Models of Organizational Behaviour

The effect of an effective organizational behavior system is to produce motivation. Such motivation builds two way relationships. It means that management and employees are jointly benefited without manipulation of one party by the other. Each type of employee is in need of a particular climate. In order to build up a sound climate, executives must understand their people in the organization. The significant factor is that what motivates job performance in general and in building an overall climate conducive to motivation. The individual differences suggest that there can’t be any all purpose organizational climate. The following are the five  models of organizational behaviour based on which the organizational climate ought to be fixed.

Important Models of Organizational Behaviour

1. Autocratic Model

Deep rooted in history, this model claims ‘power’ as its managerial orientation. The people who are in command must have the power to demand. Authority is the only tool by which the manager gets things done. The employees have to follow the order and have to depend highly on boss attitude for work climate. McGregor’s theory states that human beings are inherently distasteful to work and try to avoid responsibility. The autocratic model is based on McGregor’s theory. Better performance is ensured through fear, threats, punishment and occasional rewards. Communication is mostly one way i.e., downward (communication flowing from the superior to the subordinate) and there is little interaction between managers and employees. This model is useful for accomplishing work where the employees can be motivated through physiological needs.

2. Custodial Model

This approach depends on economic resources. If an organization does not have the wealth to provide pensions and pay other benefits, it can’t follow a custodial approach. The resulting managerial orientation is towards money to pay the cost of benefits. Since the employee’s physical needs are already satisfied, he looks to second level security needs as a motivating force. The employee’s dependence on the organization is prominent in custodial approach. Since the employees are safe for their bread, they now look for welfare measures from their employer. Their organizational dependence is augmented and personal dependence on boss gets reduced to a considerable extent. Especially in case of senior employees, they can’t quit even if the grass looks greener somewhere else. In a custodial environment, the employees are maintained, happy and contented but they are not strongly motivated. The result is that they extend only passive co-operation. The employer can’t erase the reservations of the employees over his boss attitude by the perks he gives then and there. Though satisfied and feel secure, most employees are not producing anywhere near their capacities and they are not motivated to work to greater capacity of which they are capable. The employees are happy but they do not feel fulfilled or self actualized. Thus, custodial approach though looks for economic resources of keeping the employees happy with perks; it also met with fiasco in bringing about a self-actualized work force with motivation to achieve the desired result.

3. Supportive Model

The supportive model of organizational behavior depends on managerial leadership than its dependence on power or money. The focal point of this model is on participation making process. This model is based on the assumption that workers move to the maturity level and they expect supportive measures like communication, leadership, decision-making interaction, control and influence to fulfill their higher order needs such as, esteem and self actualization. Supportive model which gives more importance to human aspects rather than economic resources of the organization crystallizes the role of managers to help employees to achieve their work rather than supervising them very closely. Institutions with sophisticated technology and employing professional people can also apply this model for getting the best out of their human resources. This model best suits for managerial levels rather than operative levels.

4. Collegial Model

It is an extension of the supportive model. This concept is based on team work that relates to a body of persons having a common purpose. This model tends to be more useful with unprogrammed work and intellectual environment and considerable job freedom. The management, under this model should develop a feeling of partnership with the employees. Managers contribute rather than extending an autocratic boss attitude. Since team work is the main motto of this model it brings both the management and workers under a single roof with mutual trust. The employees produce with quality, not because of their fear of the inspector or the management’s word to do so but out of their in-built obligation to produce goods with quality. With high responsibility, employees discipline themselves for performance and feel some degree of fulfillment and self actualization which will lead to moderate enthusiasm in performance. As far as supportive model is concerned, the maintenance cost of human resource will gradually come down. Since the worker gets the optimistic feeling to work for his organization with pleasure, there is no need for any additional expenditure on keeping the morale of the workers.

5. System Model

An emerging model of organizational behavior is 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. It is the result of a storng search for higher meaning at work by many of today employees. They want more than a pay-check and job security from their job. In this model helps for gowning sense of community among co-worker. Under the system model manager try to convey to each other that you are an important part of your whole system.

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