Two points stand out in the complex interactions among people in a social
system. First, the behavior of any one member can have an impact, directly
or indirectly, on the behavior of any other. Although these impacts may be
large or small, all parts of the system are mutually interdependent. Simply
stated, a change in one part of a system affects all other parts, even though
its impact may be slight.
Social Equilibrium
A system is said to be in social equilibrium when its interdependent parts
are in dynamic working balance. Equilibrium is a dynamic concept, not a
static one. Despite constant change and movement in every organization,
the system’s working balance can still be retained. The system is like a sea:
in continuous motion and even suffering substantial disruption from storms,
over time the sea’s basic character changes very little.
talent and energy are exchanged for wages, hours, and reasonable working
conditions. The psychological contract defines the conditions of each
employee’s psychological involvement – both contributions and expectations
– with the social system. Employees agree to give a certain amount of
loyalty, creativity, and extra effort, but in return they expect more than
economic rewards from the system. They seek job security, fair treatment
(human dignity), rewarding relationships with co-workers, and organizational
support in fulfilling their development expectations.
If the organization honors only the economic contract and not the
psychological contract, employees tend to have lower satisfaction because
not all their expectations are being met. They may also withhold some of
their work-related contributions. On the other hand, if both their
psychological and economic expectations are met, they tend to experience
satisfaction, stay with the organization, and perform well. A desirable sense
of mutuality has been reached.
SOCIAL CULTURE
People learn to depend on their culture. It gives them stability and security,
because they can understand what is happening in their cultural community
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and know how to respond while in it. However, this one-culture dependency
may also place intellectual blinders on employees, preventing them from
gaining the benefits of exposure to people from other cultural backgrounds.
Cultural dependency is further compounded under conditions involving the
integration of two or more cultures into the workplace. Employees need to
learn to adapt to others in order to capitalize on the opportunities they
present, while avoiding possible negative consequences.
Cultural Diversity
Employees in almost any organizations are divided into subgroups of various
kinds. Formation of groups is determined by two broad sets of conditions.
First, job-related (organizationally created) differences and similarities, such
as type of work, rank in the organization, and physical proximity to one
another, sometimes cause people to align themselves into groups. However,
a second set of non-job-related conditions (those related to culture, ethnicity,
socioeconomics, sex and race) arise primarily from an individual’s personal
background; these conditions are highly important for legal, moral, and
economic reasons.
A second conclusion is that the general level of the work ethic has declined
gradually over many decades. The decline is most evident in the different
attitudes between younger and older workers. Not only are younger
employees not as supportive of the work ethic, but the level of support that
young people once exhibited has dropped substantially. This decline carries
serious implications for industrial productivity, especially as international
competition intensifies.
Why has the work ethic declined? Dramatic social changes have brought
about the work ethics deterioration. Competing social values have emerged,
such as leisure ethic (a high priority placed on personal gratification), desire
for intimacy (an emphasis on close personal relationships), and entitlement
(a belief that people should receive benefits without having to work). In
addition, changes in social policy and tax laws have reduced incentives to
work and occasionally even penalized hard work and success (in the minds of
some workers, at least). Finally, the “instant wealth” phenomenon has
blossomed in recent times. This occurs when thousands of people – either as
employees in high-tech start-up companies or as fortunate investors in real
estate or the stock market – become millionaires after just a few years of
work. The dramatic change they experience in their financial assets has led
to a belief among some people that vast sums of money can be made by
simply being in the right place at the right time, regardless of their belief in
the work ethic. These factors all represent additional illustrations of complex
social relationships in action, and they show how an employee’s work ethic is
contingent on factors in the larger social system. In the twenty-first century,
managers are no longer able to rely on the work ethic alone to drive
employees to be productive.
ROLE
A person has roles both on the job and away from it. One person performs
the occupational role of worker, the family role of parent, the social role of
club president, and many others. In those various roles, a person is both
buyer and seller, supervisor and subordinate, and giver and seeker of advice.
Each role calls for different types of behavior. Within the work environment
alone, a worker may have more than one role, such as a worker in group A, a
subordinate to Supervisor B, a machinist, a member of a union, and a
representative on the safety committee.
Roles Perceptions
Activities of managers and workers alike are guided by their role
perceptions, that is, how they think they are supposed to act in their own
roles and how others should act in their roles. Since managers perform many
different roles, they must be highly adaptive (exhibiting role flexibility) in
order to change from one role to another quickly. Supervisors especially need
to change roles rapidly as they work with both subordinates and superiors,
and with technical and nontechnical activities.
When two people, such as a manager and an employee, interact, each one
needs to understand at least three role perceptions. For a manager, the
three roles are as follows: First there is the manager’s role perception as
required by the job being performed (A). Then there is the manager’s
perception of the role of the employee being contacted (B). Finally there is
the manager’s perception of his or her role as likely to be seen by the
employee (C). Obviously, one cannot meet the needs of others unless one
can perceive what they expect. Three related role perceptions (D,E, and F)
exist from the employee’s perspective, with dramatic differences (from the
manager’s perceptions) possible – especially in the direct comparisons such
as A-D, B-E, and C-D. The key is for both parties to gain accurate role
perceptions for their own roles and for the roles of the other. Reaching such
an understanding requires studying the available job descriptions, as well as
opening up lines of communication to discover the other’s perceptions.
Unless roles are clarified and agreed upon by both parties, conflicts will
inevitably arise.
Mentors
A mentor is a role model who guides another employee (a protégé) by
sharing valuable advice on roles to play and behaviors to avoid. Mentors
teach, advise, coach, support, encourage, act as sounding boards, and
sponsor their protégés so as to expedite their career progress. The
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Role Conflict
When others have different perceptions or expectations of a person’s role,
that person tends to experience role conflict. Such conflict makes it
difficult to meet one set of expectations without rejecting another.
Role Ambiguity
When roles are inadequately defined or are substantially unknown, role
ambiguity exists, because people are not sure how they should act in
situations of this type. When role conflict and role ambiguity exist, job
satisfaction and organizational commitment will likely decline. On the other
hand, employees tend to be more satisfied with their jobs when their roles
are clearly defined by job descriptions and statements of performance
expectations. A better understanding of roles helps people know what others
expect of them and how they should act. If any role misunderstanding exists
when people interact, then problems are likely to occur.
STATUS
Status Relationships
High-status people within a group usually have more power and influence
than those with low status. They also receive more privileges from their
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group and tend to participate more in group activities. They interact more
with their peers than with those of lower rank. Basically, high status give
people an opportunity to play a more important role in an organization. As a
result, lower-status members tend to feel isolated from the mainstream and
to show more stress symptoms than higher-ranked members.
Status Symbols
The status system reaches its ultimate end with status symbols. These are
the visible, external things that attach to a person or workplace and serve as
evidence of social rank. They exist in the office, shop, warehouse, refinery,
or wherever work group congregate. They are most in evidence among
different levels of managers, because each successive level usually has the
authority to provide itself with surroundings just a little different from those
of people lower in the structure.
Many organizations have a policy that persons of equal rank in the same
department should receive approximately equal status symbols. There may
be some variation between departments, such as production and sales,
because the work is different and rank is not directly comparable. In any
case, managers need to face the fact that status differences exist and must
be managed successfully. Managers have the power to influence and control
status relationships somewhat. The organization gives some status, and it
can take some away.
Sources of Status
The sources of status are numerous, but in atypical work situation several
sources are easily identified. Education and job level are two important
sources of higher status. A person’s abilities, job skills, and type of work also
are major sources of status.
Other sources of status are amount of pay, seniority, age, and stock options.
Pay gives economic recognition and an opportunity to have more of the
amenities of life, such as travel. Seniority and age often earn for their holder
certain privileges, such as first choice of vacation dates, or the respect of co-
workers for their longevity at work. Method of pay (hourly versus salary) and
working conditions also provide important status distinctions, such as
distinguishing blue-collar and white-collar work. Stock options provide
employees with the opportunity to share the financial success of the firm.
Significance of Status
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ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Inside the organization lies another powerful force for determining individual
and group behavior. Organizational culture is the set of assumptions,
beliefs, values and norms that are shared by an organization’s members.
This culture may have been consciously created by its key members, or it
may have simply evolved across time. It represents a key element of the
work environment in which employees perform their jobs. This idea of
organizational culture is somewhat intangible, for we cannot see it or touch it,
but it is present and pervasive. Like the air in a room, it surrounds and
affects everything that happens in an organization. Because it is a dynamic
systems concept, culture is also affected by almost everything that occurs
within an organization.
Characteristics of Cultures
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Organizations, like fingerprints and snowflakes, are unique. Each has its own
history, patterns of communication, systems and procedures, mission
statements and visions, stories and myths which, in their totality, constitute
its distinctive culture. Cultures are relatively stable in nature, usually
changing only slowly over time. Exceptions to this condition may occur when
a major crisis threatens a firm or when two organizations mere with each
other (requiring a careful blending of the two as to avoid culture clash).
Several other dimensions of culture are important to note. For one, there is
no best culture for all firms; culture clearly depends on the organization’s
goals, industry, nature of competition, and other factors in its environment.
Cultures will be more easily recognized when their elements are generally
integrated and consistent with each other; in other words, they fit together
like pieces of a puzzle. Also, most members must at least accept, if not
embrace, the assumptions and values of the culture.
FUN WORKPLACES
Society encourages and provides many ways in which people can play and
have fun in their recreational lives. Play typically has a number of common
elements – immersion in the activity, surprise, variety, choice, experience of
progress, and the opportunities to make personal contributions and to “win”.
Most of these features can also be incorporated into the daily life of
employees, many whom also desire to have fun at work. A fun work
environment is a unique and increasingly popular organizational culture in
which supervisors encourage, initiate, and support a variety of playful and
humorous activities. A fun workplace culture has several key features: