Mgt 307 - Organizational Behavior & Group Dynamics - Ob Terminology & Concepts

OB Terminology and Concepts

Sara E. Smith

Organizational Behavior & Group Dynamics

MGT/307

OB Terminology & Concepts

At the end of October 2011, the world's population surpassed seven billion people (Research Information Ltd., 2011). With this many people in the world comes many opinions, behaviors, backgrounds, and cultures. Organizational Behavior is not only involved with the behavior of organizations, but also the behavior of people within the organizations. Organizations are made up of many cultures, communications, and diversities.

Organizational Culture

"In the internal environment of organizations, the shared beliefs and values that influence the behavior of organizational members create what is called the organizational culture" (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008, p. 11). An organizations' culture can be labeled as somewhat of a company's mission statement or a generalization regarding how a company prefers their employees to perform different tasks. Usually a company expects their employees to do things at a specific level, or standard. Employees recognize the standards within an organization. An organizations culture has a serious impact on its' since of direction. Because of this, the culture must be understood by all individuals, departments, and groups within the company (Mgbere, 2009). A business' future heavily depends on the culture among the company and how defined the culture is, "...An organization's culture and ethical values permit a carefully tuned balance between short-term returns (tactical mode) and long-term gains (strategic mode); and that an organizations' culture and corporate leadership style are significantly associated with organization's performance outcomes" (Mgbere, 2009, p. 188).

Organizational Behavior

"Organizational behavior is the study of human behavior in organizations" (Schermerhorn et al., 2008, p. 5). Once employees learn the behavior of a company, they should be able to perform at a different standard. The primary purpose and goal of knowing an organizations' behavior is to enhance the performance and productivity of individuals, companies, and groups to improve the essence of career life in general (Schermerhorn et al., 2008). There are also scientific methods considered when discussing organizational behavior. There are models, independent variables, and dependent variables looked upon and studied (Schermerhorn et al., 2008). There is no one type of organizational behavior. There are many successful organizations run under a variety of behaviors. "One of the most accepted conclusions of scientific research to date is that there is no one best way to manage people and organizations" (Schermerhorn et al., 2008, p. 6).

Diversity

Diversity in the workplace expresses differences among employees, such as gender, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, age, able-bodiedness, and sexual orientation (Schermerhorn et al., 2008). Knowing the diversities in any business is extremely important. For example, the President of the United States meets with, works with, and interacts with a variety of people from many countries, cultures, backgrounds, and ethnicities. If the President were to take a trip to France and be introduced to anyone in France, one would think he would automatically shake the other person's hand. In America it is custom to shake someone's hand "using several vigorous "pumps" upon introduction (Lavaty & Kleiner, 2001, p. 46). In France people usually shake hands