Organizational Behavior and Communication - Assignment Example

Organizational Behavior and Communication The behavior of employees within any organization is a vital component in determining both short term successes and long term sustainability. Organizations have been around for several millennia and over the centuries have assumed a monolithic personification in themselves, but no organization is really anything more than a mere collection of individuals who must all work together toward a unified purpose. The behavior of employees throughout the hierarchical structure is administered by a set of rules and regulations that can vary from loosely organized and obeyed to strictly followed with discipline. The behavioral culture of any organization is fashioned in large part by the commonality of the separate individuality of each separate employee as well as each division. Organizational behavior engage the study of how these employees operate and perform, concentrating on practices that can create a distinction in the way employees adjust to and execute their mission. Organizational behavior changes the focus of management towards job satisfaction and involvement, commitment to the organization, and actual task performance measures. Ethics is an important element as it is vital for organizations to exhibit a commitment to instilling ethical behavior. Ethical behavior in the arena of decision-making can be complex, and so it is important that a code of ethics be strictly defined, as well as the establishment of a fair disciplinary system for those who violate the ethical standards. It is just as vital that leadership also develop a procedure to reward employees when they have been recognized for exhibiting positive ethical behaviors. It is also essential that employees be involved in the process of identifying ethical issues and creating a means of addressing them when they are both violated and followed. In the arena of ethical decision making, the criteria used to classify the values that motivate the concept of ethics must also be considered. Moral behavior is involved in choosing problems as well as choosing who should be involved, approximating the impact of substitution. It is paramount that everyone in the organization understands that ethical conduct does not arrive as a result of being revealed as a violator of the already-in-place code. Organizational culture is made up of the values and beliefs that manipulate and persuade employee behavior. Diversity is the individual disparities that exist within members of an organization and is most readily based on external factor such as gender, race, age, and sexual orientation. An organization with a sturdy culture typically is very respectful of the diversity of its workforce, but only if it functions with a vision of the future that is sustained by the culture of organization. This is accomplished through rapid response to not just internal, but also any external issues that threaten the cohesiveness of that culture and that diversity. The external functions reference the ways that an organization achieves its goals and cooperates with external organizations, while internal functions are in reference to the ways that the employees evolve and learn to interact with each one another. Most of today’s organizations are multicultural behemoths that place a high value on diversity and subcultures into consideration. In order to make diversity a valid and working organism, management must treat it as one of the elemental focuses of the organization. Diversity needs to become part of the organizational line of attack and management must be held accountable. Therefore, it is essential that management focus on the abilities of employees. The behavior, culture and diversity within an organization occur as a direct result of both verbal and non-verbal communication within that organization. Good communication is a vital key to the success of any organization. Communication is dependent on individual perceptions, however. Whether two workers are an example of wide diversity, or whether they are nearly identical in external factors, they can also have conflicting perceptions, viewing the exact same situation in vastly different ways. For instance, one person might view more responsibilities as a work overload that seeks to take advantage of their powerlessness, while another may view it as a sign of confidence in their abilities. The potential for perceptive divergences to create problems is multiple and can be ignited by anything from an interoffice communique to a performance review. Resentment and conflict also occurs within the various hierarchies of an organization, such as when one particular department is thought to be receiving privilege over another. Demographics is partly associated with diversity, but not exclusively. A homogeneous group of employees could made up of people from similar demographics but vastly diverse cultural backgrounds. Communication is typically helped by these similarities because it is the result of people who have created associations naturally. In a group, being able to relate to each other on a cultural or demographic level is unquestionably advantageous. Accordingly, there is usually a deficit in the ability of a group to offer assorted perspectives and originality. A heterogeneous team is the reverse of a homogeneous team, consisting of people who do not share similar demographics and cultural backgrounds. With a diverse group working together, they are capable of offering diverse opinions. It is less important that a consensus be reached than that they have the space to approach things creatively. At the same time, this can also result in numerous delays and decreased productivity in the initial phases of a team’s development. However, once these variances are worked through, the team is able to establish itself as a working organism, dedicated to working together towards a common objective. Successful teams are capable of making the most of the diversity and demographics in their group structure. Communication is the most important tool of organizational behavior. Communication within an organization must always be open and honest in order to create a strong organizational culture. The communication channel chosen impacts the communication process. The formal channels of communication are face-to-face meetings and written correspondence. The informal channels of communication are e-mail, online discussions and by phone. The communication channel chosen varies by the people involved and the situation. Organizational communication can be downward, upward, or lateral. Downward communication is used to achieve influence and follows the chain of command within an organization. Upper management uses downward communication to provide feedback and direction to lower-level employees. Upward communication is used to inform. Lower-level employees communicate with upper management to inform management about their needs, ideas, or suggestions. Lateral communication is used to coordinate information across the organization. This communication is used to respond to internal and external customers. The discipline of organizational behavior focuses on identifying and administrating the outlook and actions of individuals and groups, in particular the way people can be motivated to unite with and then remain in the organization, how to get people to practice effective teamwork, how people can accomplish their jobs more efficiently, and how employees can be encouraged to be more flexible and innovative. Attention is brought to these attitudes and actions in order to help managers identify problems, determine how to correct them, and change behavior so that individual performance and ultimately organization effectiveness increase. Read More