Organizational Behavior Concepts: General Electric Essay

Introduction each business has a bewilder of key characteristics or values that give birth up an constitutional civilisation which is unique to its business. organisational look examines the encroachment that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior deep down giving medications for the purpose of applying such friendship toward improving an governances effectiveness (Robbins, 2005). The purpose of this enquiry paper is to identify and evaluate General Electrics (GE) formational refining, organizational behavior, and customer service standards. We will also uncover how booming GE has been in implementing organizational behavior concepts in the following ternion categories (1) motivation, (2) group behavior, (3) organizational culture.General Electric has their organizational values post right on their website. By doing so, they have provided written expectations to their employees regarding ethical behavior and integrity in the play surround. These valu es reflect the energy, spirit, and solid intro of the play along, articulating a common code of organizational behavior. Also, GEs nervy set of management strategies is luffed at increasing innovation and improving productivity to make the association more competitive. GEs organizational culture is considered ane of high ethical standard in the corporate innovation. harmonise to The Age of Ethics (KPMG, 2007) GE now has ane of the best morality compliance programs in existence__, says Larry Ponemon, national director of Business Ethics work at KPMG.General ElectricSince Thomas Edison started General Electric in 1876, the company has steadily grown into a tremendously in(predicate) organization and one of the largest companies in the world. Several management and organizational strategies have been part through and through out the years in raise to attain the contemporary status of the firm. When looking at an organizations cultural appeal, one must first decide what t hey atomic number 18 looking for what appeals to me may or may non appeal to someone else. There ar a few categories within GEs organizational culture that appeals to me personally. These categories complicate but are not limited toLeadership It is important for a company to allow leaders to have the freedom and flexibility to work their knowledge and expertise in both their daily job and at company levels. At the top, we dont run GE care a big company. We run it like a big partnership, where all(prenominal) leader nates make a contribution not clean to their job, but to the entire Company (Immelt, J., 2005). piddle Environment A company should provide a pleasant and vitalizing work environment that is slowly to balance with my personal vivification. GE is an invigorating place to work. Ours is a superior culture that emphasizes high-integrity business practices as well as work/life balance (Our socialization, 2008).Training and Education Programs Successful companies p rovide additional rearing and educational benefits that will enhance employee leadershipcapabilities. We invest nearly $1 billion a year in career development for our employees at every level of professional growth. (Leadership Programs, 2008).Part of the culture and behavior of GE is the use of sigma six. sestet Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps us focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services (Six Sigma, 2008). Sigma is a statistical limit that measures how far a given process deviates from perfection. The central idea pot Six Sigma is that if you dejection measure how many defects you have in a process, you can systematically figure out how to eliminate them and get as close to zero defects as possible. Six Sigma has changed the makeup of GE-it is now the right smart we work in everything we do and in every product we fancy (Six Sigma, 2008). Within GE, an employee can be certified in Six Sigma, all as a black belt or a earn black belt. These titles hold prestige for the employees and add to employee motivation and employment satis situationion.When discussing the organizational culture within a company such as GE, we can break management concepts down into three categories. correspond to Argenti (2002), organizational behavior in organizations is usually broken down into three main areas separate level elements managing individualsGroup level elements managing teamsElements of organizational structure managing the organizationnot only can the employment of organizational behavior principles improve an organizations effectiveness, organizational behavior provides a manager the information and knowledge needed to manage an effective workforce (Argenti, 2002). With the advent of organizational perspectives, the psychoanalysis of why people instill their presence in an organization is not only because of self-aimed goals of growth and enhancements, but also to locate themselves in a social place in accordanc e to the area of their perceived be(Stroh, Northcraft and Neale, 2002).MotivationMotivation is central to understanding behavior in organizations and a key managerial factor. Two aspects of motivation are structuring tasks to satisfy proletarian and organizational needs and providing the proper direction for worker actions (Stroh, Northcraft and Neale, 2002). There are a number of factors when it comes to the difference in worker performance. One of these factors is related to different levels of ability among employees. Differences in ability arise from the simple fact that there are significant individual differences that affect work performance. The driving expended by the employees toward the realization of organizational goals greatly depends upon the status of behavioral motivations (Vasu, Stewart and Garson, 1998). GE has employ theoretical frameworks in order to generate further explanations in behavioral motivation not only of the employees but the organization as well. GE uses a goal-setting theoretical framework_._ Basically, the theoretical concept implicates the application of goals as driving forces that provide the basic idea of what and when to get to a certain(prenominal) target. Management by Objectives (MBO) is one example that exemplifies the application of objectives in order to achieve the final formulated outcome of the plan, goals (Robbins, 2005). jacks Welch, CEO from 1981 2001, set two clear and simple goals for GE and outlined several targets for stretchability those formulated goals. The goals were to become the most competitive corporation in the world and to become the nations most valuable corporation. Jack Welch created an organization tension in 1981 aimed at motivating these changes by redefining GEs goals and targets (Cushman, 2003).GE also uses a reinforcement theoretical framework. Reinforcement is use to enhance desirable behavior. The application of reinforcement theory is central to the object and administration of organizational reward systems. Well-designed rewards systems help motivate behavior, actions, and accomplishments, which advance the organization toward specific businessgoals. Strategic rewards go beyond cash to complicate training and educational opportunities, stock opinions, and recognition awards.GE makes good use of the principle of employee participation wherein employees participate in the decisions that determine the methods to be employ in the achievement of organizational objectives. GE provides promotions especially for those employees that obtain comforting performances as evaluated by the human resource department and approved by managerial committees (Cushman, 2003). Furthermore, incentives vary from salary increase to travel privileges where the main aim is to motivate the workforce.Group doingsA group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives (Robbins, 2005). Groups can be e ither formal or informal. According to Robbins (2005) these two groups are described asFormal groups Defined by the organizations structure, with designated work assignments establishing tasks.In formal groups Encompass the behaviors that one should engage in are stipulated by and directed toward organizational goals.From 1985 up to the present, General Electric started to place in service work teams in order to facilitate cooperative behavior and leadership as aimed by their high-involvement strategy (Miller, 2002). As far as team building, GE implements a Five- tip Model for group development within the organization. According to Robbins (2005) the five peglegs accommodate forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. In addition to these five stages GE has also enforced a pre-stage. According to Miller (2002) the breakdown for GEs five stage model is as followsPre-stage 1 GE screens the capacity of every employee upon application andall throughout performance in or der to disseminate employees in the rightful function.Stage 1 Forming Upon achieving the rightful components of the team through HR jurisdiction based on employee evaluation, formation of the tem is initiated.Stage 2 Storming Work teams are in effect given new _property rights_ while being guaranteed a great deal of control over performance standards.Stage 3 Norming Work teams are given strong guarantees of employment protection to ensure that employees do not put themselves out of work by increasing production.Stage 4 Performing Workers were generally guaranteed opportunities for training, restraining, and promotion.Stage 5 Adjourning Fourth, compensation schemes have been changed in order to provide equity among work teams in the firm through profit-sharing plans or stock ownership plans.Organizational CultureOrganizational culture is comprised of the mind-set, experiences, beliefs and values of an organization and its employees. Currently, there are seven primary characteristic s of organizational culture as described by Robbins (2005) innovation and risk taking, precaution to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, and stability. all told indications are that GE successfully embodies five of the seven primary characteristics of organizational cultureInnovation and Risk Taking GE employees focus on innovation as their basis for taking calculated risks for change in the areas of transforming health care, cleaner power generation, exploring nanotechnology, aviation technology, greenhouse gas reduction, and spherical research facilities(Innovation, 2008).Attention to Detail GE employees focus on attention to detail in such areas as customer service, quality and fictionalisation of products, meeting performance targets, enhanced decision-making through training and education.People predilection GE considers their more than 300,000 employees to be their greatest asset, and they are passionate about(predicate) maki ng life better with new ideas and technologies (Our People, 2008).Team Orientation A significant part of GEs culture as a global company involves nurturing diverse and cross-cultural teams in such areas as public relations, automotives, global research, nanotechnologies, and marketing (Our Culture, 2008).Aggressiveness Though GE provides the tools and environment necessary for employees to be aggressive and competitive, it is ultimately up to the employee themselves to demonstrate gravely work.Organizational culture essentially provides a company with a cover anchoring point, even if the meaning it carries is vague and only imperfectly transmitted. An organizational culture also involves the expression of emotion, and by this venting of emotions organizational culture can assist employees in dealing with stress. As GE continues to grow and evolve, the companys organizational culture will be subject to triennial changes and updates.ConclusionFrom everything that I have found, it i s apparent that GEs organizational culture is both ethical and customer-responsive. All indications are that GE has obtained its flow status through the successful applications of organizational behavior concepts specifically through motivations guided by specific goals and reinforcement plans. GE has successfully implemented theoretical frameworks through goal-setting, reinforcement, involvingemployees in the decision processes and offering incentives such as salary increases, travel privileges, stock options, and bonus plans. GE has successfully implemented group behavior tactics using the Five-Stage Model, with the addition of the pre-stage described in _Managerial Dilemmas the Political Economy of Hierarchy_, for group development within the organization. Finally, GE successfully embodies five of the seven primary characteristics of organizational culture.Under CEO Jack Welsh, and current CEO Jeff Immelt, GE was able to communicate their vision of Six Sigma and training and dev elopment programs at GE. They were also able to become successful because of a belief in the employees and their talent. One of the most important traits a leader can have besides communication skills is the ability to set the potential of an individual and make that individual not only cope with it too but also live up to that potential. Based on the above findings, my evaluation of GEs organizational culture is that they do provide a strong framework for positive attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values that would be appealing to almost anyone looking for job satisfaction and advancement within an organization.ReferenceArgenti, P. A. (2002). _The Fast Forward MBA Pocket Reference_. John Wiley and Sons.Cushman, D. P. (2003). Communication opera hat Practices at Dell, General Electric, Microsoft, andMonsanto. SUNY Press.Immelt, J. (2005). _GE supposition at work_. Retrieved whitethorn 17, 2008, fromhttp//www.ge.com/company/leadership/index.htmlInnovation (2008). _GE Imaginatio n at work_. Retrieved May 28, 2008, fromhttp//www.ge.com/innovation/index.htmlKPMG, (2007). The age of ethics. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from KPMG Web site http//www-old.itcilo.org/actrav/actrav-english/telearn/global/ilo/code/ageof.htmLeadership Programs (2008). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved May 18, 2008, fromhttp//www.gecareers.com/GECAREERS/html/us/ourPeople/leadership.htmlMiller, G. J. (2002). Managerial Dilemmas The Political Economy of Hierarchy. CambridgeUniversity Press.Our Culture (2008). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved May 18, 2008, fromhttp//www.ge.com/company/culture/index.htmlOur People (2008). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved May 18, 2008, from http//www.ge.com/company/culture/people.htmlParhizgar, K. D. (2002). Multicultural Behavior and international Business Environments. HaworthPress.Robbins, S. P. (2005). _Organizational behavior_ (11 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ PearsonEducation.Six Sigma, 2008 Retrieved May 31, 2008, from GE Web sitehttp//www.ge.com/ railservices/about/sixsigma.htmlStroh, L. K., Northcraft, G. B., & Neale, M. (2002). _Organizational Behavior A Management__Challenge_. New York, U.S Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Vasu, M., Stewart, D., & Garson, D. (1998). _Organizational Behavior and Public Management_.CRC Press.