Analysis of Organizational Behavior in an Organization - Assignment Example

of Phoenix Material Pre-Analysis Worksheet Use this worksheet to analyze the organization you selected for the Week Three assignments. Limit your responses to no more than 250 words per question. Include this worksheet in your final Week Three assignment. Problem and Purpose Statement: Following the outline of the dissertation as presented in the doctoral program Research Handbook, write a purpose and problem statement for your analysis of the selected organization’s behavior. Address and provide the following: In the quest for survival in the competitive market, various organizations have been forced to utilize various methods of manufacturing. The implementation of these practices has always seemed difficult since various managers’ focus is on improving the technical issues around the working environment thus ignoring the most important factors. Some of these factors include the organizational behavior, values and culture. It is important to understand organization behavior since it enables managers to plan for the future and set up strategies of improving the organization position. The analysis of the organizational behavior focuses on how members behave around their workplace, the culture of the organization and how managers ensure that every member agrees with the culture in place (Murnigham, 2002). Organizational behavior generally shows how people conduct themselves within the organizational setup. According to Frazee (2004), organizational behavior is described as a field of study that shows how individuals perform their activities around the working environment. Managers should therefore be in a position of reviewing these activities and checking misconducts to improve on effectiveness. An organization being a social unit comprised of various groups of people needs to have set goals, which every individual aims at achieving. Therefore, is important to study organizational behavior to realize the various challenges that face individuals in the workplace. Analyzing organization behavior also helps employees to adjust to their current environment. This improves corporate culture as well as the financial performance of the organization. This study will focus on Toyota in the Assembly industry, which will bring out the importance of teamwork and how to impress customers in the industry. One of the most important goals that all managers in this industry aim at is caring for their customers. 1. Organization name Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) is a multinational corporation that manufactures automobiles with its headquarters in Japan mostly sharing the Toyota brand, including Scion and Lexus. Currently, it has employed more than 71,000 people worldwide in more than 170 countries and regions such as Japan, North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Middle East among others (Toyota, 2010). Indeed, Toyota is considered the fifth largest company in the world (Fortune, 2010). It is part of Toyota Group, a conglomerate of companies that has 540 consolidated subsidiaries and 226 affiliates, including Toyota Financial Services, Daihatsu, and Hino Motors that manufactures medium and heavy-duty diesel trucks in Japan. In addition, Toyota Group has a minority interest in Fuji Heavy Industries that manufactures Subaru vehicles, Isuzu, Yamaha Motors, and Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation. 2. Which paradigms or schools of thought best define this organization? Toyota is one of the most successful companies in the world and this can be attributed to its management approaches. Since the 1930s the company sought to change its manufacturing and management techniques to suit the changing times and new concepts in the field of management. As a result the management started incorporating Management Science which was a new paradigm at the time. First in line was the Just-In-Time (JIT) production technique that was initiated in 1938 and ensured the company produced only that which the market could absorb. This technique helped the company to control its stock and improve on quality of its products. The technique sought to ensure that defective products were corrected while still in the production process so as to avoid writing them off due to defects after the production line. After working with this technique for more than two decades, Toyota introduced Total Quality Management (TQM) in its production system. The company started taking random samples after production and within the production process and performed statistical evaluations to determine their quality standard. In case of failure the sample was isolated so as to establish the causes of the said defects. This came to save a great deal of cost since they were able to pinpoint problems before further production and sales were made. Continuous Improvement (CI) is the other concept that is well embraced in Toyota which is also termed as Kaizen. This is an approach that encourages employees and management to be innovative by developing process improvement ideas. As a result the company receives more than a million of such ideas per year of which 90 percent of them are executed. These Management Science approaches in Toyota have in no doubt helped it to capture many regional markets with its innovative products. 3. Referencing Schein’s discussion of categories, which describes culture and levels of culture, list the aspects of culture, which describe this organization. It is important to value organizational culture as it links the past with the current thus enabling workers to work towards achieving certain goals, which had not been achieved for a long time. According to Ahls (2001), “Aligning the company culture to the goals of the business model is a matter of necessity, not choice” (p. 8). The various kinds of beliefs in an organizational setup include belief in working with others, making global decisions, controlling management and belief in integrating with suppliers to ensure quality products are delivered. According to May and Mumby (2005) the relevancy of organizational theory can be improved through focusing on the impact it causes once implemented in a working environment. It is therefore necessary for managers to consider their workers before changing values, beliefs and the culture of the organization. Schein (2004) discussed eleven major categories related with the culture that group members have in common or share. These categories include: Observable behavior when people are interacting between them such as language, customs, and traditions. Group norms such as standards and values between group members. Espoused values that are the principles and values reclaimed by the group. Formal philosophy that includes the policies and principles toward group’ stakeholders. Unwritten rules of the game. The climate that describes the culture in the way in which the organizations’ members interact with others. Embedded skills that describe the culture in terms of the unwritten skills to make things that gets passed through generations. Habits of thinking, models, paradigms, languages, and perceptions between members that are taught to new members. Shared meanings created by members under their understanding. Root metaphors that are the way that characterize the group members. Formal rituals and celebrations that is the way in which group members celebrate key events in the organization. Toyota has been characterized by their Toyota Production System (TPS). Toyoda, father and son, and the engineer Taiichi Ohno created this system as a continuous effort to create products eliminating inconsistencies, overload, and waste. According to Heizer and Render (2009) The Toyota Production System (TPS), has emphasis on continuous improvement, respect for people, and standard work practices. In addition, Toyota has a formal philosophy known as Toyota Way in which they created the policies and principles that guide their group and in certain form they placed their embedded skills gets passed from generation to generation. Toyota has been known as one with good and quality supplies due to its integration with its suppliers and being in a position to investigate the problems that suppliers face. This relationship improves various processes around the organization, which also include time-based manufacturing practices. These processes are well managed through improving the leadership skills whereby leaders should realize that the best way to supervise their workers should not be through command but setting a good example. Workers should also be involved in decision-making processes as this enables them to reveal their weaknesses, which improves organizational behavior (May and Mumby, 2005). 4. Identify the predominant styles of leadership in this organization. Leadership shows the impact of the organizational social structure thus indicating how employees relate with one another around the working environment. The predominant style of leadership in Toyota is participative leadership. Workman (2009) pointed out that Japans management style is participatory and values teamwork. Most Japanese managers think that their workforce are motivated by teamwork seeking opportunities to participate in the management process. Japan’s companies often used Ouchi’s Theory Z in which the subordinates and leaders have a strong and long-term commitment with the organization. When they are part of the organization successful, they feel self-satisfied and develop powerful loyalty towards their company. Another predominant styles of leadership in this organization include emotional intelligence which comprises of the ability to work with others and being effective while undergoing changes in the organization for example a leader who instills a new culture should ensure that every individual in the working environment is familiar with the introduced culture and the leaders should also give people time to adapt to the situation. The authoritative style of leadership is commonly used in this organization where the leader mobilizes people towards achieving a common goal. The leader also sets a good example to the rest by showing them the right direction to follow. Golema (1998) describes that leaders practice self-confidence, empathy and have a positive attitude towards work. This style is mostly used in situations where there are major changes in an organization or where a clear direction needs to be set for the rest to follow. The organization also makes use of the coercive style of leadership. This style demands immediate compliance with the leader and therefore the workers are to be ready for faster changes. This style of leadership is mostly used when the organization is in crisis for example financial or when faced with global competitive market crisis. The style works best in the organization where there is a problem with employees for example reduced turnover or absenteeism. It brings about short-term effects. 5. What are the positive or negative effects of the aspects of culture on organizational performance? Explain your answer. Positive effects Organizational culture has a huge effect on how a firm operates and gains competitive advantage. One of the positive effects is that employees are able to associate themselves with a certain culture that they can call their own. This kind of culture derives prestige which creates some level of self esteem that is good for performance. Toyota has a culture that is a good blend of the East and West which helps to differentiate their employees with those of other firms. Organizational culture assists in ensuring that set goals are achieved. This is possible since many organizational cultures are geared towards making employees know what the company is all about and identify with its subject matter which is its mission and vision. Culture in an organization acts as a form of benchmark where employees are able to match their hard work with the company’s expectations. Culture also helps in influencing employees’ perspectives and attitudes thereby establishing good interpersonal relations among them (Ahls 2001). This creates a good atmosphere that encourages performance. Negative effects Organizational culture in many instances results in a rigid way of doing things. This is dangerous as time and events are dynamic as well as the competitive arena. When a firm remains conservative for long, it tends to lose competitive vigor thereby lowering its performance. Many organizational cultures result in bureaucracy that slows processes and decision making with time. Inflexibility and bureaucracy are enemies to success in organizations and should be avoided at all cost. When managers adopt inflexibility they normally become short sighted leading to ultimate decline in performance. 6. What are the positive or negative effects of leadership on organizational performance? Explain your answer. Leadership has a huge correlation with organizational performance and for more than 3 decades researchers have been trying to capture the extent to which the two affect each other. Leadership however has more influence on organizational performance than many people and researchers had thought. It affects organizational performance both positively and negatively. Positively Leadership offers the direction to follow by spelling out clearly the goals to attain. It is a leader who sets the organizational expectations for all workers in a firm. Leaders from time to time require feedback on performance and the steps taken in order to attain set goals. This way workers work hard in order not to disappoint the leadership of the day thereby encouraging improved organizational performance (Gautschi, 1998). Leaders in other occasions like in the laissez-faire style allow their employees to work according to their set schedules thereby making them feel as part of the organization. This increases employees’ self esteem making them perform better. Negative When a leader becomes obsessed with achievements then they most likely ignore vital issues that underlie employee performance e.g. morale. Employees who have low morale perform less and this can lead to heavy losses for the organization. Dominant leaders receive little if any assistance from managers and other employees which leads to internal sabotage by staff members. Organizations with little coherence in their leadership structure rarely perform to their full potential. 7. Identify other aspects of the organization’s environment that affect performance. There are other factors in an organization that affect performance. One of the factors is individual traits or the ability of an individual to perform a certain duty. The effort that one puts also matters and determines performance. This varies according to the motivation and incentive for example an organization may improve employee’s motivation through increase in salaries or other incentives. Workers who are less motivated tend to perform lowly thus reducing organizational performance. It is important therefore for managers to consider motivational factors. The other factor that would affect performance includes inequality within the organization. This is where some workers may tend to be favored than others thus leading to unequal distribution of a firm’s resources. Such factors affect performance as they lead to inferiority complex therefore reducing the amount of effort put at work. Environmental factors also affect performance of an organization and this would include the use of obsolete facilities or where the resources used are not of high quality especially in the automobile manufacturing. It is importance to ensure that all the accessories are well assembled to avoid poor performance. Cooperation should be maximized in all departments of an organization to ensure better performance. The other factor that would affect performance includes the policies set up within the organization. This includes where Toyota restricts workers from using their own imagination or initiatives, which limit workers’ creativity thus lowering their efforts. The quality of leadership offered to individuals also affects their performance for instance the use of coercive style of leadership where workers are subjected to work under pressure (John et al., 2010). Customer orientation is also seen as a major factor affecting performance. This is where customers fail to receive value for their money, which is one of the most important factors. The organization however over the years has focused on what makes it competitive over other global firms. This focus includes innovation, maintaining a friendly working environment and finally having a competitive culture being understood by every employee. 8. Identify the communication channels within the chosen organization and define any possible communication barriers. The organization uses various communication channels in spreading messages in the working environment. Communication channels are important in the development of an organizational structure. In this organization, the channels of communication follow a hierarchical system where the top management gives directions and communicates to the lower level managers who then communicate the message to the entire firm. Decisions and directions flow from the higher levels to lower ones and so the reports and responses flow upward the organization. To avoid communication barriers it is important to form committees, which serve as a link between the top managers or the decision makers and the other staff. To establish clear and formal communication, the channels should be improved in order to reduce the amount of degradation. The channels used in every firm play a big role, as they should maintain the quality of the original message. If this is not looked into then the staff members will receive the wrong message, which will cause ineffectiveness. It is therefore necessary for the sender to choose a channel that that best guarantees transfer of message and its meaning without distortion of any kind (Gautschi, 1998). To ensure effective relaying of information the message to be communicated should attract the attention of recipients and not to contain redundancy or be repetitive. An attractive message should be different from the usual messages for instance if an organization used typed memos to relay information, a different one would be used e.g. a short handwritten message that will attract the attention of staff members. Rohit et al. (1997) describe that an organization should also differentiate various methods of communication such as formal, informal and unofficial. Formal communication should be limited to that message that transmits goals, directions and policies. Informal communication should be one that links the gaps around the organization and the unofficial or the interpersonal communication should be limited to the social structure of the organization. It is important for management to be continually aware of the barriers to effective communication and take major steps in order to maintain the channels open. The approaches to solving communication problems include maintaining a good relationship, which involves a healthy superior-subordinate relationship. Managers should also avoid overlooking the importance of a decision made by a subordinate, as it would be of major importance to the firm. Channels of communication should not be clogged thus distorting the original message. Managers should also ensure that they give more information to the subordinates as this brings about the feeling of confidence and security (Vassallo, 2003). 9. What are your recommendations to the board of directors to increase organization performance and effectiveness? The following are some of the factors that improve organizational behavior. One is maintaining espoused values that support investments in working facilities and values that facilitate creativity and innovation thus resulting to time-based manufacturing. The second factor is being supportive to employees and considering their decisions as this improves their morale and attitude towards work. The third factor shows that organizational behavior can be improved through coming up with global decisions that will secure a competitive advantage for the Company globally. It is also important to work on leadership skills where workers should be approached with dignity and not necessarily through a command and control approach (Goleman, 2000). To increase organizational performance and effectiveness, the board of directors should aim at changing various aspects in the organization. One is that the employees should be respected to enable them improve their efforts. Employees must feel as part of the firm and should be involved in decision-making processes. Corporate culture should also be maintained to improve flexibility. To avoid communication barriers, efforts should focus on the flow of information and not on its quantity. Free flow of information is necessary in every firm as it improves effectiveness thus improved performance. Other factors that managers should consider is to improve customer satisfaction as this improves market share thus enabling the firm to have a competitive advantage. References Ahls, B. (2001). Organizational behavior: A model for cultural change. Industrial Management, 43(4), 6. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing Organizations. (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Bowditch, J.L., Buono, F., & Stewart, M. (2008). A primer on organizational behavior. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Fortune. (2010). Global 500. Retrieved July 12, 2010, from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2010/ Francesco, A.M., Gold, B.C. (2005). International organizational behavior (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Heizer, J., & Render, B. (2009). Operations management (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Schein, E.H. (2004).Organizational culture and leadership (3rd ed.). [Electronic version]. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Schermerhorn, J.R., Hunt, J.G., Osborn, R.N. (2008). Organizational behavior. [Electronic version]. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Toyota. (2010). Toyota in the world 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010, from http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/about_toyota/in_the_world/pdf2010/databook_en_2010.pdf Workman, D. (2009). Japanese culture leadership style: Participative leaders in Japan exemplify theory z managers. Retrieved January 4, 2011, from http://www.suite101.com/content/japanese-culture-leadership-style-a50336 Read More