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Organizational Behavior

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Introduction.

This report seeks to investigate how learning from Oprah Winfrey can inform more on

organizational behavior, and help managers become more effective and efficient. By

understanding the organizational behavior trends set by Oprah Winfrey, this report seeks to

inform on various matters necessary for progress in organizational behavior. Diversity in

organizations inform on workforce variations and discriminations in a work setting. Oprah

Winfrey’s attitude and job satisfaction in her organization aims to inform on the association

between attitudes and behavior. Further, the report seeks to assess major job attitudes, explain

job satisfaction and means of measuring it. Also, the paper carries out an assessment of the

sources and impacts of emotions and moods to employees, and elaborates on the concepts of

emotions and moods relevant to organizational behavior issues.

The report also aims at explaining personality and values and their interpretation by

Oprah Winfrey. Further, the report seeks to explain whether different situations affect how

personality predicts behavior. It also assesses the difference between terminal and instrumental

values. By understanding the work ethic of Oprah Winfrey and her leadership style as an element

of organizational behavior, this report aims at describing elements of motivation. Further, an

evaluation of early theories of motivation and effects of employee job engagement for

management. Also, the report aims at assessing goal-setting theory and how to motivate

employees. The report believes that Oprah Winfrey uses proper and effective communication

methods in her organization. Therefore, by examining aspects of communication, leadership, and

organizational culture, this report aims at finding the traits of organizational culture and factors

that sustain such culture. Lastly, the report seeks to describe a positive organizational culture as

effected by Oprah Winfrey.

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Theoretical Framework and Topic Statement.

This report seeks to investigate various aspects about organizational behavior and how

managers can become more effective and efficient from learning about Oprah Winfrey’s

organizational behavior. Oprah Winfrey is an American television talk show host, globally

recognized for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is also a philanthropist, television

producer, author, and actress. She was the first North American black multibillionaire. She is the

owner of the Oprah Winfrey Network-OWN[CITATION 1 \l 1033 ]. She has great influence in

the world. Many magazines and tabloids such as The American Spectator, TIME, Life, and USA

Today have referred to her as the most influential woman in the world. She has also been

referred to as the most influential black person of her generation. Her influence in mass and

social media has gained her a following due to her style of leadership and ‘Oprahfication’ form

of therapy[CITATION 2 \l 1033 ].

By understanding the style of leadership, organization conduct, and trends of

organizational behavior effected by Oprah Winfrey, managers can learn how to be more

effective. Oprah Winfrey is described as a charismatic and transformational leader in her

organization. She approaches leadership as a means of changing and improving people to be

better versions of themselves. As a transformational leader, she establishes a mission and vision

for herself and the people she leads. Therefore, she is able to inspire work ethic and great

organizational conduct through high expectations and effective communication[CITATION 3 \l

1033 ]. In so doing, Oprah Winfrey can encourage the use of intelligence to find solutions to

problems and at the same time, achieve a personal sense of satisfaction in her employees.

Further, by being a transformational leader, she allows her fellow workmates to get in touch with
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their emotions, moods, ethics[CITATION 4 \l 1033 ]. The workmates can hence aid create a

sustainable work culture and better organizational behavior.

Managers in organizations can better lead and inform employees by learning a thing or

two from Oprah Winfrey. Organizational behavior is an amalgamation of leadership technique,

ethic, and discipline. Managers are leaders in organizations. Therefore, they essentially set the

pace of how the employees can conduct themselves, and communicate with each other. Further,

as leaders, managers create an environment where employees can achieve set goals and

objectives and understand how to go about different work situations[CITATION 5 \l 1033 ].

Since most organizations have closely related issues due to having a workforce made of people,

the leadership styles and elements of organizational behavior are equally closely related.

Therefore, theoretically, by learning about the organizational elements and dynamics of Oprah

Winfrey, managers can be better informed about their organizations and become more effective

and efficient.

Methodology.

This report uses a qualitative approach to meet its objectives. The report sought

information about Oprah Winfrey’s organizational conduct from journals, newspaper articles,

tabloids, and books. A list of relevant questions within the contexts of organizational behavior

were used to seek for information about how Oprah Winfrey addresses the topics. The topics

include her interpretation of organizational behavior, diversity in her organizations, her outlook

on attitudes and job satisfaction among others. The responses were categorized under each topic

and assessed by the writer and a panel of ten individuals in various managerial positions. A

survey that had questions under each subtopic were responded to by the panel. The questions

varied between how Oprah Winfrey approaches certain organizational behavior issues and how
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the managers approached them. A measure of the validity of the responses were awarded. The

measure was between 1 to 5, and assessed the possible impact that the response would have if

implemented by the individuals in managerial positions in their workplaces. The survey is

attached in the Appendix section.

Further, this report used statistical methods for assessing the impact that each response, if

applied in various workplaces, could have in the organization. The use of graphs and histograms

came in handy in displaying the results of the assessment. Each section of the survey had 3

minimum questions that the report sought answers from about Oprah Winfrey’s approach to

organizational behavior. Also, the questions that the panelists had in the survey were intended to

inform the report about different mindsets concerning organizational behavior. Since each

panelist had different approaches and thoughts towards the understanding of organizational

behavior, the use of a standardized survey shed more light on the comprehension of

organizational behavior. In the same way, the panelists were asked to rate whether they would

use Oprah Winfrey’s tactics to organizational behavior and the results tallied.

Results.

Of the 10 panelists, 7 had a comprehensive understanding of organizational behavior. The

7 could define and elaborate the meaning of organizational behavior in detail. The other 3 had a

basic understanding of organizational behavior. The 10 panelists had got experience about

organizational behavior from experience. 8 out of the 10 individuals understood the major forms

of diversity in a workplace and the importance of workforce variations in the context of

organizational behavior. A majority of the panelists comprehended the relevance of workforce

diversity and its abilities to organizational behavior. In the same way, a majority of the

individuals were able to assess the dynamics of attitudes of employees and job satisfaction. They
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were able to address the link between major job attitudes and behavior, explain job satisfaction

and how to quantify it. The 10 respondents were familiar with Oprah Winfrey’s style of

leadership and had an understanding of her approach to organizational behavior as a leader and a

manager.

A minority of the respondents were able to clearly distinguish between emotions and

moods. Of the 10 respondents, 4 paraphrased the meaning of emotions and moods, and further

determined the rationality of emotions and functions in the context of an organization. A few

respondents were able to characterize the sources of emotions and moods in a workplace and

explain how emotional labor impacts employees in their discussion. Further, the respondents

were queried on whether they felt that Oprah Winfrey is a better leader or manager due to the use

of ‘Oprahfication’ as in her shows. All ten agreed that her charismatic leadership and the respect

she has from both her employees and fans have enabled her reach into people, inspire them, and

change them for the betterment of their lives. By that response, the panelists also informed the

report that they understood certain concepts about emotions and their link to organizational

behavior.

The respondents continually linked emotions and moods to employee personality and

values since each individual was different. However, 7 out of the 10 respondents could describe

personality and the elements that shape it. None could demonstrate of describe the influence of

big five traits in predicting work behavior as well as assessing terminal and instrumental values.

8 panelists understood motivation in a general way. The remaining 2 could identify the effects of

motivation on employee engagement in the workplace. All the respondents understood effective

communication and its barriers. A majority comprehended leadership theories. Lastly, 9 out of

the 10 respondents understood organizational culture in detail. They were able to ascertain
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factors that establish and maintain an organization’s culture. They were also able to determine

how such an organizational culture can be transmitted to employees.

Below are the graphical representations of the results.

Report Results

Culture
Leadership
Communication
Motivation
Personality
Emotions
Attitudes
Diversity
Introduction
Oprah's notion
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Familiarity Unfamiliarity

Report Results

Oprah's notion Introduction Diversity Attitudes

Emotions Personality Motivation Communication
Leadership Culture

Discussion.
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A majority of the respondents were familiar with Oprah Winfrey’s story as a leader and a

talk show host. The familiarity can be attributed to the fact that Oprah Winfrey is famously all

over the world. On matters of comprehension of organizational behavior, a majority described it

as the conduct and traits of employees in a workplace[CITATION 6 \l 1033 ]. Understanding of

the concept was made possible through the respondents’ experience from years of working in

different organizations. Further, the major forms of workforce diversity explained included age,

race, gender, disability, experience, and culture[CITATION 7 \l 1033 ]. The major relevance of

diversity to organizational behavior reported included making the workplace heterogeneous and

the employees complementary. It was also responsible for bringing up new ideas and different

ways of solving problems.

The main components of attitude were defined differently because each individual was

from a different sector of the economy. Their responses included cognitive, effective, and trait

components. The respondents’ views towards these components varied due to their backgrounds.

The components of attitude dictate how employees behave as each worker is different from the

other[CITATION 8 \l 1033 ]. Further, job satisfaction and its measurement was interpreted as

response to workloads by managers in the technical field and as salary compensation in other

fields. Job satisfaction meant the feeling of fulfillment got from a job or task[CITATION 9 \l

1033 ]. The measure of job satisfaction was similar across the panelists. It involved assessing

pay, promotion, opportunities, work, workmates, and supervision.

The majority of the respondents found emotions and moods to be similar because of the

generalization of these terms. Nevertheless, emotions are shorter and relative to something

specific whereas moods are general and last longer[CITATION 10 \l 1033 ]. Emotions are

rational as they are a reaction to a stimulus. The various sources of emotions and moods at work
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include personality, moment, stress, sleep, and work among others[CITATION 11 \l 1033 ].

Emotions and moods affect the dynamics of organizational behavior as different people respond

differently to stimuli. The respondents also described personalities differently, as the individual

behavioral characteristics that make up someone[CITATION 12 \l 1033 ]. However, their

perception of personality and values and their effect on organizational behavior varied due to the

different fields they came from. The big five traits include extroversion, agreeableness,

conscientiousness, openness, and neuroticism[CITATION 13 \l 1033 ]. Upon definition of

terminal and instrumental values by the author, the panelists related them to their workplaces.

They meant that the former are views about moral whereas the latter informs on what states of

existence[CITATION 14 \l 1033 ].

The respondents’ understanding of motivation stemmed from how they encourage their

employees-each did so as they saw fit. However, upon being informed, they understood the

elements of motivation as persistence, direction, and energy[CITATION 15 \l 1033 ]. They

related this to how Oprah Winfrey engages and motivates her viewers and possibly, her

employees. The panelists also agreed that different theories of motivation influence

organizational behavior differently. Each theory works with different employees as opposed to

others. They paraphrased their understanding of goal-setting theory as engaging a workforce in

coming up with achievable goals for the organization and for themselves[CITATION 16 \l

1033 ]. Effective communication was important in each of the panelists organization since its

enabled them reach milestones. Communication went beyond the general process of sender,

message, recipient, and response[CITATION 17 \l 1033 ]. Further, due to their positions,

downward, upward, and lateral communication occurred at different levels of their organizations.

It also dictated how each section’s individual behavior affected the overall organizational
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behavior. Communication barriers deeply affected each person’s leadership style. Some were

transactional leaders whereas others were transactional leaders[CITATION 18 \l 1033 ].

Therefore, they communicated responsibility, ethics, and both spheres of leadership differently.

They said that some employees liked and others didn’t like them[CITATION 19 \l 1033 ].

Lastly, the respondents described features of organizational culture on a general basis due

to the general dynamics of any workplace. They included stability, teamwork, goal setting,

communication, innovation, and outcome[CITATION 20 \l 1033 ]. Further, for the creation,

transmission, and sustainability of an ethical culture, employees and managers must be honest,

hardworking, goal-oriented, and work as complementary persons to each other[CITATION 21 \l

1033 ].

Recommendations.

By assessing the various dimensions of organization culture, the following are the

recommendations put forward to improve business ethics. They are mostly based on Oprah

Winfrey’s style of leadership in her organization.

 Prioritize on ethical performance.

 Leadership should set the ethical tone at all workplaces.

 Effective communication and honesty should be maintained.

 Create supportive channels between junior and senior staff.

 Perform quality checks of ethical performance on a routine basis.

Conclusion.
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This report sought to investigate how learning from Oprah Winfrey can inform more on

organizational behavior, and help managers become more effective and efficient. It used a

qualitative approach to achieve its objectives. A survey was presented to a panel of managers

from different fields of the economy. The respondents were all familiar with Oprah Winfrey and

her charismatic leadership style. The results showed that due to the different backgrounds that

each of the manager came from, each had a different understanding of organizational behavior.

Further, they resonated to the dimensions of organizational behavior based on how they worked

with the workmates in their organizations. Nevertheless, most agreed that using Oprah Winfrey’s

approach to organizational behavior is critical to the achievement of organizational goals. Also,

they were willing to implement the recommendations put forward by the report.

Abstract.

The understanding of organizational behavior trends set by Oprah Winfrey informs about

various matters necessary for progress in organizational behavior. The report also aimed at

explaining personality and values and their interpretation by Oprah Winfrey. It sought to explain

whether different situations affect how personality predicts behavior. Also, by examining aspects

of communication, leadership, and organizational culture, this report explained the traits of

organizational culture and factors that sustain such culture. Oprah Winfrey is an American

television talk show host, globally recognized for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Her

influence in mass and social media has gained her a following due to her style of leadership and

‘Oprahfication’ form of therapy. This report uses a qualitative approach to meet its objectives.

The results showed that due to the different backgrounds that each of the manager came from,

each had a different understanding of organizational behavior.

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References

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Baldoni, J. (2009, November 25). Oprah Winfrey and Your Leadership Brand. Retrieved from

Havard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2009/11/what-oprah-can-teach-you-about

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Chrobot-Mason, D., & Aramovich., N. P. (2013). The psychological benefits of creating an

affirming climate for workplace diversity. Group & Organization Management. 38(6),

659-689.

Cobb-Clark, D. A., & Schurer., S. (2012). The stability of big-five personality traits. Economics

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Hall, R. M. (2003). The" Oprahfication" of literacy: Reading" Oprah's book club. College

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Winfrey, O. (2016). Born to unwed parents in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 1954, Oprah Winfrey

was. Women and Leadership: History, Theories, and Case Studies., 290-292.

Zolait, A. H. (2014). The nature and components of perceived behavioural control as an element

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Appendix.

Oprah Winfrey:

Are you familiar with Oprah Winfrey? (Yes) (No)

Below are questions relating to Organizational Behavior. Please respond with the value with 1

being the least and 5 being the most.

Introduction to Organizational Behavior:

Do you understand the concept of organizational behavior? (1-5)

Do you know what entails organizational behavior? (1-5)

Diversity in Organizations:

Do you understand diversity in the workplace? (1-5)

Can you mention some elements of workplace diversity? (1-5)

Can you relate workplace diversity to organizational behavior? (1-5)

Attitudes and job satisfaction:

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Do you understand attitude and job satisfaction concepts? (1-5)

Can you mention components of attitude and explain its relation with behavior? (1-5)

Do you measure job satisfaction in your organization? How do you do it?

Emotions and moods:

Can you explain the difference between emotions and moods? (1-5)

Do you know the sources of emotions and moods? (1-5)

Do you understand how emotions and moods affect organizational behavior? (1-5)

Personality and Values:

Describe personality. (1-5)

How does personality and values relate?

How does personality play in organizational behavior in your workplace?

Motivation Concepts:

Do you understand motivation theories? (1-5)

How do you motivate your employees?

Communication:

Do you understand effective communication? (1-5)

How do you use communication?

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Leadership:

Can you explain leadership theories? (1-5)

Do you understand the spheres of leadership? (1-5)

Organizational Culture:

Do you understand the concept of organizational culture? (1-5)

How does culture and organizational behavior interact?

Can you use the recommendations offered to improve business ethics, organizational culture, and

behavior?