Conflict and Negotiation, Organizational Culture - Essay Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : University Environment Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Organizational Behaviour Topics Power and Politics One of the topics covered during the semester is on power and politics. Power is the ability of an individual or a group of people to manipulate the thought and behaviour of other people. Where there are two parties, power defines the relationships and the mode of interaction between the two. That is, the party with more power has got some higher rights than the other one. For example in an organization, there is the manager who has power over the activities of the junior workers. In this topic, we got to learn on five fundamentals of individual power. These are the coercive power which is power that is founded on the individual’s capacity to impose sanctions on other people’s behaviours. Then expertise power which is based on an individual’s knowledge and skills related to the task being done. Positional power is one that is based on the individual’s status or position along the hierarchy. There is also referent power that is based on the smartness of the individual in relation to the other party in the relationship. Lastly, there is reward power that is based on the individual’s ability to give rewards or incentives to the other person. Power of an individual is however well understood by the person who is below in the hierarchy level (Pfeffer 2004). Politics is the process whereby one person tries to apply influence over the other. In an organization, politics is the relationship exchange as preceded in an organization discussion. On this topic, it was learnt that the success of political influence depends on the power of the parties that are involved. For one party to be able to influence the other politically, it must have power over it. Politics also requires a person to use strategy that fits the situation. The politician should manage to apply the strategy to win the attitude of other people. In organizations, power and politics go together. Power can also be acquired through political influence and vice versa. When one is in power, it is very easy to influence people politically and win their attitude. Either, when one is politically influential, he or she can be able to gain power since he or she has close relationship with the other people. Conflict and Negotiation Conflict is formation of disagreements between two parties where the parties feel that their needs and interests are threatened. Negotiation is the process that involves communication in efforts to reach an agreement and end a conflict. In this topic, it was learnt that the best tool for resolving conflicts is through negotiation. This is where people sit down and talk over the issue to reach a consensus. Before the conflict is brought into law, it is better for the involved parties to negotiate it and find a solution themselves before the arbitrator solves it (Corvette 2003). Negotiations give the parties a chance to focus on the problem and its causes and are well able to find a solution. Problem solving that is done jointly is less expensive than that which is brought before an arbitrator. In organizations, conflicts arise due to different opinions in any situation. Regardless of the cause of the conflict, negotiations bring the parties involved together to reach an agreement. When a conflict is not dealt with wisely, people become more aggressive and brutal and can make the situation to be worse. But when it is dealt with properly, it can bring a clear understanding of each other’s opinions and people can learn from each other. Organizational Structure Organizational structure refers to a hierarchical arrangement of entities that are working together towards a common goal. The structure of an organization can take any form depending on the objectives to be met and the culture that is observed in the organization. The way an organization is structured dictates its mode of doing things. The structure defines the responsibilities for each entity and allocates the functions for different employees in various departments. When the organization structure is well arranged, this contributes to the success of an organization. An effective organization structure ensures a well established working relationship among all the members of the organization. It ensures there is order and instructions are followed while encouraging suppleness and creativity (Fritz 2001). Organizational structure is however influenced by the internal factors such as size, product nature and the skill used by the members of the organization. In this topic, it was learnt that the chain of command in an organization lengthens as the business becomes larger. When the skills used by the employees are more complex, the organizational structure needs to make use of the existing structure to ensure maximum use of these skills. Organizational structure is important in ensuring an efficient chain of command since it determines the directions that instructions follow. When there is an organization structure in any business, people will not be giving instructions anyhow which may lead to a conflict. Organizational structure also controls the departmentalization. It defines the sections that fall under one province and also the activities that will be carried out in one department. An organizational structure ensures there is no conflict of authority since every person in the hierarchy has a well defined group that will be working under him or her. Directions will therefore be issued downwards to each person’s juniors. Organizational Culture In this topic, it was learnt that organizational culture is the behaviour of an organization. It consists of values, customs and artefacts of the members of the organization. Members of an organization come to term to the values and customs of each other and decide on common values that will be observed. These common values and norms form the organizational culture. When managing change in any organization, it is very important to consider the culture of the organization since it defines what is acceptable and practicable to everyone. It was also learnt that the culture of an organization can be seen in the way things such as furniture are arranged, the way people dress, and the way other things are done (Frost 2000). Other concepts of organizational culture that was learnt are the confirmed and unconfirmed values, customs and rituals, language used by the group, their environment, and the interaction between the members of the organizations, and the outsiders. Organizational culture can be changed by people changing their own cultural aspects. Organizational culture also helps those who join the organization later since they will be able to catch up with the codes of conduct and mode of behaviour of other in the organization. It was also learnt that an organization that does not have a well defined culture experiences a lot of conflicts since every person does the work in his or her own way. It therefore helps people to observe common practices since they are working towards a common goal (Schein 2004). In the topic of organizational culture, it was also learnt of different types of cultures that exist in different organizations. These include academy culture where the employees are highly skilled and stick into the organization while struggling their way up the hierarchy. Base ball team culture is where the employees have highly valued skills and are in high demand. They can therefore get jobs any other places comfortably. The other one is the club culture where the most important requirement is for the employees to fit into the group. Then there is fortress culture where the employees do not know whether they will be fired or not. The organization keeps reorganizing its structure each and every time. Organizational Development The other concept of organizational behaviour that I learnt during the semester is organizational development. This is the use of behavioural science skills at different levels in an organization. The levels may be groups, inter groups or in different organizations, with an aim of bringing in change. The objectives of organizational developments include improving the work life quality, the productivity in the organization and effective procedures in the organization. This is achieved by changing the attitude of the employees, their values, behaviours and the structures that exist so that the organization can improve on its competitiveness. The characteristics of organizational development that I learnt are humanistic values which constitute the beliefs on the potential of the employees, system orientation, problem solving, change agent and contingency orientation (Margulies & Raia 2003). Organizational Behavior Theory The appropriate organizational behavior theory that I learnt is classical organizational theory that was stated by Max Weber. This theory had four fundamental principles. The first principle is that before one does any task, he or she should first find the best way to do it. This gives one ad idea of where to start and how to move on with the task. The second principle is of matching each worker in the organization with the task. This will ensure that the work is done perfectly since one will do what best suits him or her. The third principle is to closely supervise the workers and use of rewards and punishments to motivate the workers. This will make the workers to put more effort in their work to avoid punishments and to gain more benefits in terms of rewards. The fourth principle is that the task of management lies in planning and control. This means that the main role of the manager of any organization is to plan the activities of different workers in different departments and to control the activities (Jones 1995). In this theory, Max Weber differentiates between authority and power by stating that power is any relationship in which a person can compel his will to be done regardless of opposition from the other side. In the theory, he classified authority into three classes. One is the charismatic authority which is dependent on the unique characteristics of an individual, traditional authority which is determined by an individual’s adherence to customs and rational legal authority which is based on the defined code of conduct. This theory was found to be appropriate in an organization that is focused on high production and high quality of work. It serves as a proper guide to the workers who are focused on the success of the organization. Bibliography Jones, G., 1995, Organizational theory, text and cases, New York, Addison-Wesley Publishers. Schein, E., 2004, Organizational culture and leadership, New York, John Wiley and Sons. Frost, P., 2000, Organizational culture, London, Sage publications. Margulies, N., & Raia, A., 2003, Organizational development: value, process and technology, New York, McGraw-Hill Publishers. Fritz, R., 2001, Corporate tides: the inescapable laws of organizational structure, Boston, Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Corvette, B., 2003, Conflict Management: A Practical Guide To Developing Negotiation Strategies. Salt Lake, Pearson Education publishers. Pfeffer, J., 2004, Managing with power: politics and influence in organizations, Boston, Harvard Business Press Read More