Description
The organizational life cycle is the life cycle of an organization from its creation to its termination.
Case Study on Organization Life: Initiating Change and Being Appreciated
To achieve success in their technical projects, OR professionals should pay attention to their personal styles.
O
perations research professionals frequently formulate proposals for in-
ing for what they want and that subsequently their efforts will be appreciated. But will they? Perhaps the hard driving, all-business orientation is not valued as highly as many professionals might think. Staff professionals are often asked to change established organizational systems and to change the way people work. These changes can be most disconcerting to those affected. Changes initiated by upper management are particularly upsetting. Both technicians and managers who will be affected by the changes may feel threatened and may oppose the proposed initiatives. OR professionals often find themselves in a dilemma. To be successful, staff professionals must get others to accept their proposals. They must persuade their
stituting new systems in their firms. To implement these changes, they must persuade line and staff employees as well as managers to accept their ideas. They also need managerial commitment, material, and staff support for their proposed projects. By single mindedly focusing on getting their proposals implemented, such professionals may make many requests with little thought to their personal styles. Often they are straightforward and direct to the point of being abrupt, but they believe they are being persuasive. They believe that the sheer merits of their cases will win the day. These professionals believe that they will get results by working hard and push-
managers to commit themselves personally to the changes and to support them with often scarce resources. These same managers are responsible for evaluating their personal worth. Some OR professionals, schooled in technical expertise and rationality, believe that working hard and taking charge is the best way to get changes implemented. They often beheve that personal relations detract from their missions. They are confident that those around them, especially their managers, will recognize the merits of their proposals and appreciate the seriousness and intensity of their presentations. Furthermore, they expect to be evaluated favorably because of their diligence. However, they may be unaware of the effect of their personal styles on others, especially their managers. Conventional wisdom may lead us to expect that dynamic and industrious professionals will be seen as more competent than those who are more relaxed. Such hard-driving staffers should be valued as self-starters. For several reasons, this may not be true. Professionals who initiate changes and make many requests of their managers may be seen as violating their subordinate roles. Subordinates are supposed to implement requests from above, not initiate them. Furthermore, by proposing changes and requesting support, the professional staff makes more work for the managers, often at inopportune times. Staffers typically are expected to be defferential and compliant. By being assertive and persistent, they may be violating their managers' expectations. They may be disliked, because we tend to dislike those who do not live up to our expectations.
Therefore dynamic and innovative staff members may, in fact, annoy their bosses. We surveyed 69 English managers and their subordinates to look at the relationship between personal styles and being appreciated by managers. The study's participants were from the public and private sectors including manufacturing firms, municipal government, and educational organizations. Almost all the managers were
To succeed, one must do more than just work hard.
men, while about 25 percent of the subordinates were women. The managers evaluated their subordinate's performance, demeanor, and other attributes. They rated their subordinates on how well they worked independently, cooperatively, and creatively; their technical ability; their motivation; their problem-solving abilities; and whether they were promotable. We found that subordinates' requests for managerial support make httle difference in their managers' subsequent evaluations of them. Those who made many requests, regardless of the reasons, were as appreciated as those who made few requests. Therefore, it is not what is wanted but perhaps how it is requested that influences how much a subordinate is appreciated. To test this idea, we examined the relationship between subordinates' personal styles and how much they were valued by their managers. Subordinates' personal styles were measured by the amount of pressure they put on their managers and the mix of tactics they used. Subordinates described how much they used the follow-
BEING APPRECIATED
ing tactics to get what they wanted from their managers: — Friendliness: Being friendly, pleasant, and ingratiating; — Assertiveness: Being persistent and demanding; — Bargaining: Making trade-offs and exchanges; — Reason: Using logic and facts; — Coalition: Using alhes; and — Higher Authority: Using the hierarchy [Kipnis and Schmidt 1982]. We found that the amount subordinates try to influence their managers affects how they are valued very little. More important is the mix of influence tactics they use. Those who rely on reason and friendliness are valued more highly than those who rely on assertiveness or reason and assertiveness. We also looked at what managers thought of their subordinates' demeanor. In the English study, managers described three distinct subordinate demeanors: — Amiable: Cheerful, friendly, and helpful; — Reasonable: Thoughtful in presenting ideas and uses reason; — Disagreeable: Irritable and angry; or helpless and needy; or tense, anxious, and generally nervous. If staff professional work is evaluated according to rational criteria, demeanor should not affect the evaluation. We found, however, that demeanor did affect such evaluations. All the subordinates considered in our survey were seen as doing respectable work. Subordinates whose demeanor was seen as amiable or reasonable received the best performance evaluations. The amiable were rated almost 18 percent higher than the less amiable. It also paid to be seen as reasonable. Managers rated "highly reasonable" subordinates 15 percent better than those who were less reasonable. Managers evaluated the subordinates they saw as disagreeable 43 percent worse than those they saw as amiable. To succeed in the eyes of superiors, one must do more than just work hard. Adequate technical performance and commitment are seldom sufficient to bring about the changes we desire. Being seen as amiable and reasonable increases the probability that superiors will respond favorably to one's proposals and presentations. Paying attention to personal style is especially important for professionals seeking managerial support for potentially threatening changes in the organizational system. Friendhness and the cultivation of amiable feehngs is necessary to facilitate constructive working relationships [Schmidt 1991]. The professionals most appreciated by their managers are not the most intense strivers, but rather competent people who create favorable impressions of themselves. By concentrating solely on their work, doing a good technical job but neglecting personal qualities, the strivers fail to realize the importance of the impression they make on their managers. References
Kipnis, D. and Schmidt, S. M. 1982, Profiles of Organizational Influence Strategies, Form M,
University Associates, San Diego, California. Schmidt, S. M. 1991, "Organization life: There is more to work than working," Interfaces, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 48-52.
doc_110449996.docx
The organizational life cycle is the life cycle of an organization from its creation to its termination.
Case Study on Organization Life: Initiating Change and Being Appreciated
To achieve success in their technical projects, OR professionals should pay attention to their personal styles.
O
perations research professionals frequently formulate proposals for in-
ing for what they want and that subsequently their efforts will be appreciated. But will they? Perhaps the hard driving, all-business orientation is not valued as highly as many professionals might think. Staff professionals are often asked to change established organizational systems and to change the way people work. These changes can be most disconcerting to those affected. Changes initiated by upper management are particularly upsetting. Both technicians and managers who will be affected by the changes may feel threatened and may oppose the proposed initiatives. OR professionals often find themselves in a dilemma. To be successful, staff professionals must get others to accept their proposals. They must persuade their
stituting new systems in their firms. To implement these changes, they must persuade line and staff employees as well as managers to accept their ideas. They also need managerial commitment, material, and staff support for their proposed projects. By single mindedly focusing on getting their proposals implemented, such professionals may make many requests with little thought to their personal styles. Often they are straightforward and direct to the point of being abrupt, but they believe they are being persuasive. They believe that the sheer merits of their cases will win the day. These professionals believe that they will get results by working hard and push-
managers to commit themselves personally to the changes and to support them with often scarce resources. These same managers are responsible for evaluating their personal worth. Some OR professionals, schooled in technical expertise and rationality, believe that working hard and taking charge is the best way to get changes implemented. They often beheve that personal relations detract from their missions. They are confident that those around them, especially their managers, will recognize the merits of their proposals and appreciate the seriousness and intensity of their presentations. Furthermore, they expect to be evaluated favorably because of their diligence. However, they may be unaware of the effect of their personal styles on others, especially their managers. Conventional wisdom may lead us to expect that dynamic and industrious professionals will be seen as more competent than those who are more relaxed. Such hard-driving staffers should be valued as self-starters. For several reasons, this may not be true. Professionals who initiate changes and make many requests of their managers may be seen as violating their subordinate roles. Subordinates are supposed to implement requests from above, not initiate them. Furthermore, by proposing changes and requesting support, the professional staff makes more work for the managers, often at inopportune times. Staffers typically are expected to be defferential and compliant. By being assertive and persistent, they may be violating their managers' expectations. They may be disliked, because we tend to dislike those who do not live up to our expectations.
Therefore dynamic and innovative staff members may, in fact, annoy their bosses. We surveyed 69 English managers and their subordinates to look at the relationship between personal styles and being appreciated by managers. The study's participants were from the public and private sectors including manufacturing firms, municipal government, and educational organizations. Almost all the managers were
To succeed, one must do more than just work hard.
men, while about 25 percent of the subordinates were women. The managers evaluated their subordinate's performance, demeanor, and other attributes. They rated their subordinates on how well they worked independently, cooperatively, and creatively; their technical ability; their motivation; their problem-solving abilities; and whether they were promotable. We found that subordinates' requests for managerial support make httle difference in their managers' subsequent evaluations of them. Those who made many requests, regardless of the reasons, were as appreciated as those who made few requests. Therefore, it is not what is wanted but perhaps how it is requested that influences how much a subordinate is appreciated. To test this idea, we examined the relationship between subordinates' personal styles and how much they were valued by their managers. Subordinates' personal styles were measured by the amount of pressure they put on their managers and the mix of tactics they used. Subordinates described how much they used the follow-
BEING APPRECIATED
ing tactics to get what they wanted from their managers: — Friendliness: Being friendly, pleasant, and ingratiating; — Assertiveness: Being persistent and demanding; — Bargaining: Making trade-offs and exchanges; — Reason: Using logic and facts; — Coalition: Using alhes; and — Higher Authority: Using the hierarchy [Kipnis and Schmidt 1982]. We found that the amount subordinates try to influence their managers affects how they are valued very little. More important is the mix of influence tactics they use. Those who rely on reason and friendliness are valued more highly than those who rely on assertiveness or reason and assertiveness. We also looked at what managers thought of their subordinates' demeanor. In the English study, managers described three distinct subordinate demeanors: — Amiable: Cheerful, friendly, and helpful; — Reasonable: Thoughtful in presenting ideas and uses reason; — Disagreeable: Irritable and angry; or helpless and needy; or tense, anxious, and generally nervous. If staff professional work is evaluated according to rational criteria, demeanor should not affect the evaluation. We found, however, that demeanor did affect such evaluations. All the subordinates considered in our survey were seen as doing respectable work. Subordinates whose demeanor was seen as amiable or reasonable received the best performance evaluations. The amiable were rated almost 18 percent higher than the less amiable. It also paid to be seen as reasonable. Managers rated "highly reasonable" subordinates 15 percent better than those who were less reasonable. Managers evaluated the subordinates they saw as disagreeable 43 percent worse than those they saw as amiable. To succeed in the eyes of superiors, one must do more than just work hard. Adequate technical performance and commitment are seldom sufficient to bring about the changes we desire. Being seen as amiable and reasonable increases the probability that superiors will respond favorably to one's proposals and presentations. Paying attention to personal style is especially important for professionals seeking managerial support for potentially threatening changes in the organizational system. Friendhness and the cultivation of amiable feehngs is necessary to facilitate constructive working relationships [Schmidt 1991]. The professionals most appreciated by their managers are not the most intense strivers, but rather competent people who create favorable impressions of themselves. By concentrating solely on their work, doing a good technical job but neglecting personal qualities, the strivers fail to realize the importance of the impression they make on their managers. References
Kipnis, D. and Schmidt, S. M. 1982, Profiles of Organizational Influence Strategies, Form M,
University Associates, San Diego, California. Schmidt, S. M. 1991, "Organization life: There is more to work than working," Interfaces, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 48-52.
doc_110449996.docx