high levels of
effort.
b. He also introduced the idea that managers have to examine
the environment and then adjust the organization to maintain
a state of equilibrium.
Hawthorn Studies:
Without question, the most important contribution to the OB field came out of the
Hawthorne Studies, a series of studies conducted at the Western Electric Company
Works in Cicero, Illinois. These studies, which started in 1924, were initially designed by
Western Electric industrial engineers as a scientific management experiment. They wanted
to examine the effect of various lighting levels on worker productivity. Like any good
scientific experiment, control and experimental groups were set up with the experimental
group being exposed to various lighting intensities, and the control group working under a
constant intensity. If you were the industrial engineers in charge of this experiment, what
would you have expected to happen? It’s logical to think that individual output in the
experimental group would be directly related to the intensity of the light. However, they
found that as the level of light was increased in the experimental group, output for both
groups increased. Then, much to the surprise of the engineers, as the light level was
decreased in the experimental group, productivity continued to increase in both groups. In
fact, a productivity decrease was observed in the experimental group only when the level of
light was reduced to that of a moonlit night. What would explain these unexpected results?
The engineers weren’t sure, but concluded that lighting intensity was not directly related to
group productivity, and that something else must have contributed to the results. They
weren’t able to pinpoint what that “something else” was, though.
Managers: Omnipotent or Symbolic View
Omnipotent View:
Managers are directly responsible for organization’s
success and failure.
The quality of organization is determined by the
quality of its managers.
Managers are held accountable for an organization’s
performance yet it is difficult to attribute good or bad
performance directly to their influence on the
organization.
Symbolic View:
Much of an organization’s success or failure is due to
external forces of manager’s control.
The ability of managers to affect outcomes is
influenced and constrained by external factors.
The economy, customers, governmental policies,
competitors, industry conditions, technology and
actions of previous managers.
Managers symbolize control and influence through
their control.
The External Environment
The term external environment refers to factors and
forces outside the organization that affect its
performance.
The economic component encompasses factors such as
interest rates, inflation, changes in disposable income,
stock market fluctuations, and business cycle stages.
The demographic component is concerned with trends
in population characteristics such as age, race, gender,
education level, geographic location, income, and family
composition.
The political/legal component looks at federal, state,
and local laws, as well as global laws and laws of other
countries.
The sociocultural component is concerned with
societal and cultural factors such as values, attitudes,
trends, traditions, lifestyles, beliefs, tastes, and
patterns of behavior.
The technological component is concerned with
scientific or industrial innovations.
The Organizational Culture:
A system of shared meanings and common beliefs
held by organizational members that determines in a
large degree, how they act towards each other.
The way we do things around here.
Values, symbols, myths, rituals and practices.
Implications:
Culture is perception.
Culture is shared.
Culture is descriptive.
Dimensions of Organizational Culture:
Strong Verses Weak Cultures:
Strong Culture:
Are cultures in which key values are deeply and widely
held.
Have a strong influence on the organizational members.
Factors influencing the strength of cultures:
Size of the organization
Age of the organization
Rate of employee turnover
Strength of the original culture
Clarity of cultural values and beliefs.
Benefits of the Strong Culture:
Creates a stronger employee commitment to the
organization.
Aids in the recruitment and socialization of new
employees.
Fosters higher organizational performance by
instilling and promoting employee initiative.
Sources of organizational culture:
The organization’s Founder:
 Vision and mission
Past Practices of the organization:
 The way things have been done
The behavior of Top Management
Contribution to the Organizational Culture:
Recruitment of like minded employees who Fits
Socialization of new employees to help them to adapt
the culture.
Strong Verses Weak Organizational Cultures:
Strong Cultures Weak Cultures

Values widely shared Values limited to the few people-

Usually with top management

Culture conveys consistent messages Cultures send contradictory messages

about what is important about what is important

Most employees can tell stories about Employees have little knowledge about
company history/heroes company’s history and heroes

Employees strongly identify with Employees have little identification

cultures with cultures

Strong connection between shared Little connection between shared values

values and behaviors and behaviors
How employees learn cultures:
Stories
Narrative of significant events or actions of people that
convey the spirit of the organization
Rituals
Repetitive sequences of activities that express and
reinforce the values of organization
Material symbols
Physical assets distinguishing the organization
Languages
Acronyms and jargons of the terms, phrases and word
meanings specific to an organization
How cultures affect Managers
Cultural constraints of managers:
Whatever managerial actions the organization
recognizes as proper or improper on its behalf
Whatever organizational activities the organization
values and encourages
The overall strength or weakness of organizational
culture

Simple rule of getting ahead in an organization:

Find out what the organization rewards and do those
things.
How an organizational culture is established and
maintained:
Managerial Decisions affected by Cultures:
Planning
The degree of risk that plans should contain
Whether plans should be developed by individuals or teams
The degree of environmental scanning in which
management will engage
Organizing
How much autonomy should be designed into employees’
jobs
Whether tasks should be done by individuals or in teams
The degree to which department managers interact with
each other
Leading
The degree to which managers are concerned with
increasing employee job satisfaction
What leadership styles are appropriate
Whether all disagreements—even constructive ones—
should be eliminated
Controlling
Whether to impose external controls or to allow
employees to control their own actions
What criteria should be emphasized in employee
performance evaluations
What repercussions will occur from exceeding one’s
budget