Organizational behavior and culture

INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

In this class we studied the definition and perspectives of organizational behavior, which is an interdisciplinary field that not only studies individuals but also studies how they behave in a workplace setting when being part of an organization.
There are two perspectives used to understand human behavior
The internal perspective (considers factors inside the person) and the external perspective (considers factors outside the person). 
We also learned that organizations are composed of four major elements which can be seen in the following chart:

Retrieved from:

http://comportamientoorganizacional4.blogspot.com/2010/04/comportamiento-organizacional.html

Organizations also have informal (Ex: values) and formal (Ex: the goals and policies of the company) elements within them.

Companies are facing a lot of changes nowadays; these changes are driven by international competition, globalization, technological innovation and demands for high levels of ethical behavior; In order to face those changes most companies are becoming more customer-oriented with the objective of meeting customer expectations of high quality. The TQM and six sigma systems are two great examples used by some companies to deliver great results in terms of high quality and customer satisfaction.

CULTURE

 

Culture refers to a set of values, beliefs and customs that differentiate members of a society from others. Culture directly affects employee´s work enjoyment, work relationships and most of their work processes and when analyzed at a macro level, it directly affects the effectiveness of organizations. Most organizations have a set of values and beliefs that are commonly shared by its members, like for example Wal-Mart has one main objective that is part of its organizational culture and provides justification for all of their actions; this main goal is lowering the cost of living for everyone, (saving people money to help them have a better life).

In organizations there are some internal and external factors that influence the way decisions are made, organizational culture is part of the internal factors and national culture is part of the external factors.  

International managers need to develop skills in order to distinguish when culture is a decisive factor and when it’s not.  Cultural analysis models can help managers make generalizations about the behavior of the workforce but they must not rely completely on these models.

Cross-cultural managers need to develop skills in order to take advantage of the benefits that diversity brings (Examples: cross-cultural learning, synergetic processes, etc).  But in some cases ignoring diversity is the best alternative, like when the benefits of managing diversity do not justify the costs.   

Three important concepts that I learned in class:

·         Cultural is particular to one group

·         Culture is learned

·         It includes a system of values

     Why is managing organizational behavior in changing times challenging?

     First and most important, because organizational behavior deals with human behavior and humans are complex beings that can only be understood by analyzing 4 dimensions: the physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions.  Second, because most people will react with fear and resistance when they are exposed to changing conditions. Generally this resistance appears when people feel they would lose control over a situation, or when they don´t understand the change and its implications, or when they feel they won’t be able to follow the pace of the change. Third, because in modern changing times most companies are being forced to reevaluate their structures, review their operations and reconsider, in some cases, the way of conducting their businesses.  Organizations are being challenged to become more efficient and more flexible, and this involves the collaboration and teamwork of all the members, not only managers. In most cases, employees are not being considered costs anymore, because managers have noticed that by appropriately motivating the workforce and making them feel part of the organization´s goals, the effectiveness of their operations can be boosted.  According to Sims,R. (2002) in his book ´´managing organizational behavior´´:companies are now seeing employees as internal customers, and that implies that managers will have to develop new skills to better understand their needs. Managers will also have to learn the importance of using information systems to better understand customer and employees preferences, and the way they manage the relationships and behavior of their suppliers will also be essential for the success of the company.  All the variables described in the paragraph will give the lecturer an idea of why managing individuals and group dynamics in organizations has become so challenging.

REFERENCES

Components of the organization. http://comportamientoorganizacional4.blogspot.com/2010/04/comportamiento-organizacional.html (Image)

Cultural diversity.http://blog.alares.es/2009/07/06/el-charter-de-la-diversidad-no-a-la-discriminacion-si-a-la-integracion-social/ (Image)

Cameron, K., & Quinn, R., (1999). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. New York: Addison-Wesley.

Sims, R. (2002). Managing organizational behavior. United States: Greenwod publishing group. p. 25

Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. (2010) OrganizationalBehavior: Science, TheReal Worldand You. South-Western CollegePublication, (7th. Ed)

Griffin R., Gregory, M (2010). Organizational behavior: managing people and organizations. (9th edition). Canada: Cengage learning

Thomas, David. Cross-cultural management essential concepts.(2nd edition).California:Sage publications.