of Organizations OB 1 - exec.pdforganization does 2. Organizational behavior expresses an organizational identity = that which an organization is 3. Organizational identities are constructed

OB EXEC Prof. Dr. P. Zamaros 1

DAY 1

Part 1: The Study of OB

1. Organizations, groups and individuals in a network of relations

2. Relational Approach to OB research

3. Understanding behaviors: methods and limitations

Part 2: The behavior of Organizations

1. Pictorial metaphors and signifying practices

2. Trust

3. Behaviors

4. Behaviors and competition


The study of organizational behavior:

Typically: the study of organizational behavior involves the

study of

• individuals

• teams (or groups)

• organizational systems.

Assumption: knowledge of the meanings “organization” and

“behavior”


ORGANIZATIONS, GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS IN A NETWORK OF RELATIONS


WHAT IS AN ORGANIZATION?

Organizational project:

Organizations are typically seen to be a group of individuals

who come together because they have a business project that

is common to all of them and which is expected to take place

for a long period of time.




Aspects of the project:

Legal requirement:

• registration with RC or equivalent

• acquire legal personality (CC art 51)

Financial requirement

• endowing the company with sufficient funds to “stand on its

feet”



http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/210/a52.html






Consequence: The organization is seen to be a unit, a closed

group

Distinction:

• An organization can be seen to form a closed group

BUT

• Groups/teams are seen to be the constitutive parts of an

organization as a system.




Summative perspective: organizations seen to be the sum of

their constituent parts.

Critique: organizations

• are dependent on groups and individuals from outside of it

• have a relative influence on the processes and actions of

individuals and teams in the organization – open systems

perspective.




However: the open systems perspective centers on the

organization and downplays relations with stakeholders

(external and internal).

Therefore:

a relational approach is necessary!



Assumptions concerning organizational behavior:

1. Organizations as units display behavior = that which the

organization does

2. Organizational behavior expresses an organizational identity =

that which an organization is

3. Organizational identities are constructed and expressed = use

of description

8 OB EXEC Prof. Dr. P. Zamaros


RELATIONAL APPROACH

4. Organizational identities are build on value assumptions =

building trust and other values

5. Organizational identities are a function of organization processes

= leadership, structure, culture, …



RELATIONAL APPROACH

Framework:


Organizational

behavior

Stakeholder perceives

organizational acts

Organization causes

producer acts

Stakeholder

behavior

Strand1

Strand 4

Strand 2

Strand 3

act

act

acting

thinking


RELATIONAL APPROACH

Strands - organization

1 – external

Ways the organization uses to inform consumers

and wider communities about its products, activities and

how it presents itself to them.

Indicators: advertizing, communiqués, websites,

brochures



RELATIONAL APPROACH

Strands - organization

2 – internal

What the organization does internally so as to maintain a

level of trust with its stakeholders

Indicators: value descriptions, quality systems, division of

labor, ecological concerns, social responsibility,

leadership



RELATIONAL APPROACH

Strands - stakeholder

3 – internal

How the consumers and wider communities think of the

organization it terms of its behavior, activities and products.

Indicators: none



RELATIONAL APPROACH

Strands - stakeholder

4 – external

How consumers behave relative to having interpreted

organizational acts

Indicators: stakeholder opinion polls, AGM behaviors, press

reports, investor confidence, statistical measures



RELATIONAL APPROACH

Example: McDonalds

Strand 1: website, advertisements, surveys

Strand 2: corporate info; getting into the company

Strand 3: -

Strand 4: research, articles, critiques, statistics, surveys



RELATIONAL APPROACH

http://www.mcdonalds.ch/fr

http://www.google.ch/search?q=mcdo+ads&hl=fr&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=LzmUTtK3G87Q4QSAsIHzBw&ved=0CDAQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643

http://www.mcdonalds-survey.ca/

http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd



http://www.scribd.com/doc/21549011/Consumer-Behavior-of-McDonalds-Consumers

http://ojica.fiu.edu/index.php/ojica_journal/article/viewFile/19/18

http://www.mcspotlight.org/campaigns/current/wwwmd-us.pdf

http://ronaldmcdonaldusa.blogspot.com/2004/10/shocking-statistics.html

HOW DOES THE FRAMEWORK CHANGE ACCORDING TO

THE TYPE OF STAKEHOLDER?

• External stakeholders: consumers, action groups, government,

competitors, shareholders (traded corporations), environment

• Internal stakeholders: employees, shareholders



RELATIONAL APPROACH


WHAT IS BEHAVIOR?

Behavior:

• An autonomous action because it is based on self-rules

• It is public therefore observable

• Has a transformative impact on other behaviors


BEHAVIORS


Two ways:

self-directed approach:

• principle: I inquire about myself or how I see an issue

• methods: diary and narrative

• application: development of

management competencies

– action learning


UNDERSTANDING BEHAVIORS: METHODS AND LIMITATIONS


Two ways (cont.):

other-directed approach:

• principle: I inquire about others or how others see an issue

• methods: survey, observation

• application: surveying opinions/attitudes/preferences (e.g.

pros & cons of strategic decisions), observing actions (e.g.

meetings, production processes)




0) principles:

Research is premised on the principle of objectivity

(detachment)

Research formal or otherwise resides in seeking/collecting

information on a phenomenon

Here the phenomenon is a business organization in a

relationship with stakeholders




1) methods:

As a researcher:

• Organization: other-directed

• Stakeholders: other-directed

As a stakeholder the information sought from the organization

depends on the needs and expectations of the stakeholder.




2) Clarify your role:

Are you a researcher – academic or otherwise?

Are you a stakeholder? Careful you are biased

Are you a stakeholder/researcher? Biased too!




3) Carry out a stakeholder analysis:

• Establish needs and expectations of the various

stakeholders (strand 4)

• Identify what the business organization does for its

stakeholders (strands 1, 2)




4) Research into strand 1:

Information is far more accessible compared to strand 2




5) Research into strand 2:

The type of information available depends on the type of

stakeholder:

• Shareholder: AGM reports

• Government: employment stats, taxes

• Action group: decisions, information on byproducts

• Consumer: product, services & aspects of communication

(strand 1)

• Employee: contract, working conditions




Finding:

Information made available to stakeholders is specific and

limited

BUT

Is it enough to qualify the behavior of an organization?

If not, what more information do we need and how do we get

it?



OB MBA 1 Prof. Dr. P. Zamaros 27

Elements under study

1. Pictorial metaphors

2. Information flow

3. Trust

4. Behaviors


ELEMENTS – ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR OF ORGANIZATIONS


Understanding the behavior of organizations requires

understanding the values and meanings conveyed

through signifying practices:

• Advertisements

• Communiqués

• Websites

• Social media


PICTORIAL METAPHORS


Metaphors involve

the transference of

meaning from one

term to another.

To extend: pictorial

metaphors are visual

statements that

transfer meaning.


PICTORIAL METAPHORS


Example: in this

Nerolac ad there is

transference of the

idea DRY onto the

PAINT by making

the painter standing

on the freshly

painted coat


PICTORIAL METAPHORS


The purpose of pictorial metaphors is:

Relaying: pictorial means serve the propose of passing on

meaning, ideas, values

Anchoring: pictorial means serve the purpose of capturing

attention


PICTORIAL METAPHORS


The achievement of these purposes depends on relevance,

i.e. that the pictorial metaphor “speaks” to the stakeholder,

which in turn implies knowledge of the pictorial codes and

language.


PICTORIAL METAPHORS


Establish the metaphors in the following ads:

Ad 1: Heinz


ACTIVITY


Ad 2: Bose


ACTIVITY


Ad 3: Noodleslurper


ACTIVITY


Ad 4: Nescafé


ACTIVITY


Ad 4: 3M


ACTIVITY


Ad 5: AT&T


ACTIVITY

http://www.funenclave.com/reality-bites/amazing-hand-advertisements-by-at-t-43361.html


Ad 6: Scrabble


ACTIVITY


More ads

Funny:

http://nazirstuffs.blogspot.ch/2011/12/funny-

advertisements.html

Shocking:

http://www.smashingapps.com/2010/11/06/40-extremely-

shocking-advertisements.html


ACTIVITY

http://nazirstuffs.blogspot.ch/2011/12/funny-advertisements.html















http://www.smashingapps.com/2010/11/06/40-extremely-shocking-advertisements.html























Typically information flows from the organization to the

stakeholder with the assumption that the organization has

encoded meanings that the stakeholder understands.

Seen otherwise, the encoded meanings are the result of

internal organizational activity, hence organizational decision-

making.


INFORMATION FLOW


However, in a relational approach, information flows both

ways: where the organization seeks to communicate

information, the stakeholder, in finding the information

relevant, partakes in this communication.


INFORMATION FLOW



TRUST


Three approaches:

Interpersonal:

• principle: “I trust this person because s/he is trustworthy”

• emphasis placed on worthiness and its proof: one merits the

trust of others; it requires effort and convincing of “good”

intentions

• in case of a demerit or failure to convince, trust is not granted;

• therefore, trust is conditional: there is transaction


TRUST


Three approaches (cont.):

Functional:

• principle: “business success is premised on trust”

• emphasis on stakeholder loyalty, especially consumer and

employee fidelity; however if consumer loyalty is earned,

employee fidelity is a legal obligation

• therefore: the functional approach is basically transactional


TRUST



Existential:

• principle: “I trust what is simply is”

• following Martin Heidegger, actions and acts are grounded on

“Being”, the assumption of existence

• for pre-socractic Parmenides, there is one truth: that there is

being


TRUST



Existential:

• example: we consume goods without questioning the very

action of consuming: we hardly ever stop to ask why; therefore,

consuming happens; therefore, desires are de facto existent;

desires are a cause only in their variation: the identification and

specification of a desire makes it to be a cause, but if it is a

cause it is because in the first place it exists (i.e. if it did not

exist it would not be a cause)


TRUST



Existential:

• therefore: the existential approach considers trust to be an

existential assumption which exists unconditionally and with

serves of the purpose of grounding all actions thereon


TRUST


ARE THERE LIMITS TO TRUST?


TRUST


A typology:

• Defenders: defend own market

• Prospectors: on the lookout for new markets

• Analyzers: defense & prospection

• Reactors : changing strategy according to circumstance


BEHAVIORS


3 environments:

• Passive: organizations offer similar products, therefore face

similar problems, therefore cannot behave in a way that is

different from competitors in order to lure stakeholders,

especially consumers and shareholders

• defenders?

• e.g. local restaurants, pharmacies, schools


BEHAVIORS AND COMPETITION


3 environments (cont.):

• Dynamic: organizations seek to differentiate products and enter

new markets via advertising and marketing studies –

prospectors

• prospectors?

• e.g. IT, car manufacturers, electronics (attract 80% of

investments)




3 environments (cont.):

• Non-competitive: organizations have such a market share that

need not compete anymore

• analyzers?

• e.g. cement suppliers, fast-food restaurants, cola suppliers,

tobacco suppliers, oil suppliers



Documents

of Organizations OB 1 - exec.pdforganization does 2. Organizational behavior expresses an organizational identity = that which an organization is 3. Organizational identities are constructed