Key Elements of Organisational Behavior

The key elements in organizational behavior are people, structure, technology and the external elements in which the organization operates. When people join together in an organization to accomplish an objective, some kind of infrastructure is required. People also use technology to help get the job done, so there is an interaction of people, structure and technology. In addition, these elements are influenced by the external environment, and they influence it. Each o f the four elements o f organizational behavior will be considered briefly.

People

People make up the internal social system of the organization. They consist of individuals and groups, and large groups as well as small ones. People are the living, thinking, feelings beings who created the organizations. It exists to achieve their objectives. Organizations exist to serve people. People do not exist to serve organizations. The work force is one of the critical resources t hat need to be managed. In managing human resources, managers have to deal with:

• Individual employee who are expected to perform the tasks allotted to them
• Dyadic relationships such as superior-subordinate interactions
• Groups who work as teams and have the responsibility for getting the job done,
• People out side the organization system such as customers and government officials

Structure

Structure defines the official relationships of people in organizations. Different jobs are required to accomplish all of an organization’s activities. There are managers and employees, accountants and assemblers. These people have to be related in some structural way so that their work can be effective. The main structure relates to power and to duties. For example, one person has authority to make decisions that affect the work of other people.

Some of the key concepts of organization structure are listed as below:

• Hierarchy of Authority: This refers to the distribution of authority among organizational positions and authority grants the position holder certain rights including right to give direction to others and the right to punish and reward.
• Division of Labor: This refers to the distribution of responsibilities and the way in which activities are divided up and assigned to different members of the organization is considered to be an element of the social structure.
• Span of Control: This refers to the total number of subordinates over whom a manager has authority
• Specialization: This refers to the number of specialities performed within the organization.
• Standardization: It refers to the existence of procedures for regularly recurring events or activities
• Formalization: This refers to the extent to which rules, procedures, and communications are written down
• Centralization: This refers to the concentration of authority to make decision.
• Complexity: This refers to both vertical differentiation and horizontal differentiation. Vertical differentiation: outlines number of hierarchical levels; horizontal differentiation highlights the number of units within the organization (e.g departments, divisions)

Organizations can be structured as relatively rigid, formalized systems or as relatively loose, flexible systems. Thus the structure of the organizations can range on a continuum of high rigidity to high flexibility. There are two broad categories of organization: i) Mechanistic form of organization ii) Organic form of Organization

Mechanistic form of Organisation

It is characterized by high levels of complexity, formalization and centralization. A highly mechanistic system is characterized by centralized decision making at the top, a rigid hierarchy of authority, well but narrowly defined job responsibilities especially at lower levels, and extensive rules and regulations which are explicitly make known to employees through written documents. In mechanistic organization, labor is divided and subdivided into many highly specialized tasks (high complexity), workers are granted limited discretion in performing theirs tasks and rules and procedures are carefully defined (high formalization); and there is limited participation in decision making which tends to be conducted at the highest levels of management high centralization.

Organic form of Organisation

A highly organic system is characterized by decentralized decision-making which allows people directly involved with the job to make their own decisions, very few levels in the hierarchy with flexible authority and reporting patters, loosely defined job responsibilities for members, and very few written rules and regulations. It is relatively simple, informal and decentralized. Compared with mechanistic organizations, employees in organic organizations, such as design firms or research labs, tend to be more generalist in their orientation.

 Jobs and Tasks

Job refers to the sum total of an individual’s assignment at the workplace. Tasks refer to the various activities that need to be performed to get the job done. The nature of tasks, it’s executives by various individuals, nature of interdependence and inter-relatedness, group activities etc have implication for organizational effectiveness. Thus the jobs and tasks have to be designed and managed properly.

Core Job Characteristics: There are five job characteristics which are central to providing potential motivation to workers. They are: Skill variety, Task identity, Task significance, Autonomy, and Feedback from the job itself.

• Task Variety: This denotes the extent to which any particularly job utilizes a range of skills, abilities and talents of the employees. If number of different skills is used by the employee on the job, the job is going to provide challenge and growth experience to the workers.
• Task Identity: This indicates the extent to which the job involves a ‘whole’ and identifiable piece of work. If the job involves the whole components (eg – painting a portrait), then the individual can identify with the ultimate creation turned out by him and derive pride and satisfaction from having done a good job.
• Task significance: This refers to the meaningfulness or significance of the impact that a job has on the lives of others – both inside and outsider of the organization. If what one does has an impact on the well being of others, the job becomes psychologically rewarding to he person who performs it.
• Autonomy: This refers to the extent to which the job provides an employee the freedom, independent and discretion to schedule work and make decision and formulate the procedures to get the job done without interference from others. The greater the degree of autonomy, the more the person doing the job feels in control.
• Feedback from the Job itself: This indicates the extent to which the person who is working on the job can assess whether they are doing things right or wrong even as they are performing the job. That is, the job itself is stimulating one and enjoyable.

Job Design: Jobs can be designed to range from highly simple to highly complex tasks in terms of the use of the workers skill. Some of the job design options are as follows:

• Job Simplification: The jobs are broken down into very small parts as in the assembly line operations where a fragmented task is repeatedly done over and over again by the same individual.
• Job Rotation: This involves moving employees among different tasks over a period of time. Management does not have to bother with combining tasks, but at the same time, the workers do not get bored with doing one simple task over several years. The employee is periodically rotated from one job to another within the work setting
• Job Enlargement: This involves simply adding more tasks to the job so that the workers have a variety of simple tasks to perform rather than doing just one task repetitively. Two or more tasks are combined and the individual does the combined tasks altogether.
• Job Enrichment: This offers a greater challenge to the workers because it requires the use of variety of skills possessed by them. This involves building in motivating factors into the job, giving the workers more responsibility and control over work, and offering learning opportunities for the individual on the job.

Technology

Organizations have technologies for transforming inputs and outputs. These technologies consist of physical objects, activities and process, knowledge, all of which are brought to bear on raw materials labor and capital inputs during a transformation process. The core technology is that set of productive components most directly associated with the transformation process, for example, production or assembly line in manufacturing firm. Technology provides the physical and economic resources with which people work. They cannot accomplish much with their bare hands, so they build buildings, design machines, create work processes and assemble resources. The technology that results has a significant influence on working relationships. An assembly line is not the same as a research laboratory, and a steel mill does not h ave the same working conditions as a hospital. The great benefit of technology is that it allows people to do more and better work, but it also restricts people in various ways. It has costs as well as benefits.

Classification of Technology:

Thomson classified technology into three categories: Long-linked technology, Mediating Technology and Intensive Technology.

• Long linked Technology: In this, tasks are broken into a number of sequential and interdependent steps, where the outputs of one unit become the input of the next. (eg. Assembly line) this facilitates to have high volume of output and efficiency. This technology calls for mechanistic structures with high levels of specialization, standardization and formalization.
• Mediating Technology: This links different parties who need to be brought together in a direct or indirect way (eg. Banks – use mediating technology to lend money to borrowers by taking money from depositors)
• Intensive Technology: It is used when a group of specialists are brought together to solve complex problems using a variety of technologies (eg. Hospital – parties are treated with the help of experts drawn from different fields of specialization). Coordination of the different activities is achieved in the system primarily through mutual adjustment among those engaged in solving the problem in the different units. Organic structures would fit in this system using intensive technology.

 Environment

All organizations operate within an external environment. A single organization does not exist alone. It is part of a larger system that contains thousand of other elements. All these mutually influence each other in a complex system that becomes the life style of the people. Individual organization, such as a factory or school cannot escape from being influenced by this external environment. It influences the attitudes of people, affects working conditions, and provides competition for resources and power. Every organization interacts with other members of its environment. The interactions allow the organization t o acquire raw material, hire employees, secure capital, obtain knowledge, and build, lease or buy facilities and equipment. Since the organization process a product or service for consumption by the environment, it will also interact with its customers. Other environmental actions, who regulate or over see these exchanges, interact with the organization as well (distributors, advertising agencies, trade associations, government of the countries in which business is conducted)

Two Distinct Sets of Environment:

i) Specific Environment: This includes the suppliers, customers, competitors, governments’ agencies, employees, unions, political parties etc.

ii) General Environment: It includes the economic, political, cultural, technological and social factors in which the organization embedded. Organizations are embedded in an environment within which they operate. Some of the external factors may be completely beyond the control of the organization to change, such as the cultural, social or economic, or governmental aspects. However, many of the other factors such as sizing up the market, being in tune with the technological changes takes place, being a step ahead of competition, or stocking up and buffering supplies when certain materials are likely to be in short supply, are all within the control of the organization. Effectively managing these situations, however, requires constant and close vigilance, adaptability to changes, and being able to manage problematical situations through good decisions making. Those organizations which are proactive (that is, watchful and take action before crisis situations occur) and can manage their external environment are more effective than those that are reactive (that is, caught off guard and wake up after facing the crises situation) and are unable to cope effectively.

Fit between Environment and Structure: Firms facing a fast changing or turbulent external environment were very effective when they had more organic structures which provided flexibility for quick changes to be make within the internal environment of the system. Similarly, firms which operated in a relatively stable external environment were very effective when they had more mechanistic structures. This mechanistic structure allowed the system to operate in a predictable manner since authority, responsibility, procedures, and rules were clearly specified.