Organizational behavior

1. Social
System

2. UNDERSTANDING A SOCIAL SYSTEM
• A social system is a complex set of
human relationships interacting in
many ways.
• Possible interactions are as
limitless as the stars in the
universe.
• Each small group is a subsystem
within larger groups that are
subsystems of even larger groups,
and so on, until all the world’s
population is included.
• Within a single organization, the
social system includes all the people
in it and their relationships to one
another and to the outside world.

3. 2 points stand out in the complex interactions among
people in a social system:
• First, the behavior of any one member can have an
impact, directly or indirectly, on the behavior of any other.
Although these impacts may be large or small, all parts
of the system are mutually interdependent.
Simply stated, a change in one part of a system affects
all other parts, even though its impact may be slight.
• A second important point revolves around a system’s
boundaries.
Any social system engages in exchanges with its
environment, receiving input from it
and providing output to it (which then becomes inputs for
its adjacent systems). Social systems are, therefore,
open systems that interact with their surroundings.

4. SOCIAL EQUILIBRIUM
• A system is said to be in social equilibrium when
there is a dynamic working balance among its
interdependent parts.
• Equilibrium is a dynamic concept, not a static
one. Despite constant change and movement in
every organization, the system’s working balance
can still be retained.
• The system is like a sea: in continuous motion
and even suffering substantial disruption
from storms, over time the sea’s basic character
changes very little.

5. SOCIAL EQUILIBRIUM/DISEQUILIBRIUM

6. • If the effects of change are favorable for the system, it has a
functional effect.
• When an action or a change creates unfavorable effects, such as
a decline in productivity, for the system it has a dysfunctional
effect.
FUNCTIONAL AND DYSFUNCTIONAL EFFECTS
They can be creative, productive, and
enthusiastic and actively seek to improve the
quality of the organization’s product or service.
They can be tardy, absent frequently,
unwilling to use their talents, and resistant to
organizational changes.
Employees
can also have
functional or
dysfunctional
effects on the
organization.
For employees to exhibit functional behaviors:
• They need to receive clear expectations and promises of reward.
• Furthermore, in exchange, the organization needs to receive a
commitment from the employees.

7. • When employees join an organization, they make an un-written
psychological contract in addition to written economic contract with
it, although often they are not conscious of doing so.
• Employees agree to give a certain amount
of loyalty, creativity, and extra effort, but in return they expect more than
economic rewards from the system.
• They seek job security, fair treatment (human dignity), rewarding
relationships with co-workers, and organizational support in fulfilling their
development expectations.
PSYCHOLOGICAL & ECONOMIC CONTRACTS
Economic Contract
• Where time, talent and
energy are exchanged for
wages, hours, and
reasonable working
conditions.
Psychological Contract
• The conditions of each
employee’s psychological
involvement – both
contributions and
expectations– with the
social system.

8. • If the organization honors
only the economic
contract and not the
psychological contract,
employees tend to have
lower satisfaction because
not all their expectations
are being met.
• They may also withhold
some of their work
related contributions.
• On the other hand, if both
their psychological and
economic expectations
are met, they tend to
experience satisfaction,
stay with the organization,
and perform well.
• A desirable sense of
mutuality has been
reached.

9. The Result of the Psychological & the Economic Contracts

10. • An environment of human-created beliefs, customs,
knowledge and practices is called social culture.
• Social cultures can have dramatic effects on behavior
at work. Some of the ways in which cultures differ
include patterns of decision making, respect for
authority, treatment of females, and accepted
leadership styles.
• Knowledge of social cultures is especially important
because managers need to understand and appreciate
the backgrounds and beliefs of all members of their
work unit.
SOCIAL CULTURE

11. Employees in almost any organizations are divided into
subgroups of various kinds. Formation of groups is
determined by two broad sets of conditions:
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Job-related Conditions
(organizationally created)
Non-job-related Conditions
(arise primarily from an
individual’s personal background)
• Type of work • Ethnicity
• Rank in the organization • Culture
• Physical proximity to one
another
• Socioeconomics
• Sex
• Race
This cultural diversity or rich variety of differences
among people at work need to be recognized,
acknowledged, appreciated, and used to collective
advantage.

12. • A role is the pattern of actions expected of a person in activities
involving others.
• Role reflects a person’s position in the social system, with its
accompanying rights and obligations, power and responsibility.
• In order to be able to interact with one another, people need some
way of anticipating other’s behavior. Role performs this function in
the social system.
• A person has roles both on the job and away from it. One person
performs the occupational role of worker, the family role of parent,
the social role of club president, and many others.
• In those various roles, a person is both buyer and seller, supervisor
and subordinate, and giver and seeker of advice. Each role calls for
different types of behavior.
• Within the work environment alone, a worker may have more than
one role, such as a worker in group A, a subordinate to Supervisor
B, a machinist, a member of a union, and a representative on the
safety committee.
ROLE

13. • Activities of managers and workers alike are guided by
their role perceptions, that is, how they think they are
supposed to act in their own roles and how others
should act in their roles.
• Since managers perform many different roles, they must
be highly adaptive (exhibiting role flexibility) in order to
change from one role to another quickly.
• Supervisors especially need to change roles rapidly as
they work with both subordinates and superiors, and
with technical and nontechnical activities.
ROLE PERCEPTIONS

14. When two people, such as a manager and an employee,
interact, each one needs to understand at least 3 role
perceptions.
Manager
Manager’s Perception of
Own Role
Manager’s Perception of
Employee’s Role
Manager’s Perception of
the Manager’s Role as
seen by the Employees
Employee
Employee’s Perception
of Manager’s Role
Employee’s Perception
of Own Role
Employee’s Perception
of the Employee’s Role
as seen by the
Manager
THE COMPLEX WEB OF MANAGER-EMPLOYEE ROLE
PERCEPTIONS

15. • Obviously, one cannot meet the needs of others unless
one can perceive what they expect.
• The key is for both parties to gain accurate role
perceptions for their own roles and for the roles of the
other.
• Reaching such an understanding requires studying the
available job descriptions, as well as opening up lines of
communication to discover the other’s perceptions.
• Unless roles are clarified and agreed upon by both parties,
conflicts will inevitably arise.

16. • A mentor is a role model who guides another employee
(a protégé) by sharing valuable advice on roles to play
and behaviors to avoid.
• Mentors teach, advise, coach, support, encourage,
act as sounding boards, and sponsor their protégés
so as to expedite their career progress.
• The advantages of successful mentoring programs
include stronger employee loyalty, faster movement up
the learning curve, better succession planning
through development of replacements, and increased
level of goal accomplishments.
• Some organizations actually assign protégés to various
mentors, but this practice can create problems of resent
ment, abuse of power, and unwillingness to serve. As a
result, other firms simply encourage employees to seek
out their own mentors.
MENTORS

17. 1. Select more than one mentor. Draw your mentors from your peer
group, higher management levels, or even professional
colleagues outside the organization.
2. Consult them periodically. Discipline yourself to meet with them
at regular intervals.
3. Brief them on your progress, current issues, and problems you
are facing.
4. Seek feedback from them. Inquire how your work is regarded.
Show them samples of your work, and ask for suggestions for
improvement.
5. Share a summary of your own strength and weaknesses, and
your action plan for overcoming your limitations. Compare your
review with their perceptions of your strengths, and probe them
for improvement ideas for the areas where you need work.
6. Ask your mentors to watch for new opportunities opening up that
you might use your skills.
7. Seek their advice on career-building moves that will enhance
your promotability.
Tips for Protégés Using Mentors

18. ROLE CONFLICT VS. ROLE AMBIGUITY
Role Conflict Role Ambiguity
When others have
different perceptions or
expectations of a
person’s role,
that person tends to
experience
role conflict.
Such conflict makes it
difficult to meet one set
of expectations without
rejecting another.
When roles are
inadequately defined or
are substantially unkno
wn, role
ambiguity
exists, because people
are not sure how they
should act in
situations of this type.

19. • When role conflict and role ambiguity exist, job
satisfaction and organizational commitment will
likely decline.
• On the other hand, employees tend to be more satisfied
with their jobs, when their roles are defined by job
descriptions and statements of performance
expectations.
• A better understanding of roles helps people know what
others expect of them and how they should act.
• If any role misunderstanding exists when people
interact, then problems are likely to occur.

20. • Status is the social rank of a person in a group. It is a mark of the
amount of recognition, honor, esteem, and acceptance given to
a person.
• Individuals are bound together in status systems,
or status hierarchies, which define their rank relative to others in the
group.
• If they become seriously upset over their status, they are said to
feel status anxiety.
• Loss of status – sometimes called “losing face” or status
deprivation –is a serious event for most people; it is considered a
much more devastating condition, however, in certain societies.
• People, therefore, become quite responsible in order to protect and
develop their status. Since status is important to people, they will
work hard to earn it. If it can be tied to actions that further
the company’s goals, then employees are strongly motivated to
support their company.
STATUS

21. • High-status people within a group usually have more
power and influence than those with low
status. They also receive more privileges from their group
and tend to participate more in group activities.
• They interact more with their peers than with those of
lower rank.
• Basically, high status give people an opportunity to play
a more important role in an organization.
• As a result, lower-status members tend to feel isolated
from the mainstream and to show more stress symptoms
than higher-ranked members.
• In a work organization, status provides a system by
which people can relate to one another as they
work. Without it, they would tend to be confused and
spend much of their time trying to learn how to
work together.
• Though status can be abused, normally it is beneficial,
because it helps people interact and cooperate with one
another.
STATUS RELATIONSHIPS
Effects
of Status

22. • The status system reaches its ultimate end with status
symbols.
• These are the visible, external things that attach to a
person or workplace and serve as evidence of social
rank.
• They are most in evidence among different levels of
managers, because each successive level usually has
the authority to provide itself with surroundings
just a little different from those of people lower in the
structure.
• Many organizations have a policy that persons of equal
rank in the same department should receive
approximately equal status symbols.
• Managers need to face the fact that status differences
exist and must be managed successfully.
STATUS SYMBOLS

23. STATUS SYMBOLS
• Furniture, such as a mahogany desk or a conference table
• Interior decorations, such as carpeting, and artwork
• Location of workplace, such as a corner office or an office with a window
with a view
• Facilities at workplace, such as a computer terminal or fax machine
• Quality and newness of equipment used, such as a new vehicle or tools
• Type of clothes normally worn, such as a suit
• Privileges given, such as a club membership or company automobile
• Job title or organizational level, such as vice president
• Employees assigned, such as a private secretary
• Degree of financial discretion, such as authorizing up to Tk. 50,000
• Organizational membership, such as a position on the executive committee

24. SOURCES OF STATUS
Status
Education
Job level
Abilities
Job skills
Occupation
Pay
Seniority
Age
Method of
pay
Working
conditions

25. • Status is significant to organizational behavior in several
ways. When employees are consumed by the desire for
status, it often is the source of employee problems and
conflicts that management needs to solve.
• It influences the kinds of transfers that employees will
take, because they don’t want a low-status location or
job assignment.
• It helps determine who will be an informal leader of a
group, and it definitely serves to motivate those seeking
to advance in the organization.
• Some people are status seekers, wanting a job of high
status regardless of other working conditions.
• These people can be encouraged to qualify themselves
for high-status jobs so that they will feel rewarded.
SIGNIFICANCE OF STATUS

26. Organizational Culture
Social
culture
Social culture creates
the wide-ranging
context in which
organizations operate.
It provides the complex
social system of laws,
values, and customs
in which organizational
behavior occurs.
Organizational
culture
Organizational culture is the
set of assumptions, beliefs,
values and norms that are
shared by an organization’s
members.
This culture may have been
consciously created by its
key members, or it may
have simply evolved across
time.

27. • Organizational culture represents a key element of the work environment
in which employees perform their jobs. This idea of organizational culture is
somewhat intangible, for we cannot see it or touch it, but it is present and
pervasive. Like the air in a room, it surrounds and affects everything that
happens in an organization.
• Because it is a dynamic systems concept, culture is also affected by almost
everything that occurs within an organization.
Organizational Culture
Where-
B = Employee behavior;
P = Personal characteristics; and
E =The environment around the person
• Part of that environment is the social culture in which the individual
lives and works, which provides broad clues as to how a person with a
given background will behave.
• Inside the organization lies another powerful force, organizational
culture, for determining individual and group behavior.
).( EPfB 

28. • Organizational cultures are important to a firm’s success for several
reasons.
• They give an organizational identity to employees – a defining
vision of what the organization represents.
• They are also an important source of stability and continuity to the
organization, which provides a sense of security to its members.
• At the same time, knowledge of the organizational culture helps
newer employees interpret what goes on inside the organization, by
providing an important context for events that would otherwise see
m confusing.
• More than anything else, perhaps, cultures help stimulate employee
enthusiasm for their tasks. Culture attracts attention, convey a
vision, and typically honor high-producing and creative individuals
as heroes.
• By recognizing and rewarding these people, organizational cultures
are identifying them as role models to emulate.

29. • Organizations, like fingerprints, are unique. Each has its own
history, patterns of communication, systems and procedures, missio
n statements and visions, stories and myths which, in their
totality, constitute its distinctive culture.
• Cultures are relatively stable in nature, usually changing only
slowly over time.
• Most organizational cultures have historically been implicit rather th
an explicit.
• A final defining characteristic of most cultures is that they are seen
as symbolic representations of underlying beliefs and values.
• Several other dimensions of culture are important to note. For one,
there is no best culture for all firms; culture clearly depends on
the organization’s goals, industry, nature of competition, and other
factors in its environment.
Characteristics of Organizational Culture

30. • Cultures will be more easily recognized when their elements are
generally integrated and consistent with each other; in other words,
they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
• Also, most members must at least accept, if not embrace, the
assumptions and values of the culture.
• Most cultures evolve directly from top management, who can
have a powerful influence on their employees by what they say.
• A culture may exist across an entire organization, or it maybe made
up of various subcultures – the environment within a single
division, branch, plant, or department.
• Finally, cultures have varying strengths – they can be
characterized as relatively strong or weak, depending largely on the
degree of their impact on employee behavior and how widely the
underlying beliefs and values are held.
Characteristics of Organizational Culture

31. • Distinctive
• Stable
• Implicit
• Symbolic
• No one type is best
• Integrated
• Accepted
• A reflection of top
management
• Subcultures
• Of varying strength
Characteristics of Organizational Culture

32. • The effect of organizational culture on employee behavior is difficult
to establish. Some research indicates that there is a positive
relationship between certain organizational cultures and
performance.
• Agreement within an organization on a culture should result in
a larger degree of cooperation, acceptance of decision making and
control, communication, and commitment to the employer.
• Such a result is especially likely when a firm consciously seeks to
create a performance-enhancing culture that removes barriers to
success.
EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE