International Dimension of Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

International Dimension of Organizational Behavior Introduction Our lives are basically centered upon different organizational structures which tend to play major roles in shaping up our lives. Hospitals, schools, work places and even families are but a few examples of organizational structures. In order to understand how organizations influence our lives, Organizational Behavior is a key aspect that needs to be appreciated. This paper presents the concepts and explanations of both Organizational Behavior as well as those of the International Organizational Behaviors and their importance within different organizations as the world constantly evolves to break the boundaries that once existed between different cultures so as to improve on the effectiveness of different organizations. Organizational Behavior According to (Ashkanasy 2012) organizational behavior is an investigative study on how individuals and groups behave within an organization. The purpose of such knowledge is to ensure an improvement in the effectiveness of different organizations. Ashkanasy (2012) further describes organizational behavior as knowledge application and study about the behavior of humans in relation to several other organizational elements such as social system, structure and technology. Due to the rapid evolution of the world into a global village, companies around the world not only seek to employ workers from a limited geographical proximity, they also tend to get them from all over the world, which brings with it racial and cultural diversity in the workplace. It is with this respect that the concept of international organizational behavior comes out vividly (Kinicki & Kreither 2008). Though many companies may boost about the diversity of their employees’ cultural backgrounds, it comes with numerous responsibilities to ensure an efficient practice of organizational behaviors (Osland et al. 2006). Similar to Organizational Behavior, International Organizational Behavior also focuses on how individuals and groups behave in an organizational setup. The only major difference as described by Adler & Gundersen (2007) is that International Organizational Behavior involves a wider scope of cultural divides. According to Ivancevich et al. (2002), the critical need for International Organizational Behavior is caused by the fact that different organizations are becoming increasingly oriented towards a team structure in order to cope with flexibility as well as responsiveness to the environment that is always undergoing constant change. Ivancevich et al. (2002) further explain that a team structure in an organization is essential in ensuring extensive idea sharing which sees many organizations embracing the structure and hence improved performance. In order to explain more on the concept of International Organizational Behavior, Ashkanasy (2012) goes ahead and states several fields contributing to International Organizational Behavior; Based on his research Hashim et al. (2008) found that psychology, political science, sociology, social science and anthropology make up International Organizational Behavior. Psychology can be described as a science that tries to give an explanation to the behavior of humans in a particular situation and predict their individual action. On the other hand sociology as a discipline attempts to explain how groups are affected by culture. Kinicki & Kreither (2008) considers sociology as an important field in International Organizational Behavior because many organizations are embracing team work. Anthropology on the other hand is the study that tries to explain how groups and individuals are affected by activities in various cultures and different environmental frame works. The study is essential to International Organizational Behavior as many organizations are focusing on team work making it essential to learn how to handle people from different cultural backgrounds. According to Francesco & Gold (2004), Political Science has played a major role as a field in International Organizational Behavior. For an organization to operate as efficiently as possible, political stability is considered as one of the major factors that may influence its operations. Political stability enables organization to invest financially and make any necessary expansions. Political Science goes ahead to enlighten organizations on the various rules that govern organizations to ensure organizational growth. Combining both sociology and psychology, an important aspect of International Organizational Behavior known as Social Psychology is achieved (Adler & Gundersen 2007). Social Psychology plays a major role in an organization since it has seen a great improvement in the human’s behavior. In order for leaders to ensure efficient performance of their employees in organizations, they have to ensure they are in a better position to describe, understand as well as predict and eventually control the employees’ behaviors within that organization (Schermerhon et al. 2008). Leaders should be able to describe the attitudes and behaviors of their workforce as well as what causes an employee to behave in a certain manner. Through closer interaction with their workforce, leaders are able to predict on the performance of their workforce. As a result of various organizational leaders embracing International Organizational Behaviors, they are able to ensure efficient organizational management. Osland et al. (2006) found that due to the diversity of employees’ backgrounds in an organization as a result of integrating workers from different cultures around the world, enforcing a standard organizational behavior will not ensure organizational efficiency. It is with this respect that organizations have to make exception in their organizational behaviors so as to provide a universal platform application. According to Hashim et al. (2008), leaders of various organizations will professionally apply their knowledge on International Organisational Behavior in order to ensure efficiency of the workforce that is employed from around different divides. Conclusion With the constant changes being witnessed in the world in the process of becoming a global village and with the various barriers being bridged, different organizations are outsourcing workers from different parts of the world. Employees from different regions have diverse cultural backgrounds which drives different organization s not only to embrace Organizational Behaviors but to embrace a much wider behavior understanding which is termed as International Organizational Behavior. Since International Organizational Behavior seeks to understand the behaviors of different individuals from across diverse cultures, organizations are able to ensure efficient operations and ensure a productive team work due to a better understanding of how to appreciate and manage a competent workforce References Francesco A. and Gold B. (2004). International Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Schermerhon J. R., Hunt J. G. and Osborn R. N. (2008). Organizational Behavior. New Jersey: Wiley Publishers. Adler N. J., Gunderssen A. (2007). International Dimension of Organizational Behavior. Boston: South-Western College Publishers. Kinicki A. and Kreither R. (2008). Organizational Behavior: Key concepts, Skills & Best Practices. Canada: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Osland J. S., Kolb D. A, Rubin I. M. and Turner M. A. (2006). Organizational Behavior: An Experimental Approach. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Konoske R., Donnolley J., Ivancevich J. and Gibson J. (2002). Organizations: Behavior, Structure, Processes. Canada: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Hashim J., Wok S. and Ghazali R. (2008). Organizational behavior associated with emotional contagion among direct selling members. An International Journal, Vol 2, Iss 3, pp.144-158 Lingham T. and Dolan S. L. (2008). Fundamentals of International Organizational Behaviour. London: Chandos Publishing (Oxford) Snaplms (2012), Introduction to International Organizational Behavior, viewed on 14th August 2012 at < https://www.snaplms.com/reader/web.html/introtoob/chapter1/> Organizational behavior (2012), International Organizational Behavior, viewed on 13th August 2012 at < http://www.org-behavior.com/international-organizational-behavior.php> University of South Queensland (2008), International Organizational Behavior. International Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol 13 Issue 1 Pearsons (2010), International Organizational Behavior, viewed on 13th August 2012 at < http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_francesco_iob_2/24/6317/1617210.cw/index.html > Punnet B. (2009). International Perspectives on Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. New York: M.E.Sharpe McShane S. and Glinow M. V. (2009). Organizational Behavior. Canada: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Lane H. W., Maznevski M., Deetz J. and DiStefano J. ( 2009). International Management Behavior: Leading with a Global Mindset. New Jersey: Wiley Publishers. Read More