OB - Infographic

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Approaches To The Study Of Organisational Behaviour

The four approaches are – human resources approach, productivity approach, and systems approach. These are examined in the following paragraphs, it may be stated that all these approaches are interwoven .

 Human Resources Approach This approach recognizes the fact that people are the central resource in any organisation and that they should be developed towards higher levels of competency, creativity and fulfillment. People thus developed will contribute to the success of the organisation. The human resources approach is also called as the supportive approach in the sense that he manager’s role changes from control of employee to active support of their growth and performance. The supportive approach contrasts with the traditional management approach. In the traditional approach managers decided what employees should do and closely monitored their performance to ensure task accomplishment. In the human resources approach, role of managers changes, as was stated above, from structuring and controlling to supporting.
Contingency Approach The contingency approach (sometimes called the situational approach) is based on the premise that methods or behaviours which work effectively in one situation fail in another. OD programmes, for example, way work brilliantly in one situation but fail miserably in another situation. Results differ because situations differ, the manager’s task, therefore, is to identity which method will, in a particular situation, under particular circumstances, and at a particular time, best contribute to the attainment of organisation’s goals. The strength of the contingency approach lies in the fact it encourages analysis of each situation prior to action while at the same time discourages habitual practice of universal assumptions about methods and people. The contingency approach is also more interdisciplinary, more system – oriented and more research-oriented than14 in any other approach.

Productivity Approach Productivity which is the ratio of output to input, is a measure of an organisation’s effectiveness. It also reveals manager’s efficiency in optimizing resource utilization. The higher the numerical value of this ratio, the greater the efficiency. Productivity is generally measured in terms of economic inputs and outputs, but human and social inputs and outputs also are important. For example, if better organisational behaviour can improve job satisfaction, a human output or benefit occurs. In the same manner, when employee development programmes lead to a by product of better citizens in a community, a valuable social output occurs. Organisational behaviour decisions typically involve human, social, and / or economic issues, and so productivity usually a significant part of these decisions is recognized and discusses extensively in the literature on OB.

Systems Approach Systems approach to OB views the organisation as a united, purposeful system composed of interrelated parts. This approach gives managers a way of looking at the organisation as a whole, whole person, whole group, and the whole social system. In so doing, systems approach tells us that the activity of any segment of an organisation affects, in varying degrees the activity of every other segment. A systems view should be the concern of every person in an organisation. The clerk at a service counter, the machinist, and the man-ager-all work with the people and thereby influence the behavioural quality of life in an organisation and its inputs. Managers, however, tend to have larger responsibility, because they are the ones who make majority are people-oriented. The role of managers, then, is to use organisational behaviour to help build an organisation culture in which talents are utilized and further developed, people are motivated, teams become productive, organisations achieve their goals and society reaps the reward.

Social Travel Vs Normal Travel

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Watch out for arrogance in your firm

An interesting read from : Publication: The Economic Times Mumbai; Date: Jan 1, 2011;Section: Career & Business; Page: 4

MY phone rang early one Monday. It was the president of an MNC for whom I’ve been providing HR services. “Joe just resigned,” he sounded worried. “We’ve got to do something to talk him out of it.” I headed for Joe’s office, wondering why someone with such a bright future would forfeit an opportunity for the dream job that was within his grasp. He was a key player under consideration for at least four vice-president-level positions in the company’s succession plan. Losing him would mean a tough blow for the organisation. I asked Joe why he was leaving. After a long pause, he said, “I cannot sit idly by while this company trades the future for quarter-to-quarter results. We’re not positioning ourselves for ongoing success, and I don’t think this way of operating is sustainable. I’ve done everything to convince leadership to adopt a different approach, but they’re not listening. I want out before this house of cards collapses.” Later the CEO called me and recounted his conversation with Joe. Rather than examine the reasons behind Joe’s departure, he rationalised the events and decided it was in the company’s best interest for Joe to leave. “We don’t need somebody around here who doesn’t embrace our way of doing things,” he said. This was the first clue arrogance was running that company.

Here are some signs that you might watch out for in your own business. You hire and develop great people but fail to listen to their input if it is nonconformist Your company rationalises mistakes Your company focuses exclusively on financial success with little regard for social impact Your leaders dictate more than they listen The company underestimates competition and minimises their success Your leaders pat themselves on the back when the company succeeds financially, even though success is derived from market forces rather than actual performance Your leaders believe the company can't fail Access to top leadership requires wading through layers of bureaucracy There is a focus on amassing the trappings of success: large offices, chauffeured cars, private jets etc Your company suffers from ‘Not Invented Here Syndrome,’ believing it holds the monopoly on great ideas Your company doesn't become a partner in a merger; it takes over, losing the value of the culture and learning from the other organisation

If you answered ‘yes’ to more than six of these signs, your company has a dangerously high arrogance index. As a leader in such an organisation, it’s time to take stock of the culture you’re creating. Arrogance can lead to

Happiness