ABSTRACT
Almost every facet of work involves some kind of social activity (Argyle, 1989). Every organization is a social system (Katz and Kahn, 1966), virtually every work group is a social group and every work role has a social aspect, from chief executive through to manager, supervisor, professional, skilled or unskilled worker. Often this social aspect is a formal part of the job or even the main focus, as in face-to-face personnel work or selling, or it may be an informal, subsidiary component, as in getting on with one’s co-workers. It follows that how people perform interpersonally in an organization is a major determinant of how effective and productive that organization is, not to mention of the well-being of the employees themselves. Indeed, according to organization development theory (Beer and Walton, 1990), the ‘human-process approach’ is one of the two strategies for improving organizational effectiveness and employee well-being, the other being the ‘technostructural approach’ (i.e. systems-level structures).
