Organisational Behaviour Notes

Chapter 1 - The Contemporary Workplace

Working in Today’s Economy

• New economy, ripe with challenging opportunities, and dramatic uncertainty
• Networked economy - people, institutions and nations are increasingly influenced by the internet and continuing developments in information technology
• The global economy scope increases daily
• The nations of the worlds economies are increasingly interdependent
• Globalisation presents great challenges and opportunities
• New economy is knowledge-driven
• Must accept that success must be forged in workplaces to unlock the potential of human intelligence
• High-performance themes: respect, participation, empowerment, involvement, teamwork, self-management
• New economy is performance driven
• Expectations of organisations and its members are very high
• Success is not guaranteed, but must be earned in a highly competitive society
• Organisations are expected to continuously excel on performance criteria that include: innovation, concerns for employee development and social responsibility, traditional measures of profitability and investment value
• When organisations fail, employees, owners and customers are quick to know
• There is no guarantee for long-term employment
• Jobs are earned and re-earned everyday through performance and accomplishments
• Careers are begin redefined: flexibility, free agency, skill portfolios, entrepreneurship
• Takes initiative, discipline, and continuous learning to stay in charge of your own career destiny

Intellectual Capital

• New benchmarks are being set in and by progressive organisations everywhere
• Man introduced through management
• Ultimate foundations of an organisation’s success are its people: what they know, what they learn, and what they do with it
• Carry corporate memory and represent the firms:
• Intellectual Capital: the collective brain power or shared knowledge of a workforce that can be used to create value
• The New workplace depends on its ability to combine the talents of many people, sometimes thousands to achieve unique and significant results
• Knowledge worker: someone whose knowledge is an important asset to employers
• To achieve a successful career in the new economy, willingness to reach for the heights of personal competency and accomplishment is a must
• Self starting, willingness to learn from experience continuously, even in an environment that grows daily more complex and challenging

Globalisation

• National boundaries of world business have largely disappeared, and continue to disappear
• More products are designed, component parts and assembly occur in different countries
• Global Businesses have no need for overseas, as they view themselves as equidistant from customers and suppliers
• Overseas becomes a permanent state of mind, not a nation on a map
• Globalisation: the world-wide interdependence go resource flows, product markets and business competition that characterises our new economy
• Countries and people are increasingly interconnected through the news, in travel and lifestyles, in labour markets and employment patterns and in business dealings

• Government leaders now worry about the competitiveness of nations just as corporate leaders worry about business competitiveness
• World is increasingly arranged in regional economic blocs: North and Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific region - Australia, New Zealand, India and China as key anchors

Technology

• Adapting to new technology is mandatory requirement in the contemporary workplace
• The world is technology-driven world, dominated by interactive technologies that are compact, visually appealing and versatile
• Computers allow organisations of all types and sizes, locally and internationally, to speed transactions and improve decision making
• Technology is an indispensable part of everyday operations
• Scanning technology have become integral to streamlining operations for many businesses
• “E-business” is begin transferred to “E-government” as governments increasingly take advantage of the internet
• Geographical distance does not matter anymore in terms of communication
• Computer networking can connect anyone, anywhere in the world
• In virtual space, people can hold meetings, access common databases, share information and files, make plans and solve problems together - without meeting face to face
• The demand for knowledge workers with the skills to use technology to its full advantage is increasing
• There is a shift towards an information-based economy and is changing employment dramatically
• The fastest growing occupations are computer related
• Skilled help is in demand - low skill workers displaced from declining industries find it difficult to find new jobs offering adequate pay
• Computer literacy must be mastered, and continuously developed as a foundation for career success

Diversity

• The populations of Australia and New Zealand are ageing, due to people having fewer children and living longer than past generations
• Workforce diversity: describes the differences among workers in gender, race, age, ethnic culture, able-bodiedness, religious affiliation and sexual orientation
• There is a very strict prohibiting the use of demographic characteristics for staffing decisions - hiring/promotion
• Discrimination against older employees still exists in some sectors
• Reluctancy to hire older employees stems from beliefs that they have lessened capacity
• There is an increasingly diverse and multicultural workforce offers great opportunities with the potential performance gains
• By valuing diversity organisations can tap a rich talent pool to help people to work their full potential
• Consciously creating an environment where everyone has an equal shot at contributing, participating and most of all advancing
• Valuing workplace diversity is hard to accomplish, and inequalities continue to exist
• Upward trend in all types of non-standard forms of employment: increase in casual and temporary work, as well as outsourcing other labour-market intermediaries
• These forms of flexible employment are to increase
• Differences in approached to pay, conditions of employment and opportunities for development are ready examples of inequality
• Diversity bias can be a limiting factor in too many work settings
• Managing a diverse workplace needs to take into account to different needs of members of different identity groups
• Prejudice: the display of negative, irrational attitudes towards members of diverse populations
• Discrimination: occurs when someone is denied a job or a job assignment for reasons not job-relevant
• Glass-ceiling effect: an invisible barrier limiting the advancement of women and minority groups

Ethics

• Society is becoming strict in its expectation that social institutions conduct their affairs according to high moral standards
• Global recession, corporate failures, poor corporate governance and indifference of businesspeople to shareholders, employees and communities are reasons for some business’s poor image
• Negative reaction to globalisation, cost-cutting and the gap wages of workers and those of senior executives creates a bleak picture
• The pressure for ethically and socially responsible conduct is on
• Organisations and their managers becoming increasingly responsive
• They will not be able to keep customers if they do not treat them well and act in ways that are consistent with society’s values
• Expectations include: sustainable development and protection of the natural environment, protection of consumers through product safety and fair practices, and the protection of human rights in all aspects of society, including employment
• Workplace concerns: equal employment opportunity, equity of compensation and benefits, participation and employee involvement, privacy and due process, job security, occupational health and safety, and freedom from sexual harassment
• Employers are demanding more self-determination on the job
• Many organisations are cutting back full-time workers and hiring more part-time or casual workers
• Ethical and social responsibility issues involve as aspect of organisations, the behaviour of their members and their impact of society
• Must understand the ethical context of working in the new economy and fulfil ethical commitments set by the employer

Careers

• The nature of work has changed in the new economy and the challenges make personal initiative and self-renewal important
• organisation as a shamrock with three leaves: each leaf has a different career implication

• Leaf 1: Core workers - full time employees pursuer traditional career paths, success and maintenance elf critical skills, core employees can advance within the organisation nd may remain employed for a long time
• Leaf 2: Contract workers - perform specific tasks as needed by the organisation and are compensated on a contract of fee-for-services basis rather than by a continuing wage or salary, sell a skill or service to employers, likely to work for many different employers over time and may work for several employees at the same time
• Leaf 3: Casual & Part-time workers: hired only as needed and only for a set number of hours, employers expand and reduce their casual staff as business needs rise and all, can be a training ground for full time work in the first leaf when openings are available

• Must be prepared to prosper in any of the shamrock’s three leaves
• Typical career is not uniformly full-time and limited to a single large employer
• Likely to opportunistically and involve several employment options over time
• “Free agency”, describes career management in the new workplace
• Must be prepared to change jobs and employers over time, skills must be portable and of current value in the employment markets
• Skills must be carefully maintained and upgraded all the time

Organisations in Today’s Workplace

• The world of work is tied to the connectivity made possible by information technology
• Large or small businesses should make real and positive contributions to society
• Individuals and organisations are also the main source of careers and economic livelihoods
• Must have understanding of the nature of organisations in the new workplace to make good choices and perform well in a career

Managers Notepad 1.1 - Critical Skills for the Contemporary Workplace

• Mastery: need to be good at something; need to be able to contribute something of value to your employer
• Contracts: need to know people; links with pets and others within and outside the organisation are essential to get things done
• Entrepreneurship: must act if you are inning your own business, spotting ideas and opportunities, and stepping out to embrace them
• Love of technology: must embrace technology, you do not have to be a technician, but must be willing and able to fully use IT effectively and creatively
• Marketing: need to be able to communicate your successes and progress, both yours personally and those of your work group
• Passion for renewal: need to continuously learn, change and update yourself to best meet future demands

What is an Organisation?

• Organisation: a collection of people working together to achieve a common purpose
• A social phenomenon that enables its members to perform tasks far beyond the reach of individual accomplishment
• This applies to organisations of all sizes and types
• Broad purpose: providing useful goods or services
• Should return value to society and satisfy customers needs in order to justify continued existence
• A clear sense of purpose is tied to quality products and customer satisfaction is increasingly viewed as a source of organisational strength and performance advantage
• Belief in strong and compelling organisation strength is a reason for employee loyalty

Organisations as Systems

• Organisations can be seen as subsystems, composed of interrelated parts that function together to achieve a common purpose
• Open Systems: transform resource inputs from the environment into product or service outputs
• The external environment is  critical element in open-systems view of organisations
• Both a supplier of resources and the source of customers - significant impact on operations and outcomes
• Both boundaries - supply and customer sides must be well managed for performance success
• The organisation is a structure in which people meet to work together for agreed purposes
• The organisation has inputs (raw materials, effort, ideas) and operates with its own internal environment of culture and history
• Dependant on legal status the corporation can sure and be sued - boundaries of the organisation become significant

Fig. 1.1 Organisations as Open Systems

• Open-systems view of organisations, customer is the most important
• Feedback from the environment tells an organisation how well it is doing
• Influences in the environment interact with each other and influence the managers intent and strategy
• Without customer willingness to use the organisations products, it is difficult to operate ot stay in business over the long term

Organisational Performance

• Resources and customers are two critical elements in the open-systems view of organisations
• To perform well, resources must be put to good use and customers must be served well
• Value creation is important in the context
• Operations add value to the original cost of resource inputs, then a business organisation can earn a profit: sell a product for more than the cost of making it
• Non-for-profit organisation can add wealth to society - provide a public service that is worth more than its cost
• Value created when an organisations resources are used in the right way at the right time and at minimum costs to create high-quality goods and services
• Best organisations use a variety of performance measures
• Customer side - high-performing organisations measure customer satisfaction, loyalty, and marketshare
• Employee side - measure retention, career development, job satisfaction and related issues
• Indicator of organisational performance - productivity: a summary measure of the quantity and quality of work performance with resource use taken into account
• Can be measured at the individual, group and organisational level
• Productivity can be linked to effectiveness and efficiency
• Performance Effectiveness: measure of task output or goal accomplishment
• Performance Efficiency: a measure of the resource cost associated with goal accomplishment
• Cost of labour is a common measure of efficiency
• Also includes, equipment use, facilities maintenance and returns on capital investment

Fig. 1.2 Productivity and the dimensions of organisational performance

Changing Nature of Organisations

• Organisations are going under continuous and dramatic changes today
• Organisation transitions:

• Pre-eminence of Technology: new opportunities appear with new development in computer and information technology; continuously change the way organisations operate and how people work
• Demise of “command and control”: traditional hierarchy structures with bosses are proving too slow, conservative and costly to perfume in today’s competitive environments
• Focus on speed: everything moves fast today, products that reach the market first have an advantage, every organisation is expected to be both well done and timely
• Embrace of networking: organisations are networked for intense real-time communication and coordination, internally among departments and externally with partners, contractors, suppliers, and customers
• Belief in Empowerment: demands of the new economy place premiums on high-involvement and participatory work servings that rally the knowledge, experience and commitment of all members
• Emphasis on Teamwork: today’s organisations are less vertical and more horizontal in focus, they are increasingly driven by teamwork that pools talents for creative problem-solving
• New Workforce Expectations: a new generation of workers brings to the workplace less tolerance for heir achy, more informality and more attention to performance merit than to status and seniority
• Concern for Work-life Balance: as society increases in complexity, workers are forcing organisations to paw more attention to balance in the often-conflicting demands of work and personal affairs

• Many forces driving these changes in organisations: pressures of competition, globalisation, emerging technologies & modern-day consumers
• Consumers are unrelenting in demand for quality products and services
• Organisation that fail to listen to customers and fail to deliver quality goods/services at reasonable prices will be left struggling ion a highly competitive environment
• Total Quality Management (TQM): managing with an organisation wide commitment to continuous improvement and meeting customer needs completely

Managers in Todays Workplace

• Organisations perform better when they treat their customers well

• High-performing organisations operate with a commitment to people as their most important assets

What is a Manager?

• Managers exist in all organisations under various job titles: team leader, department head, project manager, department head, project manager, unit supervisor, senior executive and administrator
• Always work directly with other people who depend on them for critical support and help activate the work efforts and performance accomplishments of others
• Managers: the people in organisations who directly support and help activate the work efforts and performance accomplishments of others
• The responsibility is challenging and substantial
• They are responsible for their work, as well a stye overall performance accomplishments of a team, work group, department or even the organisation as a whole
• They are human resources whose tasks represent the work of the organisation
• Those working with the managers are critical human capital upon whose intellects and efforts the performance of any organisation
• A managers performance is critical to the organisation
• Key responsibility: to help other people achieve high performance

Levels of Managers