Construction Management and Organisational Behaviour

Maureen Rhoden, Brian Cato

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781118674819
• eBook ISBN: 9781118674574
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Construction & Architectural Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date account of management ideas and practices, focusing on the human relations side of construction management. Easily accessible and suitable for use within the classroom or in distance learning situations, it discusses a range of themes and trends covering evidence based management practices in the construction industry. Each chapter contains annotated further reading, chapter summaries and outline summaries of relevant legislation within the construction industry.

1
Introduction

The theories and concepts contained within this book are relevant for the work of managers and employees within the construction sector and similar organisations. Students and professionals with experience of the construction industry will benefit from the ability to apply these concepts to other organisations within other sectors. There are a wide range of organisations including universities or colleges to sports and other recreational clubs or groups that all rely on organisational behaviour in order to function. Some organisations will be able to function well and others will do so poorly.

The study of organisational behaviour may result in changing long held views that you may have held regarding how people and organisations work in the real world. In addition, you may also gain a better understanding of questions such as what motivates people to work, what is the most appropriate leadership style and how can the structure of a company affect the performance of employees.

Studying the many theories and examples that are provided within this book should enable you to identify problems within a company or organisation and to develop solutions or, even better, improve methods that you could use to avoid problems occurring in the first place. However, you will need to understand and apply the concepts to your own particular context which should make you a more effective manager.

Structure of the book

The remainder of this book is divided into the following chapters:

• Chapter 2 considers the development of management theories and models and how they relate to the contemporary views of how organisations should work.
• Chapter 3 explores some of the main schools of thought regarding the nature and scope of management.
• Chapter 4 discusses contemporary views regarding leadership and we examine the qualities of successful leaders.
• Chapter 5 begins with a discussion of the different types of communication that exist within organisations and their relative advantages and disadvantages. The chapter also explores the role of motivation in organisations and how managers can use motivation with their teams and individual members of staff.
• Chapter 6 will address the problems associated with managing conflict within a team and the importance of being aware of the different types of conflict that exist is discussed. The chapter also considers the role of negotiation in particular situations and the techniques that may be used by managers and individuals.
• Chapter 7 examines the different types of problems that managers may encounter within their company. While these problems can be addressed by using a variety of approaches, there are a number of advantages and disadvantages depending on the chosen solution.
• Chapter 8 focuses upon organisational change and the different ways that the process can be managed. The effect of individual and group resistance to organisational change should not be underestimated. However, managers can anticipate the problems that may arise and manage the process efficiently and effectively.
• Chapter 9 begins by focusing on the influence that entrepreneurs have in identifying opportunities and developing business ideas or innovations that are successfully brought to the market. We explore the different types of innovation and discuss the varied situations that can affect organisational creativity and innovation.
• Chapter 10 discusses how social scientists have perceived organisational culture. The overt and covert aspects of organisational culture are examined along with the varied theories. We then explore the role of globalisation and national cultures and how companies are adapting to take into account the changing needs of their employees.
• Chapter 11 recognises how important an organisational strategic approach has become and how it is used to provide a framework for the effective management of the activities within companies. The effect of the changing business environment upon the content of the strategy is considered along with the use of the market approach and the competitive advantage.
• Chapter 12 begins with a discussion of the theoretical models of organisational structure. It discusses the way that we work and the impact that organisational design can have on the levels of production and motivation within a company.

2
History of Management

Introduction

After the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the USA there grew a need for managers of the new organisations to find better ways to meet customer needs. This was a period of constant change with small workshops that had been run by skilled workers being replaced by large factories with large numbers of unskilled or semiskilled workers. The owners and managers of the new factories were unprepared for the management of their employees and the new way of working as many had come from a technical background. They therefore began to look for more effective means of managing their organisations’ resources together with the need to improve the efficiency of their employee–task mix.

The different types of management theories that exist include (Easterby‐Smith et al., 2015):

• normative – attempts to identify what or how managers should conduct their work such as classical (dominant in the1910s–1950s), human relations (dominant in the 1940s–1970s), competencies (dominant in the 1980s) and process theories (dominant in the 2000s)
• descriptive – attempts to explain what managers really do in practice such as work activity theory (dominant in the 1970s)
• analytical – where a particular theoretical stand is taken which focuses on some aspects of the work while ignoring others such as decision theory (dominant in the 1950s–1970s) and process theory (dominant in the 2000s)

This chapter will consider the varied management theories that exist and their impact on organisations.

Scientific management

Frederick Taylor defined the techniques of scientific management as (George and Jones, 2012, p. 58):

….the systematic study of relationships between people and tasks for the purpose of redesigning the work process to increase efficiency.

It was considered that the amount of time and effort that employees used to complete a finished good or service could be reduced through the use of specialisation and division of labour which would result in a more effective production process.

Taylor identified four key principles to increase efficiency in the production process:

1. Study the way employees perform their tasks, gather all the informal job knowledge that employees possess and experiment with ways of improving how tasks are performed.
2. Codify the new methods of performing tasks into written rules and standard operating procedures.
3. Carefully select employees so that they possess skills and abilities that ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• About the Authors
• 1 Introduction
• 2 History of Management
• 3 The Nature of Management
• 4 Leadership
• 5 Communications and Motivation
• 6 Conflict and Negotiation
• 7 Creative Problem Solving
• 8 Managing Organisational Change
• 9 Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• 10 Organisational Culture
• 11 Organisational Strategy
• 12 Organisations and Structures
• Index
• End User License Agreement