Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts
November 7, 2011
MGT/307
Steve Rosales

Organizational culture is defined as the actions, values, beliefs which are developed in an organization through a system that guides the behavior of the organization. Organizational culture stabilizes influences developed within the organization. Upon entering an organization, new members encounters the beliefs and values of that organization, which an initial development of values begins through internalization. The mid-focus of the culture definition is the culture must be learned and shared. The sharing and learning starts out with addressing the cognitive process and the individual decision- making and behavior. The members of an organization are influenced by organizational culture through developmental values. Several functions of the organizational culture involve internal integration and external adaption. These functions deal with the outcome of accomplishments and the problems faced within the living and working aspects of the organization. External adaption of an organizational culture deals the goals that has been set in the organization, how to achieve the goals, and the method of dealing with success and failures. Yet the responsibility, goals, and methods have close relations to the organization missions and the contribution views collectively. However, the individual in an organization separates the important external issues, ways to measure the accomplishments and create a reason for the goals, which have not been met. The internal integration has three important aspects that work together which decides who is a member and not a member, the understanding the acceptable and unacceptable behavior, and the separation of the enemies and friends. Through smaller firms, subcultures are developed and countercultures. Yet some subcultures are found in oversized organizations. These cultures consist of a group of individuals that involves the values and philosophies. Additionally, the subcultures are those of the task forces, teams, and the special projects that are done in an organization. Countercultures deal with the rejections of larger organizations. The organizational culture has broader areas recognized in the national boundaries. These cultures are called the national cultures and corporate cultures in an organization culture. The national culture affects the companies in areas that may violate common assumptions that the managers have to deal with across the national levels of the organization. The organizational culture has some complex in the analysis. In fact there are three layers of the cultural analysis observed, such as the shared values, and the assumptions. The first layer is the observable culture; the concept ways in an organization. Layer two values are to link individuals together to “provide a powerful motivational mechanism for the members of the culture” (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Thirdly, common cultural assumptions collect the members in a corporation so they can share their experiences together. Organizational behavior investigates the impact of individuals, groups, and structures on the behavior of an organization to apply the knowledge so areas of improvement are approached. Three areas in the organizational behavior is studied are individuals, groups, and structure. Additionally knowledge of these areas is applied to make the organization work more effective. Other areas of an organizational behavior are studied to see how the individuals in the organization operate and how their behaviors affect the performance of the organization. Yet, there are emphasis on the organizational behavior that is related to the concerns such as jobs, work absenteeism, employment turnover, production, human performance, and management (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn). The areas of agreement regarding the topics and the component debates the importance of each organizational behavior, which includes topics such as the “motivation, leader behavior, and powerful interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, learning, attitude development and perception, change process, conflict, work design, and work stress”(Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn). However, a systematic approach, which describes behavior as not being random, is used to record the behavior identity of individuals and the reflections of their differences. In addition, the evidence-based management complements the systematic study by using the decision of managers for the best method of scientific evidence. Managers must relate more on a science level when using this study. In addition to the evidence-based method and the systematic study managers must use their intuition, commonly known as their “gut feelings” (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008). There are discipline methods in the organizational behavior of an organization. These methods deal with the behavioral of science in the organization. Included are the psychological, sociology, social psychology, and anthropology. As any organization grows there are some challenges. According to Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn (2008) these challenges that managers face are the employees age, more women of color joins the workforce, downsizing in the company and more temporary workers are replacing many employees to their employers, and the global competition forces the employees to flexibility. Diversity in an organizational culture is the presence of individual differences based on the gender, race, and ethnicity, age, the able-bodies, and sexual orientation. A diverse workplace shares the variety of individuals and allows efficiency in the workplace. In the organizational culture, gender plays an important role in the work environment. There are differences when it comes to women and men. Women are expected to fit in less than the men and have a higher absent rate than the men (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008). Women in the workforce feel less secure when it comes to the workforce. Earlier on in the workforce the women were paid less than the men, which in some organizations this is still in effect. Yet a woman seeks after security to fit in, so that there is no attention drawn to them. Respect and religion is important when it comes to the diversity in the organizational culture. However, religion is a huge impact on the employees in a workforce. Religion gives guidance, beliefs of their higher power, community awareness, and the values. Respectful workplace accommodates the religious beliefs in a various aspects for the employees. Practicing respect in a work environment more likely fosters a healthy workplace, and causes the employee to be more flexible. The organizational culture uses communication through verbal and nonverbal to influence the workplace. The two forms that contribute to the organizational culture are the surveillance and the ethical communication. The impacts from these forms are shaped through employee behavior and the perception of the value the organization forms within them. The organizational culture increases through the everyday socialism of the individuals in the workplace and the knowledge of the expectations of the company. This resulted from the cumulative learning of a group of people and the rituals of the company, work practices, and dialogue. Employees attend a new employee orientation when they are hired. This communication allows them to communicate where they will receive a training to learn the hierarchy of the organizational culture. The surveillance on an organizational culture searches the behavior of an employee to form their work ethics. These surveillance includes supervisors, cameras, websites logging, and in some instances the report of a peer. The other communication is ethical, this communication relates to the accurateness of information within a timeframe and ethical aspect. Through ethical communication the values of the employees respect and add to the success of the organization. As a non-profit organization we are exempt from paying taxes. Through the organization we provide services for the public, such as resources for food, public assistance and benefits, healthcare, and education. Resources that are affective are the information, materials, technology, finances, and people. The output of the resources is the finished goods and services transformed through work activity. The end result is the response from the consumer. Organizational culture is the pivotal factor for success in the organization because it characterizes the organization and what their standards are. The communications shapes the culture in the organization. The surveillance monitors the employee activities and balances the work ethic environment. Ethical communication is a must in an organizational culture, this helps to build a healthy workplace through respect and integrity. When a healthy atmosphere is present this possesses an easy workflow with limited holdbacks in the organization.

References Robbins, S. & Judge, T. (2009). Organizational behavior (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Schermerhorn, J., Hunt, J., & Osborn, R. (2008).Oganizational behavior(10thed.)Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.