Effective versus Successful Managerial Activities Fred Luthans and

his associates asked: Do managers who move up most quickly in an

organization do the same vactivities and with the same emphasis as
managers who do the best job? Surprisingly, those managers who were
the most effective were not necessarily promoted the fastest. Luthans
and his associates studied more than 450 managers. They found that all
managers engage in four managerial activities
O Traditional management. Decision making, planning, and controlling.
The average manager spent 32 percent of his or her time performing this
activity. O Communication. Exchanging routine information and
processing paperwork. The average manager spent 29 percent of his or
her time performing this activity.
O Human resource management. Motivating, disciplining, managing
conflict, staffing, and training. The average manager spent 20 percent of
his or her time performing this activity.
O Networking. Socializing, politicking, and interacting with outsiders.
The average manager spent 19 percent of his or her time performing this
activity.
O Successful managers are defined as those who were promoted the
fastest:
Networking made the largest relative contribution to success.
Human resource management activities made the least relative
contribution.
O Effective managers—defined as quality and quantity of performance,
as well as commitment to employees:
Communication made the largest relative contribution.
Networking made the least relative contribution.
O Successful managers do not give the same emphasis to each of those
activities as do effective managers—it is almost the opposite of effective
managers.

Luthans (1988), on the basis of his study, found that all managers engage in four
managerial activities.

1. Traditional management— This activity consists of planning, decision

making, and controlling. The average manager spent 32 percent of his or her time
performing this activity, whereas successful managers spend 13% and effective
managers spend 13% of their time in this activity.

2. Communication—This activity consists of exchanging routine information and

processing paperwork. The average manager spent 29 percent of his or her time
performing this activity while successful manager spends 28% and effective
managers spend 44% of their time in this activity.

3. Human resource management—This activity consists of motivating,

disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and training. The average manager spent
20 percent of his or her time performing this activity, while successful manager
spends 11% and effective managers spend 26% of their time in this activity.

4. Networking—This activity involves socializing, politicking, and interacting

with outsiders. The average manager spent 19 percent of his or her time
performing this activity, while successful manager spends 48% and successful
manages spend 11% of their time in this activity.

It was found that successful managers spent more time and effort in socializing,
interacting and networking. They did not spend much time to the traditional
 management activities or to the human resource management activities (Luthans,
1988)

7 Disciplines Contributing To The Field of Organizational Behavior (OB)

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Page Contents

 Contributing Disciplines To Organizational Behavior (OB)

o Psychology
o Sociology
o Social Psychology
o Anthropology
o Political Science
o Medicine
o Economics

Contributing Disciplines To Organizational Behavior (OB)

Organizational behavior (OB) is characterized by being a multidisciplinary
discipline in nature as so OB is contributed by various disciplines.

These disciplines have developed and made organizational behavior a strong

separate field of study with its own applications to use. As the complexities are
increasing, OB has faced many complexities and assumed to use ideas of some
disciplines that led it to bring success in the organizational functions.

The major contributing disciplines to the field of organizational behavior are:

 Psychology
 Sociology
 Social Psychology
 Anthropology
 Political Science
 Economics
 Medicine
Here, we will discuss all these disciplines and how they have contributed to
organizational behavior to be a better discipline.

Psychology
Psychology is the behavioral science that studies human behavior (+animals) and
mental processes. It is the science of humans. It is the best tool to understand why
people think, what they think, and how they think.
Psychology helps to know why people think and behave the way they do. Its
major seven perspectives – cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic,
biological, socio-cultural, and evolutionary are what let us understand human
behavior in a better way.
Psychology has contributed many important concepts to OB, such as:

 Motivation
 Learning
 Perception
 Personality
 Emotion
 Training
 Employee Selection
 Attitude
 Work Design
 Job Stress, etc.
Since organizational behavior is also a behavioral approach the above
contributions of psychology have made better use in organizational settings. Such
as motivation, is the influencer of employees when motivation is seen in
employees the organizational performance seems to be positively boosted, and
learning on the job further enhances the skills of employees, and so forth.

Sociology
Sociology is the study of human behavior in a social setting consisting of human
interaction, social ties, growth of society, structure, and regulations. Sociology
believes humans are social beings, they are in groups.
Sociologists study humans in group behavior. After psychology, sociology is one
of the most important contributing disciplines to the field of organizational
behavior.

The major contributions areas of sociology are group dynamics, status, culture,
status, power, communication, socialization, organizational change, and
technology. Sociologists view an organization as a system consisting of a variety
of people having different roles, statuses, power, and authorities.
A manager should use the concept of sociology to understand a group’s behavior at
both group and organizational levels and take appropriate managerial actions.

Social Psychology
Social psychology is the combination of both psychology and sociology. It studies
the social behavior and thought of people plus how people think, feel, process, and
act. It explains the interaction, interdependence, and influence of people among
one another.

It studies the behavior of people at the group level. One of the main contributions
of social psychology to the OB is how to predict, manage, and change the behavior
of humans in organizational settings.

Social psychologists study various areas combining both sociology and psychology
but the most important for organizational behavior are the concept of behavioral
change, attitude change, communication, group process, and group decision
making.

Anthropology
Anthropology is the science of humans. It studies the evolution or development
stages of human beings consisting of human nature, different societies, and how
different cultures are developed.
It also studies how humans interacted with their environment, how they are now,
and how in the future and how humans are civilized.

It helps to understand the society of humans and their activities. Its major
contributions include comparative values, attitude, analysis, and norms and it helps
to understand cultural factors in organizational settings such as organizational
culture, environment, power, and so on.

Political Science
Political science deals with politics and its practices in different scenarios. It
mainly concerns the allocation of power, conflict resolution, group coalition, and
how to manipulate power for individual self-interest.

Its concerns in OB mainly deal with the allocation of power to the employees,
manipulation, and controlling of conflicts in the organization.
Today, organizations are also regarded as a political system. Thus, a manager
should understand the structure of politics and how it works.

The study of politics helps managers to understand the dynamics of power and
politics and help apply them in the organizational settings in a proper way.

Medicine
Medicine is the branch of health science that deals with the identification and
treatment of diseases to improve the health of people. It treats both physical and
psychological diseases of people.

While treating people it observes their behavior of people and tries to find out the
causes. Some causes are related to the body and some are mental.

In organizational settings, employees also suffer from psychological diseases, and

applications of medical science help managers organize different wellness
programs so that employees’ health will be improved and they are ready again to
work.

Economics
The science of economics is related to the cost. It is the study of how to minimize
cost, how to best use scarce resources, and achieve more from less.

To run the daily operations of the organization there is a need for money. The
study of economics helps managers to best use the organization’s limited
resources. And, economic factors such as labor market dynamics, wages, demand-
supply, cost of production, etc. also influence organizational behavior
Figure 1. The five steps of negotiation

Let’s take deeper look into each step.

Preparation and Planning

In the preparation and planning stage, you (as a party in the negotiation) need to
determine and clarify your own goals in the negotiation. This is a time when you
take a moment to define and truly understand the terms and conditions of the
exchange and the nature of the conflict. What do you want to walk away with?

You should also take this moment to anticipate the same for the other party. What
are their goals in this negotiation? What will they ask for? Do they have any
hidden agendas that may come as a surprise to you? What might they settle for,
and how does that differ from the outcome you’re hoping for?

This is a time to develop a strategy for the negotiation. We’ll talk more about
strategies in the next section.
Definition of Ground Rules

After the planning and strategy development stage is complete, it’s time to work
with the other party to define the ground rules and procedures for the negotiation.
This is the time when you and the other party will come to agreement on questions
like

     Who will do the negotiating—will we do it personally or invite a third

party?
     Where will the negotiation take place?
     Will there be time constraints placed on this negotiation process?
     Will there be any limits to the negotiation?
     If an agreement can’t be reached, will there be any specific process to
handle that?

Usually it’s during this phase that the parties exchange their initial positions.

Clarification and Justification

Once initial positions have been exchanged, the clarification and justification stage
can begin. Both you and the other party will explain, clarify, bolster and justify
your original position or demands. For you, this is an opportunity to educate the
other side on your position, and gain further understanding about the other party
and how they feel about their side. You might each take the opportunity to explain
how you arrived at your current position, and include any supporting
documentation. Each party might take this opportunity to review the strategy they
planned for the negotiation to determine if it’s still an appropriate approach.

This doesn’t need to be—and should not be—confrontational, though in some

negotiations that’s hard to avoid. But if tempers are high moving into this portion
of the negotiation process, then those emotions will start to come to a head here.
It’s important for you to manage those emotions so serious bargaining can begin.

Bargaining and Problem Solving

This is the essence of the negotiation process, where the give and take begins.

You and the other party will use various negotiation strategies to achieve the goals
established during the preparation and planning process. You will use all the
 information you gathered during the preparation and planning process to present
your argument and strengthen your position, or even change your position if the
other party’s argument is sound and makes sense.

The communication skills of active listening and feedback serve the parties of a
negotiation well. It’s also important to stick to the issues and allow for an objective
discussion to occur. Emotions should be kept under control. Eventually, both
parties should come to an agreement.

. Bargaining and Problem Solving

The essence of the negotiation process is the actual give and take in trying to
hash out an agreement, a proper bargain. It is here where concessions will
undoubtedly need to be made by both parties.

5. Closure and Implementation

The final step in the negotiation process is a formalization of the agreement
that has been worked out and developing and procedures that are necessary
for implementation and monitoring.

Closure and Implementation

Once an agreement has been met, this is the stage in which procedures need to be
developed to implement and monitor the terms of the agreement. They put all of
the information into a format that’s acceptable to both parties, and they formalize
it.

Formalizing the agreement can mean everything from a handshake to a written

contract.

PRACTICE QUESTION
SALESCO

Let’s take a look at this process in action. A team from a retail organization,
Salesco, is looking to purchase widgets for resale directly to the consumer. You
lead a team from WholesaleCo and are interested in negotiating an offer to sell
these widgets to them at a wholesale cost.
 Preparation and Planning. You know that WholesaleCo will be going up
against OtherCompany, who is likely to outbid you on price. You research, as
best you can, the price and quantity OtherCompany is willing to come to the
table with. You also know, from your earlier research, that Salesco is a
company that values quality and if they’re going to say no to OtherCompany,
it’ll be because they have a reputation for skimping on quality. Your
company produces the better, but more expensive, widget. Armed with this
information, you put together your proposal.
 Definition of Ground Rules. Salesco, as your customer, has let you know
that they expect widgets to be manufactured and delivered in the first quarter
of the following year. They’d like to sign with a 25% deposit. Your company
usually requires 50% down, but you counter with 30%, provided you have a
signed contract before the end of the year, which is approaching quickly. You
offer Salesco your proposal. Salesco does not share OtherCompany’s offer.
 Clarification and Justification. Salesco wants to understand more about
your deposit requirements, and you’d like to know if your offer is otherwise
in the ballpark for them. You reiterate that you provided them the best price
you could for the quality product you produce. Salesco assures you your offer
is good but they’ll review it further with their legal team.
 Bargaining and Problem Solving. Salesco understands that WholesaleCo is
not providing them the best price but that the quality they look to provide
their customers will only come from WholesaleCo, and never
OtherCompany. They’d still like to go with a 25% deposit because that’s all
they have budgeted for the remainder of the fiscal year. As a representative of
Wholesale, you offer to go with a 25% deposit if a second payment can be
made at the beginning of the next quarter, which would allow them to pay it
out of next year’s budget. Agreements are made.
 Closure and Implementation. WholesaleCo makes changes to the contract
for the widgets and a representative from Salesco signs. The new contract
outlines the changes in the deposit structure, and a full delivery schedule of
widgets to Salesco’ distribution centers by an agreed-upon date.
The negotiation process is complete.

Models are the techniques which help us to understand complex things and
ideas in a clear manner.
Models are frameworks or possible explanations why do people behave as
they do at work.

For this reason, models of organizational behavior are highly significant.

Classification models of OB: There are five models of OB

1. Autocratic model

2. Custodial model

3. Supportive model

4. Collegial model

5. System model

The Autocratic Model

The basis of this model is power with a managerial orientation of authority. The
employees in turn are oriented towards obedience and dependence on the boss. The
employee need that is met is subsistence. The performance result is minimal.

In case of an autocratic model, the managerial orientation is doctorial. The

managers exercise their commands over employees. The managers give orders and
the employees have to obey the orders. Thus, the employee’s orientation towards
the managers/bosses is obedience. Under autocratic conditions, employees give
higher performance either because of their achievement drive or their personal
liking to the boss or because of some other factor.

Evidences such as the industrial civilization of the United States and organizational
crises do suggest that the autocratic model produced results. However, its principal
weakness is its high human cost. The combination of emerging knowledge about
the needs of the employees and ever changing societal values and norms suggested
managers to adopt alternative and better ways to manage people at work. This gave
genesis to the second type of models or organizational Behavior.

Short notes of this model:

1. Depends on power

2. Managerial orientation is authority

3. Employee orientation is obedience

4. Employee psychological result depends on boss

5. Employee needs met is subsistence

6. Performance result is minimum

The Custodial Model

The basis of this model is economic resources with a managerial orientation of

money. The employees in turn are oriented towards security and benefits and
dependence on the organization. The employee need that is met is security. The
performance result is passive cooperation.

While studying the employees, the managers realized and recognized that although
the employees managed under autocratic style do not talk back to their boss they
certainly think back about the system. Such employees filled with frustration and
aggression vent them on their co-workers, families and neighbors. This made the
managers think how to develop better employee satisfaction and security. It was
realized that this can be done by dispelling employees' insecurities, frustration and
aggression. This called for introduction of welfare programmers to satisfy security
needs of employees. Provision for an onsite day-care center for quality child care is
an example of welfare programme meant for employees. Welfare programmes lead
to employee dependence on the organization. Stating more accurately, employees
having dependence on organization may not afford to quit even there seem greener
pastures around. The basis of this model is partnership with a managerial
orientation of teamwork. The employees in turn are oriented towards responsible
behavior and self-discipline.
Although the custodian approach brings security and satisfaction, it suffers from
certain flaws also. Employees produce anywhere near their capacities. They are
also not motivated to increase their capacities of which they are capable. Though
the employees are satisfied, still they do not feel motivated or fulfilled in their
work they do. This is in conformity with the research finding that the happy
employees are not necessarily most productive employees. Consequently managers
and researchers started to address yet another question. "Is there better approach or
way to manage people?" The quest for a better way provided a foundation for
evolvement to the supportive type of model of organizational Behavior.

Short notes of this model:

1. Depends on economical resource

2. Managerial orientation is money

3. Employee orientation is security and benefit

4. Employee psychological result depends on organization

5. Employee needs met is security

6. Performance result is passive cooperation

The Supportive Model

The basis of this model is leadership with a managerial orientation of support. The
employees in turn are oriented towards job performance and participation. The
employee need that is met is status and recognition. The performance result is
awakened drives.

The supportive model is founded on leadership, not on money or authority. In fact,

it is the managerial leadership style that provides an atmosphere to help employees
grow and accomplish their tasks successfully. The managers recognize that the
workers are not by nature passive and disinterested to organizational needs, but
they are made so by an inappropriate leadership style. The managers believe that
given due and appropriate changes, the workers become ready to share
responsibility, develop a drive to contribute their mite and improve themselves.
Thus, under supportive approach, the management's orientation is to support the
employee's job performance for meeting both organizational and individual goals.

Short notes of this model:

1. Depends on leadership

2. Managerial orientation is support

3. Employee orientation is job and performance

4. Employee psychological result is participation

5. Employee needs met is status and recognition

6. Performance result is awakened drives

The Collegial Model

The collegial model is an extension of the supportive model. As the literal meaning
of the work 'college' means a group of persons having the common purpose, the
collegial model relates to a team work/concept. The basic foundation of the
collegial model lies on management's building a feeling of partnership with
employee. Under collegial approach, employees feel needed and useful. They
consider managers as joint contributors to organizational success rather than as
bosses.

Its greatest benefit is that the employee becomes self-discipline. Feeling

responsible backed by self-discipline creates a feeling of teamwork just like what
the members of a football team feel. The research studies report that compared to
traditional management model, the more open, participative, collegial managerial
approach produced improved results in situations where it is appropriate.

Although there are four separate models, almost no organization operates

exclusively in one. There will usually be a predominate one, with one or more
areas overlapping in the other models.

The first model, autocratic, had its roots in the industrial revolution. The managers
of this type of organization operate out of McGregor's Theory X. The next three
models begin to build on McGregor's Theory Y. They have each evolved over a
period of time and there is no one "best" model. The collegial model should not be
thought as the last or best model, but the beginning of a new model or paradigm.

Short notes of this model:

1. Depends on partnership

2. Managerial orientation is teamwork

3. Employee orientation is responsible behavior

4. Employee psychological result is self-discipline

5. Employee needs met is self-actualization

6. Performance result is moderate enthusiasm

The System Model

This model is based on trust, self-motivation, and the performance results will be
more than expected, because employees will be committed to do their tasks as
expected, and as well as organizational

goals. After we explained the models in brief we would like to inform you that the
world nowadays requires from us necessary steps before we decide the best model
to have for an each organization. One of the most important things to consider is
that managers and leaders should clearly understand the nature of their
organizations before making any decision.

Also, they have to consider and look at the changing in the environment and of
course the employee’s needs so that they can have the best model to use to get a
better result.

Short notes of this model:

1. Depends on trust, community, understanding

2. Managerial orientation is caring, compassion

3. Employee orientation is psychological ownership

4. Employee psychological result is self-motivation

5. Employee needs met is wide range

6. Performance result is passion, commitment, organization goal

Now, the sum and substances of these five models of organizational Behavior are
summarized in Table 1.1.

Interpretation of Different Models: Various conclusions may be drawn from the

study of different models as follows:

(i) As soon as the understanding of human Behavior develops or social conditions

change, the model is bound to change. No one model is best for all times.

(ii) Models or organizational Behavior are related to hierarchy of human needs. As

society advances on the need hierarchy, new models are developed to serve the
higher order needs that is paramount at that time.

(iii) Present tendency towards more democratic models of organizational Behavior

will continue to develop for long run.

(iv) Different models will remain in use though new model predominates as most
appropriate for general use at any given time as task conditions differ from time to
time and organization to organization.

(v) With the different models behavior will change.

Table 1.1 : Five Models of Organizational Behavior

Conclusion:

Based on this study it can be said that from autocratic model to system mode
culture & relationship between employers and employee of the organization are
developed.
 Organizational Behavior - Models

More Detail

Organizational behavior reflects the behavior of the people and management all
together, it is considered as field study not just a discipline. A discipline is an accepted
science that is based upon theoretical foundation, whereas OB is an inter-disciplinary
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, insecurity,
dependency on the superiors, 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 benefits
provided to them. They are dependent on the organization. The employee requirement
that is met is security.
This model is adapted by firms having high resources as the name suggest. It is
dependent on economic resources. This approach directs to depend on firm rather than
on 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 job is to assist
the employee’s job performance. Employees feel a sense of participation.

Collegial Model
The root level of this model is partnership with a managerial orientation of teamwork.
The employees in this model are oriented towards responsible behavior and self-
discipline. The employee requirement that is met is self-actualization. The performance
result is moderate zeal.
This is an extension of supportive model. The team work approach is adapted for this
model. Self-discipline is maintained. Workers feel an obligation to uphold quality
standard for the better image of the company. A sense of “accept” and “respect” is
seen.

Anthropology
The main aim of anthropology is to acquire a better understanding of the
relationship between the human being and the environment.

Adaptations to surroundings constitute culture. The manner in which people

view their surroundings is a part of the culture.

Their work on culture and environment has helped us to understand

differences in fundamental values, attitudes, and behavior among people in
different countries and within different organizations.

Anthropologists contribute to study some aspects of organizational

settings – similar values, comparative attitudes, cross-cultural analysis between
or among the employees.

Political Sciences
Contributions of political scientists are significant to the understanding of
behavior in organizations. Political scientists study the behavior of individuals
and groups within a political environment.

They contribute to understanding the dynamics of power centers, structuring

of conflict and conflict resolution tactics, allocation of power and how people
manipulate power for individual self-interest.

Sociology
The major focus of sociologists is on studying the social systems in which
individuals fill their roles. The focus is on group dynamics.

They have made their greatest contribution to OB through their study of

group behavior in organizations, particularly formal and sophisticated
organizations.

Sociological concepts, theories, models, and techniques help significantly to

understand better the group dynamics, organizational culture, formal
organization theory and structure, corporate technology, bureaucracy,
communications, power, conflict, and intergroup behavior.

6 Contributing Disciplines to the Organization

Behavior Field
There are some important disciplines in the organizational behavior field
which developed it extensively.