Organizational Behavior: Concepts and Applications

• Organizational Behavior (OB) involves understanding, predicting, and managing human behavior within organizations.
• OB is complex, involving multiple inputs and dimensions.
• Key elements of OB are people, structure, technology and the external environment

Challenges and opportunities in applying OB Concepts

• Continuing globalization results in increased foreign assignments and working with diverse cultures, requiring adaptation to different cultural and regulatory norms.
• Apple expanded manufacturing in India, with sales hitting a record $8 billion in 2023, growing 33%.
• Apple employs around five lakh people and is diversifying from China, with suppliers like Foxconn increasing operations in India.

Improving Quality and Productivity

• Total Quality Management (TQM) is driven by constant customer satisfaction through continuous improvement.
• Quality is the degree to which customers or users believe a product or service surpasses their expectations.
• Programs that improve quality and productivity, such as TQM and reengineering, require high employee involvement.
• TQM has several components including intense customer focus, continuous improvement, improved quality, accurate measurement, and employee empowerment.

Managing Workforce Diversity

• Managing workforce diversity means employing individuals across various categories like gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, community, and physical ability.
• Employing a diverse workforce aims to harness talents, foster innovation, and achieve synergistic effects.
• A key challenge is accommodating diverse groups by addressing their varying lifestyles, family needs, and work styles.

Improving People's Skills

• Managerial and technical skills are two critical categories in the business field.
• Enhancing skills involves training and development programs, career development initiatives, as well as induction processes.
• Acquiring the skills to quickly adapt to technological, structural, and environmental changes is essential for achieving goals.

Empowering People

• Empowerment occurs when employees are put in charge of their tasks, fostering a sense of ownership
• Companies are implementing empowerment concepts across all levels, reshaping the relationship between managers and employees .
• Managers act as coaches, advisors, sponsors, and facilitators, providing minimal guidance to subordinates

Stimulating Innovation and Change

• Successful organizations must foster innovation and be proficient in the art of change.
• Organizations that maintain flexibility and continually improve quality tend to beat competition.
• Organizations that offer a constant stream of innovative products and services tend to beat competition.

Networked Organizations

• Networked organizations require motivating and leading people effectively.
• Such organizations depend on making collaborative decisions online.

Improving Ethical Behavior

• The complexity of business operations forces the workforce to face ethical dilemmas in their assigned activities.
• Managers should cultivate an ethically healthy climate where employees can work productively with clear understandings of right and wrong.

Employee Well-Being at Work

• Managers need to focus on flexibility in work schedules and promoting work-life balance.
• As the line between work and non-work time becomes blurred, employees can experience personal conflict and stress.
• The typical 8- or 9-hour workday from Monday to Friday no longer applies to many employees

Social Media

• Many organizations struggle with how employees use social media in the workplace.
• Companies are monitoring employee social media activity and using legal frameworks to inform decisions about hiring and firing,
• Employers are extra cautious about protecting their digital image
• A recent Reddit post highlighted the concerns around social media, where an employee’s dismissal occurred for liking a LinkedIn post criticizing toxic workplaces (TOI, September 2024).