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The human factor in organizations
1-..hUe Ilelatlo••~ Ilevlew open house event? How do you size photos? How do you charge for professional public relations work? How do you work with the media people? This Is PR includes lots of philosophy, too. But the authors follow up much of their theory with specifics. They lose no opportunity for supporting statements with "for instances." They write: "News people say they throwaway 80 percent of the news releases they get because they are not usable." The book doesn't quit there. This is followed by examples furnished by Tony Slaughter of the Fort Worth Evening Telegram. He tells the reader about the deficiencies he has observed in news releases which made them worthless to him or made him question the credibility of the sender. Such relevant use of other sources throughout the book buttresses the authors' knowledge and reinforces their expertise. Once in awhile, Newsom and Scott let their academic predilections show. They want you to hand-carry all releases to the editor in the newsroom. But in a metro center today, few PR professionals have the time, money or stamina to personally deliver these. Our Texas authors also say it's a no-no to contact a news person to find out why a story or photo wasn't published. In my experience, there are few newsroom pros who are not willing to talk about this. If you are a pro, too, and the news person respects your knowhow, he'll level with you quickly. You even might resurrect a piece that way. Another wee complaint. The authors, in inserting the valuable quotes, reprints and illustrations, follow a format that is disruptive to the flow of the text. These might have been grouped at the end of each chapter with the references, questions and suggested projects for the class. But this is nitpicking. The Newsom-Scott collaboration shines with knowledge and expertise. They have a feel for the nitty-gritty. They explain the most complicated of situations in simple, clear language. They touch a lot of bases that beginner and professional alike will want to refer to over and over again in pursuit of daily solutions. Even the appendices are useful. The authors are thorough and persistent. At the end of the book, in true professional manner, they are still tossing out ideas and answers as the class heads for the door at the sound of the bell. ROBERT R. HOSOKAWA University of Missouri
Tile Ih.ma••
Fa~tor
in Organizatiolls
Saul \V. Gellerman Behavioral Science in Management, Baltimore: Penguin Books Inc., 1974, 82.25 paper For those who quickly want to catch up with major developments in the behavioral sciences and their application to employee relations, this short book (133 pages) is the perfect vehicle. Intended primarily for European and nonAmerican readers, it tells in nontechnical language how a few progressive
58
nook It.:vlcw!Ili companies - Exxon, Shell Oil of England, TRW Systems, and Texas Instruments - have used their human resources more effectively to increase productivity and decrease labor costs. Although the title might suggest applications to such other management fields as marketing, the book limits itself to the human factor in organizations. It is divided into two sections. The first discusses the meaning of the behavioral sciences and major interventions in the management process: the identification of management talent, the uses of attitude surveys, planned changes in the work environment, and organization development attempts to make organizations "facilitators" rather than "inhabiters" of accomplishment. The second section comprises five cases which illustrate and illuminate the themes discussed earlier. Gellerman says the behavioral sciences help "organizations adapt their policies and methods to the realities of human nature; to present evidence on how to increase human satisfaction; since ultimately that is less costly than, willingly or otherwise, causing dissatisfaction." He refers to the application of behavioral science to personnel selection after World War I and the evolution of this idea into Exxon Corporation's "Early Identification of Management Potential." Moving up in history to the mid-1930's, he characterizes this as the era of managerial benevolence when the emphasis was on fostering employee contentment by screening or cancelling out "irritants fitted into everyday realities of work." Not to do so leads to hostile attitudes and costly behavior such as strikes and work restrictions. But, referring to the studies of Frederick Herzberg, he considers these "hygienic" remedies more important for what they prevent than for what they produce. Continuing with his historical review, Gellerman refers to the 1960's as a time when experimental intervention became prominent. Now the objective was "to alter job design and organizational structure" by means of job enrichment techniques and organizational development. Three case studies are devoted to these topics. Looking ahead, Gellerman forecasts that the influence of the behavioral sciences will be felt even more heavily. Two topics are of special interest to public relations practitioners: the "rebirth" of the employee attitude survey and organization development approaches. He says that the "old-established, frequently ignored and underutilized management tool" of the employee attitude survey is now attracting new attention and sophisticated application in such American firms as Texas Instruments and IBM. In his opinion, it can become a managerial planning and control procedure of the first importance. For example, an anticipatory survey can be designed to identify potential trouble before it occurs. It might also reduce resignation rates. His comments on motivation - discussed in the chapter, "The Effects of Work Upon Work" - are also interesting. Motivation should not be thought of as "traits which are somehow 'built in' certain individuals." Instead, the actual behavior of workers can often be best understood as a reaction to the situation in which they find themselves. Recognizing this, managers have become increasingly concerned with the extent to which they can deliberately
1-..hU" n~latlo"lIIi n~vl~w
shape the environment in which the response is made. Thus attention is focused on the specific kinds of on-the-job behavior which can be influenced by managerial action and which have a direct relationship to productivity. Gellerman sees organization development as an outgrowth of individual development efforts. Methods like sensitivity training were "designed to increase one's awareness of the effects of his behavior on other people and of the significance of their behavior toward him." In contrast, organization development puts the emphasis on the organization as a whole; it is a form of team-building. More sophisticated approaches to 00, he says, "stress diagnosis as a prerequisite to treatment and a deliberate attempt to change 'the culture' of an organization .... " Some examples of diagnostic tools are briefly mentioned. This book is too short and abbreviated for use as a major text, but it could serve well as supplementary reading in public relations management courses. Organizations which sponsor short training programs will find this book particularly useful for topics dealing with the more efficient and humane use of human resources. OlTO LERBINGER School of Public Communication Boston University
Dcnllb.~ CO....Il.lIdcatioll COIICCllbi
Reed Blake and Edwin Haroldscn A Taxonomy of Concepts in Communication New York: Hastings House, Inc., 1975, 158 pp.,
~7.95 doth
In his introduction to this text, George N. Gordon, General Editor of the Humanistic Studies in The Communication Arts series for Hastings House, notes: ", , .the moment almost invariably arrives when any body of knowledge, old or new, accumulates such a dense thicket of terminology that new conceptual contributions to the field seem less important than straightening out the old ones, When that time comes, what is required to remedy the syndrome is, , .a tlUonomist ..
Blake and Haroldsen. assuming the body of knowledge in communication arts has reached this point, play the role of taxonomists in this book. Unfortunately, A Taxonomy of Concepts in Communication is a very shallow, unsophisticated review and synthesis of the extant communication literature. The communication researcher and practitioner will find the book some-
GO
Tile Ih.ma••
Fa~tor
in Organizatiolls
Saul \V. Gellerman Behavioral Science in Management, Baltimore: Penguin Books Inc., 1974, 82.25 paper For those who quickly want to catch up with major developments in the behavioral sciences and their application to employee relations, this short book (133 pages) is the perfect vehicle. Intended primarily for European and nonAmerican readers, it tells in nontechnical language how a few progressive
58
nook It.:vlcw!Ili companies - Exxon, Shell Oil of England, TRW Systems, and Texas Instruments - have used their human resources more effectively to increase productivity and decrease labor costs. Although the title might suggest applications to such other management fields as marketing, the book limits itself to the human factor in organizations. It is divided into two sections. The first discusses the meaning of the behavioral sciences and major interventions in the management process: the identification of management talent, the uses of attitude surveys, planned changes in the work environment, and organization development attempts to make organizations "facilitators" rather than "inhabiters" of accomplishment. The second section comprises five cases which illustrate and illuminate the themes discussed earlier. Gellerman says the behavioral sciences help "organizations adapt their policies and methods to the realities of human nature; to present evidence on how to increase human satisfaction; since ultimately that is less costly than, willingly or otherwise, causing dissatisfaction." He refers to the application of behavioral science to personnel selection after World War I and the evolution of this idea into Exxon Corporation's "Early Identification of Management Potential." Moving up in history to the mid-1930's, he characterizes this as the era of managerial benevolence when the emphasis was on fostering employee contentment by screening or cancelling out "irritants fitted into everyday realities of work." Not to do so leads to hostile attitudes and costly behavior such as strikes and work restrictions. But, referring to the studies of Frederick Herzberg, he considers these "hygienic" remedies more important for what they prevent than for what they produce. Continuing with his historical review, Gellerman refers to the 1960's as a time when experimental intervention became prominent. Now the objective was "to alter job design and organizational structure" by means of job enrichment techniques and organizational development. Three case studies are devoted to these topics. Looking ahead, Gellerman forecasts that the influence of the behavioral sciences will be felt even more heavily. Two topics are of special interest to public relations practitioners: the "rebirth" of the employee attitude survey and organization development approaches. He says that the "old-established, frequently ignored and underutilized management tool" of the employee attitude survey is now attracting new attention and sophisticated application in such American firms as Texas Instruments and IBM. In his opinion, it can become a managerial planning and control procedure of the first importance. For example, an anticipatory survey can be designed to identify potential trouble before it occurs. It might also reduce resignation rates. His comments on motivation - discussed in the chapter, "The Effects of Work Upon Work" - are also interesting. Motivation should not be thought of as "traits which are somehow 'built in' certain individuals." Instead, the actual behavior of workers can often be best understood as a reaction to the situation in which they find themselves. Recognizing this, managers have become increasingly concerned with the extent to which they can deliberately
1-..hU" n~latlo"lIIi n~vl~w
shape the environment in which the response is made. Thus attention is focused on the specific kinds of on-the-job behavior which can be influenced by managerial action and which have a direct relationship to productivity. Gellerman sees organization development as an outgrowth of individual development efforts. Methods like sensitivity training were "designed to increase one's awareness of the effects of his behavior on other people and of the significance of their behavior toward him." In contrast, organization development puts the emphasis on the organization as a whole; it is a form of team-building. More sophisticated approaches to 00, he says, "stress diagnosis as a prerequisite to treatment and a deliberate attempt to change 'the culture' of an organization .... " Some examples of diagnostic tools are briefly mentioned. This book is too short and abbreviated for use as a major text, but it could serve well as supplementary reading in public relations management courses. Organizations which sponsor short training programs will find this book particularly useful for topics dealing with the more efficient and humane use of human resources. OlTO LERBINGER School of Public Communication Boston University
Dcnllb.~ CO....Il.lIdcatioll COIICCllbi
Reed Blake and Edwin Haroldscn A Taxonomy of Concepts in Communication New York: Hastings House, Inc., 1975, 158 pp.,
~7.95 doth
In his introduction to this text, George N. Gordon, General Editor of the Humanistic Studies in The Communication Arts series for Hastings House, notes: ", , .the moment almost invariably arrives when any body of knowledge, old or new, accumulates such a dense thicket of terminology that new conceptual contributions to the field seem less important than straightening out the old ones, When that time comes, what is required to remedy the syndrome is, , .a tlUonomist ..
Blake and Haroldsen. assuming the body of knowledge in communication arts has reached this point, play the role of taxonomists in this book. Unfortunately, A Taxonomy of Concepts in Communication is a very shallow, unsophisticated review and synthesis of the extant communication literature. The communication researcher and practitioner will find the book some-
GO