Organization Psychology Final
Individual-level interventions
Several common person-level interventions are described with examples: T-group training, job redesign, Management by Objectives.
Service Climate
Shared perceptions of importance placed on customer service. Predictors and outcomes of service climate are discussed.
Safety climate
Shared perceptions of the relative importance of safety are found to predict the likelihood of accidents and injuries.
The Future of Organizational Design
The following likely changes will influence future organizational design: (1)Increasing information technology sophistication (2)Globalization of the economy (3)Growing contingent workforce
The development of organizational culture:
Three influential factors are discussed: external adaptation (evolution), internal integration (within the organization), and organizational founders; examples of each factor are presented.
Stories, Legends, and dramas
Three means of sharing information among employees within an organization; examples of each are provided.
scientific management
hierarchical structure simple specialized work tasks extensive rules & procedures
strategy
-level of specialization -organization shape -power distribution within the organization -departmental structure -issues associated with each of these factors -advantages and disadvantages of various structures in particular: Contrast between a flat and narrow organizational structure (Fig 13.1) Example of a functional department structure (Fig 13.2) Example of a product-based structure (Fig 13.3) Example of a work-flow process structure (Fig 13.4)
Theory X and Theory Y
A motivation theory that suggests that management attitudes toward workers fall into two opposing categories based on management assumptions about worker capabilities and values.
Team based organization (Advantages and Disadvantages)
Advantages: adaptability, employee development opportunities Disadvantages: internal conflicts, heavy role demands, multiple bosses for employees
The problem of "evaluative criteria"
An extension of the criterion problem to organization development; common criteria for illustrating organizational effectiveness and employee well-being include financial data or employee behaviors and attitudes; importance of using multiple criteria is emphasized, as is the importance of tailoring the criteria to match the target of the intervention.
Ethnographic methods of culture assessment
An observational approach to culture evaluation; examples of this approach as used by organizational psychologists are provided; advantages and disadvantages of this type of evaluation are highlighted.
Matrix organization
An organization in which specialists from different parts of the organization are brought together to work on specific projects but still remain part of a line-and-staff structure.
Classical organization theories
An organization with many levels and highly specialized departments is probably based on this organizational theory: Scientific Management Ideal Bureaucracy Administrative Management
Schein's Model of Organizational Culture
Argues that organizational cultures are like an "onion" there are layers. Level 1: Artifacts and Creations Level 2: Values Level 3: Basic Assumptions
Special issues in client-consultant relationships
Balancing the needs of multiple clients Maintaining confidentiality Terminating a consulting relationship
O'Reilly, Chapman & Caldwell Model
Based on the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP) measure and the theory that cultures can be identified in terms of an organization's underlying values; an emphasis is placed on using this model to demonstrate fit between employee and organization, with potential implications for organizational performance being highlighted.
Schein's stages of development
Birth, early growth, midlife, maturity
top management support
It is important to gain support of top managers because they control resources, provide strategic direction, and can lead symbolically by example.
The action research model:
Change as a cyclical and collaborative research process between the researcher or consultant and the client organization four main steps are proposed (problem identification, hypothesis development, hypothesis testing, and data interpretation); strengths and weaknesses are discussed.
Burke's (1994) theory of organizational transformation:
Change is due to the interaction between the external environment and both the organization and individual employees.
Four Types of Organizational Culture
Clan, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy. Clan oriented cultures are family-like, with a focus on mentoring, nurturing, and "doing things together."
"one best type of organization"
Classical and Humanistic
Group level interventions
Common group- and team-level interventions are described in detail with examples: team building (eight common components are presented), process consultation (exploratory interview, diagnostic intervention, action alternative intervention, confrontive interventions; also 10 common interventions of this variety); emphasis is on the value of letting the client own the problem (a process consultation feature).
True
Designs emerge from response to environmental factors There is no one best organization design for all situations Organization design can affect employee behavior
Liker's Human Organization Theory (multiple systems)
Exploitive authoritarian, benevolent authoritative, consultative, participative group, self-managed leadership
Level of environmental uncertainty
Factors influencing uncertainty are an organization's number of years for survival, level of competition, degree of stability in the competitive market, power of external factors (e.g. government) the relationship between uncertainty and speed of organizational adaptation is highlighted; comparison of organization designs with respect to handling uncertainty (Comment 13.1)
Conditions necessary for successful organizational change
Four factors that influence the success of organizational change interventions are presented. 1. Top Management Support 2. The Consultant Guiding the process 3. General resistance to change 4. Organizational ownership of the change and development process
differences among various forms of departmental structure
Functional product-based market-driven geographic work-flow-based
Symbols of Organizational Culture
Language, acts, objects, or relationships that have meaning and motivational value within an organization Examples: basic name tags, marked parking spaces, offices with labels and listed job titles all serve the internal corporate culture and are important symbols in the workplace. In many cases, these basic symbols are used to identify individuals and the positions they hold within the company.
Beliefs and assumptions of those in power
Major beliefs and assumptions that organization leaders often factor into design include: level of trust in employees respect for employees' job-related skills and competence desired level of organizational performance Example: The 3M path to innovation
molar and strategic climates
Molar refers to organization-wide climates, and recent research has focused on climates that surround important aspects of organization functioning.
self-report methods of culture assessment
Most direct measurement of culture may be done by asking employees directly; three common organizational culture surveys are described (OCP; Hofstede's organizational values; the Denison Organizational Culture Survey); advantages and disadvantages of using self-report measures are presented.
Culture and employee satisfaction/well-being
Preliminary findings suggest culture can influence employees' quality of life; the relationship between culture and employee health/well-being is also discussed; key areas for future research are highlighted.
General Systems Theory (GST)
Organizational change comes from the input, processing, and output of materials as the organization interacts with its environment; organizations are seen as open systems; the notion of subsystems is presented; the importance of recognizing systemwide impact of interventions is emphasized.
Dialectic model of change
Organizational change is driven by inherent tension between the current ways and new ideas, leaving an organization with four options.Ignore new ideas.Completely abandon old ways in favor of new ideas. Create a synthesis between old ways and new ideas. Embrace both the status quo and new ideas and values.
Teleological model of change
Organizational change is goal driven; change allows organizations to achieve goals through cognitive reframing.
Four categories of organizational climate
Organizational climate can be organized into four different categories: Climates that are people-oriented, rule-oriented, innovation-oriented and goal-oriented.
Human synergistic model
Organizations can be characterized by three normative patterns: constructive, passive/defensive, and aggressive/defensive; there is little research on the model due to its proprietary nature.
Terminating a consulting relationship
Reasons for terminating longer-term relationships with organizational clients are discussed: lack of interest, no longer helping, and value differences between consultant and client; termination is recommended in these situations rather than trying to work together in spite of these points of conflict.
Major technologies
Relationships between an organizations technology and design are presented in therms of compatibility Woodward's (1965) classification of large-batch and small-bath technology is described and linked to various forms of organizational design
The nature of organizational culture change
Schein's (1992) organizational life stages are presented (birth and early growth, organizational midlife, organizational maturity); the development and the purpose of culture at each stage are discussed; mechanisms for changing culture at each stage are described with examples.
Humanistic Organizational Theory
Suggested that classical theories dehumanized the workplace, underutilizing employee capabilities: McGregor's Theory X vs Theory Y Likert's Human organization (multiple systems) Exploitive authoritarian, benevolent authoritative, consultative, participative group, self-managed leadership
General resistance to change
The anxiety-producing elements of change are highlighted; strategies for reducing resistance to change are discussed: involve employees in the process, communicate well throughout the process with employees, and recognize that resistance may sometimes be informative.
Balancing the needs of multiple clients
The challenge of working for multiple stakeholders within the same organization is highlighted; recommendations are made to establish clear working relationships up front, acknowledge the presence of conflicting points of view, and maintain a neutral stance regarding the inputs provided by all stakeholders.
The consultant guiding the process:
The challenges of being an organizational consultant are highlighted; critical features of a successful consultant are identified and discussed, including knowledge of organizational development and behavior in organizations, listening and communication skills, understanding of research methods and data analysis, a strong sense of ethics, flexibility, and credibility.
The impact of culture on recruitment and retention
The critical importance of a person's fit with an organization's culture is emphasized as influencing recruitment and possibly retention.
Organizational ownership of the change and development process
The importance of ensuring that the organization (rather than the consultant) takes responsibility for its change efforts is emphasized; strategies for increasing organization ownership are presented: stress its importance up front, and engage the organization as a partner throughout the process.
Maintaining confidentiality
The importance of honoring confidentiality promises is emphasized; the challenges of maintaining confidentiality are highlighted (temptation, carelessness, misunderstanding the limits); recommendation is to set clear boundaries on confidentiality up front.
Comprehensive organization-wide interventions
The increasing popularity of entire organizational change interventions is highlighted (improving longevity of the intervention); survey feedback is identified as the most common intervention at this level and is discussed in detail; changing the structure of an organization is a second strategy; other mainstream methods are discussed.
Why is culture change so difficult?
The inevitability of culture change is emphasized, as is the difficulty inherent in trying to make change happen quickly; common reasons for difficulty in the change process are noted: resistance of basic assumptions to change, and risk of losing something if the culture changes; cultures that survive are adaptive in some way. Comment 14.3: Is organizational culture really
future issues in organizational climate research
The issues of agreement in the perceptions of climate as well as outcomes of strategic climates are discussed.
organizational climate
The organizational climate is a concept "perceived" by employees. Importantly, it is dependent on a value judgment which can vary greatly from person to person. The organizational climate affects productivity, motivation and employee behavior.
Language and communication
The vocabulary, style, and use of language reflect an organization's culture; multiple examples are provided.
rites
The yearly recognition of an organization's highest performers at a company wide gala: President's Club, cooking together is an example of a company ritual. Employees spend one lunch hour a week preparing meals for the whole team in the company kitchen which they then eat together. This is great for companies where being a part of the family is an element of the organization's culture.
organizational culture
Two main definitions: Shared view of the world and Shchein's multilevel perspective Physical Values Beliefs Assumptions
Lewin's three step model
Unfreezing, transformation, and refreezing are described: strengths and weaknesses of this model (simplicity)
network organization
a collection of independent, mostly single-function firms that collaborate on a good or service
Flat
a successful organization in a newly emerging sector is likely to have a (n) _____organizational structure
virtual organization
an organization that consists of a small core of full-time employees and outside specialists temporarily hired as needed to work on projects Working with other organizations to cut costs and remain competitive as a separate organization Advantages: cost reduction, focus on core business Disadvantages: risk with supplier, difficult to maintain a strong culture
team-based organizational structure
an organizational structure built around self-directed teams that complete an entire piece of work
metaphor
biological organisms (systems perspective machines the brain a family political groups
Organizational size
careful organization design is especially important for larger organizations Larger organizations have more formalized, bureaucratic structures Smaller organizations may be more humanistic and informal Example: Relational bureaucracy
Denison model of organizational culture
cultural traits, managerial behaviors, and even.organizational strategies can all be linked to a core set of beliefs and assumptions about the organization and its environment. The Denison Model assesses strengths in four key areas of your corporate culture: Adaptability, Mission, Involvement, and Consistency. Mission. Do you know where you're going? Do you have clear goals and a strategy to reach them? Adaptability. Are you listening to the marketplace, to customers? How well do you identify and respond to their changing needs? Involvement. How well do you empower employees, build teams, and develop the human capability in your organization? Consistency. Have you established coordinated systems that enable you to build agreement based on your core values?
organizational strategy
determinants of organizational design five major factors influencing organizational design Strategy - Level of environmental uncertainty - Beliefs and assumptions of those in power- Organizational size - Major Technologies
Theory X characteristics
dislike work lack ambition follow not lead resist change irresponsible
level of uncertainty
factors influencing this are: organization's number of years for survival level of competition degree of stability in the competitive market power of external factors (eg gov) relationship between uncertainty and speed of organizational adaptation is highlighted;
artifacts
features of an organization's environment that have some sort of cultural meaning what it considers important and meaningful: are the overt and obvious elements of an organization. They're typically the things even an outsider can see, such as furniture and office layout, dress norms, inside jokes, and mantras. Examples: attitudes behaviors beliefs A company's physical surroundings (the building, interior design, landscape, etc.)
Internal integration according to Schein
one of the major functions of organizational culture
Contingency Organizational Theory (congruence approach)
organization design must be consistent with an organization's specific situation (congruence approach) this approach raises issues of which internal or external factors are most important when making organizational design decisions.
Network Organizational Structure
organizational structures in which the organization contracts out most functions except administration Central node from which there are smaller affiliations Franchise form Hierarchical contractor Starburst forms
Ideal Bureaucracy (Max Weber)
rewards based on contribution vs knowing family member or society close supervision narrow span of control unity of command and information direction
matrix
structure typically involves the simultaneous existence of two separate organizational structures
Ethnography
the use of observational & qualitative data collection methods to evaluate an organization's culture
organizational theory
tools for organizing
How does organizational culture affect managers
two ways: through its effect on what employees do and how they behave, and through its effect on what managers do as they plan, organize, lead, and control.
biological
viewing an organization as a series of subsystems that interact with each other and the external environment fits with the common organizational metaphor of the organizations as a(n) _________________organism.
Theory Y characteristics
willing to work, capable/creative, self-controlled, self-directed, responsible