Organizational behavior fundamentals and workplace dynamics

Organizational Behavior - Terminology and Concepts

Organizational Behavior: The field of organizational behavior has assumed increasing significance in the light of a rapidly changing, global business environment. This is because the study and application of organizational behavior results in better management of both the external as well as internal environment through the building of relationships at the individual, group, organizational, and social level. Organizational behavior achieves this through adopting a systems approach that studies: (a) the effect of social organizations on the behavior and attitudes of individuals within them; (b) the effects of individual characteristics and actions on organizations, with a particular emphasis on the efficacy of leadership in organizational systems; - the performance, success, and survival of organizations; (d) the mutual effects of resource and task, political and cultural environments on organizations and vice versa (Pfeffer, 1997, p. 4). Thus, it is evident that organizational behavior encompasses a wide range of management issues such as organizational structure, culture and leadership.

Organizational Culture: The culture of an organization is defined as a system of shared beliefs and values, which shapes its behavior and, thus, forms its distinct identity. While the culture of an organization can emerge as organizations learn to survive, adapt, and solve problems over a period of time, it is important to note that management can work consciously towards creating and sustaining a system of beliefs for knowing and managing organizational experience. Indeed, organizational culture can be built, sustained or changed through the management of policies as well as through focusing on the various formal and informal processes that lead to shared meanings (Harris, 1993, p. 64).

Diversity: As the term implies, diversity is any collective mixture that is characterized by both differences as well as similarities. It can refer to people, organizations, and even systems. Thus, diversity can be conceptualized on various dimensions such as workforce or functional diversity. The issue of diversity is an important one as it can affect employee perception of organizational behavior and practices. This implies that diversity must be managed by developing an environment that works well for all employees. This is an inclusive process that addresses workplace behaviors and differences within the framework of an organization's culture and climate. The management of diversity has, of late, come center stage due to an increasingly diverse workforce, at the national and global level (NOAA, para 2, 4).

Communication: Organizational communication, both internal and external, plays a key role in determining organizational performance, learning, and culture. In fact, communication is often regarded as the lifeblood of the organization. Besides being the process through which information is exchanged throughout the organization, communication is a critical job skill because it directly influences the management of interpersonal relationships. This is true at the organizational as well as the individual level. Indeed, this is precisely the reason why organizations need to focus on important aspects of effective interpersonal communication, including communication systems, perception, verbal and nonverbal communication, networks and channels, listening and feedback, symbolic behavior, and the impact of organizational structure and culture (Harris, 1993, p. 284).

Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency: Organizational effectiveness is measured using established criteria of organizational performance such as achievement of stated business goals. Organizational efficiency, on the other hand, looks at the ability of an organization to achieve its goals using the bare minimum of resources. In other words, organizational efficiency is all about "doing things right" in order to bring about maximum utilization of resources, while organizational effectiveness involves "doing the right things," as in setting the right goals and objectives. Besides the setting of goals, organizational effectiveness is a function of management facilitating performance by creating the right organizational structure and culture (Blanchard, 2004).