The importance of Organizational Behavior (OB) is heightened, in the present era of unprecedented changes where there are huge pressures on small as well as large organizations to revamp their old cost structures and increase their productivity. However, OB does not a present simple solution for managers; rather, it offers both challenges and opportunities for them. It helps managers in different ways such as by helping them recognize individual differences among employees to promote workplace diversity and ability to work in different countries of the world. The managers are also able to quality or work and employee productivity by implementing OB practices of employee empowerment, as well as change programs. Moreover, managers can also bring significant improvement to their people skills and interpersonal skills by getting specific insights from it. Moreover, OB helps managers how to cope with this rapid flow changes in the external environment and stimulate a culture of innovation to remain competitive. Finally, managers can create an ethically healthy workplace by successfully implementing OB (Newstrom, J. W. & Davis K., (1993).
Organizational behavior:
The study and application of knowledge about how individuals alone and in groups act in an organization are called organizational behavior. In fact, Organizational Behavior (OB) studies actions, attitudes of individuals and groups towards an organization as a whole and how they affect the organizational productivity (Curtis, B., Hefley, W.E., Miller, S.A. (2002). It also investigates the impact the individual, groups and system or structure have on behavior within an organization, so that this knowledge could be applied to make organizations more efficient and effective. OB tries to improve organizational productivity by reducing negative organizational and individual performance factors such as absenteeism and turnover and increasing positive performance factors such as employee citizenship and job satisfaction.
To do this, a systematic approach is undertaken. For instance, the people-organization relationship is explained and interpreted by taking four individual organizational units that are, whole person, whole group and the whole organization, and the whole social system. Building better relationships and achieving organizational efficiency and effectiveness by meeting human objectives, organizational objectives, and social objectives is
the purpose of this study (Newstrom, J. W. & Davis K., (1993).
Read what we have covered;
Elements of Organizational Behavior (OB):
It has already been replicated in various management books that management’s philosophy, values, vision, and goals create the base of the organization. Formal, informal organization and the social environment which is part of the organizational culture are derived from this organizational base. These elements of culture determine how the organization is to be led, how employees and management would communicate, and how group dynamics would take place within the organization (Edgelow, C., (2011). This increases employee’s degree of motivation as they perceive it as the quality of work life. When these cultural elements are implemented taking into accounts the individual differences, the individual satisfaction, performance, and personal growth and development would be the final outcomes. It must also be noted that the organization operates from the model or framework build by combining these all elements (Warr, P. (2007).
Framework or Model of Organizational Behavior (OB)
Autocratic, Custodial, Supportive, and Collegial are the four major models or frameworks that organizations can adapt to operate:
Autocratic:
Autocratic model amalgamates the power with a managerial orientation of authority. The employees show obedience and dependence on the boss. In this model, the performance of employees remains low.
Custodial:
The economic resources form the basis of this model as managerial orientation lies towards money. In this model, the employees’ orientation lies in security and benefits with dependence on the organization. Security is the employee’s need that is met. This model also gives rise to passive cooperation within the organization.
Supportive:
Leadership with a managerial orientation of support is the root of this framework. In this model, employees are oriented towards job performance and participation. The employees get status and recognition. The performance of this model has awakened drives.
Collegial:
Partnership with the managerial orientation of teamwork forms the basis of this model. This model, in turn, gets employees oriented towards responsible behavior and self-discipline. Self-actualization is the employee’s need that is met. The performance of this model is moderate enthusiasm.
This model can rarely be implemented individually in separate organizations. In fact, usually one of the models predominate the other and sometimes, they overlap in certain areas (Newstrom, J. W. & Davis K., (1993).
Individual Differences and Organizational Behavior:
When employees exert a strong influence on the social system of the organization by challenging the culture, individualization takes place. In the context of organizational behavior, it is pertinent to study the individual differences among the workforce as their unique and un-matching qualities, skills and abilities can transform the ways in which an organization work. These factors also influence our thinking and behavior. The researchers have defined individual differences as the ways in which people differ from one another. Organizations now cultivate these individual differences in order to create a diversified culture where creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship become common practices (Hampson S. E., Colman A. M., (1995).
