TOPIC

1 - ORGANISATIONS
GREENWALD H.P 2008 - WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A FORMAL ORGANISATION AND
AN INFORMAL COLLECTIVITY?
CHARACTERISTIC
DEFINITION

ORIGINS AND PATH OF

DEVELOPMENT

PURPOSE/GOALS

BEHAVIOUR

LEADERSHIP

LONGEVITY

FORMAL ORGANISATION

INFORMAL COLLECTIVITY

A formal organisation occurs

where a body of individuals
work under a defined system of
rules, assignments, relationships
and procedures designed to
achieve identifiable goals
Organisations are deliberately
created and require
commitment of resources to
achieve a specific purpose

Informal collectivities are groups

or families, which lack explicit
rules and procedure.

Formal organisations articulate

goals that are definable and
widely recognised. The
presence of these objectives
enables an organisation to
direct resources on these
purposes.
Individuals that belong to
organisations tend to follow a
set pattern of behaviour that is
standardised and coordinated
with those of others, thereby
enabling industrial production
and specialisation.
In formal organisations, people
become leaders through clearly
defined and recognised means.
Leadership of this type is
impersonal, as people obey
directives and instructions due
to authority and job title,
regardless of personal
connection or respect.
Formal organisations have a
longer life span, as they are well
adapted to recruit new people
to replace individuals who exit
the organisation. Individuals
beginning work in organisations
often perform similar activities to
their predecessors, and
therefore organisations can be
seen to have perpetual life.

Groups develop spontaneously

and are not designed to serve
specific goals, thereby allowing
them to be more responsive and
flexible
The goals of informal
collectivities tend to be mixed,
as they attempt to
accommodate the multiple
needs of its diverse members

The behaviour of individuals

from informal collectivities is
more flexible as they correspond
to the needs and capacities of
members over time.

In informal collectivities, leaders

are selected through more
personal means such as
personal affection or loyalty.
However, as conditions of the
group change, leaders are also
subject to change.

Informal collectivities have a

relatively shorter lifespan as they
only serve emotional and
recreational needs, and
therefore dissolve as members
move to a new stage of life, or
require change.

WHAT ARE THE SIMILARTIES OF INFORMAL COLLECTIVITIES AND FORMAL ORGANISATIONS

I.C and Org. share several core features; although these may be developed, expressed and experienced in
different ways

A FEELING OF PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION BY MEMBERS

PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION: a process by which people come to believe that the collectivity reflects their
most prized beliefs about themselves
They share the values, objectives, tastes of others within the collectivity, and believe the collectivitys
actions benefit them

A SENSE OF SOLIDARITY WITHIN THE GROUP AS A WHOLE

SOLIDARITY indicates a sense of mutual commitment and support among members of organisations and
groups
Support may take an emotional form or a material nature (EG: lending each other money)
SOLIDARITY means one for all and all for one

MAINTENANCE OF BOUNDARIES BETWEEN MEMBERS AND NONMEMBERS

BOUNDARY MAINTENANCE signifies the placement of boundaries between people who are in the
collectivity and people who are not
Group members may develop a common jargon or a stock of in-jokes that are meaningless to
others
Invite each other to gatherings that are closed to outsiders
It is likely that no formal organisation exists anywhere in which informal social interaction is absent.

BOLMAN AND DEAL 2003 BOLMAN AND DEAL IDENTIFY THREE COMMON FALLACIES USED
WHEN TRYING TO UNDERSTAND ISSUES IN ORGANISATIONS. WHAT ARE THE THREE FALLACIES?
AND WHAT PROBLEMS CAN ARISE FROM THEIR USE?
THREE COMMON FALLACIES USED WHEN TRYING TO UNDERSTAND ISSUES IN ORGANISATIONS:
1. BLAMING PEOPLE
2. BLAMING THE BUREAUCRACY
3. THIRST FOR POWER
While these fallacies are based on partial truth, they often oversimplify a complicated reality, leading to
false sense of clarity and therefore create problems.

1. BLAMING PEOPLE

While blaming people resolves ambiguity, it blinds managers from the larger issue of system failures
and weaknesses
Often has minimal impact to prevent reoccurrence.

2. BLAMING THE BUREAUCRACY

Blaming the bureaucracy is seemingly reasonable as organisations are most effective with clear
goals, job descriptions, procedures and rational employees.
However, managers do not often face rational problems, and irrational issues cannot be resolved
through rational means.

3. THIRST FOR POWER

Thirst for power within organisations is derived from conflicting motives, and interests.
As a result, political agendas and turf wars often become a barrier for an organisation to achieve a
cohesive and common goal as individuals view others as predators and prey

TOPIC 2 WHAT IS MANAGEMENT?

SUMMARISE CUNLIFFES ARGUMENT.

But there are two ends of the manage spectrum.Managing and management. Managing is a way of
being and relating a continually emerging, embodied practice. Management is a series of disembodied
activities. And balancing the two, I believe is critical: just as it is in the implementation of any philosophy,
system or habit. A leader can spend two much time on facts and details, concrete steps of implementation,
HR policies and procedures and the like. A leader can also overly focus on being philosophic- to the
neglect of proven leadership tools, principles and techniques as taught by the likes of Peter Drucker and
Henry Mintzberg. So maintaining a balance is important. CUNLIFFE 2001
Cunliffes states that there are two ends of the manage spectrum.... That is, managing and
management.
MANAGING: is a way of being the way managers react in different and uncertain situations
This aspect of management is ever-changing and is an embodied practice
This end of the manage spectrum relies on a managers instincts to resolve every day situations
MANAGEMENT: a system of activities which have been proven to work under theoretical situations.
CUNLIFFE argues that a balance between the two is crucial.
Too much time focusing on the facts and concrete strategies may lead to rigidity in management
practice, making it difficult for managers to embrace change and be proactive, while a manager
who is too philosophic may overlook fundamental and proven leadership principles and techniques,
and therefore repeat mistakes and failures committed by previous managers
A balance between the two management spectrum proves important in developing a
management style

TOPIC 3: ATTITUDES, PERCEPTION AND PERSONALITY

KULIK ET AL (1987)- EXPLAIN IN DETAIL THE MECHANISM BY WHICH JOB CHARACTERISTICS
INFLUENCE EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES. ADDITIONALLY, IF YOU INCREASED THE EMPLOYEES SKILL
VARIETY IN HIS OR HER JOB, WHAT EFFECT WOULD IT HAVE ON HIS OR HER KNOWLEDGE OF THE
ACTUAL RESULTS OF THE WORK ACTIVITIES?
Job characteristics influence employee outcomes as depicted by the job characteristics theory- the model
of person-environment fit which focuses on matching the characteristics of jobs to the abilities and needs of
jobholders. The characteristics of a job, including skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and
job feedback provide motivation in a job. These characteristics, matched with people who are
knowledgeable and skilled in the industry result in satisfied, motivated and highly effective and efficient
employees. These job characteristics bring about the 3 psychological states which drives employees to
perform to a high level. They are internal motivation, growth satisfaction and general job satisfaction. These
factors create efficient and effective employees, leading to the success of an organisation
If you increased the employees skill variety in the job, this would increase motivation in the employee as
they are not performing routine and repeated tasks, but rather, they are engaged in a dynamic
environment. However, if the employee does not have the sufficient knowledge and skill to perform the vast
variety of jobs well, this may lead to dissatisfaction, discouragement and a negative psychological state, as
they are unable to perform the task which they value, well. They would also lack specialization in specific
areas of the job as they are less able to focus on single tasks.
Only people who are sufficiently competent to perform the work, desirous of growth satisfactions at work
and relatively satisfied with the work context are predicted to prosper on work that is high in motivating
potential

Individuals who have low growth needs, are dissatisfied with work context, or have inadequate knowledge
and skills will not experience the positive outcomes predicted by job characteristics theory.
JOB CHARACTERISTICS THEORY: conceptualised as a model of person-environment fit which focuses on
matching the characteristics of jobs to the abilities and needs of jobholders
Specifies the task conditions under which individuals are predicted to prosper in their work
Person- job congruence
Generally, conditions of fit between the person and the environment are predicted to result in high
performance, satisfaction and low stress
A lack of fit is likely to result in decreased performance, dissatisfaction and high stress

FORMS OF PERSON-ENVIRONMENT FIT

1. Fit between persons needs and values, and the opportunities provided by the environment in which
he or she operates
2. There is the fit between the demands of the environment and the abilities of the person to meet
those demands
An individual may respond to a perceived person-environment misfit either by acting on the environment
characteristics (environmental mastery) or by changing his or her own characteristics (adaptation)
Movement toward closer person-environment fit may be initiatied by the environment. (Change in
environment)

JOB CHARACTERISTICS THEORY PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES

An individual must experience all three of the psychological states if desirable outcomes are to emerge
1. EXPERIENCE THE WORK AS MANINGFUL they must feel worthwhile, valuable
2. EXPERIENCE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR WORK OUTCOMES- feel accountable
3. KNOWLEDGE OF THE RESULTS OF HIS OR HER WORK understand on a continuous basis how
effectively he or she is performing the job
If any of these 3 states is not present, motivation and satisfaction will be attenuated

WHEN THESE STATES ARE PRESENT

1. INTERNAL MOTIVATION: exists when good performance is an occasion for self-reward and poor
performance prompts unhappy feelings
2. GROWTH SATISFACTION: a feeling that one is learning and growing personally or professionally at
work
3. JOB SATISFACTION
4. WORK EFFECTIVENESS

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JOB THAT ARE POWERFUL IN INFLUENCING THE

EXPERIENCED MEANINGFULNESS OF WORK
1. SKILL VARIETY: the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities in carrying out the
work, involving the use of a number of different skills and talents for the person
2. TASK IDENTITY the degree to which the job requires completion of a whole, identifiable piece of
work doing a job from beginning to end with a visible outcome
3. TASK SIGNIFICIANCE the degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives of other
people, whether those people are in the immediate organisations or in the world at large
AUTONOMY: the degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to
the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out
JOB FEEDBACK: the degree to which carrying out the work activities requires by the job provides the
individual with direct and clean information about the effectiveness of their performance
*A job high in motivating potential must be high on at least one of the three characteristics that prompt
experienced meaningfulness and high on both autonomy and job feedback as well, thereby creating
conditions that foster all three of the critical psychological states

When a job is low in motivating potential, it does not offer an opportunity for the three psychological states
to be experienced at work

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JOBHOLDER

1. EMPLOYEES MUST HAVE SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL TO PERFORM THE WORK EFFECTIVELY
Employees with sufficient knowledge and skill to perform well will experience positive
feelings as a result of their work activities
However, when individuals with inadequate knowledge and skill work on a highly
motivating job they are likely to experience frustration and at work because the job is
important to them and yet they are unable to perform it effectively begin to withdraw
2. PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS
People with strong needs for personal growth and self-direction at work are most likely to
appreciate and respond enthusiastically to the opportunities for personal
accomplishment
3. SATISFACTION WITH ASPECTS OF THE WORK CONTEXT
EG: pay, job security, co-workers, managers
When employees are not satisfied with one of more of these contextual factors, their
ability to respond positively to a job high in motivating potential may be severely
diminished
Active dissatisfaction with such contextual factors distracts jobholders attention from the
work itself

TOPIC 4: COMMUNICATION
TEMPORAL SCOPE: the extent to which teams have pasts together and expect to have futures
Key defining feature of teams
FUTURE TEAMS: have little experience as intact teams but anticipate an extended future with fellow team
members (EG: A newly formed project team)
PAST TEAMS: have numerous past experiences with fellow team members, yet anticipate little future
interaction with those members (EG: Project teams nearing the completion of a project)
TEMPORARY TEAMS: temporary in nature, wherein members have no prior experience and expect no future
interaction (EG: Temporary ad hoc teams)
VIRTUAL TEAMS: meet through electronic media

TERMPORALITY IN VIRTUAL TEAMS

Virtual teams might vary according to the extent that their communication is synchronous versus
asynchronous or collated in time
Social/contextual factors affect how team members perceive and use communication media
Experience can enable virtual teams to overcome the limitations of electronic media, such as
nonverbal cues available in face-to-face teams
Channel expansion theory suggests that communication media will provide opportunities for more
meaningful communication as communication partners gain knowledge-building-experience with
the media, the task, the context and each other
These knowledge-building experiences narrow the differences between face-to-face and
computer-mediated communication by enriching the lean electronic media
Temporal scope matters only if it alters the way that teams utilise media and that utilization affects
team processes and performance

PAST TEAMS: SHARED KNOWLEDGE-BUILDING EXPERIENCES

Able to communicate more effectively than ad hoc teams who have no prior history and do not
perceive opportunities for future interaction
Experience expands a teams capacity for effective communication by ensuring that members
have similar understanding of technology, task execution, team interaction and member
knowledge, skills and abilities

Knowledge about members personalities, abilities and behavioural tendencies enable teams to
efficiently allocate resources, assign roles and anticipate the actions of team members
Experienced teams are more likely to have a shared vision of objectives and plans, exhibit greater
coordination and teamwork and make more accurate decisions
Enhanced openness/trust and team-member exchange
Number of ideas shared may be reduced in past teams without compromising understanding
Across communication media, past teams will exhibit higher openness/trust and TMX while sharing
les information than ad hoc teams

FUTURE TEAMS: ANTICIPATED KNOWLEDGE-BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES

Likely to exhibit more effective communication than teams without a future (particularly ad hoc)
because future teams will likely be motivated to engage in good faith initial interaction with team
members are they look forward to future knowledge-building opportunities
Motivated to seek information about others in order to reduce uncertainty and experience comfort
actively engage in information-seeking strategies, including self-disclosure and information
sharing, than do others interacting with familiar partners
Team members are more likely to be cooperative and friendlier to one another when they
anticipate a future together
Future teams will exhibit higher openness/trust and TMX compared to ad hoc teams, and share more
information than both ad hoc and past teams

TEMPORAL SCOPE AND MEDIA DIFFERENCES

Ad-hoc virtual teams are typically more task focused, impersonal, uninhibited and antisocial
Face-to-face teams tend to exhibit more positive socio-emotional reactions a finding attributed to
the greater social presence and cues available to in face-to-face teams
For past teams, media differences may diminish as knowledge building experiences will enable
past teams to overcome limitations inherent in the media, leading teams communicating through
electronic media to approach the levels of effectiveness found in face-to-face teams
In future teams, the prospect of knowledge-building opportunities should heighten team motivation
to communicate effectively. However, absent knowledge-building experience may cause the
media differences to persist
Ad hoc teams will exhibit a greater degree of openness/trust, TMX and information sharing when
interacting face-to-face than in virtual computer-mediated medium, but these media differences
will diminish for past teams

COMMUNICATION AND TEAM DECISION-MAKING EFFECTIVENESS

The impact of teams interaction processes on effectiveness may depend on task interdependence
the extent to which team members are dependent upon each other to get tasks accomplished
When interdependence is high, teams must coordinate to be successful; communication media can
affect a teams ability to coordinate
Communication effectiveness may positively relate to decision- making effectiveness on high
coordination tasks, but be unrelated to decision-making effectiveness on low coordination tasks
Tasks requiring groups to generate ideas, may only require the transmission of specific ideas,
evaluative and emotional connotations about messages and source are not required and are often
considered a hindrance
Tasks requiring groups to negotiate and resolve conflicts may require the transmission of maximally
rich information, including not only facts, but also values, attitudes and affective messages,
expectations, commitments and so on
The relationship between communication effectiveness and decision-making effectiveness is
moderated by task interdependence
Openness/trust, TMX and information sharing will be positively associated with decision-making
effectiveness when task interdependence is high and will be unrelated to decision-making
effectiveness when task interdependence is low

DISCUSSION

Organisations increasingly utilise communication technologies that enable teams to communicate

in virtual, non-traditional ways
Teams without knowledge-building experience communicating face-to-face reported higher
openness/trust and shared more unique information than virtual teams communicating through a
synchronous computer-mediated medium

However, these differences did not extend to past teams with knowledge-building experiences
virtual teams were able to communicate as effectively as face-to-face teams. However, face-toface teams exhibited higher TMX than ad hoc teams

TOPIC 5: UNDERSTANDING GROUPS AND TEAMS

Conflict is inevitable because people have different backgrounds, experiences, values,

personalities and ideas that cannot help but influence the way that members interact with
each other
Sometimes conflict benefits groups (functional) providing new information and helping
members to see new ways of thinking about their work makes team more creative and
group more committed to group decisions and therefore more satisfied
May be viewed as a personal attack, personality clash even when it benefits the quality of a
groups decision making
The challenge for team leaders is therefore, to exercise power in a way that promotes the
potential information-processing benefits of conflict while minimising the relationship risks
associated with expressions of power to resolve conflict
Leaders are more likely to lead their groups to better performance with indirect expressions of
power such as managing group process rather than outcomes, because indirect expressions
of power are both less likely to elicit reactance on the part of the team members and more
likely to create sense of psychological safety between leaders and followers
Intragroup conflict leads to hurt feelings for those directly involved, creates tension for others in
the group and distracts everyone from the work at hand
By smothering or ignoring conflict, managers ignore a key resource available to the team for
making good decisions the ideas, information and judgments of its members, each of whom
has a different contribution to make to group decisions

ADVANTAGES OF CONFLICT:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Make group members more creative

Make group members more committed to group decisions
More member satisfaction
More knowledgeable about one another and their interests
Achieve higher levels of performance, particularly in complex decision-making tasks

Realising these outcomes requires that conflicts be carefully managed

Conflicts causes problems when it becomes interpersonal disrupts cohesion and trust
amongst team members
The power the leader has over the group, and the way in which this power is exercised,
influences the effectiveness of group conflict
When leaders are heavy-handed in exercising their power over the group, this can lead group
members to react with increased conflict with the leader, and create a lack of psychological
safety that more broadly disrupts group outcomes

SOURCE OF CONFLICTS
1. Differences in information between group members, based on their experiences, backgrounds and
skills
2. Differences in interests that require team members to compete for the same scarce resources
3. Result in underlying differences in values

TYPES OF CONFLICT
1. TASK BASED CONFLICT:
Disagreement over ideas or opinions that are related directly to the content of the task or decision
at hand
Can improve decision-making ability and creativity of group members

 Become exposed to new ways of thinking and new perspectives from which to view decisions
2. RELATIONSHIP CONFLICT:
A reflection of interpersonal differences of incompatibilities, and results in negative affect in the
group anger, frustration or annoyance directed at another individual in the group
Produces tension, frustration which interfere with group processes, which disrupts interpersonal
relationships between group members and diverts attention away from the task
3. PROCESS CONFLICT:
When groups disagree over how the task should be accomplished or the processes surrounding how
the group should work together to accomplish the task goal

MATCHING SOURCES AND TYPES OF CONFLICT

Different sources of conflict are likely to result in different types of conflict and thus need to be managed by
leaders in different ways
Differences in information task conflict
o Can be resolved by sharing information with one another with minimal amounts of emotional
involvement
Differences in interest and values relationship conflict
o At least one person must compromise on his or her goals and subordinate his or her goals the
interest of others, which may provoke process conflict, where allocation of resources can be
agreed amicably only if members first agree on a fair process
o Differences in values are likely to be high in emotion, fraught with potential to become
personalized and potentially toxic for groups to handle

EXERCISE OF POWER IN CONFLICT

Exercising power to alleviate conflict poses dilemmas for leaders, since the use of direct power can
also exacerbate conflict
o By creating negative feelings toward the leader
o By causing people to temporarily hide their true opinions
o By disruption group cohesion

3 STRATEGIES FOR LEADERS TO LEVERAGE POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND MINIMIZE THE

RISKS OF INTRAGROUP CONFLICT
STRUCTURING THE GROUP
Creating or altering group structure
Compose the group and group processes as they see fit
Structural solutions for leading groups through conflict deal with ways in which the group can be
composed to run in order to minimize the degree of relationship conflict and to maximise the useful
aspects of task-related conflict
Used to align group members underlying interests and to facilitate agreement
Task can be designed to create interdependence between group members
Groups high in information diversity have been found to have higher levels of performance
DIRECTING AN INCLUSIVE GROUP PROCESS
Leaders who dictate the group processes rather than dictate the outcome for the group are
actually associated with more positive group interactions
Persuades the group, rather than direct the group
Group leaders should encourage members to discuss all possible alternatives, should be good
listeners and should respect the concerns and feelings of group members
Leaders who direct the process of the group in this open-minded manner are likely to facilitate the
emergence of task conflict in such a way that the group can integrate differing points of view and
share information, and thus benefit from the experience
MANAGING THE EXTERNAL BOUNDARIES
The external environment is both a source of information that can and often should inform group
decisions, as well as the setting in which the groups performance will be evaluated
Draw out task conflict and minimize relationship conflict
Negative feedback reduces group efficacy and threatens group cohesion, and increases
interpersonal tension

Leaders therefore should provide a filtered amount of feedback about group performance; enough
to promote some degree of task conflict but not so much as to promote relationship conflict

TOPIC 6: THE ORGANISATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

AND ORGANISATION CHANGE
1. Cultures offer an interpretation of an institutions history that members can use to decipher how they
will be expected to behave in the future
2. Cultures can generate commitment to corporate values or management philosophy so that
employees feel they are working for something they believe in
3. Cultures serve as organisational control mechanisms, informally approving of prohibiting some
patterns of behaviour
4. There is the possibility that some types of organisational cultures and associated with greater
productivity and profitability

ASSUMPTIONS
1. The perspective of the organisations top management is assumed because the functions studied
service to transmit top managements interpretations of the meaning of events throughout the
organisation, they generate commitment to their practices and policies, they help them control
behaviour in accordance with their objectives
2. The functions of culture are portrayed as integrative, unifying and diverse elements of an
organisation
3. Organisational culture is treated as a monolithic phenomenon one culture to a setting
Culture can be managed by using direct intentional actions not unlike those used in other management
tasks

THREE LEVELS OF CULTURE

-

Basic assumptions
Values
Ideology
Artifacts (such as special jargon, stories, rituals, dress and dcor)

TOPIC 7: POWER AND CONFLICT

INTRODUCTION
The classical factors of production land, labour and capital- have become secondary to knowledge as the
primary resource for the new economy.

Value added in most businesses today is in the form of knowledge, not stuff
Organisational knowledge is becoming the true source of competitive advantage
Organisations that are unable to engage individual employees in sharing and exploiting tacit
knowledge place themselves at long-term competitive risk
Actively managing knowledge relies on individuals effort and co-operation, so the new model of
knowledge management is about personal relevance
Managerial success and subsequent organisational advancement is determined by how power is
perceived, but occasionally it is recognised that power has been, and still is, a negative force in many
organisations

CREDIBILITY AND THE CONCEPT OF MANAGERIAL POWER

Influence is a function of power without the use of actual or threatened sanctions

Influence relates to respect we comply with others wishes when we respect them, honour them,
and admire them
Power is defined as the ability of one individual, to influence another individual to do something that
it would have not otherwise done
Power is defined as the ability of the management to influence behaviour, intentions, attitudes,
beliefs, emotions or values of subordinates
Power is acknowledged in the management literature as being the persuasive part of the fabric of
organisational life, and the bases of power are often employed by management to influence the
behaviour of organisational life
Individual perceptions of approachability, trustworthiness, and credibility mediated knowledge
importing and knowledge sharing activities
Dimension of credibility is predictive variable of knowledge acquisition attributes

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION ATTRIBUTES:

Knowledge is about internal meaning structures in peoples minds

Transferring knowledge from one person to another requires that tacit knowledge be converted in
explicit knowledge through sharing experience, dialogue discussions, know-how exteriorisation and
teaching
Tacit knowledge is also transmitted and learned directly as tacit knowledge through observation
and practice

BEHAVIOURAL SKILLS AND TRAITS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL FOR KNOWLEDGE

ACQUSITION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Communication/ problem understanding

Personal traits
Control
Organisation
Negotiation
Liberal arts
Non-verbal communication

These behavioural skills and traits evolve out of the context of history of the organisation and their impact is
conditioned by the subjective perceptions
Like influence, power involves human relationships among leaders and employees

CONCLUSIONS

Expert power has a significant impact on the majority of knowledge acquisition attributes
Coercive and referent powers are more likely to negatively influence employees knowledge
acquisition and knowledge sharing
Management dimension of credibility has a positive and significant impact on the knowledge
acquisition attributes of control and negotiation
Self-management kind of leadership and the credibility of the leader encourages and facilitates the
behavioural skills and traits of KWs that are essential to knowledge acquisition and knowledge
sharing
It is therefore, the credibility and integrity of the leader and the self-management leadership style
that has clear vision and conscious knowledge strategy if the enterprise is to take advantage of the
available knowledge in impacting efficiency, effectiveness, productivity and competitive position
Organisations can only strive to provide the extension knowledge acquisition and knowledge
sharing
Managers and leaders must act with integrity, speak from a strong base on knowledge, and deliver
messages with confidence and enthusiasm if they wish to translate their words into a knowledge
organisation

TOPIC 8: LEADERSHIP
CONSIDERATION: the degree to which a leader shows concern and respect for followers, looks out for their
welfare and expresses appreciation and support
INITIATING STRUCTURE: is the degree to which a leader defines and organises his role and the roles of
followers, is oriented toward goal attainment and establishes well-defined patterns and channels of
communication
The relative importance of specific forms of Consideration and Initiating structure varies from situation to
situation. These situational moderators include:
Subordinate factors: EG: Follower job knowledge
Supervisor factors: EG: Upward influence
Task factors: EG: Autonomy
Path-goal theory was based on the premise that factors moderate and mediate the effect of Consideration
and Structure on outcomes
Consideration exhibited stronger relationships with the criteria than did initiating structure.
Consideration exhibited strong relationship with follower satisfaction
Initiating Structure did have slightly stronger relations with group-organisation performance
Consideration was linked to leader job performance and group-organisation performance
Initiating structure was linked to leader satisfaction
Both behaviours were linked to follower motivation and leader effectiveness, with Consideration
being more important
The validity of Consideration was significantly stronger
Higher social desirably component to Consideration
Consideration and initiating structure have important main effects on numerous criteria that are
fundamental indicators of effective leadership

CRITICISMS OF THE BEHAVIOUR APPROACHES OF OHIO STATE STUDY

Consideration and Structure has been criticised both on methodological and conceptual grounds
Questions were raised about generality of the validities and the natures of the measures themselves;
many may feel that these questions were never answered satisfactorily
Validities of Consideration and Initiating Structure were curvilinear, such that there are diminishing
returns to the increased use of consideration and structure on the part of the leader

TOPIC 9: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
Tall and flat organisation structures were tested for their effects on group performance
Comparisons of performance on the time taken to complete decisions showed no significant
difference between tall and flat organisation structures
Groups under the tall structure showed significantly better performance than groups under the flat
structure tall structure, with a greater number of levels, allowed group members to evaluate
decisions more frequently, and that the narrow span of supervision provided for a more orderly
decision process

Principle of Span of control a mans available energy, knowledge, time and abilities are confined to
narrow limits, h is unable to supervise the work of more than a few subordinates successfully

However, critics have argued that when the number of subordinates assigned to an executive is
limited to is very few leads to a tall organisation by increasing the number of supervisory levels and
supervisors increases costs and communication problems

TALL STRUCTURE

FLAT STRUCTURE

Better at producing security and satisfaction

of social needs
Communication in a tall organisation is
subject to different interpretation at each
level likelihood of distortion/ filtering
Longer to process information
Many levels of supervision in an organisation
dilute the influence of the most senior
executive
Demoralising effect on those at the bottom
Superior on profits and rate of return on
revenues (Greater number of levels in the tall
structure provided for more frequent
evaluation of decisions and better
performance on these two variables

Better for self-actualisation

Took more time to resolve conflicts and
coordinate efforts

TOPIC 10: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Over the past years, there has been increased recognition that there is a need to match the characteristics
of top managers with the nature of the business
Particular manager characteristics such as personality, skills, abilities, values and perspectives are matched
with particular types of business strategies
EG: When a business is pursuing a growth strategy, it needs top managers who are likely to abandon
the status quo and adapt their strategies and goals to the market place usually done through
external recruitment
Outsiders are not always helpful EG: when a business is pursuing a mature strategy, a stable group
of insiders who know the intricacies of the business is appropriate
Managers are capable of exhibiting a wide range of behaviour, and all that is needed is to match
compensation and performance appraisal practices with the nature of the business

COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES
STRATEGIC INITIATIVE: ability to capture control of strategic behaviour in the industries in which a firm
competes
To the extent one company gains the initiative, competitors are obliged to respond and thereby
play a REACTIVE rather than PROACTIVE role
To the extent a firm gains an advantage difficult for competitors to remove, it stays in control longer
and therefore should be more effective

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE STRATEGIES

1. INNOVATION: Used to develop products or services different from those of competitors
2. QUALITY ENHANCEMENT: Enhancing product quality is the primary focus
3. COST REDUCTION: being the lowest cost producer pass this on to customers in the form of lower
prices

EMPLOYEE ROLE BEHAVIOURS FOR COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES

Highly repetitive, predictable behaviour
Very short term focus
Highly cooperative, interdependent behaviour
Very low concern for quality
Very low concern for quantity
Very low risk taking
Very high concern for process
High preference to avoid responsibility
Very inflexible to change
Very comfortable with stability
Narrow skill application
Low job (firm) involvement

Highly creative, innovative behaviour

Very long term behaviour
Highly independent, autonomous behaviour
Very high concern for quality
Very high concern for quantity
Very high risk taking
Very high concern for results
High preference to assume responsibility
Very flexible to change
Very tolerant of ambiguity and unpredictability
Broad skill application
High job (firm) involvement

INNOVATION STRATEGY AND NEEDED ROLE BEHAVIOURS

Innovation may originate as a deliberate and official decision of the highest levels of management
or there may be a more-or-less spontaneous creation of mid-level people who take the initiative to
solve a problem in new ways or to develop a proposal for change
Therefore, management needs:
o A high degree of creative behaviour
o A longer-term focus
o A relatively high level of cooperative, interdependent behaviour
o A moderate degree of concern for quality
o A moderate concern for quantity
o An equal degree of concern for process and results
o A greater degree to risk taking
o High tolerance of ambiguity and unpredictability

The innovation strategy has significant implications for HRM. Rather than emphasising management people
so they work HARDER (cost reduction strategy) or SMARTER (Quality strategy) on the same products or
services, the innovation strategy requires people to work DIFFERENTLY

QUALITY-ENHANCEMENT STRATEGY AND NEEDED ROLE BEHAVIOURS

Quality improvement means changing the processes of production in ways that require works to be more
involved and more flexible
Management needs:
o Relatively repetitive and predictable behaviours
o Long term or intermediate focus
o Modest amount of cooperative interdependent behaviour
o High concern for quality
o Modest concern for quantity
o High concern for process
o Low risk-taking activities
o Commitment to the goals of the organisation

COST-REDUCTION STRATEGY AND NEEDED ROLE BEHAVIOURS

Often, characteristics of a firm pursuing the cost-reduction strategy are tight controls, overhead
minimization and pursuit of economies of scale increase productivity (output cost per person)
Management needs:
o Relatively repetitive and predictable behaviours
o A rather short-term focus
o Primarily autonomous or individual activity
o Modest concern for quality
o High concern for quantity of output

o
o
o

Primary concern for results

Low risk-taking activity
Relatively high degree of comfort with stability

Cost reduction can also be pursued through increased use of part time employees, subcontractors, work
simplification and measurement procedures, automation, work rule changes, and job assignment flexibility

TYPOLOGY OF HRM PRACTICES (MENUS)

1. RECRUITMENT
Internal/External
2. CAREER PATHS
Decide whether to establish broad of narrow career paths for its employees
The broader the paths, the greater the opportunity for employees to acquire skills that are relevant
to many functional areas and to gain exposure and visibility within the firm
3. PROMOTIONS
Whether to establish promotion ladders
Enlarges the opportunities for employees to be promoted and yet stay within a given technical
speciality without having to assume managerial responsibilities
The more explicit the criteria, the less adaptable the promotion system is to exceptions and
changing circumstances what the firm loses in flexibility, the employee may gain in clarity
The more implicit the criteria, the greater the flexibility to move employees around to develop them
more broadly
4. SOCIALISATION
With minimal socialization, firms convey few informal rules and establish new procedures to immerse
employees in the culture and practices of the organisation cheaper
More socialization increases psychological attachment and commitment by the employee to the
firm
5. OPENNESS
The more open the procedures, the more likely there is to be job posting for internal recruitment and
self-nomination for promotion
To facilitate a policy of openness, firms need to make the relevant information available to
employees

WHICH COMPETITIVE STRATEGY IS BEST?

Depends on several factors:
Consumer wants
Nature of competition
External conditions

TOPIC 11: ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSBILITY

Organisations that commit to CSR typically adopt sustainable development goals that take account
of economic social and environmental impacts in the way they operate
If a firm projects itself as being socially responsible, and avoids embarrassing exposures of
malpractice, it can deepen and strengthen its reputational capital and pre-empt two forms of risk
Avoids short-term reputational risk related to exposure of a firms malpractice which often carries
financial sanctions

Green stakeholders, from concerned individuals, activist stakeholders, through to green

organisations in civil society or non-market based organisations such as Greenpeace can play a
key role in shaping the green agenda for organisations

NGOs

Encourage firm-level actions to avoid CSR problems

Consistently communicate messages regarding CSR in a firm-level fashion rather than in terms of an
industry as a whole
NGOs should lobby those dominant firms which have show no commitment to CSR policies to use
their global supply chains and contractual relationships to enforce socially responsible practices on
junior industry partners

ETHICAL RULES FOR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSBILITY

CODES OF CONDUCT: set of rules that organisations adopt; adhering to this set of rules should then ensure
ethical conduct
Alienates individuals from exercising moral responsibility
When codes are seen as an iron law, then trouble is at hand
Rules are designed to anaesthetize individuals from moral obligations by locating responsibilities only
within an institutional domain
Codes of conduct rarely assure that stated goals are achieved
In search for legitimacy, organisations use codes of conducts as standards to justify what they do

CORPORATE GREENING
CORPORATE GREENING: a process that involves trying to adopt green principles and practices in as many
facets of the business as it is possible to do so
Sustainable production is equivalent to more efficient production
Inputs that are not wasted and processes that do not provide outputs that have to be scrapped are
both ecologically and economically rational
Corporate greening could involve green production that uses less energy, green materials that
recycle and aim for zero waste, green transportation
Marketing could point to the green benefits of the product and the processes taken to produce it,
and not be wasteful of paper or other resources
Could report the widespread use of environmental management systems and standards to structure
organisational processes and behaviour and the use of green accounting standards that as a part
of their triple bottom line report on the environmental impact of the company or organisation

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF GOING GREEN?

Tight regulatory regime limiting the opportunities for businesses simply to dump their externalities in
an environment

LEARNING TO BE GREEN
Organisations cannot be green if those within them do not adopt green behaviours across the board
Turning off the lights, turning down the heater, using windows to cool a room, walking or cycling to
work small things make a big difference
LEARNING TO BE GREEN: We can learn to be green and the organisations we work for can be crucibles for
green learning

1. LIFELONG LEARNING: ensuring that the organisation really is a learning organisation, constantly trying
to find not only new ways of doing the same things better (single loop learning) but also new things
to do in innovative ways (double loop learning)
2. DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS: helping organisation members gain confidence in critical
reflection on existing ways of doing things and encouraging them to voice their opinions as to how
things might be done better, developing future-oriented scenarios that are more sustainable
3. BUILDING CITIZENSHIP CAPABILITIES: encouraging employees to think not just as employees in terms
of the firm benefit but as concerned citizens desirous of reducing the overall ecological footprint of
not only the organisations they work for and with, but also the impact that they make in their daily
lives
4. FOSTERING ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY: encouraging people to learn about specific environmental
problems and solutions, their causes, consequences and connectedness
5. NATURING ECOLOGICAL WISDOM: sharing an eco-centered understanding of the web of life
Three things need to come together to build green learning in organisations: the creation of a public
sphere; the development of communicative rationality, and discursive design.
There are no simple or easy recipes telling managers how to manage ethically they have to be acutely
aware of the necessity to manage ethics in practice
Managing ethics implies dealing with paradoxes, ambiguities, and trade-offs rather than being a simple
and easy matter of applying clear rules to identifiable cases

TOPIC 12: MANAGERIAL SKILLS

Managerial skills important in the 1980s are relevant today
However, the importance of relationships , administrative/organisational ability and time management
shifted over the last 15 years
In order for mangers to be effective, they must have a clear understanding of whether different skills are
important in their managerial role

THE CHANGING WORLD OF WORK

Organisations exist in different environmental context than 15 years ago

Due to improved technology such as email and internet, changes have occurred in the way
managers and co-workers interact
Flexible work patterns and the ability to work in geographically dispersed teams is now a common
reality in the workplace
Teams are becoming more global or virtual in nature

These changes have cultivated the need for:

Better COMMUNICATION and coordination
Improved performance
TEAM monitoring
More INTERDEPENDENCE and trust
Awareness for different cultures and attention to multiculturalism and globalisation