The health services administrator must be familiar with and be able to effectively employ the principles of organiza tional behavior. Three of the most significant aspects of organizational behavior organizational change, superior subordinate relationships, and organizational commitment are addressed in the following discussions.
Organizational Change
Within the context of organizational behavior, one of the most critical tasks of the administrator is the management of change. Paul Lawrence, while he was associated with the Harvard Business School, said that one of the most "baffling and recalcitrant of the problems which . . . executives face
1 2is employee resistance to change."1 Such resistance is, of course, a form of organizational conflict.
The underlying reason for resistance to change by indivi duals are insecurity, economics, and socio psychological fac tors.2 Individuals develop a sense of well being or security after adapting to an organizational pattern, and to changes to the status quo are viewed as threats to this security. Such threats real or imagined are met with resistance.
Sociological and socio psychological resistance to change is often the most difficult type of resistance to discern, as well as often being the most difficult to counter. Changes which are incorrectly perceived by individuals within an organ izational environment are more likely to meet resistance than are those changes which are fully and completely explained by administrators to the employees. Fear of impending change may cause an individual to react emotionally through the display of prejudices andand cultural values.
To successfully manage change within an organizational environment, the administrator must be able to correctly dis cern the meanings of the actions by members of the organiza tion, and must be able to understand the motives underlying such...