Individual behavior in an organization

Résumé du document

Individual behavior is dependent upon whether a person is in a group or not. Individuals act differently in accordance with their situation. A group is composed of a minimum of two people. There are Two types of groups that have been identified by Stephen P. Robbin (1996) - a formal and an informal group. The formal one is one in which the people's behavior is identified by the organization through assignments for example and the informal one has nothing at all to do with the organization and is not structured. The leadership concept has become increasingly important over the years for an organization . Consequently, psychology's basis requires some update in order to identify more effectively the transformations within an organization - especially the ones affected by globalization. This is why when it comes to human conflicts leadership is regularly questioned. Obviously those questions are not new. However the context makes them more relevant.

Extraits

[...] (1997). Personality trait structure as a human universal, American Psychologist, Vol pp. 509-16. Rollinson, D. Broadfield, A., Edwards, D.J. (1998). Organisational Behaviour and Analysis. An Integrated Approach. Edinburgh, Addison-Wesley. Sternberg, R.J. (1981). Intelligence and nonentrenchment. Journal of Educational Psychology 1-16. [...]

[...] In many cases, our interpersonal skills have deteriorated as our technical skills and support develops. We have lost the art of talking to each other in a work environment. A 2003 national representative survey, HOW-FAIR, revealed that Americans think that 'being a team player' and successful teamwork are the most important factors in getting ahead in the workplace and this has subsequently become true of many in the UK workplace. This was ranked higher than several factors, including 'merit and performance', 'leadership skills', 'intelligence', 'making money for the organization' and 'long hours'. [...]

[...] However, the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (Sternberg, 1985) is the most relevant one to analyse human behaviour in an organisation. Sternberg's theory is divided in three concepts: Analytic, Creative and Practical intelligence; Analytical sub theory means that this theory focuses on academic problem- solving while practical sub theory, on the other hand, is the ability to understand and deal with everyday tasks. Finally, Creative sub theory is more about how individuals associate their internal world with the external one. The most relevant sub theory for analysing people in organisations is the practical one. [...]

[...] Obviously, in an organisation, the power of a leader depends on his or her situation or position in that organisation. There are no specific characteristics to define good leadership because it relies on the organisation, the team or even the situation. The definition of a good leadership depends on what the organisation is looking for or what the organisation is expecting from him or her. Every organisation needs leaderships to achieve a high performance from its teams. The leadership role is to keep the team focused on specific objectives and giving directions to be followed. [...]

[...] This explains why different types of decision making such as cognitive, behavioural and ethic decision making- exist. Decision making is an important skill that a leader requires in order to succeed and to convince his or her team. Indeed, a leader who is not confident, who is scared of making the wrong decision, will not become a good leader Difficulties One of many important difficulties that a leader has to face is how to get supportive followers. By getting good results, followers will support the leadership without paying attention to how the leader gets those results. [...]