Organizational behavior and culture

Summary

Organizational Behavior is the individual behavior as well as group dynamics in organizations. Studies about that field are primarly concerned about psychological, interpersonal and behavioral dynamics in organizations. But there are also other organizational variables important, eg. jobs, communications, organizational structure, Leader's philosophy, values, visions and goals, organizational culture, etc..

You may also understand that behavior is a function of all- the organization as its whole, the persons as individuals and the surrounding environment. A complete understanding of organizational behavior requires an understanding of both human behavior and organizational context where behavior is enacted.

So what is an organization? It is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, controls its own performance and has a boundary seperating it from its environment. Types of organizations can vary from public to private, formal or informal, manuacturing, service, non-profit, religious, military, political and so on... Organizations are open systems composed of people, technology and structure comitted to a task. 

Organizational  behavior is based on scientific knowledge and applied practice. It involves the study of abstract ideas, such as valence and expectancy in motivation, as well as the study of concrete matters, such as observable behaviors. There are different theoretical frameworks existing, such as the behavioristic framework, the cognitive and the social learning appraoch. Systems interprete people-organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social surrounding. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives and social objectives. Finally one can say, it is the understanding, prediction and management of human behavior in organizations. The outcome are performance of organization and individual, personal satisfaction, growth and development.

As Culture is one of the elements which can influence organizational behavior, it will be explained in the following more. The definition of Hofstede is: "Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another... Culture in this sense includes systems of values and values are among the building blocks of culture." This implies that culture is learned. Different  social groups have different cultures and therefore may respond to similar situations in different ways. Cultural groups can vary from national cultures, sub-cultures, industries and organizational cultures.

 

Concerning national culture, Hofstede came up with a model which basically compares value differences between countries. Therefore he uses four different categories.

At first, he mentioned the Power Distance which means „the distance between individuals at different levels of a hierarchy“. If power distances are low, hierarchical differences are less respected. So it would mean that subordinates are involved in decision processes.

The second dimension is named Uncertainty Avoidance. Here it is the matter of lack of knowledge between the cultures. It is about the extent to which a group or the individual is prepared to uncertain situations. The higher (lower) the level of uncertainty avoidance, the more the members are ready to take risks and feel opened to new inventions and technology.

The third dimension, Individualism vs. Collectivism is about the relationship between the individual and the groups to which he or she belongs. Individualists expect competition, group decision are seen as subordinated. Its importance in reference to negotiation lays in the reaction to other groups and individuals, weather are cooperative or not. Collectivists aim to keep harmony in their environment.

The last dimension, Masculinity vs. Femininity, refers to the old problem of gender roles. In masculine cultures the men should be the bosses in the company and the women care for the household. Men are seen as the strong gender that could fight conflicts out if necessary. In contrast to this, in feminine cultures, men and women are treated equally. They both are found in the highest ranks in all professions.

Organizational culture is the personality of the organization. Culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs of organization members and their behaviors.

References:

   Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.

   Millman, Gregory J. . 2007. "Corporate Culture: more myth than reality? ." The Free Library 23:44-47. Millman, Gregory J. (2007, July 1).

   Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Science, The Real World and You, South-Western College Publication, 7th edition. Chapter 1.

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