Organizational Behavior Terminology

In this paper, I will discuss organizational behavior and terminology and apply these terms to my workplace. The concepts we will discuss are critical to ensuring a strong, functional organization which achieves its goals. These concepts are, organizational behavior, organizational culture, diversity, communication, organizational effectiveness and efficiency, and organizational learning.

Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts Paper

The first term that we will discuss is known as organization behavior itself. Organizational behavior is the study of human behaviors in organizations. It can cover a broad range of topics including ethics, interpersonal relationships, technology utilization, and diversity. Organizational behavior defines not just the organization as a whole, but the individuals that make up the larger organization.

Organizational behavior can be used to closely align oneself to a company whose ideas and goals match up with your own. For example, if one technology has very strong business ethics or has very driven and specific goals, then he or she would be better suited to find a company whose behavior more closely resembles their ideals. My company, Symantec, places a high value on organizational behavior and fosters strong relationships and teamwork, and encourages like-minded individuals to establish a career with the company.

Organizational culture can be considered a smaller, more specific subset of organizational behavior. Organizational culture is the shared beliefs and values that influence the behavior of organizational members. Well-communicated and well-developed beliefs and values are hallmarks of organizational culture. Organizations that are successful at expressing their values, usually value innovation and teamwork. Symantec recently published a booklet entitled "Symantec Code of Conduct", which reiterates Symantec's values and core beliefs and encourages all employees to raise their voice if the feel like they see things that counter the code of conduct.

Coincidentally, companies with strong organizational culture usually employ workplace diversity, our next concept for discussion. Diversity is employing a broad range of persons from all walks of life, with representation based on gender, race, skin color, disability, sexual orientation and age, to name a few. Again, my company is a leader in such areas as diversity. Our CEO is the only African-American CEO in Silicon Valley, for example. We have employees around the globe in countless countries, and every one of them has a voice.

Communication sounds simple enough, yet it could be one of the more overlooked items in an organization. Effective communication is key to the success of any organization. Communication is important in sharing beliefs and values. It is important when discussing goals or a vision as it would be very hard to achieve a goal if it was not communicated to the organization. As evidenced by the aforementioned Code of Conduct booklet, Symantec is effective with communication.

Organizational effectiveness and efficiency is how well an organization functions and meets its objectives. This can be measured in many ways, including:

Ð'* Systems resource approach: measure effectiveness in acquiring outside resources.

Ð'* Internal Process approach: Looks at how efficient internal resources are utilized.

Ð'* Goal approach: Measures achievement of objectives

Ð'* Strategic

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