Orgnizational behiviour and Human Resources - Dissertation Example

? Address (MM/DD/YYYY) Respected(to whom it may concern) My is …..and am a resident of …... At present, I am working towards completing my degree in (your subject) from (University). Through this letter, I wish to express my desire to pursue the (program name) at the (name of the university). I sincerely hope that my academic records and other co-curricular achievements will facilitate in the process of gaining admission in your university. I came to know of the (program name) as being offered by your university (university name,) from (name the source of information). I find this program particularly interesting, owing to the fact that my area of interest is work and organisational behaviour, which forms a part of the curriculum in the management course offered by your university.  I wish to study in Australia for my PhD program, as I feel that studying here is highly advantageous, as the standard of living for the students are rated as one of the highest globally, yet the costs are still reasonable, making it extremely suitable for an overseas student. Australian education is reputed worldwide for its high quality and excellence, and is said to create a strong base for all future achievements. I am submitting my research proposal with the hope that I will be selected and made a part of your PhD program, thus, enabling me to continue further in my line of interest. Sincerely, (Signature) name. Area of interest The modern workplace, in the era of globalisation, now evokes significant interest, as it comprises of numerous multinational companies with employees from all parts of the world. This myriad collection of business firms and employees from all parts of the world, however, brings in multicultural issues, along with various challenges within the scope of workplace. This area is of particular interest to me, as the traditional theory of viewing firms as mere machines and employees as part of the machinery, does not hold water anymore. Instead, the new theories now place more stress on the underlying interrelationships between employees, and between the employer and employees, in order to achieve greater market success. These new theories bring in the sociological perspective that adds another interesting dimension to the concept of work and organisational behaviour and human resources. Study of human nature, character, behavioural attitudes, within the realms of the workplace, form an interesting study, where one gets to examine the various facets and complexities of the human mind and thought, and the social influences on the human mind, while finally connecting these aspects to the market achievement of a business firm. Contents Abstract 6 1 Introduction 7 1.1 Problem statement 9 1.2 Aims and objectives 10 1.3 Significance of the study 10 Bibliography 11 Abstract A majority of the workplaces reflect certain major characteristics that as sum total, tend to constitute incompatible or inconsistent organizational behaviour, which is evident when observed through an aggressive and realistic theory of market ef?ciency as seen in the various theories of economics. Many US and UK workplaces (and elsewhere in the world) reflect, a largely prevalent, work related dissatisfaction, a sense of scepticism, and detachment. Many researches into this line give evidences that suggest that these problems are increasing with negative implications for the organisation as a whole, which includes both employers and employees. These researches also show that the manners in which the organisation manages its people and the latters’ level of job satisfaction and attitude towards work can signi?cantly foresee various aspects pertaining to organizational achievement, thus clearly establishing a link between a firm’s human resources and its overall effectiveness in the competitive market. My research paper proposes to closely examine the factor of organisational behaviour and its association with managements of human resources, while studying the close relationship between the two factors where they significantly affect each other. This study will be conducted with the express aim of developing a better understanding of the relative new theoretical concept of Organizational behaviour and Human Resources in order to provide better measures for achieving better market results. Organizational behaviour and Human Resources 1 Introduction Certain trends have emanated in the field of Organisational Behaviour (OB) and Human Resources Management (HRM) during the last two decades (Delery and Doty, 1996). The most evident of which was a growing trend towards trying to establish a link between organisational performance and HRM (Bowen, and Ostroff, 2004). Many researchers like MacDuffie (1995), Huselid & Becker (1996), and Guthrie (2000), have conducted statistical studies that provide strong empirical evidences of a close link between human resources and organisational behaviour, in the form of organizational performance. The other trend reflects a growing interest in comprehending the various processes that establish this relationship (Dyer and Reeves, 1995; Wright and Gardner, 2003). These trends thus reveal that the recent “significant developments [are taking] place…in the social sciences, [and] industry—the economic organ of society—[must have the] fundamental know-how to utilize physical science and technology for the material benefit of mankind, and…must now learn how to utilize the social sciences to make our human organizations truly effective” (McGregor, 1957, 22). Organizations or business firms are best defined as entities comprising of groups of collective resources (both human and non-human) that are interlinked and are constantly interacting with each other, while aiming at a common set of goals within a structured framework (Duncan, 1981). The subject of organizational behaviour is primarily related to the study of the various processes through which an organization affects the behaviour its employees, and vice versa. Organizational behaviour is a multi-dimensional subject that can be associated with many behavioural sciences, like sociology, psychology, anthropology, amongst many others (ibid). The fundamental aim of organizational behaviour is the application of the various theories of behavioural sciences, to the different problems seen in the arena of organisational administration and management related practice. While taking cognizance of organizational behaviour, various studies reveal many strategies that can be utilised to optimise the productivity of employees and improve the firm’s overall market achievement (Cascio, 2006). Traditionally, the field of organisational management had a ‘closed’ perspective, the primary aim were to optimise the efficiency of all internal functions, thus in the process often denying or ignoring various external factors that could not be controlled (Becker, Huselid, and Ulrich, 2001). As per this concept, organisations were seen as complex machines, while the human beings (or employees) were seen as mere parts within this complex machine (ibid). However, recent studies exploring the various organizations and the aspect of human behaviour within them have brought forth a view that is more ‘open’; and various human emotions and attitudes along with social and technological factors that arise externally, have acquired a greater role in the study of organizational behaviours (Ferraro, Pfeffer, and Sutton, 2005). Thus, modern day OB is more oriented towards “understanding, explaining, and ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups in organizations. OB is [now] a broad field grounded in sociology (team characteristics and organizational structure), economics (motivation, learning, decision-making), social psychology (satisfaction, emotions, team processes), and industrial and organizational psychology (job performance and individual characteristics)” (Young and Shih, 2011, 1). Therefore, the modern fundamental theory conceptualises that both the organisations and its employees are an integral part of the social context that prepares the base for thinking and functioning within a workplace. In the context of the modern viewpoint, the social affectations are considered as a matter of primary importance to help form a uniform pattern of organisational behaviour within all companies, while also acknowledging the importance of social relations even within the realms of a workplace (Pfeffer, 2007). 1.1 Problem statement Researchers conducted into employee behaviour like workplace attitude, behaviour (as in, absenteeism), and attachment towards the job, have shown poor results in a majority of the organisations in UK and US (King, 2004). In 2004, a survey that covered around 5,000 households in US revealed that almost 67 % of the US employees find no motivation in their organisations’ goals. Around 25% of the interviewed employees felt that they worked simply to receive their monthly salaries, while almost 50% of the employees felt that they lacked any connection with their organisation (Conference Board, 2005). Previously, Cappelli in 1999, and later in 2006, had conducted similar surveys on the workplace behavioural attitude and commitments of the employees, with startlingly similar results, which showed that distrust towards the organisational management was an almost universal phenomenon. “Nearly 20% of workers say that their companies lie to them, [while] …44 % say that top management lacks honesty and integrity” (King, 2004, 22). In another survey, it was seen that almost 52 % of employees did not trust the information received from their organisational management (ibid), thus showing a significant disconnect between the business organisations and the employees. In context of this problem, that shows dissatisfaction, scepticism, and detachment amongst the employees, and in view of the modern theories that associate human emotions and attitudes with study of organizational behaviours, thus, the research question would be: is the perspective connecting organizational behaviour (OB) with human resources (HR) essential for achieving market success for a business firm? 1.2 Aims and objectives While the modern day theories hold that the relationship between an organisation and its people (like job satisfaction and attitude towards work) can signi?cantly affect aspects pertaining to organizational achievement, various surveys on the other hand reveal declining levels of trust between the employer and the employee. In this context, this research paper proposes to examine the aspects of organisational behaviour and its link with human resources, while studying the close relationship between the two and their mutual influence. This study will be conducted with the express aim of developing a better understanding of the relatively new theoretical concept of Organizational Behaviour (OB) and Human Resources (HR), in order to seek better measures (like, improved employer-employee relationships) for achieving better market results. 1.3 Significance of the study Viewing human resources form the perspective of organizational behaviour helps one to understand how certain practices tend to influence the firm’s productivity while also foreseeing the results of a firm’s implemented human resource policies. There are various entities within organizational behaviour viewpoints. First, the employees are fundamentally social beings and tend to be influenced by others activities and speech, so often an employee’s viewpoint, choices and workplace attitudes becomes partially endogenous (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978). Secondly, people are interested in the processes and outcomes related to justice and equality, and as modern day economists opine, tend to use their own resources to derive justice and punish the wrongdoer (Fehr and Gachter, 2000). Thirdly, organizations are also a part of the same society and thus are social institutions, which also naturally tend to be affected by the behaviours of other organizations, in order to conform to the prevalent socio-economic norms (Scott, 1995). Thus, it is evident that organisations and employees are both part of the same social fabric, and thus are closely interrelated. In view of the deteriorating relationship between the organisations and the employees, this research is necessary to study the present ground reality, and subsequently find out measures that would help to establish a better relationship between these players, and create a more conducive atmosphere for achieving better market results. Bibliography Bowen, D., and Ostroff, C., 2004. Understanding HRM-firm performance linkages: The role of the strength of the HRM system. Academy of Management Review, 29 (2). Becker, B., Huselid, M., and Ulrich, D., 2001. The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Cappelli, P., 2006. “Changing Career Paths and their Implications.” In, America at Work: Choices and Challenges, Edward E. Lawler III and James O’Toole (Eds.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 211–24. Cascio, W., 2006. “The Economic Impact of Employee Behaviors on Organizational Performance.” In, America at Work: Choices and Challenges, Edward E. Lawler III and James O’Toole (Eds.). New York: Palgrave, 241- 256. Conference Board, 28th February 2005. U.S. Job Satisfaction Keeps Falling, the Conference Board Reports Today. News Release, Retrieved from, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1790423/posts Delery, J., and Doty, D., 1996. Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency and configurational performance predictions. Academy of Management Journal 39: 802-835. Duncan, W., 1981. Organizational behavior. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Dyer, L., & Reeves, T., 1995. HR strategies and firm performance: What do we know and where do we need to go. International Journal of Human Resource Management 6: 656-670. Fehr, E., and Gachter, S., 2000. Fairness and Retaliation: The Economics of Reciprocity. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3): 159 – 81. Ferraro, F., Pfeffer, J., and Sutton, R., 2005. Economics Language and Assumptions: How Theories Can Become Self-Ful?lling. Academy of Management Review, 30(1): 8 –24. Guthrie, J., 2001. High Involvement work practices, turnover, and productivity: Evidence from New Zealand. Academy of Management Journal, 44: 180-192. Huselid, M., & Becker, B., 1996. Methodological issues in cross-sectional and panel estimates of the human resource-firm performance link. Industrial Relations, 35: 400-422. King, R., 2004. The Corporate Antitrust Problem: Spin, sugarcoating and outright lies. Surveys show that employees don't believe they get the whole story. Workforce Management, 83(2): 22. MacDuffie, J., 1995. Human resource bundles and manufacturing performance: Organizational logic and flexible production systems in the world auto industry. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 48: 197-221. McGregor, D., 1957. The Human Side of Enterprise. The Management Review, 46, No. 11, 22–28. Pfeffer, J., 2007. Human Resources from an Organizational Behaviour Perspective: Some Paradoxes Explained. Journal of Economic Perspectives, Volume 21, Number 4, (Fall 2007), 115–134. Salancik, G., and Pfeffer, J., 1978. A Social Information Processing Approach to Job Attitudes and Task Design. Administrative Science Quarterly, 23(2): 224 – 53. Scott, R., 1995. Institutions and Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Wright, P., & Gardner, T., 2003. “Theoretical and empirical challenges in studying the HR practice – firm performance relationship.” In, D. Holman, T. Wall, C. Clegg, P. Sparrow, and A. Howard (Eds.), The New Workplace: People Technology, and Organisation. Sussex: John Wiley and Sons. Young, M., and Shih, M., 2011. What Organizational Behavior Contributes to HR. Article with David Lewin and Maia Young Edits (1.19.11). Retrieved from,  http://www.harrt.ucla.edu/calendar/events/2010/Session%205%20Article%202010%20Retreat.pdf. Read More