Introduction to Organisational Behaviour - Example

Introduction to Organisational Behaviour Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code and Name: University: Date of Submission: Introduction to Organisational Behaviour Introduction Individuals working in an organization can be different or similar in a number of ways. This can be either in their maturity level, gender, race, sexual orientation and educational background. Almost all organizations around the globe experience this types of difference, thus it is something common. This diversity has its own benefits as well as challenges in whichever organization. In most cases, the benefits that an organization will obtain outweigh the challenges incurred. Thus, for an organization to shoot up in the international market, it has to solve its challenges and maximize its benefits (Jackson & Erhardt 2003, p. 815) Workforce diversity is a contemporary challenge for organisations This paper focuses at discussing the negative effect of the workforce diversity. In modern times, this diversity has become a contemporary difficulty facing organizations (Harrison & Florey 2002, P. 1038). This diversity has led to the decline in a number of well known organizations. When an organization expands, the number of employees also increases significantly. On the other hand, as the workforce diversity enlarges difficulties in the organization also increase. A good example of organization affected by workforce diversity is the HSBC Bank located in London. Communication problem is one of the challenges that organisations face as a result of workforce diversity. Different people come from different cultural backgrounds and thus they speak different languages. Various states have different national languages and, therefore, citizens speak very different. Moreover, the mother tongue accent affects individuals speaking the same language. For instance, citizens brought up in America and those in England have different pronunciations for some English words. Such an instance brings about slow understanding between the workers in an organisation. Diversity in the employees can also be a source to organizational conflicts. Diverse individuals have different morals and traditional norms. An individual’s behaviour can bother others without his or her conscience (Eckel & Grossman 2005, p. 382). The mode of dressing in modern era among the male as well as female, also affects other individuals either of different or same sex. For instance, a lady wearing miniskirt in an organisation can arouse the feelings of several other male employees. If the lady does not sit well, she can as well affect the concentration of another individual. Such conflicts can make the employees relent in sharing information. The conflicts can also leads to moral misbehaviour among the employees. In addition, diverse employees take longer hours to perform efficiently. Moreover, they take longer to come up with explanation to some of the problems faced by an organisation. As a result, some employees end up losing morale if they had planned to do something. For instance, if an individual working in a Coca cola industry takes time to pack the drinks the distributer might end up losing morale. If this is repeated the distributer may end up shifting to another line, which he or she might not be comfortable. Consequently this reduces the workmanship of that individual, therefore, reducing the profits of the company. Furthermore, workforce diversity also leads to tribalism and racism among the employees (Levine & Leonard 2006, p. 158). Employees of the same race or those speaking the same language end up grouping themselves. This can lead to jealousy among employees from different groups. It can also lead to favors among employees in the same group. The heads in different lines can also be biased depending on the racists, and this can be a barrier to the production rate of an employee. For instance, a racist manager working in the PEPSI industry can hinder an employee from being transferred to his or her line. The manager can also hold back an employee from being promoted to a higher post. Discuss why understanding of ‘surface-level diversity’ and ‘deep-level diversity’ is good business practice for managers working in organisations. Surface level diversities among individuals are the different things that can be seen between different individuals working in an organisation. These differences are in terms of disability, verbal communication, traditions, race, sex as well as age. Since the surface level diversities are easily noticed, the managers in a company may end up discriminating individuals during employment process (Levine & Leonard 2006, p. 160). For instance, if the managers compare the gender of individuals with performance, they might favour men. This level of diversity is a challenge in many organisations, and it is very hard to change. This is because the gender equality among the employees cannot be brought down to zero. Conversely, the deep level diversities among various employees cannot be easily seen unless through spoken or unspoken behaviours. For instance, one cannot tell the differences between two individual’s personalities or attitude. These diversities can only be noticed after some time when the employees have well known each other. After employees mingle with each other, they learn more about others, and as a result some will like or not like the diversities (Eckel & Grossman 2005, p. 379). For instance, an employee can be hated by his or her fellow individuals if he or she comes from a minor race. After some period, the fellow employees tend to forget the surface level diversities, and thus begin to notice the deep level diversities. The understanding of these differences is very important to managers working in organisations. If the managers appreciate these diversities, they will know how to deal with their employees without any conflicts. In most cases, managers put individuals into working groups basing on the noticeable differences. This can lead to a collapse in the workgroup after the works notice the deep level diversity. The job attitudes of different workers vary because of the feeling that they differ from others. If a worker is placed in a workgroup where he or she is not comfortable, his or her commitment will decline. This is because of the perception that most workers have. Most of them believe that if they are placed in the same group with individuals of different work levels they will not maximize their produce. For instance, if a female worker is placed in a workgroup full of men she might feel that she is the weakest and get less committed. Due to this, female worker might end up performing poorly in her field of interest. This will definitely pull down the performance of the workgroup (Jackson & Erhardt 2003, p. 821). Deep level diversity can also affect the dependency rate between the members of a workgroup. After individuals well know each other, they develop good relationship both inside and outside the organisation. For this reason, a comrade can rely on another individual in case he or she has a problem. For example if a worker gets ill, other individuals in his or her workgroup can perform his or her duties. Alternatively, if the worker gets well he or she might pay back in case another member of the workgroup is in need. If diversity is more noticeable in a certain workgroup, there will be an increase in conflict (Jackson & Erhardt 2003, p. 811). Thus if an individual is distinctive in a certain group, he or she may receive animosity from other individuals. Moreover, Empirical research has found out that difference in gender and ethnicity is one of the major causes of relationship disagreement. Their research was aimed at notifying the managers to look deeply into these two issues. According to them the managers should try their best to solve these issues before moving to other little ones. Describe why it is important for managers to manage for diversity. Both surface and deep level diversity have been a major problem as key organizational behaviors in the twenty first century. This is for the key reason that most of the employees usually judge the workers according to the relationship of the work that they perform. In most organizations, the workers are usually offered employment according to the manner in which they present and appear during interview. This is a good example of the surface level diversity whereby the employer judges the interviewers according to how they are dressed. This is a very common type of discrimination that the managers of any given company usually practice in interview (McShane et al 2010, p.123). In most interviews, the most well dressed person is usually preferred to be employed, unlike the shady dressed interviewers. This is for the key reason that the managers usually consider the clients who are well dressed unlike those that have not presented themselves in an appropriate manner. However, after being employed, most of the clients that were selected because of the appearance usually give unexpected reactions. This is mostly because they lack the experienced in the work that they are supposed to perform. This is contrary to the other clients who might be not well dressed during the interviews but have the expected requirements. Most of these employees are usually on time to ensure that their duties and roles in the company are completed in the required time schedule. These kinds of employees also work in conjunction with the managers to ensure that they deliver quality and professional skills. This is a common example of the surface diversity which numerous resource managers of a company usually posses. It is compared to weakness that usually affects the nature in which the employers are observed in relation to the work that they perform (Champoux 2010, p. 109). Therefore, the employees should not be differentiated from others because of the surface level diversity. Unlike surface level diversity, the deep level diversity usually deals with how people interact after a very long period of time working together as a single unit. Most employees will work together in an organization as a single unit in unison. However, this is usually affected by the employees beginning to identify the deference that is displayed between the employees. Some of the various aspect that usually promote deep level diversity encompass of race, gender, and the background of the employees (Harrison et al 2002, p. 145). Through these factors, most of the employees usually make it difficult for an organization to achieve its qualifications. Deep level diversity usually makes it particularly difficult for the members of an organization to work together. Most of the employees will fail to work in unity because of the lack of unity. Discrimination at the place of work usually makes it very difficult for worker to perform duties at the expected level. For this case, most of the companies become less competitive because of the aspects of deep level of diversity. However, both the surface and the deep level diversity can be managed in an organization. People in an organization might develop different attitudes that might affect the manner at which the employees perform their duties. Individuals might suffer the neglecting of being unable to work together as a team (Joshi & Roh 2009, p. 514). To be able to avoid both the surface and deep level of diversities equivalent opportunities should be offered in the places of work. The employees should be capable of experiencing the same opportunities hence working together as a team. Conclusion In the new era, workforce diversity has been a challenge in a number of organizations all over the world. Organizations are trying their level best to curb this issue, but it has proven to be a big challenge. Communication problems have led to the decline as well as collapse of a number of workgroups in different organizations. Due to this diversity workers are taking longer hours to finish a simple task which could take less time (Jackson & Erhardt 2003, p. 819). Moreover, a number of organizations have been greatly affected by the conflicts that arise due to the misunderstanding between its workers. The surface level and deep level diversity are the main issues that organizations are fighting. After comparing the two, it is evident that the deep level affects workers more than the surface level diversity. Henceforth, most organizations have decided to fight the deep level diversity first. This is because it is a long term effect and it leads to much more serious conflicts. Managers play a great role to play in controlling this situation since they are the pillars to every organization. They have to make sure that these challenges are well addressed and minimized as much as possible. The best rated organizations all over the world have good relationships between the workers and the managers. List of references Champoux, J 2010, Organizational Behavior: Integrating Individuals, Groups, and Organizations, Taylor & Francis, New York. Eckel, C & Grossman, P 2005, Managing diversity by creating team identity. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 58, 371-392. Giuliano, L, Levine, D & Leonard, J 2006, Do race, age, and gender differences affect manager- employee relations? An analysis of quits, dismissals, and promotions at a large retail firm, working paper, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, New York. p. 67, .146-162 Harrison, D, Price, K, Gavin, J, & Florey, G 2002, Time, teams, and task performance: Changing effects of surface- and deep-level diversity on group functioning. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 1029-1045. Jackson, S, Joshi, A, & Erhardt, L 2003, Recent research on team and organizational diversity: SWOT analysis and implications, Journal of Management, 29, 801-830. Joshi, A & Roh, H 2009, The role of context in work team diversity research: A meta-analytic review (forthcoming). Journal of Academic management Journal, 87, 402-510. McShane, S, Olekalns, M & Travaglion, T 2010, Introduction to Organization behavior, the third, Palgrave Macmillan, London. Read More