THE MANAGEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN THE WORK PLACE ENVIRONMENT

ABSTRACT

Sensible employee behavior translates to a healthy work culture, a motivated and engaged work force which translates to productivity and efficiency. Employees can at times exhibit patterns of behavior that might be considered as toxic behavior. How employee behavior in a service company is very important as it can determine whether organizations will meet their goals, this is because customers are the most important component in this industry. The human resource and administrative unit of MTN customer Centre in Lagos are based in Nairobi and this might influence on how employees behave. The study therefore sought to assess management of organizational behavior on performance. It was guided by three objectives: To determine how employee communication has an influence on organization performance at MTN Nigeria customer care center. To assess the influence of organization culture on organization performance at MTN Nigeria customer care center and lastly to establish how leadership of management influences organizational performance at MTN Nigeria customer care center. The study was carried out in Lagos with a target population of 50 employees. A census study was employed and descriptive research design used. Questionnaires were used as the data collection instruments and analysis entailed use of statistical package for social scientist (SPSS). Descriptive statistics entailed use of frequencies, percentages and descriptive summaries while inferential statistics entailed use of multiple regression analysis to predict the value of the variables. The study established that organizational communication is given priority at MTNs customer center. This is depicted through the periodic meetings held. Further trainings were availed and decisions made were based on consultations. It was concluded that communication was relatively effective in the organization and it had a significant relationship with organizational performance. There was a strong internalization of organizational culture through the set norms of the organization. The employees had a strong belief in the culture of the organization since it was customer focused. The study concluded that there was a significant statistical relationship between organizational culture and performance. There was effective leadership skills at MTN customer care Centre in Lagos. It was concluded that leadership at the Centre is very effective and further, there was a statistically significant relationship between leadership of organization and performance. It was recommended that MTN needs to incorporate training on change management to employees of MTN customer care. The chain of command in the Centre needs to be made flexible so that information flow from the junior employees to the managers is well managed and is not derailed through the set layers of hierarchy. The employees should be allowed to use their own judgement when getting the job done. This would increase innovation and ideas that could further help to improve employee communication. Lastly on management leadership, there was need for managers to increase on their consultation with employees to be able to get feedback on the organization. The study could be significant as it would generate views and ideas that could be used by the companies to come up with policies to strengthen performance of employees as an effective tool to measure organization performance.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

A healthy work culture is maintained in organizations through sensible behavior from employees (Adler & Gundersen, 2007). Work environment brings about different individuals who are required to work together towards a common goal. For this reason employees are required to adhere to work place rules and regulations. How employees react to certain situations at the workplace is looked at as employee behavior. Hanna et al (2004) perceives employee behavior as sequences off actions carried out by employees within an organization. There are different elements that determine how employees behave at the work place. Schein (2010) however notes that employee behavior is mostly shaped by their own culture and the culture of the organization they work for. These two cultures comes into play between employee communication and communication with management. Additionally, Adler and Gundersen, (2007) view that employee ethics and their ethical responsibility is affected their belief.

The major goal of organizations is to deliver quality in whatever venture they undertake. Internal and external forces usually influences employee behavior while performing their duties. Leveraging some of this forces by employers can result to positive impact on the employee behavior. Need (2006) is of the view that the forces that influences employee behavior include: work environment, technology and demands from customers. These three forces according to Bock, et al (2005) can have either positive or negative impacts on the behavior of employees.

Employers have expectations towards their employees thus this expectations determine how employees behave and further translates to the performance of the organization. Organization performance can be looked at in many ways and at times this makes it hard to define what exactly the term connotes. This term has seen an improvement over time. Lebans and Euske (2006) give a chronology how the term has been constructed over the years. In the 50’s organization performance was concerned with work, people and organizational structure thus was viewed as a social system that could fulfil its objectives. 1960’s and 70’s saw this change to the organizations ability to exploit its environment for accessing and using limited resources.

Managers begun to understand in 1980’s and 90’s that an organization can only be considered to be performing if it uses minimum resources to accomplish its goals. Organizations were being looked at by their ability to make profits. Richard et al (2009) view that organization performance comprises of the actual output measured against the intended input. This encompasses three specific area of outcomes: financial performance, product market performance and shareholder return.

Employee behaviour and organization performance are both influenced by internal and external factors (Gavrea, Ilies & Stegerean, 2011). Organizations can be referred to as high performance when all its units/ functions work together to achieve great results. The result is usually measured by looking at the value delivered to its customers. Some of the functions according to Rahman and Bullock (2005) that are considered for organizations to be high performing include: strategic objectives, business performance measures, allocation of resources and processes, values, cultures and guiding principles and finally rewarding structures. Yusuf, Gunasekaran and Dan (2007) notes that these parts are interrelated and changing one will have an impact on the others.

Human behavior according to Mathur and Gupta (2012) is of paramount importance. Employees who are effective at their work place have proved overtime that the quality of work in an organization has an impact on the success of an organization. Internal and external factors govern human behavior (Kattara, Weheba & El-Said, 2008). Organizations normally constitutes internal factors while external factors can be classified to fall under personal and individual specific parameters. Lebans and Euske (2006) argues that while internal factors can be controlled and managed, a challenge might be posed by the personal external environment which mostly is usually beyond the abilities of the organization. A perfect balance thus needs to be made between the two. Personal issues might be dragged in the work place that would lead to negative performance in organizations.

Most researchers in the area of management have shown an interest in studying organization performance as it is essential to the survival and success of modern businesses (Richard, Devinney, Yip & Johnson, 2009). Components of management such as Marketing, operations, human resources (HR), and strategy are all ultimately judged by their contribution to organizational performance. Few studies have used a consistent definition of organization performance with elements to measure performance ranging from financial ratios, measures of successful outcomes and other relative performance measures (Kirby, 2005).

With the dominance of organizational performance in strategic management, it does not go without being challenged as it is a type of effectiveness indicator with both advantages and disadvantages that need to be understood (Richard et al., 2009). It is upon this backdrop that the study sought to assess employee behavior on organization performance at MTN Nigeria customer care center. The variables for the study concentrated on employee communication, organization’s culture and leadership of management and how they influence organizational performance at MTN’s customer care in Lagos.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

A motivated and engaged workforce translates to productivity and efficiency. The challenge has always been in creating a workplace environment that can foster right attitude and achievement of stated goals by employees. Employees can exhibit patterns of behavior that might be considered as toxic (Robbins, 2001). These behaviors have seen organizations try to come up with a culture that can shape how different employees behave at their work place. Employee behavior might be classified as either negative or positive. Positive behavior are the constructive actions of employees on behalf of the organization, employees and customers while negative behavior is considered as one that destroys productivity of work environment. Kattara, et al, (2008) believes that negative behavior is epidemic and spreads faster. Further, King (2004) asserts that negative employee behavior has ruined many businesses as well as cost employees a lot of money. Consequently it drives away customers, damage employees' morality and increase their turnover rates, cascades to poor customer treatment presenting the organization negatively to the public. According to Furnham and Taylor (2011) negative employee behavior at work place leads to perceptions that people are not good at their jobs, and therefore leading to an avoidance of these individuals, in fear of being held responsible for their mistakes. This affects the working relationship with the team members, and ultimately, the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization management practices.

Employee behaviour is important in a service company as it connect the Organization with its customers. It is further a critical factor in developing effective working relationships with customers (Salanova, Agut, & Peiró, 2005). MTN Customer Care Centre in Lagos serves a large number of customers, however its human resource and administrative units are based in Nairobi which implies monitoring of the employees behaviour is not done as envisaged. This creates a big gap as organisational performance basing on how its employees behave cannot be pinned. Without a close monitoring unit for employee behaviour, anomalies might occur which might affect the whole organisation performance.

Chen (2006) points out that research is lacking in examining employee satisfaction with communication process. Employee behavior mostly is explained by employee communication, this is the human activity that links people together and creates relationships. They thus try to examine the relationship between organizational communication and workers performance. Consult (2013) further concentrates on the impact of management of organizational behavior on performance, he however narrows its focus on organizational culture and the challenges embedding the desired organizational culture. While Casio (2006) concentrates on the economic impact of employee behaviors on organizational performance. He however pays attention only to some areas where employee behavior has meaningful financial impact on the organization. This study therefore tried to establish whether location of Human Resource and Administration units in MTN limited away from the customer centres impacts on employee behaviour. Basing on this, the study aimed to assess how employee behavior influences on organization performance.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The study was guided by both general and specific objectives

1.3.1 General Objectives

To assess management of organizational behavior on performance at MTN Nigeria customer care centre.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

i. To determine how employee communication has an influence on organization performance at MTN Nigeria Customer Care Center.

ii. To assess the influence of organization culture on organization performance at MTN Nigeria customer care center.

iii. To establish how leadership of management influences organizational performance at MTN Nigeria customer care center

1.4 Research Questions

i. How does employee communication influence on organization performance at MTN Nigeria customer care center?

ii. What is the influence of organizations culture on organizations performance at Lagos customer care center?

iii. How does management leadership influences on organization performance at Lagos Customer care Centre?

1.5 Significance of the Study

Large organizations are growing and expanding daily, at times it becomes a challenge to have key functions transferred in satellite Centre’s. This study is therefore justified as it informed whether having human resource and administrative functions of MTN limited distance from customer care Centre’s impact on employee behavior. Further, the study generated views and ideas that would be used by the company to come up with policies to strengthen performance of employees as an effective tool to measure organization performance.

The study also would serve to benefit researchers and scholar in the field of strategic management as they would have a reference point on strategies they can use to improve on employee behavior and organizational performance.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The study was carried out in Lagos town at the MTN customer care Centre where its employees were targeted. The study narrowed its focus on employee behavior looking at employee communication, organization culture, leadership styles and organization performance. The study was carried out for a duration of three months.

1.7 Limitation of the Study

Collection of data for use in the study proved to be a limitation. The needed data was obtained from the employees themselves hence some tried to present their best behavior while ignoring what they considered to be their weaknesses which served to dilute the study. This is otherwise known as the hawthorn effect. To overcome this, the research made it known that the purpose of the study was purely academic hence this helped reduce the hawthorn effect of the study.

Secondly, the study being conducted at the customer care Centre impllied that the employees did not get a chance to fill the questionnaire at their work place as the Centre was usually busy with customers most of the time. Giving the employees the questionnaires and reminding them to return at a later would result to lower questionnaire return rate. The researcher mitigated this by following up the employees using telephone contact which enabled all the questionnaire to be returned.

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Item Type: Project Material  |  Size: 73 pages  |  Chapters: 1-5

Format: MS Word  |  Delivery: Within 30Mins.

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