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Summary complete about 'Organizational Behaviour'.pdf

Organisational Behaviour (University of Melbourne)

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What is organisational behaviour?

Organisational Behaviour has a few different definitions, depending on where you look. For
this reason I have decided to add a couple of these definitions to the page, as this will give us
all a better look at what Organisational Behaviour actually is.
The systematic study of formal organizations and of what people think, feel and do in and
around organizations. - Bratton et al (2010)
An interdisciplinary body of knowledge and field of research, concerned with how formal
organizations, behaviour of people within organizations, and salient features of their context
and environment, evolve and take shape, why all these things happen the way they do, and
what purposes they serve. - Buchanon and Huczynski (2010)
When looking at definitions for organisational behaviour, we should also really look at the
definition of organisation, as this will give us a better understanding of the above, so, what is
the definition of an organisation?
Definition of Organisation
Work organization: a deliberately formed social group in which people, technology and
resources are deliberately coordinated through formalized roles and relationships to achieve a
division of labour designed to attain a specific set of objectives efficiently.
Bratton et al (2010)

Organization: a social arrangement for achieving controlled performance in pursuit of

collective goals.
Buchanon and Huczynski (2010)

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Culture in Organisations
Culture Definition: The human-generated part of the environment that is transmitted across
time and generations and leads to people within that culture developing shared meanings;
culture gives people standard operating procedures or ways of doing things. Often said to be
the ways things are done around here culture is a major point within an organisation as it
can lead to success or failure. It is important to manage culture and try and install one which
works well for the type of organisation, the objectives and goals the business has set and the
recruitment practices in place.
Organisational Culture Definition: The distinctive norms, beliefs, principles and ways of
behaving that combine to give each organisation its distinctive character.
Norms: How things are done, people are treated and the normal goings on in a business
day to day. This is influenced highly by the employees in the company, as these are the
ones which spend the most time interacting with each other.
Beliefs: These are the thoughts employees have, they can either be installed by the
employer, and for example the belief that all work should be done to the highest standard
despite the amount of time it may take. However, employees have beliefs which they
learn themselves, such as the fact that everything may have to be done to the highest
standard despite the time taken, yet as they have targets to meet in terms of when tasks
should be achieved, this isnt true and the belief isnt there.
Principles: Principles are what the company sets out to do, for example Googles Dont
Be Evil.
Arnold (2010)
Cultures in organisation are defined by how the organisation is run, how the personalities
within the organisation interact with each other and also how the structure of the company is
set out. We can see this when we look at how different counties operate, for example the
French are very self-righteous and therefore stick up for what they believe in, hence why they
have blocked motorways when fuel prices have risen and chopped of their leaders head when
they didnt agree.

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Groups and teams in organisations

Group Definition: In the setting of an organisation, a group is the collection of people who
are located, grouped or gathered together, either by classification or in a more general sense.
People are often put in groups, such as a department, or groups are created by the same
culture or objectives within an organisation.
Team Definition: A team in an organisation is defined to be more competitive than a group,
with the intention of this grouping of people to be able to achieve a common goal, reach the
same objectives.
Below are the slightly expanded definitions which have been created by scholars in the field
of Organisational Behaviour.
What is a Group?
A group is a number of people who;

interact with each other;

are psychologically aware of each other;
perceive themselves aware of each other;
Or perceive themselves to be a group.

What is a Team?
A team is a group of people, each of whom possesses particular expertise; each of whom is
responsible for making individual decisions; that together hold a common purpose; who meet
together to communicate, collaborate and consolidate knowledge, from which plans are
made, actions determined and future decisions influenced.

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Job Design
Definition: Job Design, which can also be called Work Design or Task Design, is the
process of assigning tasks to a job, including the interdependency of those tasks with other
jobs. It is to help improve the employees relationship with the job in hand and increase the
quality of the product or service at the same time. Job Design has an importance within
keeping an organisation at the right standard of work and employee ethics.
The following are some definitions by scholars in the field; this may help as they are a good
way to start off an essay question within an exam.
Job redesign: collective name given to techniques designed to increase one or more of
the variety, autonomy and completeness of a persons work tasks
Job characteristics model: a job design model that relates the motivational properties of
jobs to specific personal and organizational consequences of those properties

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Attitudes and behaviours

Attitudes Definition: An attitude is a way of thinking or feeling about something, a certain
state of mind at the time.
Behaviours Definition: Behaviour is defined as the way one acts towards themselves and
others around them. To link the two we could say that due to the attitude a person has
towards spiders, he/she may behave differently.
What are Attitudes?
Mental states, developed through experience, which are always ready to exert an active
influence on an individuals response to any conditions or circumstances to which the person
has been directed
Certain regularities of an individuals feelings, thoughts and predispositions to act
toward some aspect of his [sic] environment
ABC
There are said to be three components of an attitude, which can easily be remembered using
ACB. These three components are;
Affective Component feelings of an attitude For example if a person is scared of
spiders or dogs.
Behavioural Component Predispositions to act towards an attitude. For example if the
person scared of spiders sees one, they will react and scream.
Cognitive Component Thoughts about an attitude. For example this is why they
justify their actions against the spider, believing it to be dangerous in some way.
The main point about the ABC model is that we believe a person will be consistent with the
attitudes towards things that they have. For example a person will always be scared when
they see a spider. However, this is not always true, most people have the attitude that
drinking excessively will be damaging to their health, yet despite this their behaviour around
alcohol is to carry on drinking.

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Attitudes in the Workplace

Attitudes come into the workplace under four different headings, these are;

Work Situation Attitude towards the actual job; pay, co-workers, working conditions,
etc. This will influence how the culture is in the company; how people see the work
situation will change their behaviours. If they believe they are not being paid enough,
they may well act out behaviourally.

Personality The way someone attitude is in the first place. Completely dependent on
the actual employee and a reason why the hiring process can be such a big part of a
business, to ensure that they hire the right personality, the right person whose attitudes
and behaviours fit in with those already working in the organisation.

Values What comes out of the work. The attitude towards the standard of work.

Social Influences What co-workers, managers etc. attitudes are like. If fellow coworkers are lazy, then the attitude is likely to by well why should I work harder? and
this will cause the behaviour of not working hard enough just because others are.

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Motivation
Motivation Definition: The reason or reasons to act in a particular way. It is what makes us
do things and carry out tasks for the organisation. However, motivation is often used as an
excuse, a lack of motivation for not doing anything. This is why in an organisation discipline
needs to be used, to inspire the fact that motivation isnt always needed, but discipline to get
the job done is.
What is Motivation?
Motivation is that which energises, directs and sustains behaviour
Motivation is important within organisations because managers need to know how to
motivate their staff, so that they work harder, enjoy work life more and in turn generate more
profit for the company. Its important to know; how people are motivated, why people are
motivated and also how the manager themselves are motivated, because if they arent then it
is very unlikely that the rest of the team will be.
How to Motivate Employees
Although everyone is motivated differently, as they require different things to make them
happy and content, there are a set of aspects which will normally work on most people.

Money
Health Care
Flexitime

These are just a few, if we dive more into the theories though we can see a lot more:
Common-sense Theory Definition:
McGregors theory started off because he believed that every person has a different reason to
get out of bed in the morning, a different reason to go to work and earn money. Some people,
who are put into the Theory X, work to just get money, they dont care about anything else,
any other benefits. Others, put into Theory Y go to work to get independence and improve
their life. The outlines of these theories are shown below;
Common-Sense Approach 1 Theory X

People cannot be trusted

They are lazy, irrational and unreliable
They need to be controlled, motivated by money and threatened by punishment

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Without control they will pursue their own goals, which will be contrary to those of the
organisation.

Common-Sense Approach 2 Theory Y

People seek independence, self-development and creativity in their work

They look beyond immediate circumstances and can adapt to new ones
They are fundamentally moral and responsible people who will strive for the good of the
organisation if they are treated as such.

Common-Sense Approach 3 Paternalism

A persons behaviour influenced most fundamentally by social interactions

These can determine sense of identity and belonging at work
People seek meaningful relationships at work
They are responsive to others expectations, often more than financial incentives.

Expectancy Theory Definition:

The expectancy theory was thought up by Vroom in 1963 and later expanded on by Porter
and Lawler in 1968. The theory was one that argued that individual motivation depends on
what the outcome would be like, how the person who likes the result to be will change how
motivated he/she is to meet that target.
As a motive is always depending on doing something, then it becomes more desirable and
therefore more motivation is put into achieving it. A good example of this is that if you were
working at an organisation and would like to increase you salary, you would probably work a
lot harder, if working hard is likely to get you more money. On the other hand, if you didnt
think that working hard would get you that extra bit of money, then you would probably not
work hard to achieve the goal.
Vrooms Expectancy Theory focuses on three main points; valence, instrumentality,
expectancy. This theory can be shown in a formula, with force equalling the force of
motivation.

Force = Valence x Instrumentality x Expectancy

The higher the value being the more motivated you are to work. If one value is zero, the
answer will be zero, showing that each point needs to be met.
Valence If valence is low this means that you are not bothered about the outcome, therefore
meaning that work doesnt need to be put in.

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Instrumentality If you dont think the outcome will affect anything, then you wont be
motivated to try and make that outcome the best it could be.
Expectancy If expectancy is low, this means that you dont expect the outcome to be good
no matter how hard you try; therefore there isnt any point in trying, leading to no motivation.
Porter and Lawler
Porter and Lawler went on and made the above theory a bit more complex and in-depth. To
do this they identified 9 different factors which affected work motivation, which are as
follows;
1. Perceived value of rewards
2. Expectation that performance will lead to reward
3. Effort
4. Individual abilities and traits
5. Role perceptions
6. Job performance
7. Intrinsic rewards and extrinsic rewards
8. Perceived equity of rewards
9. Job satisfaction
Vroom (1964)

Goal-Setting Theory Definition:

This theory has established four main propositions, which help to explain work behaviour,
why people strive to try and meet their goals and why people dont work as hard as they
should.
The Goal-setting Theory has mainly been applied to short-term objectives, as they are often a
lot more clear and thought as, as looking too far into the future is quite hard to do. The four
main propositions are below:
Creating Challenging Goals
This leads to increased levels in performance. These types of goals, also known as stretch
goals lead as to work harder and push to meet the objectives, therefore getting much more
from workers for the same price.
Creating Specific Goals
This also leads to higher levels of performance, as employees know exactly what they are
trying to achieve. SMART comes into this area of the theory, saying that goals should be;
specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time related.

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Participation Objectives
This proposition helps to make people feel more involved with their working lives, therefore
making them much more interested in actually completing the goals. Commitment is
increased.
Knowing the results of the last objectives
Allowing employees to know what was achieved in past objectives will help them strive to
beat them, increasing performance and results.
However, there are some implications of the Goal-setting Theory (Locke and Latham, 1990),
mainly due with overuse of the above propositions. These implications are noted below:
Setting goals which are too hard to achieve. This could lead to dissatisfaction in the
workplace and lead to less results.
Not being specific enough, which could lead to people missing out parts of the objective
and therefore not actually meeting them.
Allowing employees to participate too much, which could lead to easier objectives being
set, or objectives which arent relevant to the company.
(Locke and Latham, 1990)
Herzbergs Two Factor Theory Definition:
Frederick Herzberg came up with a theory which would look into what caused job
satisfaction and what caused job dissatisfaction. Factors which influenced making a job
satisfying were called Motivator Factors whilst factors which made a job dissatisfying were
named Hygiene Factors. Below are what both of these sets include;
Hygiene Factors
If these factors are not present, they will cause people within the organisation to become
dissatisfied. For example;

Salary and Pay

Job Security
Working Conditions
Supervision
Company Policies
Interpersonal Relationships

Motivation Factors
When these factors are present, people within the organisation will become satisfied. For
example;

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Achievement
Recognition
Responsibility
Job Satisfaction
Personal Development

McClelland Achievement Motivation Theory (1961)

Herzbergs theory of motivation relates to McClellands in some ways, as McClelland also
looked into different aspects which motivate workers and came up the same results, although
he didnt look into factors which dissatisfy workers. He came up with three achievement
motivators, which were the following;
Achievement Motivation Seeking achievement of realistic, yet challenging goals to
enable advancement in the current job role. To reach this feedback and constructive
criticism is needed.
Authority/Power Motivation This person is motivated by power, by an influence on
others and the ability to part their ideas on others they will gain motivation and a personal
sense of status.
Affiliation Motivation This person needs friendships, relationships and interactions with
others. A need to be popular and liked, which leads to team working skills, but can also
cause problems when hard decisions are needed to be made.
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Definition:
Maslows Hierarchy of needs was created to try and show what people need satisfying so that
they can fulfil themselves at work. He came up with the following five steps which must be
taken to reach self-actualisation. Number 1 must be met to move onto 2, number 2 must be
met to move onto 3, and so on.
Physiological Breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homoeostasis, excretion
Safety Security of: body, employment, resources, morality, the family, health, property
Love and Belonging Friendship, family, sexual intimacy
Esteem Self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others
Self-Actualisation Morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice,
acceptance of facts

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This hierarchy of needs came under some criticisms, mainly due it being too vague in
explaining what people need to be motivated. As well as this many people think that certain
aspects of the hierarchy should be further up, or further down, showing that the diagram
made is very individualistic.
Modified Needs Hierarchy Model
To overcome these problems, Alderfer came up with his own version of the hierarchy. His
Modified Needs Hierarchy Model puts Maslows 5 levels into just 3, which are;
1. Existence needs Physiological and safety
2. Relatedness needs Love and belonging
3. Growth needs Potential and self esteem
He also made a point that one level didnt need to be satisfied to reach the other, therefore
catering for more peoples motivation needs.

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What is Perception?
The process of selecting, organising and interpreting information in order to make sense of
the world around us
The dynamic and complex way, in which individuals select information (stimuli) from the
environment, interpret and translate it so that a meaning is assigned which will result in a
pattern of behaviour or thought
Perception in Organisations
Often the main aspects of perception in an organisation is how an individual views others, as
this can be a major point in how that person will behave within the business. It is also a
aspect of how an individual is motivated within an organisation. If they preserve people in a
certain way than they may believe they are disliked, not listened to or ignored by this person
and therefore their motivation to do anything will be far smaller. This is why in organisations
there needs to be a way of making sure employees fit before being hired and then when they
are hired their first perceptions of others need to be good.
To achieve a good first impression companies will often introduce new employees and
current employees in ways which show off key skills, highlight the importance of these
people to the team, so that perceptions are built around positives instead of negatives. The
perceptual process is how organisations cope with the aforementioned.
Perception Process
1. Receiving Stimuli Picking up all external and internal factors.
2. Selecting Stimuli Selecting the stimuli which will be most important This is where
the introduction of new employees is important, they need to be presented in a way where
the selected stimuli are positive.
3. Organising Grouping and selecting which are the perceptions to keep.
4. Interpreting Fundamental Attribution Error, stereotyping, Halo Effect and projection.
5. Response The perception is then turned into attitudes, motivation, feelings and beliefs,
which will change the behaviours of the individuals.
Theories of Perception
Fundamental Attribution Error Definition:

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The tendency to focus on the individual and reasons why they did something, based upon
their personality, whilst overlooking external factors, such as social aspects and contextual
influences.
The Fundamental Attribution Error often means there are false reason why something
happened, we have to look into why something happened, but look at it in a broad way, not
just straight away looking into peoples minds and behaviour. We must look at the external
influences to gain a proper picture of what is going on.
Below I have provided some examples of individual factors which affect people;

Not coping with work

Learning problems
Personality problems
Communication problems
Perception problems
Motivation problems

We can now look at some context factors which may be affecting how someone works,
or say how a shop operates;

Competition
Not enough demand (sales going down)
Taxes rise
Social problems
Political problems
Economic problems
Technology problems

Now we can have a quick look at group factors which affects employees and their
businesses;

Group formation problems

Group structure problems
Group process problems
Group progress problems
Teamwork problems

Management factors can also affect the above;

Leadership style problems

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Decision making problems

Conflict
Politics

Gestalt Principle Definition:

The Gestalt School of Psychology was led by Max Wertheimer in Germany. This school was
set up to help develop theories which could be used to make visual perceptions. Gestalt is
German for Unified Whole. The theories which were developed within the school were
made to try and show how people visualise elements and put them into certain groups.
Figure and Ground
This theory shows that people focus on certain aspects of a situation, therefore missing out
other important parts. Take a look at some examples of this below;

Reification
This theory proves to us that we interpret situations using experience, not just what we are
seeing at that moment in time. For example, if we see each corner of a circle, but dont
actually see the circle, we will still interpret it as a circle. Take a look at some examples of
this below;

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Continuation
When looking at images our eyes naturally follow the line, or curve, therefore leading us to
something else. This can be used on organisations and management because it shows
direction, creating images that the organisation is moving forward. Take a look at some
examples of this below;

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