Organizational Behavior Essay

Nicole Baio
MGT315 Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior Summary Paper
Professor Cheryl Harrison
December 21, 2012

According to the course text book, “Organizational Behavior is the study of the many factors that have an impact on how people and groups act, think, feel, and respond to work and organizations, and how organizations respond to their environments" (George and Jones, 5). There are different levels of organizational behavior including individual, group and organizational levels. In order to be successful, principles, issues and best practices must be examined and understood on all three levels. By observing the characteristics like business structure and culture of all three levels, key players can best strategist how they can manage diversity, motivate individuals and groups, make decisions, define and encourage ethical behavior, implement strong and supportive organizational culture and foster a learning environment that adapts fluidly to change through innovation.
Managing Diversity: Diversity covers differences between individuals and groups including, race sex, social status, ethnicity, age and more. When considering the management of diversity through organizational behavior, perception and attribution are key factors. "Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and interpret the input from their senses" (George and Jones 97). "Attribution is an explanation of the cause of behavior" (George and Jones 113). Both are essential fields of diversity because they help individuals and groups in an organization to rationalize the actions of others which effects decision making and behavior. If behavior is incorrectly perceived, it may have a negative effect on decision making. Perception is comprised of three parts; the perceiver, the target and the situation. Perception can be easily swayed by aspects such as schemas, stereotypes, perceiver's motivational state or mood, social status of the target and biases. As globalization expands, effective management of diverse workforces becomes more prominent. In order for an organization to be successful, stay on par or ahead of their competition, and make fair and ethical decisions, they must be able to endorse just perception and attribution. This can be done through the following four steps: securing top-management commitment to diversity, diversity training, education, and mentoring. Of course, high-level members of an organization have much more clout and therefore, what they support and encourage will most-likely trickle down throughout the company. This along with top-management's access to resources confirms the importance of ensuring top-management's commitment to diversity. Diversity training may also encourage accurate perception and attribution in an organization, especially if it is on-going. Educating demonstrates how to effectively communicate and collaborate in diverse environments. Lastly, mentoring can force integration of diverse individuals or groups and helps members of an organization to lead by example. Also important to managing diversity is combatting sexual harassment. The two types of sexual harassment include quid pro quo and hostile work environment sexual harassment. "Quid pro quo sexual harassment is requesting or forcing an employee to perform sexual favors in

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