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Organizational Behavior
Shermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005, Section 1, defines Organizational Behavior (OB) is "the study of individuals and groups in an organization. Developers of this principle have substantiated it using a variety of methods such as Field studies, Laboratory studies, Meta analyses, Survey studies, and Case studies. Extended in the formulation of organizational behavior are other academic disciplines-psychology, sociology, economics, anthropology and political science. However, why should an organization, group, or individual make any effort understanding this study? Simply put, "knowledge is power". In cased in this body of knowledge lies an overflowing wealth of power. That if introduced can be the pivotal stepping-stone for strengthening an underachieving organization or improving the organizational culture internally of an already high-performing group. For example, in the six months of 2005 in my organization manufacturing was having a problem with miss-processing materials. The numbers were staggering. The initial reaction from managers was who to "blame". This method was so unequivocally ineffective that it backfired. Instead of reporting errors, operators would conceal the infraction, thus creating additional problems. Management went back to the drawing board, and developed a new strategy. First, they spoke in a language that operator's understood-money. They revealed how costly a miss-process was, and how it directly affects the organization's profits. Second, the approach changed, after a mistake, instead of using the blaming method, a learning opportunity took place. Managers, Engineers, Equipment technicians, and operators all evaluated the process. Lastly, implement a bonus p ...