Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

?Organizational Behavior Introduction The strength of any organization is its workforce and there is no doubt that the survival and growth of any organization or company depends on how well the people in managerial positions are able to cope up with and manage organizational behavior in various situations. The way the people or employees in an organization are treated and the way they behave in particular situations is very crucial. Organizational behavior (OB), as it is referred to in business studies, is a study of human behavior; it is complex and has components from various fields like psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Organizational behavior in an organization develops over the years of the existence of the organization and is closely linked to what is referred to as organizational culture. Managing organization behavior is a relatively complex process in normal situations, especially if a major change occurs like mergers and acquisitions or other important structural or managerial changes within an organization. There have been many studies and researches on the importance of managing various types of organizational behavior (in various situations) within an organization and studies have clearly pinpointed the relation between organizational behavior, and leadership styles of managers. This paper seeks to explore the various factors associated with organizational behavior with special reference to managing OB in the BAPCO (the Bahrain Petroleum Company). The paper also tries to through light on the link between organizational management and organizational behavior. The paper will argue that a manger requires certain personality traits and should follow the most appropriate leadership styles in various situations to manage organizational behavior effectively. A Brief Overview of BAPCO and Organizational Behavior: BAPCO is one of the major companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the only of its business like, which is the petroleum refining. It was established in 1929 and continues producing a wide range of petroleum products even today. It was jointly owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain and Caltex till 1997, when its full ownership was transferred to the government. BAPCO participate largely in the economy of Bahrain and it employs around 3,000 employees distributed between upstream, the oil production, and downstream, the oil refining. BAPCO is a vibrant and energetic company playing a key role in the development of young Bahrainis. The strategic vision of the company is as follows – “To manage and operate an integrated oil and gas business, supplying crude oil, petroleum products and gas to the international and local markets, to create value for our shareholders, customers and employees” (The Bahrain Petroleum Company: Strategic objectives). Training in craft and technical skills has been at the centre of the activities and the Two year programmer, which concluded in May 2008, fulfilled the company vision of creating a pool of talented Bahraini technicians to meet the ever-growing needs of the local industries. Developing young graduates to become the manager of the future has been a pressing concern for the company. BAPCO also supports other major leadership and mentoring programmers, such as the prestigious Crown Prince international scholarship programmer, by providing funding for scholarship, mentors and on the job training opportunities. BAPCO has always shown a strong relationship with its employees through the trade union, and overall spirit of cooperation and this harmony has resulted in constructive resolution of individual and companywide issues through regular negotiation meeting. However, there is currently an increased tendency among the PMD (Plant Maintenance employees) to request transfer to other divisions such as ED (Engineering Department) and this has proved to be a major challenge for the general manager of BAPCO to manager this organizational behavior. Organizational behavior: Organizational behavior and culture in organizations are interrelated. Culture in organizations can 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 you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems” (Schein). Thus, it can be seen that the behavior within the organization is a part of its culture also. In the same way, organizational behavior can be defined as “the study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself” (Shajahan 3). As it is evident from the definition, the study of OB is interdisciplinary in the sense that principles of psychology, anthropology, sociology, and other related fields have to be included. It is basically associated with behavioral sciences and can be analyzed scientifically. It needs to be studied at three levels namely, the individual, the group, and the organization as a whole. Study of OB actually began (though not intentionally) when scientific management studies began to take place during the industrial revolution in both US and UK. OB then moved on to using social systems theories and contingency theories as a part of understanding workplace behavior. For Friday, managers need to be experts in various areas in order to understand and control Organization Behavior (especially at the individual level): they need “to have a firm understanding of an individual’s past behavior in order to learn what is characteristic of the individual. The manager’s focus is on trying to discern what produces a particular behavioral pattern” (Friday 4). Once this is understood, they can try and predict how an individual will try to behave in the future. Similarly, the manager should be able to channelize behavior to be in tune with the organizational goals and vision and therefore it is the duty of the general manager of BAPCO to channelize the PMD staff’s behavior. Organization Behavior and Leadership styles: There have been a number of studies that emphasized that there exists a strong link between the leadership styles of the managers and the organizational behavior of the employees. There is no doubt that only an efficient manager who employees appropriate leadership traits will be able to manage and create desirable organization behavior among his/her followers. Studies have proved that the productivity and commitment of the staffs depend on how they are guided, motivated, inspired and rewarded by the management. Effective leaders can bring out the best in their staffs, and management is all about utilizing the full potential of the work force. For this, an effective leader should have thorough knowledge of the organizational behavior and he/she should be able to employ various leadership approaches depending on the situation and need. Studies have also showed that the positive transferences and the emotional bond between the employee and the employer is a significant prerequisite in managing organizational behavior. Maccoby (2004), drawing conclusions from Freud’s psychoanalytical theories, highlights the needs of offering positive transferences to the employees and fulfilling their transference expectations from the boss. According to him, “transference is the emotional glue that binds people to a leader” and “employees in the grip of positive transference see their leader as better than he really is-smarter, nicer, more charismatic” (Maccoby 79). It is therefore imperative that the leaders pay attention to the transference needs of the employees when there is organizational stress. Similarly, it is also imperative that the leaders in any organizations need to adapt to their changing environments. As Bass (2000) makes it clear the “local line leaders in the organization and high level executives as well as internal net workers and community leaders are needed who can motivate and direct the organization and its members, to learn to adapt to the changes”. Besides, leaders should also make use of the advancements of science and information technology and training the workers in information technology and preparing them to cope up with the needs of the changing environments are important prerequisites as far as the development of the self-efficacy of the staff is concerned. An effective leader also needs to take into account the diversity of his/her work force and should employ effective strategies through which the organization benefits most out of the diversity of its work force. It is also worthwhile to analyze how various leadership styles contribute to managing organizational behavior. The following section focuses primarily on the three dominant leadership styles-the charismatic, transactional and transformational styles of leaderships and the aim is to show how these leadership styles contribute to managing organizational behavior. Charismatic leadership and Organizational Behavior: Charisma like leadership is the ability in individual to lead or influence others due to a special quality that has got nothing to do with the education or knowledge that a person holds. The fact that a person can arouse loyalty is indicative of the influence a leader with charisma can have over his or her followers. One of the unique abilities of such leaders is to turn complex or difficult concepts into simple and easily understood interpretations. Charismatic leaders have a vision which can arouse enthusiasm and confidence in the person’s followers and they are blessed with the ability for taking personal risks and exhibiting non-traditional behavior. According to Burke and Cooper (2004), charismatic leaders arouse enthusiasm and commitment in followers by articulating a compelling vision, increasing follower confidence about achieving it, and linking the task or mission to the values, ideals, and self-concept of follower (86). Due to their ability to influence, inspire and motivate followers, such charismatic leaders in most cases remain unchallenged with regard to their decisions and actions. This ability is extremely useful when an organization is going through troubled times and when a total turnaround in operations and processes are necessary. As mentioned earlier, such leaders can effectively put their vision into practice. If the vision is far reaching and positive, charisma is definitely strength in such situations. Theatrics and rhetorical ability commonly seen in such leaders can have a great influence among the followers and they can easily persuade people through the use of mixed attitudinal messages. In the case of BAPCO, the general manager needs to show traits of charismatic leadership so that he can motivate and inspire the PDM staffs to remain in the same department and undertake the challenges and duties more responsibly. His charismatic personality needs to persuade and convince the employees that the goal of the organization is much more important than personal interests. Transactional vs. Transformational leaderships and Organizational Behavior: The transformational and transactional leadership styles have brought about drastic changes to the management arena and it is debatable as to which is a better sort of leadership style. According to Farrell, Souchon & Durden (2000), a transformational leader is most likely to be “charismatic, inspirational, intellectually stimulating to followers, and individually considerate” whereas a transactional leader is likely to be “short-term and instrumentally focused, in that s/he will lead by providing rewards contingent on performance, and manage by exception” (2). Elaborating on the various aspects of the transactional leadership style, Bass (2000) observes that transactional leaders “cater to the self-interests of their constituencies by means of contingent reinforcement, positive in the case of constructive rewards, praise and promises for constituents' success in meeting commitments to the leader and/or the organization”. In the case of failure to meet commitments, the transactional leader offers aversive reinforcement, negative feedback, reproof, or disciplinary action to the work force to correct their negative responses. Thus, the focus of a transactional leader is on the exchange process, and he motivates and tries to increase the self-efficacy of the workers through implied incentives, promoting service oriented behaviors, provision of individual/group, common, and intrinsic/extrinsic reward systems, and by constantly providing performance feedbacks to the employees. Transformational leaders, on the other hand, believe in the power of motivation, inspiration and the empowerment of staffs and emphasize the use of intelligence and creativity (Farrell, Souchon & Durden 5). While the transactional leader addresses ‘the material needs of the employee’, the transformational leader lays stress on “the self-concept of the employee and the employee's sense of self-worth” and “encourages the follower to build a self-concept that identifies with the leader's self-concept and mission” (Bass). The self-efficacy, productivity and the commitment of the staff can be best promoted only when the staff respect, value, share and contribute to the leader’s own organizational design. In managing the organizational behavior displayed by the PMD staffs in BAPCO, it becomes imperative for the general manager to show both transactional and transformative leadership traits wherever they are necessary and appropriate. This will help him to increase the self-efficacy, productivity and the commitment of the staff, improve their self-concept and self-worth, address their most wanted material needs, provide them constant performance feedback, offer both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, and to motivate, inspire and empower them to follow the organizational goals more effectively. Conclusions: To conclude, it can be stated that the managers need to maintain a thorough knowledge of the various types of organizational behavior that their staffs are likely to display so that they can enhance, motivate and promote the self-efficacy of the workforce under them. It is significant that an effective manager should be able to turn all types of organizational behavior towards the accomplishment of the common organizational goal which is of very significance at the management level. For this, it is essential for general manager of BAPCO to know the aspirations and perceptions of the staff force and to undertake necessary measures to improve their commitment and dedication. Thus, the general manager needs to know the pulse of his workforce and he needs to exercise the most appropriate personality traits and leadership styles wherever necessary. The manager should always bear in mind that a proper blend of all the leadership styles mentioned above is the key to managing organizational behavior in any organizational environment. Works Cited Bass, B.M. “The Future of Leadership in Learning Organizations”. Journal of Leadership Studies 7. 3 (2000): 18+. Print. Burke, Ronald J and Cooper, Cary L. Leading in Turbulent Times: Managing in the New World of Work. Illustrated Edition: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. Print. Farrell, Andrew M., Anne L. Souchon and Geoffrey R. Durden. Enhancing Service Performance through Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles. Conference Track: Marketing of Services, 2000. Web. 22 February 2011. < http://andrewmfarrell.com/FSD_EMAC_2000.pdf>. Friday, Stormy. Organization development for facility managers: leading your team to success. Illustrated Edn: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 2003. Print. Maccoby, M. “The Power of Transference”. Harvard Business Review 82. 9 (2004): 76-85. Print. Schein, E.H. Organizational Culture and Leadership, 1997. Web. 22 February 2011. . Shajahan, S. Organisation Behaviour. New Age International, 2007. Print. The Bahrain Petroleum Company: Strategic objectives. The Bahrain Petroleum Company, B.S.C, 2010. Web. 22 February 2011. < http://www.bapco.com.bh/default.asp?action=category&ID=14> Read More