To set the record straight, Abdul’s actions are well justified. Him deciding to appoint Amie Lee as the supervisor instead of Hahn Chen is based on merit and not his relation to the employees. However, there are a few steps of organizational behavior that Abdul should not have neglected before making the appointment. This way, this problem could have been avoided.
How to Avoid the Problem in Future
Organizational behavior defines the culture of an organization, how people interact, and how people react to decisions that are made by other employees on a daily basis. The culture of an organization is set by its founders and Abdul happens to be one of them. Setting a good culture at the beginning is important as it serves as precedence to future events and decisions (Miner, 2015). By selecting Lee instead of Chen, Abdul sets a good precedence and sends a strong message to the employees of NewGen that people in the organization will be rewarded or promoted based on their skill set and performance and not their relation to the executives. However, the mistake made by Abdul is that he did not make it clear right from the word go. The values and beliefs of an organization are important virtues that need to be documented and inculcated in the minds of employees at an early stage. Abdul could have therefore avoided the problem by making it clear to the employees that promotions are done on the basis of the skills that one has and the competency that one brings to the table. By doing this, say a month after the company was established, Chen would have had no basis of argument as he would have outrightly been told that his competency level does not suit the position that is currently occupied by Lee.
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How to Solve the Problem
The fact that this problem has occurred serves as an eye-opener to Abdul. He is now aware of the importance of instilling virtues in the employees early enough. However, this problem still needs to be dealt with in a way that both Lee and Chen would be happy in the end. Abdul recognized that he had to have a sit down with Lee and Chen in order to solve this problem. However, before doing this, he ought to have met with Lee first in order to tell update her on the situation and inform her what to expect from Chen when they all meet together. This way, Abdul will come out as being open and transparent. It is still not too late to do so. Abdul should sit Lee down and tell her about his relationship with Chen. He should then let Lee know that he made his decision for the good of the company and did not intend to cause friction between any of his employees. An apology for the situation would then help calm Lee down. Abdul could then ask Lee, who appears to be understanding, to have another meeting together with Chen. The manager should then meet separately with Chen and ask him to be professional with how he handles his issues. The three could then have a meeting together in which Abdul should explain the reasons for his decision to promote Lee instead of Chen. This kind of transparency could help to restore sanity in the organization and also serve as the beginning of a new organizational culture.
Areas and Theories of Organizational Behavior that have been Touched
The NewGen case primarily covers three areas of Organizational Behavior. These include people orientation, team orientation, and outcome orientation. As stated, Abdul should orient members of the organization early enough so as to get them acquainted to the organization culture and beliefs. Employees should be taken through the code of conduct and the company’s culture immediately they join NewGen. By doing this, the people orientation area would have been taken care of. Moreover, team orientation can be done annually. This can be in for of a retreat activity in which members of the organization get to hang out together, interact, and be reminded of the organization’s culture and values. This is because, with time, the values tend to slowly erode away and need to be revisited (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). The last area is outcome orientation. Employees need to be held accountable for their actions, decisions, and behaviors. For instance, NewGen has to set a code of conduct which has rules and regulations that employees must follow. Details such as how employees should conduct themselves during meetings should be included in the code of conduct.
Changes in an organization are likely to generate instability within the organization. There are different ways to manage resistance to changes. Some include education and communication, developing positive relationships, and selecting people who accept change. All these methods have been addressed in the solutions presented in the case study above.
References
Miner, J. B. (2015). Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership . Routledge.
Griffin, R., & Moorhead, G. (2011). Organizational behavior . Nelson Education.
