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Organizational Behavior Terminology And Concepts Essay

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Understanding organizational behavior is important for everyone involved in an organization, not just the leadership and management teams. By gaining and understanding this knowledge each employee should be able to realize how their individual actions contribute to the big picture of the company. In order to understand this there are some key concepts and terminology that must be explained to make the learning process more manageable. Organizational Behavior What is organizational behavior? According to Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn (2005, p. 3) it "is the study of individuals and groups in organizations." OB, as organizational behavior is called in short, is multidisciplinary. This means it does not only understand the individuals …show more content…

Culture of an organization is driven from the upper-management team all the way down to the lowest employees of a company and can typically be derived from a vision and mission statement of a company. When the upper-management team takes the time to come up with and clearly convey the beliefs and values of the company they will be rewarded with strong company cultures; conversely they will have a very negative culture if they do not. Southwest Airlines, for example, has an extremely strong, positive, fun company culture which is very much driven from upper-management members, namely President Colleen Barrett, and this culture is carried on by virtually every employee of the airline. Outsiders easily notice this very powerful culture because it always leaves an excellent, positive impression of the company. Workforce diversity is a key element of OB and should be a priority of effective leaders and managers because "Diversity is emerging as one of the most serious issues in the workplace today, yet most employers are not prepared to deal with it" (Copeland, 2003, Erroneous Assumptions, ¶1). Diversity needs to be incorporated from the beginning when strategic plans are being made, then control mechanisms need to be in place to

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