A Review of Organizational Behavior Theories
Because organizations are the primary means by which capital is earned and job are created, it is not surprising that there has been a great deal of scholarship concerning how organizations actually “behave” in the real world. The purpose of this paper is to provide a current definition of organizational behavior together with a statement of three prominent theories of organizational behavior, French and Raven's Five Bases of Power, Complexity Theory and Resource Dependence Theory. An explanation concerning the fundamental concepts of each of these three theories is followed by an analysis of their respective importance to a business. In addition, an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each of these three theories as well as the positive and negative ways that the theories impact the workforce behavior of organizations. Finally, in the context of Air India, the paper presents a critical analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of interrelationships between organizational functions and the impact that can have upon organizational structure, how structure, size and scope of different organizations link to the business objectives and product and services offered by the organization and the complexities of different types of business structures and interrelationships of different organizational functions. A summary of the research and key findings concerning the foregoing organizational behavior issues are presented in the paper’s conclusion.
Define organizational behavior
Although there is no universally agreed upon definition, Seidel (2019, p. 2) provides a useful conceptualization of organizational behavior by stating: “Organizational behaviors outline the mission and goals of a business and define how its people interact within one another within its setting. But they also speak to where an organization fits into the bigger picture.” As a salient example, Seidel cites the case of a health care organization that is required to manage numerous internal issues, including facilitating collaboration among members of multidisciplinary teams, identifying optimal conflict resolution strategies, and what type of leadership is most effective in achieving its overarching goals and mission.
In addition, the health care organization must also develop a clear understanding concerning where it is situated within the broader health care industry. For instance, Seidel (2019, p. 2) asks, “Will its organization be a leader in research or cutting-edge procedures? Will it be a teaching hospital? Will it serve mainly as a community health center? Or perhaps it will be some combination of all of these.” In sum, organizational behavior concerns not only the internal factors that fuel business success, it also involves external factors that can have a profound impact on its ability to compete effectively. There are also several prominent organizational theories that have been advanced in recent years to help practitioners navigate the challenges that are associated with organizational behavior, and three of these theories are discussed below.
Three theories of organizational behavior
French and Raven's Five Bases of Power
The organizational behavior theory developed by French and Raven (1959) conceptualizes social power within a framework consisting of five discrete bases of power: (a) coercive power (i.e., managers can mediate punishments); (b) legitimate power (i.e., managers possess the authority to prescribe desired behaviors); (c) reward power (i.e., managers can mediate rewards); (d) referent power (i.e., identification with and attraction to managers); and (e) expert power (i.e., managers possess unique or specialized skills or knowledge). In other words, this organizational behavior theory focuses on the internal workings of an organization to describe the fashion in which personal and professional dynamics operate on a day-to-day basis in “getting things done.”
This view of organizational behavior is highly congruent with the guidance provided by Seidel (2019, p. 3) who points out that, “An organizational behavior definition of power is often more dependent on relationships than titles.” Therefore, French and Raven's Five Bases of Power serves to facilitate the identification of the real holders of power in organizations by identifying and examining the respective sources they rely upon for their influence within the organization (Braunstein and Zhang 2005).
A description of the five bases of power that were originally conceptualized by French and Raven (1959) are set forth in Table 1 below.
Table 1
Description of the five bases of power in French and Raven’s organizational behavior theory
Base of power
Description
Coercive
People who have coercive power tend to be the company manipulators who don't always have the best people skills. In contrast to those who have power through reward, these characters...
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