Organizational Behavior and Strategy Quiz

Groups & General Theory

• A group is characterized by direct interaction, collective goals, mutual dependency, and a sense of group feeling.
• Formal groups within organizations include administrative groups, work groups, and self-managing teams.
• Informal groups include spontaneous groups and interest groups.

Fayol's General Management Theory

• Fayol's ideas focused on the entire organization, unlike Taylor's focus on production.
• Fayol's theory connects different management areas (planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling) with technical, commercial, financial, security, and accounting tasks.

Weber's Bureaucracy Theory

• Weber's interest was in governmental organizations and large companies, focusing on sociological perspectives.
• Key characteristics of Weber's bureaucracy theory: clear task division, hierarchical command structure, defined authorities and responsibilities, impersonal relations, recruitment based on knowledge and ability, promotion based on objective criteria, clear guidelines for task execution, and documented official powers.

Systems Approach - Boulding

• The systems approach views an organization as a whole composed of interconnected parts.
• This integrated management approach considers the organization and its surroundings as a single system.

Collaboration

• Collaboration is a strategic decision, often related to external focus and strategy.
• Motivations for developing collaboration can be cost-oriented (cost reduction), position-oriented (expanding markets), or knowledge-driven (gaining expertise).
• Types of collaboration vary from flexible arrangements to strategic alliances, joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions.

Collaboration between Competitors

• Reasons for cooperation include developing products that aren't financially viable individually, penetrating new markets, and improving efficiency and quality control.

Collaboration between Non-competing Organizations

• Retail collaborations include buyers cooperatives, full service packages, and franchising.
• Public-private collaborations are motivated by financial and social factors, such as Triple-P projects.
• Outsourcing is about focusing on core activities, driven by cost, capital, knowledge, and capacity considerations.

Strategy

• The discussion focused on strategy and strategic management.

Strategic Thinking

• Hamel & Prahalad's model emphasizes "strategic intent" – a strong focus on becoming the market leader in the long term.
• Strategic intent is the aspirational vision, overarching purpose, or direction needed to reach an organizational vision.
• Stretching a strategy is the effort of making it longer or wider. A strategy by design is a clear goal line; a strategy by incrementalism is the step-by-step clearing of the path to leadership.
• Extending existing competencies to other areas is part of strategic stretch.

Competitive Advantages

• Competitive advantage allows a business to differentiate itself in a relevant market.
• Strengths, like cost, image, unique product features, and unique selling points (USPs), help to establish competitive advantage and make an organization less vulnerable.

Developing Different Strategies

• Strategies for market leaders include increasing the total market (market share and users) and stimulating greater consumption and introducing new or improved products.
• Strategies for market challengers seek to become the market leader by attacking the market leader directly (head-on), attacking from the flanks (competitive points), encircling the market leader, or indirectly targeting a market niche.
• Followers attempt to emulate successful market leaders by following the market leader's strategies but potentially maintaining a degree of differentiation.
• Specialists target niche markets deemed unattractive to larger players. Specific specialization can be geographic, product-focused, or market-focused,

Structure

• Recognition of task division (vertical and horizontal), management layers (span of control), organizational charts (examples shown), and organizational systems (staff roles).

Process Alignment

• Aligning external factors (PESTLE, customer profiles, and competition) with internal factors (work increase, complexity, more staff) using task division and coordination leads to better task alignment.

Task Division and Coordination

• Task division is the splitting of activities into separate tasks assigned to individuals or teams in an organization.
• Vertical task differentiation focuses on vertical levels of management, strategic considerations, resource allocation, matching external expectations and internal capabilities, and operational execution.
• Horizontal task division differentiates tasks based on functions (F-structure), specific products (P-structure), geographical areas (G-structure), or markets (M-structure).
• Organizations seek coherence between tasks and to reduce barriers between people.

Organisational Diagram

• A simplified chart showing the way tasks are divided among individuals/departments.
• Shows hierarchical relationships of individuals and departments.

Internal Differentiation (F-structure)

• Functional structure, placing departments based on specific functions.

Internal Specialisation (Product, Market, Geographic)

• Product-based specialisation groups based on specific product lines.
• Market-based specialisation groups based on market segmentation.
• Geographic specialisation groups based on geographical locations.

Horizontal Division: Definitions

• F-structure: Function-based organization.
• P-structure: Product-based organization.
• G-structure: Geographic organization.
• M-structure: Market-based organization.

Internal Differentiation vs. Internal Specialisation

• Internal differentiation allows for a varied range of tasks and skills with enhanced activity and capacity, but potentially results in co-ordination problems.
• Internal specialisation concentrates on a narrower range of activities, but this can potentially limit capabilities and cause skill fragmentation.

Span of Control

• The number of subordinates directly reporting to a manager.
• A larger span of control can result in a flatter organizational structure.

Organizational Systems

• Different organizational structures are defined, such as Line-organization, Line-staff-organization, Functional and line staff organization, Matrix-organization, Project organization, Internal project organizations and Divisional organizations. Different examples of organisational models are shown (eg. Line-Staff structure).

Example of 'Staff'

• Specialist staff includes: Finance & Control, Human Resources, Quality Control, & Legal Affairs roles.
• General staff encompasses: Secretary, Office Management, Health & Safety, and support positions (example: Janitors).

Management Style & Top Managers

• Managers stimulate and direct the behavior of employees for daily work outputs.
• Top managers (e.g., Directors, General Managers, CEOs) need inspirational, communicative, and creative characteristics, along with ethical and leadership qualities.

Managers' Tasks

• Mintzberg's model identifies three key managerial roles (interpersonal, informational, and decision-making).

Leadership Styles

• Classifying leadership based on employee participation and decision-making (e.g., Authoritarian, Participating, Democratic, Laissez-faire).

X-Y Theory

• McGregor’s theory differentiates between two sets of assumptions about employee motivations, Theory X and Theory Y. It highlights leadership styles that align with these underlying perceptions of workers.

Managers & Power

• Different sources of power include reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, expert power, and referent power.
• Power in organizations is related to position or individual personality traits; different power models may describe the relationships between individual and team motivations and interests: (Harmony/Faction models).

Systems

• In terms of ITO, a company's primary processes in inputs, transformation, and outputs, contribute directly to profitability.
• Systems are about coordination and control of business processes, aiming for effectiveness.

Business Processes

• A business process is a set of organized human activities related to producing goods or services. These include primary processes, secondary processes, and administrative processes.
• Business process visualization can be done using Input-Transformation-Output (ITO) models and linking them to a company's business profitability processes.
• Porter's value chain can be used to create a competitive advantage.

This quiz covers key concepts in organizational behavior and strategy, including employee motivation theories and leadership styles. It also explores power dynamics within organizations, strategic intent, and the impacts of collaboration. Test your understanding of how these elements contribute to achieving competitive advantages and effective management practices.