THEORY OF BEHAVIOR
Emphasis on People
Reformation of Philosophies
Motivational Systems
Situational Adaptations
Although the administration seeks to integrate business and individual objectives and people are considered as resources; the truth is that people have many more characteristics such as skills, abilities, knowledge, motivation to work and communicability.
For the success of the administration, it is also necessary to consider, and genuinely, all the personnel of the company as a unique and total individual, with personality characteristics, expectations, interests and personal goals. Remember that people are the most valuable resource in any company.
The human being is complex and has certain characteristics:
• People are oriented to the satisfaction of their needs, objectives and aspirations.
• The human being is social
• Each person has different needs and they are motivated by a great variety of these needs that vary from day to day, from one appointment to another and from one person to another.
• The individual is capable of perceiving and evaluating based on their past experiences, attitudes, values and beliefs.
• Everyone is capable of thinking and choosing.
• The response capacity in individuals is limited and varies in each person depending on their aptitudes and attitudes, learning, physical and mental capacity.
The administration is strongly influenced by the conception and appreciation of human nature that exists in the organization.
The human factor did not always occupy the preponderant place in companies.
According to Douglas McGregor (taken from Chiavenato, 1998, p.97-102), there are basically two styles of management according to the organizational philosophy about human nature:
• The traditional conception of administration or "Theory X", which is based on the following assumptions:
The primary motivation of man is economic incentives.
The organization must manage, motivate and control the worker as this is a passive agent.
Emotions should not interfere with the interest of the individual.
Man is essentially lazy and must be stimulated with external incentives.
Individual interests are contrary to those of the company, so a rigid control is required.
The human being is incapable of self-control and of achieving self-discipline.
Under this conception, the administration is restricted to the employment and control of people with the sole interest of achieving business objectives.
Management must persuade, reward, punish, coerce and control staff and direct all their activities. Although these beliefs or positions may seem medieval, today they dominate in some companies.
• The new conception of management or "Theory Y" is based on the theory of human motivation:
Physical and mental effort is natural. Depending on working conditions, work can be rewarding or aversive.
Human beings are capable of carrying out their work without the need for external controls, threats or punishments.
The directed effort to achieve the goal set is a source of satisfaction and gratification.
Is capable of developing creative problem solving.
The human being is not passive and does not necessarily contravene the objectives of the organization.
People have motivation, the ability to develop and are capable of assuming responsibilities. Within this context, the work of the administration is then:
Organize financial, material, technical and human resources to achieve business purposes.
People are active elements and the primary resource of the company.
The organization must promote the motivation, development and self-direction of the staff.
The primary task of management is to create conditions and methods by which people can more easily achieve their individual objectives and strive to achieve business goals.
The management style based on Theory Y gives rise to practical application by:
Decentralize and delegate authority and functions.
Innovate positions and make them meaningful work.
Promote staff participation when planning, evaluating and setting goals
Promote self-evaluation of performance.
These positions, X and Y, are now considered not radical, but management styles run along a continuum.
Another management model that has been successful in Japan and applied in other countries has been "Theory Z", presented by William Ouchi. Productivity for the Japanese is more a matter of personnel management than technology.
It is a humanistic approach, where the worker is considered as an integral being. It is based on a decision-making process, based on participation and consensus given the experience and ties of the members to the organization.
The administration must be based on a humanistic, holistic and contingent philosophy; where the main resource of the organization: people, are considered as complete individuals and not as simple elements of productivity.
The attitudes, beliefs, values, expectations and attributions, that is, the philosophy of life that the administrative personnel of a company have, significantly influence the organization's management model or style.
Assumptions and appreciation of human nature, primarily from CEOs, determine the environment and the treatment of staff throughout the company.
People's actions are based on the assumptions they make, and this is also true for management.
According to Dessler (1997, p.671), the philosophy of human resources management (HRM) is made up of the assumptions made about people; such as: can people be trusted? Do they dislike work? Can they be creative, autonomous and responsible?
The type of people hired, the training offered, the leadership style and everything else reflects this fundamental philosophy.
In a simple way, it could be said that motivation is the set of conscious or unconscious impulses, desires, needs or forces that lead to the execution of a certain task.
It speaks of the intrinsic origin motivation that arises from the desires, convictions and values of the subject; and of the motivation of extrinsic origin that is of external origin, such as acting in a certain way due to group pressure, reprimands, punishments, etc.
All human behavior is motivated; motivation drives daily action.
Motivation arises from the perceived needs at a conscious level or not, it is a complex, continuous and variable process.
Motivation is conceived as a chain system: faced with needs, actions aimed at satisfying these needs arise and this leads to the gratification or frustration of the need; But whether or not the specific need is satisfied, new needs may arise and the cycle be repeated in a continuous process.
One of the elements necessary to understand and promote an employee's motivation is their expectations. The psychologist Victor Vroom studied expectation-based motivation extensively (cited by Koontz and Weihrich, 1996, p. 471).
Porter and Lawler (cited by Koontz and Weihrich, 1996, p.473), based on expectations, present a more complete and realistic model of motivation than the previous ones.
According to Porter and Lawler, the amount of effort (the intensity of motivation and energy applied) depends on the value of the reward plus the amount of energy the person believes is needed and the probability of receiving the reward.
Additionally, stimulating employee performance requires managers to remember that employees work with other individuals with whom they constantly compare themselves.
In addition to meeting their needs, employees are interested in the fairness of the reward system; as Stacy Adam points out in her theoretical model (cited by Davis and Newstrom, 1993, p. 154-157).
Traditional management was based on principles that tried to provide a "best method" of leadership. There was supposed to be a correct and universal way to organize, delegate and divide the work of any type of company in all situations.
Today this tendency to "universalize" has been overcome. In dealing with individuals we find few general concepts that apply to all cases.
Each situation is complex and particular: several methods or techniques may be required for the same case. Each situation must be analyzed with extreme care to identify the significant influencing factors and establish the most efficient practices.
The "contingency theory" is more interdisciplinary and relies on scientific research; orients management to a systemic perspective.
The administration is contingent because it depends on the organizational situation of the environment: technology, policy, guidelines and philosophy of the administration, on the quantity and quality of the available human resources.
Modern concepts for administration are related to the nature of the human being (individual differences, total person, motivation, interests) and the conception of companies as systems or social units.
The actions of the administrators, whose purpose is to integrate business and personal goals, are favored with the knowledge of human resources, the contingent nature and the social systems approach of the administration.