OB Models
Organizational behaviour reflects the behaviour of the people and management altogether, it is considered a field study, not just a discipline. A discipline is an accepted science that is based upon the theoretical foundation, whereas OB is an interdisciplinary approach where knowledge from different disciplines like psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. are included. It is used to solve organizational problems, especially those related to human beings.
There are four different types of models in OB. We will throw some light on each of these four models.
Autocratic Model
The root level of this model is power with a managerial orientation of authority. The employees in this model are oriented towards obedience and discipline. They are dependent on their boss. The employee requirement that is met is subsistence. The performance result is less.
The major drawbacks of this model are people are easily frustrated, insecure, dependent on their superiors, and have minimum performance because of minimum wage.
Custodial Model
The root level of this model is economic resources with a managerial orientation of money. The employees in this model are oriented towards security and the benefits provided to them. They are dependent on the organization. The employee requirement that is met is security.
This model is adopted by firms having high resources as the name suggests. It is dependent on economic resources. This approach depends on the firm rather than on the manager or boss. They give passive cooperation as they are satisfied but not strongly encouraged.
Supportive Model
The root level of this model is leadership with a managerial orientation of support. The employees in this model are oriented towards their job performance and participation. The employee requirement that is met is status and recognition. The performance result is awakened drives.
This model is dependent on leadership strive. It gives a climate to help employees grow and accomplish the job in the interest of the organization. Management's job is to assist the employee’s job performance. Employees feel a sense of participation.
Collegial Model
The root level of this model is a partnership with a managerial orientation of teamwork. The employees in this model are oriented towards responsible behaviour and self-discipline. The employee requirement that is met is self-actualization. The performance result is moderate zeal.
This is an extension of the supportive model. The teamwork approach is adapted for this model. Self-discipline is maintained. Workers feel an obligation to uphold quality standards for the better image of the company. A sense of “accept” and “respect” is seen.
OD Approaches
Human Resources Approach
This approach recognizes the fact that people are the central resource in any organization and that they should be developed towards higher levels of competency, creativity, and fulfilment.
People thus contribute to the success of the organization.
The human resources approach is also called the supportive approach in the sense that the manager’s role changes from control of employees to active support of their growth and performance.
The supportive approach contrasts with the traditional management approach.
In the traditional approach, managers decided what employees should do and closely monitored their performance to ensure task accomplishment.
In the human resources approach, the role of managers changes from structuring and controlling to supporting.
Contingency Approach
The contingency approach (sometimes called the situational approach) is based on the premise that methods or behaviours which work effectively in One situation fail in another.
For example; Organization Development (OD) programs work brilliantly in one situation but fail miserably in another situation.
Results differ because situations differ, the manager’s task, therefore, is to identify which method will, in a particular situation, under particular circumstances, and at a particular time, best contribute to the attainment of the organization's goals.
The strength of the contingency approach lies in the fact it encourages analysis of each situation before action while at the same time discouraging the habitual practice of universal assumptions about methods and people.
The contingency approach is also more interdisciplinary, more system–oriented and more research-oriented than any other approach.
Productivity Approach
Productivity, which is the ratio of output to input, is a measure of an organization’s effectiveness. It also reveals the manager’s efficiency in optimizing resource utilization.
The higher the numerical value of this ratio, the greater the efficiency.
Productivity is generally measured in terms of economic inputs and outputs, but human and social inputs and outputs also are important.
For example, if better organizational behaviour can improve job satisfaction, a human output or benefit occurs.
In the same manner, when employee development programs lead to better citizens in a community, a valuable social output occurs.
Organizational behaviour decisions typically involve human, social, and/or economic issues, and so productivity usually a significant part of these decisions is recognized and discussed extensively in the literature on OB.
Systems Approach
The Systems Approach to OB views the organization as a united, purposeful system composed of interrelated parts.
This approach gives managers a way of looking at the organization as a whole, whole, person, whole group, and the whole social system.
In so doing, the systems approach tells us that the activity of any segment of an organization affects, in varying degrees the activity of every other segment. A systems view should be the concern of every person in an organization.
The clerk at a service counter, the machinist, and the manager all work with the people and thereby influence the behavioural quality of life in an organization and its inputs.
Managers, however, tend to have a larger responsibility, because they are the ones who make the majority people-oriented.
The role of managers, then, is to use organizational behaviour to help build an organizational culture in which talents are utilized and further developed, people are motivated, teams become productive, organizations achieve their goals and society reaps the reward.
Interdisciplinary Approach
Organizational behaviour is an integration of all other social sciences and disciplines such as psychology, sociology, organizational theories etc.
They all are interdependent and influence each other. Man is studied as a whole and therefore, all disciplines concerning man are integrated.
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