Applying Organizational Behavior Theory
Ahmed Salman
Argosy University
September, 23, 2015
Applying Organizational Behavior Theory
Introduction
Organizational behavior entails the study of individual and also group performance and their interactions and ability to work in groups. It aims at identifying major problems that affects performance within the teams to work together, in a bid to develop a more efficient business operation (Hiriyappa, 2009). It relies heavily on organizational cultures since they reflect how organizations behave One major problem in the organization is the issue of appreciating diversity within the workplace. Most employees and some management personnel see this as a threat and therefore there cannot be efficient teamwork cohesion in doing projects. This may be due to the fact that they have reinforcing homogeneity perspectives or color-blind perspectives (Prasad, 1997). Leaders should try to make changes to this major issue since it affects operations where diversity is required to achieve strategic goals. The organization should plan to change the mentality of those rejecting diversity, to embrace Fairness perspective, access perspective, integration and learning perspectives which will ensure a unison move to prosperity of the organization (Clements & Jones, 2008). The organization’s vision requires diversity in place since diversity offers:
New and better opportunities, capabilities, skills and potential innovations to achieve goals
Diversity is a wonderful asset to an organization and brings with it many benefits. Employees bring in their own personal experiences and knowledge to the team (Burns & Kerby, 2012). Having diverse teams allows for the possibility to fix a problem or perfect a process by using different employee’s experiences and past knowledge to find solutions. A diverse workforce can drive economic growth and capture a greater share of the consumer market (Burns & Kerby, 2012). With diversity as a core value, the recruitment pool is widened to find the most qualified candidate and reduces employee turnover as a result. An organization can be highly competitive with a diversity initiative by adapting to a changing environment (Burns & Kerby, 2012).
The A-Team was forced to disband because from the very first tasking, there was conflict between the group members. The group never actually came together to complete their first tasking of defining roles. The arguments between the group members got so bad that one of their team members walked out for the group and threatened to quit the program.
The way in which an organization tackles diversity determines its negative or positive outcome. All the 5 companies agreed that diversity has contributed to their success. Some barriers were identified in managing diversity like the difficulties faced by women in managing the work and family, fear of discrimination, resistance to change, diversity is not seen as an organizational priority, resistance to change and unsupportive working environment for diverse employees. Diversity contributes to more productivity but if not properly managed could hinder success.
The study of Organizational Behavior (OB) is related to individuals, group of people working together in teams. The study becomes more challenging when situational factors interact. No two individuals are likely to behave in the same manner in a particular work situation. It is the predictability of a manager about the expected behavior of an individual. There are no absolutes in human behavior. It is the human factor that is contributory to the productivity hence the study of human behavior is important. Great importance therefore must be attached to the study.
As stated by Robbins and Judge (2011), “organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within
One of the objectives that the team discussed was diversity in the workplace. Major corporations have encountered issues concerning diversity in the work place. Our team can directly relate to this subject in the workplace since all of us are diverse minorities in our individual work place. It was discussed in the group that diversity in the workplace is the manager’s responsibility to insure that the workplace is a diverse environment. Managers in most companies are required to hire a diverse staff. Managers have the ability to use race, religion, and tenure as qualities to inspire success and
After starting this organizational behavior (OB) class, I’ve been able to more deeply evaluate the importance of the way people interact in the workplace. More so, I have been learning to take the time to reflect on myself as a person, a student, and a soon to be working professional. The fact of the matter is – there is always room for improvement. I’m looking to improve on every possible aspect of my life I can. Not to sound like a cliché or anything, but it seems as though life sometimes gets in the way of being able to take a step back and assess yourself.
Diversity is what makes people different, not just culturally but in human differences. Having a multitude of differences in the workforce gives an organization the ability to use many ideas to reach a common goal. A person could say that a diverse group of people together in one room can accomplish greater achievements than a room filled with the same types of individuals. Managers understand the concept of diversity, and how important diversity is to the success of a company’s ability to implement programs that continue to develop a harmonious and diverse workplace. The recognition that diversity is a reality in the workforce has generated an enormous amount of activity over the years among leaders in business, government, and civil
Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) is a vital part of the success of a company. The employee’s thoughts and actions even considering culture are thoroughly analyzed. This idea allows managers to improve not only individual behavior but also group dynamic performances/interactions and workers safety. This theory is considered as a science of the behavior of each employee. The history of OBM started in the 1900’s, with the strong influence of Skinner and Watson. Scientific Behavior began in the workplace, following the applications of behavioral principles to instructional design. Frederick Taylor, another innovative manager was a huge supporter of the scientific method being presented and utilized. Three main areas of OBM application include: Performance Management, Behavioral Systems Analysis, and Behavior-Based Safety. Inside of each area, there are key points to consider. Some would be leadership, decision making, team building, motivation, and job satisfaction. In short, OBM is the study that reviews how organizational structures are an aftermath within companies.
The general line of reasoning is that if we learn to incorporate each other’s diverse traits and characteristics in the workplace, we can then use these differences to foster an innovative environment, which will give the company a competitive advantage over the competitors that do not accept workforce diversity. According to the Allied Academies International Conference, “Diversity is rapidly becoming a common practice among companies due to the increasing number of minorities entering the job market today. As these groups become more prevalent throughout companies, upper-level employees are facing numerous challenges when determining what changes must take place to create a positive working environment for everyone. Management is responsible for the development and implementation of effective policies directly relating to diversity to ensure the acceptance of minorities into the workplace and to aid in minorities’ success through equal opportunities and treatment.” (Marcia L. James, 2001, Academy for Studies in International Business Proceedings)
One thing the organization could do to raise the gender consciousness would be to do an ongoing series of sensitivity training for all staff. Along with this training would be annual assessment seminars that will teach people the different types of discrimination and harassment and the steps they need to take when such a situation is posed upon them. In the Cancer center where I am employed, women make up nearly 70% of the managerial and supervisory staff in all departments. At the executive level they only make up
The single most critical problem that the managers are facing today is managing the people.This is the most challenging issues that every kind of organizations is dealing with now aday. Organizational behaviour is the study of individual, group and organization as a whole that examines the effect of organizational structure and culture on organizational performance. Therefore, it mostly tries to define the performance and efficiency factors of anorganization.Organizational structure and organizational culture are highly correlated performance factors.It basically defines the appropriate structure of an organization in order to get more thanaverage performance. Organizational culture is a primary factor for employee turnover and job satisfaction (Bolden, 2004). If an organization possesses a strong culture of self-respect and employee affiliation, it is no wonder that the employee retention rate would be very high(Tracy, 2013).In this report, the relationship between organizational culture and organizational structure will be pointed out. While doing so we
Organisational Behaviour (OB) is the study of human behaviour in an organisation. It is a multidisciplinary field devoted to the understanding individual and group behaviour, interpersonal processes and organisational dynamics. OB is important to all management functions, roles and skills. Since organisations are built up levels - individual, group and an organizational system as a whole, it is important for managers to understand human behaviour in order to meet the organizations overall goals. I found several key learning areas that are meaningful, interesting and relevant to my work over the course of studying this unit. These key learning areas have not only expanded and improved my view of organisational behaviour but they also have
The success of a corporation has been traditionally tied to how well the managers execute the roles of leading, planning and controlling. One of the key components of the controlling aspect of management is the evaluation of the people that they are managing. The function of this process involves monitoring performance goals and has management taking corrective actions when necessary. Performance evaluations can be described as the measurement of the performance of an employee related to defined measures, using an applicable performance goals and appropriate criteria that relates to the employees work in question. This paper will review the engineer’s evaluation in the given case study.
Organizational behavior is the behavior of individuals, either one or a group. It is not the behavior of an organization, but rather the behavior of the people in an organization. This can be anywhere from a family at home to a church to a work group within a company. Some of the challenges that make behaviors challenging in today’s workplace are high performance, ethical behavior, productivity improvement, technology utilization, quality, diversity, work-life balance, and the global economy, (Schermerhorn, 2003, P. 1).