Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior

A well-managed organization needs adequate talent to achieve its goals. In addition, organizational leaders need to understand the individuals that are working for the organization. By learning how the behavior and culture of individuals affects the organization, leaders and organizations move one step closer to success.

"Organizational behavior, OB for short is the study of human behavior in organizations. It is a multidisciplinary field devoted to understanding individual and group behavior, interpersonal processes, and organizational dynamics." (Hunt, Osborn, & Schermerhorn) OB leadership roles are essential to meeting the challenges and uncertainty that confront today's organizations. Factors that influence the effectiveness of an organization are globalization, cultural diversity, technology advancement, competition, resources, instant communication, and a profusion of information. The key areas of OB are understanding individual and group behavior pattern and attitudes.

Organizational Behavior organizations have groups of people who work interdependently to accomplish shared objectives and work toward some purpose. The behaviors of the individuals affect the performance of the organization. Understanding OB allows management to facilitate the needs and the performance of a diverse workforce.

Corporate culture is a key component in the achievement of an organization's mission and strategies, the improvement of organizational effectiveness, and the management change. Culture is rooted in deeply-held beliefs. The impact of culture can include conveying a sense of identity and unity of purpose to members of the organization, facilitating the generation of commitment, and shaping behavior by providing guidance on what is expected.

"The culture of a group can now be defined as a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems". (Schein 373-374) Leaders play a large role in defining organizational culture through actions and leadership, however all employees in an organization contribute to organizational culture. Organizational culture is a powerful element made up of life experiences. Each individual takes the experiences, including strengths and weaknesses, to the work place and shapes the environment of the organization. Groups or clicks of people are formed through work relationships, interactions, and work processes, which contribute to the culture through language, decision making, symbols, and daily work practices.

Elements of organizational culture may include stated and unstated values, which drive every business entity. Values are technically a set of beliefs that specify expectations and preferred modes of behavior in a company. However, in organizational culture values can lead to growth and others lead to stagnation and decline. In organizational culture, the climate plays a big role. Members evoke fillings by the way members interact with each other, with outsiders, and with the environment, including the physical space they occupy. Emotions are indications of values. People do not get excited or upset about things that are unimportant to them. Other elements that contribute to organizational culture are customs and rituals, stories and myths about the history of the group, and metaphors and symbols.

Diversity efforts have certainly changed. The need for a big-picture thinker on diversity issues is greater than ever, driven by the need to tap the creative, cultural and communicative skills of a variety of employees and to use those skills to improve company policies, products and customer experiences. Many organizations are employing methods of understanding and relationship-building that encourages all employees to be heard. Organizational leaders play a big role by integrating diversity into every aspect of a business, including the workforce, customers, suppliers, products, and services.

Communication is essential in an organization to achieve the objectives. "In practice, corporate communication is a strategic tool for the corporation to gain a competitive advantage. Corporations use it to lead, motivate, persuade, and inform employees - and the public as well". (Goodman pp69) To be a good communicator, a leader's actions should speak louder than words. Leaders must forge a direct line of communication with other members of the organization in order to provide employees with correct information. To form a line of communication, leaders must be committed to active and objective listening. Leaders must solicit employee views, and address concerns and misunderstandings. A positive communication style needs to be developed by providing employees with management views and educating employees on the strategies and goals of the organization.

The purpose of communication is to convey information and to change behavior. Communication eliminates the chain of command barriers. Individuals are sometimes scared of their leaders because of the position held. It is up to the leaders to build a trusting relationship throughout the organization through communication.

Organization Effectiveness (OE) is organization's increasing the capacity and competency to achieve its vision. Organizations focus is on ensuring that all managers integrate staff needs into their daily business operations.

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