Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts

When a child is born, he or she is pure, sweet, and innocent. The influences on how a person behaves while maturing is a matter of upbringing. Parents, environment, and society are only a few factors influencing young minds. When a young man or woman enters the workforce, organizational behaviors (OB) and cultures kick in because that young man or woman must follow the standard operating procedures implemented in his or her organization. Managers are ultimately responsible for their subordinates; therefore managers must be very familiar with the organizational culture, organizational behavior, and diversity of their organization. Communication is a necessary component in today’s organizations because of more involvement by all employees, not just upper management.

Organizational culture is built on characteristics an organization develops in order for members of that organization to know how “things are done, and the way members are supposed to behave” (Robbins & Judge, 2009, p. 552). The United States Postal Service (USPS) has become an organization that is dysfunctional. The organizational culture has become weak. Managers are a dime-a-dozen because they lack necessary managerial skills to work with employees, such as letter carriers, to complete the job. Managers have become amoral, which is stated by Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn as “unintentional ethics lapses…showing bias based on in-group favoritism, claiming too much personal credit for one’s performance contributions, and favoring those who can benefit you” (2008, p. 16). The union is largely at fault because of the way managers behave. When an organization, like a union, changes the whole dynamic of how things are done at the USPS and how letter carriers behave, managers lose credibility. Instead of working side-by-side, the union has taken control