Running Head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 1

Organizational Behavior

Name

Institution
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Organizational Behavior

Organizational behavior entails studying the behavior of individuals in a companys

setting. This encompasses how individuals conduct themselves alone and in groups.

Organizational behavior purpose is to acquire a greater comprehension of those elements, which

influence group or individual dynamics in a company to render the groups, individuals, and the

organization more effective and efficient (Robbins & Judge, 2007). A great deal of research on

organizational behavior aims to offer human resource managers with the tools and information

they require to choose, train, as well as retain workers in a manner, which generates maximum

benefit for the organization and the employee too. Hence, todays manager needs to comprehend

organizational behavior dynamics and their relationship to organization to succeed. It is crucial

to note that organizational behavior leads to organizational culture and managers need to exploit

it to their advantage. Knowledge gathered from organizational behavior is utilized to enhance the

effectiveness of the organization. Hence, managers must take note of absenteeism, organizational

effectiveness, citizenship behavior, ethical behavior, job satisfaction, turnover, and task

performance driving forces (Bauer & Erdoganr, 2009). This paper is going to look into factors

that influence employees behavior in Merck, and the companys effectiveness.

Merck & Co.

Merck & Co. is a global pharmaceutical firm that is driven by research, and it is

dedicated to meeting the needs of the patients first. Founded in 1891, the company has grown to

over 50, 000 personnel in over 120 nations currently. Mercks role is to discover, develop,

manufacture, and market medicines and vaccines in over twenty therapeutic classifications. The

companys growth strategy is grounded on internal innovativeness pooled with an aggressive

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business partnership pursuit, which ranges from discovery, clinical trials and discovery, via

production, promotion, and sales (Merck & Co., 2009).

Type of Culture

External factors of the environment can influence individuals behaviors in an

organizational setting. Mercks effectiveness in the pharmaceutical industry can be established

by examining the behaviors of the employees and other elements, which influence the companys

productivity. A companys culture is seen via such organizational artifacts as norms, values,

logos, and other fundamental assumptions encompassing internal interactions, informal and

formal processes. In other words, organizational culture includes behaviors and values, which

add to psychological and social environment of a company (Robbins & Judge, 2007).

Organizational culture signifies the collective principles, beliefs and values of a companys

members, and it is a result of factors such as history, market, strategy, technology, style of

management, national culture, and type of personnel. The culture of an organization comprise a

collection of shared norms, which guide what transpires in a company through describing

appropriate behavior for different situations. It also encompasses assumptions and behaviors,

which are taught to novel members of the organization as a means of thinking, feeling or

perceiving. Hence, the culture of an organization affects the manner groups or people interact

with one another with stakeholders and clients. Additionally, the culture of an organization might

affect how the personnel identify with the company (Bauer & Erdoganr, 2009).

Merck & Co ensures that all employees are treated with mutual respect. Moreover, to

meet the goals of the firm while at the same time developing employees skills. Employees at

Merck & Co are trusted to make decisions when their superiors are absent. Other facets that are

part of Merck & Co.s culture include its values, standards, mission statement, ethics and
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integrity. Mercks statement of its mission is To discover, develop, and provide innovative

products and services that save and improve lives around the world. Hence, from the company

mission statement, it is evident that the organization strives to be the best and this is only

achieved by embracing the contribution of the employees to the company. Mercks office of

compliance is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the company adheres to the

international standards (Merck & Co., 2009).

The type of organizational culture at Mercks is salad bowl because the company

embraces diversity. Mercks employees comprise people of different races, sexual orientation,

gender, physical ability, and ages. Diversity at Merck is used positively to enhance the

productivity of the company. Merck has achieved this by implementing a number of strategies

such as forming of constituency and resource groups for the employees. Constituency groups

comprise members from diverse global regions with diverse professions, religions, and cultures,

which blend to bring success to the company (Merck & Co., 2009).

Modes of Communication

Communication in companies includes all the modes, both informal and formal, through

which information is communicated up, across, and down the network of employees and

managers in a company. These various methods of communication might be utilized to

disseminate information between management and employees to exchange rumors or hearsay, or

official information. The challenge for companies is to convey these innumerable of

communications in a manner they can boost employee satisfaction, enhance customer relations,

encourage knowledge-sharing throughout the company, as well as most crucially, improve the

competitiveness of the firm (Bauer & Erdoganr, 2009; Robbins & Judge, 2007. Although

corporate communication content has remained rather constant throughout the years, the
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evolution of technology has enhanced manner in which employees and management

communicate with one another (McKay, Davis & Fanning, 2009). Nearly all organizations of any

size possess some regular means of communicating through newsletters, magazines or bulletin

boards. Larger or geographically dispersed organizations may also utilize TV shows corporate-

produced and copy-only messages communicated through closed circuit TV.

Merck embraces different communication modes, for example, the company uses both

written and verbal forms of communication to disseminate information throughout the company.

Different modes of communication are used depending on the information urgency, which

encompass notice boards, circulars, meetings, company websites, sessions for braining storming

emails, and brochures. Merck promotes an open form of communication to sustain the culture of

the company (Merck & Co., 2009). Managers must possess effective communication, leadership,

interpersonal skills, as well as with effectual management to ensure that the company is run

smoothly (McKay, Davis & Fanning, 2009; (Bauer & Erdoganr, 2009).

Nature of Authority

Leadership at Merck is hierarchical and power and authority flows from the top positions

to lower positions. A hierarchical organization has chain of command, which resembles a

pyramid where workers are ranked at numerous different levels in the company; every level is

above another. At Merck, responsibility and authority are well defined, opportunities for

promotions motivates employees, as well as the workers can develop and specialize in their

fields. Nonetheless, Merck practices democratic leadership, for instance, employees are included

in the process of decision formulation. In case of any disputes in the company, employees are

required to report complaints to the representatives of human resources or supervisors (Bauer &

Erdoganr, 2009).
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Furthermore, employees can also forward their issues to the ethics office in case they

cannot reach out a human resources representative or supervisor. The companys code of conduct

concerns pertains to every employee and the organizations shareholders holding various

responsibilities (Robbins & Judge, 2007). A code of conduct comprises an array of rules that

outlines the social rules and norms and responsibilities, and appropriate practices of a person,

organization or party. In an organizational setting, a code of conduct written for workers

safeguards the firms business, as well as informs the personnel of the expectations of the

organization. Mercks code of conduct also include ethical procedures that must be adhered to

during the process of decision making. Moreover, the availability of a code of conduct at Merck

renders employees feel valued and their contributions in the decision making process are

respected and appreciated (Merck & Co., 2009).

Merck has a corporate governance structure, which is effective; hence, this renders the

company transparent in its leadership. The board of directors appoints the Chief Executive

Officer of the company. The remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer and other management

personnel is determined by the board. A chairman heads the board and; moreover, every worker

can access the committee of auditing. Merck has also instituted policies on the protection of the

whistle blowers, which increases the confidence of the personnel in the leadership of the

organization. Leaders at Merck search for and encourage opinion from employees, which is

achieved via a high level of self-awareness from the leaders. The introduction of coaching for

employees at Merck helps various leaders recognize areas, which need development to improve

on those areas. Leaders at Merck exhibit an inclination to stand up and take accountability for

both failure and success boldly and bravely (Merck & Co., 2009).

Motivational Techniques
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Different people are motivated by diverse motivation sources. Motivation is focal in a

business setting because it affect physical and mental human reactions. Highly-motivated

employees have an inclination to work efficiently. Hence, motivation can result into increased

productivity and allows companies achieve greater output levels (Robbins & Judge, 2007).

Motivation generally energizes, controls, and maintains behavior. Salary is mostly enough

incentive to keep workers working for a company; however, it is always adequate to motivate

them to attain their full capability. Motivated employees retain an increased innovation level

whilst producing greater quality output at an increased efficiency level. The cost of opportunity

for motivating employees is basically zero (Bauer & Erdoganr, 2009).

At Merck, employee motivation forms part of the culture of the company. Goals are

established for the workers and the company encourages teamwork when working on different

projects. Employees are also subjected to regular training to improve their skills. Those who

exhibit improved performance are awarded rewards, promotions, and incentives. The company

also uses pay rise as a form of motivation for employees. Employees privacy is safeguarded by a

compliance officer, and this denotes that the company respects employees privacy because the

organization understands that the personnel are a valued of asset to the company whose needs

must be met accordingly (Merck & Co., 2009).

Emotional Quotient

Emotional quotient denotes the ability of a person to control, perceive, as well as assess

emotions. A number of researchers propose emotional quotient can be strengthened and learned

whereas others assert that it is an innate characteristic. Decision making in an organization does

not rest on the management only, employees are required to take part in the organization as well.

The solid underpinning of any successful organization is its people (Robbins & Judge, 2007). In
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particular, employees are a source of ideas and knowledge, but many times that resource is never

tapped. Involving companys employees in the process of decision making empowers the

personnel, contributes to the organizations success, as well as saves the firm money and time by

increasing productivity and reducing outsourcing (Bauer & Erdoganr, 2009).

Merck understands the importance of having a workforce that engages and contributes in

the process of decision making. Hence, the company strives to ensure that the employees

improve their decision making skills by comprehending their emotional quotient. Employees are

encouraged to recognize their emotions and those of others, to distinguish between diverse

feelings and regard them appropriately, as well as utilize emotional information as a guide of

their behavior and thinking. Merck organizes sessions and seminars where invited guests give

lectures and educate employees on emotional quotient and how to improve on their emotions to

enhance better interactions with fellow personnel. When employees are aware of their emotions,

they tend to influence the productivity of the organization. During the seminars, employees are

taught how to evaluate their intrapersonal and interpersonal emotions, for example, self-

regulation, self-awareness, empathy, social skills and motivation. Furthermore, the company also

holds workshops for emotional training for employees at Merck (Merck & Co., 2009).

Virtual Organization Components

To some degree, Merck embraces some virtual organization components; however, the

company is not a virtual firm. For example, since 2009, the company has been subscribing to

virtual meetings. The shift to the novel organizational structure in todays business organizations

is attributed to the unprecedented customer alternatives and expectations, global competition,

complexity, time compression, increased technology use and rapid change (Bauer &

Erdoganr, 2009). Merck uses a virtual software for meetings, which has been in use since 2009.
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The company uses this software for symposiums, conferences, and meetings to meet companys

needs. Shifting to virtual conferences and meetings has helped the company save on time and

travel costs (Merck & Co., 2009).

Conclusion

Conclusively, assessing the organizational behavior of a company is essential in todays

business world. A company can only establish its effectiveness though assessing its

organizational behavior. The assessment of a companys organizational behavior determines how

strong or weak a firms performance is, as well as what must be done to improve on the weak

links. This research paper has established that Merck has a solid bowl culture, embraces both

informal and formal modes of communication, its leadership is hierarchical, and has a code of

conduct that governs the behavior of both employees and shareholders in the company. The

companys corporate governance is transparent and employees are involved in the process of

decision making. Employees contributions in the process of decision making are highly

recognized. Employees emotional quotient is encouraged and the personnel undergo emotional

training to ascertain that they are equipped to deal with different people exhibiting diverse

emotions at different situations. Employees at Merck are motivated via different sources of

incentives such as pay rise, promotions, and rewards. Lastly, Merck engages in some virtual

organization components although the company itself is not a virtual organization.

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References

Bauer, T., & Erdoganr, B. (2009). Organizational behavior. Flat World Knowledge, Inc.

McKay, M., Davis, M., & Fanning, P. (2009). Messages: The communication skills book.

Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

Merck & Co. (2009). About. Retrieved from http://www.merck.com/about/home.html

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2007). Organizational behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson/Prentice Hall.