Organisational Behaviour and Its Practical Relevance - Essay Example

Organisational Behaviour and its practical relevance and usefulness in todays complex organisations Introduction Organizational behavior is the studyand careful application of knowledge about how people act within organizations within multiple viewpoints or perspectives. Gradual and periodical changes are inevitable everywhere and organizations are also not an exception. The advancements in science and technology made it impossible for the organizations to avoid reviewing of their existing behaviour, policies and strategies in accordance with the needs of the present world. For example, no organizations can survive in the current world with the help of typewriters now instead of computers or word processors for making documents. McNamara, (2009) has pointed out that “significant organizational change occurs, when an organization changes its overall strategy for success, adds or removes a major section or practice, and/or wants to change the very nature by which it operates” (McNamara, 2009). Globalization, liberalization and privatization have caused immense changes in the business sector and organizations forced to change their behaviour and strategies in accordance with the demands of the modern world. Outsourcing and offshoring like business strategies were established in the current business world even though such strategies were not there even in the distant dreams of the business Gurus, a couple of decades before. Motivational theories and human resource management principles also undergone drastic changes because of the huge diversification and internationalization of business happened in the present century. This paper discusses the current organizational behaviour in general and the topics such as motivation, diversity and psychological contract etc in particular to learn more about the current trends in organizational behaviour. Motivation in current organizations It is crucial for the development of an organization to develop and maintain a motivated team of professionals. The psychological and sociological theories of human life have undergone drastic changes because of the rapid changes in life philosophies and life styles. Most of the traditional theories with respect to motivation has been changed a lot in order to accommodate new things suitable for the needs of the modern generation. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivational theories were developed as part of the modification process of the organizational behaviour. Because of the extremely globalized business environment, it is difficult to formulate a uniform or single motivational theory for the entire business world even though the basic requirements of human being are the same all over the world. Macky, (2008) has pointed out that in situations where pressures to work longer hours are higher, employees feel overloaded and likely to experience greater dissatisfaction with their jobs which may result in higher stress and fatigue, and greater work—life imbalance (Macky, 2008). Lengthy working hours is a common thing in modern organizations because of the tight work schedules and heavy work loads. It is difficult to motivate the employee even if the organizations provide higher salaries in such busy and lengthy work schedules. Current employees give more importance to their personal life than their professional life. According to Herzberg’s two-factor motivation theory, people are influenced by two factors; motivational and hygienic. Hygiene factors are related to working condition, quality of supervision, salary, status, security, company, job etc whereas the motivational factors are related to achievement, recognition or, interest in the job (Two facto theory- Herzberg, Frederick, n. d). Two factor theory can be better understood from the following illustrations. (Tutor2u, n. d) Hygienic factors are related to physical gains whereas the motivational factors are related to the psychological factors. Whatever the facilities offered or provided by the organization are the hygienic factors which can influence the productivity and sincerity of the employee. Same way career prospects, recognitions from the employer etc can increase the interest of the employee in his profession. Theory of X and theory of Y are another motivational theory commonly used in current organizations. Furst (2009) has pointed out the essential elements of Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X believes that because of the inherent dislike of work, “most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened so as to induce them to put forth enough effort so as to meet their goals and get their work done” (Furst, 2009). On the other hand theory Y argues that “external control and the threat of sanctions are not the only means by which to get employees to work toward organizational goals” (Furst, 2009). In current organizations, these two theories were used extensively to manage or motivate the employees based on their nature. The core of this theory is that some employees need external pressure to increase their productivity whereas some other employees need no external force to motivate them. Diversity in current Organizations Most of the big organizations are currently operating internationally and hence they forced to employ a diverse workforce in their workplaces. The needs of the diverse workforce may be different. There are many cases in which the employers failed to treat the diverse employees equally. Discrimination at workplace with respect to race and gender is a common problem everywhere. Musacco (2009) has pointed out that harassment; mobbing, bullying, and emotional abuses are common at the workplaces which resulted in increased fear and minimal trust between workers (Musacco Ph.D, 2009, p.2). In a diverse work environment, all the above problems will be more. The employer may treat the local employees in one way and the foreign employees in another way which may create distrust in between the organization and the employees. No two individuals are alike either in their physical appearance or in their behaviours. An organization is a place where different people from different social, economical, cultural, communal and political backgrounds are working together. These people may have extremely different attitudes and characters. Even though they are working for the same organization, it is difficult for them to leave all their individual differences outside the organization and work for the common objectives inside the organization. Different opinions and views may occur between workers which may often result in harassment, mobbing, bullying, and emotional abuses. In an organization, everything functions in a wider context and environment. It is impossible for an organization to neglect the needs of the community in which it operates. Corporate social responsibility is a much popular term nowadays as far as an organization is concerned. Environment of an organization is not limited to the organization and its surrounding areas alone. In the current globalized business world, big organization may have worldwide customer bases. For example, Microsoft has customers in almost the entire world. In other words, Microsoft cannot operate successfully in other parts of the world by implementing the American business practices there. Customized business practices are necessary for organizations if it operates in different countries because of the social, political, economical and cultural differences between countries. Technological changes and unstable environments can affect the functioning of an organization immensely. For example, many of the American financial institutions and automobile manufacturers were forced to close or reduce their operations because of the current financial crisis. Real estate or construction sector also reduced their activities because of the weaker performances of the economy. In other words the organizations should revise or restructure their behaviours based on the changing business climate. Psychological contract in current organizations “Psychological contract between employees and organization is the belief and exchange of relationship between the organization and the employees. It is shaped or formed by the employee’s interaction and experience with their current employing organization” (Conway & Briner, 2005, p.34). In short, beliefs formed by factors outside the organization or that have been formed in the previous organization may not come under the psychological contract category The organization is the mainly responsible for shaping the psychological contract rather than the employees. The organization should do everything possible to build the psychological contract with the employees. There are many factors which can increase the psychological contract between the employees and the organization. ADEKUNLE et al, (2009) have pointed out that good pay, motivation, incentives, regular promotions, training and development etc are some of the factors which can build the psychological contracts between the employees and the organization (ADEKUNLE et al, 2009). Financial rewards alone may not build the psychological contract. Any activities from the organization which can touch the emotions or feeling of the employees positively can build psychological contract. For example, a word of appreciation may sometimes serve as a big boost for the employee to strengthen his relation with the organization. The corporate restructuring and downsizing strategies of the 1980s and 1990s likely have changed the traditional employee/employer relationship. Some researchers have asserted that the American workplace of today is one of increased workload and stress and decreased job security and commitment (An Investigation Of The Relational Component Of The Psychological Contract Across Time, Generation, And Employment Status, 2001, p.1) Job security is getting decreased because of recession and the psychological contract is also getting reduced at present. Many workers all over the world were forced to work with reduced salaries and many other lost their employment because of the recession problems. All these factors are affecting the psychological contract adversely. Poor pay scale and extra loads of works without adequate overtime wages are some of the other reasons of strained relationships between the employer and the employees. Chen & Chen, (2008) have pointed out that in a constantly changing business environment, employees commitment to the organization is easily disrupted because privatization is often linked to downsizing (Chen & Chen, 2008). Downsizing may affect not only the workers who suffered, but also the other workers as well. The negative influence of downsizing may decrease the loyalty of the surviving workers also. Globalization has brought many opportunities and challenges to organizations. Privatization, the core concept of globalization, created lot of concerns among the employees. Privatization often results in downsizing of employees. Downsizing may decrease the productivity of all the employees. For example, consider an employee working as a manager downsized to a clerical staff. It is impossible for that manager to exhibit the same level of loyalty towards the organization while working in the clerical position. Another major thing which affects the behaviour of the employees is the stress factor. Family, society and workplace are the three major places in which an employee normally operates. In other words an employee may have commitments or responsibilities in all these three segments of life. The increased time spent in an organization may decrease time available for an employee to fulfil his other commitments. The failure to complete other tasks may often result in increase stress. Conclusions Business world is undergoing rapid changes because of the rapid advancements in science, technology and the changing business philosophies. Organizational behaviour is an extremely important topic which determines the success or failures of the business. But organizational behaviour is operating in a much wider canvas at present and it is controlled by many factors. In other words the complex structure and parameters of organizational behaviour made it difficult for the organizations to implement it properly in their workplace. References 1. An Investigation Of The Relational Component Of The Psychological Contract Across Time, Generation, And Employment Status, (2001). Journal of Managerial Issues.  Spring, 2001. [Online], Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/74942455.html 2. ADEKUNLE O. A., ACTI & POPOOLA (2009), EFFECT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ON PRODUCTIVITY OF WORKFORCE IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA, [Online], Available at: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/EFFECT+OF+HUMAN+RESOURCE+MANAGEMENT+ON+PRODUCTIVITY+OF+WORKFORCE+IN...-a01073959643 [Accessed on 26 November 2010] 3. Conway N.& Briner, R.B. (2005), Understanding psychological contracts at work. Oxford University Press, 2005 4. 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