Introduction
· Overview/Introduction of Organizational Behavior (OB)
In the contemporary era, the concept of organizational behavior is in the spotlight due to its impact on the internal business environment and overall business outcomes. Organizational behavior is a study of human or employee’s behavior in an organization. Navigating how employees and all other stakeholders are active in the organization is imperative to represent the culture. The concept of organizational behavior will help examine varied aspects, intensifying the distinctness of motivation, improved job performance, and excellent relationships in the workplace. The main components of organizational behavior are people, structure, technology, and environment. In this modern workplace or business environment, there is a need to maintain some settings, contributing to employees’ appropriate or expected behavior and all other stakeholders (Somech & Drach-Zahavy, 2004).
· Background of the Selected Organization
Telstra is one of the pre-eminent Australian telecommunication companies, which nurtures the brand image and growth by delivering high quality and differentiated services for customers. The organization’s primary products and services are fixed line and mobile telephony, Internet, data services, network services, and Pay TV. Telstra is the largest organization in Australia in terms of its market share. The organization was founded in 1975. The financial condition of the organization is quite strong. According to the 2017 financial reports, the company’s revenue is $ 26 billion (Darling, 2006).
In this extensive study, the weight is on several factors or aspects connected with organizational behavior. The principal purpose is to infer the impact of these OB aspects or factors on organizational success or failure. Better planning and execution or organizational behavior aspects can lead the organization like Telstra to the sustainable advantage and success in the competitive telecommunication market. It seems to strengthen the internal setting of the organization to emerge stronger in the external business climate.
Analysis of Four Factors or Organizational Behavior
Several factors can be navigated to evaluate the success or failure of Telstra in Australia. The chosen organizational behavior aspects are stress and well-being at work, motivation, communication, leadership, and followership. The illustration of these factors or aspects in terms of success or failure of Telstra is below.
· Stress and Well-Being at Work
Telstra is a large organization, which carries a wide call center to provide excellent customer services. Nevertheless, due to increasing growth and sales in the country, workers’ stress, notably in call centers, has been increased. Work stress is due to the work lead and customer services complications. It seems harsh for an employee to work in a hectic work environment and become a prominent contributor, increasing stress due to workload and changing the customer services. Promptly, it has been unveiled that stress leads to employee turnover, and sequentially, it is linked to the organization’s failure. With the increasing stress, the organization is putting the talent, skills, and experiences at risk. Employees are looking to find the best places to work in. Yet, in response, Telstra is looking to enable the well-being of the workplace by containing some critical strategic considerations. For instance, the management is looking to examine the customer behavior as a job, including dedication to work, breaks, time management, and standard operating procedures (Ross, 2009).
The company’s most important thing is to identify employees’ needs and wants to bring loyalty and satisfaction back. Retaining the employees in the workplace avoids failure, and Telstra management is quite aware of it. On the other hand, company management is determined to sustain success when it comes to well eking. This organization has initiated the employee assistance program to enhance the visibility of well-being or both employees and corporation. Employee well-being has been maintained through professional coaching or counseling, along with valuable advisory services. Telstra is using experienced and qualified psychologists and social workers to make a difference in this regard. The company and employees and families fully fund EAP can have it free of cost. The employee assistance programs compel employees to stay with the organization and set the foundation for personal growth and development. It can be said that it is in the best interest of both employees and organizations, and it can just the corporation’s success in the long run. Stress can be eliminated, and behavior can be shaped by demonstrating attractive employee well-being tactics. Telstra is one of these companies in the industry, which continually offers attractive remuneration packages to its employees. The employee well-being’s relevant example is MyRewards@Telstra, as it leads to both tangible and intangible benefits, including financial and non-financial. Of course, it leads to job performance and diminishes employee turnover, which justifies success (Germain, 2014).
· Motivation
Motivation is one of the most striking aspects of organizational behavior, reflecting job performance, and improved management relationships. The assertiveness or willingness to work in the company’s best interest goes in favor of the corporation. Various outcomes can be heightened incredibly. From Telstra’s perspective, the company’s management came up with many strategies to enlarge the perceptibility of motivation. The intent to motivate employees and the response of the whole workforce reflects organizational behavior. For instance, the firm encourages employees by helping them thrive in their careers. In call centers and many other business functions, the management always identifies employees’ skills and talents and allows them to groom in the relevant field. It is implausible to support or employees in the internal business setting, and of course, employees are the primary beneficiaries (Mikkelsen et al., 2017).
Despite containing some weaknesses, the organization always assists employees in developing skills and integrating with the learning opportunities. Another critical strategy which has been implemented in the internal business environment is the work-life balance. As discussed, the administration identified employees’ professional and social needs and initiated the work-life balance program accordingly. Employees are motivated because they are in a better position to keep the balance between a professional and social life (Burgess & Paguio, 2016).
Keeping the balance between family life and corporation contribution is key, which can improve performance, enhance satisfaction, and build relationships. It is a depiction of the organizational behavior, which is to be derived by the management and employees to earn expected outcomes. Employee motivation has been augmented by recognizing the employees’ efforts in the workplace. The top management’s appreciation is always attractive for employees, which improves his assertiveness to work hard. Health insurance, attractive salary packages, and transportation services for employees are vital benefits, increasing employee facilitation and motivation in Telstra. Motivated employees are eternally in a position to contribute to the value of workplace outcomes, and it justifies success. The motivation is associated with employee engagement, as identifying loopholes or weaknesses leads to improved job performance. Consequently, the firm can develop differentiated telecommunication services and incredible customer services, and employees are motivated, dedicated, and well trained by the company (Cooke, 2010).
· Communication
The communication process has become a critical aspect of the organization in terms of organizational behavior. Many types of communication have been carried out in Telstra Company. For instance, the main types of communication types are internal, external, upward, downward, formal m informal, lateral, and interactive communication. Depending on the needs of the stakeholders and business functions, the company adopts the pertinent communication style. Effective communication is enabled in this organization to ensure an incredible flow of knowledge or information. The intention to communicate with particular communication patterns and norms reflects the organizational behavior, leading to success (Blidaru & Blidaru, 2015). Of course, the ineffective communication process can lead to the failure of these telecommunication giants. With the perspective of Telstra, effective communication has become a building block of an organization. The communication process in the internal business environment is aligned with the native culture of Australia. For instance, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions exposed that there is less power distance in the country. So, the gap between managers and employees working at the bottom line is reduced, as both upward and downward communication is always in the spotlight. With the perspective of employee performance and satisfaction, effective communication is ensured in this telecommunication giant to motivate employees. They are still in a better position to get insights concerning tasks and work assignments. The communication process has enabled perfect coordination between management and employees, which led to success. It is a communication that allows this organization to portray employees’ roles and responsibilities in the workplace. Of course, if roles and duties are not defined effectively, backed by ineffective communication, the chances of failure are high (Haroon & Malik, 2018).
This telecommunication giant believes that advanced communications tools in the internal business setting are better to ensure the rapid flow of information or knowledge. Making the employees responsive in no time is part of the organization’s behavior, and efficiency is gained. Consequently, it can be asserted that tag the Telstra has achieved success due to incredible operational efficiency and effective upward and downward communication. The company has improved its performance of both employees and the organization. Effective communication, which is a part of organizational behavior, can be viewed with multiple perspectives. For instance, effective communication in the organization sets the foundation for employees and manages to make effective decisions. Telstra’s improved performance and success can be justified due to the communication that led to the decision-making process. It can be proclaimed that communication provides insights to employees and managers in this telecommunication company, which leads to the rational decision-making process. When talking about communication led decision making aspects or factors of organizational behavior, it has been exposed that Telstra altered employee behavior or attitudes. It can be affirmed that communication has become protuberant so that company management can alter employees’ attitudes. It is a fact that the employees with adequate information will show a positive or better attitude in the workplace, and it seems a glimpse of success (Cardoso, 2006).
· Leadership and Followership
The leadership role in this organization is quite apparent, as it led to success and sustainable competitive advantage in the competitive telecommunication market. The leadership approach to shape the behavior of followers or employees is critical to gain expected outcomes in the internal and external business climate. With the perspective of Telstra, the leadership team has adopted a democratic approach or style. The management has created the workplace participative culture, as employees are free to provide their opinions, thoughts, ideas, and reservations in the company’s best interest. It can be said that the participation of employees in the decision-making process worked for this telecommunication giant in Australia. The participative or democratic approach reduced the power distance in the organization, and of course, it improved the performance of both employees and the organization (Beerbohm, 2015).
Yet, critically, the democratic approach or style can also lead to delayed decision-making, even in critical projects. In many business situations and cases, the leadership has to take a step or make decisions rapidly. But the democratic approach can sometimes create confusion and questions the leadership power and authority. It is a critical aspect, which can lead to failure in some projects. Overall, the Democratic approach is going well, as keeping the balance between employee and leader’s autonomy is necessary to get things in the favor. On the other hand, when it comes to the relationship between leadership and followership, leader-member exchange theory comes into life. According to this theory, Telstra managed to develop and maintain a strong relationship between managers, leaders, and employees. The intense relationship between leaders and employees or followers is based on their components in this company. For instance, these three components are role taking, role making, and routinization. In the role-taking process, employees join teams or groups, call centers, and many other business functions. Leadership assesses these employees’ skills and capabilities to set the foundation for healthy bonding. On the other hand, when it comes to role making, the manager has to assess or evaluate employees’ performance in groups or teams (Song et al., 2017).
If the leader finds employees working hard and meeting expectations, they should remain in the groups. If employees or followers betray trust due to a negative attitude and lack of motivation, they should be excluded. Eventually, a pertinent routine between team members or followers and managers is set at the routinization. Telstra is in the third stage, and all followers in different departments have good opinions about their leaders or managers. It justifies the inedible relationship between managers and employees, which leads to excellent performance and success (Manning & Robertson, 2016).
These were some factors or aspects which were associated with organizational behavior. Interestingly, these four aspects or factors are explained from the perspective of Telstra. In this illustration, some possibilities in terms of success or failure of this telecommunications company are presented. Each component or aspect contains chances regarding success or failure. Notwithstanding, it is proved that Telstra showed its success the intense rivalry by integrating with these aspects effectively. It managed the work stress well, motivated employees by optimizing benefits, enhancing effective communication, and depicting the implausible leadership process. It can be said that things went in favor of the organization so far. However, with changing and evolving trends in the telecommunication industry, organizational behavior in motivation, communication, leadership, and workplace management can be improved. This consideration will lead to a sustainable competitive advantage in the long run.
Conclusion & Recommendation
· Recommendation
Based on this thorough analysis, some strategic recommendations are provided to Telstra to contain the growth and competitive advantage. The company’s first recommendation is to increase merger and acquisition activities, as share the culture, people, technologies, and the process is always sufficient to alter the organizational behavior. If Telstra feels there are still many loopholes and flaws in the organizational behavior, performance, and motivation, it can find a strategic partner to get things in the favor (Chen et al., 2017). This strategic consideration can improve all critical aspects of organizational behavior, such as motivation, stress, and well-being, communication, leadership, and followership. The second recommendation for the company is to set the proper administration in the place of attention. The leadership development program is to be initiated in this telecommunication company, as organic leadership growth will reflect the company’s actual behavior and the incredible performance of employees and businesses. Another recommendation for the company is to hire the right people at the right time to shape or integrate with organizational behavior. The most important thing for the organization is defining goals and objectives, as it can help both employees and leaders be determined and engaged (Costa & Neves, 2017).
· Conclusion
It is to presume that organizational behavior is correlated with varied factors: communication, leadership and followership, stress and well-being, and employee motivation. An organization has to shape or develop effective strategies regarding these viewpoints to represent the best behavior. The behavior of employees and managers in the internal business setting is improved by following some possibilities explained in the analysis. Nonetheless, due to changing or evolving trends in telecommunication, Telstra got the potential to develop good organizational behavior, which can ensure performance and success in the long run in the telecommunication industry.
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