Organizational Behavior
For the second Module of the Organizations and cultures course we were introduced to the Organizational Behavior.
Organizational Behavior (OB) is not just a term, is a reality impulse by the globalization, the workforce, de raising diversity of the work teams, and the demand of ethical behavior at work.
For an accurate understanding of the meaning of OB is useful to split the term by words.
Organization is defined by the authors of Organizational Behavior: the Real World and You as a group of individuals interacting in an organizational setting.
An interesting definition of culture could be “a set of common understandings, manifest in act and artifact. It is in two places at once: inside somebody’s head as understanding and in the external environment as act and artifact” (Bohannan, 1995, p. 47).
OB study all the factors involve in the interaction of individuals in the organization, but in order to identify those factors it is useful to interpret the human behavior and the organizational context.
Understand the human behavior allowed us to explain individual actions in the organization. That is why Debra L. Nelson and James Campbel Quick expose two perspectives of the human behavior, at the book Organizational Behavior: the Real World and You, the internal and the external perspective.
The internal perspective considers the history and personal values to understand the behavior, and the external perspective examines the environmental forces and the surrounding of the person.
Debra L. Nelson and James Campbel Quick also propose to see the organization as an open system meaning that the components of an organizations, such us task, technology, people and structure, are elements that constantly interact with the external environment, trespassing the organizational boundary and been affected by the changes of external factors. This view can help us to perceive the context.
For the second Module of the Organizations and cultures course we were introduced to the Organizational Behavior.
Organizational Behavior (OB) is not just a term, is a reality impulse by the globalization, the workforce, de raising diversity of the work teams, and the demand of ethical behavior at work.
For an accurate understanding of the meaning of OB is useful to split the term by words.
Organization is defined by the authors of Organizational Behavior: the Real World and You as a group of individuals interacting in an organizational setting.
An interesting definition of culture could be “a set of common understandings, manifest in act and artifact. It is in two places at once: inside somebody’s head as understanding and in the external environment as act and artifact” (Bohannan, 1995, p. 47).
OB study all the factors involve in the interaction of individuals in the organization, but in order to identify those factors it is useful to interpret the human behavior and the organizational context.
Understand the human behavior allowed us to explain individual actions in the organization. That is why Debra L. Nelson and James Campbel Quick expose two perspectives of the human behavior, at the book Organizational Behavior: the Real World and You, the internal and the external perspective.
The internal perspective considers the history and personal values to understand the behavior, and the external perspective examines the environmental forces and the surrounding of the person.
Debra L. Nelson and James Campbel Quick also propose to see the organization as an open system meaning that the components of an organizations, such us task, technology, people and structure, are elements that constantly interact with the external environment, trespassing the organizational boundary and been affected by the changes of external factors. This view can help us to perceive the context.
There are other futures of the organization that also determines the context, the organizations has two faces, the formal and the informal organization.
The formal organization is the group of goals, objectives, policies and procedures that define the way that employees should act inside the company. And the informal organization is the set of beliefs, assumptions, values, attitudes, feelings and perceptions that determine the way in which workers of a company actually behave.
The formal organization is the group of goals, objectives, policies and procedures that define the way that employees should act inside the company. And the informal organization is the set of beliefs, assumptions, values, attitudes, feelings and perceptions that determine the way in which workers of a company actually behave.
Understanding the behavior of an organization requires skills and an objective knowledge in order to analyze what are the reasons that determine the actions of the members of an organization.
References
References
- Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Science, The Real World and You. South-Western College Publication, 7th. Ed. Chapter 1.
- T Ashraf. Dissemination and Net Working: Organizational Behavior. Chapter 14. Jawaharlal Nehru University Publication.
- Bohannan Paul. 1995. How culture Works. Vol. 10, pp. 47
National and Organizational Culture
In order to understand this interesting topic it is important to define key concepts like national culture, and organizational culture.
• National Culture: involves characteristic of a specific territory, such us values, understandings, assumptions and goals. Those characteristics are shared by the members of a society and passed through generations. Hoftede defines the national culture as "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or people from another".
• Organizational culture: Organization members interpret the behavior and language of others through their own culture, culture inside organizations plays an important role. One helpful definition offered by Edgar Schein of MIT’s Sloan School of Management is: “a pattern of shared basic assump¬tions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.”
Geert Hofstede exposed five dimensions as bases that help us to understand and differentiate cultures. The dimensions are:
• Power distance index
• Individualism
• Masculinity
• Uncertainty avoidance index
• Long term orientation. (1)
Hofstede’s dimensions are a useful tool that not only gave us an objective perspective of a culture; also bring us a way to compare specific characteristics.
• Organizational culture: Organization members interpret the behavior and language of others through their own culture, culture inside organizations plays an important role. One helpful definition offered by Edgar Schein of MIT’s Sloan School of Management is: “a pattern of shared basic assump¬tions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.”
Geert Hofstede exposed five dimensions as bases that help us to understand and differentiate cultures. The dimensions are:
• Power distance index
• Individualism
• Masculinity
• Uncertainty avoidance index
• Long term orientation. (1)
Hofstede’s dimensions are a useful tool that not only gave us an objective perspective of a culture; also bring us a way to compare specific characteristics.
References
- Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.
- Hofstede, G. Cultures and organizations: software of the mind. New York: McGraw- Hill, 1991.
- Schein, E.H. Organizationalculture and leadership. Sanfrancisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992.
Questions
1. Find and explain 2 real life examples about the business implications of national and organizational culture.
1. Find and explain 2 real life examples about the business implications of national and organizational culture.
First example: Colcafé
Organizational culture: I did my internship at Colcafé, the leader company in the coffee industry at Colombia. In Colcafé the working environment is a priority; organizational culture revolves around the welfare and development of employees. That is why Colcafé has been awarded as the third best company to work in Colombia. As a result of this culture the average employment time is 16 years and approximately 30% of employees have 20 years of service with the company
National culture: To continue with the previous example, during my internship at Colcafé I had the opportunity to understand how National Cultures typically include a national language, and other distinctive cultural practices. Since the Colombian coffee is known for its quality in the rest of the world, marking products with a label that says 100% pure Colombian coffee helps increase sales. In some Latin American cultures the word "pure" has a negative connotation associated with the drug. From this analysis we conclude how important it is for a company to understand and analyze the national culture of the markets where it operates.
National culture: To continue with the previous example, during my internship at Colcafé I had the opportunity to understand how National Cultures typically include a national language, and other distinctive cultural practices. Since the Colombian coffee is known for its quality in the rest of the world, marking products with a label that says 100% pure Colombian coffee helps increase sales. In some Latin American cultures the word "pure" has a negative connotation associated with the drug. From this analysis we conclude how important it is for a company to understand and analyze the national culture of the markets where it operates.
Second example: Carrefour
In this example is easy to see how important is to integrate national and organizational culture.
Carrefour is a French international hypermarket chain and the world’s second-largest retailer and the largest in Europe.
The way of eating and even buying demonstrate the difference between national cultures. So Carrefour had to adapt its working methods. Moreover, in order to adapt to the culture Carrefour is surrounded by local partners and employees.
Hofstede Says: “National cultural values are learned early, held deeply and change slowly over the course of generations” (1) that is why is important to analyze the national culture especially for companies who are trying to settle in new markets.
References
- (1) Organizational Culture and National Culture: What’s the Difference and Why does it Matter?. http://www.itapintl.com/whoweare/news/146-organizational-culture-and-national-culture-whats-the-difference-and-why-does-it-matter-.html?lang=
- Lessons from a global retailer an interview with the president of Carrefour China, the mackenzie quarterly. 2006. Special edition.
2. Essay
The corporate culture is much more evident in larger organizations. In small companies that are in a growth stage, the corporate culture is not very common or easily to identify.
Corporate culture is often defined as: “something that managers have to establish and run all the way through a business, with clear values and beliefs, successful business principles and operations, and a suitable emphasis on human resources and customer satisfaction.” (1)
But in all the organizations the corporate culture is implied. Every action, goal and decision speaks for the values and the culture of the organization. The human behavior is closely related to organizational culture, because is the way that workers act that create and modified the workplace environment.
So even when the company size is small, the employees and managers are creating or living the corporate culture.
But, is it possible to change the organizational or corporate culture? Dr. Geert Hofstede says that the organizational culture includes general guidelines that are born in organizational practices learned on the job; as a result changing organizational culture is not easy and takes time, but is possible to change it.
The organizational culture has been formed for years among employees and workers, and they are the key of the change.
As mentioned above, the behavior of individuals is the root of the corporate culture. That is why change the way that the company members behave is changing the corporate culture. But this change does not happen overnight, it requires deep understanding and analyzing the organization, its values, beliefs and experiences. Just whit a clear vision of the actual organization, it can be planned what the organization should be.
After knowing and understanding the current organizational culture, it must be define the appropriate culture for the company, and what are the necessary changes to be made. At this point it is advisable to establish the mission and vision of the organization. The mission and vision function as a framework.
As a last step, the communication between managers and employees should be clear. Communicate what is expected of a company, clarify doubts and define policies, is to ensure that members of an organization are aware of its important role.
In conclusion, all organizations are equipped with the corporate culture and it can be changed, although it is difficult and requires an objective analysis, an active steering and an open communication between workers.
References
Images taken from:
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario