Organizational Behaviour - Delphin Business Group - Case Study Example

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR (Student Name) (Course Number) (University) (Date) Introduction The most critical features of an organization is the people. The effective functioning of an organization depends on the behaviour of the people within the particular enterprise. The effective functioning of an organization is therefore directly related on how well the individuals within that organization communicate with each other and with the management. Organizational behaviour, therefore, is the interaction between individuals and groups within an organization. These interactions, whether positive or negative, have a direct effect on the proper functioning of the organization (French, 2011, p. 45). For corporate institutions to remain relevant in the competitive market today, the study of organizational behaviour ought to be incorporated in management. The study of organizational behaviour is important because it influences the outcomes of an organization. Interaction between people in an organization affects their relationships, hence affecting communication and leadership. Enterprises that do not consider the importance of organizational behaviour are likely to fail. Increasing the outputs of individuals in an organization also depends on organizational behaviour. Through the study of organizational behaviour, managers can improve their management skills such as effective communication, motivation and appreciation of the employees. All these attempts increase the morale of the employees thus increasing individual and overall organizational output. The lack of proper and efficient interaction between the individuals in an organization causes a lot of conflicts resulting from personality differences, lack of motivation and poor communication. The common results of such conflicts are the poaching of employees by other competitors with a sense of organizational behaviour, reduced morale among the employees and sabotage of work by others. The final outcome is the poor performance of an organization and bad reputation. Effective decision making and team building are essential components of organizational behaviour. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate effective teams and decision making in workplaces with close reference to the theoretical frameworks (Perkins et al., 2013, p.90) Discussion In some instances, the tasks within an organization cannot be accomplished by an individual and hence the need for a team. Teamwork is significant in an organization since it brings together people with diverse knowledge to accomplish a task. The result is increased organizational performance able to elevate the enterprise to another level. Having effective teams in an organization enables it to have a competitive advantage over the organizations in which teamwork is not valued. There are three distinct team types in organizations. First is the project team in which individuals are brought together for a particular project within an organization. The second type of team is the organic team which is formed in line with the rules and regulations of an enterprise. Finally, organizations can also have non-organic teams which brings together people for a specific task or process. In any organization, effective teams are characterized with diversity where people have different personalities and opinions, and a common purpose. Teamwork is an important contributor to the effectiveness of an organization. Organizations that do not value teamwork are likely to fail in the market since all organizational tasks cannot be performed by individuals. Working on a project, for instance, requires the input of people with different expertise. This increases the quality of information gathered hence the outcome of the project (Brooks, 2009, p.75). Teams that produce high quality work integrate the skills and talents of individuals with the aim of attaining a common organizational goal. Managers are encouraged to incorporate team building and teamwork in their organizations for increased efficiency (Mackin. 2007, p. 84). Decision making is also an important part of organizational behaviour. The efficiency of an organization depends on the quality of the decisions that are made, both by the management and the employees. Poor decision making results in poor organizational performance. Organizational decision making is, therefore, defined as an act of generating solutions that lead to a desired outcome. However, in reality, organizations cannot make decisions, and it is the role of the people within an organization to make decisions based on their own individual judgment or as a group. Managerial decision making requires that managers make decisions in response to opportunities or threats that may arise within the business. Decision making can either be programmed or unprogrammed. Programmed decision making occurs in the everyday activities of a business, and the decision maker is expected to operate under set guidelines and based on past decision making (Brooks, 2009, p. 46). Unprogrammed decision making occurs occasionally in the life of an organization, especially in situations where there are new opportunities or threats in the organization. In an organization, decisions can be made either by individuals or by teams. Individual decision making is done by a person such as manager or an employee based on organizational guidelines. Group decision making is done by a team of individuals in an enterprise. In group decision making, the team leader presents a problem to the team members who are required to brainstorm and provide a range of solutions to the problem. After identifying different solutions that can be used to address the problem at hand, the group can now choose the best alternative and propose it for implementation. Group decision making is effective since it brings about diversity of opinions, thus likely to shape the final quality of the decision made by the organization. The quality of organizational decision making, therefore, depends on the decision makers and the information gathered before the conclusion is reached. Group decision making is, however, disadvantageous because of social pressure and group thinking (Barabba, 2011, p. 123). Overview of Delphin Business Group I am employed as a sales executive in an enterprise that deals in e-commerce called the Delphin Business Group. The organization brings together small entrepreneurs within the country and markets their products within the country and abroad with the aim of enabling the small businesses, which are overshadowed by the bigger ones to also create a competitive advantage and make profits in the currently competitive markets both home and abroad. The vision of the organization is to provide better channels for small enterprises to grow both locally and internationally by enabling social interactions between the businesses and potential customers (Mullins & Christy, 2013, p47). The mission of the organization is to increase the ease with which small businesses can market their products both locally and internationally. Founded by Dr. James Crack in 2000, the company has extended its branches today in 24 countries of the world and is considered as one of the fastest growing companies in the business sector today. Crack, who is also the chief executive officer of the organization, believes in teamwork and employee motivation as part of successful business strategy. Delphin Business Group comprises of several departments that were formed to meet the specific customer requirements. The sales department deals with the marketing of the organization to the customers to enable them choose it as the best option for their business demands. The human resource department deals with the customer care services while the finance department is more concerned with the financial issues of the organization. There is a clear role definition for each employee hence the chances of conflicts are minimised. However, the leadership style is authoritative, and decision making by any employee is guided by a number of set regulations within the enterprise. Expected Actual Difference Effective Teamwork Cooperation is an important tool in the management of organizations since teams can work more effectively towards the realization of the objectives of an enterprise compared to individuals. Rather than individual competition in a work environments, working together helps individuals in realization of the goals of the company within a shorter life span. Competition is therefore considered as inferior to teamwork (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2008,p. 51) The management of the organization recognizes the need for team work and offers small tokens to teams for some of the remarkable jobs they do. As a move to show how important team work is in the organization, the management recently made a move to include cooperation in its core values. The projects within the organization are also currently done by teams rather than individuals. There is no major difference as the organization attempts to incorporate teamwork in all the departments. This is, however, detrimental to individual recognition as the company has lost some indispensable employees. According to Adam’s equity theory, focus is given to other factors in the work place that affects the motivation of employees (Mackin, 2007, p.84). The theory suggests that employees compare themselves to other co-workers within the organization by comparing their inputs and the returns they get. If the results are found to be fair, the employees are motivated. Unfairness, on the other hand, causes demotivation of the employees. The management of the organization attempts to treat all the employees equally in all aspects. Employees that put in much effort in their work are recognized and appreciated by the management. They are also rewarded for their efforts within the organization and thus encouraged to increase organizational productivity. It is, however, difficult for the organization to provide incentives to all of the employees. Since the management does not recognize the efforts of all individuals and teams rather than those that have extraordinary performance, some of the employees are discouraged, and this can have adverse effects on the performance of the organization. Decision making Organizational decision making is an important aspect of organizational behaviour whose main aim is developing solutions to particular problems within an organization (Shapira, 2002, p.78). In some instances, the organization may need a team to make decisions on behalf of the company. Group decision making happens when more information about a problem is needed that can improve the quality of decisions made. The management recognizes the need to incorporate every individual in the decision making process. Since individual consultation is time consuming, the management presents problems to relevant groups within the organization and allows them to make decisions from the best alternatives while considering the needs of individuals and teams at large. There is no difference with the expected situation. In fact, letting individuals to give their own views to be used for decision making in an organization causes them to be encouraged. The main reason for this is that employees are not considered as puppets who strictly adhere to the set guidelines for making decisions, increasing motivation and hence organizational performance. According to the garbage can model of decision making, organizational decision making is viewed as the outcome of an interplay of various factors such as participants, solutions, and opportunities. Opportunities and threats occur every time in organizations, and the kind of decisions made in such instances can contribute to either the success or failure of the organization. The management of the organization is well aware of the need to make informed decisions especially in times of crisis or when opportunities arise. However, such kinds of decisions are made by the top management instead of consultations with other members of the organization (Mullins & Christy, 2013) , p. 134,243. In some crucial decisions made by the organization, it is essential that the aspect of participants be taken seriously since much of the decisions made by the organization affect the employees in one way or another. Knowledge management, being an important factor in organizational decision making requires that knowledge be shared within the organization (Pasher and Ronen, 2011, p. 63). This increases the quality of decisions made within the organization, encourages teamwork and results in informed decision making. Knowledge management is an essential tool in improving decision making in an organization hence increased organizational performance. The management of Delphin Business Group does not put much emphasis on the need for individuals to share knowledge within the organization. For decision making that requires skilled personnel, for instance, the company sought for an individual with specific knowledge in that field. There is the lack of any set mechanisms of knowledge sharing in the organization. The lack of knowledge sharing within the organization leads to making uninformed decision making that can have adverse effects on organizational performance. Conclusion From the above discussion, Delphin Business Group complies with some of the theoretical management requirements but not all of them. For effective management of the organization, it is recommended that proper mechanisms of knowledge sharing be put in place to increase the quality of decisions made by the organization. The organization should also put a lot of emphasis on the inputs by individuals as a source of incentives so that individual and hence organizational performance is improved. References Barabba, V. P. (2011). A design for interactive decision-making in organizations. Axminster, Triarchy, p. 123. Brooks, I. (2009). Organisational behaviour: individuals, groups and organisation. Harlow, England, Prentice Hall/Financial Times. French, R. (2011). Organizational behaviour. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley, p. 45. King, D., & Lawley, S. (2012). Organizational behaviour. Oxford, Oxford University Press, p. 120. Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (2003). Organizational behaviour: key concepts, skills & best practices. Boston, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, p. 105. Mackin, D. (2007). The team building tool kit: tips and tactics for effective workplace teams. New York, AMACOM, p.84. Mullins, L. J., & Christy, G. (2013). Management & organisational behaviour. Harlow [etc.], Pearson. Pasher, E., & Ronen, T. (2011). The complete guide to knowledge management a strategic plan to leverage your company's intellectual capital. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons, p.63. Perkins, S. J., & Arvinen-Muondo, R. (2013). Organizational behaviour: [people, process, work and human resource management]. London, Kogan Page, p. 90. Shapira, Z. B. (2002). Organizational decision making. Cambridge [u.a.], Cambridge Univ. Press, p. 78. (Mullins & Christy, 2013) Appendix A: Organization Chart Read More