Organizational Behavior Trends

Organizational Behavior Trends

In today’s competitive business world, there are trends in organizational behavior that have a huge impact on organizations and their employees. There is technology which reflects work-related stress trends and ethics on decision making. Every organization has a corporate code of conduct and ethics which serve as the cornerstone upon which employees make decisions based on morale conduct, integrity and trust. The presence of ethics in the workplace can be associated with less ethical dilemmas and illegal wrongdoing within the organization. Ethical decisions in the workplace sustain employees from losing self-control when work and personal life becomes stressful. Technology provides organizations and employees with the support and tools for making decisions easier and in some cases less stressful. This paper will provide the impact of technology on work-related stress and the influence of ethics on decision making.

Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn have associated technology with artificial intelligence (AI), which is defined as “The study of how computers can be programmed to think like the human brain and computers are allow to make decisions” (p. 329). Scientist Herbert Simon believes that computers will become smarter than humans. Will computers become more intelligent than humans? There is reason to believe that computers will become only as smart as the information that is input into it. Technology was developed to help relieve work-related stress among employees in an organization. Technology can become stressful when an employee has to sit stationary for several hours at work; as well as learning new technology.

At Citigroup, computers have allowed customers to apply for loans over the internet without ever speaking with a live person. Once the computer has gathered all the information, it is then transferred to a local office for processing. This process relieves the stress of employees by reducing the amount of incoming calls applying for loans. In addition, this process separates those customers who qualify for a loan from those who do not qualify.

In addition, customers are now able to make payments on their accounts through online payments or automatic payment which take payments directly from a customer’s bank account. This online and automatic payment process not only relieves stress among employees but also for the customer. For the employee, he or she no longer has to process the payment in the office, and make midday and nightly deposits; also, it reduces the chances of thief, such as, customers stealing or a robbery. For the customer, this process is both beneficial and convenient in several ways: First, customers no longer have to travel to their nearest payment office. Secondly, customer no longer has to travel to the post office in order to purchase postage stamps. Thereby, causing a reduction of time and gas of which are both valuable to the customer. Payments can be transacted either from home or work at no additional cost.

Josephson Institute of Ethics defines ethics by stating that, “Ethics refers to principles that define behavior as right, good and proper” (2007). This principle does not necessarily control a person’s moral action, but allows evaluation of a person’s behavioral conduct. Josephson Institute of Ethics states, “There are five benefits to being ethical in the workplace”. First, is innate benefit, where morals is a personal reward; then, individual benefit, it is wise to do right; then, approval benefit, is gaining self-esteem and seeking the respect of associates; next, religious benefits, good ethical and moral behavior can please God; lastly, habit benefit, ethics and morals are incorporated in with upbringing.

Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn define decision making by stating that, “Decision making is a process of identifying problems and opportunities and choosing among alternative courses of action for dealing successfully with them” (p.331). In other words, decision making is recognizing problems and providing a solution that will give good results. Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn, also offers suggestions for incorporating ethical decision making into an organization.