Reducing Workplace Conflicts Term Paper

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Organizational Behavior (OB) theory

Organizational Behavior is a study that fosters the understanding of the relationship between the employees and the organization and that between organizations themselves. In an organization, the way in which the employees with their seniors are very important to the determination of how the company will perform. In this case, a company that has a chance to maintain a good relationship with its employees will always register a good performance (Nelson, and Quick, 2012, pp. 8). This paper discusses the organizational behavior practices and effects in Aluminum Elements Corp (AEC). This is an aluminum company in the United States. The aim of this study is to come up with ways of handling the practical Organizational Behavior objectives of the company and the industry in general.

Organizational Behavior and its objectives

There are three levels of organizational behavior. They are classified according to the parties that are interacting. For instance, the study of individuals in organizations is referred to as the micro-level interaction. This one mostly determines how the organization will fare on since employees are the ones responsible for virtually every activity-taking place in an organization. Their attitude towards the conduct of management is important in establishing the way they view work (McShane & Von Glinow, 2013, pp. 20). The other level of organizational behavior is that between work groups. This is referred to as the meso-level. At this level, work groups influence each other and can result in a positive or negative impact on each other. Thirdly, macro-level describes the interactions between the organizations themselves. This is an industry interaction where all the organizations influence each other in some way. There are instances where the organizations influence each other to bring out an industry effect. In this sense, people working in an industry have to note the way the other groups influence each other (Golembiewski, 2000, pp.22).

The Case Study

This case study cites the occurrences that take place in the Aluminum Elements Corp. (AEC). It cites the way in which the interactions between all the employees in this organization have affected the results here. The issue that comes to fore relates to communication. The communication between the low-level floor workers and the upper office management reported. It is evident that the low-level managers do not mingle with the general high-ranking managers. The way in which the supervisors addressed the low-level workers was through memos and circulars. Even during break times and lunch breaks, the junior workers are not allowed to mingle with the seniors. The management set up the practices with a view of making the work of managers smooth. From their perspective, they thought that handling junior employees with strict stance would yield better results than treating them with a close and soft hand (Bratton, 2010. pp. 17). George, the general manager has been seen to be championing the issue of non-interactive management to on the employees. He suggests that the use of memos and order letters have a better chance of effecting positive results than the personal interactions.

A new manager comes into the organization with a different perspective of how to handle employees. In his approach, junior workers are supposed to be treated with a cordial and communicative approach. Ideally, there is a chance to make real time conclusions from what the employees have to say about the way work has to be done (French, et al., 2011, p.26). The new manager realized that with this mode of handling the employees, he could get suggestions from them that dealt with how production could be done. John, one of the junior ground level supervisors was seen to be full of ideas on how to handle the work on the ground. This way, it was possible to improve production in the company (Nelson, and Quick, 2012, pp. 54). Then new employee also realized that while dealing directly with the employees, the cordial relationship brought more trust between him and them, and that they could disclose more about themselves to him. In this management style, it was also realized that the employees have many ideas hidden among them and only managed to disclose them as the new manager got closer to them (Greenberg, 2013).

The main issues

In this case, study, a number of issues come into the light. One is the issue of communication at the workplace. Communication in the workplace can take many forms. There is the vertical form of communication (Miller, 2012, pp. 27). Vertical communication can be top-down or bottom-up.

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In this organization, the kind of communication that takes place here is the vertical, top-down communication. Here, the senior managers sent messages to the low-level floor operators using written memos, with total avoidance of personal communication. This shows the level of discrimination that existed in this organization and the complicated channel of management (Griffin, and Moorhead, G., 2013, pp. 18).

Customer service is also cited in this case study. It is noted that customers got the best services from the company employees if the latter were well treated by the management. It is also noted that the managers had a great role in influencing the way the employees worked. This happens through the manner in which communication was done (Greenberg, 2013, p.15). In the communication network, the managers can make the employees feel valued and recognized if the general managers listened and talked to the employees on a personal rather than official stance.

The third issue that comes out of this case study is the issue of management structure. The management structure in this case shows that there are two levels of the management in such kind of organization. These include the top-level upper floor managers and the low-level floor managers. The management in this case is such that the top-level managers spell the activities that the low-level managers will do (McShane & Von Glinow, 2013, pp. 11). This case study shows that at times, managers have to press on hard stands regarding the way the junior employees will work. The level of control that the managers have to play should be in response to the way the work requires.

Application of Organizational Behavior theories

The objectives of organizational behavior are to study and understand the psychology of the employees in a bid to orient them to a good cause in the workplace. In order to achieve an effective communication mechanism within the organization, there is need to utilize the knowledge earned from organizational behavior principles (Wagner III, & Hollenbec, 2014pp. 20). These principles dictate that managers have to cultivate a good relationship with the junior employees in order to make them feel part of the organization's executive team. A good relationship will make the employees be free to engage their bosses on how best to facilitate production. In every sense, the employees can be more productive and cooperative if the managers treat them well. Managers also have to consider making the employees part of the major decision-making team. This will happen if the employees are given the chance to disclose their intentions to the managers on how they intend to handle specific operational activities (Golembiewski, 2000, pp.34). At times, junior employees have a better way of handling the specifics of work, out of the mainstream procedures traditionally set by the managers. Openness will ease the work of the managers, as they will be in a position to address the issues of the employees well.

Recommendations

In response to the challenges witnessed in the case study, which applies to all other organizations, a number of recommendations can be presented to solve any problem that relates to this. Looking at this situation, the first recommendation is to have a change in the communication style used by the management of Aluminum Elements Corp. This will require the managers to be more open and willing to allow the employees to present their views and take individual actions regarding handling the specifics of the work (Wagner III, & Hollenbec, 2014, pp. 50). Secondly, the managers have to come up with a measurement metric that will allow them to measure the actual input that each employee brings to the organization. In this sense, the employees have to be assessed in the way they bring out results. The need to do this is motivated by the fact that the managers should always be in a position to determine production levels by arranging the employees in such a way leads to the highest level of production possible. The management should also find a way of directly talking to and intermingling with the junior workers, in order to have a direct influence on their working (Bratton, 2010. pp. 36).

Conclusion

It has been noted that organizational behavior is a special method of making the interaction of employees and employers run smoothly. The idea behind organizational behavior is that it is to understand the psychology of all the workers. This move will bring to fore the understanding.....

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