"I'm an Egyptian revolutionary! And I helped topple a dictator!"
That was the latest tweet from @Nadia, one of the many protestors I was following, it was the message I was waiting for, Hosni Mubaraks 30 yr stranglehold was over. I received the tweet even beforer the mainstream news could get it out. How appropriate that the revolution that was organized with Facebook, IM & twitter, got the results out on Twitter, a tweet to end all tweets. The groups had mobilised and organized using twitter and facebook, a tactic that totally took the dictatorship by surprise. Mainly because there was no central activist group/leader who could be whisked away to be put behind bars, therby quelling the uprising. It was almost a week into the 18 day protest before Mubarak took out the Egyptian internet, like the whole country plugged out, but it was too late, the protestors organized using txtmsgs. Similarily, during the protests Mubarak couldnt negotiate with one individual as there really wasnt a leader, it was a neboulous grassroots movement, practically the whole country and their demand was non-negotiable. Social media ensured that the protestors got the whole worlds attention & sympathy in real-time, and forced Mubaraks hand.
The connections people make through the sense of organizational citizenship is a powerful thing. As demonstrated in the large organized protest in Egypt it can topple a government. Generally speaking, when people gain a sense of citizenship within the group they are involved in they become more motivated and in turn more productive.
However, just as the sense of citizenship can bring people together, it can also isolate people, whether it's isolation of outsiders or isolation of the one group from others. When citizenship goes to the extreme the issue this would cause is the inability for unbiased analysis of situations because in organizational citizenship the beliefs of the organization usually becomes ones' core belief as well.
Organizational behavior invokes visions of the "rule of the masses" that Thomas Jefferson warned about.
Even in Egypt's example, fierce nationalism can quickly turn into unabated irrationalism as the tempered majority lose weight to the vocal minority and what started as a productive political exercise can quickly turn into something more. The resourcefulness of the Egyptian youth to not fall into this decades old tactic used by their hated autocrats is a great testament to their ideologies positioning, but nevertheless, even with massive communication lines, an Organization's Citizenry must be policed so that all can be heard equally and no one can be squelched for undue causes.
OCB describe actions in which employees are willing to go above and beyond their prescribed role requirements. After few months of Egypt’s revolution another country called "Libya" is ready to see consequences of OCB.
Libya, an oil-rich nation in North Africa, has been under the control of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi since he seized power in 1969. Protests broke out in Feb 2011 in several parts of Libya and were spontaneous. It began with relatively organized antigovernment groups. While brutal attacks between Col Qaddaffi and rebels are going on, success of this uprising, caused by OCB depends on several factors.
Several studies have been conducted till now to relate OCBs and organizational success. In general civic virtue, sportsmanship, helping behavior, unit-level performance, customer satisfaction, altruism, conscientiousness, and courtesy are some of the factors which make an organization successful using OCBs.
Several studies and experiments have been conducted to measure OCB. OCB is not tangible. It can’t be measured by any units. However definitions vary from study to study to get hold of OCB. Scientists measure OCB by looking at several aspects of a study. When trying to measure success of a manufacturing facility, scientists consider each and every element contributing toward success and measure success on the scale, say 1 to 7 or so. Therefore all success factors based on their contribution can be measured.
Today, OCB can be distinguished from traditional in-role performance. For an organization to be successful, it is important to select and retain those employees who are aware of organization's mission, goals and values, satisfied with their co-workers. Also it is necessary that employee feel citizen of that group or organization.
We can look at organizational citizenship as if it were a country's citizenship. Do you meet the requirements to become a citizen? It depends on whether or not you can embrace the company's culture, follow its traditions, and welcome its mission statement as if it were your own. Are you willing to make such a commitment and renounce all other citizenship you may possess? This one is actually an ethical issue, as many companies require employees not to be employed with other firms, especially the competition. Confidential information can be "sold" for a profit to competitors. Whether or not a candidate can become a "citizen" of a company is a mutual decision; the company has to decide if it wants to offer the candidate citizenship and the candidate has to decided if he/she is ready to reside in this "country" and also willing to behave accordingly.
"I'm an Egyptian revolutionary! And I helped topple a dictator!"
ReplyDeleteThat was the latest tweet from @Nadia, one of the many protestors I was following, it was the message I was waiting for, Hosni Mubaraks 30 yr stranglehold was over. I received the tweet even beforer the mainstream news could get it out.
How appropriate that the revolution that was organized with Facebook, IM & twitter, got the results out on Twitter, a tweet to end all tweets.
The groups had mobilised and organized using twitter and facebook, a tactic that totally took the dictatorship by surprise. Mainly because there was no central activist group/leader who could be whisked away to be put behind bars, therby quelling the uprising. It was almost a week into the 18 day protest before Mubarak took out the Egyptian internet, like the whole country plugged out, but it was too late, the protestors organized using txtmsgs.
Similarily, during the protests Mubarak couldnt negotiate with one individual as there really wasnt a leader, it was a neboulous grassroots movement, practically the whole country and their demand was non-negotiable.
Social media ensured that the protestors got the whole worlds attention & sympathy in real-time, and forced Mubaraks hand.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe connections people make through the sense of organizational citizenship is a powerful thing. As demonstrated in the large organized protest in Egypt it can topple a government. Generally speaking, when people gain a sense of citizenship within the group they are involved in they become more motivated and in turn more productive.
ReplyDeleteHowever, just as the sense of citizenship can bring people together, it can also isolate people, whether it's isolation of outsiders or isolation of the one group from others. When citizenship goes to the extreme the issue this would cause is the inability for unbiased analysis of situations because in organizational citizenship the beliefs of the organization usually becomes ones' core belief as well.
Organizational behavior invokes visions of the "rule of the masses" that Thomas Jefferson warned about.
ReplyDeleteEven in Egypt's example, fierce nationalism can quickly turn into unabated irrationalism as the tempered majority lose weight to the vocal minority and what started as a productive political exercise can quickly turn into something more. The resourcefulness of the Egyptian youth to not fall into this decades old tactic used by their hated autocrats is a great testament to their ideologies positioning, but nevertheless, even with massive communication lines, an Organization's Citizenry must be policed so that all can be heard equally and no one can be squelched for undue causes.
OCB describe actions in which employees are willing to go above and beyond their prescribed role requirements. After few months of Egypt’s revolution another country called "Libya" is ready to see consequences of OCB.
ReplyDeleteLibya, an oil-rich nation in North Africa, has been under the control of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi since he seized power in 1969. Protests broke out in Feb 2011 in several parts of Libya and were spontaneous. It began with relatively organized antigovernment groups. While brutal attacks between Col Qaddaffi and rebels are going on, success of this uprising, caused by OCB depends on several factors.
Several studies have been conducted till now to relate OCBs and organizational success. In general civic virtue, sportsmanship, helping behavior, unit-level performance, customer satisfaction, altruism, conscientiousness, and courtesy are some of the factors which make an organization successful using OCBs.
Several studies and experiments have been conducted to measure OCB. OCB is not tangible. It can’t be measured by any units. However definitions vary from study to study to get hold of OCB. Scientists measure OCB by looking at several aspects of a study. When trying to measure success of a manufacturing facility, scientists consider each and every element contributing toward success and measure success on the scale, say 1 to 7 or so. Therefore all success factors based on their contribution can be measured.
Today, OCB can be distinguished from traditional in-role performance. For an organization to be successful, it is important to select and retain those employees who are aware of organization's mission, goals and values, satisfied with their co-workers. Also it is necessary that employee feel citizen of that group or organization.
Please could you take this survey about Online Social Networking
ReplyDeleteClick here to take survey
We can look at organizational citizenship as if it were a country's citizenship. Do you meet the requirements to become a citizen? It depends on whether or not you can embrace the company's culture, follow its traditions, and welcome its mission statement as if it were your own. Are you willing to make such a commitment and renounce all other citizenship you may possess? This one is actually an ethical issue, as many companies require employees not to be employed with other firms, especially the competition. Confidential information can be "sold" for a profit to competitors.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not a candidate can become a "citizen" of a company is a mutual decision; the company has to decide if it wants to offer the candidate citizenship and the candidate has to decided if he/she is ready to reside in this "country" and also willing to behave accordingly.