Organizational Behavior Failure - Enron
Introduction
Employees are the most valuable assets of an organization. Employees work close together to achieve the objectives of the organization. Effective managers should have an understanding of what factors will affect the actions and reactions of its employees. Having this knowledge will help in creating effective and better business leaders.
The behavior of employees in an organization has a huge impact on the growth and progress of the organization. The organizational structure as well as the individuals working for the organization determines how effective an organization will be. It is important for managers to have the knowledge of basic organizational behavior theories that pertain to areas such as motivation, power and leadership. To optimize organizational performance, managers should seek to use theories of motivations that aim to bring about behavioral changes of its employees.
Various forms of motivational theories exist. One of the widely known theories is Maslow’s theory of motivation, which put emphasis on meeting the physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs of employees (Organizational Behavior Central, 2007). Organizations should also put emphasis on ethical leadership theories. Ethical leadership is an important ingredient for someone in a leadership role to have. Ethical leaders need to be able to take action, know the consequences and be able to benchmark the standards of the organization. Getting the best out of employees should be the main motive an effective leader.
The culture of Enron was one of the primary causes of the collapse of the organization. The collapse of Enron cause United States corporations to take a closer look at the ethical quality of the culture of the organization and take steps to make changes accordingly. Enron had a conflict of interest by having one employee play dual roles both of which were...