There are numerous perspectives on how people and organizations are managed. However, McGinnis (n.d.) assumes a uni-dimensional approach. While there are other important organizational and people management skills, McGinnis (n.d.) asserts that organizational managers ought to have cognitive skills to help them understand the behavior of employees within the healthcare industry.
In defining organizational behavior, McGinnis (n.d.) provides a brief history and asserts that organizational behavior has developed from a scientific study of management to an interdisciplinary subject that incorporates other disciplines such as psychology, communication, sociology, among others. McGinnis (n.d.) asserts that this enables organizational managers within the healthcare industry not only to improve their understanding of employees’ behavior but also to motivate them to attain the organization’s goals and objectives.
McGinnis (n.d.) asserts that organizational behavior is largely influenced by how people perceive the world around them rather than how they understand the facts about that world. In light of this, McGinnis (n.d.) argues that the biggest challenge facing managers within the healthcare industry is having all employees share a similar worldview that enables the organization to achieve its goals.
There exist numerous mental distortions of the world around us. McGinnis (n.d.) provides theoretical models through which managers ought to understand and harmonize those cognitive biases. There are two major theories that explain how employees receive information about the world around them. Expectancy theory purports that people see the world around them based on what is expected of them. As such, what a manager expects from employees plays a vital role in motivating employees to achieve work-based goals.
Additionally, McGinnis (n.d.) proposes the attribution theory, under which she explains that the performance of an employee can be attributed to an employee’s personality and disposition. Expectations and attributes are influenced by one’s schemas. This implies that organizational managers are tasked with the challenge of developing shared schemas within the workforce, which allows the attainment of the organization’s goals.
To develop shared schemas, organizational managers ought to develop certain mental images that enable employees to gain an understanding of how the world functions. McGinnis (n.d.) refers to these as mental models and explains that these models help people to use readily available information, about expectations and attributes, in reasoning. In light of this, managers ought to develop certain mental images (mental models) about the world within which the organization operates. These models act as guides on how people think and act. Therefore, managers can change and improve the way organizations operate by altering employees’ mental models, which effectively alters how employees perceive the world within which the organization operates.
To change employees’ mental images, McGinnis (n.d.) explains that organizational managers ought to appeal to employees’ perceptions. Since perceptions concern how people interpret ambiguity, the challenge facing organizational managers is to ensure that employees interpret ambiguities in a way that enables them to develop a shared sense of the world around them. To illustrate this, McGinnis (n.d.) uses an example in which the prevailing mental models amongst staff members within a healthcare facility resulted in low occupancy rates. Staff members thought that low occupancy was a result of the location of the facility.
However, after conducting a market survey, the manager realized that the limited range of services caused low occupancy. As such, the manager altered employees’ mental models to the extent that the new reality was concerned. This effectively enabled the facility to improve its occupancy rates. Therefore, organizational management becomes effective through understanding the human thinking process.
Reference List
McGinnis, S. (n.d.). Organizational behavior and management thinking. Web.