Running Head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 1
Organizational Behavior
Student’s Name:
Course Title:
Date:
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 2
Poor Communication
Introduction
I work at Beat Supplies which is a family-owned business located in Iowa. This firm
deals with the production and distribution of mobile phone accessories. The company is made up
of sixteen employees. In the past few months, there has been poor performance in the
organization. After a critical analysis by the management, the main issue happened to be a
communication breakdown. There is very poor communication within the organization that
results from poor employee practices. Of the sixteen employees, six of them come from the US,
five from Mexico, two from Africa, and three are Italians. Based on the organizational culture,
the main communication language is English. Whenever any employee is recruited, this is often
a requirement.
Source of Conflict
Employees have broken the code of ethics of the organization and most of them spend
time communicating using their native languages. During break hours, the Mexicans would
group in one site and chat in Spanish. The same case applies to those that speak Italian, and
English. This practice has created divisions among many. Some misunderstandings have led to
several conflicts. For example, it was noted that some of those that cannot speak or hear Spanish
could not withstand the jokes made by Mexicans. On one occasion, a fight erupted in the
workplace. It was during a lunch break when two employees (Italians) were discussing an issue
in Italian. It then happened that another employee (a Mexican) was passing by. When he
approached, the two were looking in his direction and laughing loudly over their conversation.
The Mexican perceived this as an insult and did not feel good about them laughing, while at the
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 3
same time staring at him. He had to ask but things did not go well as he could not believe them.
This has created a lack of trust. Later on, it was found out that the topic these two were
discussing did not concern him in any way. However, it had caused a conflict.
Theory to Explain the Behavior
For this research, I will use varied insights to analyze the organizational behavior
portrayed by the employee. The first perspective will be based on theoretical frameworks. This
will rely on information from the primary source by Chatterton (Chatterton, 2016). This a relevant
source as it analyzes different behavioral theories within organizations. This will be supplemented by
our course learning material by Kinicki (Kinicki & Fugate, 2020). Especially, the conflict theories.
Secondly, a management approach will be introduced. This intends to bring out the role of
management in employee behaviors. What has management done? How has it contributed to the
worsening or reduction of the situation? This will be a great angle of perception as most things in
a firm revolve around leaders. This will also entail the introduction of the code of ethics used by
the organization, and the agreements made by employees as they were recruited.
The war among the four different groups is competition over superiority. Each member
thinks that his/her culture is the best. Culture, being part of a social institution is questioned in
this kind of behavior. In analyzing the practices, it is vital to employ the conflict theory that has a
clear focus on the kinds of competition that go on in the societies. It is essential to analyze
competition as a tool of struggle that can affect employee behavior and performance.
Communication breakdown is a big issue of discussion and its causes should be traced and
critically analyzed.
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 4
References
Chatterton, T. (2016). An introduction to theories of behavior. In Spotswood F. (Ed.), Beyond
behavior change: Key issues, interdisciplinary approaches and future directions (pp. 27-48).
Bristol: Bristol University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1t89fcp.9
Kinicki, A., & Fugate, M. (2020). Organizational behavior: A practical, problem-solving
approach plus Connect. McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 9781260075076
