Human Behaviour in Organizations - Assignment Example

Name Course Tutor Date Human behaviour in organizations Every organization has structures and procedures that dictate how people should behave in the organization. The functioning of these structures is however strengthened by the employee’s support and so they must be acceptable to the members of the particular organization. However, various aspects such as the philosophy, values, vision and goals of the organization can also determine how individuals behave in the organization. This is because such aspects determine the culture of the organization which dictates the organizational environment. The culture therefore determines the type of leadership, communications and group performance within the organization. A good culture is important for better quality of life for the employees within the organization and this motivates them. Once the employees are motivated, the outcomes are better performance since they will feel individual satisfaction and will experience personal growth and development. All these factors determine the behaviour of individuals in an organization. Where the factors are not resulting into a motivating culture, the performance of the organization is always down (Newstrom & Davis, p23). This paper looks at human behaviour in a production organization and various factors that influence it. In the production industries, the managers are focusing on the functioning of teams as a means of improving the production in their organizations and also ensuring competitiveness of the organization in the global markets. This is because the success of any production organization depends on its team of employees. The managers are therefore increasingly looking at the behaviour of the employees so that they may have positive impact of the performance of the organization. Factors influencing individual behaviour in production organizations Some of the factors that may influence human behaviour in the organization include power and politics, conflicts and negotiations, organizational structure and the organizational culture. Some of these factors may result to dysfunctional behaviour in organizations where the employees violate the values and norms of the organization. Power and Politics Being in power in an organization is a state where one person or one team has the capacity to influence others in an organization. Sources of power in an organization may include legitimate power, reward power, coercive power and expert power. Legitimate power is one that rests upon the position that one holds in an organization and along the chain of command. This is power that comes with responsibilities. Reward power is one that is given by those the senior positions due to improved performance of an individual. Coercive power is gained from one’s expectations of negative reward if the wishes are not fulfilled. It is used mainly on subordinates but it is not the best practise in an organization. Expert power is gained by having knowledge in a particular area such that one is able to influence others. Expert power is achieved where the subordinates are regarding one due to his or her ability to perform certain tasks. This power can be used to influence others effectively when it is combined with other types of power. For example in a production organization, expert power may be greatly valued since the performance is determined by the level of expertise among the employees (Doucet & Goh, p6). Power and responsibilities are distributed within the organization following its structure. But on the other hand, politics within the organization can influence how power is distributed. Political behaviour is seen as undesirable within formal functioning within an organization. However, the bad effect comes in where individuals in an organization are functioning within different goals. This leads to conflicts and competition for resources which consequently affects use of power and politics. Politics in an organization is associated mainly with competition for resources. According to Ferris, Harrell-Cook & Dulebohn (p 113), organizational politics arises when people want to achieve their varied goals through informal processes. These self driven goals move against the procedures of the organization, employing means that are not related to the job to achieve hidden motives characterised by uncertainty and resulting in conflicts. Politics are therefore corrupt actions that are used by executives to exercise their power in influencing a decision. They may have negative impact when used for enforcing selfish or destructive decisions that will decrease the performance of an organization. On the other hand, use of power and politics may have positive influence when they are used to enforce decisions that may lead to improved performance of the organization. For example, combining expert power and politics may be effective since there is knowledge, power and seeking of influence. This is a case of an expert who is campaigning on taking means that will improve production in a certain area where he or she has knowledge in (Hardy, p 46). Conflicts and negotiations Conflicts are differences that result from some perceived interference or oppositions in an organization. Conflicts are managed using some strategies that rectify the differences in a positive way. In most organizations, conflicts arise where people disagree over matters of importance. Conflicts can also occur due to emotional antagonists that lead to frictions between leaders or teams in an organization. Personal conflicts that arise from emotional antagonists can have a negative impact on the performance of the individuals affected. This is because it might destroy teamwork which is essential for proper performance on an organization. However, they may also have positive impact on such individuals where they may be enabled to handle their problems wisely and this can motivate them to change. This must therefore involve proper strategies of resolving conflicts. Conflicts between working groups in an organization over matters of importance may have destructive impacts on the organization. Such conflicts may result due to struggle for freedom, power and resources. Struggle for power and resources may lead to reduced production in an organization since most of the productive time is turned away from the important and productive matters. Productive decisions may be delayed and this may result in deadlocks. Conflicts may be productive where people have different views which when put on a table, they may give rise to new and more productive ways of doing things. Conflicts may also open up to relevant authorities such as the shareholders of a certain organization about how things are happening in the organization (Sims, p78). The best solution to conflicts is negotiation. This is the process of making decisions jointly where people have different opinions. The goals of negotiation may be classified as substance goals which aims at outcomes related to content matters, and relationship goals that aim at ensuring that people work well together after the matters of negotiation are concluded. For effective negotiation, the affected groups should come together, air out their views for consideration. This process must however involve experts in the areas of concern who may help in making a valid decision. These decisions that ensure ethical standards that pertains the organizations are maintained and that the conflicting sides are not influenced by personal interests. Negotiation should aim at reaching to a position that is best to the values of the organization and not those of the involved teams. An external facilitator who may not be biased is therefore necessary when negotiating for organizational matters. The end results of an effective negotiation should include resolving the critical issues and restoring or improving the working relationships among all teams in the organization. An organizational culture that ensures limited conflicts should also be maintained for improved performance in an organization (Griffin & Moorhead, p 202). Organisational Structure Organizations have structures that are designed depending on their goals and their culture. It is the structure that determines how the organization operates and how it performs. The structure enables a proper outline of departments, employees in them and the responsibilities of its functions. A production organization that bears wrong organizational structure may fail to perform well and may have low production capacity. This is because an organization structure should be designed to ensure maximum efficiency and ultimate success of the organization. A well structured organization ensures proper working relationships between its various departments and its teams of employees. It will maintain order of command and at the same time maintaining flexible working conditions that promotes creativity. The most common organizational structures are the centralized and the decentralized organizational structures. A centralised organizational structure bears a head office that performs the main organizational responsibilities and has all the powers. The senior executives in a centralised organizational structure usually posses very strong control over the lower units. This type of structures may not be effective for a large production industry that has several production units. The centralized organizational structure can best apply in a small organization that does not have a wide variety of products, has few channels of distribution and a few units. Such an organization can rely on decisions and policies that are enacted at the executive level. Such an organization may limit the ability of the individuals to exercise their creativity and this may lower their morale. In a production organization, such a structure may result to reduced production levels Nicotera, Clinkscales, & Walker, p153). In a decentralised organizational structure, the responsibilities are spread across various departments and there are managers at various levels. In a decentralised organization, the top management is made up a small team that is an autonomous and makes the most critical decisions. Decisions concerning the operations of various departments are made within those departments. This model is favourable for better performance in a production organization since it can enable the organization to withstand a changing external environment. This is because it is not easy to corrupt all the organizations at the same time. An external environment that may lead to a fall of the organization may not be able to reach all the departments and this may ensure survival. Towards individual behaviour, a decentralised organization has spread powers to make decisions in all levels. It may not be easy to oppress the employees because power does not rest upon one individual. In such conditions, the employees may also have the freedom to decide and this may motivate them towards improved production. This is unlike the centralised organization where the executives make all the decisions denying the employees involvement. Individuals are not motivated and may not perform well (Contreras, p 67). Organizational structure therefore plays a very important role towards the behaviour of individuals in an organization. A structure that allows for motivation of employees and freedom to exercise their creativity is the best for an organization that is aiming for improved performance. Organisational Culture Organizational culture defines the values and norms that individuals and groups working in a certain organization share, and they have an influence on the manner in which they interact with each other within the organization and the organization’s stakeholders. The organizational values are determined by the goals and objectives in an organization. It is from these values that expectations can be drawn that will dictate the manner in which individuals will behave in particular situations and also towards each other in the organization. In this concept, there is also corporate culture which defines the values, customs and meanings that make an organization different from others. This is determined by the senior management in an organization. The organization management may outline various norms and kinds of behaviour that will be in favour of the goals and objectives of the organization. Having a strong organizational culture may play a great role in ensuring success of an organization. In a production organization, a culture that promotes hard work and team work can be very effective. The management should therefore ensure that they have set a culture that is characterised by hard work for improved production. Success in organizations may be ensured by a healthy culture that is nurtured and always observed. Individual behaviour is learnt and adopted form others in the organization. A new employee may adopt a behaviour that he or she has found among other employees. Where the culture promotes flourishing of such behaviour, it may grow and have undesirable effects on the organization. The behaviour of individuals within a given culture is mainly influenced by those in the higher positions and the general culture within the organization. A strong culture is seen in organizations where members are able to respond to positive changes because they are well aligned according to the values of the organization. Power must not be exercise in changing individuals’ behaviour since there is proper alignment. Weak cultures are seen where members are not aligned according to values of the organization and it may be difficult to organize them when there are changes. Therefore, individuals behave according to the culture that has been defined by the top management (Nicotera, Clinkscales, & Walker, p173). Other factors that influence the behaviour of individual in an organization include the rewards systems, leadership and the knowledge and skills of the employees. Rewards motivate the employees and may increase their productivity in all their duties. Proper leadership ensures better relationship between the employees and the leaders and create a favourable working environment Knowledge and skills ensures competence in work and human beings fell great when doing things that they know well. Conclusion Human behaviour in organizations is very important aspect for success in any organization. This is because a behaviour once adopted can be reflected in all aspects of human beings including how they perfume their duties. Factors such as conflicts, struggle for power and organizational politics may result in undesirable behaviour hence they should be avoided in an organization. It is therefore the role of the management to adopt an organizational structure and culture that promotes behaviour that is in alignment with the organizational goals and objectives. A production organization can be strengthened through team work and this should also be encouraged. Works Cited Ferris Gerald, Harrell-Cook Gloria, & Dulebohn James. Organizational politics: The nature of the relationship between politics perceptions and political behaviorResearch in the Sociology of Organizations, Volume 17:pp.89-130, 2000. Newstrom John & Davis Keith. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Hardy Cynthia. Power and politics in organizations. Ashgate: Dartmouth Publsihers, 2005. Doucet Alain & Goh Swee. Power and politics in organizations: implications for management. Ottawa: University of Ottawa, 2003. Griffin Ricky, & Moorhead Gregory. Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. London: Cengage Learning, 2009. Sims Ronald. Managing organizational behaviour. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Contreras Consuelo. Organizational structure and culture: promising practices that lead to cultural and intellectual diversity. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007. Nicotera Anne, Clinkscales Marcia, & Walker Felicia. Understanding organizations through culture and structure: relational and other lessons from the African-American organization. Boston: Routledge, 2003. Read More