Individual Behavior Performance - Coursework Example

Running head: Individual behavior performance Organizational Behavior Individual Behavior Performance With an aim to understand organizational behavior influenced by individual behavior, the paper explores various aspects of human nature and behavior with respect to internal and external sources. With this as the cause, the paper effectively illustrates behaviors and differences such as personality, values, perception, attitude and attribution with respect to individuals’ reactions and work place behavior. It also highlights organizational behavior driven by organizational culture. Organisational behavior is the study of human behavior at work. This includes individuals’, groups’, and organisations’ actions and reactions in the perspective of psychosocial, interpersonal, and behavioral dynamics. The most important of the three is the individual behavior which forms a part of the other two. Under the Individual Behavior, most of the times two individuals may be similar or different from each other depending on their perceptions, emotions, values , attitudes ,attribution, and ethics.. Nelson, D and Quick, J (2007) explain two perspectives of individual behavior, internal and external. The internal perspective considers individuals’ personal thoughts, values, principles, feelings, past experiences and personal needs to understand their behavior towards organization. These factors are responsible for their actions and determine their motivational requirements. Viewing people from this perspective provides best understanding of people’s behavior. On the other side, external factors such as external events, consequences of behavior, and the environmental forces impacting the individual are considered to understand their behavior from an external perspective. Though these factors play a major role in defining individuals behavior, both perspectives have an impact, according to Kurt Lewin (qtd. by Nelson, D & Quick, J; 2007). Hogan explains that understanding individual’s personality can be very beneficial in understanding their behavior and individual performance (Schneider, B & Smith, D; 2004). Understanding people’s personality is core to managing people in an organizational setup for optimum results for an organization. Understanding personality from internal factors, explained by Nelson and Quick, lead to more direct traits such as positive and negative moods of people. Further, the other internal perspectives such as interests, needs, and values are also direct traits. These aspects are better understood through the trait theory proposed by Gordon Allport (Schneider, B & Smith, D; 2004) which generalizes that traits are real, existing inside us, and that our personality and actions can be explained in terms of traits. Freud and Mead’s analysis on organizational behavior concludes that people are either willing to follow rules, respect authority, and attend to others’ expectations, or hostile towards rules and indifferent to expectations. However, Campbell has an opposing view to this based on individual’s selfish desire attached to abide by the rules and has very little relation to their willingness. Thus, a strong relationship exists between individual’s personality and organizational behavior which in turn influences their performance at the organization. . Attitude also defines personality to an extent. Attitudes play an important role in the behavior of an individual in an organization. They are complexes of feelings and beliefs that people have about specific people, situations, ideas, habits etc. Attitudes are mainly formed by a variety of forces like our beliefs, our values and our personalities. Key work-related attitudes that people form in an organization are about the (their) boss, salaries, employee benefits, rewards and recognitions etc. Values of an individual are an integral part of integrity and personal growth. According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘personal ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds.’ Thus, personal ambition is strongly linked to intentions, identity, ideals, values, and driving force. Values are reflected in people’s trustworthiness and actions performed towards their commitments. In judging performance and behavior, others look for an individual’s external behavioral patterns, whereas the individual focuses on internal behavioral pattern. Hence, a balancing process between the individual’s aspirations, intentions, purpose, principles, ethical standards, and values is necessary. In total, it is the personal ambition. Commitment towards work and organization requires individual’s conviction in organizational goals, and clarity and uniformity of personal and organizational values and principles are necessary for active involvement of people (Rampersad, H; 2006). Differences in individuals’ personal values and principles cannot be denied, and these differences should be identified and aligned to organizations’ values. Personal values directly correlate to high performance through strong personal ethics, positive belief in their people and a compelling vision for their company. Posner (2006) identifies the importance of values through personal and organizational contexts. They act as guides to our action. Values influence the individual’s moral judgment, response to others, and commitment to personal and organizational goals. They set the parameters for our decision making and thus, constitute the ‘bottom line.’ They are cause for our motivation or demotivation. Clarity of personal values plays a very important role in identifying the conflicts that may arise due to differences in personal and organizational values. The more an individual’s personal values are in line with that of organizational values, the more will be his/her commitment and loyalty towards the organization. Those people with clear personal values are in better position to decide if the principles of the organization fit their own principles. Organization behavior also depicts attribution as an integral part of its nature; it is related to the character that individuals possess to relate causes of their own behavior and that of others. This is explained as the attribution theory by Nelson and Quick (2007). Human nature attributes internal and external sources for its behavior. Achievement-oriented attributions are linked to internal sources such as their own capability, hard work, and intellect; or to external sources such as, inappropriate knowledge, bad luck, etc. Attribution plays a significant role in defining organization behavior as it directly affects motivation and self-confidence. Nelson and Quick also highlight other factors that determine behavior at workplace, attitudes and perception. Attitudes play an important role in the behavior of an individual in an organization. They are complexes of feelings and beliefs that people have about specific people, situations, ideas, habits etc. Attitudes are mainly formed by a variety of forces like our beliefs, our values and our personalities. Key work-related attitudes that people form in an organization are about the (their) boss, salaries, employee benefits, rewards and recognitions etc. Besides attitudes, perceptions also determine work place behavior. Perception is the way an individual interprets information about the environment. Different people perceive the same situations in different ways. In fact, the process of attribution is based on perceptions of reality and these perceptions may vary widely amongst different individuals. Another important aspect of any organisation is the culture and it plays a vital role in ones experience of work. The organisation culture determines our actions in an organisation, the way we do and speak about the actions, and what we think and feel about the actions. The culture also determines what is possible and not possible, speakable or unspeakable, and what one is allowed to do and not allowed to do within the organisation. Effective intervention with regard to the impossibilities, unthinkables and unspeakables are required in the areas of concern, which would bring about an organisational change (Scharbracq et al.; 2001). In conclusion, the psychological aspects of personality, perception, and attribution form the basis for individual differences in an organizational behavior. Apart from these, attitudes, values and perceptions also significantly influence behavior of individuals and their performance. These factors also play an important role in setting the tone for organizational culture. Setting the right tone is extremely important for an organization in achieving its goals. As these differences tend to influence most adults, they should be used to guide them in the right manner. For this, leadership plays a significant role in guiding and controlling individual behavior, thus defining organizational behavior. References Nelson, D and Quick C, J. (2007). Understanding Organizational Behavior. Published by Cengage Learning EMEA. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=TtD413y-868C&pg=PA66&dq=Organizational+Behavior+-+Individual+Behavior+Performance+-+values+,personality+and+differences&ei=D5fxScq7IoqUkQSSn4XKCg#PPA6,M1 Posner (2006) Leadership Challenge. Published by Wiley-India. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Ej_Xil6Yt-gC&pg=PA49&dq=values+in+organization+behavior#PPA35,M1 Rampersad, H. (2006) Personal balanced scorecard: the way to individual happiness, personal integrity, and organizational effectiveness. Published by IAP. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=zP1DePexz5QC&dq=personal+values+in+performance&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=V_j4Saq3GsaSkAWu7bDcCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13#PPA82,M1 Scharbracq, M et al., (2001) Occupational Health Psychology: The challenge of workplace stress. Published by Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&id=7ED3DZVRp1UC&dq=occupational+health+psychology&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=OiD91A8AH4&sig=tVSyJg5Gg9tVKdeDSETajFfGUaE&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA25,M1 Schneider, B and Smith, D.(2004) Personality and Organizations. Published by Routledge. http://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=OvMk2Azb9a4C&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=organizational+behavior+personality&ots=BbyEmFUDC0&sig=kFt3qYFngyUohrZHhPeLAMUj-AE#PPA1,M1 Read More