Organizational behavior relates to the study of human behavior within the workplace and its effects upon performance, communication, leadership and other aspects of an organization. As a discipline organizational behavior borrows ideas and concepts from a variety of subjects like sociology, psychology, economics et cetera. Therefore, the domain of organizational behavior encompasses a variety of approaches that help one understand the nuances of human conduct within an organizational framework. The importance of organizational behavior lies in the fact that it provides a comprehensive scope to analyze how human beings function in their work environment and how it is different from their habits and behavior in everyday life. It also provides the opportunity to devise better management practices that shall not only increase organizational performance but also establish better understanding between workers and employers. Pertaining to organizational behavior there are certain codes that both employers and employees are required to maintain in order to sustain a healthy working environment, which shall foster efficiency and performance. The following section shall explore the relationship between principles of management and organizational behavior in the context of the given case study.
The principles of management that have been famously coined by Fayol shall form the background through which the case study shall be analyzed. As is evident from the given scenario the account deals with the workplace situation in the United States of America especially in the situation with lower wageworkers. It chronicles the harrowing experiences of political essayist Barbara Ehrenriech who, in order to study the practical conditions prevailing in lower wage workplaces, disguised herself as a worker and applied for job in several such places. The truth that her experiences reveal is far from flattering and we come to know about many exploitative practices that are prevalent in the sphere (Wheeler & Richey, 2014). It is needless to mention that the condition is nothing like what we understand of management theoretically. The problems shall be analyzed below.
First, the principle of discipline has to be put to consideration. On one hand, it is expected of employees to be disciplined and obedient to the orders of the management that are made for the sake of the organization. However, discipline is a two way process that it is imperative for the management tool to treat its workers in a polite and professional manner. As Ehrenriech points out, the precarious state of finances of the workers often leads the managers to take certain liberties upon them, which would not have been possible in case upper levels of the workforce (Fayol, 2016). In interviews, the panel often asks moralistic and personal questions that they have no right to ask. It also comes to our knowledge that the employers do not give workers the privileges and the rights that they are entitled to legally (Su, 2017). For example, the franchise owner Ted at ‘The Maids’ where Ehrenriech worked for a certain period of time is seen to be forcing the maids to work through even in case of sickness.
The second principle that should be mentioned is the principle of remuneration. According to Fayol, proper remuneration to the employees is necessary in order to keep them motivated and productive. Fayol classifies two kinds of remuneration namely, non-monetary and monetary (Singh & Khatri, 2016). The former might include compliments, more responsibilities et cetera while the latter involves raise in the salary. However, the instances depicted in the case study shows the indiscriminate violation of both the categories of this principle. Not only are the workers underpaid, they are rarely treated politely by the higher authorities. In case of ‘The Maids’ which charges $25 an hour from their customers pays only a meagre $7 per hour to the maids. Therefore, it is quite natural for workers in such situations to be perpetually demoralized. Ehrenriech’s experience at Wal-mart shows that often the interviews and the drug test are scheduled in such a manner that a prospective employee does not even get the time to negotiate over the wages that shall be paid. This is a clever strategy to pay them less (Morden, 2017).
The principle of order states that the management should be able to provide the requisite resources to the employees that shall be required by them to complete their work. Moreover, the work environment should be safe, clean and tidy (Bernstein, 2014). However, as the case study shows, the workers are rarely provided sufficient resources that shall let them perform their duties successfully. Maids were only provided with half a bucket of water to complete the entire cleaning process. Clearly, it is not sufficient. Therefore, the maids are compelled to make the rooms look clean rather than actually cleaning them. Later, when Ehrenriech goes to work at the Clearview Inn she tells that it is the ‘worst motel in the world’(Rees, 2015). She also adds that she feels threatened to work in that place. Therefore, we can infer that the organization fails to provide the basic safety of work environment to the workers.
According to the principle of equity, the management should treat the workers impartially and kindly. But after all, we have witnessed from the case study, this hardly seems to be the case in our situation (Shafritz et al. 20115). The Czech worker at the Hearthside restaurant is paid less than other workers because he is an immigrant and a certain portion of his wages are paid to his agent. This shows that discrimination is a common practice in such workplaces. We are also told that while employees are forced to work constantly even in the absence of customers, managers have every right to do nothing if they wish. Thus, we learn that rampant inequality is rife and workplace hierarchies are oppressive.
Therefore, from the case study we come to know that several clauses from the principles of management are violated without any possibility of repercussion for the managers who seem to perpetrate such inhuman practices often likening the work environment to a fascist regime (Edward, 2017). The managers can do whatever they wish with impunity because their victims are downtrodden members of the society and their poverty forces them to be submissive for the sake of daily sustenance.
It is needless to mention that the environment prevailing in the workplace exercises a deep impact upon the thoughts and emotions of the employees. This is turn affects the working capability and performance levels of the workers. A positive and nurturing environment can go a long way in boosting the morale and the productivity of the employees and on the contrary, a place where workers are treated in an unfair manner and abused will have a negative impact upon the performance of the workers (Sassen, 2016). Therefore, several considerations under organizational behavior have to be kept in mind in order to sustain a proper and healthy workplace. These considerations shall be the yardsticks that shall be used to analyze whether the instances narrated in the case study are examples of ideal organizational behavior or not (Rahim, 2017). The considerations include job satisfaction, suitability of the workers, existing work culture in the organization, attempts to understand the employees and teamwork. It must be remembered that our analysis shall pertain to the organizational behavior principles under the domain of unskilled labor. Unskilled labor constitutes mostly low wageworkers that do not particular skills for specialized work (Molina et al. 2015).
As our case study reveals, job satisfaction is a luxury that low wageworkers cannot afford to have. Not only are they subjected to abominable degrees of harassment by the managers, they are also exploited financially largely. Their wages are low and they do not receive the benefits that they are legally endowed with like holidays or sick leave. The pressure of work is immense as Ehrenriech’s experiences at the hotels reveal and workers are not expected to take even a minute’s break (Medlin & Green Jr, 2014). Moreover, from the account at The Maids we come to know that they are often not provided with adequate resources that shall let them complete their work properly. In addition, since the wages are so low compared to the expenses that the employees have to incur for sustaining themselves, they are compelled to work two shifts, such hard labor leaves the question of any satisfaction that they could have possibly derived from their work.
In case of unskilled labor, the question of suitability of the workers does not arise. The work is menial in nature and all it requires is physical effort (Dube et al. 2016). Therefore, the management does not have to search for specialized individuals for these kinds of tasks. One worker is as good as another is as long as one can put in hard physical labor. Workers, as they possess no special skill are thereby not indispensable and can be fired and recruited at will. Since they mostly hail from underprivileged backgrounds, they are often treated badly as the worker cannot and does not have the financial resources to take legal action against the managers (Wilson, 2018).
Clearly, one can understand the work culture in the above spheres is far from motivating or encouraging. Managers constantly henpeck their subordinates with incessant and irrelevant duties while they themselves do not seem to be doing anything productive. In one section, the workplace is described to be ‘fascist’. This clearly indicates that the workers cannot carry out their duties freely and safely. There are all kinds of restrictions imposed on them and are not given any opportunity to voice out their grievances.
We can see that there is hardly any attempt on the part of the management to understand the workers. Neither do they have the space to speak up their demands nor does the management show any compassion towards them (King & Lawley, 2016). The treatment they face is extremely harsh and sadly, the working conditions are inhuman. A lack of understanding characterizes the relationship between the management and the employees and this leads to professional antagonism, which might hamper work and productivity.
From the above sections, one can realize that the areas of study in management and organizational behavior overlap in various places. Their difference lies in the fact that the management, having more power in the organizational hierarchy has to adhere to the principles of management whereas the principles of organizational behavior are relevant to both the employees and the management (Ranjan, 2017). The areas of equity, impartiality, maintaining a safe and positive work environment relate to both the disciplines. Therefore, it can be said if the principles of management are not followed then it shall lead to the ineffective implementation of the principles of organizational behavior.
Conclusion
Through the whole of the study and the case related to it, it has been seen that there are different kind of plight that the workers have to face in the United States. The condition of working is too poor for the unskilled workers and they have to face huge employment crisis. Due to this crisis and tough competition in the unskilled labor market, they fail to be free from this vicious cycle of exploitation and huge poverty. The wages are too low and they have to face inhuman conditions and demeanor offered by the higher authorities. The work places do not follow any kind of management principles or behavioral theories. It can be said that this kind of violation of management principles and behavioral theories harms both the employers as well as the employees. The employees fail to get interested in their work and this leads to fall in the quality of the goods and services manufactured or procured by them. This leads to eventual harms of the organizations also. Thus, the organization should take the steps in order to take care of the workers and ensure work satisfaction among them so that both the parties can be benefitted.
References
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