Management Studies: April 2017

Participative Management in Public Administration

Rensis Likert is an American Social Psychologist born in 1903 and obtained PhD. in 1932 from Columbia University. Likert believed that the body of knowledge of social science could pave the way to frame a generalized theory of organization and management. He raised a question that why do some managers get better results than others? What do effective managers do that waste time, money foolishly that was dissipative manager do not? How can we measure effectiveness of manager? etc. Likert classifies supervisors in two categories.

Job Centered
Employee Centered

The primary concern of the first category of supervisors are to ensure performance of assigned task and maintenance or prescribed stands. Some characteristics of such supervisor are:

Job Centered

They exert heavy pressure to get work done.
They have little confidence in the subordinates.
They exercise close and detail supervision.
They allow little freedom to subordinates.
They are punitive and critical when mistake occur.

On the other hand the supervisors in the second category are primarily concerned with the human aspects of their subordinates and effective team building for high task performance. The characteristics of supervisors in this category include the following:

Group Dynamics
Democratic or Participative
Supportive
Consultative
Participative
Mass sharing of benefit of development
Mass participation in decision making process
Mass contribution to the development

The supervisors are employee centered. They regard their jobs as dealing with human being rather than with the work. They attempt to know them as individuals. They see their function as helping them to do the job efficiently. They exercise general rather than detail supervision, and are more concerned with targets than methods.

Employee Centered

They exert little pressure on subordinates.
They earn and get the confidence and trust of their subordinates.
They increase the achievement motivation of subordinates and encourage them to accept high performance goals through decision process.
They exercise general rather than detail supervision, and allow subordinates to schedule their own pace of work.
They help subordinates when they commit mistakes and problem occur.

The cause or effects of high and low performing managers are the product of work environment. High performing manager are human to their subordinates and low performing manager are compelled to get through with their subordinates to achieve better results. To resolve this course of action dilemma, Likert, low performing managers were changing into each other jobs. While high performing mangers succeeded in improving the performance of low production units, low performing managers placed in high production units brought down their output over a span of time.

In summarizing the findings, Likert identifies four distinct types of management system I to IV having different characteristics of its own. He labels these type as (i) Exploitative Authoritative, (ii) Benevolent Authoritative, (iii) Consultative Authoritative and (iv) Participative Authoritative. However, he does not see them as isolated categories but as blending into one another with many intermediate patterns along the continuum (sequence of things of a similar king).

i) System I: Exploitative Authoritative: Where management are highly production oriented. Displays no confident in their subordinate, centralized decision making, top-down communication, tight supervision, used fear and threats, performance under pressure, low degree of employee motivation, man to man rather than group to group relations, and superiors and subordinate are psychologically far apart, seldom seek or use subordinate ideas. They are punitive.

ii) System II: Benevolent Authoritative Type: System II reveals transitory characteristics of progression from management system I over a period. In system II, management orientation is still authoritative, but becomes less exploitative and more benevolent towards the member of organization. Where management uses rewards and some actual and potential punishment to get out performance, allow some delegation in decision making, exercise close supervision, subordinates do not feel quite free to talk to their superior about their problems, attitudes are subservient to superiors, permits some upward communication, restricted to what the boss wants and policy decisions are taken at the top.

iii) System III: Consultative Authoritative: In system III, exercise of authority is more broad-based with delegation of power to middle levels and consultation of affected interest at low levels. Management displays substantial confidence in their subordinates, involvement of subordinates is sought, consult them before making decision but make broad policy decision themselves, motivate them by giving rewards and occasional punishment. Communication is both down and up but upward communication is given in limited amounts and only cautiously although subordinates can have a moderate amount of influence on the activities of their department.

iv) System IV: Participative Authoritative: The participative management system displays overlapping structures, cross functional linkages, group decision process, open and authentic three-way communication system (up-down and lateral) adaptive supervision, individual and work groups with high degree of achievement motivation. Management gives economic rewards and make full use of group participation and involvement in setting high performance goals, improving work methods, etc.

Decision making is widely done throughout the organization through group process, and is integrated into the formal structure by regarding the organization chart as a series of overlapping groups with each group linked to the rest of the organization by means of persons (called linking pins) who are members of more than one group. System IV management produces high productivity, greater involvement of individuals, and better labor management relations.

Having described the silent features of his four systems of management deduced from empirical research. Likert says that any attempt to switch processes of one system abruptly to the other is bound to impair (weaken or damage) the total system’s effectiveness. Nevertheless Likert pleads for a gradual from system I to system IV.

Management according to Likert, is always a relative process. To be effective and communicate, a leader must always adapt his behavior to take account of the persons whom he leads. There are no specific rules which will work well in all situations, but only general principles which must be interpreted to take account of the expectations, values and skills of those with whom the manager interact.

Pre-requisites for Participative Management

The member of the organizations will perform the best, when they are given the opportunities in making decision that affect them (will increase willingness).
Naked exercise of blunt power by organizational officials is not acceptable. Several heads are better than one for decision making.
There are a large often untapped reservoir of talent, knowledge, skill and ideas among the members of organization that will be realized when the member becomes actively involved in decision making process.
Productivity and self-motivation can be enhanced through the identification and recognition of the employees.
Employees are motivated by participation in setting goals, achieving improved standard (working methods and results) and appraising progress.
A great deal of communication supporting environment and spirit of cooperation between and among employees constitute basic foundations that help develop confidence and trust in the working environment.
It makes employees conscious, active and responsible in respect to their role.

Flat Organizational Structure of Participative Management Model

Rensis Likert's Linking Pin Model

Since the end of Second World War, there had been a radical change in the meaning, approach and scope of public administration. The period of 60’s was a turbulent, unrest and disturbances in political, social, religious etc. aspects and many social problems were cropping up. Seriousness on the part of public administration can’t be neglected concern during the time of turbulence and confusion. But public administration during that period showed a little concern thereby causing the field of public administration less aware in taking the growing problem in account. Sometimes, a new sets of ideas are so significant that they often take the meaning “new” which is relied to give new direction or orientation to any field of study. In this context, perspective public administration was well recognized by the younger enthusiastic scholars in 1968 when the Minnowbrook Conference was held followed by the publication of “Towards a new public administration: Minnowbrook perspective” edited by Frank Marini.

Mainly two important factors were seen responsible for this conference. First, there was a feeling that public administration had failed to solve several societal problems. This was well highlighted by Dwit Waldo’s article, “Public Administration in a time of Revolution” (turbulence) published in public administration review in 1968. Secondly, there was another feeling that thinking in public administration was dominated by the old people and thinking of the young generation was not reflected in large measure. Accordingly many new scholars were invited to this conference and that the idea of New Public Administration was well conceived. The result of the conference appeared later on.

Overview of some of the important studies and approaches that have contributed to the new meaning and scope of public administration forms the foundation part of new public administration. Following are the important ones:

The Honey Report on higher education for public service 1967.
The Philadelphia conference on the theory and practice of public administration 1967.
The Minnowbrook Conference 1968.
The Minnowbrook Conference 1988.

1. The Honey Report:

In 1967, John C Honey of Syracuse University undertook an evaluative study of public administration as a field of study in U.S. Universities. He submitted his reports four years later in 1971. In his report, he highlighted the following issues:

The scope of the study of the subject should be broader and lined with governmental processes. He was of the opinion that at present there was a wide gap between the scholars of public administration and practicing administrators.
Insufficiency of resources at the disposal of scholars of public administration (students, faculty and research).
The public administration departments were inadequate and that the discipline was not clear (is it a discipline, a science or profession?)

In fact, he found that there was such wanting and sufficient attention should be paid to it if it was desired that public administration and administrators should come up to the expectation of the people. Although the report included recommendation on aspects like the provision of facilities to schools for programs of public administration and public affairs by federal, state and local government, a special program of fellowship to those who were interested to become teachers of public administration etc. It did not say anything about the role of public administration in difficult times. Above all, the report becomes the basis of discussion for wider issues of the role of public administration in solving social problems of modern societies.

2. The Philadelphia Conference

In 1967, American Academy of political and social science organized a conference at Philadelphia under the chairmanship of James C. Charlesworth. The conference aimed to discussing the scope, objectives and methods of public administration and how far it was practical instrument of government. The conference did not reach an agreement either on the definition or on its scope. But there emerged a broad consensus on the following points.

It is just as difficult to delineate the scope of public administration, as it is to define it.
The policy-administration dichotomy is erroneous.
Bureaucracy should be studied structurally and functionally.
Public administration and business administration training should not be combined.
Public administration has not been able to deal with societal problems, and as a discipline. It should remain separate from discipline of political science.
Policy and political considerations are replacing management concern, future administrators should be trained in professional schools, and superior subordinates all should be commodore as co-ordinates.
Public administration course should emphasis on interdisciplinary approach.

3. The Minnowbrook Conference 1968

A brief summary of themes developed at Minnowbrook now forms important aspects of new public administration. These include:

Policy Issues: The field has shifted focus in significant measure from management of agencies to policy issues. The public policy approach to public management has flourished and is has had a significant effect on the quality of government. (Management oriented public administration studies was found in adequate)
Social Equity: Social equity has been added to efficiency and economy as the rationale or justification of policy positions. Distribution function and impact of governmental institutions should be public administration’s basic concern.
Ethics, Honesty and Responsibility: Government have returned again to the lexicon (dictionary of language vocabulary) of public administration. Career service bureaucrats are no longer considered to be merely implementer of fixed decision as they were in the dominant theory of the late 50s and early 60s. They are now understood to hold a public trust to provide the best possible public service with costs and benefits being fairly distributed among the people.
Cutback Management: To terminate an unneeded or ineffective organization or program is now accepted as an especially honorable administrative responsibility. An extensive literature on cutback management has developed, changed, not growth has come to be understood the more critical theoretical issue. Managing change, not just growth, is the standard for effectiveness.
New orientation towards hierarchy: To eliminate the lengthy process of decision making and to ensure timely implementation of decision re-thinking towards the usefulness of the strict concept of hierarchy need to be considered taking into account the prevailing situation.
Pluralism: Plural society is that society where the existence of various groups, interest and parties are well reorganized in the conduct of public affairs.

As administrative actions serve acceptance of the society, openness and transparency for the same cannot be by passed. It should emphasis objective oriented standards and universalistic norms.

New public administration displays an intense concern for relevant societal problems. It stresses ethics and values, innovation and social equality. It lays great emphasis on human relations, a creative approach to administration and social change. New public administration has tried to link the subject with society. It has bold raised a voice that the discipline should show its concern to social problems and underprivileged sector of the society.

5. The Minnowbrook Conference 1988

Twenty years after the original Minnowbrook conference, another group convened (arranged) at the same site to revisit the 1960’s perspectives, to review developments of intervening decades and to consider prospects for the future of public administration.

Minnowbrook II was design to compare and control the changing epochs (period marked by notable events of public administration). The purpose of Minnowbrook II were not only to facilitate a general examination of the future of public administration but also to determine whether important differences exist between people who entered public administration in 1960’s and those who entered in the 1980s.

The values of public purpose, in so far as they reflected by traditional forms of government in America, have received and the values of private interest have moved forward.

Academic public administration has also change dramatically. The field is much larger than it was in 1960s. The field is much more interdisciplinary than in 1960s.

Public administration today is much more analytically theoretically and sophisticated. The MPA degree has become the coin of the realm for those who seek career in government administration.

The problems faced by those enter relation. The fields of public administration in the 1980s are significantly different from the problems faced by those who entered the field in 1960s. The background and context from which these younger people enter the field is far different from the backgrounds of their older colleague.

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Human Relation Approach in Management

The study of human relations in management or administration is the study of worker’s relation with their job, leader and organization. George Elton Mayo (December 26, 1880 – September 7, 1949) was an Australian who spend most of his working life at Harvard University, eventually becoming prof. of industrial research in the Graduate School of Business Administration. In this post, he was responsible for the initiation and direction of many research projects, the most famous being the five year investigation of the Hawthorne works of the Western Electric Company in Chicago.

According to the investigation;

First, Employees is the starting point until the employee is brought into the work environment, nothing happens.
Second, the work environment is the central focus. The work environment is made up of the job, a worker has the leader who supervises the worker and other factors in the organization.

(Job) some important factors of the job include the amount of independence, responsibility, initiative, challenge, boredom and interest it provides.

(Leader) The influence of the leader in the work environment is determined primarily by the way he or she behaves in the area of supervision, communication, decision making, conflict resolution and other managerial responsibilities.

(Organization) Some organizational factors that affect the work environment are co-workers, reward and punishment system, policies and procedures, rules and regulations, responsibility structures, planning and production standard.

(Goal) Organizational goal attainment achieved by employees within the work environment. In case of private enterprise, the main goal would be “to earn a profit” in the public sector, government, education, health and delivery of goods and services.

The Hawthorne experiment which took place over five year period and covered three phases:

The relay assembly test room
Interviewing program
Bank wiring observation

1. Relay Assembly Test Room

In the Relay assembly test room, two groups of female operators consisting of six were selected and located in two separate rooms, each group performing the same task. They prove 5 hypothesis:

Proper illumination increases productivity. This hypothesis was rejected because the illumination reduced to moon light, the output increased.
The rest periods and shorter working days has provided relief and fatigues. Since output still increase after all of these privileges were withdrawn.
The third hypothesis relating to relief from monotony to increase production was not conclusive because monotony had nothing to the state of mind.
Instead of group incentive plan, an individual piece rate plan was introduced. The fourth hypothesis was also rejected since it was not wage but something else that lead to greater output.
The change in supervisory techniques had improved both the attitude and output.

The girls were allowed to talk freely with everyone and supervisors also took personal interest. A better social situation develops. Supervisor was not regarded as a boss but senior colleague.

The second important factor was the modified managerial practices. Now the workers were consulted and advised about the change to bring. Their views were considered sympathetically. This process allowed the worker to feel free. They were in a position to established new interpersonal contacts with their fellow workers and supervisors.

2. Interviewing Program

In the second phase, Harvard group started a special study of human attitudes and sentiments. To understand human attitudes and sentiments Harvard group after interviewing about 21,126 workers who were asked to express freely and frankly their likes and dislikes on the programs and policies of the management, working conditions, and how they are treated by their boss etc. This study succeeded in identifying following three aspects.

Workers appreciated the method of collecting information of the problems of the company from them. They thought they had valuable comments and they felt that they had an equal status with the management. They also developed a feeling that the work environment were changed to the better, although no such a change took a place.
There was a change in the attitudes of supervisors because they realized that the methods of supervision was wrong and was closely observed by the research team and the subordinates were allowed to comment freely about their supervisors.
The research learn also realized that they had acquired new skills in understanding and dealing with their fellow beings. It was felt in the sense of proper appreciation of the feeling and sentiments of the workers. It was difficult to understand their real problems.

3. Banking Wiring Observation

The third phase of Hawthorne study involves observation of 14 male operators in the bank wiring observation room for a period of six months and recorded the effects of the group behavior, group norms and group economic incentives upon output. The conclusion of the bank wiring observation was that the attitudes of the members of the group towards the company’s financial incentive scheme was one of indifference. The group was highly integrated (loyal) with its own social structure and code of behavior which clashed with that of management. The following code of conduct was maintained for their group solidarity (to build strong).

Don’t be a rate buster – by producing too much
Don’t be a chiller – by doing too little work.
Don’t be squealer – by telling on your associates to supervise.
Don’t be unfriendly, aloof or officious in relation with other in the group.

Comparison between Human Relation Approach and Traditional Approach on various aspects of organization.

Human Relation Approach

Traditional or Classical Approach

1. The business organization is a social system as well as the technical economic system. This social system defines individual roles and establishes norm, which can be different with those of the formal organization.
2. The individual is not only motivated by economic incentives, but is motivated by diverse social and psychological factors.
3. The formal work group becomes dominant unit of consideration. The group had an important role in determining the attitude and performance of the individual workers.
4. The human relativist emphasis democratic rather than authoritarian pattern.
5. Workers satisfaction would lead productivity.
6. Human relationist believe in three-way communication system, which allows the exchange of ideas, views and information. Hence, participation becomes an important approach of the human relation movement.
7. Management requires effective social skills as well as technical skills.

1. They concentrate on economy and efficiency only.
2. They neglected the human factor.
3. It views organization as techno-economic system.
4. Employees are motivated only by economic incentives and not by diverse social and psychological factor.
5. It does not consider the existence of informal group within organization.
6. They exercise close and detail supervision and do not allow subordinates to initiates their own pace of work. They believe in authoritarian leadership pattern.
7. They do not pay considerable attention towards workers satisfaction.
8. They pay considerable attention towards chain of command up and down communication, span of control and close supervision.
9. They believe possible relationship among production, satisfaction and economic incentives.
10. They do not pay attention on social skill. They consider on only technical skill.

Criticism of Human Relation Approach

Loren Baritz and other criticized Mayosts a anti-union and pro-management. He was criticized for not understanding the role of union in a free society. It was argued that mayo never tried to integrate (loyal) unions into his thinking.
Critics like Carey pointed out that this type of research was worthless, since a sample of 5 or 6 could not be taken as a reliable sample to make a generalization.
Peter F. Druker criticized human relationist for their lack of awareness of economic dimensions. He felt that the Harvard group neglected the nature of work and instead focused on interpersonal relations.
Daniel Sell and others have pointed out that a conflict free state and worker convenient (satisfaction) would lead to success of the company was not tenable (which can exist), because some tensions and conflicts were inevitable (unavoidable) in every human situations therefore the critics stated that the team displayed a lack of total awareness of larger social and technological systems.

Conclusion of Human Relation Approach

The contribution of Mayo to the administrative organization has been a great innovation of the modern times. For the first time, he made an attempt to understand the problems of the workers from an angle different other than traditional approach. The contribution of Mayo is immensely useful not only in the industrial sector but also in the administrative system of state, particularly in the case of bureaucracy. Taken as a hole the significance of Hawthorne investigation was in discovering “informal organization” which is now realize exist in all organization.” The importance of group affection the behavior of workers at large was brilliantly analyzed through these experiments.

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Behavioral Approach in Management and Administration

Behavioral Approach is the most important approach in the study of management and administration that has emerged during 20th century. The group which has the greatest influence in the growth and development of this new field, consisted of Chester Brrnard, J. G. March, Herbert Simon, Douglas McGregor, Abraham Maslow, Rensis Likert, Warren Bennis, etc. Behaviorist’s empirical investigation based on systematic and detailed observation in organizations supported by findings of social sciences of human behavior, provided the basis for building uniformities and concepts, which could be utilized by managers for improved practises, instead of relying on personal experience which was often based on insufficient foundation in fact.

The ultimate end of the organization behavior is to understand, explain, and predict human behavior in the same sense in which scientists understand, explain and predict the behavior of physical forces or biological factors. Hence behavioral science is concerned with seeking knowledge about the human behavior in order to enhance understanding of why people behave as they do, especially in relation to their interaction with other in organization. This should enable management to make human life in the working place more meaningful, or rewarding and more enjoyable. However, this is more phase of synthesis (combining of separate parts or elements) rather than anti-thesis. Thus, while the traditional or classical theory of organization was task-centered and the humanistic or neo-classical theory was employee-centered, the new theory or behavioral approach seeks a reconciliation or synthesis of these two approach, i.e. administration is both structure and the people working in it.

Behavioral Approach

Scope of Behavioral Approach

The implementation function involves management’s responsibility for the actual performance of organizational tasks or work by the human elements for facilitating the implementation include structural arrangements, plus behavioral (people) and communication (information) concepts designed to develop and sustain employee cooperation and satisfaction in performing organizational tasks. By the way of introduction, these arrangements and concepts typically includes:

Structural: Making the job more interesting, giving the employee more responsibility. Decreasing control from above.
Behavioral: Behavior is a manner of acting. It refers to a person’s conduct in carrying out specified activities. Providing more job status. Giving the employee a chance to make decision. Allowing him to assist in leading others.
Communication: Listening to his problems seriously. Helping him to interact with his fellow workers. Dealing with him openly.
Methodology: The behavioral science approach involves the use of social and psychological concepts and knowledge to influence, motivate and coordinate the human element in achieving performance in the work place. For example, a manner might do the following to get an employee to prefer a task.
Personality: Personality of a human being is a complex combination physical and mental attributes, values, attitudes, beliefs, tastes, ambition, interest and habit.
Influence: Set an example, make suggestion.
Motivation: Use praise, offer promotion.
Coordinate: Provide formal instruction, offer assistance.

The know-how and methodology to attain employee satisfaction have come from various fields including industrial and social psychology, sociology and anthropology, supplemented by the practice of management itself. Psychology, the science of human nature and behavior, studies the human mind, its mental state and its processes. Industrial and social psychology are specialized branches of this discipline that deal with the study of human behavior in an industrial and in a purely social setting respectively. Sociology is the science of origin, development, organization and functioning of human society, including its fundamental laws of social relation. Anthropology is the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, racial characteristics and social customs and beliefs of mankind.

It should be apparent that understanding man’s action in an organizational setting is no simple task. Although it may be easy to see that it is essential to have satisfied employees, it is not easy to know just what and how to satisfy them. The behavioral science discipline has emerged as an interdisciplinary effort directed at gaining a better understanding of human behavior in organizations, as governed by satisfaction of man’s needs and wants and by his innate (posed by birth) social, psychological and anthropological traits (distinguish quality).

Purpose/ Objectives of Behavioral Approach

The overall purpose of the behavioral science is to induce (persuade or influence) performance by the human element and thereby achieve individual and group satisfaction and organizational productivity. The satisfaction performance relationship is complex and is affected by a number of different factors. Earlier economic rewards in the form of ways were viewed or considered as the primary satisfier of most employees, but the behavioral science view that employees are also satisfied and motivated by other type of things such as good working conditions, an interested boss, association with fellow employees, an impressive title, or personal accomplishment. Thus, the major encouraging impetus has been to stress the creation of an atmosphere or environment of achievement and fulfillment of all members of the organization which is an enlargement of the view of the early management about satisfaction and performance.

Pre-requisites or Characteristics of Behavioral Approach

1. Organizational-equilibrium or steady-state: The organization has been described as a system in equilibrium, which receives contribution in the form of (money) effort, time, skill, expertise etc. and offers inducement in return for these contribution. These inducement include the organizational goal itself, conservation and growth of the organization) and incentives unrelated to these two key issues in any organization is about two interests i.e. employer interest and employees interest.

Employer seeks (try to find or obtain) to achieve more with the least cost of rewards and incentives. Whereas employees always seek to receive more rewards and benefits from the management. In this regard, the need of organizational equilibrium is inevitable. To Herbert Simon and Chester Barnard ‘organizational-equilibrium’ means balance between what the individual contributes to the organization in the form of energy, skill and loyalty and what he receives in return by the ways of recognition, pay and security. March calls for the same “the general theory of organizational equilibrium.”

2. Group Dynamics: Power or force that produce change, action or effects. (Dynamics in the science is the study or interplay of force or motion – branch of physics dealing with movement and force). This is the field of inquiry that deals with the development of small groups, interactions among group members, and group and inter-group behavior, the basic assumption underlying the study of group dynamics are;

Groups are inevitable and ubiquitous (present everywhere and every time).
Groups mobilize powerful forces that produce effects of almost importance to individuals.
Groups may produce good or bad consequences from groups can be deliberately enhanced.

Group: A group is two or more persons who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other in a fundamental characteristics of group.

Secondly, people should possess influencing power to each other or group members are mutually dependent with respect to the attainment of one or more common goals.

Dynamics: Power or forces that produce movement or a force that produce change, action or effects.

Group Dynamics is concerned with the interaction and forces among group members in a social situation. Group dynamic deals with dynamics of members of formal groups in the organization, which is usually small in size.

3. Authority and Leadership: Authority (power-coercive-power, legitimate power, reward power, expert power) is only one of the number of forms of influences. Its distinguishing characteristics are that it does not seek to convince the subordinate, but only to obtain his acquiescence (acceptance without protest). In actual exercise, of course, authority is usually liberally admixed with suggestion and persuasion. An important function of authority is to permit a decision to be made and carried out, even when agreement cannot be reached. Perhaps this arbitrary aspects of authority has been over emphasized however, in discussions of the concept. In any case, the arbitrary element in authority is limited to the “area of acceptance” of the subordinate.

Another consequences or dimension implication of the group theory is that authority springs from the group than from the top-down. An understanding of this social process helps the administrators to understand resistance to formal authority in the form of slowdown of work, in punctuality and absenteeism. The organized resistance to orders from above is essentially a social phenomenon and called for technological skill of motivation and leadership. It calls for a type of supervision in which leadership replaces compulsion.

4. Organization as a social system: According to behaviorist organizations are composed of large groups or hierarchies, which are an aggregation of many small groups, both formal and informal. It is a complex organization, in which the informality of the small face to face groups is only a part of total organizational picture. Hence, organization is therefore, be viewed as a social institution. So, instead of viewing organization as a hierarchy of jobs or body of informal group relationships, it is now a social institution living in a cultural environment of its own.

Features of Behavioral Approach

The silent features of behavioral approach may be summarized as follows:

Behavioral approach seeks to focus directly on the actual behavior of individuals and groups in administrative organizations. It concentrates on the study of the various factors that influence the behavior of the people within organization.
The behaviorists characterize the organization as social system. As a social system, an organization consists of the formal structure, individuals (part of the society), groups and the informal interpersonal and inter-group relationships. They therefore, lay emphasis on the study of the informal social organization that always develops with the framework of the formal organization.
The behaviorists conceive of administration as a study embracing many discipline, especially sociology and psychology, social and industrial psychology and anthropology. They employ the methods and techniques of the above mentioned social sciences with a view to understand the way people really act within the organization.
The major areas of study in which the behaviorist are interested include the role of the individual, leadership in organization, group dynamics, organizational equilibrium and organization as a social system, motivation and satisfaction.
Behavioral approach is descriptive and factual and therefore empirical. It aims at increasing the scientific content of the study of public administration. It has shifted the emphasis from formal legal administrative structures to the people and their behavior in administrative organization. In other words, it has revealed the truth that the conduct of administration is greatly influenced by human sentiments, perception and the environment in which administration operates. It may be noted that behavioral approach and classical approach are complementary rather than contradictory. Administration is both structure and the people working in it.