Philosophy: Organizational Behavior

Discuss about the Philosophy for Organizational Behavior.

 

Introduction

Organizational behavior is an area of social science which deals on how people or employees interact and relate in the work (Ohemeng and McCall-Thomas, 2013) it examines both individual and group behavior and aspects that promote efficiency n the performance of both the individuals and the organization as a whole. As an area of study and research, organizational behavior has a variety of topics but this paper will focus on motivation as one of the organizational behavior topic. The following journal articles will be used; Human relation article, human resource management article and academy of management journal. The three journals are analyzed differently to find similarities and differences on their views on motivation. Motivation can be defined as the external and internal factors that stir up energy and desire in people to be interested continuously and be committed to a role or subject or a job to work hard towards attaining a certain goa

Similarities among the three Articles

Three articles may defer on their on perspectives and views on motivations but there are a few similarities in them. The first similarity is that the articles agree that people are unique and therefore different things and ways should be used to motivate. The articles suggest that there are different ways of profiling employees in order to understand their personalities and what motivates them. Such tools include motivational maps. These maps define measure and types of motivation, or may advise the managers to stop certain traits among the employees. Such maps gives the management an insight on what really makes their workers   feel motivated. This in an important factor to consider since what makes one employee feel satisfied may not have the same impact another worker.  (da Rocha and Rocha, n.d.) The second similarity is that in all articles, monetary rewards are valued as part of incentive motivation. This is because money will be able to provide the basic material needs to the workers for instance housing, food and clothing. Cognitive motivation or praise of he employees is another way recognized by the articles is a way of motivating the workers.  This will help them have a positive attitude towards the organization and know that their efforts are recognized thus work extra hard for the good of the organization.

It was found out that he greatest way to motivate  a employee s though mental motivation because this arouses an inner drive hat pushes the worker to achieve the best by all means possible. Decision making as perceived is not only for managers. It is evident that in today’s, world, most managers have abandoned the old traditions and bureaucratic ideas whereby all decisions were made from the top. The contemporary managers have incorporated views of heir employees as away of motivating them and imparting a sense of belonging to them. This change has been witnessed to bring tremendous positive change in performance since the employees own the organization. Balancing work and leisure is also another way to motivate workers. A dormant   worker who never has time for recreation and revetment is never motivated. He or she feels hat the organization is there to exploit and ignore his or her needs. Leisure activities such as games bring togetherness among workers apart from refreshing the exhausted ones (Boon, Vangrieken and Dochy, 2015). It was found out that the current technological development is a factor that has contributed to electronic leash in that people are even forced to work from home using devices like cell phone and computers to link with their clients and bosses. The last similarity is that both the academy of management journal and human resource journal emphasize that an employer can motivate a worker by not only discussing work issue but also getting into an employees personal lives for example the social life in order to know the status of their workers. By doing this, the managers make the worker to feel appreciated ad valued hence get motivated.

Differences among the three Journals

As much as the articles share the same views on motivation, there are noticeable differences among them. The first contrast is that human resource journal article divides the types of motivation two that is intrinsic and extrinsic .Intrinsic type refers to motivation based on the cognitive or mental part .This involves commenting on job well done and praising the worker .The other one refers to physical or reward using tangible items for example money. This is mostly material-based type o motivation. The other two articles just discuss on the general types of motivation. The human resource article is the only article that attributes bad behavior in the organization to lack of motivation unlike the others which don’t raise the issue of misbehavior. According to the journal lack of motivation makes employees change their attitudes towards the organization and therefore behave recklessly. In contrast, other two articles attribute misbehavior to personal issues for example the upbringing and individuals ’personalities. Human resource article emphasizes that the significance that a worker gives to the work place is majorly determined by the kind of motivation he or she receives from the institution but the other two articles suggest that the value that a worker puts on the institution of work are influenced by other factors other than motivation, Such as the relationship at workplace, culture and the structure of the organization. The human (« Management interculturel : Stratégie, organisation, performance », Olivier Meier, Éditions Dunod, Management Sup, 2010, 2010) resource article gives detailed on needs that an organization is required to meet for it to motivate the employees. The article uses Abrahams Maslow’s hierarchy of needs .These needs in an order of ascending order are, physiological, safety, love, esteem and finally self actualization needs (Healy, 2016). The other two articles assume that motivation should just be in monetary form. Human resource management article in contrast to other articles states that motivation is mainly the culture of the organization.

 Motivation is the main force used by individuals to allocate power to generate and work on innovative ideas. However, employees are only energized to go beyond their normal duties if they are only given a strong identification with the organization. The culture of the organization plays a vital role in motivating innovative and creative behavior because it can create commitment among the workers in terms of believing in the organizational values and norms related to its functioning (Kontoghiorghes, 2015). Academy of management journal and human resource journal assumes that motivation is an idea that comes from the top management in that the managers are the ones to decide on what to give the employs but the human resource journal is against that idea .It suggests that the employees are the ones t decide on what they want to be given .The managers should not dictate on the kind of rewards be it money or other material gifts. The same journal unlike the others too advises the organizations to try their level best in communicating to their employees may be through mails, memo and even meetings. The article assumes that an informed employee is a motivated worker. Human resource management journal also unlike the other two emphasizes that for an organization to motivate its workers; it must create a friendly working environment by providing the required devices for example computers and copiers and required meals for the workers.

Reconciliation of the Contrasting Points in the Articles

The articles articulate different ways through which organizations can motivate their employees to ensure that there is good performance .Some of the points are similar and some differ. The conflicting points can be harmonized to come up with achievable and realistic solutions. Human resource article proposes that misbehavior in an organization is a result of lack of motivation; this idea is not true because deviant behavior has many causes for example peer influence, individual’s personalities and the environment and not manly motivation. Therefore, the article should consider other factors to come up with a concrete work n motivation. The same attitude also assumes that employees may develop a negative attitude towards the organization because of lack of motivation of which it is not true. There are so many factors that may lead to attitude change for example poor relationship among the workers can be a factor. (The relationship between organizational culture and employee motivation as moderated by work attitude, 2017) .The use of hierarchy of needs model in some way portrays that  is the place of work that is expected to satisfy all human needs yet in real sense, there are some needs which can b fully met by other institutions other than work place.  Human resource model hold that the main factor that can motivate the employees is the organizational culture. It is true that culture plays a vital role but when it comes to motivation there are other factors that affect it for instance the amount of income, incentives and the organizational relations. One of the articles suggests that the employees should be given the freedom to choose what they want as rewards. This may not be possible in many organizations because of financial reasons and structure. Given freedom, employees may e be unrealistic in their demands in that they might choose something too big or burdensome for the organization to acquire. One of the articles too suggests that an organization can motivate its workers by not only engaging tem in office work but also going an extra mile of knowing workers personal lives. This may be against the rights of the employees in that some information is too private and confidential and are only family -related issues. Too much involvement of the managers denies the employee his o her right to private life. (Zarkovic, 2015)

Integration of the Points in the Three Articles

Motivation is the major factor that determines the performance of workers in an organization. There are two types of motivation; intrinsic an extrinsic. The former entails mental or cognitive motivation for example commending on job well done and recognizing performance. The latter is more of physical rewards e.g. money. Motivation should be done with consideration that individuals are unique meaning that whatever satisfies one worker does not necessarily do so to another employee. This means that managers should understand the employees. Inclusion of the employees also in the decision making is away to motivate the workers. When involved, they feel that they own the organization and therefore put all their efforts to see that they perform well in the different capacities they are serving. Communication is also a great factor in the motivation of the workers. An organization should try to keep its workforce up to date. An informed worker is a motivated worker. When an employee has got all the information concerning what is going on in the motivation, he or she will be motivated to work t benefit the organization. Conducive work place is also another major factor that plays a big role in worker motivation. Availability of good working equipment and services to the employees motivate them to see the significance of the organization and therefore work whole heartedly for the organization.

Application of the Integrated Information

The concept of motivation is applicable in different ways for example if the workers are poorly performing because of lack of motivation, the organization must check if has been meeting the employees basic material needs hence re -adjust. Second is that the organization should not only reward people physically but also recognize good performance and commend it.

Reference

Ohemeng, F. and McCall-Thomas, E. (2013). Performance management and “undesirable” organizational behaviour: Standardized testing in Ontario schools. Canadian Public Administration, 56(3), pp.456-477.

« Management interculturel : Stratégie, organisation, performance », Olivier Meier, Éditions Dunod, Management Sup, 2010. (2010). Management international,

Kontoghiorghes, C. (2015). Linking high performance organizational culture and talent management: satisfaction/motivation and organizational commitment as mediators. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(16), pp.1833-18515(1), p.103.

da Rocha, A. and Rocha, F. (n.d.). EEG Mapping of Motivation. SSRN Electronic Journal.

Boon, A., Vangrieken, K. and Dochy, F. (2015). Team creativity versus team learning: transcending conceptual boundaries to inspire future framework building. Human Resource Development International, pp.1-24.

Healy, K. (2016). A Theory of Human Motivation by Abraham H. Maslow - reflection. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 208(4), pp.313-313.

 The relationship between organizational culture and employee motivation as moderated by work attitude. (2017). Journal of Administrative and Business Studies, 3(1).

 Zarkovic, I. (2015). Measures of electronic monitoring of employees and the right to privacy in the workplace. Nauka, bezbednost, policija, 20(3), pp.165-182.

 Manjili, R. (2016). Relation of Emotional Intelligence with Counterproductive Work Behavior and Organizational Citizenship Behavior among Employees of Public Hospitals of Rasht City.

Journal of Health Promotion Managment, 6(1), pp.23-29. Parameswar, N. and Prasad, R. (2016). Humanistic Leadership, Organizational Culture and Corporate Citizenship Behaviour. Purushartha - A Journal of Management , Ethics and Spirituality, 9(2)