Organizational Behavior Assignment
Question 1
Organizational behavior is mostly premised on the study that revolves around an investigation of the impact of groups, individuals, and structure have on behavior based on a given behavioral context. In most cases, organization behavior relies on different disciplines to effectively observe the behavior of an individual or a group to know their perceptions, feelings, and attitudes towards the organizational policies, culture, and how they relate with each other and react within given circumstances (Tasselli, Kilduff, & Landis, 2018). Generally, organizational behavior is aimed at applying the learned knowledge about an organization to improve the effectiveness, productivity, and operations of an organization.
Question 2
On the other hand, an organization could be understood within the context of a social unit composed of a group of people working towards attaining common organizational goals. In that regard, an organization is a consciously and deliberatively coordinated social unit mostly made up of a group of people. Its functioning is premised on a relatively continuous basis in a bid to attain a common goal or multiple set of goals that have been set by the organization (Tasselli, Kilduff, & Landis, 2018). On simpler terms, an organization could be described as a group of people within a particular context, working to attain a common goal based on collective efforts. In that regard, a family could not be equated to an organization. Though a family could be made up of a group of people, there is hardly a common goal or collective effort to attain the goals that the family has set. The family remains a unit within human life, but for it to be defined as an organization, it needs family structure, goals, and collective effort toward realizing such goals. In most instances, families are not structured in a particular way, nor do they have goals and collective effort among the parents and the children or other extended families. In most cases, the parents put effort into raising the children or support other family members. The aspect of a common goal within a family is also hard to attain in most cases, as divergent opinions always supersede any common goals, especially in an extended family.
Question 3
Though individuals’ behaviors are generally predictable, the assertion that there is no need to study organizational behavior is not only far-fetched but also inaccurate. Human behaviors could be predicted based on the scientific claims and prolonged study of the patterns of individuals. Still, there is also an aspect of complexity in humans that could only be understood through organizational behavior (Tasselli, Kilduff, & Landis, 2018). There are individual differences among people in an organization based on the diversity in the culture, the existence of written and unwritten laws among workers, different perceptions, and attitudes towards changes and policies in an organization. Therefore, these differences among people in an organization limit one’s ability to make conclusive, accurate, simple, and sweeping generalizations regarding the behavior of individuals in an organization (Tasselli, Kilduff, & Landis, 2018). The study of organizational behavior through the disciplines that it relies on will play an essential role in giving a deeper understanding and a broader scope in understanding multiple aspects related to the behavior of an individual.
Question 4
When an organization takes a contingency approach in its analysis of behavior, it delves into the rationale behind the behavior based on the context. In most instances, a contingency approach is based on the assumption that methods used by an individual or the behavior such individuals exhibit might work effectively in one situation while flops in the other. In organizational behavior, the contingency approach mostly relies on how practices in an organization, as exhibited by members in the organization, were shaped by the situation or context in which it occurs (Stewart, Courtright, & Manz, 2019). Therefore, in most cases, the contingency approach mostly revolves around the situation upon which behavior occurred and took into consideration multiple aspects of examining organizational behavior based on different situations and how the behavior yielded a particular result in that context.
Question 5
The three levels of organizational behavior analysis are individual-level analysis, group-level analysis, and the organization system-level analysis. To a great extent, the relationship among these levels of analysis of the organizational behavior is intertwined and based on mutual benefit between one level and the other. The individual-level analysis remains the lowest level of analysis as far as organizational behavior is concerned and mostly forms a building block for the formation of the group-level analysis (Stewart, Courtright, & Manz, 2019). Several individuals in an organization build a group, and these attributes contribute immensely to the emergence of building blocks used to form a group-level analysis. On the same note, group-level analysis forms a basis upon which the organization-level analysis is premised. The larger organization derives its basis from the culture, attitude, and behavior of the group to attain a collaborative goal through the collective efforts of everyone in the organization (Stewart, Courtright, & Manz, 2019). Therefore, there is an intertwined relationship between the three levels of analysis in organizational behavior, as highlighted above.
Question 6
Currently, managers face multiple challenges that typify the workings and undertakings in the 21st century as far as management is concerned. The major challenge that most managers of organizations face is retaining the best talent in an organization with the competitive aspects in other organizations coming into play. Other problems include eradicating stereotypes and prejudice among different individuals in an organization, managing employees that work remotely, addressing employee burnouts, and setting up meaningful and prompt feedback in an organization (Stewart, Courtright, & Manz, 2019). On the other hand, the managers also have multiple opportunities presented to them through organizational behavioral concepts. These opportunities manifest through the creation of a platform to improve workforce skills, improving quality and productivity among employees, and empowering workforce (Stewart, Courtright, & Manz, 2019). These opportunities could be established through institutionalizing a robust organizational culture and having addressing aspects of projection, prejudice, and stereotypes in an organization.
Reference
Stewart, G. L., Courtright, S. H., & Manz, C. C. (2019). Self-leadership: A paradoxical core of organizational behavior. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 6, 47-67.
Tasselli, S., Kilduff, M., & Landis, B. (2018). Personality change: Implications for organizational behavior. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 467-493.