Organizational Theories and Management: A Historical Analysis

This essay examines the progress of organizational behavior and management since the beginning of the 20th century, exploring the evolution of theories and practices. The essay begins by defining organizational behavior and its significance in understanding human behavior within organizations. It then identifies critical organizational behavior issues and problems, including managerial, workplace, organizational, global, and environmental challenges. The essay applies various theories and practices, such as cognitive dissonance, personality-job-fit, and social learning theory, to address these issues. It also includes a literature review of management issues, supporting its arguments with examples from personal experiences and contemporary organizations. The essay concludes by offering alternatives and recommendations, including an action plan for implementing the recommendations, providing a comprehensive analysis of the subject.

Running Head: ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
Organizational Theories and Concepts
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
Essay Topic- To what extent has our understanding of organisations and management
progressed since the beginning of the 20th century in theory and in practice?
The organizational behaviour can be considered as the study of human behaviour in
an organizational setting along with the interface between the human behaviour and the
organization. The researchers of the organizational behaviour study the individual behaviour
primarily in the organizational roles. One of the most significant roles of the organizational
behaviour is to revitalize the organizational theories and at the same time develop a better
conceptualization of the organizational life. The organizational behaviour has been
influenced by the development of a number of allied disciplines such as psychology,
sociology, engineering, economics along with the experience of the practitioners (Vasu,
Stewart & Garson, 2017). The origin of the organizational behaviour can be traced back to
Max Weber and the previous organizational studies. The organizational behaviour can be
referred to as a field of study which investigates the effects of individuals, groups and
structures on people’s behaviours in the organization. This specific impact works further
towards the improvement of the organizational effectiveness. This study concentrates on
three levels of analysis such as individuals, organizations and the groups.
It is a value centred and normative science studying the people at work. Moreover, it
is concerned with the predictions, understanding and the control of human behaviour. This
essay will deal with the organizational behaviour and management along with what kind of
issues the organization face related to the organizational behaviour. This essay will explore
the notion of organisation and management using a variety of theoretical perspectives and
supported by examples from my own experience as well as from reading of academic work
and from contemporary organisations. This will further use the lecture material, books and
articles, and contemporary news sources (Razak et al., 2016).The emphasis will on writing a
persuasive essay drawn together in the conclusion. In short, the essay will identify the critical

2ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
organizational behaviour issues and problems with depth of analysis. It will also apply
theories and practices through a literature review of management issues with reference
support. Lastly, it will generate alternatives and recommendations having developed an
Action Plan for the implementation of recommendations.
Identification of Critical OB Issues and Problems
The organizational behaviour is a manner by which the individuals and the groups act
and at the same time relate with each others in a specific workplace. There are different
factors that influence these relations as organizational culture, leadership along with the
personal views of the employees in the organization. It influences the way the managers
approach the tasks of the managing personnel in a workplace. The managers confront many
challenges along with the entire organization in the context of behaviour. It is quite obvious
that a workplace is a diverse space and there are different types of people with different
culture, ages, races and sexual orientation(Vasu, Stewart & Garson, 2017). From the
managerial perspective, it is evident that their management becomes difficult and leaves
impact on the organization.
On the other hand, the corporate scandals include unethical behaviour which can be
made public in a short time. The organizations usually have certain policies which facilitate
the ethical behaviour in the workplace. The managers face challenges regarding promoting
ethical organizational behaviour and culture which so that the employees do not put their
individual interests ahead of the interests of the organization(Boufounou & Avdi, 2016).. The
personal interests can become a serious aspect when the managers face the duty of
encouraging the group interests over the personal interests and preserve the ethical values.
Notably, the organizations become affected through globalization. The international
personnel come under the responsibility of the managers. They face the challenge to

3ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
understand the organizational behaviour of the personnel. In the workplace communication,
the use of information technology also plays an important role as it influences the people and
groups in the organization. The managers also face difficulty in finding ways in which the
technology promotes organizational communication along with the inclusion rather than
discrimination. Based on these, there are overall five major organizational behaviour issues
faced by the managers of today such as the managerial challenges, the work place issues and
challenges, the organizational challenges, the global challenges and the environmental
challenges.
Managerial challenges
The managers today are facing organizational behaviour related issues in terms of the
changing demographics of workforce. The biggest challenges are due to the dual career
couples. This is a particular situation when both the partners pursue active professional
career. The employees who move to the upper position require the experience in various roles
and different organizational units. The dual career individuals are likely to restrict the
individual flexibility while accepting such assignments. It strikes at the flexibility of the
organization in terms of acquiring and developing talent. Another challenge is related to the
growing number of youngsters. It is also a form of diversity which is coming from the people
who are entering the workforce. These youngsters bring new ways of thinking in the
organization which is fresh, ambitious and enthusiastic(Abraham & Sheeran, 2017).. The
handling of the personal needs of these youngsters becomes difficult for the managers as they
work to live not live to work. On the other hand, one of the most significant reasons of issues
is the gender factor. The women used to choose extremely traditional careers earlier as
teachers, nurses, secretaries and others. Nowadays, they have moved into the professions
which were dominated by only males as executives, lawyers, doctors. Since, maximum

4ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
women are stepping into the blue collar jobs, it becomes a little problematic for the human
resource managers to manage everything.
Work place challenges
Some of the workplace issues also pose as challenging with behavioural implications.
One of the major issues is the employee privacy. Since the employers have started intruding
too much into the personal lives of the employees, it might create resentments among the
employees. Few examples of the recent practices are the implementation of the drug tests
randomly, checking the employee backgrounds, tapping the phone lines, checking phone calls
and internet surfing randomly. The employee rights are a prime concern and the controversies
include the issues which are connected with the individual rights. In the recent times, there is
a declination of the union membership (Gelfand et al.,2017). The result is that the
organizations are providing service to the employees that were previously provided by the
unions. The unfair treatment of the employee might lead to the organizational unrest. The
changed employee expectations often lead to organizational behavioural issues with the
change in the work force demographics. The workforce of today is not much attracted by the
conventional motivators such as pay packages, job securities or additional perquisites. Their
behaviour towards the organization become more agile when they feel connected,
acknowledged, respected and valued in an organization.
Organizational challenges
The managers also face challenges at the organizational level such as the
responsibility of improving the quality and productivity. The organizations have become
quite open to competition due to liberalisation, privatisation and globalization. The managers
are to think seriously regarding the improvement of the productivity and quality. The
management of technology is another issue faced by the managers along with the

5ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
management change innovation(Ashkanasy, Humphrey & Huy, 2017).. The employee can
either be the impetus for innovation or can be a stumbling block. The ethical behaviours have
been considered as the social responsibility of an organization. The managers face difficulty
in establishing a healthy and ethical culture with different type of people.
Global Challenges
The global challenges include the management of the global environment and the
management of cultural diversity. Since the organizations are no longer constrained or
limited to the domestic borders, the managers face trouble with unfamiliar languages, laws,
attitudes, practices, ethics and the management styles. They also face trouble in handling
different aspirations, needs and attitudes. Taken for example, Walmart has been facing
cultural clashes due to the e-commerce acquisitions. The employees of Jet and other e-
commerce players have faced difficulties in grappling with the offices policies of Walmart
such as prohibition of drinking alcohol in office premises (Retaildive.com 2019).
Environmental Challenges
Since every organization exists in an environmental context, there has to be some of
the environmental issues. The environmental issues are related to the ecology, pollution
related policies, personal policies, consumerism, international policies, research and
development. It further includes the national economic policies.
Application of Theories and practice, Literature Review of the OB/Management Issues
Since the organizational behaviour includes the people of the organization and the
managers too, there is direct link of motivation, power, the leaders’ behaviour, the group
structure, interpersonal communication, emotions, learning, work stress, change processes,
work design, conflicts and many other factors.

6ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
Regarding the attitudes, it is an evaluative statement either favourable or unfavourable
which concerns the people, objects or events. The attitudes reflect the way an individual feels
regarding something particular. As per the Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, there is a
relationship between behaviour and attitude. When the managers know and understand the
relevant theories, they can focus on reducing the dissonance having identified that he
dissonance is imposed externally and uncontrollable (Abraham & Sheeran, 2017).The
managers become able to identify the external forces as the customers, the competitors and
other factors too. They can also provide rewards to employees in order to get rid of the
dissonance.
As far as personality is concerned, it is the sum of ways through which an individual
interacts with other people. There are many personality traits such as shy, aggressive, loyal,
lazy and ambitious. As per the personality-job-fit theory, there are six personality types in the
work environments such as investigative, realistic, social, artistic, conventional and
enterprising. It can be said that he managers can prepare a higher performing and satisfied
workforce when the consideration is put on aligning the personality with the job requirements
(Ashkanasy, Humphrey & Huy, 2017). It further states that employee satisfaction remains
highest and the turnover is the lowest when the occupation and the personality are
compatible. It is quite valuable for the managers to learn about the concepts and theories
related to personality. When people work in an environment that matches with the personality
they have, success level increases.
Learning is when people learn from the experiences they have. Learning can be
considered as a permanent change in individual behaviour due to the experiences. As per the
social learning theory, people can easily learn through observing what is happening to others
or through the direct experiences. Taken for example, people learn from watching others such
as teachers, parents, movie actors and television (Borkowski, 2016). The shaping behaviour

7ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
theory on the other hand systematically reinforces each of the successive step which moves
an individual closer to the preferable responses. The learning theories and concepts can be
used by the managers to motivate the employees and restrict them from changing their
behaviour.
When the perception and decision making is concerned, the attribution theory is the
most relatable one. This theory specifically suggests that when people observe the behaviour
of an individual, it is determined whether it was externally or internally caused. According to
the rational-decision –making model, it can be described how the individuals should behave
for maximizing the outcomes. He steps this model is defining the problem, identifying the
decision criteria, weighting the criteria, generating alternatives, rating each of the alternatives
on each criteria and computing the optimal decisions (Lăzăroiu, 2015). The managers should
identify the way the employees react to different perceptions. The employees also should pay
attention to both their jobs and the management actions. It has to be noted that the job
satisfaction of the employees influence the organizational behaviour through the perceptions
of fairness (Madison et al., 2016). The decision-making theory is useful for the managers as it
helps them to make the decisions and gain maximum productivity.
The motivation is most intricately related to shaping the behaviour the employees in
an organization (Osland, Devine & Turner, 2015). It is the process which account for the
intensity of the individuals, the persistence and direction of effort towards achieving a goal.
There are various theories related to motivation such as Maslow’ Hierarchy of Needs theory,
McClelland’s theory of needs, the goal-setting theory, the reinforcement theory and others
too. As per the Hierarchy of needs theory of Maslow, people aim at meeting their basic needs
and those needs are met successively in the form of hierarchy. Once cannot move to the next
level until the current level has been satisfied. On the other hand, McClelland’s theory of
needs suggest that there are some specific needs of the individuals acquired over time and

8ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
shaped by the early life experiences too. The theories focus on the fundamental needs of
people which exist in different degrees (Dipboye, 2016). The needs are the needs for
achievement, the need for affiliation and the need for power. The goal-setting theory is about
the conscious goals which affect the action. Taken for example, in order to attain a
proficiency standard, within a limited period of time, this theory is used. The focus on the
relationships between the level of task and the conscious performance goals helps in
improvement of performance (Boufounou & Avdi, 2016). As a contrast, the reinforcement
theory suggests behaviour to be a function of the consequences. This theory argues that there
are external effects on the behaviour of an individual. The behaviours are controlled by
reinforces and when a proper behaviour is followed, the probability of the behaviour likely to
be repeated.
Generates Alternatives and Recommendations; Develops a Plan of Action for
Implementing Recommendations
Alternatives and Recommendations are as follows:
 The employers need to adjust the expectations of the emerging workforce having
replaced the command and control leadership with the empowerment given to the
employees. The personal needs of the young employees should be handled with
proper circumspection.
 The work stress related issues need to be sensitively handled by the managers. The
private lifE of the employees should be kept un-intruded.
 The organizations must ensure that the employees are being treated fairly with extra-
precautions.
 Since the employee expectations are changing, the organizations should practice
participative leadership instead of the authoritative leadership. The flexible timings,

9ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
the facilities of working from home, are the recent trends which can shape the
organizational behaviour.
 Since competition in the market has increased with the rise of globalisation, the
organizations should implement programs such as Total Quality Management along
with the Reengineering programs. It conducts a continuous improvement program in
the entire organization. It has a special implication for the organizational behaviour as
the employees need to rethink for becoming more involved in the workplace.
 The managers should understand that any system for improving the productivity and
quality has included the employees. The employees are the major forces for the
carrying out the changes and they must actively participate in the changes.
 Both the managers and the employees learn to live and adjust with the temporariness.
They also need to cope with the flexibility, spontaneity and unpredictability. In such
cases, communication is the only key to this.
 The organizations should also arrange for the trainings related to ethical behaviour
and organizational cultures.
 In managing the employees from different background, languages and races, the
managers should develop a global perspective, act proactively with much flexibility.
 The organizations should also be aware of the environmental responsibilities and
become willing to interact with the environment for surviving in the long run.
Action plan for implementation
Goals /objectives Strategy Measures
The employers need to adjust
the expectations of the
emerging workforce having
replaced the command and
The leaders and the managers
will be given regular training on
how to encourage the
participative leadership.
The performance report will be
published at the end of every
month.

10ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
control leadership with the
empowerment given to the
employees. The personal needs
of the young employees should
be handled with proper
circumspection.
Surveys will also be conducted
to know the employee interests
and align them as per that.
The work stress related issues
need to be sensitively handled
by the managers. The private
life and the personal life of the
employees should be kept un-
intruded.
The employees will be asked
for frequent meetings where
they will be able to share their
concerns. The issues related to
professional and personal life
will be solved with discussions.
The counts of employee
attrition will be observed every
month.
The organizations must ensure
that the employees are being
treated fairly with extra-
precautions.
There will be three-monthly
surveys to know how the
employees are feeling in the
organization and what
improvements they need in the
organization.
Since the employee
expectations are changing, the
organizations should practice
participative leadership instead
of the authoritative leadership
The participative leaders will
be assigned to lead the team .
These leaders will involve the
employees in every aspect and
communicate with them
regularly.
The employee feedbacks will
be taken on the leadership of the
leader in every 3 month.
Since competition in the market
has increased with the rise of
The vision, mission and values
of the organization will be
The production report and the
rates of errors will be counted

11ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
globalisation, the organizations
should implement programs
such as Total Quality
Management along with the
Reengineering programs.
communicated clearly with the
employees. The matrix will be
developed for recognizing the
critical success factors (CSF).
and compared.
They also need to cope with the
flexibility, spontaneity and
unpredictability
The communication will be
mandatory during
organizational change and
crucial periods.
The customer feedbacks will
also be taken to know how the
employees are working.
The organizations should also
be aware of the environmental
responsibilities and become
willing to interact with the
environment for surviving in the
long run
The trainings related to ethical
behaviour and organizational
cultures along with the
environmental concerns will be
given.
The CSR reports of the
organization will be analysed on
six monthly basis.