Organizational Behavior Forces

<Tab/>Businesses, just as people, have many forces that manipulate and form the behavior of an entire organization. Much concern is placed on whether behavior within an organization is caused internally or externally. According to Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn (2005), authors of Organizational Behavior, "internal causes are believed to be under an individual's control" while "external causes are seen as coming from outside a person" (p. 156). Oddly enough, determining whether a cause is internal or external has its own influences from distinctiveness (how consistent a person's behavior is across different situations), consensus (how likely all those facing a similar situation are to respond in the same way), and consistency (whether an individual responds the same way across time) (Schermerhorn et al, 2005, p. 156-157). How a company reacts, adapts and manages internal and external forces will determine the overall success of the organization.

<Tab/>Restructuring is a force with both internal and external causes that greatly affect organizational behavior. Changes in the work setting add stress upon some workers who view any change as stressful. The same holds true for the staff of Disability Law Center (DLC), which specializes in Social Security Disability claims. Since DLC's atmosphere is rather high-paced and detail oriented, job functions necessitate a structured routine. Reforming work routines create instant loss of focus and delay in completing tasks for those who relate change with stress. From a disability standpoint, in accordance with the Social Security Administration (1985), "[T]he reaction to the demands of work (stress) [sic] is highly individualized, and mental illness is characterized by adverse responses to seemingly trivial circumstances. The mentally impaired may cease to function effectively when facing such demands. . ." (p. 4). In this instance, restructuring is determined to be an internal cause that is distinctive and consistent to only these individuals.

<Tab/>Alternatively, restructuring viewed as an external cause alters behavior as well. For DLC employee whose job functions are unaltered respond with stressed behavior changes when equipment malfunctions and temporarily halts progress. This external force is a consensus among all workers at DLC facing like circumstances.

<Tab/>An additional force that has an impact on organizational behavior is competition. Known as a driving force behind business success and commonly regarded as negative, competition creates successful people and organizations. Viewed positively, internal forces of competition within DLC generate independent thinkers. These people are diverse and regularly search for methods of improvement to reach individual success. Externally, competition produces organizational behaviors at DLC of absolute professionalism. Whether internal or external, competition is a tool that can positively move an entire organization to succeed.

<Tab/>The force of understaffing is an often seen enormous influence of organizational behavior. A decreased availability of workers generally creates a sense of job security in the work place. Internally speaking, such personnel shortages place added demands on workers to maintain or increase current production rates. Progress at DLC remains routinely trapped by understaffing issues within the Social Security Administration (SSA). These employees are easily irritated and problematic towards disability claim issues received from DLC. Many workers within SSA are unable to respond appropriately to worker shortages. The external side of SSA understaffing issues causes lengthy delays in disability claims. DLC and its clients are frequently informed that claims are in pending status and remain untouched for weeks at a time. Claims were previously decided within 60 days now take up to 180 days or longer for an initial decision to be issued. This external influence requires DLC to maintain a positive organizational spirit, which is difficult at best. As noted, the internal and external force of understaffed organizations reaches far beyond the organization itself.

<Tab/>A budget cut is an added force that has a vast impact on the behavior of an organization. Once an administrative budget is reduced, behavior in many SSA personnel turns uncooperative (a distinctive and consistent internal cause) and many regulations are disregarded. To these workers, a budget cut means no longer performing many tasks. For example, DLC places requests per regulation to SSA for specific information on each disability claim. In response, SSA managers disregard regulations and