ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR CONSIDERING NATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Organizational Behavior is the study about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations, interpreting people-organization relationships (Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C.). Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human, organizational, and social objectives. It’s important to learn about it because you will learn about yourself, and how to deal with others.

To analyze the context, opportunities, change and challenge should be taken into account, considering influences like sociology, engineering, medicine, management, anthropology and psychology.  To understand human behavior there are internal and external perspectives, and as Kurt Lewin´s equation explains, “behavior is a function of both the person and the environment”.

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In The organizational context there are formal and the informal organizations. In which change can be considered as a threat or an opportunity. The challenges to manage organizational behavior are the increasing globalization, diversity of organizational workforces, technological innovation and demand for higher levels of moral and ethical behavior.

Actually, international managers have to know when culture is important and how much weight should be given to culture against other factors. There are internal and the external factors to take into account. It’s important to analyze culture, because it gives the manager instruments for interpreting and predicting the behavior of the workforce. Culture impacts the efficiency of the organization, affecting the employee morale, commitment, productivity and innovation. National culture is an environmental factor, which characterizes the national group and influences the behavior of its individual members. A strong culture could help an organization adapt to the environment, and diversity has to be taking into account.

WHY IS MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN CHANGING TIMES IS CHALLENGING?

Managing International competition in business may affront change because of globalization, diversity, technology and ethics, and to success, it will require a positive response to the competition in the international marketplace and ethnic, religious, and gender diversity in the workforce.

It is challenging because: first, the increasing globalization of the organizations´ operating territory. Second, the increasing diversity of organizational workforces and finally, the continuing demand for higher levels of moral and ethical behavior at work.

For example, a federal government study found diversity management is strongly linked to both, the workgroup performance and job satisfaction. The issue of women in the workplace concerns workforce diversity and at the same time the globalization issues.

The public demand for ethical behavior in business is growing and the meaning of corporate codes of ethics can no longer be taken for granted, which means that integrating ethical reasoning into work is the only way to maximize business opportunities.

"YouTube - The New American Work Force." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abBSfZy9nWo>

Bibliography

• "YouTube - The New American Work Force." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abBSfZy9nWo>
• Nelson, Debra L. and Quick, James Campbell. 2010. Organisational Behavior –Science, the Real World, and You.  South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, USA. Chapter 1 and 2.
• Cameron, K., & Quinn, R., (1999). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. New York: Addison-Wesley.
• Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions.London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.
• Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Science, The Real World and You. South-Western College Publication, 7th. Ed. Chapter 1.
• Image retrieved from: http://www.cherylgood.com/images/businesspeople3new.jpg