Category: Organizational Behavior

Personality tests

This statement appears to lament the limitations of personality tests and the weaknesses of the associated personality tests as far as the study of human behavior is concerned. The various types of personality tests that are widely used in the assessment of individuals for purposes of determining their personality type are what the author is describing in this case as “questionable procedures” while the “vague categories” refers to the resulting personality type arrived at (Personality_Lec2 13).

This observation is made by the author having critically reviewed the approaches that are commonly associated with the determination of personality types that the author criticizes; for these reasons the author advocates for a different approach that involves a comprehensive approach towards the measurement of personality traits. Such methods of personality determination are what the author emphasizes to involve the aspect of a “person’s psychological situation” (Personality_Lec2 13). By this, the author means that any such study must take into account the general environment and state of mind of the individual during that point in time. This will imply controlling any factors that might impact the results of such tests.

Differences

By their nature of measurement, these two theories of measuring attitudes are inherently different in one major way; what cognitive dissonance theory does is measure the degree of variability between two “contradictory cognitions” (Attitude_Lec4 7) and explore how that contradiction is resolved.

This is what is being referred to as “dissonance” which in this case can be quantitatively determined depending on how varied the attitude is. In cognitive dissonance therefore the way that the level of attitude is determined in an individual is termed to be quantitative in that it can accurately describe the level of attitude that exists (Larson 199). What this means is that cognitive dissonance theory can be able to measure by how much the level of attitude differs between two individuals using subjective terms such as minor differences, major differences, or even completely different differences. It can even quantify the level of attitude that exists between two different persons in percentage form for instance by concluding that there is a 50% (average) attitude difference between two persons.

This is very different from what balance theory does when measuring attitude between various persons; this is because balance theory tends to measure attitude from two different perspectives; a positive attitude or negative attitude. As such cognitive dissonance can effectively determine by how much attitudes differ among persons while balance theory can only be able to determine if the nature of the resulting attitude is positive or negative without being able to determine the degree of attitude difference that exists between two persons. For this reason, balance theory is described as qualitative because it cannot quantify the negative or positive attitude identified (Larson 199). This different approach in measurement of attitudes between persons is thus the major disparity between these two theories.

Another difference between the two theories is that the balance theory is more or less concerned with the determination of the positive or negative nature of a person’s attitude which it refers to as “balance state” while the cognitive dissonance theory is more concerned with the description of how the process of attitude occurs within a person and how a person adapts to the various “dissonance experiences” that are encountered. Thus, the balance theory will try to address the problems of attitude in an individual by ensuring that a person’s expectations are aligned with their attitude while the cognitive dissonance theory will explore the various ways that attitude is influenced in a person.

Similarities

Consequently, both of these methods are similar in that they both involve measurement of attitude among subjects; ultimately any of them will effectively establish if any form of attitude exists in a subject and its nature. The balance theory for instance measures attitude in an individual by way of determining the “psychological equilibrium” that exists and whether it is positive or negative (Larson 198). In the same way, the cognitive dissonance theory measures attitude in an individual by assessing the nature of dissonance that exist and how a person responds to this dissonance (Larson 199).

Lewin’s field theories

In my case, my behavior is a function of two functions based on the concepts of Lewin’s Field theory i.e. my surrounding environment and my inner state of mind. These two categories of factors are what combines to influence my behavior at this moment and are what Lewin describes as “living space” which are consequently shaped by “various force factors” (Neill). What Lewin describes as force factors that make up the living space is the structural properties elements of the actions/behavior that I am actively undertaking at any given moment while the dynamic properties refer to the constantly changing nature of the “field” depending on the environmental and psychological components that are also constantly shifting.

Thus, to analyze my life space at this specific time I would say I am very optimistic about passing this subject having prepared adequately. Also, I am nervous, feel pressured, and extra careful in how I formulate and write my answers; all these issues that I have mentioned here and others are what would comprise the psychological or personality aspect that makes up the living space. In the same way, my behavior is influenced by the environmental factors that surround me at this moment which in this case are my colleagues at the library and other factors such as the weather and so forth. Both of these functions are what entails the concept of Lewin’s Field theory.

Perception process

Gestalt laws of the perceptual organization describe the mental process of perception that takes place when people perceive or are involved in an exercise of problem-solving; for this reason, they have varied applications in the field of psychology. Perception according to Gestalt has three major components; expectancy, active process that is selective; because of the first component of expectancy Gestalt laws can be applied in the determination of the occurrence of chance events. In the perception of chance events, for instance, Gestalt laws rely on the expectancy and occurrence of past events to predict the occurrence of an event in the future. Thus, in this case, we see that “P(HHH) is less than P(HTH)” meaning that the probability of obtaining ahead on the fourth toss in a row is less likely to happen with each additional trial (Perception_Lec3 15).

On the other hand, Gestalt laws can be used to determine the probability of an event occurring based on the subject’s expectancy level of such an event being likely to occur. In the perception of people, Gestalt principles assert that information is central in shaping the perception that one has for others and oneself; this is what Gestalt describes as “social perception” (Perception_Lec3 16). This is because the perception of people is shaped by such issues as an impression, stereotyping, halo effect and self-fulfilling prophesy when the perception is about oneself; because all these issues are governed by Gestalt’s principles it means that by extension they can also apply to study of people.

Predicting human behavior

A major weakness of personality tests is described to be their inability in predicting future behavior and their general inaccuracies in precisely being able to identify the personality type of the subject. More specifically their methodology of determination of personality type has been described as questionable and even doubtful since they rely on the “trait approach” that is restrictive in several ways (Personality_Lec2 9). One, they lack reliable variables that can effectively measure all aspects of interests among subjects, secondly, their variables of measurement and approach are not subjective which means that they cannot be objectively interpreted and finally, they ignore the wider environment that impacts the personality behavior of the subject. Thus, the author concludes “human behavior cannot be predicted based on these types of measures since the specific properties of the situation are ignored” (Personality_Lec2 15).

Construct validity

Construct validity is a measure of whether a test measures what exists in theory (Personality_Lec2_11). It is the extent to which operationalization of a construct, subject matter measure what the theory says they should do.

Construct validity is useful because it determines the extent to which a test, results, or findings of a concept corresponds accurately with the real world. After all, the test process tested the right variables accurately. A statistical relationship is the presence of a true, measurable cause and effect relationship between two variables that can be determined through measurement. The relationship between such two variables should not be spurious and should show the strength of the relationship and the direction either positive or negative of the relationship.

The nature of the relationship

Personality refers to the rather enduring traits of a person; according to social scientists, these traits can be measured and used to predict future behaviors. However, personality tests often fail to accurately measure and predict human behavior because human beings are adaptive and learning systems (Personality_Lec2_12) who can adjust their behavior towards their environment. Human behavior is not static but is dynamic and often changes to fit in the environment; thus personality tests cannot predict accurately future human behavior. For example, a person such as a student will most of the time adjust their behavior to fit what is socially acceptable and what is expected by teachers, parents, peers, and the society at large.

Human being behavior is also influenced strongly by the nature of the relationship that they encounter (Personality_Lec2_12). For example, a person who is classified as a dangerous criminal may relate with some people well if he senses they treat him kindly and respectfully. A good and reserved person may react violently when he or she realizes that his or her rights are being violated. Also, human behavior is strongly influenced by their situation (Personality_Lec2_12); and people behave differently in different situations and as they discharge different roles. A security guard or a policeman certainly is expected to be strict and watchful whereas the same person while on holiday will be relaxed and carefree. Personality tests do not take into consideration the situation and its effects on human behavior.

Explaining Human Behavior

Lewin’s theory called Topological Psych and Field theory seeks to explain human behavior; this theory states that human psychological situation can be represented topologically (Motivation_LewinsTheory_Lec6_14). This can be presented to appear like a rubber sheet with connected shapes. On this topology, there exists a space between an individual’s position and his/her goal. Space between is referred to as the field of activity; according to Lewin’s theory, when there is a positive valence or energy in the field of activity, a force field is created from the individual towards the goal. When the magnitude of the force field increases, the distance between the person and the goal decreases (Motivation_LewinsTheory_Lec6_17). Conversely, when negative valence exists, it creates a force field away from the region and the magnitude reduces. The force field only exists when the person is near the goal otherwise it is minimal (Motivation_LewinsTheory_Lec6_17).

This theory can be used to explain other phenomena like motivation, conflict, attitude change, and self-fulfilling theories. A self-fulfilling theory is a prediction that one makes and thereby make it more probable that it will occur based on that fact alone and can either be positive or negative. According to social scientists, expecting an event means it has a higher probability of occurring. When expectations are formed about something or somebody, communication is unintentionally made regarding those expectations leading people to respond by adjusting themselves resulting in their fulfillment.

According to Lewin’s theory, a positive expectation caused by a positive self-fulfilling prophecy creates a substantial positive valence in the psychological field of the activity described above thereby shortening the distance between the person and the goal. An example of a self-fulfilling prophecy that is towards a positive region of activity is a teacher who tells the students that they are capable pupils from whom he/she expects excellent performance from them; this results in students loving the subject, paying more attention, and being more diligent on the subject. This is likely to result in better results because of the positive statements of the teachers result in positive results by the students. On the other hand, a negative valence in the psychological field caused by a negative self-fulfilling prophecy makes the distance to increase and the energy to be very low. This leads to the so-called self-fulfilling prophecy to come true. An example of a self-fulfilling prophecy that is toward the negative region of activity is when a supervisor thinks that his/her junior employee is incapable of doing an assignment well, which may lead the junior to believe that he/she is not able and subsequently the outcome or performance is poor. But the same worker can perform well under a different superior who has a different opinion of the employee.

Decision making

Decision making is the process of identifying alternatives and choosing a solution that leads to a desirable result. Organizations and individuals prefer to appear rational in their decision-making process (DecisionMaking_Lec7_3). Rationality is where decisions are based on reason rather than emotions. The rational decision model is where an optimal solution arrives after a thorough consideration of all alternatives (DecisionMaking_Lec7_3). In the rational decision-making model, the first step is to identify the problem, then alternative solutions are generated, the best solution is selected amongst the generated solutions, the solution is then implemented monitored, and evaluated. An example of an individual rational decision process is where purchases are made only when they are needed when the most economic option is selected.

In reality, however, it is not possible to be rational in decision making due to various constraints. Two theories explain how individuals and groups decide in reality; these are Simon’s model and the Garbage can model. Simon’s model of subjective rationality explains that individual decision making is not always rational due to limited information, this leads to the use of the rule of the thumb and satisfying (DecisionMaking_Lec7_5). For example, an individual who wants to buy a house will depend on the limited information they possess, may make the final decision between two options using irrational methods and the final decision may not be optimal but just good enough.

According to the Garbage can model, the process can be sloppy and haphazard therefore can lack rationality (DecisionMaking_Lec7_10); because of this, they are called organized anarchies. Lack of rationality is caused by differences in preferences by members which are seen in the way that the use of unclear technologies whose outcome is uncontrolled and fluidity of membership whereby participants vary from time to time (DecisionMaking_Lec7_10).

The similarity between these two models is that the aim of both is to achieve an optimal solution within the constraint of time and resources. The difference between the two is that whereas individual decision-making involves only one viewpoint, group decision-making is more superior because they have more knowledge, it’s a platform for communication, and they achieve a higher level of acceptance than individual decisions. However, unlike individual decisions, they can be slow and inefficient and are not necessarily optimal since they may compromise decisions

The idea of a unit of analysis

The idea of a unit of analysis represents the focus of attention of any given theory that seeks to understand and explain the concept of organizations (DifferentApproachtoOrganisations_Lec1_6). It is the variable that is considered, studied, and evaluated by each of the individual theories. It is that part of an entity that is the focus of the study; the observational unit enables the researcher to understand better the organization. In the system’s theory, for instance, the unit of analysis is the series of events that an organization engages in; the contingency theory analyses how an organization is affected by changes in variables such as technology and the environment.

Human relations theories focus on individuals, small groups, and organizations’ behavior and dynamics. Bureaucracy theories use offices, procedures within an organization as their unit of study. Scientific theories such as Fredrick Taylor’s theories of management analyze the steps and time required to perform a specific task, or time and motion studies. Organizations are often classified or defined based on their characteristics and nature of activities. Thus it is common to hear organizations being classified as multinational, high-tech companies, and financial institutions amongst others. Organizations are sometimes viewed as setups that exist to achieve a common goal; however, the realization of the multiple goals and objectives that exist in the organization makes that definition inappropriate.

In any case, employees, management, shareholders of an organization have diverse goals; thus, it is better to view the organization as a set of constraints with the resulting patterns of behavior. This is because by nature they are established by human beings who are constrained by their abilities. Organizations are affected by both the internal and external environment in which they operate. For example, the size of financial and specialized human resources present in an organization can determine the effectiveness of the organization in achieving its goals. Similarly, the laws and regulations that govern its operations can determine the extent to which it can achieve its goals. The diverse goals and interests represented by the organization’s stakeholders present the management with challenges in how they discharge responsibility on behalf of shareholders diligently while satisfying all other stakeholders such as employees, partners, and management.

All these conflicting interests influence organizational decision-making processes and have to be considered to achieve consensus amongst all organization’s stakeholders. Organizational behavior theories evolve in an attempt to explain and resolve the organization problem; furthermore, organizations exist to resolve human problems either for a profit or nonprofit. Out of these challenges or constraints, specific behavior develops whose aim is to counter these constraints. For example, the emergency department of a hospital will develop a particular set of behavior that develops and evolve in response to the nature and pressure of their work in receiving patients in life-threatening circumstances for instance. This behavior is specific to an organization and is referred to as the organization’s behavior. Therefore it is better to view organizations as a set of constraints with a resulting pattern of behavior.

Similarities

Kelly’s ideology on personality types is well articulated in his concept of what he refers to as “personal construct” by which he is implying the ability of persons to “interpret and predict the events that affect them” (Allpsych.com). And it is in the first principle of Kelly’s theory that states “that our processes are psychologically directed by our anticipation of events” that we find the similarity between Kelly and Lewin’s theories. This is because both of them recognize that a person’s behavior is influenced by a combination of factors which Kelly is referring to as constructs but which Lewin is referring to as living space.

Thus, according to Kelly, “personal construct” in a person is made up of such factors as our perception abilities, unique interpretation abilities, and understanding; these are the factors that Kelly attributes to the type of personality in an individual (Allpsych.com). In the same way, Lewin has come up with a set of factors that he attributes to the type of personality in an individual which is what he calls life space. In this case life space “describes that person’s motives, values, needs, moods, goals, anxieties, and ideals” which he categorizes into two categories of external and internal stimuli (Neill). Both sets of factors that are categorized by these two theories are essentially similar and in essence implies that a person’s behavior is shaped by his perception, attitudes, motives, interests, and the kind of people interacting with them

Secondly, both of these theories appear to agree on how the process of human behavior among subjects is shaped; thus, Kelly explains that human behavior is influenced by the varied interpretations of events and how we understand them. This is what he attributes to the resulting personality type that we develop eventually which he rather concisely concludes “a person’s processes are psychologically channelized… by how he anticipates events” (Allpsych.com). In the same way, Lewin describes how a person’s behavior is shaped but in this case by the external and internal factors which we have listed and discussed above. Therefore, both these theories provide albeit similar factors and describe a similar process of behavior change that they identify to be occurring among persons.

Differences

The major difference between these theories is found in their central premises; Lewin’s theory categorizes the various forms of factors that influence human behavior into two, personality factors and environmental factors while Kelly categorizes them in what he calls “constructs”. In this particular regard, these two theories become fundamentally different and are consequently named differently. Thus, we see that Lewin concludes that “one’s behavior is related both to one’s characteristics and to the social situation in which one finds oneself”; this statement aptly summarizes the central concept of Lewin’s theory and highlights the major way in which it differs with Kelly’s theory of personality as far as specific functions of personality are concerned (Neill). But for Kelly the specific elements that shape behavior are summarized in what he refers to as the “eleven Corollaries” (Allpsych.com).

The other difference is in the content itself; Lewin’s behavioral shaping factors are the personality state of the person and the external environment factors which he identifies as the only ones that are concerned in shaping the behavior of a person. On the other hand, Kelly identifies and summarizes a list that encompasses varied factors which we have seen to be what he is referring to as the “eleven Corollaries” which he identifies as shaping our ability to predict events and interpret them. Thus, in conclusion, these two theories though having essentially similar factors that are identified as causing personality behavior change goes on to list specific factors that are drastically different.

The learning process in the organization

March and Olson’s model describes the process of learning within an organization to be a function of two factors; cognition and the aspect of organizational intelligence. Generally, this model attempts to explain how the process of learning in an organization is driven by the employee’s diversity and ability to respond to what is referred to as environmental ambiguity.

1. Incomplete study cycle 1: Role Constrained Learning: an employee may believe that conservation of energy and organization resources is good for the company and the environment but may not always use resources prudently.
2. Incomplete study cycle 2: Audience Learning: an individual’s hard work may be different from the organization’s culture. The organization’s general performance may be sloppy.
3. Incomplete study cycle 3: Superstitious Learning: a new revolutionary product introduced by the organization may be poorly received by society.
4. Incomplete study cycle 4: Learning under Ambiguity: alcohol and cigarettes demand and consumption may steadily increase despite awareness of their negative health impact.

Works Cited

Allpsych. “The Beginning of Cognitivism. 2003. Web.

Larson, U. “Persuasion: Reception & Responsibility.” Washington, Lyn Uhl. Print.

Neill, J. “Field Theory: Kurt Lewin, 2009.” Web.

Introduction

For the purposes of this assignment, the author located two recent articles pertaining to organizational behavior and analyzed them. They found both papers using the Google Scholar search engine and the keywords “organizational behavior.” The “Since 2017” filter was set to ensure that the articles in question were contemporary and reflected recent developments in research on the topic. Both of the documents selected were chosen because they were in open access, whether directly through a publisher or through an alternate scientific database. They also come from reputable journals and have been published already instead of being relegated to online-only advance print articles. The information necessary to access each article is contained within the References section, which has DOI links available. The following section will provide a summary and critique of each of the articles based on the author’s reading of them.

Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior and Positive Leader–Employee Relationships

The first article discussed is that by Bryant and Merritt (2019), which concerns instances of unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) and their relationship with leader-employee relationships. The authors recruited 378 workers at Amazon Mechanical Turk and used a number of surveys to quantitatively assess their unethical behavior, perceived interpersonal justice, leader-member exchange, moral identities, and positive reciprocity beliefs. They came to the following conclusions:

1. A positive supervisor-employee relationship may make the latter more likely to behave unethically in the company’s favor;
2. UPB is prosocially-motivated to a large extent, as opposed to other types of unethical activities;
3. Employees who believe they are treated fairly are less likely to engage in UPB than counterparts who perceive their treatment as just;
4. Individual moral values do not moderate the relationship between leader-member exchanges and UPB significantly;
5. UPB is based on trust that the behavior will be rewarded and is not associated with cognitive positive reciprocity beliefs.

The article challenges the traditional views on UPB, which tend to assert that, like other varieties of unethical behavior, it tends to stem from negative worker traits. Moreover, there is an assumption that the corporate environment tends to pressure workers into acting unethically to preserve their jobs, whether due to fear of the company suffering economic damage and having to lay them off or retribution for refusing immoral requests. Per this study, the decision to take such actions may instead be informed by loyalty to the company, with the employee willing to take a personal risk because they believe the business will acknowledge and compensate them. The narrative appears to be compelling, at least for workers in positions without significant responsibilities, such as those investigated in the study. With that said, it presents a new paradigm that may call current guidelines on organizational culture and behavior into question. Additional research is necessary before the suggestions created by this research can be incorporated into management theory and practice.

Cross-Cultural Industrial Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior

The second article is written by Gelfand et al. (2017) and provides a historical overview of the evolution of cross-cultural organizational psychology and organizational behavior as disciplines over the past 100 years. To do so, they conduct a literature review of significant articles and trends over that time, subdividing the period into four smaller stages. Using the findings, they highlight several issues in contemporary research in the disciplines as well as suggestions for its further development in the future. The key takeaways from the article are as follows:

1. Early on, organizational psychology focused on American culture, requiring other cultures to conform to it.
2. After 1949, the importance of cultural differences was recognized and explored in more detail, resulting in the addition of more organizational behavior dimensions.
3. Between 1980 and 2000, specific models linking culture and organizational psychology as well as behavior emerged and were adopted in theories.
4. After 2000, practical needs have spurred the rapid development of cross-cultural theory, investigating the relationship between cultures and contexts and improving sophistication overall.
5. Overall, throughout the 20th century, organizational psychology and behavioral research in the United States has increasingly considered cross-cultural contexts.
6. In the future, the discipline will need to broaden its scope, apply specific measurements to cultures to understand them better, acknowledge their dynamic natures, analyze global contexts, explore cultural constructs, and focus on diversity in methods and disciplines.

Conclusion

Overall, the article provides an engaging overview of the evolution of views on organizational behavior. The narrative and timelines that it provides appear to be accurate, considering that organizational behavior as a discipline is still developing actively, particularly in its cross-cultural aspect. With that said, it should be noted that the paper focuses extensively on the journal in which it is written, highlighting its overall failure to keep up with the trends. As such, there may have been developments in the broader field that the authors may have missed due to their narrow focus. With that said, the article is still useful as an overview of the faults of current cross-cultural organizational behavior research and some of the advances that will need to happen in the future.

References

Bryant, W., & Merritt, S. M. (2019). Unethical pro-organizational behavior and positive leader–employee relationships. Journal of Business Ethics, 168, 1-17.

Gelfand, M. J., Aycan, Z., Erez, M., & Leung, K. (2017). Cross-cultural industrial organizational psychology and organizational behavior: A hundred-year journey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 514-529.

Currently, public discourse is believed to be full of incivility because human communication became disrespectful. People are often rude in their expressions and they do not care about the possibility to hurt others with their claims. Focusing on the ideas developed in the framework of interactional psychology, it can be presupposed that the best way to return to civility in public discourse is to affect organizational behavior (Antweiler). In particular, it seems to be beneficial to affect employees because they represent the majority of the general public and are an example for young children who tend to copy them.

A respectful environment can be built when employees are led by their leader’s behavior. Violation of social norms should be minimalized to ensure positive changes. It can be advantageous to develop particular rules for in-person and via email communication to set the tone for the community (Carroll-Garrison). It can be even advantageous to develop specific courses for newcomers and experienced workers to enhance their interpersonal behavior. It is also possible to develop initiatives that address uncivil behavior (Solon). For instance, a person can be suspended from the exercise of his/her duties for a while. If all organizations within a community develop a policy that deals with discourse incivility and improper behavior, they are likely to change people’s interactions at work. Spending much time in such environment, individuals are likely to act in the same way when being at home or in public places. There should be a possibility to report aggressive behavior so that it can be addressed and prevented in the future.

Nevertheless, it is critical to build a respectful environment not only within an organization. Technological development made it possible to share information on the Internet, and incivility should be avoided there as well. In the majority of cases, people swear or start conflicts online when they realize that no one will understand who they really are. Minimalizing options for anonymity can be a great way out in this situation (Graf et al. 256). It is also possible to create a ban for messages that include discourse incivility (Stead). Seeing that messages with improper language are not viewed on a website, people who write them tend to stop doing so.

When a change is needed, it is vital to make people understand it. To overcome discourse incivility, authorities should explain to people how they should interact. It can be done with the help of particular education and resources (Williams). For instance, there should be courses not only for language development but also for the enhancement of problem-solving skills and conflict resolution. The representatives of the general public should have easy access to stress management sessions. They are to be taught to vent their anger so that they do not affect others adversely. There should be enough professionals working in the community and providing psychological services. In addition to that, it seems to be very advantageous if there are enough opportunities for recreational activities in a city. In this way, people can cope with their negative emotions in a positive way without facing a necessity to reveal their attitudes using incivilities and rude phrases.

Thus, it can be concluded that discourse incivility can be overcome in several ways. It is possible to develop associated regulations at work so that proper language becomes a habit practiced on a regular basis. Improper messages should be banned on the Internet to make people realize that there is no sense in their actions as they will not be perceived by the public. Finally, it is significant to provide psychological support and an opportunity to reveal negative feelings and emotions in a positive way so that there will be no need to express them with discourse incivility.

Works Cited

Antweiler, Werner. “Free Speech and Civility in Public Discourse.” Werner Antweiler. 2018, Web.

Carroll-Garrison, Martina. “How Successful People Overcome Workplace Incivility.”LinkedIn. 2015, Web.

Graf, Joseph, et al. “The Role of Civility and Anonymity on Perceptions of Online Comments.” Mass Communication and Society, vol. 20, no. 4, 2017, pp. 526-549.

Solon, Raquelle. “Strategies to Stop Workplace Bullying.”Crisis Prevention. 2014, Web.

Stead, Sylvia. “Should the Globe Fix or Ban Online Comments?”The Globe and Mail. 2016, Web.

Williams, Ray. “The Rise of Incivility and What to Do About It.” Psychology Today. 2016, Web.

Introduction

The article under review is: International Review of Business Research Papers, volume 3, issue number 4 published in October 2007 and it covers pages 31 to 43. The title of the journal is “Relationship between personality and organizational citizenship behavior: does personality influence employee citizenship?” and the author is Hassam Abu Elhanan. The journal entails examining the link between the personality of employees in an organization and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). To conduct the research, 164 employees were involved in the survey to determine the regression between their personality and OCB. The predictors applied for OCB were conscientiousness, how stable the employees are emotionally and the degree of openness to experience. The findings of the study suggest that openness to experience has a significant influence on OCB (Elhanan, 2007).

Analysis of the article

Various researchers have examined the relationship between the personality characteristics of employees and their performance at the place of work. Personality traits to how people think, behave or their emotional behavior especially when exposed to varying situations. OCB refers to the behavior that helps a company develop better strategies, but they are not the main elements of performing jobs. These behaviors are applied by employees to improve the performance of an organization, but there are no direct benefits to individual employees. However, the relationship between personality traits and the performance of employees tend to vary slightly. The variance is caused by the other variables related to individuals as well as situational factors. The entire process entails relating the Five-Forces Model (FFM) that describes personality traits to the OCB of the employees under survey (Elhanan, 2007).

The FFM has been generally accepted as a tool that is applied in analyzing the personality traits of individuals. There is a universal acceptance of the FFM because the five factors are applicable in different cultures and languages. The FFM factors are extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience (Elhanan, 2007).

Organizational citizenship behavior has been explained as the behavior of employees that is not recognizable by the formal systems of an organization but they promote the effectiveness of organizational processes. OCB is not provided in the job description and there is no punishment attached to such behaviors because they are personal. Various models are applied by different authors to explain the nature of OCB. For instance, Graham (1989) “proposed a four-dimension model of OCB consisting of interpersonal helping, individual initiative, personal industry, and loyal boosterism” (p.33). When co-workers help each other, interpersonal helping is applied while individual initiative involves communication with other employees in the organization for the improvement of performance. The personal industry involves performing the duties provided beyond the requirements provided by the organization while loyal boosterism is the process of promoting the image of the organization to outsiders (Elhanan, 2007).

Personality traits have been said to predict the performance of employees at the workplace. Immediately when an individual is hired into an organization the personality traits start to affect their performance at the workplace. People are different and they will exhibit personality traits differently within the organization. Researchers have found out contradicting results about the relationship between OCB and the personal traits of different employees. Different correlation figures were obtained in different research cases. Also, regression analyses of the different predictor variables show varying relationship factors (Elhanan, 2007).

The hypothesis of the article was to establish the link between personality traits and the OCB. Social behavior has been described in terms of extraversion because extraverted individuals are more social and can express their ideas more flexible. Thus extraversion is said to have a positive correlation to OCB. Similarly, agreeableness has been found to have a positive relationship with OCB. Individuals with a high level of agreeableness are flexible and can make friends easily.

As such, agreeable employees develop better interpersonal competences and have effective collaboration skills in joint ventures. Conscientiousness has also been hypothesized to have a positive relationship with OCB. Conscientiousness improves the performance of employees ate the workplace because such individuals require minimum supervision when they are at the place of work. Such individuals can be relied upon and they initiate problem-solving mechanisms (Elhanan, 2007).

Emotional stability has also been hypothesized to have a positive relationship with OCB. Emotional stability determines the social behavior of employees and people with this trait easily cope with the work environment. Emotionally stable employees can perform better because they have low levels of anxiety, they are not worried and they feel secure at the place of work. Openness to experience has a positive correlation to OCB. This trait makes people accept change, become creative and inquire about the operations required in the organization. Open individuals prefer to change, variety, new ideas and they appreciate innovations. On the contrary, people who are “closed” tend to oppose change; they are traditional and are not comfortable with complex issues in the organization. The entire process of conducting this research has been based on establishing the relationship between personality and the OCB (Elhanan, 2007).

The control variables applied in this research are job satisfaction levels, the characteristics of tasks provided, trust among employees, and other personal traits that may hinder the identification of personality traits. Situations also restrict the extent to which a person can express his/her personality traits. Therefore, personal and situational variables determine the effect of personality traits on OCB. Work Locus of Control (WLOC) determines the behavior and believes of individuals. Both internal and external locus of control determines the behavior of an individual. Organizational justice also determines the level of performance of an employee. When fairness is exercised within an organization employees get the courage to improve their performance (Elhanan, 2007).

Methodology and research design

Questionnaires were applied in obtaining primary data where 230 employees from the service industry in Dubai were involved. The questionnaires contained parameters such as FFM, OCB, WLOC as well as organizational justice. The drop-off method was applied to distribute the questionnaires to the employees at various work stations. Only 71 percent of the respondents replied and this reduced the sample size to 164 people. Female respondents were 49% while the mean age of all respondents was found to be 32.5 years. The standard deviation of the mean ages was 75 while 5.5 years was the average time that employees had worked with the organizations (Elhanan, 2007).

The Big Five Inventory (BFI) was applied to assess the big five personality measures such that a Likert scale of 1 to 5 was applied. A twenty-one item scale was applied to measure the OCB and a scale of five points used to obtain the responses. WLOC was determined by applying 16 items with responses developed on a scale of five points. Organizational justice was measured by the use of three dimensions to assess fairness at the place of work (Elhanan, 2007).

Analysis and results

Regression analyses were conducted to establish the relationship between FFM and OCB. WLOC and organizational justice variables were also entered into the regression model. There was a positive relationship between FFM and OCB, with openness having the strongest relationship with OCB (Elhanan, 2007).

Discussion

FFM is a suitable predictor for organizational citizenship behavior. Workers with a high degree of openness to experience, conscientiousness, and emotional stability have been found to attain the highest rates of OCB. The results obtained from the above experiment coincide with the findings of Mount et al (1998) which explained that FFM variables are applied as predictors of performance of employees at a workplace. Interpersonal performance has therefore been said to be influenced by openness to experience, conscientiousness, and emotional stability. The research is also supported by other researches which explained that there is a positive relationship between emotional stability and other FFM variables to contextual performance of employees (Organ & Ryan, 1995).

Openness to experience is a very important predictor of OCB. Even though earlier studies by Barrick et al (2001) suggest that the correlation between the two variables is low, the findings of this survey have established a contradictory result. People who have high levels of openness to experience tend to be innovative and imaginative and this makes them perform better at their workplaces. Extraversion and agreeableness have a low level of relationship with OCB. Other researchers had previously found similar results and this is an indication that these variables have no impact on the performance of employees.

However, extraverted people perform better in activities that require social interaction. Therefore, job positions such as sales personnel as well as managers should be extraverted for them to develop better performance skills. The findings of this research explain that openness to experience has the highest degree of validity as a predictor of OCB. Conscientiousness and emotional stability are also important predictors but at a lower level compared to openness to experience. Agreeableness and extraversion have been found to have no interaction with the performance of employees at the workplace (Elhanan, 2007).

Limitations and strengths

Biasness was experienced in the survey because the same questionnaires were applied to collect all the information required. Besides, the data was collected mainly from the staff but not from the managers. The data was collected from the same respondents at the same time and this may hinder variance in the responses. On the other hand, the survey is strong in that two variables were used to determine their relationship. This made it possible for regression analysis to be done (Elhanan, 2007).

Opportunities for future research are possible because situational factors are many and can be applied to predict the relationship between the variables FFM and OCB. Other work environments can be surveyed to establish the response of different employees to the study. A survey on the relationship between the FFM and OCB can be surveyed at different dimensions to explain how personality affects OCB. The personality of an individual has a great influence on their behavior in the workplace. This research will be very important to managers when selecting and recruiting employees for specific job positions in the organization (Elhanan, 2007).

Conceptualization

The concepts being investigated in the journal article are visible. The author explains the relationship between the personality of individuals and their performance at the workplace. People behave in a particular manner while at the workplace and their behavior will influence their performance. The variables being investigated are qualitative and cannot be applied to generate a mathematical model. Unless they are rated according to different scales, they cannot be put in a regression or correlation model so that a relationship can be obtained. The author has well defined the variables under investigation and it is well established that there is a link between OCB and FFM. Therefore, the author has been able to explain the relationship between the variables under study.

Theoretical Framework/Hypotheses

The hypotheses are well stated and the author has been able to bring out the questions which require answers from the research he has conducted. The five hypotheses are well stated and they provide a proper direction for understanding the article. There is a smooth transition from one section to another and the reader can be able to identify the relationship between different parts of the article. The variables being researched about are personality traits that are composed of the factors: agreeableness, emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experience, and Conscientiousness.

A relationship has been established between the personality traits and organizational performance of the employees. The variables are testable and the results have been well interpreted. The theoretical framework is well established because there is a proper transition between the theories is their application within the context of the survey. Theory and application have been properly integrated to bring out the relationship between the variables under study.

Research Design

The author has applied regression and correlation analysis to explain the relationship between the variables. The statistical tools are appropriate because they have established the relationship between the variables. The variables being investigated are visible and they have been explained by the regression and correlation model. The measures applied are valid and reliable because they provide a good picture of the application of theory and practice. The qualitative variables have been well explained and there is a good transition from qualitative to quantitative data. The scales provided are reliable because they illustrate the application of the qualitative variables. These variables have been used to develop a mathematical model that can be easily interpreted.

The conclusions provided in the article align with the results obtained. The results provide a positive relationship between performance and personality traits. Openness to experience has been said to have the strongest relationship with the performance of employees. Agreeableness and extraversion have been identified to have the lowest relationship with the job performance of the employee. The article is adequate in addressing the questions being evaluated. The author has been able to establish appropriate relationships between OCB and FFM. The performance of employees is said to be pegged on their behaviors. Organizational performance has been said to be affected by the personality of employees. The findings of the study explain appropriately the link between the variables.

Conclusion

From the above findings and analysis, it is acceptable that the personality traits of an individual determine the performance of an individual at the workplace. Employees work according to their personality traits and employers should identify these traits when recruiting and selecting people. The management should identify the specific personality traits of their employees and they should match them with the tasks they assign them. This will help reduce confusion and poor job performance that may be caused by the inappropriate allocation of jobs.

References

Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K., & Judge, T. A. (2001) “Personality and performance at the beginning of the new millennium: What do we know and where do we go next?”, Personality and Performance, 9. pp. 9-30.

Elhanan, H. (2007). “Relationship between personality and organizational citizenship behavior: does personality influence employee citizenship?” International Review of Business Research Papers, 3(4). p. 31-43.

Graham, J. W. 1989, “Organizational citizenship behavior: Construct redefinition, operationalization, and validation”, Unpublished working paper, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

Mount, M. K., Barrick, M. R., & Stewart, G. L. 1998, “The five factor model of personality and performance in jobs that involve interpersonal interaction”, Human Performance, vol. 11, no. 2/3, pp. 145-165.

There are many theories used in organizational behavior studies. The main theories could be discussed as follows:

Fiedler Contingency Model, which, through questionnaire method assigns whether leadership is task dominated or relationship directed. The second stage in this Model would be in terms of determining variables like faith in leadership, the level of hierarchical steps and coherence of tasks, and the level of influence the leader is able to exercise. Essentially, the crux of this model is to match the leader’s latent and acquired competencies with the situation at hand and create situations whereby both “task-oriented” and “relationship-oriented” leadership is able to provide positive results and benefits to the company. (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p. 409-410).

However, The second model is called Cognitive Resource Theory (CRT) which takes into account the stress factor as a major contributory factor for performance or otherwise, of the leader. It is believed that a “leader’s intellectual abilities” compare favorably when leadership is under little stress but unfavorable when under elevated stress. However, another attribute, “leader’s experience”, correlates unfavorably when under small stress and favorably under elevated stress. (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p.412).

Next, coming to Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) considers areas in which leadership needs to accomplish tasks, especially in the context of the task are not able to be performed by subordinates, either due to incompetence or disinclination to do so. SLT reviews how leadership evolves in specific situational matrix and the level of leadership and managerial skills that needs to be evoked in each situation. Yet another major theory is called Leader-Member exchange theory, whereby it is seen that select few can access the exclusive domain or inner circle of the leadership and are thus benefited more than others; this is basically because they are more sincere, loyal, committed and competent than their colleagues.

Coming to the challenging aspects it is seen that “understanding organizational behavior has never been more important for managers.“ (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p.14). Or for that matter, more critical, for attaining corporate objectives and meeting company’s goals.

It is seen that organizational behavior is a complex subject since human behavior may be erratic and may not always be in conformity with social norms. No two persons would react similarly to a given situation; indeed, the same person may also tend to react differently given the same situation on a different day.

Corporate harmony needs to be sought and, with organizational complexities increasing, it is necessary that inhabitants of the “global village” needs to live in complete peace with the environment. (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p.15). For this it is necessary to seek unity in diversity, seek commonness, equanimity, and mutual goal realization, both in individual and corporate terms, since a person’s personal needs to be attuned and synced with organizational ones.

In this context, managers also need to think differently and situationally. It is necessary that a global cross-culture needs to be embraced and discrimination in any form, whether work-related or not, needs to be eliminated. In the global corporate environment “Managers have to shift their philosophy from treating everyone alike to recognizing differences and responding to those differences in ways that ensure employee retention and greater productivity, while, at the same time, not discriminating.” (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p.19). There are many aspects that could deter leadership, especially in a multi-national setting. Leadership needs to understand various diversities like gender, nationalities, sexual preferences, disabilities, etc., which, while positively harnessed could bring in productive results, but, if “not managed properly, there is a potential for higher turnover, more-difficult communication, and more interpersonal conflicts.“ (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p.19).

Reference

Robbins, Stephen. P., & Judge, Timothy. A. (2007). Organizational behavior, Twelfth Edition, 14, 15, 19, 412, 409-410. Prentice Hall. (provided by customer).

The development of any organization largely depends on the employees’ behavior. Managers have to shape employees’ behavior trying to make them behave in a desirable way and stop undesirable behaviors. Managers often use four strategies of reinforcement that include positive and negative reinforcement, punishment and extinction.

Positive Reinforcement

It is necessary to note that positive reinforcement is often regarded as the most effective and the most desirable. Managers are encouraged to use this kind of reinforcement as it improves employees’ motivation (Martin and Pear 33). Some strategies associated with this kind of reinforcement include recognition and approval, praise and encouragement, bonuses and rewards, promotion and benefits, and so on (DuBrin 59).

However, to make these methods effective, it is important to provide the positive reinforcement with the appropriate frequency (Gomez-Mejia et al. 44). If the manager praises the employee too often, this individual may stop appreciating this and stop behaving in a desirable way. Nevertheless, if the manager uses the positive reinforcement only occasionally, employees may feel unmotivated, and the turnover can be high (Gomez-Mejia et al. 44).

Negative Reinforcement

This form of reinforcement is often used to change the undesirable behavior. It is necessary to remember that it is not punishment, but it is possible to see it as a certain kind of punishment withholding (DuBrin 59). For example, if the manager notices some undesirable behavior, he/she can discuss it with the employee and warn him/her about possible demotion or even discharge. If the behavior changes, the employee will not be punished, but if the employee behaves in the same way, it is possible to choose some type of punishment.

Punishment

Punishment is often regarded as an undesirable reinforcement strategy as it may have a negative effect on employees’ motivation. Managers can use many types of punishment. For example, some types of punishment are severe criticism, suspension, probation, fines, demotion, withdrawal of benefits, undesirable tasks, and so on (DuBrin 59). The type of punishment depends on the employee and the behavior to be changed. Some mild misbehavior does not need severe punishment as it can have an opposite effect, and the undesirable behavior will not disappear but will intensify. If the punishment imposed is not successful and the undesirable behavior is still present, the manager can use the fourth type of reinforcement.

Extinction

The final type of reinforcement is extinction (Martin and Pear 33). This is the most unpopular type as it is often associated with negative emotions and unhealthy environment in the organization. Extinction is often associated with discharge, and it is mainly used with the most negative and undesirable behaviors. For example, if the manager wants to make the undesirable behavior disappear, it is possible to fire the employee. Clearly, it is mainly used if the negative reinforcement and punishment have not been effective.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is possible to state that there are four strategies of reinforcement that include negative and positive reinforcement, punishment and extinction. The most effective strategy is the positive reinforcement while extinction is the most undesirable strategy to use. However, it is also clear that the type of reinforcement to choose depends on a particular situation, behavior or employee. The effective manager can choose the most appropriate strategy and change employees’ behavior. Clearly, this ability is beneficial for the working atmosphere, performance of employees, and the development of the organization.

Works Cited

DuBrin, Andrew J. Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior: An Applied Perspective. Elsevier, 2013.

Gomez-Mejia, Luis R., et al. Compensation and Organizational Performance: Theory, research, and Practice. Routledge, 2014.

Martin, Garry, and Joseph J. Pear. Behavior Modification: What It Is and How to Do It. Psychology Press, 2015.

Systems Approach to Create a Diversity-Aware Program of Transatlantic Health Care Center

Health care institutions have become increasingly concerned with disparities that exist in health care which are highly attributed to ethnicity, race and the socio-economic class that exists in our societies. Therefore, in relation to this, it is important for any health institution to craft effective and efficient systems approach to help in creating awareness amongst its clients. For that matter, the paper outlines a developed system approach for TransAtlantic Health Care Center that will serve as a diversity aware program for the institution.

For a competent and proactive system in a diversity aware program, various activities and roles of stakeholders around and within health care system need to take center stage (Borkowski, 2009). Therefore, the diversity aware system should prioritize the community, health care professionals and the employer to have a culturally competent system that addresses these disparities.

Therefore, TransAtlantic Health Care Center which is the employer in this case will control plan development, implementation of the blueprint and financing structure which will be intended to facilitate access points to health care through allocation of friendly work schedules to its health care staff.

Moreover, the institution must ensure that senior management are educated on the need of the program to ensure their full participation. This is important since without their active input in the system, system activities are likely to be trivialized especially in relation to financial support they are supposed to provide (Borkowski, 2009).

Nevertheless, there will be expansion of implementation team to incorporate expertise in the area of cross cultural matters who will form part of the diversity aware program team for TransAtlantic Health Care Center. These expertise are crucial in the program since they may know the problems in addition of having solutions for them.

The next element of the system entails collecting data that concerns disparities in the health care industry. The data collected will help in developing programs that are geared towards improving marginalized observance of therapeutic regimes.

In addition, the system comprise of a multi year strategy that is desired to eliminate disparity. This was adopted due to the acknowledgement that some disparities will need multi year plan to be addressed which implies that the system is designed to operate for several years to achieve the desired results.

On the other hand, as a director of human resource in TransAtlantic Health Care Center, I will employ several guidelines, goals and metrics to study this issue. Nonetheless, as a human resource director, there are several guidelines, goals and metrics that I will apply in the study of this issue.

In relation to the guidelines, the following will govern the system in creating diversity awareness. With the issue of recruitment and selection of expertise in the area of cross cultural matters, opportunities will be availed to all people but recruitment and selection will only be based on knowledge, skills and experience of the candidates.

Another key guideline relates to probation of the recruited personnel. Under this guideline, these expertise will undergo a six month probation exercise to determine whether they are up to the task in relation to diversity awareness.

However, in relation to metrics, performance appraisal will be regularly carried out at the interval of six months to assess performance of the program and extend of individual efforts made by the staff. Nonetheless, another metric element that will be used is the return on investment in relation to employees’ output.

This will help determine whether the institution has positively improved or whether the program is futile. Nonetheless, the goal of the program is to bridge the existing divide in relation to cross cultural diversity in order to increase health care services provided by TransAtlantic Health Care Center.

Cognitive Dissonance Reflected in Scott’s Dillema

From the case study concerning Scott and George, both parties developed cognitive dissonance in relation to their attitudes, perceptions and attribution of one another (Borkowski, 2009). In relation to perception, every individual perceive stimuli that are always present in their environment.

Nonetheless, from the case study, it is relative to acknowledge that Scott developed some perceptual defense in his initial relationship with George with the hope that their relationship will improve later. On the other hand, George had developed some perceptual errors against Scott since he had formed belief and attitude towards Scott which strained their relationship at the work place.

In addition, as a result of perception error that George had towards Scott, it resulted to Scott developing some self perception which was characterized with negative attributes that affected his self esteem in the work place. Moreover, due to George’s perception towards Scott, it resulted to a negative social perception of Scott which made the work mates to develop a snap judgment about him.

On the other hand, due to social perception, situational attribution followed Scott in the work place where the situation that George had created for him. This was not his personal qualities which caused him to have a behavior change since his life changed both at the work place and at home. Therefore, this impacted negatively to personal qualities of Scott as his behavior was now ascribed to his personal qualities and not the situation in the work place. This was evident when Scott could not get a just audience of his complaints.

Furthermore, on the part of attitudes, George had a prior attitude formation towards Scott which was negative. This automatically resulted to negative attitude towards him. As a result, Scott became uncomfortable with George’s attitude and he too formed the same towards him.

Issues of Miscommunication and How Scott Mismanaged His Communication with George

Miscommunication issues existed between Scott and George that resulted to their strained relationship. Nonetheless, communication is two way traffic and all parties involved should be willing to communicate harmoniously. For any communication to be efficient and effective, element of feedback need to be in every phase of communication (Borkowski, 2009). Moreover, feedback makes communication to be complete.

Therefore, in relation to Scott and George, feedback element was missing in their communication which was a recipe for their disagreement. It can therefore be affirmed that Scott and George had poor relational feedback. This means that the two parties could not effectively work together in the same group. However, there was some element of descriptive feedback from both sides which instead of strengthening communication process between these two parties was detrimental to their relationship.

Nonetheless, Scott can be said to have mismanaged communication with George. For instance, when George was moved to be his work place as a supervisor, Scott noted unfairness treatment but failed to communicate in order to bring to George’s attention that he was not comfortable. In addition, Scott failed to communicate the strained relation to the senior management early enough when he noted the problem.

However, this dialogue could have been handled amicably which may have prevented Scott’s tribulations at the work place. For instance, if communication process in the organization was prioritized and emphasized, there could be some elements of feedback from both sides. A salient communication process with proper feedback could have helped to save Scott’s situation.

References

Borkowski, N. (2009). Organizational Behavior, Theory, and Design in Health Care. Canada: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Evaluating Consultant Workshops in Human Services

APA Formatted Reference: Gravina, N., & Austin, J. (2018). An evaluation of the consultant workshop model in a human service setting. Journal of organizational behavior management, 38(2-3), 244-257.

• Purpose of the Study: The goal of this study was to document and assess a consultant-workshop approach that Organizational Behavior Management specialists routinely use.
• Participants: Thirteen senior therapists (STs), who oversaw a team of 6 to 8 instructor therapists in the company, attended the training two and a half years before this review. At this assessment, 9 of the STs that finished the program were still working at the agency, and six consented to take part in the evaluation. The center director required participation in the first program, and it was entirely voluntary to take part in this survey.
• Setting: The research was conducted in a government-funded organization in Canada that administers behavioral services to people diagnosed with autism. The group served about three hundred people at the time of this research, with another five hundred on the standby list. Workshop training meetings were held with tables, chairs, a projector, and a whiteboard in the institution’s training center.
• Dependent Variable and Measurement: Senior therapists’ (ST) initiatives are provided as the main data source for this evaluation. The data collected for the projects differed based on the purpose of the project performed by each ST. The choice of dependent variables for STs’ projects was according to their needs and interests. There was no specific information on the clients or employees in any of the data provided.
• Assessment and Findings: Certain project elements remained in situ at the follow-up, and minimal data suggested that performance improvements were retained or extended. The findings are used to make proposals about how to improve the workshop structure.
• Independent Variable: The independent variable in the study was the level to which autism had impacted the client.
• Experimental Design: The projects of all seven trained administrators were finished. Three studies employed A–B designs, whereas the remaining four used complicated experimental designs that yielded positive results. However, no data on maintenance or generalization was collected in any of these cases, so that no conclusions can be formed regarding the possibility of this consulting strategy producing long-term and broad changes in the organization.
• Results: Some senior therapists were not working with the institution when this program was conducted, therefore, information was not available for all projects. After the sessions, three activities for which follow-up data was accessible, preserved at least a couple of the intervention aspects.
• Interesting Point of Discussion: According to outcomes of this evaluation, the program significantly taught senior therapists in a social services organization that were previously familiar with behavior therapy to execute the plan their quality management initiatives. The projects were a success, implying that the skilled workshop approach may assist supervisors in completing performance enhancement initiatives.

Enhancing Patient Flow in Emergency Departments

APA Formatted Reference: Kelley, D. P., & Gravina, N. (2018). Every minute counts: Using process improvement and performance feedback to improve patient flow in an emergency department. Journal of organizational behavior management, 38(2-3), 234-243.

• Purpose of the Study: Longer emergency department appointments are linked to various negative outcomes for patients, including decreased patient satisfaction and higher expenses. Although hospital staff has no control over certain factors that determine the duration of emergency department visits, there are some changes to enhance performance. This project aims to decrease the emergency department’s door-to-discharge duration in a hospital with about 150 beds in the southeastern United States.
• Participants: The participants in the study were staff members including nurses and physicians, despite no efforts to elucidate involvement.
• Setting: This research took place in the emergency department of a 150-bed capacity hospital in a mid-sized town in the southeastern United States.
• Dependent Variable and Measurement: The major dependent variable in this investigation was the average time from when a patient arrived at the emergency room to the first laboratory or radiological test was ordered (door-to-order). In addition, the estimated duration from the moment a patient reached the emergency room until they were discharged was recorded as a secondary measure (door-to-discharge). The Allscripts Clinical Performance Management System, which is used to track patients while in the hospital, was used to determine this. When patients came to the ER, a clerk entered their data in the system, and then emergency department staff modified the patient record, and the client was discharged.
• Assessment and Findings: The hospital wanted to shorten the time for a patient to get from the entrance to discharge. Narrowing the scope of the investigation focused on a door-to-order sub-system that took longer than expected. The hospital gathered benchmarking information from high-performing emergency departments, which indicated that this time might be as little as ten minutes. The emergency department director selected an acceptable objective of 20 minutes based on comparison data and existing performance.
• Independent Variable: The number of patients receiving services at any period was the study’s independent variable.
• Experimental Design: An ABC design was used to evaluate the interventions. Due to the emergency department’s restrictions, a stronger design was not possible, and it would have been challenging to reverse the process modification after implementation.
• Results: The shortest time of door to order was 36.2 minutes, while the estimated timeframe from door to discharge was 182.6 minutes over three months. The minimum duration from door to order was 28.7 minutes three months following the process adjustment, a reduction of 7.5 minutes. From door to discharge, the average time was reduced by 20.1 minutes to 162.5 minutes. The expected time from door-to-order was reduced to 22.1 minutes, encompassing the daily input measures, a reduction of 6.6 minutes from the preceding phase and 14.1 minutes from base point. From door to discharge, the time needed decreased to 159.6 minutes, a 2.9-minute difference over the previous phase and a 23-minute reduction over baseline.
• Interesting Point of Discussion: This relatively modest process modification and assessment intervention was linked to a significant reduction in the time it took for patients to receive their first laboratory or radiological tests after arriving at the emergency department. Although the process adjustment was disclosed to all nurses, it was not embraced by all, so the provision of daily feedback encouraged acceptance of the new procedure. As a result, process transformation interventions may still require behavioral change interventions to be successful. This finding is significant because some process improvement practitioners may lack experience with behavior change strategies, which might restrict the effectiveness of process improvement initiatives.

References

Gravina, N., & Austin, J. (2018). An evaluation of the consultant workshop model in a human service setting. Journal of organizational behavior management, 38(2-3), 244-257.

Kelley, D. P., & Gravina, N. (2018). Every minute counts: Using process improvement and performance feedback to improve patient flow in an emergency department. Journal of organizational behavior management, 38(2-3), 234-243.

Medical errors are still severe public health problems that threaten patient safety. The issue of medical errors is one of the most important in medical law, and the number of medical errors is not decreasing but increasing. Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) focuses on people’s activities, analyzes their causes, and applies an evidence-based intervention strategy. The relevance of using OBM to improve the healthcare system lies in a practical approach to solving the most critical component of every imperfect healthcare system – behavior (Kelley & Gravina, 2018). Behavior, first of all, depends on the method it occurs; however, it can also be considered the cause of many medical errors, and specific changes in behavior can prevent these medical error.

A medical error can be interpreted as any action or omission that harms the patient. At the same time, it is possible to refer to a medical error as any action in providing medical care that can potentially cause harm. The latter definition, focused on prevention, best corresponds to the application of OBM and determines its relevance (Kelley & Gravina, 2018). OBM includes feedback that is used in many situations to influence behavior change. This approach successfully increases behavior safety and reduces risky behavior in various non-medical conditions.

Turning unforeseen medical circumstances into a form of organizing relationships with established rules is the long-term goal of OBM. Thus, intervention methods become part of the organization’s daily practice and make medical personnel ready for unforeseen external and internal circumstances. An essential role of OBM in reducing the number of medical errors is that it can increase and maintain the desired behavior. However, it is necessary to identify behaviors that should be avoided and those that need to be reinforced (Kelley & Gravina, 2018). To understand and eliminate medical errors, a healthcare culture is essential, the basis of which is trust, the desire for success, and positive changes in behavior. Practical and results-oriented OBM technology allows the development of this type of culture in the context of continuous learning and beneficial behavior change.

Reference

Kelley III, D. P., & Gravina, N. (2018). A paradigm shift in healthcare: An open door for organizational behavior management.Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 38(1), 73-89. Web.

This outline explores the aspects of “THE RBS CITIZENS” basing on its history, purpose, stakeholders, practices, challenges, opportunities and recommended solutions.

Organizational Overview

Relevant History

“The RBS CITIZENS” is a commercial bank that constitutes diverse companies, branches, ATMs and employees (Benioff & Adler, 2006). The bank was initiated in 1829 as the High Street Bank in Hoyle Square then Providence Rhode Island, which was a busting market center.

Later, the directors of High Street Bank received a second charter and founded Citizens Savings Bank, which was a joint savings that received the initial official deposits in 1871. By 1947, Citizens purchased stock in the High Street Bank and attained complete administration of its original parent. It begun opening branch offices and became a member of the FDIC in 1950 making it the first mutual saving bank to achieve such a feat. Citizens kept growing making it demutualize in 1986.

Two years later, “the Royal Bank of Scotland”, one of the leading banking groups in Europe acquired it (Benioff & Adler, 2006). Backed by RBS, Citizens bank became the strongest capitalized monetary organization in New England and subsequently gobbled up other regions (Benioff & Adler, 2006).

Purpose and Mission

The mission of the entity is “to deliver superior sustainable value to run our business with integrity and openness, delivering optimum financial results within clearly defined business principles” (Benioff & Adler, 2006).

Stakeholders

RBS CITZENS has various stakeholders, which include “the RBS group, RBS American and the Citizens Financial Group” (Benioff & Adler, 2006).

Behavioral Practices

Effective Practices

There are definite organizational practices, which have resulted into the success of the entity. The workers in the organization mostly work as team since individual performances achieve little advantage in the current business world. The success of most organizations is thus attributable to effective teamwork.

The leaders usually affect the teams since their potential and the proficiency to incorporate themselves efficiently into their teams culminate in success. Additionally, RBS’s ability to respond to new competitive situations with admirable organizational creativity has enabled it to react faster to the market’s requirements and fine-tune its operations effectively. Indeed, creativity is evident in teams and not individuals (Rahim, 2010).

Additionally, RBS Citizens increases its employees’ performance by employing reward systems. The reward system in the organizations gives incentives to managers and the workforce. Indeed, the performances have improved and departmental goals met. The supervisors and workforce evaluate how well the previous goals were met, set new goals and establish rewards for meeting new targets.

Personnel are often rewarded after yearly performance assessment when supervisors assess workers performance and offer feedback. This is to aid the staff to upgrade performances and obtain rewards. Reward systems incentivize people thus eliminating unintentional, counterproductive, and detrimental ways. Reward systems motivate persons to meet goals and can help in guiding and correcting unwanted employees’ behaviors (Rahim, 2010).

An additional facet that has led to the success of the RBS CITIZENS is the usage of effective communications techniques. An example of the techniques is the use of audiovisual presentation when passing messages to the employees. It is a helpful technique of communicating the benefit plan to the staff and explaining the alterations in organizational systems. The use of meetings in the entity is also an efficient way of communication. At the meetings, the administrative parties react to employees’ enquiries (Rahim, 2010).

Challenges

A noticeable challenge that the entity is facing entails management of conflicts. Conflicts escalate as people challenge the old ways of thoughts and initiating events. Consequently, more problems arise leading to recommendations for alterations in the organizations.

The entity’s major conflict arises from the organizational structural design. Such conflicts have always represented basic challenges to the organization. RBS CITIZEN has a very complex structure, which makes it intricate for the organization to react to the changing business conditions (Rahim, 2010).

Another challenge that the RBS faces entails contact amongst diverse parties. This is usually a vital cause of interpersonal conflicts in businesses. Communication barrier at RBS CITIZENS results from the heavy organizational structure that prolongs the line of contact from the sender to recipients. This leads to information distortion before the message reaches the targeted persons (Rahim, 2010).

Opportunities

The organization has great leaders who have the ability to decipher concepts and recognize connections based on knowledge and experience (Rahim, 2010).

Recommended Solutions

The organization should essentially eliminate conflicts through management processes thus improving organizational knowledge and effectiveness. In the organization, every one should be responsible in establishing successful communication. If leaders set up a system for reporting errors but staff do not report errors then initiating organizational changes can be intricate.

Therefore, staff should be educated and trained on the values of effective communication and the effects of deprived communication. The organization should compress its organizational structure, shorten the distance that the messages pass from senders to recipients and adapt easily to the changing business conditions (Dressler, 2004).

Conclusion

Conclusively, successful organizational practices entail a mixture of personality traits, familiarity, acquaintance and skills needed to lead effective practices by managers. The organization has varying stakeholders and it should adjust its services according to the needs of the clients (Rothwell, 2010).

References

Benioff, M., & Adler, C. (2006). The business of changing the world: twenty great leaders on strategic corporate philanthropy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Professional.

Dressler, S. (2004). Strategy, Organizational Effectiveness and Performance Management: From Basics to Best Practices. Kansas: MO. Universal-Publishers

Rahim, A. (2010). Managing conflict in organizations. New York: NY. Transaction Publishers.

Rothwell, J. (2010). Effective succession planning: ensuring leadership continuity and building talent from within. New York, NY: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.