Organizational culture, diversity, communication, and ethics in business

Organizational Management -- Concepts and Terminology

Organizational Culture and Behavior

Organizational culture refers to the collective attitudes and values that characterize business organizations. Organizational behavior refers to the manner in which business organizations implement and manifest the various elements of their organizational culture (Robbins & Judge, 2009). The last organization for which I worked maintained an organizational culture that emphasized equal opportunity, ethical business practices, and the concept of developing leaders from within the organization. That organization also maintained a strong commitment to social welfare and to environmental responsibility. Employees were encouraged to participate in various efforts that benefited the local community and the organization carefully monitored compliance with environmentally conscious policies and practices.

Diversity

In contemporary American society and business, diversity refers to the differences among individuals comprised by society and business organizations. Generally, diversity includes such differences as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, nationality, sexual orientation, and gender identity (George & Jones, 2008). Diversity is an important aspect of modern business management because statutory law as well as fundamental objective concepts of social responsibility and morality require that all individuals in American society enjoy the same basic rights, opportunities, and benefits.

Certain classifications (such as race, ethnicity, religion, and gender) are recognized and protected by federal law; others (such as sexual orientation and gender identity) are only recognized and protected under the laws of some states and are neither recognized nor protected by the laws of other states (George & Jones, 2008). The most observable aspects of diversity with organizations would be the apparent makeup of their personnel in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, and gender.

Communication

Communications encompasses the various ways that information is transmitted, shared, received, and stored within business organizations (George & Jones, 2008). Within business organizations, business units, hierarchical chains, and individuals must communicate with one another extensively. Likewise, business organizations must be able to communicate externally with other business organizations, customers, suppliers, contractors, customers, and government agencies.

Different forms of business communications typically include electronic messages (i.e. email), written (hard copy) memoranda, telephonic, face-to-face, in addition to other industry-specific or task-specific uses of media such as two-way radios or specialized proprietary software applications (George & Jones, 2008). The most observable aspects of organizational communications would be apparent from the way that employees typically use various communications media and technology.

Change Management

In modern business, organizations continually undergo changes in their strategy, operations, and organizational culture (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Change management refers to the specific manner in which various changes are implemented and the way that business units and individual employees incorporate those changes without disrupting normal business functions and relationships any more than absolutely necessary by virtue of those changes (Robbins & Judge, 2009). In that regard, certain (typically small-scale and/or superficial) changes do not pose significant challenges from a change management perspective; however, other (typically large-scale and/or fundamental) changes may pose tremendous challenges with respect to their efficient implementation without unnecessary costs (Robbins & Judge, 2009).

The most observable aspects of change management within organizations would the manner in which various changes are announced, promoted, adopted, and implemented. In that regard, business organizations differ substantially in the degree to which they consider the importance of approaching various specific elements of change in ways that both anticipate potential difficulties and minimize the problems associated with those potential difficulties (George & Jones, 2008).

References:

George JM. And Jones GR. (2008). Understanding and Managing Organizational

Behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Robbins SP. And Judge TA. (2009). Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Prentice Hall.