Personality and Organization - Essay Example

Introduction Organizational behaviour in a broader sense can be defined as the study plus the application of knowledge in trying to know how individuals, people and groups behave and function in the organizations in which they work. This process can be seen to be done effectively through the use of a system approach and this particular system approach may include things like the performance training to the workers and the criterion referenced instruction. So you find that it is in these systems approach that many organizations can use to be in a position to interpret the workers’ relationship with the organization and this can be analyzed in terms of the whole organization, person or even whole groups so that the organization can be in a position to know how these three elements interact in trying to produce goods and services in the organization. Thus you will find that the role of studying the organizational behaviour is of paramount importance in that it helps the organization to try and maintain better relationships which can only be achieved through the organizational, employees’ and lastly the social objectives which can be accrued in the process of carrying out the activities which are done by the organization. This tells us that studying organizational behaviour involves the study of many things like the workers’ performance, leadership, change, teams, human behaviour, communication, motivation, group formation and structure, organizational design and its structure, culture and its strategy, decision making, conflicts, power and conflicts among other areas of concern. Through the paper, I am going to try and analyze these key elements with a reference to the Fire and Rescue Service in the U.K. (Argyris, 2000) Analysis of the organization The fire and rescue service is one of the most important organizations in the UK since most of the organizations are prone to many risks including fires. It’s due to such risks and uncertainties that fire and rescue services have grown more not only in the US but also in other countries. A good example to explain is the Merseyside fire and rescue service in the US. At Merseyside fire and rescue, workers are seen to work in corporation through the set rules and regulations which have been established by the management. According to business ethics, it’s quite ethical for any organization to have a code of conduct and through this most of the workers have been in a position to work effectively with little supervision. At Merseyside fire and rescue, you also find that workers are trained so that we can have improved performance in the organization. Training is very important if the organization aims to succeed. Thus you find that training is given to workers through seminars and workshops, facilitated by the organization's management and hence it’s through this training that the workers can be seen to have improved performance in the provision of services to most of our customers. (Argyris, 2000) How workers are motivated Workers are motivated at Merseyside through good wages. You tend to find that most of the organizations fail because they underpay workers as compared to their work. However, here workers are given a good package with benefits like insurance, transport, housing and health allowances. Most workers can be given benefits so that in case of any risk which might happen, they can easily be compensated for. (Likert, 2000). You also find that there are good working conditions as a way of trying to motivate them in that they are not exposed to risk environments and they work for only a short period of time. Work here runs in shifts since the company is open 24 hours since fires can occur at any time. You also find that workers usually work not only in shifts and also in groups. So it’s due to this that the company has been in a position to grow. (Likert, 2000). How Roles are defined You find that at Merseyside, there are so many roles and each employee is assigned a particular duty. Since the company role is to respond to fires when they occur, every employee is assigned a particular role to help in putting off the fire. At Merseyside, there is a directing manager who is the leader of the organization. The company has a flat structure in that it has the directing manager, the manager for fire and rescue departments and the members of staff. The directing manager holds the organizational powers. The company also has a HR management who ensure that the workers salaries are paid on time, the working conditions are good. It is through this relationship that the organization is in position to have increased growth. (Taylor, 2004). The organization of the company does not affect how power is distributed since there is a short procedure for the workers to follow in case there a problem in the organization. Since there is a short chain of procedures which is followed here, it means that there is effective communication of the workers' grievances. Workers too have a labour union and it is the union whereby most of the workers who have a problem can raise their problems to the management team in order for those problems to be resolved. (Taylor, 2004). Also, at Merseyside, it was found that they apply this strategy very well by ensuring that the working conditions, mode of payment, designing the workers' jobs are properly set so as to ensure that there is increased provision of services to the members of the public. (Taylor, 2004). Organizational management Organizational management involves management of workers, decision making, conflicts, power and politics. Management strategy is very much important since through it the organization can be in a position to function well. The organizational strategy is made by the management. It is through the management strategies that the organization has been in a position to realise its competitive advantage since there are so many fire and rescue organizations in US but Merseyside is one of the best fire and rescue companies. You find that differentiation of services is the major goal for a company to realise its competitive advantage. This is because there are so many fire and rescue organizations and hence the need to differentiate the services. The company does so through the provision of quality services unlike the other competitors. (Taylor, 2004). Action learning theory is one of the theories which have been used in trying to analyze the organizational behavior. It’s through the action learning theory that the management of the organization can be in a position to manage training which can be achieved through learning from experience. So workers in this case require formal training sessions which will help the employees to have improved skills when doing most of the activities. So Merseyside uses this theory so that it can train its employees so that they can have improved performance. In many studies that have been carried out it has been found out that employees can be a source of unique competitive edge for an organization that is quite difficult for other organizations to replicate. It has been shown that when some conditions are met as asserted by the resource-based theory, human resources can be a source of a competitive edge. But first the employees must add value to the production process of the firm. Second, the firms must be seeking rare skills since human resource performance is normally distributed. Third, the employees must represent a heavily combined human capital investment. And lastly the human capital must not be replaced by the upcoming technology if the firm has to retain that competitive edge. With the above conditions met in an organization, it is assured of capitalizing on the potential of its work force to ensure that it runs at profitability. (Taylor, 2004). Managing the performance of an organization requires more input on the side the of the HR department. It has to ensure that it puts in place a mechanism that will help it evaluate individual performance based on an agreed standard. Putting in place a good performance management strategy helps in understanding how different aspects of the workforce management policies will integrate to help the organization achieve its objectives. In order to develop a working performance management strategy in managing people, there must be some basic question that must be answered in the strategy. First it must look to know what kinds of people are to be assessed and second, answer the programs and initiatives that have been put in place to assist this. In addition, the strategy must address dimension of an organization in particular the culture, organization, people and human resource systems. (Koontz, 1999). In the research it was found out that the organization uses performance management in order to set out clear terms which will assist it achieve the set objectives. This helps the organization to ensure that its workforce is performing according to the required standards. It was found out that the organization has a laid down strategic plan which assists to evaluate the performance of its workforce. The strategic plan is used as the base for laying down all the objectives which the organization wants to achieve in a given period of time. The overall plan sets out targets which are to be achieved in each and every department which integrates to a final target of the organization. Targets are used as key drivers in improvement of the organization. Conflicts like any other organization do occur at the Merseyside fire and rescue services. This is because this is one of the most demanding businesses and hence requires total involvement of the management team and the workers. The types of conflicts which tend to happen here mostly is the workers conflict requiring increased salary. This is obvious in any organization but the management team has been in a position to control this conflict through the proper strategic management in that the HR department which deals mostly with the workers grievances ensure that incase there are strikes or even workers conflicts, a dialogue is initiated between the workers union and the management to ensure that the workers have been in a position to get back in to work. (Koontz, 1999). Organizational development Organizational development can be defined as the process of a systematic application of all the behavioural knowledge at the organizational groups and the inter-groups at the organization. It is through the international development which is seen to bring change in the organization hence a higher quality of life, adaptability, productivity and lastly is the effectiveness when carrying out the activities of the organization. So at Merseyside fire and rescue services, it does apply this strategy to ensure that there is increased production of services to the members of the public. So, this organization achieves this through periodically changing values, attitudes, behaviours and many strategies which are made by the management. The company can be seen to effectively use the new technology in the provision of its services hence achieving its competitive advantage. The company has its own culture. Culture can be defined as the conventional behaviour of a particular organization that has a set values, beliefs, customs and knowledge. Culture can be adapted so that it can influence the human behaviour. So Merseyside has its own culture which is so much different from the other organizations. It has its own set values and beliefs which make the organization to be run well. A good example to explain is the culture it has of training its employees so that they can be in a position to do their work so well. This is because if the workers are fully trained, they can have the potentials of using the new technology when providing their many services to the members of the public. (Koontz, 1999) Conclusion Organizational behaviour is very much important in any organization. This is because it’s through properly analysing the organizational behaviour that the management of the company can be in a position to record increased production, effective and quality services to the members of the public. So it’s upon all the organizations to ensure that they have applied this strategy so well so as to ensure that it has improved. Reference Argyris, C 2000, Personality and organization. New York: Herpar Collins. Likert, R 2000, The new strategies of organizational management. New York: MCGraw-Hill. Taylor, F 2004, The principles of organizational management. New York: Norton. Koontz, H 1999, The management theory jungle. The Academy of management Journal. Vol. 8(1). Read More