Organizational Behavior: Junction Hotel Research (Essay Sample)

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Student’s Name
Course
Professor’s Name
University
City (State)
Date
Organizational Behavior
In this section, I present my reflections on the feedback on my presentation that took place four weeks ago, concerning Junction Hotel. In the beginning, the exercise was aimed at improving my skills in working in a discussion group, and allowed me to realize the need for working in a group. I did the work alone because I absent from my group for two weeks, due to some family issues. I will use the Reflective Cycle of Gibbs (1988) to interpret and evaluate both good and bad occurrences in the group discussion. Finally, I will explaining my action plan following the questionnaire, which I completed concerning my style of learning, based on Honey and Mumford (1986).
The Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle, which is partly based on the Kolb Cycle, has six steps for completing a single cycle. The first step is a description of the situation, and then I ask myself what I was feeling and thinking. The third step is the appraisal of the experience, concerning what went well and what went wrong. The fourth step includes the analysis to make meaning out of the experience, and evaluate what can be done. In the fifth stage, I conclude and recommend what I could have been done better. The final step involves outlining preparations for future engagement in similar situations. During the seminar, I was very nervous, especially due to the fact that I had a very different presentation to that of my classmates. I was scared that I would go off topic, and I that I did not understand the content of the topic fully. During the presentation, I was awarded 75-80%, and my presentation was unique, because I introduced information that others did not have. The confidence that I conveyed from my nonverbal communication also contributed to my grade. According to Chitty and Black (2007), nonverbal communication consists of posture, facial expressions, levels of volume, and tone.
For my framework of reflection, with the support of the Gibbs Reflective Cycle, I discovered that I lacked some aspects of verbal communication. I had challenges in accessing the right words to express myself in English. I found myself stumbling which made me lose some points, and consequently, I kept checking my notes. Due to this this weakness, I am going to do more presentation exercises in groups. According to Byrne (1996), oral communication is the process that is processed two ways, between the listener and the speaker. The process includes skills of reception and understanding. Similarly, “I believe that oral communication is not only a vital communication tool that empowers us in our daily lives but also as a valuable way to learn, (Stabb 1992)’’. Also, oral communication is essential in improving the skills mentioned above.
My reflection is that if the presentation had been delivered in a group, I would have improved my verbal communication skills, to score an even better grade. The seminar teacher commented that I could have expounded my interpretation on the concept of organizational behavior, something which I could have achieved, if I were in a group. I spent some time studying Honey and Mumford (1992) on learning styles, which discusses the learning style of a person using questionnaire with eight questions. If I had worked in a group, I could have worked with more qualified individuals, who could have helped me improve my verbal illustrations.
I feel satisfied with my presentation even though I did the work alone. I am pleased that I had an opportunity to reflect on how I can improve my next presentation in a group. I will improve my communication skills by researching more. The reflection is rewarding, just like the actual performance, since it gives me the opportunity to learn by reflecting on past experience.
Section B
The Essay Plan
This section will present a plan of the essay that is to be written. It gives a summary of the issues that are outlined in the main discussion. The intention of this part of the paper is to help in developing and structuring the discussion. The main paper discusses how stress can be managed in organizations. The outline of the main causes of organizational stress is given below.
* Leadership. Leaders of an organization are discussed as potential causative agents of stress. Leaders should ensure that an organization is equipped with all the necessary resources. The failure of the leaders to fulfil this role, especially the human resources department, implies a failure to monitor the functionality of the organization. This will lead to a deviation in the performance of the organization. Leaders also have the responsibility for steering their organization towards the achievement of its mission. However, some of leadership styles, such as authoritarian leadership, may create stress in employees.
* Organizational change. The process of executing changes in an organization may also create a stressful working environment. The organization may face challenges adjusting to changes, especially if the changes are sudden. The result will be a distortion in the operations of the organization. An example is a company that adopts the use of electronic transactions, which may entail adjustment time for the organization to embrace the new system.
* Changes in the roles and tasks of employees also cause of stress in an organization. The organization will be faced with the challenge of employees with ambiguous responsibilities, which in the short-term will resemble a confused organization. Stress may be caused by employees managing the challenges entailed in adjusting to new responsibilities. The consequences may be reduction of output of workers which will lead to the organization experiencing stress.
* Individual differences. An organization is made up of people from different backgrounds, and each employee has their personal expectations from the organization. The failure of the organization to understand the needs of these employees will lead to conflicts, which will cause stress in the organization. Other individual factors which can contribute to stress in the organization, include the personal characteristics of the employees, such as their aggressiveness, and time pressure.
* Balance between work and life. Employees’ life and work balance is also discussed as a cause of stress in an organization. This occurs when some of the employees are not able to maintain boundaries between work and home, with too many demands in one sphere or the other, or both, leading to imbalance. As a result, employees may become fatigued and transfer the effects into the work place. This may cause reduced productivity over time. They also become hard to work with in the long-term, and they may develop health problems. This causes stress within the organization, because the relationship between the employees affected deteriorates.
Section C
Causes of Organizational StressIntroduction
Organization stress is a situation of mind unrest among members of a constitution as a result of personal and work related issues. It affects the mood, delivery and the relationship with other employees, subordinates and seniors in an organization. Organizational stress is a product of several factors that cause individual employee stress and negatively affect the operations of the organization (Sonnentag 2015). Organizational change, for example, may increase employees’ workload, and create an uncomfortable and stressful working environment for employees. There are many causes of organizational stress, which include changes in organizational structure, the quality and style of leadership, change of working schedules and business processes, and the quality of communication within the organization which are discussed in details below.
Organizational Change
The first cause of stress in an organization is organizational change, a necessary process which involves the modification of organizational processes, administrative hierarchy, operational strategies, and technology (Sonnentag 2015). It is crucial for the organization to change, to remain relevant in the market, and to compete favorably with other companies. However, changes are difficult for the organization and its employees, and can cause organizational stress. Change often creates uncertainty about the future, as the employees imagine how the organization will be in the future, and whether they will fit into the new system.
Also, organizational change causes instability in the working environment, and employees can feel fearful during the implementation of such changes (Sonnentag 2015). Organizational change causes stress when employees fear losing their status and job, due to the proposed changes. For example, when an organization wants to implement technological changes that will replace members of the human workforce with machines, they are likely to resist the change, because it may lead to the termination of their services to the organization.
Furthermore, employees who have worked for an organization for a long time become used to the status quo of the daily working routine. In the case of a schedule change, such employees are likely to become stressed, as they may not be able to adapt to the new processes that have been introduced into the organization (Sonnentag 2015). A change of working schedules leads to organizational stress, as employees may find it difficult to balance their commitments between their professional and family responsibilities. Therefore, it may affect their occupational performance in the company.
Moreover, organizational administration restructuring can also lead to organizational stress. When an organization changes its management systems, it may compromise the authority of some people, such as middle and departmental managers, causing discomfo...