Organizational Behavior and Workspace Performance - Term Paper Example

? Organizational Behaviour Analysis Contents Organizational Behaviour Analysis Contents 2 Introduction 3 Type of culture 3 Modes of communication 6Motivational techniques 7 Areas of EI incorporated 8 Components of a virtual organization embraced 8 Reference 10 Introduction All organizations tend to have managers with various titles surrounding them, such as marketing manager, chief financial officer, vice president of HR, director of public relations, or plant manager along with others. But, as seen and analysed, no organization has a position with the title “organizational behaviour manager.” This is because an understanding of organizational behaviour aims to provide a set of tools to the managers that they can effectively put into practice. Understanding and appreciating the organizational behaviour thus helps a manager in an organisation to understand the behaviour of others in the same organization. For example, in some organizations, the managers are directly responsible for the behaviour of some of the employees, such as their immediate subordinates. Some of the usual activities of managers include motivating the employees, designing the job roles properly, resolving any kind of conflict in the workplace, evaluating the performance of the employees and helping the employees to achieve the set goals and objectives. The managers can also make use of the knowledge that they have to understand, in a better way, the behaviour, needs, feelings and thus motivate and help employees in the decision making processes and other aspects (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011, p. 6). Therefore, in order to effectively analyze various behavioral components within an organization, the following features are analyzed and discussed in detail. Type of culture Organizational culture can be defined as a system of beliefs and shared values which tend to develop within the organization and thus guide the behavior of the members and employees. The importance of the organizational culture along with its contribution is well established. A sound organizational culture is one of the most critical factors that are required in order to determine the attitude for survival in the long run and also towards creating a brand image and it is said to have profound negative as well as positive implications. Organizations tend to contain both informal and formal groups where the formal groups form the structure of the organization by establishing job designs and work responsibilities. The behavior of the individual in the formal group is thus intended and predetermined for achieving the organizational goals. On the other hand, informal groups tend to be coalitions which are neither established within the organization nor structured officially (Loughran, 2007, p. 16). Cultures are broadly divided into various classifications but this paper deals primarily with three forms of culture that are Pluralism, Dualism and Salad Bowl. Cultural Pluralism is of two types: descriptive and participative; out of which the first type of cultural Pluralism is conceptualized as the co-existence of various cultures within the same society and only a little interaction tends to occur among the separate elements. Each of the elements thus concentrates on maintaining their own culture and language in order to imbibe its own heritage in the future generations. The form of cultural pluralism tends to assume that the society is culturally pluralistic, but, at the same time, the individuals are not pluralistic. Therefore, the descriptive form of cultural pluralism tends to imply the coexistence of religious, political, ethnic and racial groups which live together and allow each of the groups to maintain and function itself. Cultural pluralism is another perspective that can be conceptualized not just for the society but also for the individual members. In the second case of cultural pluralism it tends to carry out the description provided by Pratte, as “positive of hurrah connotation.” As cultural pluralism is defined as value difference, the unit of the culturally pluralistic tends to become cultural communities (Leicester, Modgil and Modgil, 2000, p. 59). As per Onofre D. Corpuz, cultural dualism is one thing that tends to characterize the Filipino’s culture. It is not an altered notion as it tends to be independent in the first half. It is highly acknowledged that it establishes influence of East and influences the culture of Filipino in terms of religious, social and also political value. The influence over west can also be said to be dominant, giving rise to the dualism of East-West (Palispis, 2005, p. 56). A culturally dualist pattern of response gets informed by the perception of having different identities, one related to primary culture and the other, which is expected to relate in acceptance of institutional values. An example of cultural dualism is the members of all Black social clubs who adopt the dominant culture (Darder, 1991, p.56). The concept of Salad bowl in culture used to describe the integration of various cultures which tend to combine like salads. This model takes the various cultures as juxtaposed and not as merged together as a homogenized culture, very similar to the ingredients of salads. Here, each of the cultures tries to maintain the distinct qualities and values and the society is composed of individuals with pure culture. Kallen’s idea of cultural pluralism is said to be a compromise in between “melting pot” and “salad bowl” forms of society where the ethnic communities are not fused, but at the same time they tend to exist within one of the societies and adapting to another and also simultaneously maintaining their own identities. It has been seen and analyzed that the diaspora communities have the ability to hold longer the “salad bowl” kinds of society as they are able to maintain contacts much more easily than homelands (Kokot & Alfonso, 2004, p. 27). The business section tends to share certain values and beliefs but it is highly misleading to believe that they tend to be stronger as compared to other forms of cultural influence. For example Mc Donalds, which standardised its products and adapted to local taste and is serving lamb rather than beef in India. The idea was that people from different cultures can thus fuel themselves and this is at the heart of “melting pot”. This further was succeeded by the concept of “salad bowl” wherein the individuals tend to retain their own identity (Gibson, 2002, p. 10). Modes of communication Communication forms an important part while dealing in organizations and effective communication is highly essential for a normal working environment in the organization. When communication is classified by means of the most dominant tool, the forms of communication included are oral and written, statistical or narrative and illustrated or unillustrated (Kuiper, 2009, p. 6). This section will determine the dominance of oral communication or written communication within the organization. Oral communication often takes place face to face where both the speaker and the listener can interact and hear and see each other. Each can thus use different kinds of inflection in order to create as well as interpret the meaning. Oral communication is most prevalent among the forms of organisational communication and mostly is in the form of conversation in between listeners and speakers, physically present or communicating thorough telephonic conversation. Informal and grapevine are the two most popular forms of oral communication and are most effective for leaders. The oral communication is regarded as powerful because the receivers not just tend to listen to the content of the message but also at the same time observe the physical gestures which get associated with it in the form of speech, pitch, tone or volume of the said words. Oral communication does not deal with formal communication that is lengthy as well as distant, in which views cannot be effectively conveyed in words, and so the receiver might receive a certain message and might interpret in a different sense, and therefore the spirit of authority cannot be effectively transmitted in verbal transactions. On the other hand, written communications are put in writing and are in form of letters, instruction, rules and regulations, formal report, bulletins and others. Written communication is effective when information is required to communicate effectively in the future and also in the present or current circumstances and there is also an aim to ensure that all the members of the organisation have the same information so that effective communication is prevailed. To compare oral and written communication, it can be said that the dominant form of communication is written communication, and this is because it serves as evidence for events or proceedings, it provides permanency with respect to records for future reference, reduces misinterpretation and misunderstanding unlike those that might happen in oral communication; it tends to save time as most of the members are contacted at the same time, providing them with same information (Singh, 2008, p. 32-33). A survey conducted by Fortune magazine on best companies revealed that for open and effective communication process, 61 listed companies in America had made use of written communication process (Robbins, et al, 2003, p.229). Motivational techniques A motivated workforce is an essential factor for the success of the organization as employees who are motivated to work provide the organization with higher level of productivity and thus the organization tends to run more effectively, and is able to reach its goal. Motivational drivers are of mainly two types: intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic motivation tends to be effective only when the intrinsic needs have been met. Intrinsic motivation is internal and is something which an employee is offered through personal interest or by ensuring that he enjoys the work. On the other hand extrinsic motivational rewards or pay increase are given to a person by a supervisor. Extrinsic rewards are highly essential. However, leaders in organization work for the intrinsic rewards both individually and also as a system. A person who tends to get intrinsic satisfaction from the job often tends to put forward their increased effort. The employees need to perform activities which they might not like but leaders have to match up with the task that aims to provide them with intrinsic rewards. An example is Les Schwab Tier Centers where the employees are treated as partners towards a common goal and rewarded with profit sharing plans and the external rewards tends to supplement the intrinsic motivational factors (Daft, 2008, p. 227). Areas of EI incorporated Emotional intelligence tends to form an ability to offer unique and distinctive approach in understanding the concept of leadership and also tends to supplement the traits of leadership. With the help of emotional intelligence, organizations are able to provide means in order to operationalize the traits. It has been analyzed that the ability based model of emotional intelligence usually provides the HR with the approaches and tools required to enhance the effectiveness of an organization. The ability based model of EI requires the measurement of performance in order to assess EI. The MEIS scale is a concept based on multi based test where the scales tends to have relationship with criteria such as lifestyle behavior and others. In addition, the competency model of leadership also addresses the role of emotional intelligence and aims to explicitly analyze the nature of the position of the leaders, the model of EI which is to be employed, and also demonstrates that skills are highly relevant in leadership position and thus specifies the skills and competencies (Salovey, Brackett & Mayer, 2004, p. 317). Components of a virtual organization embraced The new business craze in the 21st century is going global and thus operates virtually. Communication process takes on a new meaning as there is no face to face communication between the members and thus it is essential to unify the virtual relationship. It has also been learnt that most of the companies allow employees to work from home and achieve company savings and managers tend to assumes that employees who are equipped with PC and fax can stay connected with the organization. As per Martin Pospeshil of AT&T, management has changed its paradigm and the corporate have embraced the virtual offices along with flexible working schedules for their employees. In the old paradigm, the managers were expected to be technically sound but nowadays in the new virtual structure the managers are expected to provide technical direction. Technology enabled spaces like ACRs - that is active collaboration rooms that were deployed by GE and Cisco are one way in which organization scan improve the performance of the organization. ACRs tend to combine WebEx technologies and Cisco TelePresence and improve the productivity, and thus, reduce the project cycles. The remote users have the option to participate through desktop web cams, video conferencing systems and others (Mitchell & Spencer, 2012). Reference Daft, R. L. (2008). The Leadership Experience. Cengage Learning. Darder, A. (1991). Culture and Power in the Classroom: A Critical Foundation for Bicultural Education. Greenwood Publishing Group. Gibson, R. (2002). Intercultural Business Communication: An introduction to the theory and practice of intercultural business communication for teachers, language trainers, and business people. Oxford University Press. Griffin, R. W. & Moorhead, G. (2011). Organizational Behaviour: Managing People and Organizations. USA: Cengage Learning. Kokot, W. & Alfonso, C. (2004). Diaspora, Identity, and Religion: New Directions in Theory and Research. Psychology Press. Kuiper, S. (2009). Contemporary Business Report Writing. Cengage Learning. Loughran, J. W. (2007). The Relationship Between Organization Culture Type and Quality Service in the Retail Store: A Tale of Two Surveys. ProQuest. Mitchell, S. & Spencer, P. (2012). Work-Life Innovation The Role of Networked Technologies. Retrieved from http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/ps/WLI-and-Technology_020312FINAL.pdf Palispis, E. S. (2005). Introduction to Sociology and Antropology. Rex Bookstore, Inc. Robbins, S. P. Et al, (2003). Organisational Behaviour: Global and Southern African Perspectives. Pearson South Africa. Salovey, P. Brackett. M. A. and Mayer, J. D. (2004). Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer and Salovey Model. NPR Inc. Singh, N. (2008). Business Communication : Principles, Methods & Techniques. Deep and Deep Publications. Read More