Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts

Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts

Organizational behavior is a concept or tool for businesses that want to meet the needs of its employees while being aware of the force each individual has on an organization's behavior. Organizations must consider what employees want and what concerns they may have, though the answers are not always the same. There is a primary need for organizations and managers to know what their employees value, how they feel and be accommodating so as to keep the organization on the leading edge of productivity and profitability. The behavior of employees within any organization is essential to the success or failure of that organization. The study of organizational behavior is a science with its own vocabulary and terminology. This paper will describe some of the more common key concepts of organizational behavior, with my personal work experience examples included.

Organizational behavior is the study of aspects that affect how people and groups act in organizations and how these organizations respond to their environments. These factors include how employees or groups act, think, feel and respond to their work and organization. Understanding the concept of organizational behavior is important because most individuals will work for a corporation at one point during his or her life. These individuals can take from their experiences and have a better understanding of why people act and react the way that they do. This will also help an individual to have a better understanding of the corporation's culture. (George, 2005 ).

Organizational culture is comprised of the attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values of an organization. It has been defined as the collection of shared values, beliefs and norms by people and groups in an organization that control the way they interact with each other and with people outside the organization." (Wikipedia, 2007) In the most basic sense of terms the organizational culture could be called the "personality" of a corporation.

The culture of an organization can be correlated with the organizational, or business ethics. Organizational ethics are "the moral values, beliefs, and rules that establish the appropriate way for an organization and its members to deal with each other and with people outside the organization." (Wikipedia, 2007). Business ethics is a form of the art of applied ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. The concept of culture and ethics is particularly important when attempting to manage organization-wide change (McNamara, 2007).

Change management is a structured approach to change in individuals, teams, organizations and societies that enables the transition from a existing state to a desired potential state. Organizational change management includes processes and tools for managing the people side of the change at an organizational level. These tools include a planned approach that can be used effectively to transition groups or organizations through change. When combined with a perception of individual change management, these tools provide a framework for managing the people area of change (Schermerhorn, 2005).

One challenge of understanding organizational culture is the comprehension of diversity in the workforce. Diversity, if properly managed, can help organizations build a competitive advantage. For example, having managers and associates representing diverse ethnicities can help an organization better understand and serve its diverse customer base. Diversity can be defined as a characteristic of a group of people suggesting differences among those people on any relevant dimension. Diversity is the differences among employees and groups resulting from age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background (George, 2005).

In order for an individual to have the best sense possible of organizational behavior, there must be communication. It is true that one can observe behavior as it related to an organization, but this is only one's perception of that organizations culture. Communication to new members of a corporation will help clearly define the organizations values, beliefs,