Essay on Behavior in organizations

1. Theory Y and theory X

A well-known American researcher of leadership in organizations, Douglas McGregor put forward in the 1950-s an original approach to the consideration of the nature of leadership, which has become very popular among managers. In fact, there are two different views of human nature: basically negative view, which he called “Theory X” and fundamentally positive, “Theory Y”.

“Theory X” embodies a purely authoritarian management style, characterized by a significant centralization of power, tight control on the above factors. According to it:

– people are inherently lazy, dislike work and avoid it;
– people don’t have ambitions, they avoid responsibility, preferring to be directed;
– effective work is achieved only through coercion and punishment.

“Theory Y” corresponds to a democratic style of management and involves the delegation of authority, improving relationships in the team, taking into account the relevant motivation of employees and their psychological needs, the substance of the work. According to it:

– work is a a natural process for all people;
– under favorable conditions people tend to self-responsibility;
– people do have natural creative abilities, but use them only partially.

2. Authoritarianism is a model of behavior based on the belief that every organization has status and power differences, and the use of power is a necessary and important element of an effective organization. People with high levels of authoritarianism are respectful with people of higher status and lightly with subordinates, suspicious of change, are more likely to follow the rules, they often manifest themselves leaders in situations that require unity of command and high standards. The presence of authoritarian traits in staff has negative impact on their work, especially in situations where the job requires compassion to others, tact and ability to adapt to complex changing conditions.

3. Bureaucracy

Max Weber formulated the idea of the organization, which has become traditional for the field of organizational behavior. Weber believed that the bureaucratic form of organization is the most effective in contemporary society. He wanted to create foundations of an ideal organization that would provide a maximum of rationality of human behavior. Talking about the technical advantages of bureaucracy, Weber wrote: “The decisive advantage of bureaucratic organization over any other type of organization is that it always has a purely technical superiority. Perfect the mechanism of bureaucratic organization in comparison with all other types of organization provides the same benefits as the machine compared to non-motorized modes of production.

4. Scientific method

Organizational behavior is a systematic scientific analysis of individuals, groups and organizations to understand, predict and improve individual performance and functioning of the organization. To the study of organizational behavior is usually applied strictly scientific method:

– data collection is carried out systematically, its reliability and validity is monitored;
– the proposed explanation of the facts are carefully checked;
– all conclusions must be confirmed by strong arguments and observations before they can be advised to be used in practice.

5. Hawthorne effect

Hawthorne effect is the condition in which novelty and interest to the experiment, or increased attention to this issue leads to a distorted, often too favorable outcome. The participants work harder than usual thanks to the realization that they are involved in the experiment. Hawthorne effect means that the positive changes in behavior are the result of special attention to them, which people interpret as favorable participation.