Introduction
Organizational behaviour is that field or subject area that is into the analysis of the behaviour and actions of all individuals who are working within an enterprise. With this process, an understanding is developed of factors like organization and its culture and structure and their impact on personnel as well as the teams working within it. Additional factors include the effectiveness of leadership styles and other practices like that of motivating the employees and retaining them are also included within organization behaviour.
An effective leader not only influences the subordinates but also motivates them to work in order to fulfil the objectives of an organization (Nelson & Quick, 2007). In addition to this, this aspect is also the application of such knowledge into an organization that helps in enhancing its effectiveness. Organizational behaviour also includes the study of various processes that companies implement in order to develop and enhance the effectiveness of their employees. This also includes the manner in which decisions are taken at various levels within a firm (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001).
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Effective Leadership Behaviour Theory And Practice
Leadership refers to the ability of a superior or leader to influence the behaviour of followers and also inspire and persuade them so that they follow a desired and particular course of action. Leadership is not only influencing the subordinates but also taking them all together and helping them lead their own way (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001). This also motivates them in order to achieve the goals and objectives of a team or an organization. In this respect, there are a number of leadership theories that are proposed. Early leadership theories focus on qualities that distinguish between leaders and followers while on the other side the theories that were proposed later emphasised variables like levels of skills and situational factors (Leadership and Organizational Behavior, 2013). However, when all theories were put into practice they all proved to be effective in one or the other.
The foremost leadership theory was known as the Great Man theory according to which leadership qualities are inherent within an individual and so great leaders are made but they are only born. For example, leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Napoleon and Lincoln were those who had inborn leadership traits and also exhibited them in practice in the best possible manner. The leaders possess the extra capability to lead and make the followers follow them. Similar to this is the Trait theory which puts forward a list of certain specific traits like personality, and social and intellectual skills which it considers are present in effective leaders. The theory when put into practice was effective in predicting the behaviour and skills of a leader but there are no universal traits with which prediction of leadership in all situations can be done (Guzman, 2013).
Impact of Organizational Structure And Cultures
Organizational structure refers to the hierarchical arrangement of lines of authority and the flow of duties and responsibilities within an organization. In other words, it is the actual framework within an enterprise. This is used for defining how activities such as coordination and supervision along with the allocation of tasks are directed towards the accomplishment of the aims and objectives of an entity. In other words, it is the structure of the organization that determines the way in which it operates and performs its activities (Organizational Structures, 2014). This is the foundation on which standard procedures of operation rest and also determines the
individuals who participate in the decision-making process. There are different types of organizational structure which has an impact on its effectiveness and are described as follows -
Flat structure - This structure has less number of levels of management with each level having a broad scope of control or commanding a larger group of subordinates. This structure focuses on empowering the employees rather than developing a chain of command (Waltz, 2009). For example, the famous company Apple implements a flat structure within its place where it believes in the empowerment of its employees by encouraging them to be self-directed and autonomous. The flat structure is helpful in enhancing the effectiveness of an organization is given by the fact that this attempts to tap the creative talents of its employees by not controlling and supervising them closely (Stare, 2011). In addition to this, a flat structure is also effective in solving problems within Apple through collective collaboration of all. The structure is helpful towards the effectiveness of organizations like Apple as it offers more opportunities for employees as they are more flexible to work within and adapt more easily to changes.
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Ways of Improving Employee Efficiency
There are many ways by which the efficiency of employees can be increased to the level where they can utilise their potential to the highest point. To achieve the set objective of an organization on time, it is needed that employees always work in an effective way (Cochran,2003). If people of the firm do not work to their complete potential, the company may have to bear losses for this. To avoid these issues, some ways are like:
Designing Economic Incentives
In most of enterprises, the main focus of designing incentives is on a senior or high level only. Very little consideration is given to middle-level or lower-level employees. As without working of them, goals can never be met of a company. In order to increase the efficiency of people of an organization, it can be an approach to provide economic incentives to middle as well as lower-level people (Yeh, 2003). For example, Tesco makes its employees satisfied and happy which ultimately leads to higher output as they work by their own willingness towards meeting of objectives.
Providing Meaningful Feedback
To provide meaningful feedback to employees on a regular basis is also a way to make them. People who are encouraged regularly by their managers or supervisors have more confidence and willingness to work as compared to those who are not motivated. When people get proper feedback from their superiors, they feel considered as well as satisfied (Gadenne, 2009). It leads to higher efficiency in their work and attainment of the specified goal within the stipulated period of time. It is not needed that the feedback must be positive always. It can be negative but should be given in such a way that people understand the places where they are lacking and try to correct those areas. For example, Mc. Donald's regularly used to give feedback to its employees according to what they have performed (Teng, 2014).
Respect to the Employees
Employees should be given proper respect in order to get it back from them. If they are not being treated with respect, they will feel inferior and unsatisfied. Their dissatisfaction can lead a firm to suffer from various negative issues like, lower productivity, less confidence, no willingness to work and lack of integration and coordination (Yeh, 2003). People who are being considered in the firm, assume that the company is their home and members as family. It creates an emotional attachment between employees and the whole staff. They take the company's target as a common goal and work in order to achieve that with complete coordination. Sainsbury's gives equal chances of participation of its staff as well as respect for their opinions (Cochran, 2003).
Providing Adequate Training
Staff of any organization should be well trained, that is, a proper training and development program should be designed for them. It will increase their efficiency in performing tasks and will also lead to their enhancement in skills and knowledge. Training sharpens the ability of employees to work as well as to learn new things (Waltz, 2009).
Recognition of Employees
It has been found in a study that recognition works more than that of money. In order to provide satisfaction, an organization has to understand the importance of the emotional feelings of people. Money makes them happy for a very short period of time but recognition makes them satisfied which remains for a long period. Employees and their work should be acknowledged from time to time (Barton, 2011). It will be helpful to increase their efficiency as well as effectiveness to perform more to attain the set goal.
Effective leadership
If leadership in a company is effective, it will be successful to influence and encourage people towards accomplishing goals. The main task of a leader is to motivate employees in such a way that they would give their best efforts to achieve the goal. A leader is a person who has the trait to make people do what he wants them to do (Gadenne, 2009). Employees of the organization admire leaders more than managers as they are in direct contact with them and maintain strong relationships. It helps to make people realise their highest level of potential and makes them work accordingly. For example, Morrison's is a company which gives due care to their leadership effectiveness in order to get maximum output from their employees (Teng, 2014).
ORGANIZATIONAL DECISION MAKING
Decision-making within an organization is one of the most important aspects as this helps in framing accurate policies and procedures for it. A business decision is guidance to all levels within the company so as to work towards the fulfilment of goals and objectives. Organizational decision-making takes place at different levels within large or complex ones so that effective functioning can be ensured (Herstein, 2008). The different levels at which decisions are taken are described as follows -
Strategic Level
This is the highest level of decision making and at this level, decisions are taken by the top executives within an organization. For example, at the strategic level of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), strategic-level decisions are taken by the Chairman, President or Boards of Directors and Chief Executive Officers. The decisions taken by this level are such that they provide direction to the entire company and its units or brands. This involves performing situational analysis and evaluating the position of HUL by analysing its internal and external environment (Tosi & Pilati, 2011).
Tactical Level
The tactical level is next to that of the strategic one and involves making of decisions in their own areas. The people who are involved in decision-making at this level at HUL are the personnel and marketing manager, chief financial officer or advertising manager. The decisions that are taken are the medium term which includes a time period of three to twelve months. The individuals at this level implement the decisions that are taken at the strategic one according to the future vision of the company. At this level, the alignment of available resources is done so as to put them to effective use (Aggarwal & Bhargava, 2009). In other words, organization decision-making at the tactic level of HUL is intended to set specific objectives for each area of specialisation and then formulate the plan accordingly. In other words, the level frames the practical steps that are required in order to implement the strategies formed at the strategic level. The decisions at HUL at this level may include analysing adjustments to the fiscal year budget, re-allocation of marketing resources and evaluation of human resources available and required in future.
Operational Level
The decisions taken at this level are semi-structured and short-term and are generally taken on a daily or weekly basis or for to two three months (Appelbaum, 2012). This involves tasks required for the implementation of tactical decisions. The level at HUL mainly serves to control mostly day to day output relative to costs, schedules and specifications. The individuals involved in making decisions at the operational level include the store manager or foreman. Operational managers at HUL directly deal with and manage the staff as well as the customers. They make such decisions that are vital to production as well as making effective sales and providing services. As an example, decisions at this level in HUL may include are about available raw materials, cost of production, goods in process or goods in demand (Waltz, 2009). Thus, the operational level considers important aspects so as to make the products and services available to the customers effectively.
Conclusion
From the report, it can be concluded that organisational behaviour and its understanding is one of the most important concepts within an enterprise. Within a firm, the most important process is that of the presence of leadership as this helps in motivating the employees in the best possible manner. Along with this, there are different structures and cultures within an organization that has an impact on its working and activities. It can be also concluded that companies make decisions at various levels and take effective measures to develop their employees (Herstein, 2008).
References
- Asda to Use Rich Product Content Online. (2014). [Online].
- Leadership and Organizational Behavior. (2013). [Online]
- Organizational Structures. (2014). [Online].
- Performance and Motivation in Mcdonald. (2013). [Online].