Organizational Behavior as one of the Essential Elements of Management - Essay Example

Management essay Organizational behavior is one of the essential elements of management. It relates to the knowledge of how people act in an organization and effects of such actions on organizational processes. Organizational behavior tools such as reward, appraisal, empowerment, motivation and commitment are examples of factors that influence peoples’ actions in organizational set ups. This paper explores four articles that relate to the organizational behavior tools.The article, “What should we do about motivation theory?

Six recommendations for the twenty first century,” as was authored Locke and Latham offers recommendations to facilitate development of motivational theories. With both its internal and external aspects, motivation is instrumental to employees’ choices, level of input and persistence in applying efforts on a particular activity towards success. The recommendations on developing motivational theories are based on the assumption that existing theories are less effective in motivating employees.

The first recommendation is application of results from existing analyses in developing a basis for new theories. This is because while existing theories may have weaknesses and limitations, they may hold some level of validity and identified convergence of theories from Meta analyses establishes ground for their application in developing new theories. Another recommendation is elimination of virtual boundaries in organizations that creates barriers to sharing of resources and information. The elimination of boundaries should further be achieved, on developing theories, by not restricting theories to activities or departments.

Further, indicator variables of general and particular motivation types should be understood. An understanding of the involved motivation is also necessary together with identification of the role of dynamism in human behavior. The article therefore establishes a new approach to developing motivational theories for effective application (Locke and Latham, 2004).Hendry, Woodward, Bradley, and Perkins also identify the need for a change in understanding aspects of “reward and performance” (n.d., p. 1). They establish a new approach to understanding performance, its aspects, measurability, and approach to its improvement.

The authors for example identify inefficiency in the traditional accounting approach to measuring performance. They also identify dynamism in the corporate world that has demonstrated necessity of measuring performance as well as core principles for measurement. The article also associates performance with employees’ capacity, relationships between employees and supervisors and different rewards approaches. It also demonstrates significance of measurement in developing goals and it argues that the main objective of reward should be motivation and relations, and performance is secondary (Hendry, Woodward and Bradley, n.d.).

The observation by Hendry, Woodward, Bradley, and Perkins that motivation and relations are significant factors to performance is supported by Sider’s research. Sider and co authors’ research to investigate the relationship between commitment and performance established, contrary to previous publications, that commitment to different factors of an organization is directly related to attributable level of performance to those factors. The research results for example established significance of commitment to organization, performance, and customers to sales, performance that are appreciated by the organization and performances that are not recognized by the organization respectively (Sider, George and Dharwadkar, 2001).

Guthrie’s research article however explores a wider scoped “high-involvement work practices” and its relationship with employee mobility and performance (2001, p. 1). With motivation as one of the elements of the practices, the research establishes, in consistence with findings in the United States, that employee mobility influences performance. In the presence of ‘high-involvement work practices,’ high level of turnover reduces performance while it increases performance in the absence of ‘high-involvement work practices’ (Guthrie, 2001).

ConclusionThe articles therefore identify significance of organizational behavior tools as determinants of performance. Reference listGuthrie, J 2001, ‘High-involvement work practices, turnover, and productivity: Evudence from New Zealand’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 44, No. 1, viewed 13 November 13, 2012, (Electronic). Hendry, C Woodward, S Bradley, P and Perkins n.d., ‘Performance and rewards: Cleaning out the stables’ Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3, viewed 13 November 13, 2012, (Electronic).

Locke, E and Latham, G 2004, ‘What should we do about motivation theory? Six recommendations for the twenty first century’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 29, No. 3, viewed November 13, 2012, (Electronic). Sider, M George, G and Dharwadkar, R 2001, ‘The relationship of internal and external commitment foci to objective job performance measures’, Vol. 44, No. 3, viewed 13 November 13, 2012, (Electronic).