PART II. 9: Leadership and Organizational Development Competencies---Competency Nine (9)---Organizational Behavior, Development, and Culture
Competency Nine
Organizational Behavior, Development, and Culture
Introduction
One of the strong characteristics of a leader is being able to build develop a kind of culture in his/her organization or institution. That then becomes like a peculiar treat of that entity, what distinguishes it from other organizations and institutions, and that will also be characterized by an organizational behavior.
One would ask, what is an organizational culture? What is organizational behavior? What about organizational development?
We will try answering these questions in this competency.
Definitions
Organizational behavior
Organizational behavior (OB) is “a field of study that investigates the behavior of individuals, groups and the structure working within an organization [or institution] with the purpose of applying this knowledge gained towards improving the organization effectiveness,” according to Foundenist (2020, January 13, p. 1).
Organizational development
CFI Team (2022, October 27) defines organizational development as “an objective-based methodology used to initiate a change of systems in an entity” (p. 1).
Organizational culture
From Mahmutovic’s (2021, 02-08) perspective, an organizational culture is “the set of behavioral and procedural norms observed within a company. This includes policies, procedures, ethics, values, employee behaviors and attitudes, goals, and code of conduct. It also makes up the ‘personality’ of a company, defining the work environment (professional, casual, fast-paced, etc.).
Some competency components
The various components concerning this competency are centered around the following concepts: (1) organizational behavior, (2) organizational development, (3) organizational culture, (4) organizational science, and (5) trying to see if there any difference between organizational development and organizational transformation.
Organizational behavior
The definition of organizational behavior above presented it as “field of the study that investigates the behavior of individuals, groups and the structure working within an organization [or institution] with the purpose of applying this knowledge gained towards improving the organization effectiveness” (Foundenist, 2020, January 13, p. 1). In addition, Geektonight (2021, March 17) stresses that organizational behavior is “the systematic study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups act within the organizations where they work” (0. 1), and it is organized into four major theories: (1) bureaucratic theory, (2) scientific management theory, (3) process management theory (pp. 3-5).
However, there are other definitions that put emphasis on the actual behavior of the people and the organization themselves. For instance, Bhasin (2020, March 9) argues that organizational behavior is “the behavior of human beings in their workplace or only in a corporate setting” (p. 1). I do concur with him in the sense that before it becomes a “field of study,” it is first a practice, an activity human beings perform in a certain way in a certain group environment or setting. The study is not neglected though but the definition should first start with what is actually done on ground in a company, organization or an institution.
Organizational development
International organizational development
“Organizational development defined as an objective-based methodology used to initiate a change of systems in an entity, . . . [which] is “achieved through a shift in communication processes or their supporting structure” (CFI Team, 2022, October 27, p. 1), and the advantages of engaging into organizational development for the benefits of the entity goes as follows: (1) continuous business development, (2) increased horizontal and vertical communication, (3) employee growth, (4) enhancement of products and services, (5) increased profit margins (pp. 2-5). This has certainly added a plus to my competency regarding organizational management and culture whenever I am given an entity to lead out.
External organizational development
It is very important to grow the organization externally as well for exchange and partnership
because one should always realize and understand that one never has it all or knows it all (and never will).
Opening up to others allows the leader to see from other angles as well, and that can be very beneficial.
For instance, by the grace of the Lord, I was able to develop the relationship between the country of Côte
d'Ivoire. They came to see that the West-Central Africa Division (WAD) was a partner in development. So,
they granted us a diplomatic status. With such a status, we were able to import all materials or equipment
for the mission of the Church duty free, saving WAD hundreds of thousand of US Dollars (below, is the
first registered vehicle I used to drive for official meetings with a MD--Mission Diplomatic registration).
I am fully aware of the Jeffersonian law of the separation of the State and the Church. However, I really
believe that, when it comes to the development of our biotope or habitat (society), we can dialogue, define
our boundaries, and work together for the good of our common society. That's why we go to the govern-
ment for our land titles, custom duties for the importation of materials for the Church and many other
authorizations to function. Ignoring the government totally in the name of the separation of State and
Church is simply self-deception. By ignoring them, they will also ignore us, and we will suffer the conse-
quence of our lack of civic obligations as well presented by Paul in Romans 13 and Peter in his first
epistle (1Pe 2:13-17) because both the State and the Church are God's servants (Rom. 13:1, 2, and it's
interesting to see that, three times in that chapter alone, Paul stresses the fact that civil leadership is to be
acknowledged as "God's minister" (Rom. 13:4, 6--NKJV) because he/she is one. Therefore, If we fail to
do that, and we suffer the consequence of that type of ignorance or negligence or insubordination in the
name of the separation of State and Church, we will suffer the consequence of such a behavior, and that
is not yet persecution.
Organizational culture
The definition of organizational culture provided by Mahmautovic (2021, 02, 08) above calls for some reflection whereby the organizational “the personality” of an organization or institution (p. 1), in some other contexts, one would talk of identity tradition performed in that entity which, according to the author, presents seven organizational culture characteristics, (1) viability, (2) relationships, (3) performance, (4) evolution, (5) alignment, (6) collaboration, (7) contribution (pp. 2, 3). Moreover, Schein et al (2011) argue that “organizational culture greatly influences the way people behave at work” (p. 474).
Organizational development vs organizational transformation?
One step in this competency presentation was to see if there was any difference between organizational development and organizational transformation. From the point of view of experts, though these two words or concept seem more or less synonymous, they do have some differences, one of which is that “organizational development is a process of organizational transformation” (Suzuki, 2021, March 15, p. 3) because “the organization’s power to drive that change could be enhanced through organizational development and leader development . . . in order to achieve the organizational change [or transformation]” (p. 3). Therefore, organizational development is critical to the organizational transformation of any entity.
Acquisition of competency
Concerning my competency acquisition with regard to organizational behavior, development, and culture, I firs start with what was already done in the mission field before landing with what I acquired during my Higher Ed. program formation.
If I take the example of my leadership position at the West-Central Africa Division (WAD), I was able to establish a behavior and culture of time management starting with the key concept of punctuality (arriving to work on time). I had to set the tone in showing leadership by example. Being a believer and a gospel minister, I prayed that the Lord may help me never be late to work, and it happened. For all the 13 years in that office, I was never late even once. So, it happened that the entire personnel followed my example of punctuality to the point that, one day, a leader from the General Conference (GC) visited us and observed that five minutes before the beginning of the devotional, everybody was seated in the morning devotion room. He asked me how I was doing that. I told him that it was not me. My guess was that the personnel observed, they copied, and it became a behavior and a culture.
As far as the organizational development was concerned, I think that the best way to develop the organization was to start with the development of the human-power. That’s why, with the help of WAD students here at Andrews University as well as with the support of Niels Erik Andreasen (Andrews President), the first set of the DMin program was launched and the first graduation of doctors of ministry on the continent of Africa ever was celebrated in June 2010.
Coming to my Higher Ed. program now, I was able to acquire so much knowledge to increase my competency to better serve in institutional leadership capacity. Particularly when I took LEAD 644 Leadership and organizational dynamics, I was to learn so much regarding the underlying or unseen forces in different organizations that need to be identified, managed, and controlled for better running any organization or institution. I think I feel equipped, empowered to be of good service to any organization or institution that I will be entrusted with.
At the same time, I must admit that there is still enough room for improvement because nobody knows it all, and things keep on changing as time goes by. Therefore, I need to keep myself up-to-date as long as I can.
Conclusion
The above-described concepts have added some significant knowledge dimension to my competency concerning the area of organizational behavior, development, and culture in entities. In other words, the above concepts are really a kind of eye-opener so that, as a leader, I may be aware and intentional about developing those concepts wherever I will find myself in a leadership position so that things may run more smoothly and grow more rapidly even exponentially yet steadily.
Reference
Bam, S. (2016, August 26). Organizational behavior—Definition and importance of OB. Management Notes. Retrieved from https://www.managementnote.com/importance-of-organizational-behavior/
Bhasin, H. (2020, March 9). Organizational behavior—Definition, meaning, types, objectives. Retrieved from https://www.marketing91.com/organizational-behaviour/.
CFI Team (2022, October 27). Organizational development: An objective-based methodology used to initiate a change of systems in an entity. Retrieved from https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/organizational-development/.
Foundenist: Free business information. (2020, January 13). What is organizational behavior and why it matters. Retrieved from https://www.foundenist.com/what-is-organizational-behavior/.
GeekTonight. (2021, March 17). What is organizational behavior?. Retrieved from https://www.geektonight.com/organizational-behavior/#:~:text=Human%20Resources%20Approach%20Organizational%20behaviour%20is%20mainly%20interested,basic%20requirements%20for%20its%20continuous%20growth%20and%20survival.
Mahmutovic, J. (2021, 02/08). 4 Types of organizational cultures (+ Best culture examples). SurveyLegend. Rertieved from https://www.surveylegend.com/research/types-of-organizational-culture/.
Osland, J. S. & Turner, M. E. (2011). The organizational behavior reader (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Schnein, E. H. Greiner, L. E. & Sutton, R. I. (2011). Organizational culture. The organizational behavior reader ((Joyce S. Osland & Marlene E. Turner, editors, 9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Suzuki, Y. (2021, March 15). What is the difference between organizational transformation & organizational development? Retrieved from Coach’s View. Retrieved from
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