Organizational Behavior - Assignment Example

Question According to the ethical Dilemma of Dealing with Shirkers d in the book, social loafing occurs when an employee performs less than he can if he is working alone. Such an employee is called a shirker, since he is performing far less that his coworkers. It is important for the managers to deal with shirkers and social loafers, so as to improve the overall organizational behavior. Social loafers can be dealt by limiting the group size; holding each individual responsible for his tasks; and, setting such goals that demand each and every worker in the group to perform on an equal basis.

If a team member finds himself working around a shirking member, he should immediately report this to the instructor, or should tell other team members to discuss the issue with the shirker directly, because a shirker has no right to enjoy the rewards gained by other hardworking members of the team. Hence, confronting a shirking team member is justified in all senses, since it is the ethical responsibility of all team members to keep a check on each other’s performance. Also, team members should not consider it as a region-specific problem, since it is known that social loafing is found more in Western countries.

Social loafing from any team member, belonging to any region or ethnicity, should be dealt with zero tolerance, if ethics are to be followed. Doing so will hold each and every team member accountable for his contributions, and will also encourage all team members to keep a check on each other. Question 2 According to the video, IBM believes that work teams are a very effective way of organizing work within contemporary business organizations. As compared to individual performance, teamwork proves to be very productive when a certain task requires implementation of a set of multiple skills and experiences of different levels.

The capabilities of employees are best availed in groups and teams, and these tend to be more flexible and reactive toward changing and critical events. IBGM believes that good teamwork obtained through a collaborative and coordinated effort contributes a lot to the meaning of organizational behavior. IBM creates effective teams by choosing each team member with his own capabilities and performance level. Every member contributes in the decision-making, so that all members excel in their relevant areas of performance.

An IBM work team makes collective effort, and the end result is more productive than all efforts combined. IBM brings about a more formal structure within teams, and ensures that formal procedures and policies are followed throughout the projects assigned, so that problems occurring due to misunderstandings can be deterred. Also, IBM believes that a leader should be able to provide the teams an effective collaborative platform, so that a shared communicative environment is made possible, where all members can interact with each other without hesitation.

This motivates all team members to make a collaborative effort toward the productivity. IBM also makes sure that all potential pitfalls are regularly encountered by arranging meetings with the team members and keeping a regular check on the outcomes of project modules. References (Note for admin: The customer has not given the name of the book he wants me to refer to, so he will put in the reference himself.)