Organizational Behavior

Organizational behavior (OB) is the study of human interaction in a workplace setting, human behavior, and the organization. It is also possible to look at the above aspects of organizational behavior independently. However, it is critical to remember that the three have a connection that is significant for the understanding of organizational behavior. Take, for instance, and we can take a look into an individual character such as one of the employees without the need to analyze the whole organization. However, due to the organization’s influences, as well as the individual, it is hard to dissect individual’s behavior if we do not know the organization. In the same fashion, the study of an organization is possible without the need to focus on each in it.  This study looks into two organizational theories and how they may be used to help an organization achieve high performance. 

Type Personality trait theory

Type theories are simple but have no cogent argument. However, the theory helps us to understand how psychological factors affect how individuals relate in the workplace (Aithal and Kumar, 2016). For instance, according to the division of personalities, there are those persons that are introverts and those that are extroverts. The above terms describe an individual’s ability to socialize as well as interpersonal orientation. For instance, extroverts are sociable persons and gregarious, while introverts prefer entirely and being by themselves. Therefore, type theory provides a simple way of looking at individuals and reveal how their personalities can either complicate or simplify relations in the workplace.

Though trait theories, one can judge people after analyzing how their trait affected their work (Nilsen, 2015).  Someone’s personality is a reflection of an individual’s consistency when it comes to behavior. A character is like an abstract of an individual’s way of doing their work. A personality serves as ‘’ a unit of analysis’’ to help one to understand why some people appear to be outspoken while are others are quite the opposite (Tannenbaum, Weschler & Massarik, 2013). Through the Trait Theory, it is possible to analyze which personalities work best with certain tasks and also come in handy when grouping people together. Therefore, we could measure an individual’s scale of intelligence, aggressiveness, creativity, emotional stability and other dimensions. 

It is essential to put in mind that traits are one of the contributions when it comes to how people react to different things. For instance, a person does not have possess shyness; instead, they become shy when put in certain circumstances. According to the history of Trait Theory, the analysis of an individual’s personality dates back in the 1930’s (Tannenbaum, Weschler & Massarik, 2013). According to research efforts in leadership traits shows that there are two ways in which one can assess personality traits: an individual can describe themselves through answering a set of questions about his attitudes towards certain circumstances. Second, someone can look into a person’s habits by observing how they interact or how they react to certain issues.

When looking at the first method, shows that it uses a personality inventory while the second one involves rating a person. A personality inventory is a questionnaire where the person reports the behavior or attitudes in a certain situation (Rathore, 2017). On the other hand, a rating scale is a method that uses a device to record results about traits. A different person can fill a scale rating as per their observation about the individual. A look into the trait shows that it is an improvement of other type theories. While they try to provide unrealistic categories for personalities, the trait theory works by recognizing the way the personalities function. It is not a one-time observation but, a continuity of personality traits under different circumstances.

The theory is essential in personality rating and also in factor analysis when it comes to human behavior. For instance, some people are quite in the workplace but are keen with timekeeping and producing excellent results. As such, the individuals work best when they are alone and cannot be their best when assigned group tasks (Aithal and Kumar, 2016). Therefore, it is best if the organization finds a balance by looking for a position that will suit them as per their personality trait.  However, there are several setbacks with the trait approach. For example, one of the primary objectives is that trait theories are more descriptive and less analytical (Tannenbaum, Weschler & Massarik, 2013). 

Moreover, there are trait theories that pay attention to isolated trait and leave out how these traits are in line with personality. Another setback is that while these traits come from behavior, they cannot explain behavior. The trait theories derive from the fact that leaders are born and not made by specific behaviors. Therefore, organizational leaders should be keen when studying how people interact in the workplace. Some people tend to be more outspoken while others are shy. The Type personality theory provides that it is essential to try and understand how these personalities work to exploit the staff’s strengths based on their traits. 

Social Learning Theory

The social learning theory focusses on human behavior (Tannenbaum, Weschler & Massarik, 2013). It derives from the fact that people learn behavior or the behavior modifies them. When people are in a social setting, they are bound to learn, acquire knowledge, language, values, personality traits, as well as self-awareness. As such, the study of the learning process sheds more light on the way human beings relate. According to social learning theorists, they provide that an individual’s situation is the primary determinant of their behavior. The theory is keen on aspects such as behavior patterns, cognitive activities in terms of specific positions that provoke them. The interest is in what an individual does in a particular situation. 

The personal make-up of an individual will influence what they will do. For instance: personality and attitude, knowledge, social skills, and such. Secondly, their cognitive strategies are also a determinant when observing behavior such as habits, personal expectations, self-regulatory systems (Rathore, 2017). All of the above aspects together with the given circumstances influence what a person will do in such positions. According to social learning theorists, they believe that there reciprocal behavior patterns. A situation is a factor to consider when maintaining or molding individuals in the workplace (Nilsen, 2015). For instance, it is not possible to motivate the staff if the workplace is not favorable. Certain work cultures affect how individual respond during work. If the organization has an excellent work culture, the staff members are most likely to become productive.

It is no doubt that situations evoke or modify behavior patterns (Aithal and Kumar, 2016). People’s behavior is a response to the circumstances around them. If the organization can work on the situations in the workplace, it is possible to prevent imposing conditions on the workers. The evaluation of the social learning theory also helps to contribute to both clinical psychology and personality theory (Lăzăroiu, 2015). It prompts organizational leaders to look more closely into how the workplace is working towards making the workers comfortable. Careful implementation of the learning principles is a successful way of changing maladaptive behavior in the organization. According to social learning theorists, they have faced criticism for learning more on situational factors and neglecting individual differences. In this theory, an individual is flexible, passive and a product of the environment.

A humanistic approach towards the subject of social learning provides that the surroundings highly contribute to how people will react (Tannenbaum, Weschler & Massarik, 2013). The experiences in the workplace are likely to shape how one adapts to certain situations. Therefore, it is best that the leaders find ways to improve the external environment and make the experiences shape how the staff will react. For instance, a workplace that emphasizes work ethics will create an environment where people will learn to embrace and work within certain guidelines. The opposite is exact, a place with no instructions will make the staff learn how to operate with no sense of direction. Therefore, it is possible for an organization to provide an understanding of course.

Application

In today’s workplace, there ate modern organizational structures that are going through changes due to the shift in the market (Rathore, 2017). As businesses are trying to be competitive, it is essential for them to consider that the staff is critical to the change process. One of the prevailing trends in the need to expand on the organizational network. A secure system needs the organization to be current when it comes to technology for information technology. However, these changes will not make any steps if the staff are not on the same page with organizational goals. Therefore, people management and policies come in handy in such situations.  For a business to remain competitive, it is best to manage how people, organization, and processes work together (Aithal and Kumar, 2016). Earlier in the chapter, has covered two organizational theories that have reflected on both individuals and the organization. By looking into the nature of the people and changing the basics of the organizational structure, can positively impact on how individuals respond to situations in the workplace. 

Conclusion

The type trait theory is critical; I organizational behavior as it looks into how individuals react to situations in the business (Nilsen, 2015). Some people are rigid but hard working while others are flexible but have issues with keeping time. Therefore, it is best that the organization can look into depth such differences to analyze the strength and the weaknesses of the staff. Through observation, on can learn wy some staff members exhibit certain behaviors. It can also help in placing the individuals in departments that they can exploit their skills and talents (Hughes et al., 2018). The type trait theory provides that different people have separate personalities and this gives the organization options to choose individuals according to their capabilities.

On the other hand, the social learning theory covers the fact that people are adaptive beings. They tend to behave according to their environments. For example, if the workplace is accommodating to different talents, the workers will work hard to showcase their strengths (Rathore, 2017). However, if an organization is not as helping, the staff members will learn how to adapt. The social learning theory also exploits the fact that people like to function within their comfort zones. Human beings tend to get comfortable for them to adapt to the surrounding (King & Lawley, 2016). Also, because human beings like to observe, it is vital that leaders set the best examples for their staff. 

Evil and corrupt leaders are likely to pass the traits to the staff. The workers learn and imitate others in the workplace hence, it is essential that leaders ensure that everyone adheres to the organizational goals and rules. Business can adapt the social learning theory through motivation and gamification. As such, those individuals that are not able to adhere with the organization’s goals and policies, they should be let go and remain with those that will be willing to work with rest in the company. Therefore, the outcome of an organization depends on how the leaders observe organizational behavior. Some theories describe the influences of organizational behavior such as for as, personality trait, and social impact.

References

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