Organizational Behavior of United Airlines and American Telephone & Telegraph Company
In this assignment you will analyze the organizational behavior of your current or former employer. Describe how the following areas influence the organizational behavior in a negative or positive manner:
Type of culture (Pluralism, Dualism or Salad bowl)
Modes of communication in the organization (i.e., written or verbal)
Nature of authority (i.e., recognized social rank)
Motivational techniques (e.g. intrinsic or extrinsic used to influence productivity and performance)
Areas of EQ (emotional quotient) embraced by the organization
Virtual elements (i.e., teleworking and virtual offices)
Provide examples for each item listed above and discuss how each example applies to the organization identified. Your paper must be eight to ten pages in length and use a minimum of four scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook. Your paper must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center.
Writing the Final Paper
The Final Paper:
-Must be eight-to-ten double-spaced pages in length (not including the title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA Style Links to an external site.as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word Links to an external site.resource.
-Must include a separate title page with the following:
*Title of paper in bold font
Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.
*Student’s name
*Name of institution (University of Arizona Global Campus)
*Course name and number
*Instructor’s name
*Due date
-Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
*For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions Links to an external site.as well as Writing a *Thesis Statement Links to an external site., refer to the Writing Center resources.
-Must use headers.
-Must document a minimum of four scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook, in APA style, as outlined in the Writing Center.
*The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources Links to an external site.table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
- Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper Links to an external site.guide.
-Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List Links to an external site.resource in the Writing Center for specifications.
Organizational Behavior Analysis: UA vs. ATT
Student’s name
Name of institution
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Due date
Organizational Behavior Analysis: UA vs. ATT
1. Introduction
Organizational behavior (OB) is a fundamental concept for companies to manage and nurture employees’ actions. OB emphasizes best practices, workplace cultures, disciplinary measures, and leader-member exchanges (LMX) that lead organizations to long-term success. OB needs to focus on something other than nurturing and managing behavioral actions. Instead, OB emphasizes core problems that lead organizations to inefficiencies. OB highlights employee turnover, productivity, absenteeism, and interpersonal communications (Bryant & Merritt, 2021). OB is a core discipline for organizations to manage the evolving problems, behavioral responses of people, and solutions to accomplish sustainable efficacies in work processes while leading the industry by example. My career journey allowed me to experience OB from different parameters. I worked under different situations and evolved my responses to acquire the best outcomes for my organization. OB contributed significantly to my personal and professional development.
OB could have a positive and negative influence on organizations. The result depends on the connection, resource allocation, LMX, and team communication deployed by organizations while nurturing behavioral outcomes in a workplace environment (Bryant & Merritt, 2021). This paper will compare and examine the OB of my former and existing employers. The parameters would include cultural, communication, authorization, motivational practices, emotional quotient (EQ), and virtual elements, measuring the positive or negative impact on OB. My former employer was United Airlines (UA), which is a leading American brand in the airline industry. I served four years at UA in different positions. My existing employer is American Telephone & Telegraph Company (ATT), a leading brand in the telecommunication industry of the United States of America (US). I have been associated with ATT for more than 20 years. I found ATT more organized and robust with OB than UA based on its modern practices, open communication, and shared workplace culture.
2. Discussion
2.1 Type of Culture
Culture is a foundation pillar for organizations to gather people from different backgrounds and skill sets to accomplish a mutual objective in the long run. Culture defines teamwork and cohesiveness between people from different ethnic, religious, and racial standards. Strong cultures build and nurture diversity and inclusion (D&I), which leads organizations to strong strategic positions (Widarko & Anwarodin, 2022). My cultural experiences with ATT and UA were collectively valuable for personal and professional growth.
Unfortunately, UA had a cultural pluralism. The company received directions from top-management teams (TMTs). TMTs in UA focus on developing strict rules and disciplinary measures to direct organization for long-term results. Cultural pluralism in UA would compromise relationships with employees and customers to implement practices communicated by the TMTs (Majlergaard, 2021). Sharing a personal example, UA would communicate with new employees about strict disciplinary measures and a code of conduct designed by a small group of TMTs. New employees would feel restricted by rules since the orientation kept two-way communication narrowed in the organization. The impact of cultural pluralism is harmful in the long run LMX for UA.
On the contrary, my 20 years of association with ATT remained a valuable experience. ATT’s robust corporate culture contributed to my employer switch and long-term retention. ATT follows salad bowl culture (SBC). SBC allowed me to interact with people from different backgrounds and ethnicities. ATT believed strongly in D&I while defining the corporate culture (Kappes, 2022). The culture promoted two-way communication and removed barriers between lower and top-level hierarchies. For example, I could give feedback to people from different scales and receive timely appreciation from TMTs for their efforts. The corporate culture allowed me to identify process control gaps and provide strategic suggestions. SBC has a positive influence on ATT’s sustainable growth.
2.2 Modes of Communication
Communication modes are essential for organizations to interact with teams and exchange objectives for long-term sustainability. Organizations must communicate effectively to educate employees about situational sensitivities and inform them about potential developments in strategic prospects. Most organizations today focus on open and transparent communication practices to connect internal and external stakeholders (Sashi, 2021). My experience with different communication modes in my former and current employer remained a contributing factor to my career growth.
UA preferred using a traditional communication mode. The company was operating under cultural pluralism, having small groups responsible for making strategic decisions. The cultural values directed UA to depend more on written communication. The TMTs would make necessary decisions, establish standards, and communicate with the employees through emails, press releases, and other written modes (Beaubien, 2021). Written communication practice harmed cultural viability at UA. For example, I experienced high employee turnover in UA since the TMTs would not engage talents to share opinions or contribute to strategic developments. The shared decision-making was absent in UA since the TMTs would inform employees about different parameters, standards, and practices that would redefine the company’s strategic direction.
On the contrary, ATT had a vibrant and expressive communication practice. The company would use a combination of written and verbal communication. ATT encourages employees to speak their minds, interact with stakeholders, and generate efficacy through open communication. The company would take regular employee feedback through internal surveys, providing a participative opportunity to make strategic changes within the process controls (Kappes, 2022). For example, I experienced ATT conducting feedback surveys twice a week, measuring different parameters, such as care for employees, alienation, security provisions, and other actions planned by TMTs. The survey would have an open-ended question that encouraged employees to post suggestions for further improvements. The communication practice at ATT had a positive impact on building loyalty among employees.
2.3 Nature of Authority
Authority and power are products of cultural practices in an organization. A culture with limited two-way communication and employee participation is likelier to practice high power distance and weak LMX. The outcome is the opposite for organizations with a shared culture and open communication practices (Wang et al., 2020). I worked for two extreme power distances with my former and current employers.
UA had a strict and autocratic work culture. The company followed hierarchical ranks in communication. Standards, strategies, and objectives were created and communicated to employees through a systematic chain of command. Employees were not encouraged to bypass the hierarchy and reach TMTs through verbal and written communication. Sharing a personal experience as an example, I sent an email about the internal rights of a system to the Head of Information Technology (HoIT). It was my initial quarter at UA, and I was a novice at the ranking protocols in communication. The HoIT immediately contacted my team leader (TL) about my action and expressed a lack of discipline in my attitude. My TL educated me about the communication practices and acknowledgment of TMTs later. The experience educated me about the power distance in corporate cultures, which kept my relationship vulnerable with the company in the long run.
On the contrary, ATT had a modernized work culture with minimal power distance. The company followed an open-door policy, encouraging people from lower and middle-level hierarchies to interact with TMTs. For example, I found TMTs more responsive to anonymous feedback acquired from...