REDEEMER UNIVERSITY EDE

THE ROLE OF DISCIPLINE IN

ORGANISATION MANAGEMENT

Prepared By: Olarotimi Ajani (RUN/MGT/15/6215)

Saliu Patience O.
(RUN/MGT/15/6220)and
Ademola Irinyemi. B. (RUN/MGT/15/6218)
Course:

MSM 80/ ORGANISATIONAL

BEHAVIOUR
Lecturer:

Prof. Ebenezer Olutope Akinnawo

August3, 2016

1.0

Introduction

An organization is a coordinated unit consisting of at least two people

who function to achieve a common goal or set of goal (James, John,
James H. Jr. and Robert 2012). People working in the organisation are
usually comprised of the employer (the owner of the organisation) and
the employees. These people are usually heterogeneous, due to their
individual personality traits, characters, and other unique individual
differences. One important principle of psychology is that each person
is different. Each has unique perceptions, personality, and life
experiences. People have different ethnic backgrounds; different
capabilities for learning and for handling responsibility; and different
attitudes, beliefs, and aspiration levels. (James et al, 2012). These
individual differences make people typically unique and unpredictable in
some aspects of their behaviour and also determine the way and
manners they respond to issues, rules, directives and organizational
values. The effectiveness of any organization is influenced greatly by
human behavior. Human Behavior refers to the full range of physical
and emotional behaviors that humans engage in; biologically, socially,
intellectually, etc. and are influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions,
values, ethics, authority, rapport, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics.

(Human Behavior. (n.d.). In Alleydog.com's online glossary.

Retrieved on 21/08/16 from:
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition-cit.php?
term=Human Behavior)
In other words, human behaviour means manifested reactions of
individuals to issues, conditions or circumstances.
This behaviour, which can be determined by biological, psychological,
physiological or sociological factors, could be negative or positive. The
behaviour of a worker in the organisation can become negative when it
is against the organisations laid down expected behavioural standards
and if unchecked may affect wellbeing of the organisation.
A manager in an organisation therefore, needs to ask how individual
behaviours affect their performance and the organizations wellbeing.
The manager should be able to fashion out measures to guide against
negative behaviours on the part of employees in the organisation and
where necessary address breach of the rules and regulations. One of
such measures a manger can introduce is discipline.
Discipline is a form of training that enforces organizational rules. Those
most often affected by the discipline systems are problem employees

-Robert and John (2011). Inability of a manager to manage this may

lead to breakdown of law and order and likely eventual collapse of the
organisation.
This paper will discuss in details the role of discipline in the organisation
management.

2.0

Theoretical Review of Literature

2.1 What is an Organisation?

Organisation means (1) the act of organizing or the state of being organized;
(2) an organized structure or whole; (3) a business or administrative concern
united and constructed for a particular end (4) a body of administrative
officials, as of a political party, a government department, etc (5) order or
system; method. (Organisation. (2009). Collins English DictionaryComplete &
Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved 18 August, 2016, from Dictionary.com
website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/organization).
An organization is a coordinated unit consisting of at least two people who
function to achieve a common goal or set of goals (James et al, 2012).

Fielding M. (2001) defines organisation as a collection of people working

together to reach specific goals. He states further individuals could not
reach these goals if they worked on their own.

Organisation is also defined as A body of individuals working under a defined

system of rules, assignments procedures, and relationships designed to
achieve identifiable objectives and goals (Greenwald, H. (2008). According to
Barnard (1938) organisation is defined as a system of consciously
coordinated activities of two or more persons.
Organisation is a social unit of people, systematically structured and managed
to meet a need or to pursue collective goals on a continuing basis. All
organizations have a management structure that determines relationships
between functions and positions, and subdivides and delegates roles,
responsibilities, and authority to carry out defined tasks. Organizations are
open systems in that they affect and are affected by the environment beyond
their boundaries.(Source: Organization. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2012, from
BusinessDictionary.com

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organization.html )
According to Stephen, et al (2013), an organisation is a consciously
coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people that functions on a
relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.
There are three primary features that run through all the definitions of the term
organization: the structure, the goal, and the people. In other words,
organisation comprises of different people coming together to carry out tasks
in a structured setting, that will lead to achieving common goals or results. For

the purpose of this paper, we will focus on the people aspect of the
organisation.

2.1.1

Organisational People

The final characteristic common to the various definitions of the word

organisation involves people. The people in an organisation refers refer to the
various internal and external stakeholders associated with the organisation.
Managing people effectively in organisations is the most essential ingredient
for achieving organisational success, retaining a comfortable standard of living,
remaining one of the worlds economic leaders, and improving the quality of
life for all citizens. (James , et al, 2012).The most important asset of an
organisation is its people. Therefore, greater efforts must be directed towards
effective management of this important organisation resource.
We will briefly look at the following four common themes relating to people:
interdependency, interaction, leadership and control in the organisation.

a. Interdependency is mutual dependence or depending on one

another. Interdependency is the notion that people within an
organization are dependent upon one another to achieve the
organisations goals. If one part of the organisation stops functioning
properly, it will impact the other parts of the organisation.

b. Interactions with others help create what an organisation is. Other

resources existing in an organisation cannot be put into effective use
if there are no interactions between the people in the organisation.
People within organisations and people who come in contact with
organisations are constantly in a state of interactions. Organisations
have many different stakeholders (an individual or group that has an
interest in the organisation), and each different set of stakeholders
requires

different

communication

strategies.

Ultimately,

communicative interaction is one of the most basic functions of any

organisation.

c. Control: Organisations are inherently entities that must control the

behavior of its members while members generally strive for their own
sets of needs. (Mumby, 2013). Some key differences between an
employee and an employer may exist. One group may have one set
of needs and desires and another has a different set of needs and
desires. For instance organisation may want to minimize costs, while
employee wants wage/benefit increase. This is what is called
dialectical tension. This will influence the individuals (people)
behavior and therefore must be controlled to avoid breakdown of
order in an organisation. Some other examples of these dialectical
tensions are:

Transparency

versus

Privacy. In our world today

organizations are increasingly want to know what workers are

doing in the workplace. As such, organizations expect that
employees work lives are completely transparent and will do
everything from monitoring e-mail and telephone calls to
installing software on workers computers that logs and
monitors key strokes made on a keyboard. Workers, on the
other hand, are increasingly demanding that there be some
privacy especially in their digital lives.

Organisational versus Individual Rights. Ultimately, when

it comes to organizations the focus is on the organization and
its rights and less on the individuals rights. Workers believe
that their human rights shouldnt stop at the front door of the
organization. For example, many workers are shocked when
organizations fire them for posts that are made on social
networking websites. Workers believe these posts should be
private and organizations looking at these posts is a violation
of ones privacy rights. Organizations, on the other hand,
believe looking at social networking site posts is a completely
appropriate

behavior

and

well

within

its

rights

as

an

organization. While this specific example also overlaps with

the transparency/privacy dialectic, the focus here is on whose

rights are more important.
Therefore, there may arise conflict of interests and therefore
dysfunctional behaviours on the part of some of the employee
due to these dialectic tensions. To ensure maintenance of
orderliness, adherence to rules and regulations, etc in the
organisation, behavioral control measures, such as discipline
must be introduced.

d. Leadership is the other term associated with people in

organisations. Any organization must have an individual or
clearly discernible group that guide the organisation towards
accomplishing its goal(s). Without strong leadership, individual
members of an organisation are left to their own ideas of how
to accomplish the organisations goals.

The opposite of

leadership is followership. If an organisation is going to thrive,

it must have strong leadership and followers who are willing to
follow that leader. In addition to achieving the organisations
goals, the leaderships in organisation play vital roles in
ensuring organisational targets; including achieving higher
behavioral

standards

through

motivation,

setting

ethics,

disciplinary standards among others.

2.1.2 INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOURS IN ORGANISATION

According to Stephen, et al (2013), Organisation Behaviour (OB) as a
discipline, is the study of what people do in an organization and how their
behavior affects the organizations performance.

In effect, OB is concerned

specifically with employment-related situations. It emphasizes behavior as

related to issues such as jobs, work, absenteeism, employment turnover,

productivity, human performance, and management. Therefore, a manager or

supervisor must try to understand and learn how to manage individual
employees behaviours at workplace to get maximum results through them.
Most importantly, a manager must learn to deal with negative behaviours that
may degenerate to breakdown of law and order. Therefore, a discipline system
must be put in place by the organisation.. Those most often affected by the
discipline systems are problem employees. Fortunately, problem employees
comprise a small number of employees. If employers fail to deal with problem
employees, negative effects for other employees and groups often result.
(Robert L. M. and John H. J., 2011).

3.0

Discipline in an Organisation.
3.1 Definitions
Discipline in the workplace is the means by which supervisory
personnel correct behavioral deficiencies and ensure adherence to
established company rules. In other words, discipline is the regulation
and modulation of human activities to produce a controlled performance. Discipline
can also be referred to as employee learning that promotes self-control, dedication,
and orderly conduct. Robert and John, (2011) define discipline as a
form of training that enforces organizational rules.

Discipline is a

procedure that corrects or punishes a subordinate because a rule of procedure has

been violated Dessler, 2010.
Discipline should be viewed as a condition within an organisation whereby
Employees know what is expected of them in terms of the organisations rules,
Standards and policies and what the consequences are of infractions Rue &
Byars, 2005. According to Richard D. Calhoon, Discipline is the
force that prompts individuals or groups to observe rules,
regulations, standards and procedures deemed necessary for an
organization.
Discipline is a form of training that enforces organizational rules.
Those most often affected by the discipline systems are problem
employees. Fortunately, problem employees comprise a small
number of employees. If employers fail to deal with problem
employees, negative effects for other employees and groups often
result - Robert and John (2011)
Organisations, in any context, are made up of groups of people and individuals who
are interdependent, and work together to achieve organisational goals and
objectives. Therefore, these people interact with one another on a daily basis to
fulfill their job-roles and to contribute effectively to their organisations. An
employees attitude towards work is a crucial factor in achieving high productivity

or performance, and discipline may play an important part in his

attitude. (Ivancevich, 2010).

Discipline means orderliness. It

implies the absence of chaos, irregularity and confusion in the

behaviour of workers.
Common to all these definitions is that the real purpose of
discipline is to encourage employees to confirm to established
standards of job performance and to behave sensibly and safely at
work.

Therefore, discipline is essential to all organised group

action.
From the above definitions, the following elements can be
deduced:
-

The objective of discipline is orderly behaviour

Orderly behaviour is a group desire.

Orderly behaviour assists the attainment of organisational

goals

When members behave appropriately as per rules, there is no

need for disciplinary action. This is self discipline.

When some members violate the rules and regulations,

punitive actions are needed to correct them.

3.1.2. Punishment serves two purposes: first, to directly punish an

individual for an offence and secondly, to set an example for

others not to violate the rules and regulations.
3.1.3.

Purpose and Objectives of Disciplinary Action

According to Dessler (2001), the purpose of discipline is to

encourage employees to behave sensibly at work, where

being sensible is defined as adhering to rule and regulations.
In an organisation, rules and regulations serve about the
same purpose that laws do in society; discipline is called for
when one of these rules or regulations is violated (Bittel &
Newstrom, 1992).

Disciplinary actions in organisation are taken to serve

the following objectives:
a. To enforce rules and regulations.
b. To correct or reform the offender.
c. To punish the offender.
d. To serve as an example to others to strictly follow rules.
e. To ensure the smooth running of the organisation.
f. To increase working efficiency.
g. To maintain industrial peace.
h. To improve working relations and tolerance.
i. To develop a working culture that improves performance.

3.2 Nature of Discipline

An employees attitude towards work is a crucial factor in
achieving high productivity or performance, and discipline may

play an important part in this attitude. The type of discipline

system used is normally related to the organisation. It is more
formal in larger organisations, especially those that are
unionised. (J. Ivancevich 2010).
It should be noted that discipline has to be reformative and not punitive.
Organisation should aim at development rather than punishing.
3.2.1 Causes Of Indiscipline
Many socio-economic and cultural factors cause
indiscipline in an organisation. At times indiscipline
may arise because of poor management on the part of
supervisor. Insensitive and thoughtless words and
deeds

from

manager

are potent

reasons

for

subordinates to resort to acts of indiscipline. Also

defective

communication

by

the

superiors

and

ineffective leadership may be reason for indiscipline as

well. Other causes of indiscipline are discussed below:
a. Unfair Management

Practices:

Management

sometimes

indulges in unfair practices like: wage discrimination, noncompliance with promotional policies and transfer policies,
discrimination in allotment of work, defective handling of
grievances, payment of low wages, delay in payment of wages,
creating low quality work life etc. These unfair management
practices gradually result in indiscipline.
b. Betrayal of Trust on the part of Management : This refers to a
situation where management is perceived by the staff to have

betrayed the trusts they have in the system as a result of

disappointing

actions threatens their existence in the

organisation. This will lead to negative behaviours on the part of

staff.
c. Absence of Effective Leadership: Absence of effective
leadership results in poor management in the areas of direction,
guidance, instructions etc. This in turn, results in indiscipline.
d. Communication

Barriers:

Communication

barriers

and

absence of humane approach on the part of superiors result in

frustration and indiscipline among the workers. The management
should clearly formulate the policies regarding discipline. These
policies should be communicated and the policies should be
consistently followed in the organisations. The management
should also be empathetic towards the employees.
e. Varying Disciplinary Measures: Consistent disciplinary actions
must be there in the organisation to provide equal justice to all
concerned. At different times and for everyone, the same
standard of disciplinary measures should be taken otherwise it
may give rise to growing indiscipline in the organisation in
future i.e., the judicious function on the part of management
must be free from any bias, privilege or favouritism.
f. Defective Supervision: Supervisor is the immediate boss of the
workers and many disciplinary problems may result from their
faulty supervision. The attitude and behaviour of the supervisor
may create many problems. As the maintenance of discipline is

the core of supervisory responsibilities, indiscipline may spring

from the want of the right type of supervision.
g. Inadequate attention to personnel Problems: Delay in solving
personnel problems develops frustration among individual
workers. The management should be proactive so that there is no
discontent among the workers.
h. Victimisation: Victimisation of subordinate also results in
indiscipline. The management should not exploit the workers. It
is also in the long-term interest of the management to take care
of its internal customers.
i. Absence of Code of Conduct: This creates confusion and also
provides chance for discrimination while taking disciplinary
action. A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the
responsibilities of or proper practices for an individual, party or
organization. Related concepts include ethical codes and honor
codes.
j. Divide and Rule Policy: Many mangers in the business obtain
secret information about other employees through their trusted
assistants. The spying on employees will only produce a vicious
atmosphere and is undesirable in the organisation. Henry Fayol
has rightly pointed out that dividing enemy forces to weaken
them is clever, but dividing one's own team is grave sin against
the business. No amount of management skill is necessary for
dividing personnel, but integrating personnel into a team is the
challenging task of sound management.

k. Deferring settlement of Employee Grievances: The employee

grievances cannot be put off by deferring or neglecting their
solutions. The grievances should properly be inquired into and
settled by the managers in a reasonable period. Neglect of
grievances often results in reduced performance, low morale and
indiscipline among the employees. Strikes and work stoppages
stem in many cases form the utter neglect of employee
grievances.
l. Misjudgment in Promotion and Placements: Misjudgment in
personnel matters like promotion and placements contribute to
the growth of indiscipline in an enterprise. Cases of misjudgment
are carefully noted, widely circulated, and hotly debated by the
employees. Expecting discipline from misruled people is not
possible. Sometimes, undesired persons are placed on the job
which makes the employees discontented, then giving rise to the
problem of indiscipline.
Any other infractions by problem employees against
the rules and policies

of the organisation may

constitute disciplinary issues as well.

3.2.2 Classifications of Discipline
Discipline can be classified as follows:
a. Moral Discipline: This refers to acts of immorality
on the part of staff or supervisor in an organisation
b. Financial
recklessness

Discipline:
like

Acts

gambling,

of

financial

extravagance,

to

mention a few on the part of any staff in an

organisation are acts of financial indiscipline and
such staff is a threat to the organisation.
c. Occupational/

Professional

refers to flagrant abuse

Discipline:

This

of ethics and rules of a

professional body , such as ICAN, CIBN, NBA etc, by

a staff of an organisation. Such acts may lead to
seizure of practice licence of such staff and the
organisation eventually suffers backlash of such
acts of professional indiscipline on the parts of such
staff in form of financial fines and closure of
business operations.
d. Cultural Discipline: Culture refers to all the
knowledge and values shared by a society. In other
words, it can be described as the attitudes and
behaviour that are characteristic of a particular
social group or organisation. Therefore, any act by
a member of this culture that contradicts the
values,

behaviours

representative culture

and

attitudes

of

the

is regarded as cultural

indiscipline.

Often, discipline occurrences are seen differently by

managers and employees. Whereas managers may
see discipline as part of changing workers behaviors,

employees often see discipline as unfair because it

can affect their jobs and careers. Therefore, effective
discipline should be aimed at the problem behaviors,
not at the employees personally, because the reason
for discipline is to improve performance - Robert and
John (2011). For the discipline to be effective, correct
approach (es) must be deployed.

3.2.3 Approaches to Discipline: There are many systems

available

for

disciplining

employees.

The

best

approaches are:

Self-discipline: this implies that a person brings the

discipline in himself with a determination to achieve the
goals that he has set for himself in life.

Orderly behaviour: This refers to discipline as a condition

that must exist for an orderly behavior in the organisation.

Punishment: is used to prevent indiscipline. When a

worker goes astray in his conduct, he has to be punished for
the same and the recurrence of it must be prevented.

Other

approaches

include:

positive

approach,

corrective or Progressive Approach and Negative

approach.
a. Positive Approach: This approach builds on the
philosophy that violations of rules and regulations are
actions that can be corrected constructively without
penalty. In this approach, managers focus on using fact

finding and guidance to encourage desirable behaviors,

rather than using penalties to discourage undesirable
behaviors. The hope is that employee performance will
improve and future disciplinary actions will not be
needed.

The four steps to positive discipline are as follows:

i.

Counseling: The goal of this phase is to

heighten

employee

organizational

policies

awareness
and

rules.

of
Often,

people simply need to be made aware of

rules, and knowledge of possible disciplinary
actions may prevent violations.
ii.

Written documentation: If an employee

fails to correct behavior, then a second
conference becomes necessary. Whereas the
first stage took place as a conversation
between supervisor and the employee, this
stage is documented in written form, and
written solutions are identified to prevent
further problems from occurring.

iii.

Final warning: If the employee does not

follow the written solutions noted in the
second step, a final warning conference is
held.

In that conference,

the supervisor

emphasizes to the employee the importance

of correcting the inappropriate actions. Some

firms require the employee to take a day off

with pay to develop a specific written action
plan to remedy the problem behaviors. The
decision day off emphasizes the seriousness
of

the

problem

and

the

managers

determination to see that the behavior is

changed.
iv.

Discharge: If the employee fails to follow the

action plan that was developed, and further
problems exist, then the supervisor can
discharge the employee. The advantage of
this positive approach to discipline is that it
focuses on problem solving. The greatest
difficulty

with

the

positive

approach

to

discipline is the extensive amount of training

required for supervisors and managers to
become effective counselors, and the need
for more supervisory time with this approach
than with the progressive discipline approach,
which is discussed next.
b. Corrective
Progressive

or

Progressive

discipline

incorporates

Approach:
steps

that

become progressively more stringent and are

designed to change the employees inappropriate
behaviour. Progressive discipline process involves:

i.

First
Offense

Verbal
Caution

Second
Offense

Written
Reprimand

Third
Offense

Suspen
sion

Fourth
Offense

Discha
rge

Progressive Discipline
Approach

Verbal Caution: The employee involved will

be verbally warned for the first time offense.
If he did not yield by taking correction, then
the next step

ii.

Written warning: For the second offense, an

Copyright 2010 Cengage

employee Learning
will be given written warning letter
or memorandum for documentation purpose.
It he refused to take correction, then he will
be suspended from duty..
iii.

Suspension: The supervisor having explored

positive steps above and the employee is not
yielding, then a sterner step of suspension
will be taken. Suspension sends employees a
strong

message

that

undesirable

job

behaviours must change or termination is

likely to follow. In some organisation, when an
employee received warning letters on tree or
four

occasions

without

yielding,

such

employee will sent on suspension, some

without pay, depending on the seriousness of
the

offense

and

depending

on

the

organisations policy.
iv.

Discharge: Discharge, which could be in

form of termination, dismissal or compulsory
retirement, is always the last option to check
out

such

problem

organisation

due

employee
to

from

disciplinary

the

issues.

Progressive discipline is more administrative

and

process

oriented.

Not

all

steps

in

progressive discipline are followed in every

case. Certain serious offenses are exempted
from the progressive procedure and may
result

in

immediate

termination.

Typical

offenses leading to immediate termination

include intoxication at work, alcohol or drug
use at work, fighting, and theft.
c. Negative

Approach:

Under

negative

discipline,

penalties are used to force the workers to obey rules and

regulations. In other words, workers try to adhere to rules and
regulations out of fear of warnings, penalties and other forms of

punishment. This is called Negative or Punitive approach. This is

an unfavourable state that subjects the employees to frustration,
and consequently results in low morale. Another drawback
related to negative discipline is that employee goes astray in his
behaviour whenever there is a slightest possibility of escaping
the punishment or when he believes that his action will go
unnoticed.
3.3 The Effective Disciplinary System
Legal concerns may ensue after the completion of disciplinary
process, due to the delinquent employee resulting to litigation
to get justice if not satisfied with the outcome of the process.
Therefore, managers must understand discipline and know how
to administer it properly.

Effective discipline should be aimed at the

behavior, and not at the employee personality. This is because the reason for
discipline is to improve performance rather than punishing the employee. The
organisation on its part must put in place system that
guarantees effective disciplinary process is carried at all time.
3.3.1

Factors necessary for effective disciplinary system

For discipline to be effective the following should be put into consideration:

a. Training of Supervisors: Supervisors and managers need to be

trained on when and how discipline should be used. It is necessary to
provide training on counseling skills as these skills are used while
dealing with problem employees. Moreover, it should be ensured
that discipline decisions taken by trained superiors must be

considered fair and unbiased by both employees and managers so as

to build up respect towards a system which will help in developing
healthy industrial relationships.

a. Centralization of discipline: this means that the discipline

decisions should be uniform throughout the organization. The
greater the uniformity, the higher the effectiveness of
discipline procedure.

b. Impersonal discipline: Discipline should be handled impersonally.

Managers judge the offensive behavior and not the person. Managers
should limit their emotional involvement in the disciplinary sessions.

c. Review discipline decisions: The disciplinary decisions must be

reviewed before being implemented. This will ensure uniformity and
fairness of the system and will minimize the arbitrariness of the
disciplinary system.

d. Notification of conduct that may result in discipline: Actions that

lead to misconduct can be listed and documented so the employees
are aware of such actions.

e. Information regarding penalties: The employer should define the

penalties and other actions like warnings, reprimands, discharge and
dismissal well in advance. All these action plans must be
communicated to the employees.

f. Discipline shall be progressive: Discipline system should be

progressive in nature. In a progressive discipline approach the
severity of actions to modify behavior increases with every step as

the employee continues to show improper behavior. The advantage

of this approach is that employees cant take it for granted.

g. Documentation: Effective discipline requires accurate, written

record keeping and written notification to the employees. Thus less
chance will be left for the employee to say the he did not know
about the policy.

h. Discipline should be fair: The disciplinary decision should be fair

enough for the employee. Both over-penalization and underpenalization are considered to be unfair for the problem employee.
Moreover, an internal fairness is to be maintained, that is, two
employees who have committed the same offense should be equally
punished.

i. Discipline shall be flexible and consistent: The manager

administering discipline must consider the effect of actions taken by
other managers and of other actions taken in the past. Consistent
discipline helps to set limits and informs people about what they can
and cannot do. Inconsistent discipline leads to confusion and
uncertainty.

j. Disciplinary action should be prompt: The effective discipline

should be immediate. The longer time lag between the misconduct
offense and the disciplinary action will result in ineffectiveness of
the discipline.
3.3.2

Factors to Consider when Disciplining

When discipline an employee, the following factors must be taken

into consideration to ensure effective discipline:
a. Seriousness of the problem. How severe is the problem? For
instance, dishonesty is usually considered a more serious
infraction than reporting to work 30 minutes late.
b. Duration of problem. Have there been other discipline
problems in the past, and over how long a time span? The
violation does not take place in a vacuum. A first occurrence is
usually viewed differently than a third or fourth offense.
c. Frequency and maturity of the problem. Is the current
problems part of an emerging or continuing pattern of
disciplinary infractions? We are concerned with not only, the
duration, but also the pattern of the problem. Continual
infractions may not only be required but also the pattern of the
problem. Continual infractions may require a different type of
discipline from that applied to isolated instances of misconduct.
They may also point out a situation that demands far more severe
discipline in order to prevent a minor problem from becoming a
major one.
d. Extenuating Factors. Are there extenuating circumstances
related to the problem? The student who fails to turn in her term
paper by the deadline because of the death of her grandfather is
likely to have her violation assessed more leniently than will her
peer who missed the deadline because he overslept.
e. Degree of socialisation. To what extent has management made
an earlier effort to educate the person causing the problem about

the existing rules and procedures and the consequences of

knowledge that the violator holds of the organizations standards
of acceptable behavior. In contrast to the previous item, the new
employee is less likely to have been socialized to these standards
than the 20-year veteran. Additionally, the organization that has
formalized, written rules governing employee conduct is more
justified in aggressively enforcing discipline.
f. Management Backing. If employees decide to take their case to
a higher level in management, will the supervisor has reasonable
evidence to justify his decision? Should the employee challenge
supervisors disciplinary action, it is important that such
supervisor has the data to back up the necessity and equity of the
action taken and that the supervisor should feel confident that
management will support his decision. No disciplinary action is
likely to carry much weight if violators believe that they can
challenge and successfully override their managers decision.
3.4 The Final Disciplinary Step: Discharge
The final stage in the disciplinary process is called discharge. This may also be
referred to as; firing, dismissal, summary dismissal or termination, among other
terms.
Discharge is when an employee is removed from a job by the employer. Both
the positive and the progressive approaches to discipline clearly provide
employees with warnings about the seriousness of their performance problems
before dismissal occurs.

Discharge in other words is the end point of disciplinary process, particularly,

when the employee refused to yield to all necessary corrective actions taken by
the supervisor or manager.
Dismissal should be used only for the most serious offenses.
Yet it may be the only feasible alternative when an employees
behaviour seriously interferes with a department or the
organizations operation. A dismissal decision should be given
long and hard consideration. For almost all individuals, being
fired from a fob is an emotional trauma. For employees who
have been with the organization for many years dismissal can
make it difficult to obtain new employment or may require the
individual

to

undergo

extensive

retraining.

In

addition,

management should consider the possibility that a dismissed

employee will take legal action to fight the decision.
4.0

Summary and Conclusions

Organizational behavior (OB) is defined as the systematic study and application of

knowledge about how individuals and groups act within the organizations where they
work. - Bauer and Erdogan (2009). In effect, behaviour of every individual member
of an organisation contributes to the total organisational behaviour. Talking about
organisational culture, Bauer and Erdogan (2009) refers to it as a system of shared
assumptions, values, and beliefs that show employees what is appropriate and
inappropriate behavior.
Any delinquent behaviour on the part of any of the employees may project badly the
image of the organisation and in turn affect performance of the organisation. A
manager therefore must protect the culture and image of the organisation by ensuring

discipline of any delinquent employee to eliminate and prevent unwanted behaviors

from spreading like a cancer through the organisation system.
Disciplinary breakdowns at schools, organisations, and places of worship, community,
governments and the entire society, debar progress and waste resources (e.g. large scale
fraudulent cases under the immediate past president of Nigeria are disciplinary issues).
No wonder the present ruling administration under President Muhammadu Buhari
reintroduced the War Against Indiscipline in Nigeria to modify the delinquent
behavioural tendencies among the populace in Nigeria. This therefore underscores the
important role discipline plays in any organisation and the entire society in particular.

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