SESSION ONE:

INTRODUCTION TO THE
COURSE, STUDYING
ORGANISATIONS

DR ANDRIES DU PLESSIS

Welcome to APMG 8100
Organisations and Leadership
SESSION OVERVIEW
Introductions
Course overview
Assessments
Readings
Expectations
The study of organisations
Case study .......
ASSESSMENTS
Assessment 1: 30 Multiple Choice Questions,
20 minutes, weighting : 10%
Assessment 2: Essay 40%
Assessment 3: Group presentation 10%
Exam Case study based 40%
30 credit course = 300 hours (48hrs class
252hrs self-directed)




Total Marks: 30. Weighting: 10% of overall course grade
INSTRUCTIONS
This is a learning exercise that requires you to read specific
chapters in your text book as per lecturers instruction and
answer 30 Multiple Choice Questions (MPC).
The MPC test will take place at the end of session 6 in class
for the last 20 minutes of the session.
More information will be given to you in class
REQUIRED
At least 2 Qs from session 1 & 2
Read the chapters as required MPCs
Attend all sessions for tips
Answer all 30 MPC questions in 20 minutes on the answer
sheet that will be provided by your lecturer
Assessment 2: Assignment 4000 words
40% of course
No late assignment will be accepted

The proposition is that: Every semester a
new topic / proposition will be given on
Moodle
Write an essay on the above topic using
the following structure:
Section 1 Introduction including definition of
key terms. (15 marks)
Section 2 Arguments in agreement with the
proposition. (35 marks)
Section 3 Arguments in disagreement with the
proposition. (35 marks)
Section 4 Using an organisation with which you
are familiar, discuss how leadership and leaders in
the organisation See Assessment Two on
Moodle. (15 marks)

ASSESSMENT 3 GROUP ORAL
PRESENTATION
The topic is: TBA. or see Assessment
Three on Moodle

Remain with the main thing which is
leaders, managers, .. in the
organisation.
First come first choice will be given
(lecturers list)

Research this topic well and prepare for a 15
minute presentation with 5 minutes for
discussion (Q & A) by your class mates
Use Powerpoint slides or any other material in
support of presentation
Present your findings to the class in week 13
EXPECTATIONS
Come to class or let me know if you cant make it.
Do the readings as required
Add value to the class through your participation
in discussions, contributions of experience,
questions, comments, requests, etc.
Readings and textbook
Use of Moodle system
Postgraduate study what is the difference?
(Written work, reading, contribution, quality of
work, self-direction, confidence and initiative)

STUDYING ORGANISATIONS
Defining Organisations: groups of people who
work interdependently toward the same
purpose; a consciously coordinated social
entity with a relatively identifiable boundary,
that functions on a relatively continuous basis
to achieve a common goal or set of goals;
structured patterns of interaction (organised)
Organisation Structure: complexity,
formalisation, and centralisation

DRIVERS OF ORGANISATION DESIGN
Functional
Simple
Matrix
Divisional
High
Low
Low High
Vertical (product/market differentiation)
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Spatial (geographic) differentiation
Are there other designs of organisations?
????
STUDYING ORGANISATIONS
Levels of analysis
The level of the company, the company as a whole, and
relationships between the company and others
The level of the group, the work unit, relationships within
groups, between groups and others
The level of the individual, the employment relationship
and relationships between individual actors and others.
Organisational Environment
The more quickly the environment is changing and the
more greater the uncertainty, the greater the problems
facing managers in trying to get to scarce resources
Impact of Environment on Structure
Hierarchy of Authority
(direct leadership)
Hierarchy of authority
+ rules and procedures
Hierarchy of authority
+ rules and procedures
+ objectives, budgets etc
Structure / Design Adjustments
(increased vertical / decreased horizontal specialisation)
Measures reducing the need for
information processing
Measures increasing the org.
information processing abilities
OR
-Environmental management
-Creation of slack resources
-Creation of self-contained tasks
-Investment in vertical information systems
-Creation of lateral relationships
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Summary of Env & Structure
The greater the level of uncertainty in the org
env, the more complex its strategy & tech,
the more highly skilled & qualified its
workforce, the more likely managers will
design a flexible structure that can change
quickly
The more stable the orgs env, the less
complex & more well understood its strategy
or tech, the less skilled its workforce, the
more likely managers will design an org
structure that is formal and controlling
How do managers design a structure?
Choices managers make on several issues:
How to group tasks into individual jobs
How to group jobs into functions and
divisions
How to coordinate functions & divisions
How to allocate authority
What type of integrating mechanisms to
use
WHY STUDY ORGANISATIONS?
Organisations are fundamental to our civilisation
Organisations have immense power
Studying organisations has immense practical value
Organisations are agents for social and economic
change
Organisations exist to achieve something group
effort
An organisations life exits beyond that of members
employees may leave and can be replaced but the
activities continue without any change in nature to
the organisation
A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE
Organisations are intangible; they do not
exist as a physical presence but as a set of
relationships among people.
Metaphors: Machine and Organism
Open and closed systems
Input Output Transformation
Feedback
CHARACTERISTICS OF SYSTEMS
Environment awareness interacts with its environm
Feedback info pertaining to system effectiveness
Cyclical character repetitive cycles
Tendency towards growth (open system) repair itself
Steady state counteract winding down properties
Seeking growth and expansion likely to grow
Balance between maintenance and adaptation
system adjust over time in internal and external
demands
Equifinality final state from varied inputs & trans-
formation processes from variety of paths
WHY IS A SYSTEMS APPROACH
USEFUL/OR NOT?
Presents the organisation as a unified whole
made up of subsystems
Interrelated and interdependent parts which
interact to produce this unified output
Two diverse forces: Differentiation (functions)
& integration (coordinating devices)
A dynamic entity where transformation occurs
and value is added
Operates in the context of its environment
with delineated boundaries

ARE THERE OTHER TYPES OF SYSTEMS?
Open system: to be discussed in class
Closed system: to be discussed in class
High-performance work system: to be discussed
in class
USING UNITEC AS AN EXAMPLE:
What are the primary inputs?
What is the nature of the
transformation process?
What are the outputs?
What are the relevant subsystems?
What are some key external
environment factors affecting
operations
ORGANISATIONAL LIFE-CYCLE STAGES
Entrepreneurial stage: formation stage in product
life-cycle
Collectivity stage: high commitment, still small org
Formalisation-and-control: formal rules, roles
defined
Elaboration-of-structure: characteristics of
bureaucracy, new product search, growth
opportunities
Decline: competition, poor management, changes,
techno changes, demand for products shrinking,
conflict about resources, new leadership? Ceases to
exist
Early contributors to management and
organisations
Also in OB course we only refer /give a
summary of them in this course
Adam Smith efficient production through
specialised tasks and division of labour (simple
and repetitive tasks)
Robert Owen
Charles Babbage
Henry Towne
Focus on efficiency or people?
Scientific Management F.W. Taylor
1911
Scientific Management : 4 guiding action principles
1. Science for every job including rules of motion,
processes, working conditions
2. Select workers with right abilities for the job
3. Train workers; give incentives to cooperate with the
science.
4. Support workers by planning their work
Taylor tried to use scientific techniques to improve
productivity of people at work
Henri Fayol (1916) Principles of
Management
Division of labour specialisation increases output - more efficient
employees
Authority and responsibility a managers authority must equal
responsibility
Discipline obey and respect rules effective leadership
Unity of command orders from only one superior
Unity of direction same objective directed by same one manager using
same plan
Subordination of interests should not take precedence over interests of
organisation
Fair remuneration fair wage for fair services
Centralisation centralised to management or decentralised to employees
Scalar chain line of authority from top management to lowest rank
Order people and material in the right place at the right time
Equity managers to be kind and fair to employees
Stability of personnel - high turnover is inefficient labour planning
Initiative innovation employees will be efficient will do more
Esprit de corps team spirit will build unity within the organisation
Mary Parker Follet (1933)
She died in 1933 and it was said that she
was one of the most important women
in sociology in America
She believed: it is a managers duty to
help their employees; make an employee
an owner of their job; good
relationships; business is a service;
Today: ??? What do you have in
this space??
Max Weber (late 19
th
century) and
Bureaucracy
Clear division of labour jobs well defined
Clear hierarchy of authority authority and
responsibility well defined for each position
Formal rules and procedures written
guidelines direct behaviour and decisions
Impersonality rules & procedures are
impartially applied no preferential
treatment
Careers based on merit selected on ability

Costs and benefits of the Classical
Approach to Management
Three branches within the Classical
Approach: Scientific Mgt (Taylor), Admin
principles (Fayol) Bureaucratic org (Weber)
Benefits efficiency, stability, quality
precision.
Costs dehumanisation, deskilling,
adaptions, segmentalism, mindlessness,
deviance
Behavioural approaches to management
(1920s)
Hawthorne studies
(Elton Mayo)
Theory X and Theory Y
(Douglas McGregor)
Theory of Human needs
(Abraham Maslow)
Personality and
Organisations (Chris
Argyris)
Human resource
approaches:
Assumption: People are
social and self-actualising
The organisation as an organism
The Hawthorne Experiments (1924) Western Electric
Company individual productivity
Illumination studies lighting performance?
Relay assembly test room (1927 Mayo) worker
fatigue no relationship between changes in physical
work conditions and output
Bank wiring room role of the work group restrict
their output to avoid displeasure
The Hawthorne Effect tendency of persons singled
out for attention perform as expected

A. Maslow human needs theory
5. Self actualisation needs:
Highest level, self-
fulfilment, use abilities to
fullest
1. Physiological needs:
food, water, wellbeing
2. Safety needs:
security, stability
3. Social needs:
Love, affection,
belongingness
4. Esteem needs: Esteem
in eyes of others, respect,
prestige, mastery
Douglas McGregor
McGregor was heavily influenced by the
Hawthorne studies and Maslow
Theory X assumes people dislike work,
lack ambition, are irresponsible and prefer
to be led
Theory Y assumes people are willing to
work, accept responsibility, are self-
directed and creative
He wanted managers to shift their view
from assumptions (X) to beliefs (Y)
Argyriss theory of adult personality
Practices influenced by the classical
management approaches are inconsistent with
the mature adult personality
He differs from previous theorists
He advices: expand job responsibilities, allow
more task variety, adjust supervisory styles,
promote better human relations
No one best way Contingency
Theory
Contingency thinking tries to match management
practices with situational demands
Burns and Stalker Mechanistic and Organic
approaches to management
Adhocracies vs bureaucracies
Systems Theory a collection of interrelated parts
working together for a purpose
Open systems transforms resource inputs from the
environment into product outputs
Quantitative approaches to management (Operations
management, management information systems,
management accounting)

Management Approaches since
1980
Organisational Culture
Ouchi and Theory Z (Japanese Management)
describes a management framework
emphasising long-term employment and
teamwork
Peters and Waterman (In Search of Excellence)
Total Quality Management (TQM)
What are some others ? Learning
organisation, virtual organisation, network firm

Management communication
Managers:
Information processor
80 per cent of day communicating
Scan their environment gathering data,
facts and ideas
Effective managers establish themselves at
the centre of information networks to
facilitate the completion of tasks.
Leadership communication
Leaders:
Communicate the big picture
The vision rather then facts and pieces of
information
Communication champion
Essential to building trust and
commitment to the vision
Inspire and unite people
Enables followers to live the vision
Dialogue versus discussion
Richness of channel
FOR THE NEXT SESSION
To be announced in class