Organizational Behavior for Journal of Managerial Psychology

Question: Discuss about theOrganizational Behavior for Journal of Managerial Psychology. Answer: Introduction Organizational behavior is the study of the behavior of individuals in an organizational setting. Effective organizational behavior management is imperative for the success and growth of any business (Griffin Moorhead, 2011). An individuals behavior in these organizational settings is largely impacted by various factors including workplace environment, timings, nature of work and organizational policies. Organizational behavior includes the study of organizational employees culture, religion, social values, ethics and economic backgrounds. This report throws light upon organizational behavior theories, practices and their significance in the organization. The report also reflects upon various steps that must be taken to improve workforce diversity as well as recent changes that the organizational behavior practices are witnessing. Essay topic It is better to rely on stereotypes than to enter into a relationship with someone from another culture without any idea of what they believe in. The increasing workplace diversity is a result of globalization (Hamilton, 2015). People from different parts of the globe come together and work towards similar goals. This results in building various long term relationships that largely impact organizations as well as individuals associated with the organization. People coming from different religions, geographies and social or economic backgrounds have a number of stereotypes associated with them. Stereotypes can be based on religion, age, caste or geography (Bertolino, 2013) These stereotypes may or may not relate with everyone but it is important to note that there is a reason why these stereotypes exist. While collaborating with different people it is often wiser to be aware of the stereotypes that are associated with the people as this helps the organizations in preparing for the future. For example, Employees from France are associated with being unpunctual. Therefore, when hiring a French employee, the manager can ensure to keep a certain amount of margin while giving them work deadlines. If the employee, sticks to the deadline and completes the work on time, the there is no drawback. However, if the employee is late as depicted by the stereotype, then too the organization has enough time as margin for the required work. Organizational behaviour theories There are various theories that are associated with organizational behaviour. The theory in discussion for this report is that of identical employer-employee behaviour. This theory suggests that the organization must impose similar policies, goals, behavioral guidelines and ethical codes for the employer as well as all the employees. Implication of this theory motivates employees to work hard and builds an environment of decorum within the organization. This is specifically useful when the organization is diverse and has people from different backgrounds working together. As per the essay question above, this theory suggests that all the employees must be treated equally rather than creating a bias on account of the stereotypes associated with them. One key factors that affect employee growth in any business is Motivation (Stein Cropanzano, 2011). There are various motivational theories that must be employed in the organization in order to motivate employees to work hard. Maslows ne ed hierarchy theory creates a five levels of needs for every individual. Once the physical and social needs of employees are fulfilled, organizations must focus upon fulfilling esteem needs of employees in order to keep them motivated (Anderson, 2014). In a diverse environment, every individual would have a different source of esteem. For example, according to the stereotypes, an American employees esteem need are fulfilled by giving them additional power, a Chinese employees esteem needs are fulfilled by giving them additional responsibilities on the other hand, an Indian or African employees esteem needs are fulfilled by offering them additional pay. Therefore, these stereotypes help organizations in understanding employee needs. It is important to note that stereotypes play a role only in the beginning of any relationship. Once the communication between the two parties develops, stereotypes are broken and decisions are made based upon experiences. Organizational problems form a part of every leading organization that exists today. As organizations are getting more and more diversified, organization is beginning to face unique challenges that need to be addressed. These problems are faced at managerial level, employee level as well as organizational level (Laura, 2012). The following are some of the leading problems faced by organizations in the process of building relationships with different people: Communication problems: The most important problem that exists in building a diverse organization wherein people from different backgrounds work together is the communication problem faced by employees at large (Patrick Kumar, 2012). Every individual has his or her own unique local language and official language that the individual best communicates in. In case of a diverse organization, there are various language barriers. In order to address the same, all organizations establish their official language. All the organizations must provide training to their foreign employees to learn the official language of the organization as well as the local language of the country. Cultural problems: Every individual comes from a different cultural background. Chinese organizations have an active and dynamic organizational culture where people are often screaming at each other. On the other hand, Japan has a calm culture and screaming at anyone is considered rude and arrogant. According to the rules of their religion, Muslims need to pray 5 times in a day. Therefore organization with Muslim employees need to allow them required time during the day to pray. Hindus on the other hand are restricted by religion to eat non-vegetarian food. Hence organizations with Hindu employees must avoid or restrict non-vegetarian meals in the common pantry area. Therefore in order to address this issue, training about different culture must be given (Sartorius, 2011). Cultural issues may create a certain kind of bias on the basis on religious practices, customs and language within the organization. Social Issues: There are various issues that are created by society. These social norms of employees need to be understood and respected while employing a diverse workforce (Hyde et. al., 2013). For example, Muslim women are expected to cover their heads at all times while other societies find it normal for women to wear skirts or pants. Certain societies restrict women from working at night while some women prefer to work late in the night. All these are plain stereotypes but they must be understood well in advance by organizations before hiring employees from different backgrounds. Demerits of stereotyping Stereotyping of an individual in not wrong in fact it largely helps organizations in being prepared for what they might encounter. At the same point of time, it is important to note that not every individual may entirely adhere to the stereotype associated with them. Stereotyping employees may lead to a negative work culture, judgment among employees towards each other, partial or unfair treatment and reduced productivity within the organization. Therefore it is recommended that organizational managers must adopt the positive side of stereotyping. Diverse organizations are imperative for the success and growth of a business in the current scenario. Negative aspects of applying stereotypes are also referred to as silent destroyers of the organization. Hence, managers must use their discretion and keeping the productivity of organization in mind, they must adopt to the positive aspects of stereotypes and manage workforce in the manner that lets go of the negative impacts of stereotyping. Recent developments in organizational behavior Organizational behavior theories have seen a lot of changes since their inception. Traditional theories have been edited and molded to suit the current workplace environment and changing organizational needs. Various changes in organizational practices are as below: Diverse organizations Globalization in the world has allowed people from different parts of the world to work together in a single organization. This has led to the creation of diverse workforce. Diverse organizations improve organizational performance as people coming from different competencies are amalgamated to work together (Lynn et. al., 2013). Increasing role of women Women have started playing a major role in organizational setting. Today women are not only stepping outside their comfort zones but are also excelling in their respective fields and attaining leadership roles in many organizational settings (Safa, 2018). Traditionally, most organizations were male dominant. Improving technology Advent of technology has also allowed businesses to grow and has largely organized various organizational practices and policies. Employee performance evaluation and customer relationship is now being entirely managed by technology and this has led to increased efficiency of the business. Managers are counselors Organizations have been taking various efforts in building long term relationships with their employees. Earlier employees were simply puppets in the hands of management. Today, they have a strong say and deep decision making authority. Managers organize counseling sessions in their offices and try to understand their employees better. Employee goals are well aligned with organizational goals to encourage employees to perform better. To Conclude, Stereotyping is being largely adopted by various organizations owing to an increasing number of diverse employees. There are various positives of building stereotypes. It helps organizations in being prepared to handle the employee and it largely ensures the no religious or culture sentiments are hurt. But on the other hand, it may lead to judging, biasness and a negative workplace culture. Therefore in order to ensure employee productivity, managers must learn to adopt the positive aspects of stereotyping while avoiding the negatives. References Anderson, A. (2014). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.The Prairie Light Review,36(2), 7. Bertolino, M., M. Truxillo, D., Fraccaroli, F. (2013). Age effects on perceived personality and job performance.Journal of Managerial Psychology,28(7/8), 867-885. Griffin, R.W. and Moorhead, G., 2011.Organizational behavior. Cengage Learning. United States Hamilton, D.L. ed., 2015.Cognitive processes in stereotyping and intergroup behavior. Psychology Press. Hyde, P., Harris, C. Boaden, R., 2013. Pro-social organisational behaviour of health care workers. 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