The NewGen case study addresses a matter that has become important in any business organization – organizational behavior. It reveals just how much damage can be done to an organization if the key elements of organizational behavior (OB) are not addressed effectively. Organizational behavior is key to ensuring a company’s best performance. In this case, the issues Abdul Balli faces could be avoided thus creating an environment under which Hahn Chen and Amie Lee could have worked together effectively.
Organizational behavior focuses on ensuring people in organizations act in ways that are beneficial to the company. In order to do so, there are key areas that are addressed. In this case study, the areas that are important are – communication, leadership, and culture (Summerville, 2016; Lacoma, 2017). At NewGen, there are unaddressed issues in all these areas that contribute to the fallout between Hahn and Lee. Analyzing these key areas will help reveal how Abdul could have avoided this problem.
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Communication, leadership, and culture all ensure an organization is running smoothly and are the areas Abdul failed in. Communication is important in any organization and the top management is often recommended to foster a communication link that is easily accessible between themselves and the employees (Summerville, 2016). Leadership is key as it determines how well the company achieves its goals. On the other hand, culture is important in any organization as it determines how employees treat each other in an organization (Lacoma, 2017).
As stated before, the problem NewGen is facing could have been easily avoided. The first mistake Abdul made was his failure to communicate with the company’s human resources department about his intended plan. This resulted in no communication about the job vacancy to other employees thus denying them a chance to apply. Hahn’s behavior also suggests that the company lacks a culture or policy that governs employee behavior. Therefore, the leadership’s failure in addressing communication and culture is to blame for NewGen’s woes.
There are a number of things Abdul Balli could have done differently. Once he had made the decision to look for a new supervisor, he should have communicated with the human resources department. The human resources department would have advised him appropriately. He should have also announced to other employees about the vacancy. This would have given every employee a chance to apply for the job and if Lee was indeed outstanding then she would have stood out as the best candidate.
As the damage is already done, the company must look for a way to ensure things in the department are running smoothly. The right move would be to seek help from their external consultant – Ella Smith. I would suggest that she revokes Lee’s appointment as supervisor and calls for a new job application process. This would give Lee’s appointment legitimacy. She should also help the HR manager - Carlos Montoya come up with a policy that governs employer-employee relationships. This would put a stop to employee insubordination.
Theories Covered in This Case Study
There are theories that have been used to explain organizational behavior in companies. These theories are classified into three – classical, neoclassical and modern (Binny, 2012). However, in this case, study, the modern approaches of organization theory will be discussed. There are three modern theories of organization but only two will be discussed – situational and systems approaches. The influence of these theories is prevalent in the NewGen case study. Understanding them is the key to ensuring they are applied in the company effectively.
The systems approach views an organization as a system. According to this approach, an organization is a system that is composed of sub-systems that are inter-related (Binny, 2012). This makes the whole system mutually dependent and the linking processes include communication, balance and decision analysis. In this case study, the approach can be put to good use to ensure the software engineering and customer service departments are together. A single communication policy across the two departments would ensure they work together.
The situational approach views the organization’s environment as an important factor in the effective working of the organization. According to this approach, the systems in an organization are inter-related with the environment (Binny, 2012). Therefore, different environments would require different organizational relationships. In this case, study, to ensure that the software engineering and customer service departments work effectively:
The members of each department must undergo training to know the functions of the operations department.
Team building events should be conducted exclusively for the operations department and made mandatory.
This approach would ensure that everyone is aware of each other role and can identify the inter-relation between the two different departments. This creates a good working environment that will ensure no friction between employees.
Conclusion
It is evident that organizational behavior is a key component to the success of any organization. It is therefore imperative that all companies put to good use the various components and theories that make up organizational behavior.
References
Binny, S. (2012, September 24). “Organization theories.” SlideShare . Retrieved 29 November 2018, from https://www.slideshare.net/SSBinny/organization-theories
Lacoma, T. (2017, September 26). “The Key Elements of Organizational Behavior in the Work Place.” BizFluent . Retrieved 29 November 2018, from https://bizfluent.com/info-8308689-key-organizational-behavior-work-place.html
Summerville, E. (2016, December 8). “5 areas of organizational behavior.” Prezi . Retrieved 29 November 2018, from https://prezi.com/xc7kexscxmhn/5-areas-of-organizational-behavior/
