Literature Review on organizational behavior

Literature Review on organizational behavior

Introduction

Organizational behavior is how people carry themselves in an organizational setting. The study is concerned with both individual and group activities within an organization. It seeks to understand, predict, and control human behavior within an organizational setting. The human behavior is essential for any given organization because it impacts on the organization’s structure, performance, motivation, and leadership. These behaviors are influenced by the person’s experience and associated disciplines such as sociology, economics, and psychology, among other factors. The studies of organizational behavior can be traced way back to the evolution of industrialization and the work of the sociologists Max Weber. The industrial revolution led to tremendous culture and social change, which informs the new forms of organization. In his analysis of the modern organizational form sociologists, Max Weber believes that bureaucracy is the ideal type of organization due to its believe in the principles of rational-legal process and maximization of technical efficiency. However, the organization study behavior was not formed as an academic discipline until the 1890s, as a result of the arrival of Taylorism and scientific management. The scientific management, however, did not succeed, and it paved the way to human relations movement that majors on employee cooperation and morale. The discipline of organizational behavior is vast and complex. A lot of studies have been done concerning organizational behavior, with different scholars coming up with various arguments about the organizational behavior and issues affecting it. This paper will explore the existing literature by various scholars about organizational behavior. It will use the findings to discuss the contemporary issues of organizational behavior

Literature Review

The discipline of organizational behavior is complicated since it deals with humans and is influenced by many factors, such as cultural differences, individual personalities, and organizational structures, among others. Linstead et al. (2014), in his work, majors on the dark side of organizational behavior. He argues that the tendencies of the mainstream to suppress difficult political, ethical, and ideological issues lead to the dark side. According to Linstead et al., the contributions of the dark side are as a result of misbehavior, sociology, and the psychology of organizational behavior. The purpose of this article is to bring out the issues that have been suppressed in the history of organizational behavior by studying the dark side of organizational behavior. This study points out that the dark side in organizations is a result of internal forces as opposed to many peoples believe that external forces contribute to it. One of the internal contributors to the dark side is the failure of the leadership to recognize their shortcomings.

Linstead ET. Al notes that the dominant approach that emphasizes the virtues of leaders while ignoring their shortcomings leads to disconnection among individuals and the emotional context of their working environment. This kind of organizational structure that exalt leaders beyond their weaknesses leads to violent leaders and insensitive leaders. In marketing, it is argued that some people do it for their relief and not the purpose of the brand identity, as believed by many. This article highlights conformity as one of the contributors to the dark side other than the non-conformity. It looks at the dark side as an ingrained feature of the contemporary manner of the organization (Linstead et al. 2014). Linstead et al. suggest that a change in the internal organizational structures is the start of correcting the dark side of most organizational behaviors.

Another study by Aithal and Kumar explores the theory of accountability and its contribution to people’s performance. In other words, they evaluate how a particular approach can influence behavior in an organization. The theory of accountability constitutes four significant aspects, fixing responsibility, monitoring, reaching a predetermined target, and maintaining accountability.  This article identifies five goals of organizational behavior. One is that they describe people’s behavior, to understand why people behave in various mannerisms, to predict the future behavior of an employee, to know how people can be motivated, and to promote activity and reduce partiality in organizations. According to Aithal and Kumar, organizational behavior determines the effectiveness of a given organization. Some of the behavior and values that enhance performance, as argued out in this article, include openness, practicing ethics behavior, recognition, accepting diversity, and empowerment. The theory of accountability is used to explain most of the employees’ behavior in the 21^st century (Aithal & Kumar, 2016). According to this theory, a sense of accountability leads to the application of knowledge into actions, display of creativity levels of different people, and efficiency in performance.

Fredrick, in the article about the role of organizational behavior in business management, believes that organizational behavior is crucial to business management. According to him, the people are the leading resource in an organization. Thus their behavior will determine the performance of an organization. Managers have a great responsibility in the functioning of an organization, therefore understanding the organizational behavior becomes key for managers. It is emphasized by the fact that the organizational world has changed drastically today with the introduction of technology and an increase in the number of women employees. Due to these changes, there are increased challenges as well as opportunities that require the application of organizational behavior. Some of the advantages of organizational behavior are that it reduces absenteeism, leads to increased job satisfaction, improves performance, and encourages organizational citizenship, among others (Fredrick, 2014). Thus the manager’s understanding of organizational behavior is vital for efficiency performance.

The article, groups and their effect in organizations, emphasizes on the social part of the human being. Asci et al., says that as a social being, people thrive in groups which as well applies in organizations. This article points out that in an organizational setup, groups are formed, whether formally or informally, for various purposes at different times. This kind of organization is what leads to organizational behavior since people who interact on a daily basis will need to communicate and cooperate for survival.  According to Asci et al. (2014), organizational behavior has both positive and negative effects on an organization’s functions and structure.

Asci points out that for a group to survive it, the people composing the group should have common goals and perspectives. He argues that if a group’s norm conflicts with personal views, it may end up putting pressure on such a person because they will be forced to work under the standards, hence less productivity by the individual. This kind of scenario may lead to disintegration. He also acknowledges that some groups may change individual people positively in terms of attitudes, which makes the group more stable. This study looks at the social structure of peoples within an organization rather than formal organizations. It is believed that groups that form informally compose of people with the same perspectives and attitudes, and as long as they support the organizational goals, such groups are bound to survive any challenges.

Sharma describes the business world today as a dynamic one that is influenced by the ever-changing technologies. This article argues that the continued changes in the business world today lead to changes in the needs of an organization as well as its operations. It suggests that for a business entity to understand the challenges and opportunities of the organization, the concept of organizational behavior is vital (Sharma, 2018). Sharma argues that by studying organizational behavior, organizations can learn business ethics and change the employees’ attitudes and behaviors to produce positive results for themselves and the company. Some of the norms that can be used to face challenges like changing environment and technology and transform them into opportunities include total quality management, reengineering, organizational culture, and leadership.

Other studies have shown that leadership determines the organization’s outcome. According to Madanchian et al. (2016), effective leaders portray specific styles and have power over certain traits. This article argues that leadership effectiveness is the ability of a leader to impact on a group to perform their roles in such a way it leads to positive organization outcome. Some of the things that can be used to measure leadership outcomes are, attitudes of the followers, and the consequences of a leader’s action, among others. Some of the results of leaders’ actions that are assessed include subordinate satisfaction, improved performance by the subordinates, and commitment by the subordinate (Madanchian et al. 2016). According to this article, it can be concluded that a good leader is a key to business success.

According to Mehmet and Busra (2016), leadership affects employee’s satisfaction and their commitment to the organization. The research found out that people that have strong ties with organizations maintain permanency in the organizations. The strong relationships come as a result of satisfaction with their work. The conclusion is if environments that promote job satisfaction are created, it leads to organizational commitment. Thus the organizational behavior is determined by the leadership and the kind of environment created by the management of the particular organization

According to Kaifi and Noori, in a study that looked at organizational behavior of managers, employees, and team. It was found out that organizations that value communication, transparency, and accountability are likely to succeed even during times of organizational change. According to this article, the females were found to be better communicators than men. Kaifi & Noori argue that women have innate leadership qualities such as being empathetic, the ability to connect with other person’s emotions, and can easily connect to people’s hearts. According to the above argument, a leader’s behavior will affect the employee’s behavior and performance (Kaifi & Noori, 2010). Cohesiveness in the workplace is attained through; effective communication is essential as well as a good understanding of the employee’s needs.

The above studies on leadership and organizational behavior provide some of the existing knowledge on the subjects. Some of the reviews relate to one another, while others differ depending on the issues they have explored concerning leadership and organizational behavior. For example, some of the studies have shown that the leadership of an organization is a key determinant of its success. Effective leadership creates a conducive environment in the organization, hence leads to interactions and behavior that promote the success of the organization. According to Kaifi and Noori, how managers relate to individual employees and teams translates to cohesiveness in the workplace and the overall success. Mehmet and Busra argue that leadership determines the ties of an employee to an organization. They believe that effective leadership will lead to employees’ satisfaction that ties them to the organization hence fostering permanency in organizations. Madanchian et al. conclude that the leadership of the organization determines the outcome of an organization.

Other articles argued that knowledge of organizational behavior is crucial to understanding the modern ever-changing organizational environment. For example, according to Fredrick (2014), managers need to learn the organizational behavior of their employees because it leads to better performance, reduced absenteeism, and job satisfaction, among others. Another article by Sharma, argues that organizational behavior helps the leaders to learn the ethics of business and through that impact positive attitudes on the employees that lead to the desired results. However, some of the articles differed in terms of the writer’s perspective and dimension. For example, in the article by Linstead et al., he explored the dark side of organizational behavior. The study points out that the history of organizations has concentrated on the positive side of the organizations suppressing the dark side. As a result, this has led to conformity to the wrong perspectives, which further leads to failure in businesses. For example, the leaders have been exalted beyond their shortcomings, which causes satisfaction in their leadership and conformity to the wrong perceptions.

Some of the issues raised in the above studies include the failure by some organization to look at their dark sides and change. This has led to conformity to the status quo, which is dangerous since it can cause resistance to change. According to this review, the problem is within and not caused by external forces, as many may think. Another issue that has been raised in this study is the leadership quality. Most of the studies have agreed that the type of leadership will determine the performance of individual employees and teams, which translates to the performance of the organization. It also argues that the behavior of people in an organization is essential because it is what determines performance.

Recommendations

According to this study, I would recommend that apart from encouraging the positives and looking at the positive side, it is also essential to look at the dark side to change and for growth. Another recommendation is that organizations should promote good leadership that identifies with the employees to foster cohesiveness in working places and encourage performance. I would also recommend the employment of the theory of accountability in organizations. This study has shown that accountability helps to know the strength of a person and also to promote performance. It believes that people are lazy, and unless there is something like a sense of accountability to motivate them, they will not realize their potential

Conclusion

Leadership and organizational behavior is a broad topic, and with various facets has indicated in this study. Some of the issues explored in this study are. The importance of leadership in organizations and how it influences behavior and performance. The theory of accountability and organizational behavior. Looking at the dark side of organizational behavior and its effects on an organization and the importance of organizational behavior in an organization. This study has also explored socialization in the workplace and the formation of groups through mutual cohesiveness as an important factor that leads to improved performance.