Educational Leadership

Outline of Chapters 1 & 2:

Organizational Behavior in Education

by Robert G. Owens

Dr. T. Valesky

Owens’ Prospective

Chapter 1

Why study Organizational Behavior?– Leadership is defined as “working with and

through other people to achieve organizational goals” (Owens, p.2).

Why study the history of Organizational Behavior?

Why study Theory?

History of Educational Administration

WOODROW WILSON: 1887 Essay “The Study of Administration"

FREDERICK TAYLOR: The "Father of Scientific Management", who wrote The Principles of Scientific Management (1911)– FRANK AND LILLIAN GILBRETH: Time and

Motion Studies HENRI FAYOL: General and Industrial

Management (1916) MAX WEBER: The "Father of Bureaucracy"

Four Principles of Scientific Management

Frederick Taylor: The Father of Scientific Management who was influenced by Wilson’s essay.

1. Adopt scientific measurements to break jobs into series of small, related tasks and develop a standard time for each task.

2. Use systematic methods for selecting workers and training them for specific jobs.

3. Establish clear division of responsibility between management and workers, where management sets goals, plans, and supervises, and the workers execute the required tasks.

4. Establish a discipline where management sets the objectives and the workers cooperate in achieving them.

Henri Fayol Defined Administration in Terms of Five Functions

Fayol focused on the managers, not the worker as did Taylor. He was the first to separate administration from other

operations, like production. He emphasized that the administrative process had the

following common elements (POCCC).1. Planning2. Organizing3. Commanding (leading)4. Coordinating5. Controlling (evaluating)

Max Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy

1. A division of labor and specific allocation of responsibility based on functional specialization.

2. Exact hierarchical levels of graded authority.

3. A system of rules covering the rights and duties of employees.

4. Written policies, rules, and regulations that guide behavior.

5. An impersonal, bureaucratic environment.

6. The development of longevity of administrative careers, with selection and promotion based on technical competence.

Others Who Promoted Classical Organizational Theory

Ellwood Cubberly: supported the use of scientific management schools. Most noted for promoting the development of state funding for schools.

Fred Ayer: study of school superintendents' roles affected what was taught in the universities (budgeting, heating, janitorial services, record keeping, etc.)

Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick: developed ideas of grouping elements by function, location; and developed idea of formal organization chart for communication and control; Administrative Process is POSDCoRB: Plan, Organize, Staff, Direct, Coordinate,Report, and Budget.

Some Principles of Classical Organizational Theory

1. Scalar principle: line V. staff (chain of command; organizatioanl charts)

2. Unity of Command: receive orders from only one person

3. Exception Principle: delegate routine tasks and deal only with exceptions

4. Span of Control: classical theory limited number of people reporting to superior (3 to 12)

Tall v. Flat Organizational Structures

Tall Organizations:– Longer chain of command and communication– Many layers of responsibility – Slow decision making– Smaller span of control, which encourages

more decision making and control– at higher levels

Tall v. Flat (continued)

Flat Organizations:– Shorter chain of command and communication– Fewer layers of responsibility– Faster decision making– Larger span of control, which encourages

decision making at lower levels

Beginnings of Human Relations Theory in Management

Mary Parker Follett modified classical organization theory: focusing on decision making at lower levels of the organization; opening up communication horizontally; permitting a "situational" approach in which lower levels in the

organization could self-adjust to meet their needs; acknowledging that management is a dynamic process and must

respond to emerging situations; a focus on dealing with conflict by "integration": bring out in

open and seek a win-win situation.Mary Parker Follett bridged the gap from classical organization

theory to further study and reflection that resulted in the Human Relations Movement.

Hawthorne Plant of Western Electric--Illumination and Bank Wire Experiments

Follett’s work used knowledge learned from the Hawthorne Plant’s studies.

Elton Mayo: Senior experimenter and writer for the National Research Council (1923-26). Major results of the Western Electric Hawthorne Plant studies:

illumination had no effect on production any change in stimuli increased production human variability is important in the production process simple human interaction among workers increased

productivity (break periods)

Human Relations ConceptsThe Hawthorne Experiments led to new concepts in organizational behavior:

morale group dynamics motivation democratic supervision personnel relations

1.

Others of Importance to the Human Relations Movement

1. Kurt Lewin: group decision making and leadership studies

2. Jacob Moreno: sociometric analysis (sociograms)

3. Robert Bales: Interaction Analysis led to finding that successful groups have someone who:

– keeps the group focused on accomplishing the task (task orientation)

– focuses on maintaining productive human relationships in the group (relations or maintenance orientation)

Organizational Behavior Movement (combines Classical Org. Theory with Human Relations--focusing more on structure, less on people)

Organizational behavior seeks to describe, understand, and predict human behavior in the environment of formal organizations. It recognizes that both the internal, informal organization (created by human interaction and groups) and the formal organization affect one another, and that management must seek arrangements to maximize the effectiveness of this interaction.

The formal and informal organization cannot be separated when studying organizations.

Three Significant Works Affected Development of Organizational Behavior

1. Chester Barnard (VP NJ Bell): The Functions of the Executive (1938).

2. Felix Rothlisberger and William Dickson: Management and the Worker (1939).

All three of these men followed the Western Electric Hawthorne Plant experiments. They focused on formal and informal organization, stating that the informal could not be ignored, and that the needs and aspirations of the worker were important to effective management.

Three Works of Influence (continued)

3. Herbert Simon: Administrative Behavior (1947).

– Also focused the importance of worker needs and behavior, but highlighted also the importance of decision making.

Human Resources Development (HRD) is Basically Synonymous with Org. Behavior

HRD FOCUSES MORE ON PEOPLE AND LESS ON STRUCTURE, WHICH CHARACTERIZES ITS DIFFERENCES WITH ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR.

– Many ideas and individuals led to the concepts in HRD, however, they are depicted best by Thomas Sergiovanni and Robert Starratt in Supervision: Human Perspectives (1971).

– The following diagram shows the philosophical differences between Human Relations and Human Resources theories:

Difference Between Human Resources and Human Relations

Human Resources:

Example Action: Adopt Shared Decision Making Practices

Increases School Effectiveness

Increases Teacher Satisfaction

Difference Between Human Resources and Human Relations (continued)

Human Relations:

Example Action: Adopt Shared Decision Making Practices

Increases Teacher Satisfaction

Increases School Effectiveness

Concepts That Led to Human Resources Development

1. Qualitative or Ethnographic Research Methods (Chapter 10): permitted a rich account of what actually happens in schools.

2. James Thompson : laid the foundation for new organization theory. He suggested

A.Uncertainty leads to our inability to foresee problems, no matter how structured we are; and

B. Concept of coupling (the way people relate): Reciprocal (multiple dependent relationships), Sequential (single dependent), and Pooled Coupling (share resources but independent).

HRD Concepts (continued)

3. James March, Michael Cohen, and Johan Olson: Schools are different they have:

– Organized Anarchies (goals are not specific nor clear; technology is unclear; participation is fluid)

– Garbage Can Model of choice: problem and solutions are in the can are only loosely connected to one another. Similar to Charles Lindbloom’s “Science of Muddling Through” and Simon’s early work of accepting the first idea that solves the problem (called satisficing)

HRD Concepts (continued)

4. Karl Weick (Chapter 3): Schools are loosely coupled and bottom heavy.

5. John Meyer and Brian Rowan (Chapter 3) : Schools are Dual Systems– Loosely Coupled Systems: the technical core of teaching is

loosely connected to the Administration. The Administration has indirect control only of instruction through control of time (schedules); student assignments; grouping (tracking; self contained; departmental); and resources.

– Bureaucratic (tightly controlled) Systems: non-instructional activities, such as paychecks, transportation, budgets, and others.

HRD Concepts (continued)

Organizational Culture: norms, values, and philosophy of an organization and the people within it. The best way to influence change in a school is to change the culture. (many writers, beginning with Lewin, and including Barnard, , Halpin and Croft, Servgiovanni, Tagiuri, Ouchi, Peters, and many others).

Contingency Approaches: some organizations can use classical organizational approaches, while others should be less bureaucratic--focusing on the human relations side of the worker--while others must balance both.

Douglas McGregor: Theory X & Y

Everyone, including Leaders, have a philosophy of human nature that affects one’s leadership behavior. One’s philosophy has certain assumptions that can be characterized generally into one of two types:– Theory X or Theory Y

Define these assumptions.

Chris Argyris: Pattern A & B

Argyris characterized Theory X and Y as leading to certain types of leader behaviors:– Pattern A--hard– Pattern A--soft– Pattern B

What types of behaviors are identified in each?

Rensis Likert: 4 Management Systems Theory

His research shows that human behavior in organizations is the “crucial variable that differentiates more effective from less effective organizations” (p. 37).

Each system is identified by behaviors in decision-making, communications, amount of interaction between leaders and followers, how employees are motivated, and the amount of autonomy and control.

General Systems Theory

Organisms, people, and organizations are extremely complex systems for which simple cause and effect logic does not apply.

Systems Theory “puts us on guard against the strong tendency to ascribe phenomena to a single causative factor” (p. 42).

Social Systems Theory

Open v. Closed Systems. Define in terms of schools.

The linear model is far too simple for us to use in understanding the complexity of a system: (P. 43)

Inputs Educ. Processes Outputs

The Contextual Approach: The Open System of an Organization

Example: School (subsystem), School District(system), Community (suprasystem)

Interaction of the Individual (teachers, students, etc.) in the System

Role Theory

Role theory can help us understand and predict organizational behavior.

Individuals have roles to perform, and how one carries out the role is complex depending on: ones interpretation of the role; expectations of supervisor(s); expectations of peers; school culture; and others.

Definitions in Role Theory

Role Conflict: differing expectations

Role Ambiguity: unclear, vague role definition

Role Set: one’s position among subgroups

Functional Roles in Groups

Group Task Roles: Focuses on the task. Typically the designated leader has responsibility for most, but everyone should contribute to these– Seeking opinions from everyone in the group– Keep the group focused on the task(s)– Contributing information and opinion– Evaluator/critic/devil’s advocate– The recorder of the group’s work

Functional Roles in Groups (continued)

Group/Team Building and Maintenance: Focuses on group climate and harmonious relationships– harmonizing differences between ideas and group

members– facilitating communication, e.g. encouraging

everyone to participate– providing feedback– setting high expectation of performance

Role Theory and Social Systems Theory

Jacob Getzels and Egon Guba describe organizations as Social Systems.

Social Systems have two primary components: the individual and the institution, respectively, the idiographic and nomothetic the dimensions. – These are graphically depicted as:

Getzels and Guba Model

Getzels: B = f (R x P)

The amount of role prescription in organizations will differ.

Social Systems Theory

Motivation ties directly into this theory. There must be an equilibrium between the

needs of the individual and the needs of the organization.

That is, the organization must focus on accomplishing tasks and in providing adequate rewards for effective participation.

But this theory is not complete:

Add Structure and Technological Resources for a Complete System

Contingency Theory How the parts of the system in the System Theory are

organized should depend on the unique needs of each organization.

The Contingency Approach indicates that there is no one best way to organize and manage people, tasks, technology, and structure.

There are however, certain principles that are more effective and must be understood. This course focuses on these principles.

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