Lesson 1

Organizational system and Human Behavior

Human Behavior
• Any act of an individual person which is considered human behavior is a
reflection of his thoughts, feelings, emotions, sentiments whether conscious or
not.
• It mirrors his needs, values, motivation, aspirations, conflicts and state of life.

Behavior
• Consists of all human activities.
• Human behavior occurs anywhere and everywhere
o At home
o In school
o In the work setting
o In church
o In a social clubs
o In a professional organization

Therefore, it is universal and is at the core of leadership, followership, communication,

decision making and the process in the organization.

 The principle and concepts that underlie behavior are basic. It is their
implementation and practice that differ from group to group or from one country to
another it is known as culture-laden behavior.

Ex: the Americans offer flowers to their dead; while the Chinese placed food on top
of the tomb. Note: Reverence for dead is universal. It is how each culture manifests
it that spells the difference.

 Human Behavior is also called Human Act which is different from Act of Man.
• Human Act – when man/person performs an act with free will; he is
responsible for such act which is performed with alternatives to choose
from.
• Act of Man – is performed by one who is forced to do so at the risk of his
own life, if he does otherwise; he does not have any other alternatives to
choose from.

Reasons for studying Human Behavior

• In order to have an understanding of the actions of people.
• The need to understand the behavior of others, especially those we come in
contact with, and the need to anticipate and predict how others may act in certain
situation are important since we are affected by their actions.
 • It provide data and information which may be needed for improved productivity,
for rational decision and policy making, for better planning and organizing
personnel and human resources recruitment, screening, selection, promotion and
development .
• We look not only into the personality of others but into our own personalities as
well.
• To know the reason why we think, feel, act, speak and talk in certain ways.

Organizational Behavior
• The study and application of knowledge about how people as individuals and as
groups act and behave within the organization.
• It strives to identify ways in which people act more effectively.
• Provides a useful set of tools at many levels of analysis to help managers look
at the behaviour of individuals within the environment.
• It also aids them in their understanding of the complexities which affect the
interpersonal relations of the people as they interact.

GOALS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

1. To describe – how people behave as they interact with one another.
2. To understand – why people behave in varied manners.
Ex.“Manager should be able to understand the reasons behind the actions
of their employees”.
3. To predict – to predict the future employee behavior so that an appropriate
course of action maybe employed.
4. To control – for the manager to develop human activity at work.

Note: if you are the Manager or Boss of a company, you are held responsible for
performance results of the employees within the organization; they should be interested
in every employee’s behavior, attitude, skill development, team effort and productivity.

2 main approaches to the study of human behavior

1. Philosophy – base on speculation and logic
2. Physiology – base on experimental observation

Methods use in studying human behavior

1. Experiments
2. Surveys
3. Case methods
It makes use of 1. Observation 2. Interview 3. Interview schedule 4. Questionnaire
5. Check list 6. Scales psychological test 7. Statistics
4 forces or elements affecting Organizational Behavior
1. People – make up the internal social system in an organization; the system
consists of individual and groups, large or small, with different values and
orientation.
 o Organizations exist to serve people; people do not exist to serve
organizations.
2. Structure – defines the formal relationships and use of human resources in an
organization.
o People have to be related in some structural way so that their tasks can
be effectively coordinated.
3. Technology – technology has a tremendous influence on working relationships. It
provides the resources with which people work and affect the tasks they perform.
o The great benefit of technology is that it allows workers to perform much
better work.
4. Environment – All organization operates within an internal and external
environment.
o Organization is a part of a bigger system that contains many other related
components such as government, military, school, family and other
organizations.

People

Environment Environment

Organization

Structure Technology

Environment

When people join together in an organization to accomplish an objective, some kind of

structure is required; people also use technology to help get the job done; so there is an
interaction of people, structure and technology, these elements are influenced by their
environment.

Basic concept of organizational system and human behavior

1. Individual differences – a person is a distinct individual; he is unique and different
from others.
o Every individual experiences after birth tend to make people even more
different from one another.
2. Perception – is the act of faculty apprehending by means of the sense or of the
mind.
o It is the unique way in which an individual perceives, organizes and
interprets with his eyes things around him.
3. Whole person – when a person joins an organization, he is hired not only
because of his brains but, as a whole, person possessed with certain
characteristics.
 o Different human traits and other characteristics can be studied separately;
but in the final analysis; they are part of one human system, making up a
whole person with different skills, knowledge and social and cultural
backgrounds.
4. Motivated person – this may be as a result of a normal behavior that has certain
causes and these may relate to an individual’s need.
o People are motivated by want.
o John Maxwell
“Self motivation is the power that raises a man to any level he seeks”
“Successful people are self starters, they are internally motivated and hard
working even if no one is supervising them”
5. Desire for involvement – every person wishes to feel good himself. This personal
human desire is reflected in his drive for self-efficacy.
o This is the belief that everybody has the necessary capabilities to perform a
certain task, fulfil role responsibilities and expectations, make meaningful
and rewarding contributions to the organization, and meet challenging
situations successfully.
6. Value of persons – People want to be given preferential value for their skills and
abilities with opportunities for their development.
o People are the most difficult to control in any type of organization, therefore
they deserve to be treated with extra care because they have feelings and
emotions.

Organizations and Social System

• Organizations are social systems for they are organized on the basis of mutual
interest.
Ex: Employer and worker relationship.

Social system
• A complex set of human relationships interacting in many and different ways.
• His behavior is influenced by the group he belongs to and by his personal
drives and aspirations.

Mutual interest
• Organization needs people and people also need organization.
• Mutual interest provides super ordinate goals for employees, for the
organization and for society.

Ethics
• It is a system of moral principles.
• The rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions
or a particular group.
 Ex. Many companies and corporations have established codes of ethics and also
publicized statements of ethical values
o When organizational goals and actions conform with ethical standard,
organizational and social objectives are met.

Four basic approaches in organizational behavior

1. Human Resources Approach
o The philosophy of this approach is developmental.
o Specifically designed and concerned with the growth and development of
people in order to achieve higher levels of competency, creativity, and
fulfilment.
o In order for this approach to be successful, employers should be more
responsible by creating an organizational climate conducive for all
members.
o Under this approach, the manager’s role changes from control of
employees to active support of their organizational growth and
development.
2. Contingency Approach
o The strength of this approach is that it encourages a thorough analysis of
every situation prior to action and at the same time, discourages virtually
habitual practice based on universal assumptions about people.
o Many management experts and practitioners perceived that there is no
longer one best way.
o This approach is also more interdisciplinary, more system-oriented and
more research-oriented than the traditional approach.
3. Result-oriented Approach
o All organization whether political, social, economic or religious, needs to
accomplish desirable results.
o The principal objective for organizations to survive is to produce the
necessary output.
o Productivity is measured in terms of economic inputs and outputs.
o Better organizational behavior can naturally improve job satisfaction.
4. System Approach
o This approach is a type of behavioural approach in which the manager
takes a holistic perspective of the whole subject.
o Holistic organizational behavior interprets people-organization
relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole
organization and whole social system in its total cooperative effort to
understand as many of the intervening factors as possible that affects an
individual’s behavior in the work environment.
o Existing problems are analyzed in relation to the total condition affecting
the entire organization rather than treating the problem in an isolated
case.
  Effective management can best be achieved through the proper understanding
and utilization of the human resources, contingency, result-oriented and system
approaches.

 Organizations are social systems; it combine science and people, technology

and humanity.

 There are no simple cookbook formulas for working with people. all that can be
done at present is to increase understanding and skills so that human
relationships at work can be upgraded.

Characteristics of a Healthy Organization:

1. Objectives are so widely shared by the members and there is a strong and consistent
flow of energy towards those objectives.

2. People feel free to signal their awareness of difficulties because they expect the
problems to be dealt with and they are optimistic that these problems can be solved.

3. Problem-solving is highly pragmatic. In attacking problems, people work informally and

are not preoccupied with status, territory, or second guessing “what higher management
will think.” A great deal of non-conforming behavior is tolerated.

4. The judgement of people lower down in the organization is respected.

5. Collaboration is freely entered into. People readily request the help of others and are
willing to give in turn. Ways of helping one another are highly developed. Individuals and
groups compete with one another, but they do so fairly and in the direction of a shared
goal.

6. When there is a crisis, the people quickly band together in work until the crisis departs.

7. Conflicts are considered important to decision making and personal growth. They are
dealt with effectively, in the open. People say what they want and expect others to do
the same.

8. There is a great deal of on-the-job learning based in the willingness to give, seek, and
use feedback and advice. People see themselves and others as capable of significant
personal growth and development.

9. Joint critique of progress is routine.

10. Relationships are honest. People do care about one another and do not feel alone.

11. People are “turned on” and highly involved by choice. They are optimistic. The work
place is important and fun.
 12. Leadership is flexible, shifting in style and person to suit the situation.

13. There is a high degree of trust among people and a sense of freedom and mutual
responsibility. People generally know what is important to the organization and what
isn’t.

14. Risk is accepted as a condition of growth and change.

15. “What can we learn from each mistake?”

16. Poor performance is confronted, and a joint resolution sought.

17. Organizational structure, procedures, and policies are fashioned to help people get the
job done and to protect the long term health of the organization, not to give each
bureaucrats his due. These procedures are also readily changed.

18. There is a sense of order, and yet a high rate of innovation. Old methods are questioned
and often give way to new ones.

Characteristics of an Unhealthy Organization:

1. Little personal investment in organizational objectives except at top levels.

2. People in the organization see things going wrong and do nothing about it. Nobody
volunteers. Mistakes and problems are habitually hidden or shelved. People treat each
other in a formal and polite manner that masks issues – especially with the boss. Non
conformity is frowned upon. People talk about office troubles at home or in the halls, not
with those involved.

3. People at the top try to control as many decisions as possible. They become
bottlenecks, and make decisions with inadequate information and advice. People
complain about manager’s irrational decisions.

4. Managers feel alone in trying to get things done. Somehow, orders, policies and
procedures do not get carried out as intended.

5. The judgement of people lower down in the organization is not respected outside the
narrow limits of their jobs.

6. Personal needs and feelings are side issues.

7. People compete when they need to collaborate. They are very jealous of their area of
responsibility. Seeking or accepting help is un-thoughtful. They distrust each other’s
motives and speak poorly of one another; the manager tolerates this.

8. When there is a crisis, people withdraw or start blaming one another.

9. Conflict is mostly covert and managed by office politics and other games, or there are
interminable and irreconcilable arguments.

10. Learning is difficult. People don’t approach their peers to learn for them, but have to
learn from their own mistakes; they reflect the experience of others. They get little
feedback on performance, ad much of that is not helpful.

11. Feedback is avoided.

12. Relationships are contaminated by marksmanship and image building. People feel alone
and lack concern for one another. There is an undercurrent of fear.

13. People feel locked into their jobs. They feel stale and bored but constrained by the need
for security. Their behavior, for example, in staff meetings, is listless and docile. It’s not
much fun. They got their kicks elsewhere.

14. The manager is a prescribing father to the organization.

15. The manager allows little freedom.

16. Minimizing risks has a very high value.

17. “One mistake and you’re out.”

18. Poor performance is glossed over or handled arbitrarily.

19. Organizational structure, policies, and procedures encumber the organization. People
take refuge in policies and procedures, and play games with organizational structure.

20. Traditional.

21. Innovation is not widespread but in the hands of a few.

22. People swallow their frustrations: “I can do nothing. It’s their responsibility to save the
ship.”