Page 236 - DMGT106_MANAGING_HUMAN_ELEMENTS_AT_WORK

Managing Human Element at Work

Notes 2. The most basic theory explaining the formation of groups is ......................

(a) similarity (b) propinquity
(c) complementarity (d) social comparison
3. According to ......................... birds of a feather flock together.
(a) Festinger (b) Winch
(c) George Homans (d) Theodore Newcomb

4. According to .................... group formation is the result of activities, interactions and
sentiments.
(a) Festinger (b) Winch

(c) George Homans (d) Theodore Newcomb

10.7 Benefits of Informal Organization

Informal systems bring a number of benefits for employers such as:
• Makes a more effective total system.

• Lightens work load on management.
• Helps get the work done.
• Tends to encourage cooperation.
• Fills in gaps in a manager’s abilities.
• Gives satisfaction and stability to work groups.

• Provides a useful channel of communication.
• Provides a safety valve for employee emotions.
• Encourages managers plan and act more carefully.

10.7.1 Benefits of Informal Organization to its Members
Informal organization arises and persists because it yields certain benefits to its members.
These are as follows:
Sense of Belonging
If the worker is to get satisfaction from his job, he must come to feel that he is somebody
important to his task and to the organization. However, the de-skilling of jobs which is the
inevitable concomitant of technical change has made it harder for the worker to feel that
he himself is essential on the job–that his skills and know-how are required. To the
management he is just another unit of labour. Under these circumstances, the worker finds
his work unsatisfactory. An informal organization fills this void by constantly emphasizing
and reinforcing each member’s individual personality. It gives to each member that human
consideration which boosts his self-image and personality. With his group, the member is
somebody, though in the formal structure he is only one of 500 workers.

Safety Valve for Emotional Problems
In the daily work routine of a worker, there are many occasions loaded with tension and
frustration. For example, his supervisor might have reprimanded him or an overbearing
customer might have harassed him. In all such situations, he seeks a sympathetic ear of a
friend in the informal organization. His friend is mostly the person who has had similar
experiences and can thus share and understand his trouble.

230 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY