Key areas to study for OB:

• Organizational Culture
• Organizational Structure
• Managing Change
• Managing Teams
• Motivation
• Power, Politics, and Influences
• Social Networks
• Leadership
Organizational Culture:

• What is Organizational Culture?

o Definition: a system of shared meaning held by members that
distinguishes the organization from other organizations

• Types of Culture
o Dominant Culture, Subcultures
o Strong Culture (core values intensely held) vs. Weak Culture
o 3 layers of Organizational Culture:
 Values and Culture: espoused values, enacted values,
core values, dominant culture, subcultures, strong
cultures
 Attitudes: cognitive, affective, behavioral
 Norms: performance norms, appearance norms, social
arrangement norms, allocation of resources norms
 Artifacts: physical structures, symbols and slogans,
language etc.
o Types: clan culture and entrepreneurial culture (flexible),
bureaucratic, market culture (stable)

• What do cultures do?

o Boundary defining role
o Sense of Identity
o Generation of Commitment
o Enhances stability
o Control mechanism
o Creates resistance to change
o Acts as a barrier to diversity

• How is Organizational Culture Created/Maintained?

o Founder, Leader
o Selecting/Retaining employees who fit culture
o Socialization of Employees

• How Employees Learn Culture

o Stories
o Rituals
o Material Symbols
o Language
Organizational Structure

• What is Organizational Structure?

o Definition: defines how job tasks are formally divided,
grouped, coordinated
o Criteria for effectiveness
 Goal accomplishment
 Internal processes (smooth, cost efficient)
 Resource acquisition
 Strategic constituencies (customers, owners, employees,
partners)

• Principles of Organizational Structure and Design

o Six key elements:
 Work Specialization (division of labor etc.)
 Departmentalization
 Chain of Command (unbroken line of authority from top)
 Span of Control (number of individuals manager
supervises)
 Centralization and Decentralization (decision making
centralized)
 Formalization (rules and regulations)

• Types of Organizational Structure (mechanistic vs. organic)

o Bureaucratic Structure (high routine, specialization,
formalization)
o Functional Structure (simple, efficient but lack of focus on
customers)
o Product Structure (simple, product focus)
o Geographical Structure (simple, geographic focus)
o Matrix Structure (customer, market, product focus but
complex)
o Team Structure (decentralized, lower specialization)
o Simple Structure (low departmentalization, wide spans of
control)
o Virtual/Network Structure (highly flexible)

• Why do Structures Differ?

o Strategy
o Organization Size
o Technology
 o Environment

Leading Change

• Types of Organizational Change

o Anticipatory (tuning, re-orientation)
o Reactive (adaption, re-creation)

• Drivers of Change
o External Change Drivers (Demographic, Technological, Market,
Social)
o Internal (High turnover, ethics, accidents, results below
expectations)

• Why is there resistance to change?

o Organizational (structural inertia, cultural, power and politics)
o Group (norms, inertia)
o Individual (norms, inertia)

• Overcoming resistance to change

o Education and Communication
o Participation
o Emotional Commitment
o Cooptation
o Coercion

• Strategies for Change

o Lewin’s 3-Step Model
 Unfreezing (prepare
 Movement (implement)
 Re-freezing (Institutionalize)
o Kotter’s 8-Step Plan
 Establish urgency
 Build coalition
 Develop vision
  Communicate vision
 Empower people
 Generate short term wins
 Consolidate improvement
 Anchor in culture

• Behaviors that Facilitate Organizational Change

o Scanning External Environment, Performance gaps, concern
for measurement, experimental mindset, climate of openness,
continuous education, operational variety, multiple advocates,
involves leadership

Team Processes

• Why do people join groups?

o Goal achievement
o Power
o Security
o Status
o Affiliation
o Self-esteem

• What is a Team?
o Definition: a small number of people with complementary skills
who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals,
and approach for which they hold themselves mutually
accountable
o Difference between working group and team

• What is an effective team? (output, development of members,

enhance ability to work in the future)

• What are the organizational benefits of teams?

o Manage complexity
o Generate new or creative ideas
o Coordinate interdepartmental efforts
o Build support in change management
o Socialization newcomers

• Types of Teams:
o Teams that recommend things (fast and constructive – audit
team)
o Teams that make or do things (focus on performance –
manufacturing)
o Teams that run things (hands of approach – top management)
 • Types of Teams (cont.)
o Work Teams (products, services)
o Parallel Teams (limited authority)
o Project Teams (time limited)
o Management Teams (coordinate etc.)

• Group Member Roles

o Task Roles (initiator, opinion seeker, orienter, evaluator)
o Maintenance Roles (encourager, harmonizer, compromiser)
o Belbin’s Team roles (action oriented, people oriented, thought
oriented)

• Forming Teams (technical expertise, problem solving skills,

interpersonal skills)

• Managing Teams
o Managing team’s boundaries (managing relationships)
o Managing team itself (designing and facility process)
o Managing the paradoxes (differences, goals, support etc.)
o Tuckman’s Five-Stage group Development Model (forming,
storming etc.)
Team Decision Making

• Group Decision Making

o Advantages (greater pool of knowledge, perspectives,
comprehension)
o Disadvantages (social pressure, groupthink, domination)
o Based on: Minority Dissent (group participation in decision
making) and
Team Psychological Safety (team is safe for interpersonal risk
taking)

• Threats to Group Effectiveness

o Groupthink definitions (deterioration of mental efficiency from group)
o Symptoms of Groupthink (rationalization, self censorship, peer pressure)

• 3 Group Problem Solving Techniques

o Brainstorming (build on the ideas of others, quantity over quality)
 Advantages: overcome pressures for conformity
 Disadvantages: lower level of productivity
o Nominal Group Technique (NGT, silent generation of ideas, then discuss)
 Advantages: separates idea generation from evaluation, balanced
 Disadvantages: minimal interaction
o Delphi Technique
 Ideas obtained from questionnaires
 Experts are identified
  Questionnaire is developed and sent to participants
 Responses summarized and sent back to participants for
feedack

• Intra-team Conflict
o Task Conflict (goals, content of work)
o Process Conflict (how the work gets done)
o Relationship Conflict (interpersonal, emotional)

• Conflict Handling Tactics

o Focus more on information-gathering and facts
o Develop multiple alternatives
o Create common goals
o Use humor
o Maintain a balanced power structure
o Resolve issues without forcing consensus
o Rahim’s Five Conflict-Handling Styles
 Obliging
 Integrating
 Avoiding
 Dominating
 Compromising

Motivation

• What is motivation?
o Definition: psychological processes that account for an
individual’s
Intensity, direction and persistence.

• Classification of motivation theory

o Needs Theories (person)
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory (first two low level, high level)
 Physiological (hunger, thirst, shelter)
 Safety (security, protection)
 Social (affection, acceptance)
 Esteem (self respect, status)
 Self-Actualization (achieving potential)
 Alderfer’s ERG Theory
 Existence (basic needs)
 Relatedness (maintaining relationships)
 Growth (personal development)
 McClelland’s Learned Needs Theory
 Need for Affiliation (spend time in social env.)
 Need for Power (desire to influence, coach etc.)
 Need for Achievement (accomplish something)
 Herzberg’s 2-Factor Model
 Motivators: responsibility, achievement,
recognition
 Hygiene Factors: company policies, pay, conditions
o Job-related (job)
 Through Job Design
 Job Rotation (moving from one specialized job to
another)
 Job Enlargement (more variety)
 Job Enrichment (more responsibility)
 Job Characteristics Model
 Core characteristics (skill variety, task identity,
task significance, autonomy, feedback)
o Fairness related (rewards)
 Equity Theory: compare job inputs and outcomes with others
• Other inside (colleague same organization)
• Other outside (same role in other organization)
• Self-inside (own experience other department)
• Self-outside (own experience other organization)
o Additional
 Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
 Effort-performance relationship
 Performance-reward relationship
 Reward-personal goals relationship
 Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory (importance of goals)
• Specific goals with feedback
• Goals direct attention
• Goals regulate effort
• Goals increase persistence etc.
Power, Politics and Influence

• What is Organizational Power?

o Definition: The capacity that A has to influence the behavior of
B so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes. Potential and
dependency are key. Resources of power are: importance,
scarcity, non-substitutable.

• Bases of Power
o Formal Power: from organizational position
 Coercive (use of force, threats etc.)
 Reward (financial rewards, recognition)
 Legitimate (job responsibilities)
  Information or other resource (knowledge of rules)
o Personal: from individual attributes
 Expert (skills, knowledge)
 Referent (role model)
 Charismatic
 Physical Attributes (height, size, attractiveness)
 Social Network

• Influence Outcomes:
o Commitment (substantial agreement)
o Compliance (reluctance, insincere agreement)
o Resistance (stalling)

• Influence Principles:
o Liking, reciprocity, social proof, consistency, authority, scarcity

• Influence Tactics:
o Legitimacy
o Rational persuasion
o Inspirational appeal
o Consultation
o Exchange
o Personal appeal
o Ingragation
o Pressure
o Coalitions

• Political Tactics
o Defensive
 Avoiding action
 Avoiding blame
 Avoiding change
o Aggressive
 Blaming others
 Using information as a political tool
 Creating particular image
 Praising others; forming coalitions
Social Networks

• What are Social Networks?

o Definition: A set of nodes and the set of ties among the nodes
(nodes can be individuals, groups or organizations)

• Antecedents and Consequences of Networks (interpersonal):

o Antecedents: similarity, personality, proximity, environmental
o Consequences: job satisfaction, power, getting a job,
performance etc.
 • Some basic network concepts:
o Network Range
o Network Density
o Tie Strength

• Human Capital and Social Capital

o Human Capital: what you know, knowledge etc.
o Social Capital: who you known, social networks etc.

• Types of Network
o Expansive Network (non-overlapping connections, diverse,
weak ties)
o Clique Network (overlapping connections, similar contacts,
strong ties)

Leadership

• What is leadership?
o Definition: the ability to influence a group toward the
achievement of goals

• Traditional Theories of Leadership

 o Trait Theories (focus on personal qualities to find leaders)
o Behavioral Theories (focus on observable behaviors)
 Ohio state studies
 University of Michigan studies
o Contingency Theories (Fielder model etc. focus on situation)

• Contemporary Approaches to Leadership

o Charismatic Leadership (vision, articulation, sensitivity,
unconventional)
o Transformational Leadership (high energy, emotion, pay close
attention)
o Leader Member Exchange (LMX)
 Leader treats people differently: in-group, out-group
exchange
o Shared Leadership (mutual influence, sense making, relating)
o Servant Leadership (listening, empathy, healing, awareness
etc.)
o Level 5 Leadership: highly capable individual, contributing
team member, competent manager, effective leader,
executive

• Situational Approaches to Leadership:

o Thesis: superimposition of behavioral theories on various
situations, effectiveness of a particular style of leader behavior
depends on situation
o Models
 Fielder’s: effective group performance depends on the
proper match between the leader’s style and the degree
to which the situation gives control to the leader. Use
LPC to determine whether person is relationship or task
oriented, and then match leader with the situations. Key
situational factors such as leader member relations, task
structure, position power. More of these, the more
control leader has.
 Hersey & Blanchard: key situational determinant is
ability and willingness of subordinates to perform task
 House’s Path Goal Theory: the key situational
determinants are subordinate related factors and
environmental factors

• Challenges to Leadership Concept

o Attribution Theory (leadership is merely a catch all term)
o Substitutes (experience, structure task, cohesive groups)
o Neutralize (indifference to rewards)