Behaviour of the Organisation Determines the Success or Failure

Critically examine the following statement “the behaviour of the organisation determines the success or failure of the organisation”. An organization consists of individuals with different tasks attempting to accomplish a common purpose. For a business, this purpose is the creation and delivery of goods or services for its customers. According to Blanchard and Johnson (1998), organizational behaviour is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and organizational structure have on behaviour within the organization, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organizational effectiveness. Moreover Flamholtz (1996) adds that organisational behaviour is the systematic study and careful application of knowledge about how people as individuals and as members of groups act within organizations. It strives to identify ways in which people can act more effectively. The behaviour of an organisation marks the success or failure of an organisation. A behaviour that usually goes hand in hand with the predetermined goals and missions of an organization determines the success of an organization.

Luthans and Youssef (2007) add that it requires good management to be in a position to shape up the individual and group behaviours that affect organization for it not to affect an organisation so that success is achieved. On the other hand if the behaviour does not go in tandem with the objectives of the firm then failure is bound to happen as the creation and delivery of goods or services for customers is affected. The behaviour of the organisation determines the success of the organisation when people as individuals in the firm and as members of groups act within organizations practice open communication. In order for an organization to function and perform successfully, there is need to communicate freely among employees and employers, that is the need for vertical and horizontal communication must be feasible, (Luthans, 2002). This can make the top management level to be able to know what happens at the lower level, be able to review, analyse and take adequate measures to correct whatever lapses or variance that occur, hence success is enhanced. Open communication can assist in serving as a control measures for evaluating performance. Moreover when the organisational behaviour incorporates and encourages informal communication this would make the staff freer and open in reporting issues.

Human resource scholars like Harrison, Newman and Roth (2006) have argued that much of a company’s value resides in intangible assets. Success of an organisation is enhanced when; within the organisational behaviour framework people have responsibility in the organisation. When each staff member is faced with responsibilities of performing certain task and duties delegated to them, they are equally empowered by authority to perform their responsibilities with success and this improves organisational effectiveness. This shows that organisational behaviour improves firm success when employees perform their responsibilities in line with firm objectives. Organisational behaviour that is prompted by teamwork obviously has a great and positive impact on the success of every organization, (Tetrick, 2002). Therefore it becomes a pre-requisite for success as teambuilding in organisational behaviour molding enables staff to share ideas that would lead to the success of the organization. The effects of globalisation can never be underestimated in the business world. Information Communication Technology (ICT) enables staff to receive and send information electronically form amongst management staff and outside the organization, (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004).

When the behaviour of an organisation incorporates ICT usage this encourages the use of computers amongst employees in and outside the organization. Organisational success is aided as management attains competitive advantage and also gives room for analysis of the current trend in the external environment. Organisational behaviour that involves the incorporation of ICT improves organisational success. Organisations depend on their customers for their growth and success. When the behaviour of employees leads them to understand customer behaviour and patterns of structure then it is easier to satisfy customers. When customers are satisfied and happy, they tend to call back. As a result organisational behaviour can be the leading factor in treating customers with all hospitality and fairness. Therefore the behaviour of the organisation can determine the success of the firm. Fairness is a very important factor of organisational behaviour. The behaviour of the organisation determines its success when remuneration of employees is attractive and the same rules and laws are applicable to every employee in an organization. This creates a healthy environment for business success through organisational behaviour. Employees of an organization should be flexible so as to adjust to changes, (Muse, Harris, Giles, and Feild, 2008).

Organisational behaviour is important in this aspect as it determines the success in that changes might come in form of new technology; market strategies that would help move the organization forward. Being able to rise again after a fall is a good quality that should be emulated in other to achieve organizational goals and objective. An organisation with employees that acknowledge and overcome individual differences in their behaviours can grow and succeed. When staff and management develop skills that enable them identify each individual quality. Through organisational behaviour it is the collaboration of each individual quality and skills which lays their strength that brings forth growth and development, (Lilius, Worline, Maitlis, Kanov, Dutton and Frost, 2008). It is in this regard that the behaviour of the organisation determines the success. According to Myers, (2000), the behaviour of an organisation determines the success of the organisation when there is collaborative decision making. Management of every organization should involve every staff at all levels within the Organization to participate in the decision making of an organization.

The essence of this is to carry all personnel along and also to have clear view and understanding of all situations in the internal and external environment. This behaviour will aid organisational success. Being courageous and determined is one of the good qualities an individual should possess to achieve success in every endeavor and this has a great impact on individuals, groups and structures on behaviour within organisations. Blanchard and Johnson (1998), state that determination can lead to managerial resilience. Staff should be creative, employees should not just do only what is required of them. When employees have the spirit to initiate new ideas and be creative in their work, this makes them work more effectively and organisational success is achieved based on their behaviour. The most common economic argument as to why the behaviour of the organisation can determine the failure of the organisation is that there has been relatively little adoption of high-commitment work practices focusing on organisational behaviour, at least compared to the potential gains, is that implementation of such systems of human resource management is costly. The costs identified include acquiring new skills on the part of both managers and workers and the need to implement high performance management practices as part of a system that exhibits complementarities (Shaw, 2006).

For instance, investing in training probably won’t deliver much benefit if the now-trained workers don’t also get to use that training through enhanced decision making responsibility, control over work processes and behavioral change. However it can also be seen that when the organisational behaviour does not encourage or practice open communication, employees may fail to communicate freely on important issues that are necessary for the attainment of organisational success. Findings by Tetrick, (2002) reveal that lack of open communication in the behaviour of an organisation can lead to variance in the predetermined goals and missions of the organisation as there will be limited communication and application of knowledge. This therefore builds up to result in organisational failure. Closed communication can result in employees failing to use information accrued from open communication to enhance the effectiveness of what they do. Moreover if the organisational behaviour includes closed communication this can disallow employees the necessary discretion to adapt their work processes and this reduces their effectiveness and as a result organisational failure.

The efficiency of the organization will depend upon the free flow of the information, efficient communication system prevailing in the organization, well-defined authority and responsibility supported by detailed policies, rules and regulations, (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004). Also organisational behaviour can lead to failure when employees lack responsibility of performing certain task and duties delegated to them. If individual staffs in their behaviour are too satisfied that they have reached the climax of their achievement, this will ultimately result in business failure. In other words, the longing to put in their best and perform better is something that should awaken within them. When the behaviour of individuals is not able to develop new ideas that would create room for improvement, this can determine business failure. Moreover when the organisational behaviour reveals any form of biasness in whatever form, the organisation is bound to fail. If such is bound to happen, it would be creating an unhealthy environment for success as employees can feel rejected and unappreciated and this can lead to a counter behaviour from employees which can lead to organisational failure. Furthermore people are concerned about fairness and justice, both distributive outcomes and also the processes through which those outcomes get determined.

Because of this interest in both processes and outcomes being equitable, people will, as economists increasingly have recognized (Harrison, Newman and Roth, 2006), actually expend resources to “punish” individuals who violate norms of fairness. Employees derive an important part of their social identity through their affiliations. People are social creatures and as such, are concerned with their relationships with others and influenced by what others say and do in the organisation, (Luthans, 2002). When other employees reveal a negative behaviour in their operations in the organisation this can affect the whole organisation and as a result, their perceptions, preferences, and attitudes can be negative to affect their effectiveness and as a result the organisation can fail. The behaviour of the organisation can determine the failure of the organisation in that the human resources department, which has traditionally been an advocate of employee well-being, has also lost power according to Luthans and Youssef (2007). Many human resource functions are being outsourced, with a corresponding loss in the size of the department and also the budget it controls hence it has lost power to improve on firm effectiveness and success.

The rise in power of groups not particularly interested in people or human resources and the decline in power of employee advocates provides a reason why the behaviour of the organisation can determine the failure of the organisation. From the above examination of organisational behaviour and success or failure of the firm, it can be seen that employees make a critical difference when it comes to innovation, organizational performance, competitiveness, and thus ultimately business success or failure. Organizations expect their employees to be proactive and show initiative, collaborate smoothly with others, take responsibility for their own professional development, and to be committed to high quality performance standards.

The value system, emotional intelligence, organizational culture, job design and the work environment are important causal agents in determining human behaviour. Cause and effect relationship plays an important role in how an individual is likely to behave in a particular situation and its impact on productivity. The role of organisational behaviour in the success or failure of an organisation is clear. The management should come up with ways such that organisational behaviour goes hand in hand with the predetermined goals and missions of an organization resulting in either business success or failure.

REFERENCES

1. Flamholtz E. G. (1996) Effective Management Control: Theory and Practice. Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers 2. Harrison, D. A., Newman, D. A., &Roth, P. L. (2006). How important are job attitudes? Meta-analytic comparisons of integrative behavioral outcomes and time sequences. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 305–325. 3. Hersey P. Blanchard K. H., Johnson D. E. (1998) Management of Organizational Behaviour Utilizing Human Resources. 7th Edition, Published by Ghosh, Prentice Hall of India Private Limited. 4. Lilius, J. M., Worline, M. C., Maitlis, S., Kanov, J., Dutton, J. E., & Frost, P. (2008). The contours and consequences of compassion at work. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29, 193–218. 5. Luthans, F. (2002). The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 695–706. 6. Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. (2007). Emerging Positive Organizational Behavior. Journal of Management, 33, 321–349. 7. Muse, L., Harris, S. G., Giles,W. F., & Feild, H. S. (2008).Work-life benefits and positive organizational behavior: Is there a connection? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29, 171–192. 8. Myers, D. G. (2000). The funds, friends and faith of happy people. American Psychologist, 55, 56–67. 9. Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 293–315. 10. Tetrick, L. E. (2002). Individual and organizational health. In D. Ganster, & P. L. Perrewe (Eds.), Research in organizational stress and well-being (Vol. 3, pp. 107–141). Greenwich, CN: JAI Press.