An Exploration of the Elements of Organisation Behavior within a Fire and Fire services Context - Term Paper Example

Organization Behavior Paper Title An Exploration to the Elements of Organisation Behavior and How They Interact within a Fire and Fire services Context Paper Outline a) Introduction The paper begins with an introduction into the concept of organisation behavior, its meaning, dynamics and relevance in contemporary organizations. The introduction also gives a brief structure of the paper and how the argument has been structured. b) The Context of Organisation Behavior This section of the paper gives an examination of the organizational context with a specific consideration of relationships existing between internal organizational structures and external environmental factors. c) Role of Internal Publics in Organisation Behavior This section of the paper gives an analysis of the role of individuals and teams within organizations limiting the scope of consideration to learning, communication, perception, motivation, group formation and team work issues within the context of an organisation. d) Role Definition in Organisation Behavior In this section, the paper gives an explanation of how roles are defined in organizations and how these roles are determined by organizational design, structure, culture and strategy. e) Relevance of Organisation Development This section of the paper contains an assessment of organizational development as played out in organizational change, culture and conflict. f) Relevance of Organisation Management In this section, the paper gives an appraisal of organizational management as depicted by decision-making, conflict, power and politics management incidences within the organisation. g) Conclusion A brief conclusion finally ties together the argument on how the elements of organisation behavior interrelate to form a comprehensive behavior of that organisation and how each element is important. Introduction Organizational behaviour refers to the systematic study and deliberate application of managerial and psychological knowledge of individuals within an organisation and how these people interact and act within the organisation both as groups and as individuals. Organisation behavior refers to how individuals in the organisation behave individually and as a collective group such that both as an individual and as a member of the organisation, each person knows how to act in certain circumstances (Adler, 1991, pp. 117 – 129). All publics of an organisation, internal and external, prescribe to the organisation behavior. This paper attempts to describe pertinent organisation behavior issues using fire and rescue services as a case study of an organisation. It seeks to establish how both theory and case study consensus agree on the organizational context as exhibited relationships between the organization’s internal structures and the external environmental factors relevant to its operations. The paper goes on to analyze the role individuals and groups/teams play within organizations in such areas as communication, learning, perception, group formation, motivation and team work. After this, the paper attempts to describe how roles within organizations are defined and how these roles are determined by the culture, design, structure and strategy of that organisation. Further, the paper reviews organizational development concerns as exhibited by responses to change, conflict and culture. Before drawing a tenable conclusion, the paper also gives an appraisal of the role of organizational management in such concerns as decision-making, politics, conflict and power management and how each affects organizational behavior. The Context of Organisation Behavior An organisation does not exist in isolation. It stands within a context, an environment. The term environment refers to the interrelation of elements existing in the world that lies outside a person or organisation and which in the course of interaction trigger a particular behavior (Adler, 1991, pp. 117 – 129). For managers of an organisation, an important aspect while considering the environment of an organization is the relationships holding between the structures that make up that organisation and the external factors that accrue from or influence the core operations of that organisation. As such, the study of an organizational behavior it is important to understand that individuals within and without the organization only behave the way they do because of the influence the internal structures and external environment factors influence them to. London Fire Brigade for instance is the largest fire and rescue services in UK with 24 hours programs to ensure the capital is always safe from fires and related emergencies. The organisation has 4 core departments namely operational policy and training, corporate services, fire and community safety and the resources departments. All operations are directed and standardized by the operations policy and training and how this department works affects the entire organisation. So too does the organisation department. If a culture is developed in which these four departments work as a team, each doing its best to serve its mandate and then each helping the other to achieve its mandate, the organisation behavior of team work; responsibility and delivery will accrue. However, if all departments work excellently and then the trainees who graduate are not aptly trained, all the other departments will not achieve their mandate (Newstrom & Davis, 1993, pp. 344). The point here is that the organisation behavior of London Fire Brigade like any other organization is dependent on the internal structures of that organisation and how effectively they can work independently and then in team work to build a comprehensive output. It is important here that the organizations be accurately regarded as a network of system shaped and structured in a way that best provides for maximal performance and productivity. A fire department must include structural systems that allow it to respond to emergencies pre-emptively and reactively through a network of sub-systems. In this, Cohen, Fink, Gadon and Willits (2001. pp. 96.) says that organizational behavior accrues from the systems that help an organization operate effectively and which exist both as mutually interdependent units and as cohesive elements forming one whole. Again, if the city of London was plagued by fire disasters and related emergencies for an year, completely overwhelming the city’s fire services department and stretching government’s expenditure to a maximum, the internal structure would not be sufficient. Such an external environment (what is happening in the outside of an organisation but has a direct impact to the organisation) can have an impact in the organizational behavior depicted by the fire brigade. That is why the London Fire Brigade also includes a very proactive department concerned with educating, sensitizing and monitoring the public on fire prevention, management and emergency procedures. The public, or what happens outside the organisation such as growing number of domestic fires, must be addressed since they also affect the organisation behavior. The London Fire Brigade has been applauded in the way they relate with the public in fire prevention and reaction education. The organisation has crafted a very amicable behavior as depicted by the environment in which it thrives and operates. In considering the external environment Katz and Kahn (1978, pp. 219 - 292) says that am organization must be thought of a social system whose behaviors and attitudes are visible in how it relates with those publics outside the organisation but who have an interest in that organisation. i.e. Exemplified by how the London public relates with the brigade in as much as fires are concerned. Role of Internal Publics in Organisation Behavior In the foregoing section, the paper detailed how an organisation must be thought of as a system. This system adopts the energy of individuals in the organisation and translates it into a singular pattern of actions (behavior) that ultimately produces the useful output targeted at by the objectives of that organisation. The organizational culture is best illustrated by how individuals and teams are assigned roles within that organisation. As a social system, an organisation must formulate, regulate and constantly modify its behaviors as depicted by the way it operates in the context of its environment (Newstrom & Davis, 1993, pp. 344). This form of behavior is crafted out of policies, missions, values, rules, leadership styles and other operating behavior that originates from each individual in the organization until it becomes a uniform behavior characteristic of the organisation at large. However, as much as individuals must be assigned roles in their job description, they must also function well within the teams in which their mandate is executed. That team must also have leadership structure, means of communication and an authority chain. Another important facet of individuals and teams in an organisation is the level of motivation that is featured by individual employees. If each employee is motivated towards higher performance, teams perform better and the vice versa also holds true. Now, how individuals relate with each other in team settings, how teams are managed, the communication channels open to the individual while in a respective team, the level of motivation existing in individuals and thus in teams and the model structure of teams are all part of the organizational behavior. Experts call these elements the group dynamics of organizational behavior. These are elements that determine how organizations perform in the final analysis. Role Definition in Organisation Behavior Individuals only work best when they are assigned duty positions within particular teams and then given a vertical and horizontal structure to relate with each other in. It is important that each individual learns what his or her job detail is and be able to serve that detail in the context of a team. When every individual knows what he or she is expected to do and is given that space to do it the best way he or she can, that is called role definition and separation. Role definition and separation is a great trigger of high motivation levels in employees for the simple reason that employees feel important to the team and to the organisation at large. When an individual knows what to do and judges that what he or she does is important, he or she tends to be motivated in getting his role done, especially if the organization’s reward systems recognize and commend performance (Gary, 2006, pp. 386–408). In most cases, roles are defined and separated based on the organisation design, structure, culture and strategy. For instance, the objectives prioritized by an organisation determine who gets assigned which responsibilities. There is a way that things are always done in an organisation (its culture) and that is what determines how roles are assigned to individuals. In a fire and rescue services organisation, there are some responsibilities assigned only to team leaders. Relevance of Organisation Development The behavior of an individual in an organization can only be understood from the context in which such an individual operates. Organizations are simply a collection of people engaged in interdependent relationships. This understanding helps us understand how attitudes of an individual, actions and reactions of the individual and the way that individual operates on a daily basis helps form the organisation culture ultimately (Gary, 2006, pp. 386–408). The ability to adapt to changes helps organizations to survive. Yet it is not the organisation that accepts changes, but the individuals in the organisation. In other words, changes are accepted or resisted in an organisation based on how individuals feel threatened or excited by those changes. If the individuals are made to understand the changes and their relevance (remember that humans always oppose what they do not understand) and when such individuals are made to see how the changes will positively affect their lives (ignorance leads to protectionist and self preservation strategies that are uncalled for), the organist ion can easily embrace the changes. Finally, organization behavior also encompasses how conflicts between individuals and between individuals in the organization or between the individuals and the organization are handled. Organisation behavior extends to the frameworks of addressing grievances, punishing offenders, ensuring a hospitable environment for all individuals and protecting their rights. Relevance of Organisation Management An organisation is as good as its management since the management is the heart beat of every organisation. The ability of the management to recruit the motivation of employees, channel this motivation towards the organizations objectives, determine ideal values and policies to safeguard the interests of all parties and still be able to strategize on future outlooks that the organisation must adapt to, it requires a very dynamic team of management (Likert, 1961, pp. 23). A core trait of a good management and which helps establish a positive organizational behavior is fast, precise and standardized decision making channels based on sound policies already formulated in the organisation. If the decision making frameworks are reliably standardized and comprehensive, the management’s job becomes easier since they have a blue print to always fall back to. This is especially important when it comes to conflict management. How well conflicts are handled (formally or informally) affect the ultimate organisation behavior. That behavior of the management can help curb sexual harassment by building conflict management structures or help perpetuate it by ignoring its existence, just as an example. It is important that an organisation has a firm structure detailing the power distribution and authority centers so that politics in the organisation are reduced if not eliminated. Organist ions usually cripple under the weight of politics especially in succession scenarios. When the channels of attaining seniority are clear in an organisation, individuals behave in accordance to those stipulated channels and thus avoid politics (Weisbord, 1992, pp. 303 – 313). Conclusion Modern mangers know that the people within their organisation can either break or make their organisation. It has thus become critical that managers understand human behavior as part of their managerial responsibility so that they can create impetus for the development of profitable behaviors in their organisation. Such knowledge on behavior becomes very useful when selecting, recruiting and training employees, when increasing employee motivation, when improving decision making practices, when reducing worker stress and even when enhancing the teamwork dynamics of the organisation (Weisbord, 1992, pp. 303 – 313). While managers cannot be professional psychologists, they need to understand the sound principles of organisation behavior if at all they will pilot their organizations to success in the 21st Century. References Adler, N., 1991, International dimensions of organizational behavior, PWS-Kent, Boston. pp. 117 – 129. Cohen, A, et al, 2001, Effective behavior in organizations: Cases, concepts, and student experiences, McGraw-Hill Irwin, Boston. pp. 96. Gary, Johns, 2006, The Essential Impact of Context on Organizational Behavior, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 31, (2), 386–408.  Katz, D., and Kahn, R., 1978, The social psychology of organizations, Wiley, New York. pp. 219 - 292 Likert, R., 1961, New Patterns of Management, McGraw-Hill, New York. pp. 23 Newstrom, J. & Davis, K., 1993, Organization Behavior: Human Behavior at Work, McGraw-Hill, New York. pp. 344 Weisbord, Marvin, 1992, Organizational Diagnosis: A Workbook of theory and Practice, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. pp. 303 – 313. Read More