CH-1 Managing Effective Organizations – Organizations: Behavior, Structure, Processes : Chapter Notes

CHAPTER 1 Managing Effective Organizations Chapter Overview This introductory chapter launches the study of organizational behavior. It provides a broad overview of the OB field and the authors' perspective on organizations, which serves as the framework for the text. In terms of the OB field, the chapter discussion focuses on these primary characteristics: • OB as a way of thinking • Interdisciplinary in nature • Humanistic in focus • Both performance and applications oriented • As a field that emphasizes the impact of the external environment on the organization • Values the use of the scientific method in all research • Emphasizes the principles of human behavior • Views organizations as social systems • Emphasizes use of the contingency approach in managing effectively. The chapter explains the model for understanding organizations, which provides the overall framework for the chapters. Topics include an organization’s: • Environment • Behavior within itself • Structure and design • Processes This chapter also discusses the nature of managerial work and perspectives on organizational effectiveness. Management is defined as a process and a broad overview of four primary managerial functions is provided: planning (and its components-mission, goals, and objectives), organizing (discussing the primary steps to effective organizing), leading, and controlling (discussing the function's components of standards, information and corrective action). Considerable attention is directed at describing three influential approaches to evaluating effectiveness – the goal and systems theory approaches (which are most often contrasted) and the stakeholder approach (which takes into account the various constituents who have a stake in organization). The assumptions and shortcomings of the goal approach are discussed. Emphasis of the systems theory approach focuses on explaining the systems theory model and its important assumptions. Coverage of stakeholder theory emphasizes the difficulties encountered in attempting to satisfy the diverse demands of the organization's stakeholders. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the interrelationships of managerial work and the behavior, structure, and processes of organizations. Learning Objectives By the end of the chapter, students should be able to: 1. Define the term organizational behavior. 2. Explain the contingency approach to managing individuals’ behavior within an organizational setting. 3. Identify why managing workplace behavior in the United States is likely to be different from managing workplace behavior in another country, such as Germany. 4. Compare the goal, systems, and multiple-constituency approaches to effectiveness. 5. Describe the environmental forces that make it necessary for organizations to initiate changes. Lecture Outline PowerPoint Slide Material from Text to Support Slide / Additional Comments Learning objectives are listed. They are revisited on the last slide for the chapter. Organizational behavior (OB) is the field of study that draws on theory, methods, and principles from various disciplines to learn about individuals’ perceptions, values, learning capacities, and actions while working in groups and within the organization and to analyze the external environment’s effect on the organization and its human resources, missions, objectives, and strategies. The study of management and organizational behavior specifically is increasingly important because management’s role is changing. Understanding OB principles helps us be better managers which is important to society as a whole as effective management is essential for our way of life. An organization is a coordinated unit consisting of at least two people who function to achieve a common goal or set of goals. This is what this course is about—organizations, large and small, domestic and global, successful and unsuccessful. Looking inside the organization at the people, processes, and structures will help enlighten the observer and will also reveal the inner workings of organizations that have been a main contributor to the standards of living enjoyed by people around the world. The formal study of organizational behavior began between 1948 and 1952. This still-emerging field attempts to help managers understand people better so that productivity improvements, customer satisfaction, and a better competitive position can be achieved through better management practices. The behavioral sciences—especially psychology, sociology, political science, and cultural anthropology—have provided the basic framework and principles for the field of organizational behavior. Each behavioral science discipline provides a slightly different focus, analytical framework, and theme for helping managers answer questions about themselves, nonmanagers, and environmental forces (e.g., competition, legal requirements, and social/political changes). The multidisciplinary definition of organizational behavior illustrates a number of points. First, OB indicates that behaviors of people operate at individual, group, and organizational levels. This approach suggests that when studying OB we must identify clearly the level of analysis—individual, group, and/or organizational—being used. Second, OB is multidisciplinary; it uses principles, models, theories, and methods from other disciplines. The study of OB isn’t a discipline or a generally accepted science with an established theoretical foundation. It’s a field that only now is beginning to grow and develop in stature and impact. Third, there’s a distinctly humanistic orientation within organizational behavior. People and their attitudes, perceptions, learning capacities, feelings, and goals are important to the organization. Fourth, the field of OB is performance oriented. Why is performance low or high? How can performance be improved? Can training enhance on-the-job performance? These are important issues facing managers. Fifth, the external environment is seen as having significant effect on organizational behavior. Sixth, because the field of OB relies heavily on recognized disciplines, the scientific method is important in studying variables and relationships. As the scientific method has been applied to research on organizational behavior, a set of principles and guidelines on what constitutes good research has emerged. Finally, the field has a distinctive applications orientation; it concerns providing useful answers to questions that arise in the context of managing operations. Slide reviews key points. We’ve moved from an era in which large portions of the workforce were middle-aged men who spoke only English to an era of diversity. Today’s workforce doesn’t look, think, or act like the workforce of the past. To be effective, managers of organizations must view each employee or member as a unique embodiment of all these behavioral and cultural factors. Many culturally diverse individuals are spread throughout the workforce. One important principle of psychology is that each person is different. Each has unique perceptions, personality, and life experiences. People have different ethnic backgrounds; different capabilities for learning and for handling responsibility; and different attitudes, beliefs, and aspiration levels. To be effective, managers of organizations must view each employee or member as a unique embodiment of all these behavioral and cultural factors. Many culturally diverse individuals are spread throughout the workforce. The relationships among individuals and groups in organizations create expectations for individuals’ behavior. These expectations result in certain roles that must be performed. Some people must perform leadership roles, while others must participate in the roles of followers. Middle managers, because they have both superiors and subordinates, must perform both roles. Organizations have systems of authority, status, and power, and people in organizations have varying needs from each system. Groups in organizations also have a powerful impact on individual behavior and on organizational performance. A person’s behavior in any situation involves the interaction of that individual’s personal characteristics and the characteristics of the situation. Thus, identifying all of the factors is time-consuming and difficult; frequently, the task is impossible. To help us identify the important managerial factors in organizational behavior, we use the contingency (or situational) approach The basic idea of the contingency approach is that there’s not one best way to manage; a method that’s very effective in one situation may not work at all in others. The contingency approach has grown in popularity because research has shown that given certain characteristics of a job and certain characteristics of the people doing the job, some management practices work better than others. An organization’s structure is the formal pattern of how its people and jobs are grouped. Structure often is illustrated by an organization chart. Processes are activities that give life to the organization chart. Communication, decision making, and organization development are examples of processes in organizations. Sometimes, understanding process problems such as breakdowns in communication and decision making will result in a more accurate understanding of organizational behavior than will simplify examining structural arrangements. The pattern of basic assumptions used by individuals and groups to deal with the organization and its environment is called its culture. In straightforward terms, the organization’s culture is its personality, atmosphere, or “feel.” The culture of an organization defines appropriate behavior and bonds; it motivates individuals; and it governs the way a company processes information, internal relations, and values. It functions at all levels from the subconscious to the visible. A firm’s culture results in shared thoughts, feelings, and talk about the organization. Cultures of organizations can be positive or negative. An organization’s culture is positive if it helps improve productivity. A negative culture can hinder behavior, disrupt group effectiveness, and hamper the impact of a well-designed organization. Effective managers know what to look for in terms of structure, process, and culture and how to understand what they find. Therefore, managers must develop diagnostic skills; they must be trained to identify conditions symptomatic of a problem requiring further attention. Problem indicators include declining profits, declining quantity or quality of work, increases in absenteeism or tardiness, and negative employee attitudes. Each of these problems is an issue of organizational behavior. To be and remain effective, managers must apply knowledge. The application and execution of knowledge can be designated as competencies. Included in these important competencies are intellectual capability, a systems orientation, interpersonal skills, flexibility, and self-motivation. Within a society, many factors influence an organization, and management must be responsive to them. Every organization must respond to the needs of its customers or clients, to legal and political constraints, and to economic and technological changes. Environmental forces interact with organization factors. Economic and market circumstances and technological innovations make up an organization’s environment, as do federal, state, and local legislation and political, social, and cultural conditions external to the organization. Together, these components of an environment influence how an organization operates, as well as how it is structured. Individual performance is the foundation of organizational performance. Understanding individual behavior is therefore critical for effective management. Because organizational performance depends on individual performance, managers must have more than a passing knowledge of the determinants of individual performance. Psychology and social psychology contribute relevant knowledge about the relationships among attitudes, perceptions, personality, values, and individual performance. To work effectively in organizations, managers must clearly understand the organizational structure. Viewing an organization chart on a piece of paper or frame on a wall, we see only job duties, and lines of authority among the parts of an organization. However, organizational structure can be far more complex An organization’s structure is the formal pattern of activities and interrelationships among the various subunits of the organization. The text discusses two important aspects of organizational structure: job design and organizational design. Job Design Job design refers to the process by which managers specify the contents, methods, and relationships of jobs to satisfy both organizational and individual requirements. Organizational Design Organizational design refers to the overall organizational structure. Certain behavioral processes give life to an organizational structure. When these processes don’t function well, unfortunate problems arise. The book discusses two behavioral processes that contribute to effective organizational performance: communication and decision making. Communication Organizational survival is related to management’s ability to receive, transmit, and act on information. The communication process links the organization to its environment as well as to its parts. Information flows to and from the organization and within the organization. Information integrates the activities within the organization. Decision Making The quality of decision making in an organization depends on selecting proper goals and identifying means for achieving them. With good integration of behavior and structural factors, management can increase the probability that high-quality decisions are made. Because managerial decisions affect people’s lives and well-being, ethics play a major role. Managers have power by virtue of their positions, so the potential for unethical decision making is present. With all the newspaper and TV accounts of scandals around the world in business, government, medicine, politics, and the law, there’s evidence that ethics in terms of decision making need serious attention. Ethics suggest that when faced with a problem, situation, or opportunity requiring a choice among several alternatives, managers must evaluate their decision on what course to follow as good or bad, right or wrong, ethical or unethical. Conflicts between an individual manager’s personal moral philosophy and values and the culture and value of an organization regularly arise and make decision making a difficult endeavor. Managers routinely assess individual effectiveness through performance evaluation processes to determine who should receive salary increases, promotions, and other rewards available in the organization. Individuals seldom work alone, in isolation from others in the organization. Usually employees work in groups, necessitating yet another perspective on effectiveness: group effectiveness. In some instances, group effectiveness is simply the sum of the contributions of all its members. For example, a group of chemists working alone on unrelated projects would be effective to the extent that each individual scientist is effective. In other instances, group effectiveness is more than the sum of individual contributions (e.g., an assembly line that produces a product or service that combines the contributions of each individual working on the line). The term synergy refers to instances when the sum of individual contributions exceeds the simple summation of them. The third perspective is organizational effectiveness. Organizations consist of individuals and groups; therefore, organizational effectiveness consists of individual and group effectiveness. But organizational effectiveness is more than the sum of individual and group effectiveness. Through synergistic effects, organizations obtain higher levels of effectiveness than the sum of their parts. In fact, the rationale for organizations as a means for doing society’s work is that they can do more work than is possible through individual effort. Figure 1.2 reveals the relationships among three perspectives on effectiveness. The connecting arrows imply that group effectiveness depends on individual effectiveness, while organizational effectiveness depends on individual and group effectiveness. The exact relationships among the three perspectives vary depending on such factors as the type of organization, the work it does, and the technology used in doing that work. This slide continues the discussion on the levels of effectiveness. Figure 1.3 recognizes the three perspectives’ synergistic effects. Thus, group effectiveness is larger than the sum of individuals’ effectiveness because of the synergies realized through joint efforts. Many individual writers (far too many to survey completely) have contributed theories describing what managers do or prescribing what they should do. Here we’ll rely on the idea of a group of writers who constitute the Classical School of Management. We refer to these writers as classical because they were the first to describe managerial work. Writers of the Classical School proposed that managerial work consists of distinct, yet interrelated functions, which taken together constitute the managerial process. The view that management should be defined, described, and analyzed in terms of what managers (functions and processes) do has prevailed to this day, but with considerable modification as management functions and processes change in response to changing times and circumstances. Henry Mintzberg’s influential study identified three primary and overlapping managerial roles: interpersonal role, decisional role, and informational role. Each role has several related activities that distinguish it from the others. Interpersonal role activities clearly involve the manager with other people both inside and outside the organization. Decisional role activities involve the manager in making decisions about operational matters, resource allocation, and negotiations with the organization’s constituencies. The informational role involves the manager as a receiver and sender of information to a variety of individuals and institutions. The discussion of Mintzberg’s roles continues. The nature of managerial work is then to coordinate the work of individuals, groups, and organizations by performing four management functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The list of management functions can be increased to include other functions, but these four can be defined with sufficient precision to differentiate them and, at the same time, to include others that management writers have proposed. The figure depicts management’s contribution to effectiveness. The planning function includes defining the ends to be achieved and determining appropriate means to achieve the defined ends. The necessity of this function follows from the nature of organizations as purposive (end-seeking) entities. Planning activities can be complex or simple, implicit or explicit, impersonal or personal. Planning involves specifying not only where the organization is going but also how it’s to get there. In specific terms, alternatives must be analyzed and evaluated in terms of criteria that follow from the mission goals. Thus, managers by their own decisions can affect how they and their organizations will be evaluated. The organizing function includes all managerial activities that translate required planned activities into a structure of tasks and authority. In a practical sense, the organizing function involves (1) designing the responsibility and authority of each individual job and (2) determining which of these jobs will be grouped in specific departments. For example, managers of an engineering firm must determine what each engineer should do and what group each engineer will be assigned to. The organizing function’s outcome is the organization structure. The leading function involves the manager in close day-to-day contact with individuals and groups. Thus, the leading function is uniquely personal and interpersonal. Although planning and organizing provide guidelines and directives in the form of plans, job descriptions, organization charts, and policies, it’s people who do the work. And people are variable entities. They have unique needs, ambitions, personalities, and attitudes. Each person perceives the workplace and his or her job uniquely. Managers must take into account these unique perceptions and behaviors and somehow direct them toward common purposes. One thoughtful and sensitive observer of leadership behavior has encouraged managers to become more knowledgeable about human psychology as a means to more effective performance. Leading involves day-to-day interactions between managers and their subordinates. In these interactions, the full panorama of human behavior is evident. Individuals work, play, communicate, compete, accept and reject others, join groups, leave groups, receive rewards, and cope with stress. Of all the management functions, leading is the most human oriented. It’s not surprising that the overwhelming bulk of organizational behavior theory and research relates to this function. The controlling function includes activities that managers undertake to ensure that actual outcomes are consistent with planned outcomes. Managers undertake control to determine whether intended results are achieved and if they aren’t why not. The conclusions managers reach because of their controlling activities are that the planning function was (and is) faulty or that the organizing function was (and is) faulty, or both. Controlling is, then, the completion of a logical sequence. The activities that constitute controlling include employee selection and placement, materials inspection, performance evaluation, financial statement analysis, and other well-recognized managerial techniques. The controlling function involves explicit consideration of effectiveness at all three levels: individual, group, and organizational. Performance evaluation involves comparisons of actual personnel performance against standards of performance. Managers judge as effective those employees who meet performance standards. Likewise, when supervisors focus on organizational groups such as production, sales, and engineering departments, they make judgments about whether these units have performed as expected (whether they’ve been effective). And at the highest level of performance, top managers judge the effectiveness of organizations. Thus far, we’ve assumed a definition of effectiveness. But effectiveness means different things to different people, whether in a theoretical or practical sense. Differences in its meaning reflect one’s adherence to the goal approach, the systems theory approach, or the stakeholder approach. Managers must be able to use each of these approaches to effectiveness when appropriate. The goal approach to defining and evaluating effectiveness is the oldest and most widely used evaluation approach. According to this approach, an organization exists to accomplish goals. The idea that organizations, as well as individuals and groups, should be evaluated in terms of goal accomplishment has widespread commonsense and practical appeal. The goal approach reflects purposefulness, rationality, and achievement—the fundamental tenets of contemporary Western societies. Many management practices are based on the goal approach. One widely used practice is management by objectives. According to this practice, managers specify in advance the goals that they expect their subordinates to accomplish and then evaluate periodically the degree to which they accomplish them. The actual specifics of management by objectives vary from case to case. In some cases, the manager and subordinate(s) discuss the objectives and attempt to reach mutual agreement. In other instances, the manager simply assigns the goals. Management by objectives can be useful whenever there’s a strong relationship between job behavior and a measurable outcome, the objective. The goal approach, for all its appeal and apparent simplicity, has problems. A few recognized difficulties include the following: 1. Goal achievement isn’t readily measurable for organizations that don’t produce tangible outputs. For example, a college’s goal is to provide a liberal education at a fair price. The question is, How would we know whether the college reaches that goal? What’s a liberal education? What’s a fair price? 2. Organizations attempt to achieve more than one goal, but achieving one goal often precludes or diminishes their ability to achieve other goals. A firm states that its goal is to maximize profit and to provide absolutely safe working conditions. These two goals are in conflict because one is achieved at the expense of the other. 3. The very existence of a common set of “official” goals to which all members are committed is questionable. Various researchers have noted the difficulty of obtaining consensus among managers as to their organization’s specific goals. A narrow view of effectiveness defines it as “the financial viability of an organization.” The term system is used in everyday conversations. A variety of meanings and interpretations are used to describe accounting systems, inventory control systems, a car’s ignition system, an ecological system, and the U.S. tax system. Each system consists of elements or characteristics that interact. Thus, a system is a grouping of elements that individually establish relationships with each other and that interact with their environment both as individuals and as a collective. Systems theorists propose that systems can be categorized three ways: (1) conceptual systems (a language), (2) concrete systems (machines), and (3) abstract systems (culture of an organization). Managers in organizations use the notion of a system to view their internal and external world and how the parts relate and interact with each other. By viewing the individuals, groups, structure, and processes of organizations in terms of a system, managers are able to identify common and uncommon themes that help explain the behavior and effectiveness of people. Identification of themes or patterns is important because it helps explain how effective an individual, group, or entire organization is in terms of goals. The figure displays the fundamental elements of the organization as a system. Systems theory enables us to describe organizations’ internal and external behavior. Internally we can see how and why people inside organizations perform their individual and group tasks. Externally we can assess organizations’ transactions with other organizations and institutions. All organizations acquire resources from the larger environments of which they’re part and, in turn, provide the goods and services demanded by the larger environment. Managers must deal simultaneously with the internal and external aspects of organizational behavior. This essentially complex process can be simplified, for analytical purposes, by employing the basic concepts of systems theory. In the context of systems theory, the organization is one element of a number of elements interacting interdependently. The flow of inputs and outputs is the basic starting point in describing the organization. In the simplest terms, the organization takes resources (inputs) from the larger system (environment), processes these resources, and returns them in changed form (output). The firm has two major categories of inputs: human and natural resources. Human inputs consist of the people who work in the firm: operating, staff, and managerial personnel. They contribute their time and energy to the organization in exchange for wages and other rewards, tangible and intangible. Natural resources consist of the nonhuman inputs to be processed or to be used in combination with the human element to provide other resources. The application of systems theory concepts to the discussion of organizational effectiveness identifies the importance of the external environment. Systems theory also identifies the importance of achieving a balance among the various parts of the system of which an organization is but one part. In practical and concrete terms, the stakeholder approach means achieving balance among the various parts of the system by satisfying the interests of the organization’s constituency (all those individuals and groups of individuals who have a stake in the organization). But the goal approach emphasizes that organizations are chartered to accomplish goals. Individuals and groups of individuals having stakes in an organization include its employees (nonmanagers and managers), customers, stockholders, directors, suppliers, creditors, officials at all levels of government, managers of competitive and cooperative organizations, and the general public. Successful change is associated with a multistep process that creates power and motivation to continue. Second, the change process is driven by top-quality leaders who exert a lasting influence on the changes being made. These leaders establish direction; align people with their visions; and inspire people to overcome political, personal, and bureaucratic barriers to change. This slide serves to tie the current discussion back to the functions of management. The text’s focus is the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations. The purpose of managers in organizations is to coordinate behavior so that an organization is judged effective by those who evaluate its record. Those who evaluate organizations can be concerned with any number of specific or general criteria and with output, process, or input measures. To coordinate behavior and to satisfy evaluators, managers engage in activities intended to plan, organize, lead, and control behavior. Major factors in determining individual and group behavior are task and authority relationships. Review objectives and solicit questions. Teaching Tips Lecture Ideas 1. One way to lay the groundwork for the many organizational behavior topics that will follow is to discuss the basics of the scientific approach, the methods of research, and the types of research design provided in Appendix A at the end of the text. We've found that students more easily and effectively grasp the meaning and usefulness of the theories presented in the text if they first understand how these theories are developed and tested. This enables them to better evaluate a theory and the quality of the research that supports or refutes the theory. You can assign Appendix A as a reading assignment in conjunction with Chapter 1. 2. To enhance student understanding of the potential usefulness of organizational behavior research, have them recall their experiences as employees and identify a problem they've observed which could have been addressed (and possibly solved) via OB research using the scientific method. 3. In discussing systems theory, one way to clarify the components of the model and the impact of the external environment on organizations is to apply the concepts to a particular example: a) Use a manufacturing business (e.g., General Motors, Dell) or a service organization (Wal-Mart, local hospital) to illustrate the systems theory concepts explained in the chapter. b) Select a visible industry (e.g., automobile, computer, construction industries) and discuss how an industry's characteristics affect an organization. c) Select a company that has recently been in the news because of the steps it took to “go green” or correct a product flaw, and then discuss with students the environmental driving forces behind the changes. Also discuss the impact that this company’s actions may have on other businesses. Project and Class Speaker Ideas 1. As a follow up to your coverage of the scientific method, methods of inquiry, and research designs presented in Appendix A, have your students (in a group assignment) select and critique a research article in a major management journal (the primary journals are listed in the appendix). Ask the students to critique the article in terms of its adherence to the scientific approach and the relevance of its findings for the practicing manager. 2. Invite a faculty member who is noted for his or her work in organizational behavior research to talk to your class about the nuts and bolts of conducting research in organizations today. The speaker could discuss the types of research being conducted in businesses today, how a researcher gains entry into an organization, and the challenges of applied research (the problems of conducting a controlled experiment in an environment in which the researcher exercises little control). 3. Assign students the project of developing an open systems model profile on a selected organization. This model should identify the company's inputs, transformation process, outputs, the acceptance (or less than acceptance) of the organization's outputs, and important feedback mechanisms used by the organization. 4. Have students choose a product and research how (and why) it has changed since its introduction into the marketplace. In other words, what forces were behind its modification. Also describe how you think such products may change in the future. Examples of such products include:: Automobiles… faster, quieter, more comfortable, better gas mileage, and so on Laundry soap… from hard bars used for hand washing, to condensed liquid versions Cook stoves… from wood burning to microwave Cigarette lighters… from matches, to refill with lighter fluid, to disposable Telephones… from the original model to cell phones Music storage devices… music boxes through iPods Discussion and Review Questions 1. What expectations do you have about serving as a manager? What parts of the management job appeal to you and what parts are unattractive? Answer: Students should be aware of the responsibilities involved in serving as a manager, and that managing people effectively in organizations is essential. As a manager, I expect to foster a positive team environment, facilitate effective communication, and support professional growth. The aspects that appeal to me include mentoring team members, driving projects forward, and solving complex problems. On the other hand, dealing with conflicts and handling administrative tasks can be less attractive but are essential for a well-functioning team. 2. We sometimes encounter red tape and inefficiency in a generally unresponsive and ineffective organization. One of management's goals is to achieve the opposite: an efficient and effective organization. What management skills are needed to help an organization become effective? Answer: Here students will see that in management, “what is” is not always “what should be.” This question can be used as a springboard to discuss the importance of effective organizations to society and the difficulties in answering “what is effectiveness?”' To make an organization effective, a manager needs strong skills in leadership, communication, problem-solving, and strategic thinking. Emphasizing transparency, streamlining processes, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement are also crucial for overcoming inefficiencies and red tape. 3. This chapter suggested that effectiveness can be viewed from the individual, group, and organizational perspectives. Is it possible for an individual manager to be effective even if her group isn’t effective? Similarly, can an organization be effective even if several of its employees are not effective? Explain and give examples to support your argument. Answer: Students may be challenged by the concept that their success may be constrained by those that work for and around them. A manager may be able to overcome obstacles caused by others but this attention inhibits other activities which will limit if not prevent success. Yes, an individual manager can be effective even if her group isn't fully effective by demonstrating strong leadership, achieving personal goals, and driving initiatives forward despite team challenges. For example, a manager might excel in strategic planning and stakeholder communication, leading to successful project outcomes even if team dynamics are problematic. Similarly, an organization can be effective even with some ineffective employees if the overall structure, systems, and culture support productivity and goals. For instance, a tech company might remain successful due to innovative products and strong market position, even if a few employees are underperforming. 4. What contribution does the concept “multiple constituency” make to our understanding of organizational effectiveness? In particular, does the concept make it easier or harder for a manager to know when she has accomplished effective performance for her group or organization? Explain. Answer: The concept emphasizes that to be effective an organization must satisfy (to an acceptable degree) the demands of its many different types of constituents (e.g., government, customers, suppliers, stockholders, and employees). This very challenging task often results in organizations focusing substantially on the demands of the constituency deemed most powerful (powerful in terms of impact on objectives the organization most highly values). Oftentimes, this can make the manager's job more difficult as it may not be readily apparent whether or not he/she has achieved the goal of satisfying the demands of the most powerful constituent. 5. What has occurred historically to warrant referring to the management of organizational behavior as a blending of art and science? Answer: There is a slowly expanding body of empirically-based knowledge, which is being expanded by researchers as they study and report on individual, group, and organizational behavior. The art of organizational behavior application is now beginning to be blended with empirically-based research. 6. Should a manager of a small firm (say, 25 employees) be concerned about establishing an organization structure? Explain. Answer: Yes. Any size firm needs to be organized properly. Even a small (one or two person) business needs organization to meet demands, to respond to clients or customers, and to provide a high quality product or service. 7. Describe how a manager who worked for 15 years in Los Angeles would apply a contingency management approach when he's transferred to a similar managerial position in the firm's Barcelona, Spain office. Answer: The transferred manager would have to examine the employees, the norms of behavior, the customers, and the environment before becoming fixated on a certain set of management practices. Being flexible and tuned into the environment are important for a transferred manager to succeed. 8. The study and application of OB has been described as multidisciplinary in nature? Why is it multidisciplinary? Explain. Answer: It is accurate to draw this conclusion because the behavioral sciences, especially psychology, sociology, political science, and cultural anthropology, provided the principles, models, theories, and methods that form the basic framework and principles for the field of OB. 9. If you were a training director responsible for instructing managers in the techniques of management, how would you evaluate your training program's effectiveness? Is the goal model of effectiveness useful? Is the systems model useful? Answer: The straightforward approach is to set objectives for the program in terms of unit performance. Before and after training data (in terms of unit performance) with experimental groups (those who received training) and control groups (those who did not) can be evaluated. Personal testimonials should be avoided. The goal approach can be utilized by establishing goals beforehand and then evaluating whether the goals have been reached. However, setting specific goals may be difficult. Systems theory can be utilized in ascertaining whether or not changes in inputs (training) can cause the desired outputs (outcomes) to occur. 10. One writer on management theory states that management is aptly defined as “getting work done through other people.” Compare this concept of management with the one proposed in this chapter. Answer: Students may take a narrow perspective on this question and respond by stating that this definition fits very well with the leading function of management, since leading involves day-to-day interactions with individuals and groups. However, a broader perspective on this question would imply that “getting work done through other people” involves much more than the leading function. In fact, in order to manage other people, attention must be given to these three functions as well: planning the work to be done, organizing who will do the work, and controlling how the work will be evaluated. Moreover, managers must also attend to designing organizational structures and processes that will facilitate worker motivation and ability. The concept of "getting work done through other people" focuses on delegation and oversight, emphasizing a manager's role in organizing and directing tasks. In contrast, a broader view of management includes not only achieving goals through others but also fostering collaboration, developing talent, and driving organizational strategy. This perspective integrates leadership, communication, and continuous improvement into the management role. Case for Analysis McDonald’s: Can it Regain its Effectiveness? Case Summary: This case describes the growth, dominance, and eventual leveling off of McDonald’s share of the fast-food market from 1937 to the present. Although McDonald’s was a leader in the burgeoning market after World War II, in the late 1990s its growth slowed considerably, even though it still commands 42 percent of the U.S. fast-food burger market. Through the early 1980s, McDonald’s was able to successfully adapt to changing consumer tastes; however, in the 1990s most of its efforts at introducing new products failed. In addition, it has had difficulty expanding to overseas markets and perceptions of its food quality have dropped dramatically. McDonald’s management has to identify the causes of the lost luster and then take specific steps to correct the problems. Answers to Case Questions 1. How can McDonald’s use its powerful brand name to help improve its effectiveness? Answer: For most Americans, and even individuals living overseas, the McDonald’s brand name is a symbol of the company’s culture and values. When many organizations reach the mature stage of the organizational life cycle, it is often useful to revert back to the core values that initially made them successful. In McDonald’s case, their overall mission is to provide consumers what they want at a fair price and high quality. One way to use the brand name to improve effectiveness would be to initiate an ad campaign to remind consumers of what the golden arches symbolize, particularly price and quality. This campaign should be accompanied by a movement within the company to implement quality improvement programs so that the stores can deliver on what the advertising promises. 2. Is quality and taste important to you when selecting a restaurant? Explain. Answer: Most students will agree that quality and taste are important, as are cleanliness, convenience, cost, atmosphere, and good service. Some students may also indicate that health and nutrition are important to them; others may talk about the importance of variety in food choices. As the discussion proceeds, students will realize that a number of factors influence people’s choices, and that the relative importance of these factors varies, depending on individual preferences and circumstances. Consequently, it is difficult for a single restaurant to be all things to all people. Yes, quality and taste are crucial when selecting a restaurant. Quality ensures that the food is fresh and well-prepared, while taste guarantees an enjoyable dining experience. Both factors are essential for satisfaction and a positive overall experience. 3. What environmental forces are the most different as we enter the current decade, when compared to the 1950s and 1960s? Answer: Given the nature of McDonald’s business, the most important environmental forces are in the consumer sector. One important change is that there is much greater concern about health and nutrition today than there was forty years ago. In addition, the demographics of the family have changed. There are more single parent families and more families where both parents work outside of the home. There is also an environmental push to “go green” and reduce global warming. Those factors, in combination with the fact that both children and parents are increasingly involved in activities outside of home and school, result in people having less time to cook and eat at home, which should indicate increased demand for convenient, high quality restaurant food. Increased demand also comes from increasing globalization, which has created new market opportunities for many service businesses, including McDonald’s. Although other countries are receptive to American businesses, it is not possible to export traditional American products without making changes to them. Companies such as McDonald’s must adapt their products to match the values and tastes of different markets. Ten Term Paper Topics 1. Organizational Behavior: Past and Present Contributions to Management 2. The Scientific Approach: Characteristics and Processes 3. The Systems Theory Perspective Applied to the Computer Industry 4. The Interdisciplinary Makeup of Organizational Behavior 5. The Chief Executive Officer: A Profile of Managerial Work 6. The Dynamics of the Contingency Approach to Management 7. How Groups Affect Organizational Performance 8. The Impact of Clashing Cultures on the Merger of Two Firms 9. The Nuts and Bolts of Increasing an Organization's Adaptiveness 10. The Stakeholder Perspective Applied to the Internet Instructor Manual for Organizations: Behavior, Structure, Processes James L. Gibson, John M. Ivancevich, James H. Donnally, Robert Konopaske 9780078112669, 9781259097232, 9780071086417, 9780071315272