Organizational Behavior Terminology And Concepts

Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts

Many factors are involved and contribute to an organization's productivity and its future success. Organizations are now encouraged to implement change to better the overall work environment. "Success in any work setting depends on a respect for people and an understanding of human behavior in complex organizational systems (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005)." In order to fully understand the concepts of organizational behavior, organizational culture, diversity, communication, organizational effectiveness and efficiency, and organizational learning, these terms must first be defined to create a truly more efficient work environment. The ultimate goal of organizational behavior is to improve the performance of people, groups, and organizations (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005).

Organizational behavior is defined as the study of human behavior among individuals and groups in organizations. This is the way in which employees or teams conduct themselves within the organization. Some organizations may set the tune with its mission, vision, and value statements, and also used to ensure that the entire organization is working towards the same goals and conducting them in a manner that is considered positive by the management. Organizations depend on workers to function and survive, and workers expect to be happy with their job in order to perform well and accelerate. According to Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn (2005), organizational behavior is about people working to pursue careers in today's new and highly demanding settings, only to seek fulfillment in their lives and jobs in a variety of ways. "If you act ethically and treat people in organizations well, you can expect them to treat you well in return (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005)." People tend to work hard and enjoy their work when they are valued as employees. A part of understanding organizational behavior is to know that an individual's motivation and performance can truly affect an organization's success and or demise. One example of behavior that I have observed through my experiences, deals with a former associate who was a very poor performer in the work environment. After a brief meeting with management, the associate turned into a hard worker. Management observed the situation, assessed what was happening and the problem was therefore corrected. Managers are responsible for their associates behaviors and actions and from their observations and assessments, they are able to change and correct the situation when necessary.

"Culture implies that human behavior is partially prescribed as a collectively created and sustained way of life that cannot be personality based because it is shared by diverse individuals (Van Maanen, Barley, 1985, p.31)." Organizational culture is what a company stands for including values, norms, ethics, and expectations from these beliefs. It is defined as the shared beliefs and values that influence the behavior of organizational members. Organizational culture is also how an organization was raised and formed from past history influences and interactions of the people and their attitudes working within over the course of many years. The internal environments of organizations display an underlying respect for people and for workforce diversity. Diversity is the presence of individuals-differences based on gender, race, and ethnicity, age, able-bodies, and sexual orientation. Members of diverse organizations are skilled at working successfully with people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, of different ages and gender, different ethnic and national cultures, and different life styles (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005)." With my past organization, I did not realize how much culture