Mastering Organisational Behaviour

Citation

O’Rawe, M. (2001), "Mastering Organisational Behaviour", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 22 No. 8, pp. 402-404. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj.2001.22.8.402.3

This is a very comprehensive and concise book which aims to introduce the reader to the basic aspects of human behaviour, and how this is affected by people coming to work in organisations. Pettinger achieves this very well, presenting a wide range of aspects of today’s complex work organisation in a straightforward manner, thus providing a useful reference text for students. Any investigation of organisational behaviour necessitates a rather broad treatment. It is easy to highlight concepts or areas that would benefit from greater detail, but given that the text is aimed mainly at those studying business and management for the first time, the multiplicity of factors involved in behaviour in the workplace is addressed and simplified very well.

The book follows the usual structure, breaking down into an examination of individual processes (perception, attitudes, values and beliefs, motivation, personality and roles), group processes (communication, teams and groups) and organisational processes (leadership, conflict, realpolitik, ethics, culture, structure and design and change). Most of these are dealt with by means of self‐contained chapters; however, perhaps more obvious links and reinforcements could be made such as between motivation (chapter 5) and personality and roles (chapter 6), or between attitudes and values (chapter 4) and organisational culture (chapter 14). With the exception of the chapters on leadership and ethics, Pettinger does not draw overly on other authors, quotations or definitions. Personally, I feel it is always useful to point the student in other directions and thus prefer the style of these two chapters. I also feel the text would benefit from the inclusion of exercises or questions for students (or practitioners!) at the end of each chapter, such as Pettinger himself presents in his 1996 text, Introduction to Organisational Behaviour.

The text cover sells the book as being supported by practical applications and working examples, however, I feel that this is not particularly the case. For example, chapter one would benefit from more detailed examples of specific organisations in their environment, as would chapters 13 (ethics) and 16 (organisation structure and design). In an era where the ways in which organisations behave have become more difficult to categorise, I would have liked more emphasis on the over‐riding need for change and its radicalness. Themes such as innovation, while not drawn solely from organisational behaviour, are a paramount concern for today’s managers. Pettinger himself talks of the often overwhelming rate of change in the external environment and the need to examine its effect on how an organisation behaves. I was surprised to see no reference to empowerment, either in terms of power and authority (chapter 8) or organisation structure and design (chapter 16). It is true that hindsight may prove empowerment and its like to be fads, but it must also be accepted that themes such as organisational abandonment (Peters and Drucker) have gained widespread acceptance in both academic literature and organisational applications.

The key areas of motivation and leadership (chapter 5 and 9) are excellent. The theories are simply introduced and well explained. A very useful range of perspectives on leadership is presented, and the discussion on money as a motivator raises interesting dimensions which should be thought provoking for students. Is it not time, though, we were more critical of the revered Maslow, and to a lesser extent, Herzberg, when the likes of the expectancy theories have more to offer?

In all, the text fulfils its aims and would serve as a good manual for students starting out in this field. It sets out and explains key terms clearly and concisely and gives students a concrete understanding of what makes organisations, and managers, succeed. Perhaps it is slightly conservative in its approach and its content, but this can be easily balanced by some of the more radical narrative‐style books in the area. Colour diagrams would help clarify some models and concepts further, but this would obviously have increased production costs. Priced at £13.99, Mastering Organisational Behaviour represents excellent value for money and a no‐frills approach to step‐by‐step learning.