The Application of OB Theories

Decision making is one of the core functions of an organization and a manager cannot achieve this alone because they are not always right. In regard to this, a manger involves different type of employees in making major decisions in the organization some of which include changing a major product in the organization or hiring new staff. On the other hand, organization behavior is an important field in management that studies the way people react to different things or how they act in the organization. For managers to be able to make major decisions while involving the employees, they have to understand the usefulness and applicability of theories and concepts of organization behavior. This will help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the decisions they make. This paper will prove knowledge of organizational behavior theories and concepts by answering some questions. 

Question 1 

First, it is important to understand that the success of the company will be determined by the decisions made by management. Therefore, as a manager of a small business, I would put into consideration everything that will lead to the success of the business including employee involvement. This means fully utilizing employee talents and energies. Since product change is one of the most important decisions to make in an organization because it is the most crucial element of marketing mix. Therefore, selecting personnel to work on such an issue should be very systematic and accurate to avoid disrupting the natural order of the organization. The first thing that would guide me on the selection of employee is their motivation. I would carry out an employee assessment exercise to determine what motivates different employees to do certain things. For example, some employees are motivated by the job itself, others are motivated by rewards and gifts; others are motivated by promises to raise their salaries while others are motivated by their role models to mention but a few. In this case, I would prefer employees that are motivated by the job itself because their work would be to make major decisions on product change and implement them. Basing my argument on the expectancy theory of motivation, I posit that employees are motivated by their perception in the relationship between performance and outcome. Such employees modify their behavior when they set their eyes on the goal. The relationship between this theory and my actions is that the people I select to work on changing the products will focus on the effects changing the products have on the business. This focus will drive them to make the best decision regarding the issue. If they think changing it will positively impact the organization, they will work hard to look for alternatives to the products. If they detect adversely effect, they will focus on making them favorable. 

Question 2 

Employee selection is one of the major functions of HRM and any organization should take it very seriously. As a manager in a small restaurant, I would be very careful in selection process considering the owner has not specified the departments to place the new employees (Dong, Bartol, Zang & Li, 2017). The four candidates have quite impressive qualities but I would look at many factors including how their selection would affect the restaurant as a whole. For instance, organizational behavior helps managers to understand and be able to explain the relationships employees build with their subordinates and their bosses. In addition, other factors I would look for include the way they make decisions, experience on the job and their availability would not look at their past performances but rather how good they might be in the future. Having looked at all these qualities, I would select candidate number three. Using the organizational behavioral theory of personality, I would have been able to understand the characteristics qualities and beliefs of the four candidates. This candidate had left a previous job because they thought the boss was unethical. Using the concept of consciousness in this theory, I have understood that this candidate is keen to detail and is conscious of self-discipline. I therefore figured the candidate would fit in any position available at the restaurant. In addition, the candidate is emotionally stable because he does not have pressure from a broken family or motherless kids. This is one of the concepts of personality theory that are highly associated with excellent performance. The candidate is also good with people and that supports the concept of agreeableness. It shows that they will get along with the other staff well. 

Question 3 

Time management is the most important factor when it comes top team delivery and it should be addressed based on the behavior of the team members and the task at hand. It is important for the team members to strive towards a common goal in order to meet deadlines therefore I would align all team members to focus on the completion of the task by explaining to them that the success of the company will automatically lead to personal achievement and fulfillment( Dong, Bartol, Zang & Li, 2017).. The social cognition theory of organizational behavior best explains that people’s behavior is based on other people’s behavior. Therefore, people learn from watching others and this is what replicates their behavior. In this case, my team members were not delivering because no one was stepping up. However, by focusing at the main task and addition them to be united and work towards a common goal, I was influencing their behavior used the concept of self-efficacy to mobilize my team because I showed confidence in my ability to successfully mobilize a group. I also used my behavioral capability to address the team and lead them towards a common goal. 

Question 4 

The fact that the founders of the company disagreed on several issues including hiring a CEO or not proves that the management was poor. Leadership refers to the ability of the organizations management to make good decisions in order to inspire the rest of the staff to work towards its goals (Zonderman). The first two months of my job will be the most crucial for me and the organization because I will strive towards rebuilding the company to where it was six months ago. As a leader, I will focus on improving performance of the team members, increasing staff morale and help everybody adapt to change. At this point, this company is on the verge of breaking and my main responsibility as a CEO is to enhance success through improving accountability among all members. In addition, I will lead in collaboration with the board and the company’s strategy in order to take it back to the top. I would also develop the board’s agendas with the help of other members of the committee and lastly I would call for special meetings to discuss underlying company issues. In all these roles, I will use my traits as a leader to make them successful (Zonderman). For instance, I will use my aggressiveness to develop the board’s agendas and persistent to make sure all the other employees are accountable. One of the most important organizational behavior theories of leadership is traits theory. It asserts that leadership is based on a leaders characteristics and I have given two examples of personal traits that will enable me do my job. Other traits that would enable me do the same are my achievement drive, cognitive ability and business knowledge. On the other hand, transformational leadership is another theory of leadership applied in my actions. My ability to inspire members towards high performance proves the usefulness of this theory in my actions. 

References 

Dong, Y., Bartol, K. M., Zhang, Z. X., & Li, C. (2017). Enhancing employee creativity via individual skill development and team knowledge sharing: Influences of dual ‐ f ocused transformational leadership.    Journal of Organizational Behavior ,    38 (3), 439-458. 

Zonderman, Richard. "Leadership Behavior: A Quick Course.".    Psyccritiques , vol 51, no. 44, 2006,    American Psychological Association (APA) , doi:10.1037/a0004190.