What Is Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

Section 1: What is Organizational Behavior? Organization structure is referred to as the field of study which examines the impacts imposed by behavior of group dynamics, individuals and structure within the organization settings with the aim of improving the organization effectiveness by applying such skills and knowledge. Organization structure consists of three major determinants factors namely, 1) Individuals, 2) Groups, and 3) Structure The knowledge gained out of effects of structure on behavior, individuals and groups are applied on Organizational Behavior for its efficiency workforce. The importance of Organizational Behavior is reflected whenever people of varied cultural values and backgrounds efficiently and effectively work together. The developments of the competencies in forecasting the peoples’ likely behaviours are achieved by seeking the emphasis of organization behaviors’ understanding. This knowledge may eventually be useful in controlling the behaviours which are of no use to the organization. Sustainability and objectivity are some of the vital factors while this purpose is selected. Interviews, Questionnaires, Surveys and Simulations are normally used to gather and get the individual responses from different organizations (Ashraf, 2010). Section 2: Power & Politics Power:- The potential or capacity of an individual, a team or even an organization to influence others is normally referred to as power. Reward, legitimate, expert, referent and coercive are some of the sources of power. The probability of one actor within a social relationship capable of carrying out his own will despite the resistance is also defined as power, though power resistance varies between two or more available power of centers in an organization. One of the characteristics of power is that an individual(s) is capable of changing the behavior of other people especially when this particular behavior would not have occurred. The concept of power has no implication of rights. Authority is related concept and it normally represents the right to secure or expect conformity and it is also supported by legality (Ashraf, 2010) Power classifications: Normative power: this is the situation where an organization has the absolute rite to govern the behavior of its members. We draw an example of such power from religious leaders. Coercive power: this is the practice of forcing an individual (s) to comply or conform to ones’ own desires. We draw such kind of exercise of power from a prisons’ organizational set-up. Utilitarian Power: it is a kind of power based on punishments and rewards. This kind of power is commonly practiced in businesses, which uses promotions, threats of dismissal and pay rises. Politics:- The use of discretionary behaviours in attempt to promote personal objectives to influence others is referred to as organizational politics. The non-rational influence on decision making process is also referred as political behavior. Politics can as well be used as a means of reconciling competition and ultimately recognizing organizations interests. The relationships in the present organizational relationships can be understood by the political metaphors. Politics and politicking can be a critical part of an organizations life if power relations are permitted to exist in organizations. Interests in competitions can be resolved by applying the manager’s decision which is also sometimes viewed as the rule of totalitarian. Politics may also be applied as a vehicle of creating a democratic or non coercive work environment. Mechanisms of reconciling conflicts in organizations such as governments should be put in place to help create and maintain order among the members of the organization. These organizations systems rules do range from democratic to autocratic at the extremes of between technocratic and bureaucratic systems. Each of these systems does represent orientation of politics in regard to the distribution and application of power in the entire organization (Stephen, 2006) Section 3: Conflict & Negotiation Conflict in Organization:- The characteristics of conflicts includes, a) Scarcity of resources, b) Blockage and c) Opposition The process of confrontation and opposition is referred as the inter-group conflicts. The scarcity of resources in an organization can bring about the conflict within an organization as each department rushes to secure its share of the resources for survival. To survive in the game, a given department may consider blocking another department from getting the same resource which eventually results in a conflict in an organization. Alternatively, an opposition to an action or opposition to another party may result to a conflict. Major causes of Conflicts:- 1. Personality conflicts 2. Goal differences 3. Communication failures 4. Non-compliance with rules 5. Lack of corporation 6. Competition over resources 7. Substandard performance 8. Differences regarding responsibility 9. Value differences 10. Difference regarding authority 11. Methodological differences The level of conflicts differs, conflicts do occur within the employees, between groups or individuals. Interpersonal Conflict: These are types of conflicts of which affects individual emotions deeply. Ones’ self esteem and self image should be taken care of. Relationships do deteriorate and serious upsets experienced when self-concept gets threatened. In other instances, the personality of two individuals is bound to clash due to the incompatibility of their temperaments. Conflict can as well occur as a result of difference in perception and failure of communication. Intrapersonal Conflict:- It mostly does occur when an employee receives role conflicting expectations messages from his/her seniors and other peers (Arthur and Howard, 2002). Conflict of Inter-group:- It sometimes does arise between different departments which are at times perceived as war between immature teams. The groups come out to improve its image, gain power and undermine the others after which conflict arises from such causes as group loyalties, different viewpoints, and competition for limited resources (Arthur and Howard, 2002). Negotiations:- This is another means of resolving disputes. This is the act of introducing dialogue to achieve an agreement upon course of action, negotiate for individuals collective advantage, resolve disputes and craft outcomes to satisfy numerous interests. The ability to affect other people’s actions and beliefs through the application of authentic behavior and sound process is referred to as influence. A high level of skill is a prerequisite for one to be able to influence others in a capacity to successfully succeed in the negotiation process. The three basic negotiation elements: behavior, substance and process:- 1. Organizational Change 2. Unit of work 3. System Thinking 4. Personal Impact, and 5. Integration of learning Conflict handling styles include forcing, integrating, avoiding, smoothing and compromising, whereas conflict management strategies includes, joint, unilateral and 3rd party. Performance appraisals, interpersonal issues, union negotiations, changing job functions, merger and acquisitions, reorganizations and downsizing are some of the actions considered and implemented by organizations at the times when conflict arises in organizations. When a problem arises in an organization(s), it is advisable to first diagnose the problem and then finally develop alternative solutions. Some of the successful Strategies of resolving conflicts includes:- 1. Reaching consensus and compromise 2. Holding debates and discussions 3. Conducting open discussions and communications 4. Applying rotating responsibilities The less successful strategies of resolving conflicts includes:- 1. Conducting voting exercise 2. Ignoring and avoiding organizational problems as they occur 3. Withdrawal and idiosyncratic behaviors Procedural justice suggests that procedures and fair treatment are more vital than fair outcomes. All the members in an organization should be treated equally, fairly, respected and allowed to air heir views without any biasness and be given access to valid information. Every member of an organization should be responsible and observable of their own emotions, behaviors, thoughts and values. All the parties should ensure that they understand each and every individual’s or group’s mental representations and examples (Edgar, 2004). Section 4: Organizational Structure Organization structure is the architecture of leadership, functional relationships, business competence, management and talent. It’s also the organizations basis which includes the mechanisms of integration, hierarchical levels, problem solving, and spans of responsibilities, roles and positions. It is also the way job tasks are coordinated, grouped and formally divided. The development of an organization depends on its technology, size and its environmental requirements. The centralization of power in an organizational structure is determined by the centralization of power, control and coordination mechanisms among others. The two essential functions performed by an organization structure are coordination and control (David and Richard, 2008). The elements of organizational structure consist of: 1. Mechanisms required for facilitating coordination 2. Individuals clustered positions and 3. Assigned responsibilities and tasks Organizational structure has to be effective by ensuring that its clusters, tasks and mechanisms are capable of achieving and facilitating the organizations goals and missions. The organizations effectiveness depends on several specific structures namely: 1. Its size 2. The principal type of applied technology and 3. The promotional innovation methods used. The organizational structure patterns commonly applied are: 1. Hybrid structure – this is the combination of both divisional and functional structure. 2. Functional structure – It is the positioning of groups into units on the basis of comparable skills, activities, work and expertise. 3. Divisional structure – this is whereby the groups position into unit with regard to the comparison of markets and products. 4. Matrix structure – An hierarchical functional type of structure is superimposed by a horizontal set of divisional reporting relationships (Panayotis, 2008) The linking of activities within an organization to realize goals is known as coordination and the development of an organizational structure is known as organizational design. Section 5: Organizational Culture Organizational culture is a set of beliefs, values, and norms that have been developed over time, emergent and unplanned. The ways of the operations of an organization can be greatly influenced by its culture’s impact on it. Moreover, if the culture alteration is considered, it should not be an obstacle for it to embark on the process of change. The organization culture is multi-faceted, complex and imprecise, intangible and changes with time (Edgar, 2004) Different organizational systems and structures are reflected in different cultures. Structures and systems are suitable to the business culture and different organizations structures are favored by different people depending on their inspirations and characters. Organizations do often combine a collection of cultures inclusive of sub-cultures and other traits of dominant cultures. At times, a clash of cultures does arise in an organization, but then a range of cultures are mostly welcomed, appropriate and necessary (David and Richard, 2008). The four key cultures and their definitions:- Role culture: It used to be referred to as bureaucracy sometimes back, and the job is harmonized by a manager or a few group of managers on the organizations structures’ realm with strong functional departmental pillars. The departmental work is controlled and coordinated by:- 1. Communications and procedures i.e. document circulation and distribution rules. 2. governing roles and procedures i.e. job descriptions and authority definitions 3. Rules for disputes settlements e.g. ultimate control and coordination by senior managers and appeal to lowest crossover points. Procedures and rules are all adjoining and the success of this culture lies on the allocation of responsibilities and roles and needs an established surrounding to thrive. Power: It does involve a central and powerful leader or character and mostly thrives in small campaigning societies. It normally functions casually with a few procedures and rules while exercising its power at the centre and making its decisions on the basis of influence and power. This can be coined as a “web”. Power culture does have problems with the size of the web because its possibility of breaking when it grows too big and too complex is very likely. In this case, it has to develop other ‘spin-off’ organizations in order to remain web-structured with each one on their own right (Robert and William, 2006). Person culture This is where the individual is the focus of the organization and it is rarely found in the animal protection. Partnerships and communes such as architects, consultants or managements do practice this kind of culture which is normally coined by a “cluster”. It is very unusual for the animal society protection mostly where the aim or mission is essential. Task culture: This is majorly a project or job oriented, and the structure can be coined as a “net”. The structural form of the task culture is the matrix organization. The human resources with the project in hand are normally arranged by the task culture and the team left with the responsibility to organize themselves with the influence based on the power expert than the personal power or position. The above mentioned culture is suitable for task-centered, mission driven organizations and extremely adaptable as it enhances motivation and creativity. Task culture can enable reactivity and it is also flexible though it has a difficulty of achieving economies of scale and replicating desired success amongst the diverse groups (Edgar, 2004). Section 6: References: 1. Panayotis .Z. 2008 Organizational Behavior: Notes from Organizational Research. Available at URL: http://www.zamaros.net/Organizational%20Behavior.pdf (20 May 2010) 2. Arthur P. B. and Howard M. W. 2002 Organizational Behavior: Affect in the Workplace. Available at URL http://users.utu.fi/juhtiur/jakelu/affectinorg.pdf (21 May 2010) 3. Lesley W. and Bruce M. 2000 The Management of Organizational Culture. Available at http://www.usq.edu.au/extrafiles/business/journals/HRMJournal/AJMOBarticles/Org%20culture%20paper%20LB1.pdf (22 May 2010) 4. Lise M. S. and Timothy A. J. 2004 Employee Attitudes and Job Satisfaction. Available at URL http://www.utm.edu/staff/mikem/documents/jobsatisfaction.pdf (20 May 2010) 5. Jayan C. 2006 Emotional Competence, Personality and Job Attitudes as Predictors of Job Performance. Available at URL http://medind.nic.in/jak/t06/i1/jakt06i1p135.pdf (20 May 2010) Section 7: Bibliographies: 1. Stephen P. R. 2006 Organizational Behavior, 9th edition, San Diego State University. Prentice Hall International, Inc. 2. David B. and Richard J. B. 2008 Power, Politics, and Organizational Change, Second Edition. London. SAGE Publications L.t.d 3. Robert L. T. and William E. R. 2006 Contemporary Issues in Leadership. London, Westview Press 4. Edgar H. S. 2004 Organizational culture and leadership, Third Edition, USA, Jossey-Bass publishers Read More