Abstract
The given paper revolves around the issue of organizational behavior and its importance for the functioning of a company. The work suggests a certain vision of the given issue and investigates perspectives which exist in society and are suggested by various scientists. That is why, the review of the latest sources devoted to the question of the organizational behavior and its impact on a company and its workers is performed. Moreover, the given literature review helps to cogitate about such aspects of the peoples work as motivation, performance and job satisfaction.
In the course of the paper various organizational theories are considered in terms of these very notions. In order to support the given research with the clear evidence the functioning of the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) is taken as the background for the research. The attitude of managers and employees is taken into account and analyzed in order to demonstrate the relations with the main concepts of the organizational behavior. Finally, at the end of the work conclusions are made and recommendations are given.
Introduction to the paper
The modern age could be characterized by the great attention given to a human being and conditions of his/her functioning. Having proclaimed humanism and tolerance to be the main values of the new era, society tries to develop the scientific basis in order to support this statement and help people realize the main aspects and peculiarities of their functioning. That is why, the aspects of human life, which have the great impact on a person and determine his/her well-being, are given a great deal of attention and studied from various perspectives.
The sphere of work belongs to these very aspects. One realizes the fact that job is an integral part of the life of any person and his/her level of satisfaction with it determines the role a person could play in society. The importance of this sphere is also accepted by various companies which performance is in the direct relationship with the workers satisfaction. Due to this fact, the issue of the organizational behavior is studied by many scientists as it considers all important aspects of the functioning of a person and organization.
Literature Review
Speaking about the organizational culture, it is important to take into account the background of the development of the question and perspectives on it which exist in society nowadays. Thus, traditional science takes organizational behavior as the study of group and individual performance and activity in terms of the functioning of a company or organization (Organizational Behavior, n.d). From the given definition one can realize the fact that the main goal of the given notion is to investigate and determine the main peculiarities of relations and cooperation between people within an organization.
That is why, resting on the complexity of human relations, it is possible to assume that organizational behavior deals with many various concepts and spheres that are traditionally connected with this sphere of human activity. Organizational behavior is also closely connected with the field of management as it helps to organize the functioning of a company in the way which could help to increase the level of performance. That is why, the majority of research articles or works devoted to this question tend to analyze organizational behavior in terms of the functioning of a certain company and its final performance.
With this in mind, it is possible to start the analysis of the given issue with the review of research papers or other sources devoted to the issue of organizational behavior. Modern science tends to prove the fact that this question has the dramatic impact on the functioning of the whole organization. Besides, Fisher, Ferreira, Assmar, Redford and Harb (2005) in their research article present any company as the place where representatives of various cultures and mentalities work.
According to their study, the wise management of the company in terms of the main concepts of organizational behavior could be the only possible method that could guarantee the further existence of a company. Additionally, they introduce a very important concept of culture which has an outstanding impact on the functioning of the whole organization. The authors tend to prove the idea that a certain multi-level framework, that takes into account peculiarities of representatives of various cultures, could help to align the efficient functioning of a collective and help it to evolve. Nevertheless, underlining the role of culture, Fisher et al. (2005) also point out some other issues like motivation or atmosphere, that should be analyzed in terms of the organizational culture.
The great role of motivation is also discussed by Ryan, Lynch, Vansteenkiste and Deci (2010) in their research which revolves around the main strategies that could lead to the increase of its level and help to achieve better results. The authors start their investigation with the description of the way in which motivation could influence a person and lead to the appearance or decrease of the interest towards a certain issue (Ryan et al. 2010). Revolving around the given concept, the authors investigate the physical aspect of the appearance of motivation and come to the conclusion that it is possible to stimulate it with the help of various techniques.
One realizes the fact that it is one of the key concepts of organizational behavior and, that is why, the motivation techniques should be used while creating the positive atmosphere in the company. Ryan et al. (2010). suggest that all these techniques should be based on the encouragement of workers. They should be demonstrated the perspectives that await them if to increase the level of their performance. Finally, the great efficiency of various techniques is proved by the data provided by the authors.
Speaking about the organizational culture and motivation, it is also vital to keep in mind the fact that it comes along with job satisfaction. Traditionally, it is taken as another important aspect of the functioning of any worker and described as the positive attitude towards the kind of activity performed by a person. However, Riza, Ganzach and Liu (2016) tend to show that this sphere is affected by a great number of various reasons.
The authors agree with the idea that various motivation techniques can help to increase the level of performance and job satisfaction, however, they also state that the approach towards the issue of job satisfaction should be different as there are many sociocultural factors that influence it (Riza et al., 2016). The choice of the method that could help to increase the level of motivation should be determined by such factors as the age of a person, his/her culture and gender peculiarities. Underlining the fact that men and women have various attitudes towards their jobs and goals, Riza et al. (2016) show that the motivation techniques should also be chosen basing on these peculiarities for a manager to achieve the needed result.
However, the progress of one person is not the main goal of a company. Teamwork is one of the key concepts of the organizational behavior as an individual has to work in a group with other professionals. That is why, team progress should go along with the personal development of a certain worker. Janssen and Huang (2008) also outline the great role of the individual differentiation and self-determination of a person. They underline the fact that some private matters will often be of great importance for a worker, however, he/she should also realize the fact that a team, to which he belongs, depends on his/her work and progress.
Organizational behavior considers the teamwork as a very important aspect of the functioning o every state and outlines the necessity of its analysis and improvement. Jassen and Huang (2008) agree with it, tending to prove the idea that the job satisfaction also depends on the relations within the group. That is why, the work of a team should be organized in accordance with the patterns that could guarantee the great level of trust between all members and the readiness of workers to contribute to its development.
Besides, all above-mentioned aspects could be taken as the main components of the level of the companys final performance. Motivation and job satisfaction could obviously contribute to the development of professional skills among workers and it, in its turn, could help to increase the workers performance. It should be said that this issue is always in the focus of attention as it has the direct influence on the companys success. That is why, a great number of methods to increase it were suggested in terms of the organizational behavior. Pay for performance method is one of them. Its main sense lies in the improvement of the main results with the help of encouragement.
Branch, Farris and Haskins (2011) state that despite the great number of various innovations, the given method remains very efficient. However, they outline the fact that the traditional pattern according to which this practice functions should be reconsidered (Branch et al., 2011). The idea is that a worker should be satisfied with the rewards, however, he/she should also realize the existence of the possibility to continue his/her own personal development and earn even more. That is why, pay for performance practice provides perspectives for the further improvement of a worker.
However, to change the existing pattern and reorganize the functioning of a company, its officials should be able to choose the needed arguments and present them to their workers. That is why, the communication style is another important aspect of organizational behavior which should be given a great importance. Bakar and McCann (2016) focus attention on the given issue, calling it the basis of the successful cooperation of all members of any team or company.
The research revolves around the way in which agreement in the workplace could influence various levels of the company and the role communication style plays in the given process. The authors tend to prove the idea that the progress of any team and organization depends on the way in which workers are explained the main goals and purposes of the whole process. (Bakar & McCann, 2016). Under these conditions, every team should be analyzed in order to understand the way in which they communicate and realize what approach should be used to increase the level of its performance.
Finally, great attention should also be given to various organization behaviors theories which exist in science nowadays. The fact is that nowadays scientists have many various perspectives on the development and analysis of the organizational behavior. That is why, there is a great number of theories which main aim is to describe the main concepts of the given issue and outlined the most important regularities. There is the theory of scientific leadership which means that all tasks of an organization should be explained by its leaders in accordance with the latest scientific discoveries.
The Human relations theory is based on the idea that the relations within the collective should be given the highest priority and developed with the help of various methods and tools. This theory also considers teamwork and relations between various departments to be the most important aspect of the functioning of a company. It becomes obvious, that there is a great number of various theories that are created because of the significance of the organizational behavior and its influence on the functioning of organizations.
Summing it up, it is possible to say that organizational behavior has several important concepts that influence the functioning of various companies. However, motivation, job satisfaction and performance should be given a special attention because of their outstanding impact on companies. Speaking about motivation, it is possible to state the fact that it determines the way in which a worker will perform his/her main duties. That is why, it should be improved with the help of various tools and practices.
Researchers suggest their own motivation techniques the main aim of which is to guarantee the increase of the interest of a person towards his/her own job. These techniques are based on different approaches towards the mechanisms of the appearance of motivation. Thus, one should realize the fact that there is no universal method and, that is why, the approach should be chosen in accordance with the existing conditions. Finally, motivation has a great impact on job satisfaction and performance and that is why the attempts to improve one of these issues should be organized in terms of the main ideas and theories of the organizational behavior.
Nevertheless, having determined the fact that performance and job satisfaction depends on the level of motivation, it is possible to say that these tree issues create the closed system where all parts are very important as the slightest change of one of them will result in the great shifts in the other two parts. It means that the issue of performance should be analyzed in terms of motivation and job satisfaction and vice versa.
The concept of performance is very often taken as one of the most important among the others as it influences the final results of the company and can lead to its further development or collapse. That is why, there is a great number of practices and theories aimed at the improvement of the given sphere. In the modern science performance is taken as the level of the productivity of a person and his/her contribution to the development of a certain project (Ryan et al., 2011). It means that the main approaches towards the improvement of the given issue work with the persons ability to perform a certain kind of job better and with a greater benefit.
Thus, speaking about motivation and performance, it is also possible to outline the main aspects of Maslows Hierarchy of needs and its importance for the improvement of motivation. This theory identifies factors that could motivate workers and considers various unfulfilled needs to be the best motivator. Thus, according to this theory, there are 5 groups of needs which are organized according to the hierarchical pattern. Physiological needs come first, then safety, social, esteem and self-actualization needs on the top.
That is why, to increase motivation a company like ENOC should satisfy the lower level before progressing on to work with the next levels. That means that a company should introduce the practice of constant monitoring of the basic needs of the staff. Consultations with the psychologist could help to determine the state of these needs and create the plan of their gradual improvement. It becomes obvious that an individual approach is needed in order to use this technique, however, it could result in the significant improvement of the level of motivation.
Another reason which shows that an individual should be given a great attention is the difference in management styles and the influence it could have on the whole company. It is obvious, that the some general aspects of management are dictated and outlined by the officials of a company. However, every manager will follow these recommendations in various ways determined by the peculiarities of a person.
The choice of the management style also depends on a worker and is a very important aspect as it influences the final result. If a person adheres to the authoritative style while some other is needed, it could lead to the collapse of the department or company. That is why, this choice is very important. The same deals with motivation techniques. The appropriate one could contribute to the development of motivation, job satisfaction and performance while the wrong choice of the technique could deteriorate relations within the collective and destroy it.
Analysis and Discussion
Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) is chosen for the discussion. Being a great company with the high level of incomes, ENOC obviously gives a great deal of attention to the organizational behavior trying to guarantee the constant improvement of its performance. According to the companys report, its top managers are the qualified specialists who are given instructions about the improvement of the functioning of a company. (ENOC, n.d.). That is why, various motivation techniques are used in order to involve people in the process and help them to adapt to new conditions. Moreover, the company is also focused on the creation of the good atmosphere within the collective and it creates the infrastructure that could help workers to satisfy all their needs.
This policy has the great success among the workers of ENOC. According to the survey conducted among 459 workers of the company (see the appendix) the majority of the respondents gave the positive answer, admitting the companys efforts aimed at the improvement of motivation and performance and the creation of a good atmosphere. The given graph demonstrates the percentage of positive and negative answers among the staff. One could admit the fact that the majority are satisfied with the existing situation. However, there are still some unfulfilled needs and it means that there are some possibilities for the growth increase of the motivation.
However, there are still some problems peculiar to the functioning of the company. First of all, it is connected with the phenomenon known as emiratisation. It is the unique policy the main aim of which is to employ the citizens of the state in the public and private sectors. The fact is that in the UAE workers prefer not to work in the private sector because of the difference in working conditions. Moreover, Emiratis are suggested better conditions than immigrants. It creates a great number of various problems in the sphere of organizational behavior as the gap between the private and public sector and citizens of the UAE and immigrants becomes bigger.
According to the report of the Abu Dhabi emiratisation forum, the main targets of the given policy is not achieved and there are still many problems in the given sphere (The Abu Dhabi Emiratisation Forum, n.d.). ENOC is not an exception as it also suffers from the aftermath of the given policy. However, the company accepts these problems and try to find the efficient solution. That is why, “it is vital to create a motivated educated workforce” (The Abu Dhabi Emiratisation Forum, n.d., p. 8) which will be able to promote the development of the company and improvement of ENOCs performance.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Nevertheless, it should also be said that the being the UAEs company, ENOC also has several problems connected with the peculiarities of the mentality and people residing in the region. The fact is, that there are traditions connected with the strong leader, which means that the management of various companies is organized in accordance with the pattern that involves the great role of the only person or a closed group of people in the functioning of a company.
That is why, sometimes some doubtful decisions could be accepted, With this in mind, it is possible to recommend to initiate the change of the existing pattern. The company will benefit if some serious decisions connected with the work of the staff are accepted on the basis of discussion between all members of a team or at least of representatives of each department. Under these conditions, workers could feel more comfortable and performance could increase.
With this in mind, it is possible to make a certain conclusion. It becomes obvious that organizational behavior is a very important issue that describes the functioning of any company. There are many concepts connected with various aspects of a company, however, motivation, job satisfaction and performance should be taken as the most important ones. ENOC also realizes the great significance of the given issue.
According to its report, the company introduces various motivation techniques and encourage workers who contribute to the development of the company (ENOC, n.d.). Additionally, ENOC is also interested in the creation of the good atmosphere and infrastructure for the workers to feel comfortable and be satisfied with their job. There are still some problems connected with the management style, however, it is possible to foresee the further progress in the given sphere.
References
Bakar, H., & McCann, R. (2016). The Mediating Effect of LeaderâMember Dyadic Communication Style Agreement on the Relationship Between Servant Leadership and Group-Level Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Management Communication Quarterly, 30(1), 32-58. Web.
Branch, W., Farris, P., & Haskins, M. (2011). Pay for Performance: Keep it Simple and Value-Focused. Compensation Benefits Review, 43(2), 82-93. Web.
ENOC. (n.d.). Code of business conduct. Web.
Fisher, R., Ferreira, M., Assmar, E., Redford, P., & Harb, C. (2005). Organizational Behaviour across Cultures. International Journal of Cross Cultural Managementm 5(1), 27-48. Web.
Janssen, O., & Huang, X. (2008). Us and Me: Team Identification and Individual Differentiation as Complementary Drivers of Team Members’ Citizenship and Creative Behaviors. Journal of Management, 34(1), 69-88. Web.
Organizational Behavior. (n.d.). Web.
Riza, S., Ganzach, Y., & Liu, Y. (2016). Time and Job Satisfaction. A Longitudinal Study of the Differential Roles of Age and Tenure. Journal of Management, 25. 46-62. Web.
Ryan, R., Lynch, M., Vansteenkiste, M., Deci, E. (2011). Motivation and Autonomy in Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Behavior Change: A Look at Theory and Practice 1Ï7. The Counseling Psychologist, 39(2), 193-260. Web.
The Abu Dhabi Emiratisation Forum. (n.d.). Web.