Organizational Behavior - Assignment Example

Organizational Behavior Name Institution Instructor Course Date of Submission Qn1 Select ONE concept in the theory of organisational culture and discuss how it informs what went wrong at Enron, as explained by Sherron Watkins in the Beenan and Pinto (2009) article (see Moodle). Do not simply describe the concept; the emphasis should be on discussion and application. Enron executives’ devotion was entirely focused on greed, power, big profits as well as influence. For instance, Andrew Fastow, a former Enron CFO engaged in the bottom line approaches that only profited him and his most favored staff. Sooner than later, all employees quickly adapted to the poor leadership culture that promoted short-lived bottom line approach. As a result, Enron leaders failed to effectively communicate to their subordinates about the company’s values and simply reacted by guarding a culture that highly valued profitability even if it meant going against the organizational values or at the cost of everything else. Qn2 Given your knowledge of communication theory, what can you do to improve communication by email? Unlike face to face dialogues, emails may omit tone of voice, body language as well as context. Hence, in order to enhance email communication, I can use different subject line for various messages. I can also emphasize on the message by use of capital letters, quotations, exclamation points and emoticons. Qn3 When you are leading a team or facilitating decision making, what will you do to prevent “groupthink”? In order to avoid groupthink, I will encourage my team members to challenge their ideas without reprisals. I will also explore alternatives, objectives, test assumptions and scrutinize the risks involved in the chosen alternatives. Furthermore, as a good team, we can at least have one contingency plan incase plan-A fails. Qn4 Why should managers’ care about job satisfaction? It is important for managers to take note that work satisfactions, directly translate into excellent job performances among employees. Job satisfied staff will experience less absenteeism, workplace deviance and more turnovers. Additionally, staff that feels better about their job often develop more positive attitudes towards customers resulting into consumer satisfaction. Qn5 Identify French and Raven’s five sources of power and group them according to the two categories of formal and personal power. Briefly comment on the significance of the two different categories. In reference to French and Raven concepts, there are two distinct categories power sources; personal and formal. Formal power sources include legitimate, reward and coercive power. Personal power sources include expert and referent power. One can always avoid using ineffective types of power by identifying these various forms of power. Qn6 Robbins and Judge (2013) state that agreeableness (one of the five traits in the Big Five Personality Model) is likely to result in lower levels of deviant behaviour. Briefly consider why “agreeableness” may not always be desirable. I strongly believe, staffs with high agreeableness are often less likely to engross in constructive as well as change-oriented communication. They often tend to avoid creating ‘‘positive conflicts’’ or disagreeing with majority status quo including standing against their opponents, hence translating into a company missing a chance for constructive change. Discuss the motivation issues raised in the case (The Currency of Motivation) from the perspectives of 1) Maslow’s and 2) Herzberg’s theories of motivation. Be sure to move beyond simply copying a description of each theory. (12 marks) Notably, Maslow hierarchy of needs continues to have significant application in the workplace setting and holds a great appeal in the entrepreneurial world. The theory argues that human being tend to have common needs that are often satisfied in a hierarchal way ranging from the utmost basic physiological wants for survival to need for safety , love, self-esteem , sense of belonging as well as to the ultimate need of self-actualization including growth and development. In order to satisfy your employees, a manager should take into account and identify needs in the hierarchy that best suits each employee. In reference to the currency of motivation case, we can note that every employee can be motivated through each level to achieve positive effects on both employees and organization. Apart from giving financial benefits, a company can meet physiological needs by providing flexible programs including fabulous prizes such as discounted life insurances, childcare vouchers and on-job trainings. Providing a safe and healthy working environment can also be a source of motivation in work places. The company should prevent accidents in work places. However, employees may be held accountable in observing healthy and safety practices. It also important for organizations to provide staff with a number of working patterns to choose from. For instance, some staff may be willing to work part-time while others may prefer full time or career breaks. With regard to social needs, organizations’ should provide informal opportunities for their staffs to receive as well as request information on any area of the business ranging from sales data to company products. This tends to enhance the sense of belonging among employees. Increasingly, successful companies and employers tend to care about one’s employees’ growth towards self- actualization beyond the normal job training and development. Today, employers and organizations believes that sustainable success is only possible through serious and compassionate commitment in assisting employers in identifying, pursuing as well as reaching unique personal potentials. In fact virtually any personal growth including a special talents, interest, hobby, new experiences, skills, attributes or wisdom will directly translate into great job improvement. Basing on the Hertzberg’s theory, certain aspects such as achievement, responsibility, advancement, growth, recognition as well as work itself is greatly linked to great job satisfaction. On the hand, factors such as insecurity, poor working conditions, supervision, income, status as well as organizational policies can lead to job dissection among employees. Job satisfying aspects are always distinct from that promoting job dissatisfaction. For instance, increasing bonuses will enhance employee income, placating the working environment but not necessarily enhancing performance among employees. Given your discussion in question (i), what conclusions can you draw about the relevancy of Maslow’s and Herzberg’s theory to the management of motivation in contemporary workplaces? (3 marks) However, there are several challenges with the Maslow theory in regard to practical life working settings. First and foremost, individuals behaviors tend to react to various needs and not just one. Hence, a company may not always provide maximum satisfaction to every employees needs which later lead to demotivation in staff. Moreover, the need to socialize can cause different behaviors in various individuals resulting into conflict of needs. In addition, the difficulty in identifying the exact level that has been full satisfied within an individual is more likely to occur, making it harder for one to measure the level of satisfaction in an individual. Furthermore, there is little evidence that supports the model. As matter of fact, some critics’ points out that Maslow’s model are only practical in understanding the behavioral traits of middle-class employees. In spite of its wide acceptance, Hertzbergers theory seems not to clearly address the fact that when everything is going well, individuals often tend to put more emphasis on the things they greatly enjoy about their work. Whereas, individuals will often put blames on external factors when everything is wrong. Furthermore, this theory presumably points out that there is a strong association between job satisfaction and productivity, and yet its methodology do not address this relationship, hence this assumptions stands to be corrected for practical relevance. Question (i) Based on the principles of Robert House’s path-goal theory of leadership; discuss why Art and Bob appear to be less effective than Carol. (5 marks) As a leader, one should create effective ways of motivating your employees by encouraging them establish challenging but realistic goals. The leader should also provide rewards for goal achievement. I believe that individuals will always participate in activities those results in goal achievement if they strongly believe the goal achievement results to something they value such as status and promotion. On the hand, it obvious to note that employees do not value the rewards offered for goal achievement, they often become reluctant in engaging in behaviors that are likely to lead to goal accomplishment. Bob tends to invests more in socializing and making his subordinates happy forgetting that in order for an organization to succeed, the employees should focus on the bigger picture of goal attainment as well as realization of self-actualization. Therefore, Bob should take the responsibility in providing his staff with the information as well as support necessary for attaining the work goals. He should also tackle the obstacle that may prevent his employees’ in pursuing of their goals. Art on the hand is unable to recognize the demands of his subordinates and thus the employees are unsatisfied with their work. There are neither rewards nor goals that can assist workers in identifying the various ways and paths necessary in attaining goals, satisfaction and omitting boredom. Art should adopt multiple leadership approaches including participatory and supportive techniques that will address the various needs of his employees. He should engage in more supportive leadership by letting his staff know what is anticipated of them by providing clear guidelines, rules and procedures. Question (ii) Explain the leadership styles of Art, Bob and Carol from the perspective of Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory of leadership. (5 marks All teams in an organization are never equal. Hersey and Blanchard state that leaders become effective when they apply a suitable leadership style that best suits their specific teams. Art tends to use the telling and participatory leadership style. Art enjoys reminding his employees on their respective duties and correct procedures. On the hand, Bob uses the delegating leadership that has greatly led to unsatisfied job outcomes by his staff. Last but least, Carol seem to put more emphasis on the telling, selling as well as participating leaderships styles which ensures that no staff is left out. She establishes a clear pathway to goal achievements through directive, participative as well as supportive leadership approaches. Carol is seen helping her employees achieve maximum job satisfaction through productive trouble shooting sessions. The employees identify their weaknesses and challenges and tackle them as a group. Carol holds a high level of confidence among her employees by showing personal concerns for their well –being and reassuring them when faced with low self- esteem and job incompetence. She also promotes supportive and participatory leadership by encouraging her employees to focus on achieving organizational goals as well providing rewards for outstanding performances. Question (iii) If you were consulting with Brako about leadership, what changes and recommendations would you make regarding the supervision of Art, Bob and Carol? (2 marks) Since there is no perfect leader, both Art and Bob should work on enhancing their two-way communication techniques through more participation. They can also enhance job performance and satisfaction among staff by providing rewards, clarifying paths towards goal achievement and omitting obstacles that limit job performances. Carol’s subordinates seem to have a problem fitting in other groups as they are inclined to high attention from their leader. Therefore, Carol should attempt using ‘’delegating’’ leadership style by parceling out tasks to various group members as she focus more on the monitoring process. Question (iv) Based on your discussion of questions (i), (ii) and (iii), what conclusion can you draw about the relevance of the Ohio and Michigan studies for leadership in a business or management context? (3 marks) Michigan and Ohio studies have revealed that universal leadership’s aspects include vision-oriented, foresight, offering encouragement, dynamism, pro-reactiveness and promoting trustworthiness. In relevance to the above case as depicted by Carol, it is evident that employee orientated style coupled with group supervision seem to be more successful compared to production and relationship oriented style depicted by both Bob and Art. Furthermore, Michagan and Ohio studies argue for participative leadership of teams rather than individual leadership and therefore, in order for Art and Bob to achieve maximum satisfaction and good leadership skills, they should enhance and incorporate the above in their leadership roles. Discuss the role that Todd Jick’s ‘ten commandments for implementing change” (see Moodle) can play in the development of an organisational change management path. In your discussion comment on how Jick’s work integrates the work of Lewin and Kotter. Be sure to illustrate your discussion with relevant workplace examples. It important for managers to always analyze and understand organizational operations, strengths, weaknesses and its impacts in its environment before embarking on a change. This can be accomplished through uniting an organization behind a common vision and direction. A successful vision will always serve as a guide in achieving goals. This incorporates Kotters work going against the status quo to innovate a new in the organization. This step is often initiated by a leader or an individual near the top of the company who recognizes the need for change. This can be an impeding company regulation generated internally or externally. For instance, the company may decide to reduce the high percentage of retirement-fee by the eligible personnel. This step will address the ‘‘why?’’ factor. Furthermore, disengaging from the past is dire to a wakening to the new reality. The company should strive at ant isolating its structures from old routines that are no longer useful. Lewin and Kotter concepts focus on unlearning the current habits in order to understand the future challenges from a system perspective. The leaders should consistently communicate to their subordinates about what will occur and the reason it is occurring. Additionally, convincing a company to adapt to new change is not always easy and therefore, a good leader should create sense urgency without fabricating the whole process. It is also important for an organization to be cautious when undertaking huge challenges such as investing in new products in large scale market. A strong leader is necessary to guide, inspire as well as drive the whole process in embracing the new vision. Active commitment is essential in enacting change. Kotter and Lewin approaches attest to this. Facilitators of change are significant in committing to the initiative and therefore leadership alone will never bring about the high impact large scale change. Hence, in order to accomplish this, change efforts should always be broad based including managers and recipients for change such as political sponsorship. A leader should skill an implementation plan necessary for mapping out and specifying everything necessary in achieving the change goals. The mechanisms of changing the status quo as well as generating new approaches for implementing change may be a key antecedent to any organizational transformation. Enabling structures are essential in facilitating change ranging from off-site workshops, new reward systems to symbolic approaches such as reorganizing organizational physical space. If possible, change mangers should communicate openly and promote participation as well as trust of employees throughout the company. Full participation, effective communication and disclosure may not always fit in every situation but can be potent aspects for overcoming resistance and providing staff with a personal stake on the effects of transformation. Last but not least, throughout the process of change, managers should make their top priority when showing commitments towards the transformation process, incorporating new behaviors as well as reward risk taking process. By re-enhancing the new culture, the organization can reaffirm its significance and hasten its acceptances in its setting. And when an organization meets its objectives it always more efficient in terms of costs, revenues and is more competitive. Basing on the Kotter and Lewin concept, it is always important to encourage employees in embracing the desired change as well as permanently institutionalizing the various, processes, products, new philosophy and any other thing meant to be changed. For instance, Burger King Corporation is ranked as one of the best-selling fast food chain in the current global market. When the CEO was asked on how the company keeps its employees motivated, the CEO stated that apparently the company is experiencing difficulty in maintaining high wages and employee benefits due to the large number of its staff. And as result, the organization has adopted a new way of motivating its employees which involves promotions and pay rises. These techniques seem to work and the company promises to invent more non-financial ways of motivating its employees. Read More