Organizational Behavior Lessons, Reaction Paper Example

One of the concepts that surprised me was the huge impact of organizational culture on individual’s job performance. I used to think that organizational culture is just the collection of expected behaviors which are shaped by employees themselves but I never thought that organizational culture also impacts one’s work performance. I was also surprised by the fact that employees sometimes do resist change because employees’ job security and compensation are often tied to organizational performance, thus, it didn’t make sense to me why they would hurt their own interests. The course did help me understand reasons why employees may resist change and also helped me realize that an effective change requires careful planning. The concept of Realistic Job Preview (RJP) intrigued me because I see several benefits in it. First of all, it ensures that employees do not have surprises. Second, it helps reduce turnover rate and, thus, hiring and training costs as well. I also found the concept fascinating because I feel that very few employers practice it because most employers want to present them as attractive work places, thus, they may not want to mention the negative aspects.

One concept that may be useful to me is the impact of external factors on me. The external factors mentioned in the course such as technology, consumers’ lifestyles, and diverse workforce demonstrate that organizations should keep monitoring the external environment because they do not exist in a vacuum. The concept made me realize why even large organizations fail because they fail to effectively respond to external factors. This knowledge will make sure I monitor both internal and external factors, especially when I am in leadership positions.

Managing organizational behavior is like maintaining machinery. Just like machinery, an organization performs best when its individual components such as leaders, employees, and other stakeholders work cooperatively with each other. Just as the performance of the machinery is also affected by external factors including power supply and lubricant, organizational behavior is also affected by external factors and organizational success is determined by how well an organization responds to external factors. Machinery often needs to be updated to keep up with the pace of technology and sometimes entirely replaced. Similarly, an organization may also need to go under change to achieve greater operating efficiency and sometimes the change may require complete transformation.

This course has several important lessons for even those who have no relation to organizational behavior. First of all, the leader plays an important role in any organization, thus, the leader should behave as he/she wants his/her subordinates to behave. Our success is not determined by only factors that are internal to us but also factors external to us, thus, we should be aware of everything that affects our actions. The need for higher performance is even more important when competition is tough, thus, we should continue to seek ways to improve ourselves.

The single most important lesson I have learnt in the course is the importance of organizational culture. I will make sure I only seek employment at organizations whose cultures are a good match to my own values and work philosophies. In order to understand organizational culture, I will talk to current employees to have more realistic understanding of the leadership as well as work environment. When I will move to leadership positions, I will strive to set personal examples for my subordinates so that they better understand the organizational culture and my credibility with them also improves.

One of the major trends in organizations over the next 20 years will be diversity training and a culture that truly accommodates and appreciates workforce diversity. The globalization trends as well as the advancements in information technology means more and more employees will work with those from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Another trend will be people retiring later because of aging population as well as advancements in medical science that will enable people to live healthier and continue to work into their 70s or may be even 80s. As a result, organizations will implement policies that both attract and accommodate the working styles of older people. Job security may decline even further due to more mobile labor and employees will engage in professional education for almost the entire duration of their careers.