Question:
Putting It All Together and Making it Work at Work” – application of course material.
Reflect back on the various chapters and topics that we have covered in the course (e.g., motivation, bullying, stress, job design, team development, power in the workplace, cross-cultural communication, negotiating, transformational leadership, organizational culture, psychological contracts, equity theory, organizational politics) and ‘real-world’ situations that you have experienced (or are presently experiencing). Prepare a paper describing the situation and how the lessons of Organizational Behavior help explain what is happening AND how the lessons of OB can guide managers to a better way, with respect to that situation. How can you make the lessons of OB work at your workplace??
Target five double spaced pages (however, if you go over a bit, no penalty). This paper should be your thoughts and analysis, and written in your words. Do not quote or copy from the text or other sources, and do not cut and paste from the internet.
Refer to the specific Learning Objectives (e.g., LO 6 – 3 for learning objective 3 in chapter 6) or the specific topics (e.g., improving reward effectivenss) which is/are the basis of your application paper.
Your completed paper should be in a formal, high-quality business format. Grading will be:
1) paper preparation (appearance, correctness, spelling, writing quality etc. ) – 20 pts.
2) Thorough, in-depth analysis and explanation of the problem/situation that you are addressing, using specific class Learning Objectives or topics – 75 pts
3) Thorough, in-dept application of specific class Learning Objectives or topics to develop a method to improve the situation – 75 pts.
4) Explanation of expected outcomes grounded in specific Learning Outcomes or topics – 30 pts.
Your paper should be double spaced with 1′ margins. Citations and references should follow APA style.
Answer:
Reflection
Organisational behavior is not a single aspect of an organisation but a major feature or approach which plays a vital role in all the aspects of the organisation. The analysis and study of the various concepts and models of organisational behavior helps in effective understanding of a number of things. It offers understanding of what all is there in any organisation, the way in which the organisational workforce is acting and the manner in which satisfaction of the workforce can help in developing the bottom line of the business. It also supports in analyzing the manner in which the employees and the organisation can have a more efficient association (McShane and Von Glinow, 2015). The study of organisational behavior has developed a sense of understanding in me in respect with the individual behaviors and their value in personal as well as professional lives. Organisational behavior has not only taught the importance of interconnection but also the various aspects of behavior which can impact the working of the individuals.
The first experience or learning was, a few months back, there was a sudden change in the management of my organization which not only have resulted in workplace issues but also a number of challenges which made the working tough. There were a lot of issues regarding policy changes, workplace bullying as well as increased employee turnover due to higher level of job stress. Even the competent and well as highly skilled people also left the jobs due to the continuously increasing issues and stress. According to the learning gained from the study of organizational behavior in the book develop by McShane & Von Glinow, it was made understood that the key factor behind the success and growth of an organisation is the organisational workforce. The happier, satisfied and contended the employees are the lesser are the chances of occurring stress because of organisational, physiological and environmental issues (McShane and Von Glinow, 2015). But in the change management process, if my organisation cannot deal effectively with such job related issues and stress problems then there will be increased chances of employee turnover. The research also helped me perceiving things and behaviours as it explained me that our perception is the key factor for driving our cognitive process. I have learned that it is primarily our psychological connection that defines the level and type of stress as well as it is the one which only can help a person in coping up with the organisational stress. I can illustrate it better with one of the instances, as at my workplace, there was one of my colleagues who was very much stressed with the work pressure and was not even getting enough time for his family and personal life. With the immense pressure of work and due to the continuous workload he felt ill and was diagnosed with hypertension and high blood pressure as well as with symptoms of anxiety. To understand his situation and to let him release his work pressure and stress, my manager took use of the psychological association and by having an emotional involvement and try to perceive his situation and emotions. This helped my colleague in coping up with the organisational stress.
The second learning I have gained by studying organisational behaviour is that there is a huge significance of rewards, performance-based rewards and reward effectiveness in the organisations in terms of individuals’ performances. In my organisation, for some of the projects there is distribution of people in various teams. Now we used to work in diverse teams but every next day we all face issues in respect with sharing responsibilities, taking initiatives and completion of tasks on deadlines. The primary reason behind such issues is that there is nothing which can motivate us to work hard and complete our tasks except our monthly pays. In that particular situation, from the study of organisational behaviour I have gained an understanding that to enhance our individual contribution as well as to improve the performances of the teams as a whole, it is essential that the managers must give team based and individuals’ performance based rewards (Shields, et al., 2015). The rewards are the key motivation factor which not only motivate the employees to work hard but also develops a competitive environment in the organisation that leads to faster accomplishment of objectives. There are various rewards which can be used as motivational factors such as gain sharing, recognition, incentive pay, profit sharing and many others.
Thirdly, it was also analysed that in my organisation people other than the rewards also get motivated with the job design. Earlier there were few trainees who joined that organisation but soon they were not happy with their work. In that case, the manager proposed a job design for those new entrants so that they can be more comfortable in working. The job design offered well structure requirements which made the working clear and help the employees in faster attainment of the goals (Restiyanto, 2015). At my workplace, there was one of my junior who was highly specialized in employee recruitment but being a MBA he was appointed basically for marketing and field work. In just few months, he lost his interest in the work and was not able to meet his targets. To understand the problem, the manager had a one-on-one discussion with him. After the discussion, he realized that there was the issue of job specialization. There was a change in his profile and now he is working as a recruiter. Just after this job specialisation, there was experienced a tremendous growth and improvement in his work. This instance made clear one of the understandings of studying organisational behaviour that job specialisation plays a vital and significant role in improving the performance and motivation of the employees and had a number of advantages.
The fourth learning which I gained was that there is an immense need of self leadership at the workplace. Few months back, when there was a change in management, there was less emphasis paid by the new managers on some of the employees including me. At that point of time, we all realized that there was a decrease in our performances in terms of productivity as well as efficiency. In that particular time, I recalled one of the lessons learned in the study of organisational behaviour on self-leadership. It was studied that there are particularly five elements of self leadership that comprises of social skills, empathy, self-awareness, motivation and self-regulation (Carmeli, Meitar and Weisberg, 2006). When my performance was not good, I helped myself through the learning of self leadership. I had improved my performance by remaining self-aware of my deadlines so that I can complete my tasks on time. The next aspect of self-leadership which also supported me in my performance improvement was the self-regulation. The aspect of self regulation helped me in developing the competence to control and monitor my own thoughts, emotions and behaviours and also altering them in a manner in which I can meet the demands of the various organisational situations.
References
Carmeli, A., Meitar, R., & Weisberg, J. (2006). Self-leadership skills and innovative behavior at work. International Journal of Manpower, 27(1), 75-90.
McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2015).Organizational Behavior 7/e.
Restiyanto, O., (2015). Mc Shane von Glinow Organizational Behavior ebook Copy, Retrieved on: 7th December, 2017, Retrieved from: http://www.academia.edu/29097775/Mc_Shane_von_Glinow_Organizational_Behavior_ebook_Copy
Shields, J., Brown, M., Kaine, S., Dolle-Samuel, C., North-Samardzic, A., McLean, P., … & Plimmer, G. (2015). Managing Employee Performance & Reward: Concepts, Practices, Strategies. Cambridge University Press.
