Essay Example on Defining Organizational Behavior (OB)

Introduction

Explanation in many ways can take different formats, so can definitions of certain words or terms that is why we are going to define or explain 'organizational behavior' (OB) in the simplest of words , it can be stated as a human behavior study in a setting of organizational terms or the human behavior interfaced between it and the organization or the organization itself. It can be further defined in a more intricate way as, human beings complex nature in organizations by recognizing the effects and causes of the conduct as this aids us to study it. now as we can learn there are many ways of explaining a term or a phrase but the best way is not looking at the intricate or simplest ways rather check on which aspect one understands the term best (Newstrom, 1993). The same can be said about leadership or organizational behavior, where one worker may view his work position as boring or monotonous but another worker in the same line of work may see this as an opportunity to settle in one routine and excel in it.

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We learn about the origin of organizational behavior as way back as the times of Max Weber and the organizational studies of an earlier era. The period of the Industrial Revolution back in the 18th century roughly in the 1760s a time when technology was new which brought about the adoption of new manufacturing techniques that consisted of improved automation. Hence new ways of the organization were created due to this industrial revolution that resulted in cultural and societal change. Max Weber who was a sociologist analyzed these fresh forms of organization as bureaucracy which may be described as an organization type which is ideal which stands on technical maximized efficiency and principles that are both legal and rational. For our paper today we are going dive into different leadership style and theories that can best meet the features of an organization and its organizational behavior plus the challenge associated with that type of leadership style (Hofstede,1980). we will also look at the different solution given to overcome the said challenge and also learn the importance of organizational consulting and leadership as a whole.

Literature Review

This paper or study aims to assess an organizational behavior applied through leadership models, first, we know what leadership is as we had defined organizational behavior in an earlier section of the paper. Leadership can be defined in an organization setting as, work ethic or simply an attitude that gives an individual the power lead his subordinates for the benefit of the organization. Moving forward to looking at leadership theories and there various meaning and it can basically be said to be different scenarios that management considers for appointing a leader who in their terms can bring success in their corporations. Further, looking at the challenges faced by that leadership theory in that particular organization, we are going to be learning about various models or theories of leadership and some which may not be significant today. Like the ancient 'Great Man Theory' that states leadership traits are born with a person whose fate is to lead and further stating that only a man (male) is able to lead, which in today's world is biased and frowned upon.

So this creates a lot of problems that necessitate consultation services which we will tackle in today's paper. Later, finding the solution by recommending answers on how to overcome this challenge, there will be commendations given to the organization by a consultant (i.e you) on how to best handle the challenges. Also looking at the different styles of leadership associated with that exclusive organization, in this part we will work on diverse leadership style like the autocratic style which aids in a job with a short deadline. With the importance of leadership and the benefits of consultation by an outside source in a business, plus looking at the benefits of leadership as a whole and how the hiring of a consultation firm works in the business' favor of eliminating the enterprise's problems.

Challenges Faced in Leadership Styles and Theories

Now we are going to learn about the difficulties faced by an enterprise by following a certain theory or style of leadership. But first we are directing our ability to define leadership style and theory, beginning with the latter, leadership theory which can be said to be a variety of ideas or concepts that are carried onward and that try to illustrate why and how specific people become heads. While, leadership style is the approach or manner of someone who motivates people to give out their best, implement plans given by the management or say a certain set objective and provides direction to his or her subordinates. A leader who is ready to perform by the company's goal and which consists of actions that are both implied and obvious to the employees and that takes a total pattern that they (as the employees) can follow (Amanchukwu,2015). In leadership theories, it can be taken into effect as some sense of intimidation is felt where one leader or company succeed and another fails. This can be understood strongly as leadership provides one with a variety of options for various situations that aids companies to succeed, and as many experts have seen people or corporations have this notion when it comes to leadership, that it is more intentional than reactional.

There are numerous challenges facing leadership today and many journals and papers have been written about them. Here are some of the challenges facing leadership styles and models in today's business environment:

There are numerous leadership styles but one of the most common is 'micromanaging' type of leadership that generally comprises of a leader who tries to handle or manage every single detail of a task or an operation. In fact, with this type of leadership, you may get to supervise and get more work done. But the biggest challenge in this type of leadership you may create an environment of resentment from your employees, and further creates a gap between you and your employees as they feel like you do not trust them or have any faith in their working capabilities. This may be sometime confused with the, 'authoritarian style' of leadership but this is "total control" compared to "close supervision" (for micromanaging).

In the 19th century theories started to come out regarding leadership and the most popular theory was the 'Great Man Theory' and which assumed that a leader was different from the typical person in terms of individual characteristics, personality traits which may include perseverance, ambition, and intelligence (Boring, 1950). It was modeled in a time where men were dominant against their female counterparts, and so for this theory, only men were destined to be leaders. As I imagine you can see there are many problems with this model as it understandably been outdated and debunked by many corporations and businesses. Trait theory has sometimes been accompanied with 'great man' as it too adopts the notion that certain individuals inherit specific traits and characteristics that make them better in leadership than others.

As we earlier discussed the problem of micromanagement and autocratic in some sense, now we are going to tackle the 'democratic or participative' leadership style and this is where the leader complies with the employees to help them make important organization's decision. This makes your workers feel valued and an environment of trust is created, nonetheless, despite it having numerous advantages there are some disadvantages that may fall on to this category. They include, the power that is enjoyed by the leader may be taken away from the leadership, and work may slow down as employees may feel superior or on the same level with the manager and this, in turn, will bring low productivity and less or no profit to the company.

As we continue further we try to handle another theory of leadership, as we now talk about 'transactional style of leadership' and this where said leader work towards crafting a clear model for the employee. As we further learn, they are certain things that are assumed to be clear and they include, requirements of labor being clear, reward or compensation structure is clear and where punishments are assumed to be known by the employee even if they are not regularly mentioned. There are some elementary problems with this type of model and are mostly clear to most people that is, in this model, they assume that because the worker is being compensated at the culmination of the day the boss or director has the authority to command anything they want or see fit to the poor subordinate. In which case this may create challenges as the organization advance into the near future or in the long run objective of the business.

Leadership Styles and Theories

For this section, we are going to talk about styles and theories of leadership that are best perceived or seen to be able to cope with the challenges posed in the earlier segment. As we had previously explained about leadership models and styles now we will get into the various styles and theories immediately. A quick note to cover is that a certain type may be covered in the challenges section but also put forward in this section signifying its benefits but also serving as a caution to organizations as conveying that one may be an advantage but if not controlled may turn into a problem, for example, the democratic style of leadership (Giltinane,2013). Having that in mind we can now look at other styles and theories that best oppose the challenges put forth in the former section and they include;

The primary style that we are going to learn is the 'delegative style' or commonly said to be "Laissez-faire" style of leadership. Laissez-faire which is a French word meaning, for 'lesser' to consent or to let whereas 'fair' means to do. For the definition, it states that it reduces the involvement of a leader in making decisions and additionally makes the employees make the decisions instead (Chaudhry,2012). This can help the firm in various ways, where an employee is free, skilled and thus motivated to make decisions on his or her own in the case where it helps the organization in a quick decision scenario.

The way we talked about micromanagement in the challenge section being solved by delegating style in this region as a way for the business to adopt for its success. For this second leadership style, we are going to still talk about the democratic style of leadership, as for our extensive study on leadership and its styles we learn that democratic or participative style is the best and most effective style of leadership. It may be beneficial to a corporation as employees or group members are involved deeply in the decision-making process but where the final decision or final go-ahead is left to the leader or manager. The significance is where in this type the leader has the ability to act as part of the team and this encourages employees to put forth ideas.

As for our leadership theories, we can now look at the ones that be best adapted to the organization, to cater to its growth and prosperity. This model or theory mostly looks alike with the democratic style of leadership and it is known as 'participative leadership', and it can be defined as, where the leader for this style of leadership takes what the other employees have come up with for consideration in the decision making(Goleman, 2002). The benefits of this model are numerous as is the case with the democratic style and they may include, having a better understanding of the decision made if one is involved in the process one will carry out the results with ample respect and passion of the task. And objectives are simply met because there is no competition between the employee...