THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

The Importance of Organizational Behavior

Maggie Chang
University of Shanghai University MBA center

THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Abstract
What is organizational behavior? Prior to this course, I had never known that much of
what is organizational behavior and in which ways it can impact the organization. Initially, over
the course my knowledge about OB was expanded.
According to (Robins & Judge), Organizational Behavior studies the influence and
impact that individuals, groups, and organizational structure have on behavior within
organization for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organizations
effectiveness.
In the business world today, Organizational Behavior is an essential tool for managing
effective teams and it helps to understand and predict human behavior in an organization. It
studies on how organizations can be structures more accurately, and how several events in their
outside situations effect organizations. It has become more significant today than in previous
years because organizations must master to adapt to the rapidly changing business cultures that
have stemmed from a competitive market.

Elements of Organizational Behavior

Theorganization'sbaseisknowntorestonmanagement'sphilosophy,values,visionand
goals. Also, organizational culture is a changeable thing. As a rule, organization culture is
composedthefollowingcomponents:formalorganization,informalorganization,andthesocial
environment. The knowledge of organizations culture helps to determine the types of
organizations leadership, organizations communication, andorganizations groupdynamics.
Allthesecomponentsarepresentinanyorganization.Theimprovementoforganizationalculture
mayresultinthefollowingimprovements:

THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Improvedorganizationsculture

improvedqualityofwork

Goodperformance

Individualsatisfaction

Personalgrowthanddevelopment.

Whencombinedtogether,theseelementshelptobuildtheframeworkoftheorganization.
1.

Organizationalculture.

Organizationalcultureisthepersonalityoftheorganization.Thenotioniscomprisedof
several assumptions including values, norms and tangible signs (artifacts). These things are
typicalthingsforanykindofpeoplesorganization.
Eachorganizationhasitsparticularculture.Theresearchshowsthatcultureisoneofthe
termsthataredifficulttobeunderstoodbytheindividualpeople.
Thecultureoftheindividualorganizationisoneofthoseaspectsthatmatter.Thetermis
verydifficulttobeexpressedinadistinctway.Inthemajorityofcasesorganizationalcultureis
beingperceivedasaverycomplicatednotionthatisbeingcomprisedofmanycomponents.In
general,thenotionofculturehasallfeaturesofthesystem.
2.

DefiningDiversity

Thetermdiversityisaverybroadterm.Thetermisusedtodefineeverybodyasaartofa
largesystem.Thediversityisoneofthethings thatshouldbevalued.Thenotionhelps all
employeestobringtheirdifferences,includinggroupidentitydifferences.Thebroaddefinition
ofthenotionmovesdiversityissuesbeyondacommonstrugglebetweendifferentpeople.A

THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

broaddefinitionofthediversitydefinesthenotionastheabilitytoaccomplishbothindividual
andorganizationalgoals.
Inaddition,manyoftheorganizationsareseekingnewwaystocorrectacompanybias.
Thesearecorrectedagainstaparticulargroup.Thenotionofdiversitycanbedefinedinamore
narrowway.Thenotionisbasedontheanalysisoftheindividualneedsoftheperson.
3.

Communication

Communication can be defined as a process by which people are assigning and

conveyingmeaning.Themeasureistakeninanattempttocreatesharedunderstandingofthe
notion.Thisprocessrequiresavastrepertoireofskills.Nolessimportantistheintrapersonaland
interpersonalprocessing,listening,observing,speaking,questioning,analyzing,andevaluating.
The process covers all areas of human life including home, school, community, work, and
beyond.Themainobjectiveisusuallyachievedthroughcommunicationandcollaboration.
Communication can be regarded as a window to basic literacy and academic
excellence.Accuratecommunicationisthewaytoexpresshumancapabilities.Alongwiththat,it
isthewaytocultivatethepotentialthatcanbesuccessfullyusedbythepeople.
4.

Organizationaleffectiveness

Organizational effectiveness is concerned with an organizational dynamic.

Organizational effectiveness enables people to use their potential. Human potential is being
realizedwiththehelpofeffectiveuseofcreativity,energy,andresources.Thesearetraditionally
usedfortheissuesthatreallymatterforthesociety.Achievingandsustainingorganizational
effectivenesscanberegardedasthemajorpriorityoftheorganization.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Organizationallearningisanareaofknowledgethatispresentwithintheorganization.
Thetheoryisbasedonanumberofstudiesmodelsandtheoriesthatpertaintothewaythe
organizationlearnsandadaptstothemaintendenciesofthepresentday.
Humanbeingsencourageseekingsatisfactionineveryphaseoftheirlife.Fromsatisfying
their basic primal needs and wants, which is hunger, thirst, rest and social interaction, the
complex community today has its benchmark of goals and fulfillment that should be
accomplishedbyindividuals.Thisselectivesetoffulfillmentandgoalsenclosessecuringagood
job,preferablywithagoodpayandhopefully,withahighlevelofjobsatisfaction.Thereisno
fixed and formal guideline on how to overcome challenges at work into a motivation for
individualstoreachjobsatisfaction,sothatwiththegoodpracticingofOrganizationalBehavior,
individualsareabletowellhandlethetaskpressure,andovercomethevarietyofchallenges.
DuetotheresearchandlearningofOrganizationalBehavior,individualswillbeabletopresent
andwellpracticedapositiveworkingattitudetowardshisowntaskandjobresponsibilities.This
selectedlearningofOrganizationalBehaviorhelpsindividualtocreateselfawarenessallthe
times.Individualswillbeabletodrawandexecutehisownactionplan,andwellknownthe
currentpositionofhim,andbeawareofwhereisthenextpositionheisgoingtoreach.

Why is organizational behavior important

According to Casey Reader (2010), different organizational structures will show different
types of organizations that each has strengths and weaknesses. There are four main elements
which are Motivation, Culture, Change, and System. According to Motivation, it draws that
individual behave differently when they are in groups. Major of the study of organizational
behavior has aimed on how best to motivate group of individuals. Professionals have figure that

THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

it often doesnt matter exactly what you do, but merely that employees are aware of your efforts
to motivate. Based on Culture, when individual communicate with one another over an extended
period of time they intentionally to deliver a selective culture that determines how tasks get
completed and common attitudes. Organizational theorists tend to practice this culture and how it
influences behavior. Strong cultures align with the overall goals of an organization, such as
having an emphasis on innovation. On the other hand, weak cultures degrade from business
goals, and cause conflicts, such as overemphasizing bureaucratic rule-following. Today,
Motivation and Culture are important to practice with Organizational Behavior because major
organizations are encouraging team approach to solve difficulties. Todays post-industrial hi-tech
organization requires knowledge intensive work environment and demands creativity from its
own employees. Employers gave awareness to Organizational Behavior or soft skill training. The
industrial revolution created the wants for hard skills. Employees who work in production line
and were not required thinking or communicating to each other. But now, instead of standing
behind the production line, employees need to sit in front of a computer, and control machine
equipment who works in the production line. Now, employees are not only required to learn new
technical skills but also how to communicate, negotiate, decentralize, and motivate within each
other.
There are many reasons for the importance of organizational behavior in an organization.
First, most people are born and educated in organizations, acquire most of the material
possessions from organizations, and die as members of organizations. In addition, we can be
consumers, employees, or investors in an organization. Second, the study of organizational
behavior can greatly clarify the factors that affect how managers manage. Third, the value of
organizational behavior is that it isolates important aspects of the managers job and offers

THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

specific perspectives on the human side of management. Finally, an understanding of

organizational behavior can play a vital role in managerial work. Many future managers arent
aware of the importance of organizational behavior and dont understand what relevance it has to
them as managers in the business environment. Organizational behavior studies these attitudes
and behaviors of workers today and tries to determine the best ways to effectively manage and
change them. Organizational behavior also studies how organizations can be more effective and
how events in the external environments affect organizations. Learning about organizational
behavior in today's business environment will help managers develop a better work related
understanding of themselves and their subordinates. This understanding can help future
managers obtain a successful career in the business world. The most frequent problem that
managers face is often described as "people" problems (Robbins 1). Since the job of a manager
requires working with and through other people the development of good "people skills" become
a valuable and essential asset. Organizational behavior helps to refine these "people skills" and
make managers more effective to their supervisors and subordinates alike. One are of concern in
organizational behavior deals with employee job satisfaction, which is an attitude. The reason
managers should be concerned with employee job satisfaction are based on three areas of
thought. First, there is a definite link between satisfaction and worker productivity. A happy
worker is willing to work harder and for the company. Second, satisfaction appears to be
negatively related to absenteeism and turnover rate. A worker that is happy with their job is more
likely to show up at all scheduled times. Finally, it can be agreed that managers have a
humanistic responsibility to provide their employees with jobs that are challenging, intrinsically
rewarding and satisfying (Robbins 2). These are just a couple of examples of why studying
organizational behavior is important to the career of future managers throughout the working

THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

world.
Organizational behavior as a studied concept is made up of many parts. Each part forms a
different link in a chain of thought that help develop the study of organizational behavior.
Another key organizational behavior that directly affects competitiveness in the marketplace is
the management of critical variables and performance metrics. Measurement is vital. The trick is
to know which variables to measure. When you want to ensure that the product you are shipping
is of the highest quality, should you inspect a sample of the product just prior to shipping or is it
more prudent to inspect the work-in-process inventory at key locations throughout the process?
The latter would involve critical variables and would discover defects sooner, minimizing the
production of defective material. In addition, it gives the engineer more opportunity to resolve
issues prior to the creation of defective products. This is similar to the benefits provided by
statistical process control and control charts. However, both "results" and "drivers" have value.
Investors and upper management may look toward results to gauge how the enterprise is doing in
relation to the competition, while engineers tend to look toward drivers when assessing whether
or not a process is in control. Drivers put you closer to root cause than results do.
Conclusion
Organizational Behavior is the application of knowledge about how peoples, individuals,
and groups act and react in an organization, in order to reach and accomplish the highest quality
of performances, and dominant results. One way for an organization to become more innovative
is to capitalize on its own employees to innovate. All organizations and groups experience the
direct relationship between job satisfaction, and performance. In order to maximize the
performance of those within a system, it is significant important to develop an optimal
interpersonal chemistry. There is more evidence that the teaching and implementation of soft

THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

skills should get higher emphasis in education and organization training process, but it should
only complement hard skills, not substitute for it.

I have already concluded that for an organization to be truly effective, a strong study of
organizational behavior must be established within the organization. I have tried to pick out some
points that show how an organization can benefit from using practices found in organizational
behavior. Communication, Leadership, and Motivation are all important parts of employee job
satisfaction. Employee job satisfaction is important to a company as stated earlier. Today's
business world in increasing in complexity everyday. Not only does the company end up
growing, so do their employees. In order for a company to be successful, management must try
to develop employee to management relationships. Studying organizational behavior can help
companies better understand employees which will eventually lead to a better more stable
company.

Reference
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