Introduction
Organisational behaviour (OB) is a discipline that addresses human characters within a given organisation and tries to comprehend, explicate, and improve the personal behaviours including its organisation (Miller 2005). In the OB, there are two possible outcomes common to most organisations which are the performance of the employee in his or her work and the organisational commitment (Sheth 2006).
The results imply that the individual employee will have to perform in the job or be relieved of his or her duties in the company.
The two models are influenced by the individual’s job satisfaction, the motivation he or she gets from the colleagues, the decision-making process, stress in the job, job ethics and the trust and justice among the employees (Welsch 2012). The case study is based on Julie’s and her workmate’s experience in Asacura international company.
The Team Situation and Team Processes
A fresh graduate named Julie gets the job where she is assigned to work on several projects. She is introduced to a team of five members who have much experience in undertaking projects. The team seems to be faced with two sets of characters. Some claim to have experience in organization of events (Harry’s team) whereas others fell suited to offer the best options for the events’ success (exemplified by Julie).
With the diverse feelings and experience between team members, the team’s activities are subject to be influenced by Harry, who claims to have control over the other team members.
The threat that Harry instils on other members and the networks that he purports is an indication of his influential role in the team. The fear and pressure that Harry imposes on Julie and Enrique puts the team in a situation where running and decisions-making are influenced by him.
The conflict impacts various processes in the organisation of events. Therefore, the two models in OB are evident in Julie’s new project work and the roles she has been assigned. She is faced with two situations to perform in her job and thus satisfy her employer’s expectations. Otherwise, she might become a victim of failure if she accepts Harry’s threats (Mc Shane, Olekalns & Travaglione 2012).
The team is given a task to organise for the recruitment that Julie claims to understand properly. On the other hand, Julie’s team sidelines her suggestion. Julie experiences challenges in acquiring first hand job skills since it is hard for her to introduce new ideas. Therefore, the team is set to benefit Harry and his sycophants who suited by the team’s responsibilities.
In this regard, the decision making is difficult and set to face much criticism from Julie. The situation of the team does not show the best relationship expected among employees in the company. In this respect, the team can have problems while organising the event as described by Sheth (2006). Sheth argues that the lack of coherence among employees leads to low performance of the individual employees.
Sources and Tactics of Power
In Julie’s team, the outspoken member named Harry has observed some of the weaknesses of his colleagues. He, therefore, emphasises on the weaknesses of Enrique and Julie. He is portrayed as an opportunist who exploits his experience and the internal networks that he has developed in the company.
Harry takes advantage of the fact that Julie is new in the organisation and threatens in his favour on becoming an influential decision maker of the team. Consequently, the source of his power to influence the team processes is traced from the networks he established in the company identified as the head of the human resources (HR).
The leader power of the HR works so well for Harry since he can formulate any reason for any of the team members’ weakness and thus face termination of their jobs (Welsch 2012). Harry is aware of the HR phobia and uses it to intimidate his team members.
The external sources of power and tactics evident in an organization are exemplified by the influence of some employees affecting the actions and plans of others (Hooi 2012).
The other source of power and tactics is leaking of crucial information to the employees (Welsch 2012). These powers and tactics impact the work of the employees in the given organisation. Some rumour may lead to collapsing of the normal routine or create tension among the workers.
Strategies to Resolve and Strategies Implemented
Effective strategic management plan is the best way to resolve differences between employees (Welsch 2012). The conflict in this case can be resolved through:
- Clear distinction of roles of each member in the team to prevent clashing of the roles and privileges of each member to curb team’s leadership (Nordin 2012).
- Proper communication in the team’s process to prevent other employees from feeling superior.
- The junior staffs to be assigned fewer specific duties before they gain total confidence with the senior staffs to curb the problems related to characteristics and diversity of team (Nordin 2012).
For Julie’s case, she should express her personality and ability to communicate what she feels is wrong for the respective team members. This would dispel the negative attitude that other team members would have towards her (Welsch 2012). An individual’s character and ability enable one to employ his or her emotional skills, cognitive abilities, and the physical tactics to solve a problem within the organisation.
Conclusion
In most organisations, employees are faced with such situations as it is evident in Julie’s case. The resolution of such differences requires the intervention of both group mechanisms (Jaros 2011). However, junior employees should be careful when incorporating their services in the organisation’s system. Therefore, it would be wise for Julie to understand her colleague’s characters and diversity to overcome her present challenges in the new job.
References
Hooi, L 2012, ‘Organisational justice, organisational citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction: what is the relationship’, Journals for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development, vol. 6 no. 3, pp. 274.
Jaros, S 2011, ‘Book review: Organizational Behaviour and Work: A Critical Introduction’, Management Learning, vol. 42 no. 2, pp. 229-231.
Mc Shane, S, Olekalns, M & Travaglione, T 2012, Organizational Behaviour. Web.
Miller, J 2005, ‘Book Review: Organizational Behaviour and Work: A Critical Introduction’, Work, Employment & Society, vol. 19 no. 1, pp. 195-197.
Nordin, N 2012, ‘Assessing Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Behaviour and Organizational Commitment in a Higher Learning Institution’, Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences, vol. 56 no. 6, pp. 643-651.
Sheth, J 2006, ‘Organisational Buying Behaviour: A Retrospective’, Journal of Customer Behaviour, vol. 5 no. 2, pp. 107-120.
Welsch, H 2012, ‘Inter-Relationships between Organizational Commitment and Job Characteristics, Job Satisfaction, Professional Behaviour, and Organizational Climate’, Human Relations, vol. 34 no. 12, pp. 1079-1089.