The Importance of Organizational Behaviour - Case Study Example

 I) INTRODUCTION: Tosi, et al (2000) state that Organizational Behaviour is the field of study that focuses on the “human skills” that managers need, in order to be effective. Organizational behaviour is the systematic and scientific analysis of individual groups and organizations. Its purpose is to understand, predict and improve the performance of individuals, and the organizations in which they work. It applies theory and research from Psychology and Sociology, and managerial theory that help us to understand how to use this knowledge to improve the effectiveness of organizations. (pp.2-3). Organizational Behaviour is a social science discipline, using scientific method to establish truth and to validate its theories. (Miner, 2002, p.3). Three organizational behaviour issues that I feel I can demonstrate as enabling me to apply my knowledge of organizational behaviour, are: *Learning, *Personality and *Teams and Groups. .Experiential Learning Process: The Kolb’s Learning Cycle (1975): All learning begins with a concrete or real-world experience. Then, through reflections, the learner makes abstract generalizations about the experience and finally plans a new course of action as a result. (Cundell; Gray, 2004, pp.44-45). The following is a Self Reflection Report based on the four phases of Kolb’s Learning Cycle, which identifies how I have applied the knowledge and skills of Organisational Behaviour issues learned in the module. 2) CONCRETE EXPERIENCE STAGE: Knowledge and skills of the three Organisational Behaviour areas identified above have enabled me to apply my knowledge of the subject: 1. LEARNING: The outline of a learning experience that I had recently is as follows: I had wanted to learn the art of lettering, where the letters of the alphabet are modified and presented in a stylised version, as in ornamental calligraphy. Since this art would always come in handy for using in greeting cards and other jobs, I approached a friend of mine who was knowledgable in the matter to learn how to create the lettering. My direct experience of learning by receiving sensory information on the creative procedure, combined with verbal transmission of information and the re-organisation of known information in a new configuration, resulted in my successfully learning the new style of lettering, as theorised by Dixon, 1999, (p.39). Learning is central both to bringing about the massive re-organisation that causes us to have a new sense of self in relation to the world, and to constructing a satisfactory existence within our current frame. This need to learn serves many important ends for us human beings, including survival both as individuals and as a species, career advancement, prestige, etc. A fundamental aspect of human beings is that we are learners. (Dixon, 1999, p39). 2. PERSONALITY: I applied my knowledge of the significance of Personality as an important issue of Organisational Behaviour, as given in the following outline of my experience. In order for my personality to be in tune with a new identity required of me for a group debate, I worked on the topic of discussion, preparing my ideas on a bold format. Projecting myself as a dominant person with the right credetials for leading the educative discussion, I prepared to speak on the topic with strong arguments to support my views. My in-depth study of personality, and modification of my own to suit the occasion, proved to be successful, and I was instrumental in winning laurels for our institution. The concept of personality is important in organisational behaviour, because: 1. Dominant personalities are seen as central to defining an organisation’s culture. 2. Personality is a key factor in understanding adjustment to work and career, coping with stress and problem solving and decision-making behaviour. (p.39). 3. TEAMS AND GROUPS: My knowledge of the role of Teams and Groups in Organisational Behaviour, stood me in good stead when we prepared Thanksgiving Dinner at home for a large number of people. My friends and I decided to manage the entire work on our own, giving my parents a day off to relax. We divided ourselves into teams of three members, each responsible for the preparation of one dish. One team was assigned the task of managing the decorations, table setting and flower arrangements. Thus, each fulfilled his/ her own responsibility, and it was a grand success, through team work and division of labour. 3) OBSERVATION AND REFLECTIVE STAGE: On reflecting back on the experiences described in Concrete Experience, I feel that the actions that I took were the only good options that I had. I cannot think of any action that I should have done differently. An important reason to support this view is that: all the outcomes had turned out well, with greater success than what I had anticipated, in all the three organisational behaviour areas I have discussed: (1)Learning, (2)Personality and (3)Teams and Groups. 4) ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALISATION: Application of the theoretical concepts of organisational behaviour, were useful to me in ensuring that my experiences in Learning, Personality and Teams and Groups were optimal, and strengthened my knowledge of the same concepts. (1) Learning is one of the important issues of Organisational Behaviour, and the process of learning has the following three aspects. Most learning involves all three simultaneously: 1. Direct experience: the receipt of sensory data such as colour, sound and pain. 2. Verbal transmission of information (ideas voiced by others, reports, books, reports, books, formulas, etc.) 3. The reorganization of what we already know into a new configuration. (Dixon, 1999, p.15). My experience of learning the art of ornamental calligraphy used the principles of Learning (given above) as outlined by Dixon(1999). The three aspects of Learning were used, resulting in my successful learning of decorative lettering. (2) Personality: According to Tosi, et al, 2000, here the term personality means the relatively stable organisation of all the characteristics of a person, an enduring pattern of attributes that define the uniqueness of a person. Because attitudes and values are part of the pattern, Personality includes predispositions as well as patterns of actual behaviours. Personality plays an important role at work. Both the person and the environment in which he/ she operates have to be considered, since one environment may be conducive to a specific personality, whereas another may not be. (p.33). I had modified my personality for the debate, in order to put forth my arguments forcefully, and made all efforts to present a compelling argument. My efforts proved to be in the right direction, as our institution won laurels for the topic I presented. (3) Teams and Groups: According to Furnham, (2005), p.478, a group is made up of persons who communicate regularly, share goals, and interact with each other over time, building up emotional or affective bonds. Groups have four defining characteristics: 1.They are composed of more than two people involved in social interaction, who must be able to influence each other’s beliefs and behaviours. 2. They share common goals on certain issues, agreed goals, objectives and targets. 3. They have a relatively stable structure: rules and roles that endure over time and across various social situations. 4. They openly perceive and recognize themselves as being a stable group. All teams are groups, but not all.groups are teams. Thus there are command groups, task groups, interest groups and friendship groups, all of which have some of the above characteristics. (Furnham, 2005, p.478). My experience of team work in a group was very educative, and proved the value of group effort. 5. ACTIVE EXPERIMENTAL STAGE: The knowledge and skills of the theories of Organisational Behaviour, applied in relevant situations above, gave me new understandings about the concepts, which were again applied to another specific situation: A Poster Presentation, demonstrating theories like attitudes, personality, traits, etc., done by a group of four. In the concrete experience stage of Learning, I had learnt a new skill of calligraphic handwriting. This helped in the development of the poster presentation. Our Group worked with Team spirit, with positive and cooperative Attitude, and Traits like creativity and time management skills were used. The division of labour was beneficial for our Personality development, as attitudes, values and predisposition all contribute towards personality development. (Tosi, et al 2000, p.33). Our earlier group effort at the Thanksgiving Dinner stood us in good stead, and we were able to accomplish the poster presentation task easily and smoothly, without any glitches. 6. CONCLUSION: The main points in this Reflective Report are that: 1) Kolb’s Learning Cycle of learning by reflection on experience, is seen to be an important theory of Organisational Behaviour, for experiential learning. 2) The theories and issues of Organisational Behaviour are of practical everyday value together with being relevant for organisational development and functioning. REFERENCES Cundell, Sue; Gray, David E. (2004), Learning Through the Workplace: A Guide to Work-based Learning, Nelson Thornes. Dixon, Nancy M. (1999), The Organisational Learning Cycle: How We Can Learn Collectively, Gower Publishing Ltd. Furnham, Adrian. (2005), The Psychology of Behaviour at Work: The Individual in the Organisation, U.K., Psychology Press Publisher. Miner, John B. (2002), Organizational Behaviour: Foundations, Theories and Analyses, Oxford Publisher. Tosi, Henry L; Risso, John R; Mero, Neal P.(2000), Managing Organizational Behaviour, Blackwell Publishing. Read More