Mullins L.J. Management and organisational behaviour, Seventh edition
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specific approach to organisation and management. Nevertheless, postmodernist organ-
isation can arguably be seen as a healthy challenge to more traditional approaches
and reminds us of the complexities in our understanding of management and organisa-
tional behaviour.
■ Whatever form of categorisation is adopted, the division of writers on organisation
and management into various approaches offers a number of advantages. For example,
it helps in organisational analysis and the identification of problem areas. It enables
the manager to take from the different approaches those ideas which suit best the par-
ticular requirements of the job. There are, however, a number of caveats which should
also be noted including the significance of cultural contexts. In more recent years
attention has been given to potential applications of Japanese management.
■ It might be that the study of organisations is moving towards a more scientific
value approach. However, whatever the balance between philosophy and science, a
knowledge of management theory will help with the complexities of management in
modern work organisations. There is much scepticism and criticism of management
gurus but the study of organisation theory is an indispensable part of the job. Ideas are
as important to management decisions as is instinct. It is necessary to view the interre-
lationships among the development of theory, behaviour in organisations and
management practice.
CHAPTER 3 APPROACHES TO ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
95
MANAGEMENT IN ACTION 3.1
Japanese management
Particularly in the 1970s and 1980s many companies sought
to emulate the characteristics of Japanese management. This
led to ongoing research into all aspects of Japanese manage-
ment by both industry and academia. Opinions varied as to
whether these techniques could be applied outside of Japan
due to historical and cultural factors. This account looks at
the origins and influences that led to Japanese management
techniques and their potential applications. The question is
then posed as to whether these techniques can apply, in
whole or in part, internationally. Finally, recent developments
in these techniques are assessed against a backcloth of
recession and recovery in Japan.
ORIGINS AND INFLUENCES
In order to understand key concepts of Japanese manage-
ment it is necessary to examine the influences that have
brought this about. These have produced high levels of team-
work, an atmosphere of innovative ideas, and a willingness to
constantly improve (Kaizen). Add to the legendary quality,
target cost management and infrastructure support and one
can begin to understand the part that human relations has
been playing in the Japanese miracle.
Volumes have been written both on the influences and the
outputs that these have produced. It is sufficient here to sum-
marise them briefly.
■ Participative decision-making
■ Bottom-up management
■ Lifetime employment
■ Amae-dependency relationships
■ Lean production
A common factor to the above is teamwork. Academics attrib-
ute this historically to rice growing. Rice symbolises much
more to Japanese people than a commodity crop. It is not only
used as a form of payment but has spiritual significance as
well. In essence rice production needed teamwork to flourish.
86
Similarly religious thought has a part to play. Confucianism
in China eventually spread to one of China’s provinces
(Japan) where ‘Soshi’ taught the importance of harmony or
‘Wa’. In reality there are many religious influences today.
However, it may be argued that the Japanese are eclectic, in
that they retain core influences and values while assimilating
‘outside influences’, here meaning religion. Shinto is probably
the oldest of these influences, probably pre-dating ‘Soshi’ or
‘Confucianism’ by 100 years. Within Shinto thought, it is the
spirit that is important. It is the spirit which guides many
enterprises. A related concept is that of ‘animism’. This holds
that everything, even inanimate objects, has a spirit. This may
account for the very low incidence of crime to property in
Japan, for example; or alternatively, why it is possible to risk
expensive items such as television displays in public which
would more than likely be vandalised in the West.
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PART 1 MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Buddhism, in particular Zen Buddhism, teaches intuition
that, for example, Japanese management can utilise its expe-
rience base for helping to develop new products or train new
recruits. Important work by I.L.O. Geneva has found that
Japanese managers rely more on intuition than their Western
counterparts. Zen also teaches that one must view problems
within their ‘holistic setting’. Hence this helps to focus on
causes of problems not effects. This has linkages into oriental
medicine, for example, treatment of the whole person.
‘Participative decision-making’ requires consultation and
discussion. The now famous ‘Ringi’ process is but one mani-
festation of this process. This leads to the ‘nemawashi’ or
‘root binding’ followed seemingly by endless negotiation. It is
as though the spirit guides the organisation, or plays a part,
and decisions evolve from the discussions. ‘Bottom-up’ deci-
sion-making means that consensus decision-making really
does include potential contributions from all concerned.
For lifetime employment to exist, it requires commitment
both from the employee and the employer. In the case of the
former ‘selfless devotion’ to the master can be traced to
Confucianism. Regarding the latter, the employer can only
provide employment continuity if there is a constant demand
for the products of the organisation. In recent time, both this
and other concepts have been and are being challenged.
The ‘amae-dependency’ concept is one in which an indi-
vidual gives loyalty in return for favour or help. It is this
dynamic which accounts for ‘groupism’. Hence groups
develop that favour their own members. Comparisons have
been drawn between the ‘clan’ system
87
and groups. Hence
the ‘in’ group is referred to as the ‘Uchi’ group, the ‘other’
group being referred to as the ‘Soto’ group. Some academics
are of the view that this leads to relationships with other ‘pre-
ferred’ companies externally. These relationships are held in
place by trust and confidence in the form of Japanese corpo-
rate networks.
APPLICATIONS OF JAPANESE MANAGEMENT
In the opening section key cultural and religious factors that
play an important role within Japanese management were
outlined. To this one must add some historical inputs, in par-
ticular the contribution of academics Deming and Juran.
Following the American occupation of Japan, US policy
changed from one of disabling Japan’s war machine to post-
war reconstruction. 1948 therefore was a significant year. As
part of this programme, US aid included visiting academics.
Deming’s early lectures and recurrent visits were the seeds
for quality management. Deming also introduced ‘value chain
management’, ‘modern marketing’ and marketing research as
well. These influences will be examined later.
Employee selection
As mentioned previously, loyalty is essential/expected. This is
viewed both in terms of loyalty to one’s work group/team and
also to senior management. Hence prospective employees
are screened for their ability to work in teams. Next compe-
tence is assessed. This is viewed in terms of what is
contributed to the group. ‘Competence’ is composed of
‘tensai’ or genius, that is the ability to be original/creative.
This alone is insufficient but must be geared to hard work,
‘kinben’ and perseverance, ‘gamanzujoi’.
88
Lifetime employment is the reward that an employee
seeks in return. However, while seeking to honour this com-
mitment, modern trends are eroding this time-honoured
tradition (see later). In 1994 Nissan sought to redeploy its
workforce following the closure of a major plant. This avoided
mass redundancy.
89
Training and development
An important study compared the logbooks of 50 engineers
in Japan with a matched sample of 50 engineers in the UK.
.90
Results showed that in Japan learning opportunities were
maximised on the job itself. Managers typically spent
between 25 per cent and 50 per cent of their time developing
and training their staff. This was regarded as the prime role of
the manager. The above takes place via evening seminars,
meetings, courses, secondments, shadowing and mentoring.
There are also parts of personnel development plans which
are individually agreed with employees.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
The origins of TQM may be traced to Deming in the 1950s.
This was a time in which Japanese quality in certain product
fields was poor. As with so many concepts, the Japanese
took them and developed them further. Quality is proactive in
that the Japanese believe in quality monitoring and problem
rectification on the spot. Hence this avoids costly reactive
problem-solving, because, for instance, there are more com-
ponents on the chassis by then (applying for example to car
production or TV production).
Hence responsibility for quality is devolved down to the
shopfloor teams. This is supplemented by weekly team meet-
ings.
91
These also act as a platform for new ideas/processes.
Cost control/lean production
Managers constantly measure productivity and costs. The
dual aim is to constantly improve quality while reducing
costs. The concept of target cost management seeks to set
budgets based on future cost levels rather than on historic
cost levels as in the West. This allows for continuous
improvement or ‘Kaizen’ concept to take place. Hence middle
managers are given ‘tip-toe’ objectives as part of their
appraisal interviews. These are set to stretch the person in
order to attain them. In turn the organisation is stretched.
Employee ideas, creativity and participation
Nonaka encapsulates the strategic importance of company
generated ideas.
In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the
one sure source of competitive advantage is knowledge.
When markets shift, technologies proliferate, competitors
multiply and products become obsolete virtually overnight,
successful companies are those that consistently create
new knowledge, disseminate it widely throughout the
organization, and quickly embody it in new technologies
and products.
92
Management in Action 3.1 continued
CHAPTER 3 APPROACHES TO ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
97
This quote reveals much about employee suggestions, team-
work, and consensual management. Employee suggestion
schemes in the West once thought to have some use are, in
fact, essential. In addition knowledge must be distributed
throughout the organisation.
93
CAN JAPANESE MANAGEMENT BE APPLIED
INTERNATIONALLY?
Critics of Japanese management point to difficulties in apply-
ing Japanese management techniques internationally due to
cultural and historic factors. Either the absence of team factors
or historical factors are seen as preventing the assimilation of
HRM practices from Japan. However, recent research by the
DTI has found that a synthesis of Japanese and European
practices was present in the best performing UK
organisations.
94
Findings are shown in itemised form below:
■ All staff shared in business planning;
■ People are continuously developed;
■ Communication is three way: up, down and across;
■ Employees work in teams, co-operation is between teams
as well as within them.
Readers are left to form their own opinion of the value of
international human relations!
There is a lot of evidence to support the transfer of
Japanese management internationally. Yet within these
organisations Japanese concepts are not all applied whole-
sale.
95
How many companies follow the practice of morning
company exercises or sing the company song? In reality only
certain aspects of Japanese practices have transferred. Chief
amongst them is ‘teamwork’. Many organisations rate this
factor as an essential in job descriptions nowadays. However,
the model used is a derivative of the Japanese model.
Similarly ‘Just In Time’ (JIT) is just one aspect of the ‘Kanban’
or card assembly system in car production. This seeks to
match parts supply rate with production rate with sales rate
or what we refer to now as material requirements planning.
Target cost management within companies is now part of
strategic accounting, yet many organisations in the UK are
not using these techniques. Externally to a company, cost
reduction via management of the supply chain is only recently
gaining in importance.
Training and an educated workforce
An idea of the emphasis Japanese companies place on the
correct mental attitude and skill level may be gauged by their
attention to training, as mentioned above. In addition and
especially in the case of overseas divisions, company pro-
grammes are designed ‘to re-educate’ their prospective
workforce. At Matsushita specific efforts are focused to instil
‘team effort’ and an ‘egalitarian ethos’. This tends to have an
adverse reaction on American employees, for example, who
are used to individual responsibility and advancement.
96
Another important difference concerns ‘information dis-
semination’. At NEC in Scotland employees were surprised at
the need to attend daily meetings. This allows everyone to be
informed and to express opinions and to be involved.
97
It
appears that for successful introduction of Japanese man-
agement techniques, two requirements are training and an
educated workforce. In Mexico, the absence of education in
some Japanese plant locations led to high turnover of
employees and only partial implementation of Japanese man-
agement techniques.
98
In the case of quality circles, when a quality leader
emerged other members of the team would not accept that
person as leader. Hence the concept had to be changed to
‘Mariachi circles’. The hidden acceptance was due to the fact
that ‘Mariachi’ musical bands in Mexico do not have a leader.
Research into ‘Maquiladoras’, that is, Japanese overseas
divisions in Mexico, regarding the adoption of Japanese man-
agement techniques, found that initially they were low skilled
locations which did not use advanced manufacturing tech-
niques. However, in recent time consumer electronics
companies were found to be using advanced techniques.
99
RECENT CHANGES IN JAPANESE MANAGEMENT
Important changes in the Japanese economy have exerted
an influence on Japanese management. The question is
now whether or not the once-heralded practices can them-
selves adapt.
The labour market in Japan has had to adapt to cost cut-
ting within industry.
100
This has affected the conditions
underpinning lifetime employment. Companies have had to
shed labour in addition to early retirement. Women have also
been discriminated against as part of cost-cutting plans.
Companies have decided to outsource some business func-
tions such as accountancy and to take on temporary
employees. Another casualty has been middle management.
Typically this has been large in Japanese companies. As a
result middle managers are joining ‘unions for management’.
In addition, the tradition of promotion for length of service is
giving way to performance remuneration.
101
The advent of the
global economy means that shareholders can now exert influ-
ences on business and its performance.
Against the arguments concerning the impacts of labour
surplus and company cost cutting, it is often mentioned by
demographers that Japan’s ageing population may soon rec-
tify the imbalance of work availability, volitionally. Culturally it
should be remembered that Japanese people do not like
changing jobs. They view with suspicion anyone who
changes jobs frequently (if at all). They regard it as shameful
to switch one’s loyalty to another company.
102
Legally the Employment Security Law of 1947 forbade
employers from advertising for labour and from hiring any
worker whose job change required a change of residence.
103
However, the presence of temporary, short-term employment
bureaux is an example of the way in which economic conditions
are forcing companies to rethink their employment policies.
An interesting approach to overstaffing has been to move
employees to suppliers, ‘Shukko’. As mentioned previously,
suppliers owe an obligation to their parent company. Hence
they accepted these surplus workers but at a reduced salary
level. Those in this category included middle managers over
55 years of age, surplus technical managers and workers
from curtailed production lines.
104
This in turn has led to ten-
sions between the accepting supplier companies called
‘ukezara’ and the parent companies. The former comment
98
PART 1 MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
that they have to suffer cuts in orders, prices and receive
excess workers. This is referred to as subcontractor bullying
or ‘shitauke ij ime’.
105
The net effect of these trends has been to downsize and
also to ‘flatten’ organisational structures. In response to this,
many middle managers are joining unions or elect to shift
jobs. The payment system based on seniority, ‘senko’, is
being replaced by performance pay as mentioned. Within
organisations managers feel that this will damage morale
and group cohesion. The tradition of older workers helping
younger more inexperienced workers may also be threat-
ened.
106
Within the UK, Japanese companies are now having
to focus upon developing local employees, moving to per-
formance-related, locally based payment systems, according
to Arthur Andersen.
107
They report that there is still a ten-
dency for head offices to dictate/influence levels of pay
abroad. However, in all only 10 companies have substituted
performance-based pay and promotion for seniority-based
systems (nenko).
108
CONCLUSION
By way of conclusion, if anything Japanese management
demonstrates an ability to adapt to harsh economic conditions.
That adaptation is itself a product of Japan’s unique history
and culture. This has produced a series of ongoing and devel-
oping techniques that companies worldwide seek to emulate,
transfer and hopefully further improve. This in itself has led to a
new field in HRM, that of International HRM This seeks to study
the problems of transferring Japanese management worldwide.
Implicit in this research is cultural distance theory. By this is
meant whether the indigenous culture in the host country is
near to or far removed from that of Japan. It will be interesting
to see, within this context, the impact of Japanese manage-
ment techniques within China.
109
China is set to become a
major player among the world economies. Perhaps China’s
culture is nearer to that of Japan and will perhaps assimilate
Japanese management techniques more easily as a result.
I am grateful to my colleague, Roger Dace, Department of Business and
Management, University of Portsmouth for providing the above information.
1 Identify, and outline briefly, major trends in management theory since the beginning of
this century.
2 Assess critically the relevance of scientific management to present-day organisations.
Illustrate your answer with reference to your own organisation.
3 To what extent is there anything positive to be said for bureaucratic structures? Select a
large-scale organisation of your choice and suggest ways in which it displays characteris-
tics of a bureaucracy.
4 What are the main conclusions that can be drawn from the Hawthorne experiments?
Discuss critically the relevance of these experiments for management and organisational
behaviour today.
5 Summarise the main features of the neo-human relations approach to organisation and
management. How does it differ from other approaches?
6
Evaluate the application of the systems approach to the analysis of work organisations.
Suggest an example of a work situation in which the systems approach might be appropriate.
7 Contrast approaches to improving organisational performance based on attention to
technical and structural requirements, with those based on concern for psychological and
social factors.
8 Explain what is meant by a social action approach. Assess critically the practical rele-
vance of ‘action theory’.
9 Give your own views, with supporting reasons, on the relevance and applications of
Japanese management outside of Japan.
10 Debate critically the extent to which the study of organisation theory and the ideas of
management gurus have any practical relevance or benefits for managers.
REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Management in Action 3.1 continued
CHAPTER 3 APPROACHES TO ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
a Answer each question mostly agree or mostly disagree. Assume that you are trying to learn
something about yourself. Do not assume that your answer will be shown to a prospective
employer.
Mostly Mostly
agree disagree
1I value stability in my job.
2I like a predictable organisation.
3 The best job for me would be one in which the future is
uncertain.
4 The Army would be a nice place to work.
5 Rules, policies and procedures tend to frustrate me.
6I would enjoy working for a company that employed 85 000
people worldwide.
7 Being self-employed would involve more risk than I’m willing
to take.
8 Before accepting a job, I would like to see an exact job
description.
9I would prefer a job as a freelance house painter to one as a clerk
for the Department of Motor Vehicles.
10 Seniority should be as important as performance in determining
pay increases and promotion.
11 It would give me a feeling of pride to work for the largest and
most successful company in its field.
12 Given a choice, I would prefer to make £30 000 per year as a
vice-president in a small company to £40 000 as a staff
specialist in a large company.
13 I would regard wearing an employee badge with a number on
it as a degrading experience.
14 Parking spaces in a company lot should be assigned on the
basis of job level.
15 If an accountant works for a large organisation, he or she cannot
be a true professional.
16 Before accepting a job (given a choice), I would want to make
sure that the company had a very fine programme of employee
benefits.
17 A company will probably not be successful unless it establishes
a clear set of rules and procedures.
18 Regular working hours and vacations are more important to me
than finding thrills on the job.
ASSIGNMENT 1
99
100
PART 1 MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
19 You should respect people according to their rank.
20 Rules are meant to be broken.
b You should then consider and discuss the further information supplied by your tutor.
In self-selecting groups of three or four, visit a work organisation of your choice, preferably
one that is well known to at least one member of your group.
a Investigate those features of the structure, management and operations of the organisation
which are characteristic of:
(i) scientific management; and
(ii) bureaucracy.
Comment critically on what you believe to be the practical effects of your set of character-
istics, and give examples in support of your comments.
b For the same, or a different, organisation, comment critically, with supporting examples, on
the extent to which applications of the human relations approach to organisation and man-
agement have been applied in practice.
Assignment 1 continued
ASSIGNMENT 2
CHAPTER 3 APPROACHES TO ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
OBJECTIVES
Completing this exercise should help you to enhance the following skills:
Demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of scientific management techniques.
Write an objective set of instructions for undertaking a simple piece of work.
EXERCISE
Using the example on page 73 as a model, you are required to develop a detailed pro-
gramme using scientific management techniques for a simple household task such as:
■ Parking a car or booking an airline ticket.
■ Cooking a simple meal (for example spaghetti bolognese).
■ Bathing a small child.
■ Rearranging 100 CDs in alphabetical order, 10 to each shelf.
■ Washing up.
DISCUSSION
■ What are the potential up- and downsides of removing operator discretion in this way?
■ Explain with supporting reasons those tasks or activities that you believe are particularly
suited to a scientific management approach.
■ How do YOU feel about carrying out routine tasks on an ongoing basis over which you are
given little personal discretion?
PERSONAL AWARENESS AND SKILLS EXERCISE
Visit our website www.booksites.net/mullins for further questions, annotated weblinks,
case material and Internet research material.
101
This case study presents the result of an empirical
investigation that attempts to assess the extent to
which organisation theory has any practical appli-
cations for managers in a modern commercial
organisation.
BACKGROUND
The overall mission of Helgaton Ltd is to deliver qual-
ity business products and systems throughout the UK
and Ireland. The company employs more than 4000
people in nearly 50 locations. In order to help in the
drive to fulfil the mission, there are four stated
‘Common Goals’ related to customers, quality, prof-
itability and employees. These Common Goals are
intended to provide central direction and focus for
departments and the individuals within them.
Emphasis on quality
The continuing desire of Helgaton Ltd to become a
Total Quality Company is the embodiment of cor-
porate values. Quality is a basic business principle
and means providing customers with innovative
products and services that fully satisfy their negoti-
ated requirements. This philosophy is reflected for
example in terms of the BS 5750 status awarded to
Helgaton Ltd by the British Standards Institute.
Tasks, goals and objectives
In consideration of the overall mission of Helgaton
Ltd, the corporate plans are embodied within a
series of functional Tasks, Goals and Objectives
(TGO). Each individual employee receives a TGO
which is a translation from the functional level into
the targets and actions which are relevant for the
individual job role.
Restructuring
Helgaton Ltd is also a change-oriented company.
During 1992, a major restructuring process was
undertaken. In order to provide a more customer-
responsive structure a whole layer of middle
management was removed from the customer serv-
ice division. Attention was also focused on
developing closer teamworking among sales and
service operations rather than operating as separate
divisions. A large financial investment had also been
made in implementing the concept of autonomous
work groups.
THE SITUATION
An investigation was undertaken with the aim of
addressing the practical applicability of organisation
theory at Helgaton Ltd and the extent to which it
meets the needs of the manager. This involved the
analysis of published material already available
within the company (secondary data) and informa-
tion generated firsthand from personal interviews
with managers (primary data).
Secondary data
Helgaton Ltd produces an enormous amount of liter-
ature aimed at informing and aiding the employees.
This literature may be seen to reflect, in part, the
management and structure of the company. Some
examples are as follows.
■ Company manuals. Company manuals were found
to be very specific in terms of policy and pro-
cedure. For example, departmental manuals
explain policy in infinite detail and an accompa-
nying manual details every step required in
carrying out this policy. Employee manuals are in
similar detail and include an analysis of the
required manual skills.
■ Autonomous Work Groups (AWG). A comprehensive
set of documents has been prepared by the com-
pany which set out: the AWG environment; the
need for change; what is the AWG; the vision;
limits of responsibilities; benefits to the individual;
benefits to the company; and hopes and concerns.
■ Organisational processes. The recruitment and
selection process is based on scientific principles.
Detailed Job Profiles are built up and for inter-
view purposes comprehensive Candidate Profiles
are constructed. If suitable candidates have the
right technical qualifications and pass the appro-
priate psychometric testing, they are matched
against the job profiles. Other ‘tools’ include
detailed processes intended to help employees in
problem-solving and to improve quality.
■ The employee survey. This survey and analysis is
carried out every year and is undertaken by an
independent research company. The survey
102
PART 1 MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
CASE STUDY 3.1
Helgaton Ltd: organisational theory in practice
Laurie Mullins and Ian White
involves a wide range of questions related to sub-
jects such as management systems and styles;
working conditions; training; career develop-
ment; pay; benefits; job security; team spirit; and
overall job satisfaction.
The same research company also provides a compar-
ative analysis related to other companies that they
survey. Results of the survey are confidential within
the company but currently overall job satisfaction
within Helgaton Ltd is around the 55 per cent mark.
Primary data
Although secondary data may provide an important
source of supporting information it does not by
itself provide a sufficiently sound basis on which to
formulate any conclusions. In order to examine fur-
ther the application of organisation theory, it was
necessary to obtain more specific and detailed data.
For this purpose use was made of the semi-struc-
tured interview with managers.
The survey population
The broad categorisation adopted was that of a man-
ager and non-manager dichotomy. Because of their
position and experience, managers were considered
to be the most appropriate population for the
survey and the resulting data more valid and easier
to generalise. The population was quota sampled.
Attempts were made to balance, as far as possible,
the demographics, location, and seniority and expe-
rience of the managers. A further consideration was
the availability of the managers’ time. Details of the
interviewee statistics are given below:
Number interviewed 15 (11 male; 4 female)
Function
Customer Service Division 9
Sales and Operations 4
Personnel 1
Finance 1
Length of service
< 5 years 2
5–10 years 1
10–15 years 3
15–20 years 2
> 20 years 7
Length of time in management
< 5 years 4
5–10 years 3
10–15 years 5
15–20 years 2
> 20 years 1
Pilot study
In order to test the reliability of the interview, a
pilot study was undertaken involving a representa-
tive member of the population. This pilot study
highlighted two major issues.
■ Many of the questions were either too open or
too closed and needed to be refined.
■ Initially the responses were handwritten. This
was both costly in terms of time and, more
importantly, revealed the risk of missing vital
pieces of data. It was decided therefore to tape-
record the interviews and to transcribe the results
at a later date.
In order to try to avoid the managers gaining a feel
for any particular sort of responses expected, the
questions were arranged so as not to be sequential.
The revised list of questions used in the interviews is
given below.
1Do you feel that there are good channels of
communication within Helgaton?
2 Do you have a clearly defined job role? If so,
where is it laid out?
3 What do you feel motivates Helgaton employees?
4 How do you go about achieving your goals at
work?
5To what extent do you feel a change in technol-
ogy would affect the way Helgaton operates?
6 How do you plan your work?
7Why do you believe Helgaton has chosen the
empowered working group as the way forward?
8 How would a subordinate employee describe
your management style?
9To what extent do you feel teamwork is impor-
tant to (a) Helgaton and (b) yourself?
10 Do you feel Helgaton’s organisational structure
is hierarchical?
11 To what extent do you see Helgaton Ltd as
belonging to a larger environment?
12 Do you perceive there to be many technical
requirements to your job?
13 What are your personal goals at work?
14 What do you feel is the purpose of training an
employee?
15 What do you believe to be the basis of promo-
tion at Helgaton?
16 How well do you see Helgaton’s management
respond to change?
17 To what extent do you plan the work of others?
18 Can you rate the following five factors in order of
importance to (a) Helgaton (b) yourself? Groups
and Leadership; Communications; Output;
Motivation; Job Design.
CHAPTER 3 APPROACHES TO ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
103
19 Do you feel that an individual’s behaviour can
be predicted and if so, how?
20
Do you believe there to be a clear division
between Helgaton management and subordinates?
21 What other roles within Helgaton have you
been involved in?
22 Do you feel Helgaton is keen to understand
what satisfies an employee at work?
23 Do you feel committed to a common purpose
at work?
Collecting the data
Interviews lasted on average just over one hour, were
arranged when managers could best spare the time
and took place over a period of about one month.
Managers were informed that the interview would be
taped and no one objected to this. The interview
involved asking the questions, elaborating and prob-
ing where necessary, and finding out more about the
manager’s background, in case this might affect any
of the responses. For the same reason the specific pur-
pose of the interview was not explained to the managers.
The tapes were then transcribed and tabulated.
Results of the interview questions
(Note: some of the questions prompted more than a
single response, and so percentages may total more
than 100.)
1 Channels of communication. 33 per cent argued
that channels of communication were good, 53 per
cent that they were poor and 14 per cent argued
they were both good and poor.
2 Clearly defined job role. All managers pointed to
their Tasks, Goals and Objectives (TGO) as evidence
of a clearly defined job role. The TGO relates the
four company goals to the employee. The most
senior managers clearly stated the relationship
between company goals and that of the individual.
Other managers argued that the TGO provided only
an overview of their job role. It was also noted that
the lower down the organisational structure, the
more restrictive the perception of the TGO.
3 Motivation of employees. 73 per cent stated money
as a clear motivator. Sales and operations managers
claimed that motivation was also dependent upon
function: sales staff being motivated more by
money and service staff by job satisfaction. Service
and personnel managers claimed it was pay. Only
the most senior managers directly referred to the
employee survey carried out each year.
4 Achieving goals at work. Responses were of a gen-
eral nature such as: ‘by attention to and following
my TGO’; ‘by hard work’; ‘whatever I do at work
doesn’t really matter so long as it is seen to be
related to the four common goals’.
5 Effects of technology. The responses made clear that
Helgaton Ltd is a technology-driven company, for
example the increasing use of mobile telephones.
However, two managers indicated that the sole
reason for the introduction of technology is to
increase productivity. The problems of introducing
technology without the necessary full training were
also pointed out.
6
Planning of work. 60 per cent specifically stated that
their work is planned by their diary. Management
meetings at regular times in the month and regular
meetings with customers, for example, largely dictated
their movements at work. One manager estimated that
50 per cent of time was dictated by the diary.
7 Empowered working group. The importance of qual-
ity (including the work of Deming) and the
influence of Japanese working methods were cited
as examples. It was widely believed that the benefits
to the customer, employee and business results justi-
fied the large expenditure on this concept. Many
managers also highlighted the autonomous work
group concept as an example of the application of
organisation theory.
8 Management style. When managers were asked
how their subordinates would describe their man-
agement style all apart from one (93 per cent)
focused on terms such as ‘fair’, ‘democratic’, ‘sup-
portive’, ‘honest’, ‘caring’ and ‘humanistic’.
9 Importance of teamwork. All managers bar one felt
totally committed to the importance of teamworking
and believed it was the only way the business could
move forward. The autonomous work group concept
involved all employees including managers as well.
The increasing attention given to teamworking was
welcomed by the sales and operations managers who
expressed their commitment to the concept as being
the way forward to business success.
10 Hierarchical structure. 67 per cent indicated that
the structure was not hierarchical in terms of spe-
cific functions. However, 47 per cent argued that a
hierarchy still existed within Helgaton Ltd or within
particular functions. One manager suggested that
‘the principles of Taylor still exist within Helgaton’.
11 The larger environment. Although managers
appeared to recognise that Helgaton Ltd was part of
a larger environment, responses tended to identify
only broad elements such as the ‘Green’ issue.
There were no responses which referred to particu-
lar environmental factors influencing behaviour in
work organisations.
12 Technical requirements of the job. All claimed that
a high level of skill is needed to undertake their job
PART 1 MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
104
Case study 3.1 continued