Organizational behavior terminology and concepts

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.

Business Ethics

In contemporary American business culture, business ethics refers to the same types of concepts as the more general organizational culture except that business ethics concepts are limited to those relating to moral ideas and values (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Certain aspects of business ethics pertain to matters required by statutory law and regulation while others are strictly matters of the moral values and commitment of the organization.

The narrowest systems of business ethics are strictly limited to the formal requirements of law; meanwhile, some organizations maintain much broader systems of business ethics that limit organizational behavior far more than the formal requirements of law (George & Jones, 2008). The most observable aspects of business ethics would be the manner in which organizations conduct ethical training and the extent to which ethical concepts are featured and emphasized in instructional materials and official policy statements.

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).