Organisational Behaviour
Week 2 Business IT/Systems

Presentation Reading
This presentation is based on Chapter 2 of Laurie J. Mullins
book on Management and Organisational Behaviour
This can be accessed in the
University Library on shelf number:
658.4 MUL

What is Organisational Behaviour
• Organisations can’t exist without the people who work
within them
• Understanding the behaviour of people within
organisations is essential in the modern business world
• Organisational Behaviour is the study of individual and
group behaviour, and patterns of structure in order to
help improve organisational performance and
effectiveness
• Does NOT replace Management Theory, but has a close
relationship with it

Why Study OB, I thought this
was a course on Business IT ?
Chris Argyris (1964) Integrating the Individual and the
Organisation, John Wiley and Sons
• ‘Organisations are extremely complex systems. As one
observes them they seem to be composed of human
activities on many different levels of analysis.
Personalities, small groups, intergroups, norms, values,
attitudes all seem to exist in an extremely complex
multidimensional pattern. The complexity seems at times
almost beyond comprehension.’

To Understand OB you need...
To Understand:
• The Behaviour of People
• The Process of Management
• The Organisational Context
• The Organisational Processes and Execution of Work
• Interactions with External Environment

A Framework for OB

Wilson, argues...
F. M. Wilson, (1999) Organisational Behaviour: A Critical
Introduction, Oxford University Press
• We need a wider view of organisational behaviour
• We need to take into consideration:
– Rest and Play
– Emotion and Feeling
– Definitions of men’s or women’s work
– The meaning of work for the Unemployed
– Moonlighting

Influences on OB
The Individual:
• Work in Isolation or as part of a Group
• Respond to Organisation expectations or influences of
the external environment
• Incompatibility between individual needs and the
demands of the organisation, can lead to frustration and
conflict
• Management needs to balance satisfaction of individual
needs and the attainment of organisational goals

Influences on OB
The Group:
• Formal groups constructed by the organisation
• Informal groups arising from social needs
• Groups can develop own hierarchies and leaders
• Group pressure on individual behaviour
• Complements our understanding of Individual behaviour

Influences on OB
The Group:
• Formal groups constructed by the organisation
• Informal groups arising from social needs
• Groups can develop own hierarchies and leaders
• Group pressure on individual behaviour
• Complements our understanding of Individual behaviour

Influences on OB
The Organisation:
• Creates structure through which management can
establish relationships between individuals and groups
• A formal structure to achieve aims and objectives
• Behaviour is affected by the formal structuring of an
organisation through their:
– Technology usage
– Styles of leadership
– Systems of management
– Process planning, direction and controls

Influences on OB
The Environment:
• The affects can be:
– Technological and scientific developments
– Economic activity
– Social and cultural influences
– Governmental actions
• Relates to the management of opportunity and risk
• Globalisation means that organisations need to respond
to multiple markets and local requirements

The 3 Disciplines of OB

The Psychology of OB
• The study of human behaviour within the individual and
small groups
• Focus on the individual as a whole person, in what can
be termed the ‘personality system’
• Interested in individual perceptions, attitudes and
motivations

The Sociology of OB
• The study of social behaviour, relationships among social
groups and societies, and the maintenance of order
• Focus of attention on social structures and positions in
those structures
• Interested in the relationship between leaders and
followers

The Anthropology of OB
• The study of humankind and human behaviour as a
whole
• Focus on the cultural system, the beliefs, customs, ideas
and values within a group or society, and their
comparisons between different cultures
• People depend on their culture for security and stability,
so changes in environment can lead to adverse effects

The Organisational Iceberg

Morgan’s Metaphors
G. Morgan, (1997) Images of Organization, Second Edition,
Sage Publications
• Organisations are complex so useful to have metaphors
to help identify different types
• Morgan uses 8 different metaphors

Morgan’s Metaphors: 1
Machines
• Efficient operation in a routine, reliable and predictable
way
• Bureaucratic structure provides form, continuity and
security
• Function best in stable and protected environments

Morgan’s Metaphors: 2
Organisms
• Organisation as a ‘living system’
• An open system, able to adapt quickly to a changing
environment
• Best when working in a turbulent and dynamic
environment

Morgan’s Metaphors: 3
Brains
• Seen as inventive and rational, for flexible and creative
actions
• Capable of intelligent change

Morgan’s Metaphors: 4
Cultures
• Complex systems
• Contain their own ideology, values, rituals and systems
of belief and practice
• Evolve variations through social development

Morgan’s Metaphors: 5
Political Systems
• Focused on keeping order and directing people
• Defined by authority, power, superior-subordinate
relationships

Morgan’s Metaphors: 6
Psychic Prisons
• Organisations can become trapped by constructions of
reality
• Their inherited or mythical past affects their
representation to the outside world
• Can be used as a tool to explore the reality and illusions
of organisational behaviour

Morgan’s Metaphors: 7
Flux and Transformation
• Their is always flux and transformation
• Organisations will always be dealing with these
processes
• We need to understand the sources and logic of
transformation and change

Morgan’s Metaphors: 8
Instruments of Domination
• Associated with processes of social domination, groups
and individuals imposing their will on others
• The pursuit of goals determined by the few, but
implemented by the many
• Defined by the relationship between the modes of social
domination and the control of their members

The Work Ethic
Goldthorpe, J. H. Et al (1968) The Affluent Worker,
Cambridge University Press
• Instrumental: A means to an end, a calculative and
economic involvement, clear distinction between work
and non-work related activities
• Bureaucratic: Sense of obligation to work, a positive
involvement in career progression, close link between
work and non-work related activities
• Soldieristic: Ego involvement with work groups rather
than organisation, non-work activities linked to work
relationships

The People-Organisation
• The majority of people want to do a ‘good job’
• People respond to how they are treated
• Performance is affected by how staff perceive their
treatment by management
• Not always what is done by management, but by the
way it is done that affects performance
• Managers have to consider; work environment, systems
of motivation, job satisfaction and rewards
• People and organisations need each other

The Psychological Contract
• Not a written document
• Mutual expectations and satisfaction of needs from the
people-organisation relationship
• Covers a range of expectations of rights and privileges,
duties and obligations
• Involves a process of giving and receiving by the
individual and the organisation

Finding a Balance
Stalker, K, ‘The Individual, the organisation and the
Psychological Contract’, The Institute of Administrative
Management, July/August 2000, pp. 28-34
• Caring: genuine concern for staff well-being
• Communicating: talk about what the company is hoping
to achieve
• Listening: need to hear what is really being said
• Knowing: the individuals, their families, personal wishes,
desires and ambitions
• Rewarding: not always money, a genuine thank you or
public recognition