A Positive Organizational Behavior in Organization

Scott (2003) says that organizational behavior is a wide discipline that touches almost all social sciences and studies the relationship between organizational efficiency and interrelationships among people. Employees form the core of any firm and therefore their contribution is the start of the company’s success or failure. Having the same views, and being ready to promote the firm’s goals first before personal interests will go along way in improving overall performance. Freeman (2010) asserts that organizational behavior influences employees as a group more than it affects them as individuals. In this regard, as away of motivating employees, their state of affairs needs to be given first priority in the firm before any other issue as they are the most important input. This is best explained by the theory of hierarchy where the basic needs are satisfied before the secondary or tertiary ones (Draft, 2011). People have to interact in an organization and the outcome is unpredictable. Consequently, organization behavior tries to understand and explain why some people behave the way they do in different circumstances within an organizational setting (Sosik & Jung, 2002). Moreover, organizational behavior focuses on regulating the way people conduct themselves within the organization. It is important to note that given the difference in family backgrounds, employees can never have similar behaviors. Additionally, organizational behavior addresses employees’ treatment in an organization.

Arguably, the most important role of positive organizational behavior is to avoid conflicts and eliminate or reduce the effects of conflicts on performance. Thompson (2008) defines conflicts as disagreements over various issues affecting the group which can vary from personal behavior and interaction, to professional and process accomplishment. Conflicts can be divided into three broad groups that are seemingly distinct from each other and each of which can be addressed separately. These are task conflict, process conflict and relationship conflict. It has been noted that conflict affect certain issues that directly influence the outcomes of the group and that it does not in itself directly affect the group. Such issues as the amount of trust that group members have both on the group as a whole and on individual group members highly determine the productivity of the group (West, 2012). West argues that the bond that puts together individual members in the group is of importance as it determines the likelihood that the members can enjoy working together hence, influencing group outcomes (West, 2012, p. 76). Organizational behavior influences how conflict is perceived and received. Moreover, it determines how group members think the conflict will affect them individually thus playing a great role in determining the effects conflict will have to the organization (Brody, 2005).

As griffin (2011) argues, organizational behavior is as a result of several integrated factors including motivational factors. In this regard, motivation theories play a vital role in enhancing organizational behavior. A study carried out by Jex and Britt explains how expected outcomes are influential in motivating people to choose certain behaviors (Jex & Britt, 2011, p. 174). The process by which people make choices about motivational factors to take into consideration is very crucial according to the expectancy theory. Scott (2003) suggests that an organization applying expectancy theory should liaise with the employees to select rewards so that they will be in line with the expectations of employees. On the same note, the rewards should be awarded as soon as positive behavior is exhibited (Hirschey, 2008). This, according to the theory, will influence the cognitive process of decision making. The theory asserts that behavioral process of human beings is as a result of cognitive choice making that is influenced by expectations. If people believe that meeting certain expected performance or behavior is rewarded, then they will aim at these behaviors. In this regard, employers seeking to make certain behaviors part of their organizational behavior should first learn employees’ expectations. There after, they should try to relate rewards directly to desired behaviors and ensure that the rewards meet the expectations of employees (Draft (2009). The rewards can be in form of increase in wages, promotions or any other form that is agreed upon. The theory further argues that a reward system that is tied more closely to specific performances is more effective in influencing people’s behaviors (Sosik & Jung, 2002).

It is important to state here that expectancy theory is not limited to specific relationships between employers and employees. As Robbins and Judge found out from their study, expectancy theory cuts across all aspects of e