Organizations and Organizational Behavior - Case Study Example

Name Course Instructor Date Table of contents Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………….3 Background of Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology………………………………..3 Causes of the problems……………………………………………………………………………4 Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………………………….7 Recommendations ………………………………………………………………………………..8 Reference list ……………………………………………………………………………………10 Organisations and organisational behaviours Introduction Organisations vary from one to other and in terms of their areas of specialisation. The culture of an organisation plays a critical role in the way process run as well as behaviors of stakeholders. Values, assumptions, norms and attitudes usually manifest through symbols developed by the members and adopted through shared experiences that determine the meaning of the world and the things that organisations believe in. This paper is an analysis of various aspects that relates to Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology. The paper as well incorporates relevant organisational theories in the analysis. It as well the causes of key problems the organisation faces and provides recommendation of appropriate ways of solving these problems. Background of Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology The organisation established in 1970 is a multi-campus educational institution serves the students of Toronto and the surrounding municipalities (McLennan, 2013). In its formative year, it had low level of student enrollment. However, its enrolment has increased progressively. In 1991, it had more than 38,000 students on both full time and part time basis (McLennan, 2013). The institution provides a range of programmes to its students. Like any other organisation, it has a culture summarized in its mission statement. It is committed to training and educating of students to enhance their effectiveness at their workplace and quality of life. It therefore endeavors to provide all round students that will take part in social responsibility and lifelong learning. Regardless of increase in enrollment and expansion, it experienced some challenges relating to employee relations that affected its operations. The level of employee job satisfaction decreased to substantial levels hence requiring amicable solutions. Causes of the problems Different problems that organisations face are due to different causes better explained and illustrated by various organisational behaviors. The behaviors or the way an organisation responds to issues and relates with its stakeholders, partners differ, and this is sometimes the reasons that contribute to the problems these entities face. From this case, it is evident that Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology has had numerous problems that have threatened to affect its service provision. One of the key problems the organisation has faced is lack of employee job satisfaction. Employees have had to go on strike because of lack of job satisfaction (McLennan, 2013). The relationship between the management and the workers is ailing and this has left a gap causing this dissatisfaction. Some of the reasons for job dissatisfaction include faculty response in applying for promotional positions, poor work hours relations with the colleges and poor volunteer rate for college committees, external liaising and graduation ceremonies (McLennan, 2013). The other key problem is degraded quality of work life situations as most employees have feelings of mistrust, distrust, anger and hopelessness. In the survey conducted in 1991, it is apparent that most of employees felt that Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology had not given a priority to their career development (McLennan, 2013). The interest of Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology in their career is low and it therefore seems not to provide motivation in this regard. The level of satisfaction is also low. Employees need to have a sense of self-satisfaction for them to remain dedicated and work hard towards achievement of the organisations goals. The other areas of concern are the breakdown in communication between the top and the low-level staffs. In an organisation, there is need to ensure that the management communicates with the subordinates to ensure that they all move at the same page (Doh & Quigley, 2014). Planning on the various aspects in an organisation without communicating with stakeholders will not have any impact on the attitudes of workers. Organisational theories are a representation of concepts that aid companies to create better management practices. Therefore, entities are able to create structures suitable for various activities to ensure that they achieve their objectives (Spector, 2008). Considerable number of theories explains these key problems experienced by Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology. One of the theories of organisational behaviors that explain some of the causes of these problems is the system theory that acknowledges the fact the entities are complex and goal oriented. Even though an institution is individual, it is made up of interrelated pieces that make it a whole (Doh & Quigley, 2014). Therefore, this explains why a small change in one of the department is likely to affect the entire organisation. In the case of Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology, breakdown of communication problem is explained by this system theory. The administration, supervisors, support must be able to work together to ensure that the problem of communication breakdown is solved. Managers have a responsibility to communicate the plans to the stakeholders. It is also important for the subordinates to have an opportunity to air their views and provide feedback. The problem of salaries and benefits arose due to lack of cooperation among various departments in the organisation. Contingency theory is yet another behavioral theory that explains the cause of the problems experienced by Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology. The theory postulate that there is no best way that an entity can be organized or lead or make decisions without experiencing challenges (Battilana & Casciaro, 2012).This therefore implies that decision-making styles and leadership styles even though effective they may not be appropriate in certain situations. Hence, explains reasons that could have contributed to problems such as strikes and poor communication. The leadership of the organisation did not understand the best approaches to communicate its plans which contributed to its challenges (Doh & Quigley, 2014). The size of the organisation may have contributed to some of the problems experienced in the company. A belief that conflicts in an organisation are inevitable may have contributed to laxity in taking decisions with seriousness it deserved. The strike could not have occurred if the management had taken an initiative to address the grievances of the workers in good time. Scientific management is yet another organisation theory that explains the cause of the problems experience. This theory developed by Fredrick Taylor focus on productivity and efficiency. Because of lack of job satisfaction, workers could not be productive. Employees used the strike as one way to express their dissatisfaction (Janicijevic, 2012). There is no emphasis that Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology has placed on training and development of its workers. Furthermore, the level of cooperation and relationship between workers and managers is not appropriate leading to these changes, therefore, Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology has done little to ensure that its employees are motivated. When employees are motivated, their level of dedication and productivity is also likely to be higher and vice versa. Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology can motivate its employees in different ways. . One is to ensure that it rewards them well and provided conducive working conditions. Furthermore, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory explains why Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology has encountered these problems. Employees in an organisation require different kinds of needs at certain stages in their employment and life. They need physiological needs such as food, clothing and good pay, they also need safety needs such as security, the third needs on the hierarchy of need they require is love and sense of belonging, fourth is esteem and lastly is self actualization. The strike was as result of these needs. The working condition was not conducive to some of them. Only a few in the stop management access good perks, allowances and holiday allowances. Majority are not provided with these needs. They also feel that they lack a sense of belonging as well as self-actualization. Most of them lack an opportunity to further their studies and this therefore affects their performance since they are not satisfied at their jobs. The perception of unfairness in terms of benefits as explained by equity theory developed by Stacy Adams also is a cause to the problems experienced by Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology. Relational satisfaction in terms of perceptions of unfair/fair distribution of resources triggers employees to seek ways of maintaining equity between them. In Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology, some of the employees enjoy high degree of job security, excellent paid vacation, and holiday schedule, competitive and complete benefit packages as opposed to a section. Therefore, these unbalances in the rewards and benefits triggered those that received less to strike and demand better working conditions and pay. Conclusion Understanding behaviors of organisations is critical in ensuring that various issues are handled well. Organisation as systems is a complex entity with various departments that work together for common goals. This means that there is high tendency to encounter challenges and conflicts. The culture or actions dictate the kind of behaviors and actions of human capital. Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology, one of the largest learning institutions in Toronto has encountered various challenges such as employee relations, lack of job satisfaction, and poor communication among many others. Various organisational theories such as system, equity, contingency and scientific management explains the causes of these challenges. It is therefore prudent for Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology to ensure that it put in place good leadership to help transform the organisation. Employees should be provided with conducive working environment, for them to increase their job satisfaction that culminates to increased productivity. Down to top communication should as well be encouraged to ensure that employees take part in the decision making process. Recommendation to solve problem These problems require amicable solutions to ensure that Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology continues to serve and meets its objectives. There are various ways that Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology can solve these problems and avoid them in future. One of the ways is to adopt initiatives that will change the attitudes and perceptions of the workers. The workers need to feel a sense of belonging and worth even as they provide their services to the organisation. The company therefore should endeavor to meet their demands to enable them work hard and remain dedicated to the organisation mission and objectives (Doh & Quigley, 2014). The organisation should provide better working conditions for employees. They need rewards and opportunities for promotion. They also need to be given an opportunity to advance in their training to achieve self-actualization. These will enable them believe that there is fairness and equity in the way the organisation carries out its operations. Another recommendation is to make adjustments in their top leadership. The leader of the Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology should be transformational leaders to promote participatory leadership. The leaders will involve people views in their leadership something that is going to impact positively on the progress of the organisation. There is also need for the management to ensure that there is flow of communication in the organisation. Activities that take place at the top management of the organisation should be communicated to the lower management. Communication channels such as notices and memos, magazines and brochures need application for all the people to remain in touch with the short and long-term initiatives. Policies and procedures should as well be communicated from top down for the staffs to be acquainted. Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology should also allow employees to raise their views and opinions. This will enhance cordial relationship between the managers and the staffs hence create cordial working relationship. Newton College of Applied Arts and Technology should also provide management training for e employees to ensure that they can work together to achieve the objectives set. Employees need sponsor to further their academics. Another recommendation is to motivate employees through promotions, rewards and encouragement for their achievements as a way to motivate them to be satisfied with their jobs. These recommendations require good implementation to ensure that the organisation moves forward and such instances do not occur again. All stakeholders should take part in the operation of the organisation. Communication should be open to avoid any instances of misunderstanding. Reference list Battilana, J., & Casciaro, T., 2012. Change Agents, Networks, and Institutions: A Contingency Theory of Organisational Change. Academy of Management Journal, 55(2), pp. 381-398. Doh, J., & Quigley, N., 2014. Responsible leadership and stakeholder management: influence pathways and organisational outcomes. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(3), pp. 255-274. Janicijevic, N., 2012. The impact of organisational culture on control of behavior in organisations. Economic Themes, 50(3), pp. 289-308. McLennan, R., 2013. Cases in Organisational Behaviour. London, Routledge Spector, P.E., 2008. Industrial and Organisational Behavior (5th ed.). Wiley: Hoboken, NJ. Read More