The Concept of Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

Organizational Behavior Contents Analysis of question 3 Introduction 3 Explanation and discussion 4 Conclusion 10 References 12 Analysis of question Organizational behavior has wide array of dimensions but the common objective is to analyze different behavior of individuals within workplace. In this study there has been a particular question selected in context of organizational behavior. The question relates to analyzing strengths and weakness of considering firms as rational configurations. Firstly rational configuration of firms will be closely studied on basis of some theoretical frameworks. Then both perspectives of rational behavior will be identified so as to make this study complete. The entire question would be answered more in general context with no such resemblance to any real world organization. Introduction This study will be centered towards analyzing strengths and weakness of considering an organizational configuration as purely rational. There is no such definition that can precisely explain the concept of organizational behavior. Organizational theory can be stated as a concept that helps in studying system of formal organizations and their relationship with external environment. There are various concepts which are included in such study such as leadership, organizational development, organizational behavior, organizational and industrial psychology, human resource studies and management. Organizations have developed from past many years and during due course of time people have witnessed which of them are best firms. Rationalization or scientific management, division of labor and bureaucracy are some well known organizational theories. The term rational basically indicates making a conscious decision and not getting influenced by emotions. Absence of emotional aspect might result into an inappropriate organizational functioning. This study will be focused on determining advantages of rational perspective of a firm and its possible negative consequences. There are two significant factors of rational organizational like formalization and goal specification. Goal specification can be stated as forming guidelines in order to complete tasks and allocate resource appropriately. On the other hand, formalization is a method adopted to standardize organizational behavior. These two procedures results into stable expectations and develops a rational system. In modern world the major area of concern for all firms is to offer equal opportunities to all team members and take practical decisions that are not based on emotional grounds or on any such experience. This study shall reveal dual perspective of purely rational organizations with the support of appropriate literature or theoretical backgrounds. Explanation and discussion Every age is responsible for developing a kind of organization. During time period of industrial revolution, bureaucracy was perfect in terms of driving business activities. Bureaucracy can be defined as a chain of command or procedural system that is incorporated to deal with wide array of contingencies. This approach majorly emerged due to worker’s demand for impartial treatment and a specific need for order and precision. Bureaucracy can be treated as the basis of formation of rational organization. There are some core problems associated with organizational functioning. Firstly integration can be treated as a major problem and it is about integrating management goals with individual needs. It has been observed that workplace conflict is often difficult to be resolved. Organizational demand cannot be easily linked with individual needs and this in turn results into conflict. Social influence is inclined towards the way in which power is distributed throughout the system. Often power is centralized in a system that may be interpreted as being biased (Bennis, 2001). Collaboration is another problem and is about resolving and managing conflicts. In an organization there are individuals present from different cultural backgrounds. It becomes essential to initiate collaborative work in such scenario. This approach helps to eliminate any form of differences amongst individuals. A purely rational organization incorporates this kind of practice so as to ensure that all team members are treated equal. During 19th or 20th century, pyramidal structure of bureaucracy with power at the top was well suited. However with changing environmental conditions lot of uncertainties has been incorporated within the system. There are economic, social, political, scientific and educational factors that need to be taken into consideration while framing decision. Revitalization is the problem of decay and growth. This is the ability to gain knowledge from wide set of personal experiences or to be more self-analytical. Analyzing a situation well helps one to be less biased and undertake appropriate decision. Those firms which are considered to be rational do possess such analytical quality. Each and every business organization is surrounded by an external environment. There are some unique characteristics of this environment such as interdependence more than competition, focus on uncertainty and turbulence, large scale enterprises and multinational or complex firms. It can be stated that rational firms provide a platform for arranging groups not in mechanical but organic structure. This would enable team members to quickly respond to any emergency situation rather than performing as per expectations. Evaluation of people would be not on basis of status and rank but will be dependent on their skills and knowledge gained during professional training (Gay, 1999). This can be stated as another advantage of purely rational organization since there is no strict hierarchical system followed. Flexibility is the most important factor of rational systems and this in turn helps to motivate team members in order to achieve desired goals. Organic adaptive workplace environment enable team members to align their needs with organizational goals. On the other hand, flexibility is equally important within an organization system as it helps to develop long term relationship with other employees. In overall context, firms that are viewed to be purely rational are expected to encompass flexibility. This aspect can be treated as having both positive and negative perspective. In terms of strength, it initiates collaborative work practice, helps in developing strong employee relationship and motivates employees to come forward with their creative ideas or opinions (Chris, 1998). The most probable weakness are it does not support hierarchical system that tends to reduce discipline, flexibility leads to workplace conflict in terms of different practices adopted by team members and it will be assumed that experience of employees does not matter only skills play an important role. The entire framework of rational organizations can be classified on the basis of various theories. Division of labor is a popular framework that states overall functioning of such firms. The outcomes of division of labor can be highlighted in terms of improvement in labor’s productive powers and application of skills, judgment and dexterity. This form of approach is greatly observed in many multinational companies where labor force is divided amongst different departments. A proper division is established amongst team members and this reduces the degree of impartiality. It can be stated as per an employee’s skills specific jobs are allocated. These skills may differ from one individual to another and on basis of competencies suitable tasks are given to employees. This kind of division enables a task to be completed at a faster pace with least possible errors. Organizational performance can be enhanced only by allocating right task to right people. All the members can collaboratively perform well when work is impartially distributed. High performance is also related to proper division of workforce and combination of wide array of operations (Wren, 2005). To some extent division of labor also decreases work quantity in an organization. In the current decade evolution of new machines has provided team members with capability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. This decreases the overall cost associated with labor and even reduces time required for completion of each task. Invention of machines in the present era has even triggered worker replacement since one worker is capable of performing tasks of another. The other advantage of division of labor is that it helps to save time that is otherwise waited in passing task from one employee to another. Since team members are trained in such a way that they can perform diverse jobs at the same time. Division of labor decreases task completion time and even develops required skills within team members. It can even be stated that this approach has a major strength in the form of limiting labor capital. On the basis of machinery, required percentage of workforce can be determined which can fulfill specified tasks. To be more precise this theory guides team members towards a common direction. Every individual is allocated some task with a certain goal that needs to be accomplished (Mayo, 1923). This in turn reduces complexity which arises during performing a job. It is observed that more instructions tend to decrease the level of enthusiasm within team members. In order to increase performance level it is essential to encourage team members towards contributing creative ideas. This forms strength of viewing an organization as purely rational. Less of guidance from leader provides a platform where others can develop their skill set and knowledge base. On the contrary this form of behavior in rational organizations also leads to ignorant workforce which is not observed in instructed environment (Drucker, 2007). This appears to be weakness for such firms as individuals do not respect leaders or those who are lawful superiors. They are not prepared to show any respect because they are given liberty to take decisions. In this context there is another weakness of purely rational organization that is they do not portray a clear picture of teamwork. The team members work as per own wish in rational configuration, and absence of emotional aspect do not initiate formation of strong relationship. Scientific management is another theoretical framework which defines rational perspective of an organization. The major objective of management is to focus on maximum prosperity of employer as well as employees. Maximum prosperity refers to meeting individual interests or goals as well as satisfying common organizational goal. This theoretical framework even states that employer and employees needs are closely knitted. Employer cannot have its objective fulfilled if one fails to address specific interests of team members. It would be beneficial for an organization if proper skills are acquired by employees. On the other hand, team members can even perform multiple tasks at the same time with the support of acquired skills (Taylor, 1911). However some behavioral factor within individuals cannot be altered. This affects rational configuration of firms negatively. For instance some team members can be lazy or even inefficient, brutal or greedy, and these attitudes cannot be easily altered. It is not possible for management to control such behaviors and hence it does not ensure continuous prosperity. The factor prosperity is dependent on wide array of elements and every individual cannot be controlled by employer. There is bound to be a time when both employees and employer can enter into serious conflict. This can be considered as the biggest weakness of rational perspective. Emotional aspect should be present in any organization as it helps to develop strong relationship with employees (Relevance of bureaucracy in the contemporary world). There are some important questions which are focused on by employers while undertaking scientific management. Firstly scientific management is totally different from the concept of ordinary management. Better results can be obtained through the approach of scientific management in comparison to other frameworks. Lastly it is not important to recruit right individual as the superior personnel of the organization but the main aim should be on management style adopted by an individual. This framework states that decisions should not be left upon individual team member (The Wealth of Nations). While seeing an organization from rational perspective it is often misinterpreted that all team members are capable enough to take conscious decision. This in turn is a weakness because cooperation with management is not achieved efficiently through this approach. Team members can be stated as cooperatively working with management when entire procedure is based on scientific laws and decision making is not left upon individuals. Rational aspect fails to determine the difference between false movement, slow movement and some useless movement. The focus should not only be on undertaking conscious decision making but interests or needs of other team members also needs to be taken into consideration. Scientific management theory also states that there is a philosophy underlying every managerial action. A word of warning is given by the superior and standardized approach is maintained in terms of tools, techniques, process or action. This often considered as McDonaldization of the society which is combined with rationalization. There are two elements which are closely associated with the concept of scientific management such as bonus and task (Ritzer, 1983). Those tasks are usually rewarded by employees that has achieved high performance standard. Bonus is counted as an essential component of scientific management approach. Disagreements which are observed in many organizations and even in those that work rationally is due to less importance given to bonus system. In this context there is strength of rational configuration firm that is it is viewed as a system where performers are rewarded and non-performers are subjected to training session. Inside contract system can be stated as strength of rationally configured firms. There are different elements related to contract system such as contractor gets power monopoly and enhances loyalty of employees. The contractual system decreases the work load and dependency on operational flow was even reduced. To some extent this approach facilitates efficient delivery and adequate inventory control. It can be stated that while configuring an organization as rational it is assumed that work load is divided so as to meet desired goals. This factor might be considered as a major weakness as centralized power is essential but simultaneously dividing work reduces overall time and increases efficiency (Buttrick, 1952). Scientific management and bureaucracy are related to one another and both these aspects have a common objective of making organizations perform rationally. In overall context it can be stated that the main strengths are it facilitates optimum time utilization, division of labor, tasks allocated as per competencies, liberty towards taking individual decision and implementing creative ideas. On the contrary, there are some weaknesses associated with viewing firms as rational configuration. These weaknesses are lack of coordination, lack of collaborative work practice, absence of respect for any superior leader, self centered behavior and workplace conflict regarding complex decision making. Conclusion As per this study bureaucracy is the concept behind rational perspective of organizations. There are two objectives of rationally configured firms that are to distribute power amongst team members and enable conscious decision making. Management needs to execute tasks rationally since it affects performance of all team members. It can be stated that rational perspective helps to motivate employees in terms of performing as per set standards and contribute their innovative ideas. Scientific management theory is a framework that highlights different dimension of bureaucracy. It clearly states that scientific laws should be incorporated within a team in order to make sensible decisions. Individual team members should not be solely responsible for undertaking any decision. This approach clearly states that group work is essential since it helps to achieve organizational objectives efficiently and at a faster pace. On the contrary there are some loopholes in this approach since it does not support collaborative work practice. Coordination with management is the basis of scientific management principle but being rational tends to eliminate emotional aspect from the system. Value oriented action is mostly observed when it comes to viewing an organization as purely rational but at times it leads to self centered behavior which becomes difficult to alter. References Bennis, W. G., 2001. The coming death of bureaucracy. UK: IBM. Buttrick, J., 1952. The inside contract system. Journal of Economic History, 12(3), pp. 205-221. Chris, G., 1998. Studying organizations. London: SAGE. Drucker, P. F., 2007. The practice of management. USA: Routledge. Gay, P., 1999. In praise of bureaucracy. London: SAGE. Mayo, E., 1923. The irrational factor in human behavior. American Academy of Political and Social Science, 110 (1), pp. 117-130. Ritzer, G., 1983. The McDonaldization of society. Journal of American culture, 6(1), pp.100-107. Smith, A., 1776. The Wealth of Nations. London: Strahan and Cadell. Taylor, F. W., 1911. The principles of scientific management. New York: Harper & Brothers. Wren, D. A., 2005. The history of management thought. New Jersey: Wiley & Sons. Read More