rightbottomBy: Keelan Wong
G0033836400By: Keelan Wong
G00338364lefttopBBS L8 – Submission Date: 25/4/2018
Organisational Behaviour Project
00BBS L8 – Submission Date: 25/4/2018
Organisational Behaviour Project
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Organisational Behaviour Defined
Organisational behaviour is the combination of psychology, sociology, communications and economics. It is the study of how people interact with one another in groups and how human behaviour can affect the organisational setting. The main function of this study is to be able to apply a scientific approach to managing workers in order to create a more efficient workplace for all involved.
“it embraces the study of the behaviour attitudes and feelings of individuals and groups within an organisation as well as the behaviour of the organisation itself” CITATION Gle85 l 1033 (Glegg, et al., 1985)”The idea of looking scientifically at behaviour and productivity in the workplace with the goal of increasing the amount and quality of work an employee can get done, along with the idea that workers were not interchangeable resources but were instead unique in terms of their psychology and potential fit with a company”. CITATION Inv18 l 1033 (Investopedia, 2018)”Actions and attitudes of individuals and groups toward one another and toward the organisation as a whole, its effect on the organisation’s functioning and performance”. CITATION BDd18 l 1033 (WebFinance Inc., 2018)The area of organisational behaviour examines human behaviour in a work environment.
When it comes to philosophies or models of organisational behaviour, there are many which include individual differences, Perception, the desire for involvement, human dignity and motivated behaviour.
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Individual differences involves each person being their own individual self. This concept originally comes from psychology, from when a person is born they are unique. Each and every single person has a different DNA profile and have been through different experiences throughout their lives.
Perception is all about how different people interpret different things. Employees see work differently with regards to their own personalities, past experiences and social surroundings
The desire for involvement involves an employee being actively able to seek ways to integrate themselves into the decision making process. It would be beneficial if the organisation could provide employees a chance to express their thoughts and various opinions.
Human dignity is very philosophical. Everyone involved within an organisation needs to be treated with respect and dignity. This concept recognises that people are treated differently within an organisation in order of higher order.
Motivated behaviour involves an employee trying to fulfil their needs and wants hence why they want to outperform and do good in general to reach self-fulfilment and self-actualisation which in turn increases productivity and enhances their quality of every day work.
One of the main focuses of organisational behaviour is to modernise and renovate organisational theory and to establish a better approach of organisational life.
History of Organisational Behaviour
Starting off in the 1700’s, the industrial revolution was the main force driving for the advancement and development of large factories employing a substantial amount of workers around the globe. At the time, management were concerned “about how to design and manage work in order to increase productivity and help organisations attain maximum efficiency”. CITATION Nan15 l 1033 (Borkowski, 2015)During the 1890’s, Frederick Taylor introduced Taylorism and the scientific or classical management theory which came into effect; but not long after the discipline of scientific management failed leading to the formation of the human relations movement which advanced the organisational behaviour theory. Thanks to the efforts of scholars such as Henri Fayol, Chester Barnard and Elton Mayo helped to shape the theory of organisational behaviour as we know it today.
Organisational Behaviour really emerged and became a practise as far back as the 1920’s and 1930’s as a response to the classic or traditional management approach. The Hawthorne Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois set up various tests designed to monitor the changes in the productivity of their employees over a period of time. One of the most famous discoveries in the history of Organisational Behaviour is the Hawthorne Effect which is the change in behaviour of people when they are fully aware that they are being studied or observed.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s organisations focused more on quantitative research such as correlation and time series analysis which has in turn helped theorists to improve the decision making process and the all-round business structure.
Since the 1970’s, there was huge emphasis on cultural components of various organisations such as gender roles, race, class and their roles on the overall group productivity. During this time it was also discovered that identity and backgrounds can have a direct effect on decision making. Frederick Taylor believed that efficiency was attained by generating jobs that economised human energy, time and other various resources. Taylor decided to divide the manufacturing process into various smaller units of work to therefore increase efficiency.
Personality and Perception
“Personality and Perception affect how people relate to each other and their work. Managers will learn how selective attention, stereotypes, and other attitudinal distortions are formed and may contribute to group dynamics, interpersonal conflict and inequity in the workplace”. CITATION Kau17 l 1033 (Kautilya Society, 2017)”Personality can be defined as those inner psychological characteristics that both determine and reflect how a person responds to the environment”. CITATION Ebr14 l 1033 (Ebrary, 2014)Personality is an internal stable behaviour pattern and is the consequence of personal emotions and attributes interacting with the surrounding business environment. There are many determinants of personality such as: environment, family, situational and social.
Another way of defining personality is the way people interact and react with their surrounding business environment and the various other people within it. Being able to understand personality is crucial to being able to recognise the behaviour of employees in the workplace.
“Perception is an intellectual process of transforming sensory stimuli to meaningful information. It is the process of interpreting something that we see or hear in our mind and use it later to judge and give a verdict on a situation, person, group” . CITATION Tut181 l 1033 (Tutorials Point, 2017)
Interpersonal Perception is a process whereby gathering audio-visual information about people and appointing meaning to their behaviour.
There are two types of perception with regards to decoding. These are active perception and passive perception.
Active perception is the seeking out of specific information with conscious effort and is based on motivation but meanwhile on the other hand, passive perception is the perception of information without conscious effort and is formed on the natural composition of ones senses and what they are designed to do.
‘Perception is reality’ and is the way in which people in a business organise and interpret data and information. It is a unique way people make sense of the world around them and the people within it. As perception is unique to each individual, information will be interpreted differently and therefore it is near impossible to avoid bias as people can view information the way they want to but it is also very important to understand perception as one can then interpret how people around him/her make sense of the information they receive.
Teamwork
Teamwork in an organisational situation is very important as it allows a group of people from different backgrounds to bond and come together to achieve a common goal. “Teamwork in organizational settings is an important aspect of creating a well-oiled machine to get tasks and projects done”. CITATION Mar18 l 1033 (Jane, 2017)Teamwork is important in every organisation as it delegates the work between employees and not the full workload on a single employee. Employee morale and motivation in the workplace are also boosted as each and every employee must be included.
Each organisation is comprised of different departments. In some cases some of these various departments must be able to work together on a project or task. Good teamwork is crucial as these departments have different roles within the organisation but still have to be able to combine work efforts when the need arises.
A very important reason for the use of teamwork in an organisation is that in the modern business world, within businesses there are many different people with different beliefs, experiences and ethnic backgrounds so therefore by using teamwork the employees have to settle their differences in order to achieve the mutual goal for the benefit of the business.
Cooperating on a project is an opportunity for newer employees to become familiar with the ‘ropes’ so to speak and it gives them the chance to learn various skills from more experienced employees. Ideas can also be challenged if there are disagreements which in turn leads to compromise. Cooperation is key in terms of teamwork as relationships are built and thus increasing productivity, efficiency and all round effectiveness of the group.
“The success of the team/group rests within the successful management of its members and making sure all aspects of work are fair for each member”. CITATION Tal18 l 1033 (Bauer & Erdogan, 2018)Leadership
“Leadership can be defined as the ability of the management to make sound decisions and inspire others to perform well. It is the process of directing the behavior of others towards achieving a common goal”. CITATION Tut18 l 1033 (Tutorials Point , 2018)There are three very important facts to note about Leadership, these are:
“First, leadership is a social influence process. Leadership cannot exist without a leader and one or more followers. Second, leadership elicits voluntary action on the part of followers. The voluntary nature of compliance separates leadership from other types of influence based on formal authority. Finally, leadership results in followers’ behavior that is purposeful and goal-directed in some sort of organized setting. Many, although not all, studies of leadership focus on the nature of leadership in the workplace”. CITATION Tim18 l 1033 (Barnett, 2017)
Leadership is very important as an individual has the power to influence and inspire others around him/her in order to work towards achieving goals. This can give others a strategic mind-set to focus on the future and to focus on working together for the greater good of themselves and their leader.
Successful leadership focuses on maximising strengths and limiting weaknesses. This is all about building on skills and talents and combining them with knowledge to maximise the effectiveness of each and every employee. Leadership promotes the success of the organisation by designing credibility among the employees within the business. Thus, increasing appraisal or value within the firm.
A combination of communication and ethics are key to advancing leadership within a business. Ethics benefits leaders in the balance of loyalty and trust while communication. This is a process by which various leaders approach a situation which may be problematic in terms of right and wrong.
Communication is an apparatus used where an individual or a group are actively able to interfere with one another and the rest of the world. Understanding the thoughts and views of other people is key for a leader to be capable of understanding the differences of others and looking past this in aid of a good business relationship.
Motivation
“Motivation is defined as the desire to achieve a goal or a certain performance level, leading to goal-directed behaviour”. “When we refer to someone as being motivated, we mean that the person is trying hard to accomplish a certain task”. CITATION Uni16 l 1033 (University of Minnesota Libraries, 2017)
Motivation is crucial is one is to work at peak performance. Motivation works hand in hand with ability as motivation is wanting to achieve but ability is having the knowledge and skills required to perform the task at hand. When these two traits are mixed together they form a strong bond which leads to efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace.
Employees who are highly motivated are usually satisfied with their job or strive for more and believe that their work will lead to their own personal self-fulfilment. Motivation usually stems from the want to be recognised or praised and also money plus job security are common but yet effective motivators in a lot of cases.
Most people simply want to be satisfied within their working environment and to be able to build good relationships with people and have the freedom to choose how a job is done. If these wants are satisfied employees will want to keep this process going and be motivated to do more to reach personal self-actualisation, to reach their full potential, a theory that deals with the advancing needs and wants of employees is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Also the two factor theory of motivation was introduced by Frederick Herzberg in the 1950’s which dealt with factors of motivator and hygiene and their effect on organisational motivation as a whole. He had found that motivator factors involves levels of satisfaction to drive the employee to work harder. i.e. the feeling of recognition, being satisfied with work and career development/progression.
With regards to hygiene factors, Herzberg found that various aspects can lead to resentment of employees in the workplace. These consist of relationships with managers and co-workers, wages and company benefits.
Herzberg had noticed that these two factors worked independently of each other yet both motivator and hygiene factors both effect motivation .
“While motivator factors increased employee satisfaction and motivation, the absence of these factors didn’t necessarily cause dissatisfaction. Likewise, the presence of hygiene factors didn’t appear to increase satisfaction and motivation but their absence caused an increase in dissatisfaction”. CITATION Con14 l 1033 (Contactzilla , 2014 )Workplace Stress
Firstly; “stress is defined by psychologists as the body’s reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental, or emotional adjustment or response”. CITATION Dye06 l 1033 (Dyer, 2006)Stress in moderation is a necessary attribute in the lives of each and every human being as it forces people to get out of bed, go to work and to do any activity during the day. An overdose of stress can lead to a mental burnout or breakdown and can potentially be very harming to the person whether it be low self-esteem or perhaps mental exhaustion.
With regards to an American example, the American Heart Association found that employees who reported workplace stress were found to have an increase in blood pressure that tested 10% higher than those who did not report workplace stress. They also found out that these people maintained their high blood pressure even when they got hone. This states that high stress not only affects the work of the employee but also their life out of work.
There are many common stressors within a business environment, some of these are: harassment, over working, lack of involvement and becoming redundant/loosing ones job.
Stress is not avoidable as conflict occurs every day within a business whether it be sorting out various problems or an unexpected event occurring but for those involved in an organisation it is very important to be able to control stress levels and to use stress to their benefit to get jobs assignments and jobs done.
As I’ve stated above a moderate amount of stress can be healthy and can aid efficiency but an excessive amount can hinder productivity and can be harmful to the mind and body of the person/people involved within the organisation. Although there are some individuals around us that can increase productivity as their stress levels rise, but in majority of cases this is not the outcome.
According to a poll conducted by career builder, 50% of workers reported that they feel a great deal of stress in the workplace. This is with regards to being loaded with work, being criticised and not praised an also occurred with many jobs being too easy .
‘stress isn’t a decision, but how you deal with it certainly is’ “Our ability to recognize, manage, and maximize our response to stress can turn an emotional or physical problem into a resource”. CITATION Uni17 l 1033 (University of Minnesota Libraries, 2016)Organisational Communication
Organisational Communication is basically a process that involves the sending and receiving of information among fellow individuals based within an organisation or business environment to accomplish a shared goal. Organisational communication is transmitted through various mediums such as face-to-face and written contact.
“When the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing in a business organization, it can lead to lost productivity, duplication of effort, poor customer service and a host of other problems that can cause significant financial damage”. CITATION Ash13 l 1033 (Ashe-Edmunds, 2013)Business people within an organisation communicate with each other in many ways, but doing this wrongly can lead to major complications occurring. It is key in terms of
organisational communication to be as specific as possible or else the information may not be precise.
This can unfortunately lead to various mishaps such as an organisation stating that they require their shipment on Monday, but neglecting to mention that they need it by 10am can lead to exceeding deadlines as the shipment may arrive at 3pm on Monday which is already too late.
There are two different types of communication and these are formal and informal. Formal communication can move through set channels, vertically and horizontally. For example, low-high level employees or high-high level employees. This type of communication can be quite slow which is an issue.
Informal communication on the other hand moves more freely around the organisation and can simply travel in any given direction. I.e. has a larger radius and isn’t limited to certain directions like formal communication.
Conclusion
To conclude, organisation behaviour deals with the sociological and psychological aspect of human behaviour and its influence in an organisational context. It also entails the understanding that as humans, we are all born unique and no two of us are the same meaning that the variety of people and their behaviour within an organisation is immense.
As time goes on there will be an extensive change in the way businesses around the globe operate. This will occur with regards to ‘cultural blending’ and of course due to further advances in technology.
Organisations will be forced to adapt and cope with the new business trends upcoming in the near future and organisational behaviour research will be extended to create an organisation that is mutually favourable for all the parties involved within it.
References
CITATION Gle85 l 1033 (Glegg, et al., 1985)CITATION Inv18 l 1033 (Investopedia, 2018)CITATION BDd18 l 1033 (WebFinance Inc., 2018)CITATION Nan15 l 1033 (Borkowski, 2015)
CITATION Kau17 l 1033 (Kautilya Society, 2017) CITATION Ebr14 l 1033 (Ebrary, 2014)CITATION Tut181 l 1033 (Tutorials Point, 2017)CITATION Mar18 l 1033 (Jane, 2017)CITATION Tal18 l 1033 (Bauer ; Erdogan, 2018) CITATION Tut18 l 1033 (Tutorials Point , 2018)CITATION Tim18 l 1033 (Barnett, 2017)CITATION Uni16 l 1033 (University of Minnesota Libraries, 2017) CITATION Con14 l 1033 (Contactzilla , 2014 )CITATION Dye06 l 1033 (Dyer, 2006)CITATION Uni17 l 1033 (University of Minnesota Libraries, 2016) CITATION Ash13 l 1033 (Ashe-Edmunds, 2013)
