Management Process And Organization Behavior-mb0022

ASSIGNMENT – Set 1 MBA – I SEM

Management Process and Organization Behavior-MB0022 1. Explain the managerial roles and managerial skills.

Managerial Roles According to Mintzberg (1973), managerial roles are as follows: • • •

Informational roles Decisional roles Interpersonal roles

1. Informational roles: This involves the role of assimilating and disseminating information as and when required. Following are the main sub-roles, which managers often perform: a. Monitor—collecting information from organizations, both from inside and outside of the organization b. Disseminator—communicating information to organizational members c. Spokesperson—representing the organization to outsiders 2. Decisional roles: It involves decision making. Again, this role can be sub-divided in to the following: a. Entrepreneur—initiating new ideas to improve organizational performance b. Disturbance handlers—taking corrective action to cope with adverse situation c. Resource allocators—allocating human, physical, and monetary resources d. Negotiator – negotiating with trade unions, or any other stakeholders 3. Interpersonal roles: This role involves activities with people working in the organization. This is supportive role for informational and decisional roles. Interpersonal roles can be categorized under three sub-headings: a. Figurehead—Ceremonial and symbolic role b. Leadership—leading organization in terms of recruiting, motivating etc. c. Liaison—liasoning with external bodies and public relations activities.

Management Skills Katz (1974) has identified three essential management skills: technical, human, and conceptual. Technical skills: The ability is to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. All jobs require some specialized expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job. Vocational and on-the-job training programs can be used to develop this type of skill. Human Skill: This is the ability to work with, understand and motivate other people (both individually and a group). This requires sensitivity towards others issues and concerns. People, who are proficient in technical skill, but not with interpersonal skills, may face difficulty to manage their subordinates. To acquire the Human Skill, it is pertinent to recognize the feelings and sentiments of others, ability to motivate others even in adverse situation, and communicate own feelings to others in a positive and inspiring way. Conceptual Skill: This is an ability to critically analyze, diagnose a situation and forward a feasible solution. It requires creative thinking, generating options and choosing the best available option.

2. Describe the contemporary work cohort.

Robbins (2003) has proposed Contemporary Work Cohort, in which the unique value of different cohorts is that the U.S. workforce has been segmented by the era they entered the workforce. Individuals’ values differ, but tend to reflect the societal values of the period in which they grew up. The cohorts and the respective values have been listed below: 1. Veterans—Workers who entered the workforce from the early 1940s through the early 1960s. They exhibited the following value orientations: They were influenced by the Great Depression and World War II 1. Believed in hard work 2. Tended to be loyal to their employer 3. Terminal values: Comfortable life and family security 2. Boomers—Employees who entered the workforce during the 1960s through the mid1980s belonged to this category. Their value orientations were:

1. Influenced heavily by John F. Kennedy, the civil rights and feminist movements, the Beatles, the Vietnam War, and baby-boom competition 2. Distrusted authority, but gave a high emphasis on achievement and material success 3. Organizations who employed them were vehicles for their careers 4. Terminal values: sense of accomplishment and social recognition 3. Xers—began to enter the workforce from the mid-1980s. They cherished the following values: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Shaped by globalization, two-career parents, MTV, AIDS, and computers Value flexibility, life options, and achievement of job satisfaction Family and relationships were important and enjoyed team-oriented work Money was important, but would trade off for increased leisure time Less willing to make personal sacrifices for employers than previous generations

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Terminal values: true friendship, happiness, and pleasure

4. Nexters—most recent entrants into the workforce. 1. Grew up in prosperous times, have high expectation, believe in themselves, and confident in their ability to succeed 2. Never-ending search for ideal job; see nothing wrong with job-hopping 3. Seek financial success 4. Enjoy team work, but are highly self-reliant 5. Terminal values: freedom and comfortable life

3. Elaborate the issues related to culture and emotion.

Universality - Emotions are part of human nature and in all cultures universally the same set of basic emotions. Based on his cross-cultural research, Ekman (1999) has found six emotions which are universally recognized and applicable. They are: • • • • • •

Anger Fear Sadness Happiness Disgust Surprise.

Cultural specificity – Human beings are like a tabula rasa (clean tablet) on which society writes its script. In other words, culture and traditions, normative patterns and value-orientations are responsible for not only our personality development, but also appropriate social and emotional development. This makes us functional entities in society. Each culture has a unique set of emotions and emotional responses; the emotions shown in a particular culture reflects the norms, values, practices, and language of that culture. Alexithymia – emotional disorder Some people have difficulty in expressing their emotions and understanding the emotions of others. Psychologists call this alexithymia. People who suffer from alexithymia rarely cry and are often seen by others as bland and cold. Their own feelings make them uncomfortable, and they are not able to discriminate among their different emotions. People, suffering from alexithymia, may be effective performers in jobs where little or no emotional labor. Alexithymic symptoms may be seen in people who experience: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Post-traumatic stress disorder Certain brain injuries Eating disorders (i.e., bulimia, anorexia, or binge-eating disorder) Substance use dependence Depression Other mental health conditions

Relationship of gender with emotion A number of research findings supports the view that women are more emotional than men (e.g., Broverman, Vogel, Broverman, Clarkson, & Rosenkrantz, 1972; Widiger & Settle, 1987). Women are assumed to experience more frequent and intense emotions, whereas men are assumed to be emotionally inexpressive and to have less intense emotional experiences. However, researchers have argued that the stereotype of men as unemotional is more accurate for adult targets than for child targets because males learn to control their emotions as they get older (Fabes and Martin, 1991). Likewise, women and men may experience happiness in a similar way, but women have been taught that they can strongly express the emotion of happiness, whereas men have been taught to control it. The impact of socialization practices accumulate over time, and, thus, these stereotypes are likely to apply more strongly to adult populations (Geer and Shields, 1996).

4. Discuss the assumption of Douglas Mc Gregor ( Theory X and Theory Y)

Douglas McGregor was another contributor to the human relations movement. He formulated two sets of assumptions – Theory X and Theory Y about human nature. Theory X posited a negative view of people stating that this category have little ambition, dislike work, want to avoid responsibility and need to be closely directed at workplace. Theory Y category on the other hand proposed a positive view of people stating that they can exercise self direction, assume responsibility and considered work as a natural activity. McGregor personally believed that Theory Y described best the nature of people at work and therefore form the basis of all management practices in organizations. Managers should give freedom to their subordinates in order to unleash their full creative and productive potential 5. What is personal power – Explain different bases of personal power?

Personal power resides in the individual and is independent of that individual’s position. . Three bases of personal power are expertise, rational persuasion, and reference. Expert power is the ability to control another person’s behavior by virtue of possessing knowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person lacks, but needs. A subordinate obeys a supervisor possessing expert power because the boss ordinarily knows more about what is to be done or how it is to be done than does the subordinate. Expert power is relative, not absolute. However the table may turn in case the subordinate has superior knowledge or skills than his/ her boss. In this age of technology driven environments, the second proposition holds true in many occasions where the boss is dependent heavily on the juniors for technologically oriented support. Rational persuasion is the ability to control another’s behavior, since, through the individual’s efforts; the person accepts the desirability of an offered goal and a viable way of achieving it. Rational persuasion involves both explaining the desirability of expected outcomes and showing how specific actions will achieve these outcomes. Referent power is the ability to control another’s behavior because the person wants to identify with the power source. In this case, a subordinate obeys the boss because he or she wants to behave, perceive, or believe as the boss does. This obedience may occur, for example, because the subordinate likes the boss personally and therefore tries to do things the way the boss wants them done. In a sense, the subordinate attempts to avoid doing anything that would interfere with the pleasing boss–subordinate relationship. Follower ship is not based on what the subordinate will get for specific actions or specific levels of performance, but on what the individual represents—a path toward lucrative future prospects.

6. Write a short note on potential sources of stress.

While environmental factors are forces outside the organization, which may act as potential sources of stress due to uncertainties and threats that they create for any organization and its members, factors within organization can also act as potential source of stress. Together or singly they may create a tense and volatile working environment which can cause stress for organizational members because the inability of individuals to handle the pressures arising out of these sources. The following may be seen to be the potential sources of stress: •

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Environmental factors: o Environmental uncertainty influences stress levels among employees in an organization. o Changes in the business cycle create economic uncertainties. o Political uncertainties can be stress inducing. o Technological uncertainty can cause stress because new innovations can make an employee’s skills and experience obsolete in a very short period of time. Organizational factors: o Pressures to avoid errors or complete tasks in a limited time period, work overload, a demanding and insensitive boss, and unpleasant coworkers are a few examples. o Task demands are factors related to a person’s job. They include the design of the individual’s job (autonomy, task variety, degree of automation), working conditions, and the physical work layout. o Role demands relate to pressures that are a function of the role an individual plays in an organization.

a. Role conflicts create expectations that may be hard to reconcile or satisfy. b. Role overload is experienced when the employee is expected to do more than time permits. c. Role ambiguity is created when role expectations are not clearly understood.

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Interpersonal demands are pressures created by other employees. Organizational structure defines the level of differentiation in the organization, the degree of rules and regulations, and where decisions are made. Excessive rules and lack of participation in decisions might be potential sources of stress.

ASSIGNMENT – Set 2 MBA – I SEM

Management Process and Organization Behavior-MB0022 1. Discuss Henri Fayol’s administrative theory (14 principles of Management)

Henri Fayol, a mining engineer and manager by profession, defined the nature and working patterns of the twentieth-century organization in his book, General and Industrial Management, published in 1916. In it, he laid down what he called 14 principles of management. This theory is also called the Administrative Theory. The principles of the theory are: 1. Division of work: tasks should be divided up with employees specializing in a limited set of tasks so that expertise is developed and productivity increased. 2. Authority and responsibility: authority is the right to give orders and entails enforcing them with rewards and penalties; authority should be matched with corresponding responsibility. 3. Discipline: this is essential for the smooth running of business and is dependent on good leadership, clear and fair arguments, and the judicious application of penalties. 4. Unity of command: for any action whatsoever, an employee should receive orders from one superior only; otherwise authority, discipline, order, and stability are threatened. 5. Unity of direction: a group of activities concerned with a single objective should be cocoordinated by a single plan under one head. 6. Subordination of individual interest to general interest: individual or group goals must not be allowed to override those of the business. 7. Remuneration of personnel: this may be achieved by various methods but it should be fair, encourage effort, and not lead to overpayment. 8. Centralization: the extent to which orders should be issued only from the top of the organization is a problem which should take into account its characteristics, such as size and the capabilities of the personnel. 9. Scalar chain (line of authority): communications should normally flow up and down the line of authority running from the top to the bottom of the organization, but sideways communication between those of equivalent rank in different departments can be desirable so long as superiors are kept informed.

10. Order: both materials and personnel must always be in their proper place; people must be suited to their posts so there must be careful organization of work and selection of personnel. 11. Equity: personnel must be treated with kindness and justice. 12. Stability of tenure of personnel: rapid turnover of personnel should be avoided because of the time required for the development of expertise. 13. Initiative: all employees should be encouraged to exercise initiative within limits imposed by the requirements of authority and discipline. 14. Esprit de corps: efforts must be made to promote harmony within the organization and prevent dissension and divisiveness. 2 Explain shaping behavior and different methods of shaping behavior.

When a systematic attempt is made to change individuals’ behavior by directing their learning in graduated steps, it is called shaping behavior. There are four methods of Shaping Behavior. They are as follows: Positive reinforcement - This is the process of getting something pleasant as a consequence of a desired behavior, to strengthen the same behavior. For example, one get a commission, if he/she achieves sales target Negative reinforcement - This is the process of having a reward taken away as a consequence of a undesired behavior. For example, scholarship is withdrawn from the student who has not done well on the examination Punishment is causing an unpleasant condition in an attempt to eliminate an undesirable behavior. This is the process of getting a punishment as a consequence of a behavior. Example: having your pay docked for lateness Extinction—eliminating any reinforcement that is maintaining a behavior. So, if a person puts in extra effort, but gets no recognition for it, he will stop doing it Both positive and negative reinforcement result in learning. They strengthen a response and increase the probability of repetition. Both punishment and extinction weaken behavior and tend to decrease its subsequent frequency

3 Write a detailed note on MBIT and big five model.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator The MBTI classifies human beings into four opposite pairs (dichotomies), base on their psychological opposites. These four opposite pairs result into 16 possible combinations. In MBTI, Individuals are classified as (McCrae and Costa, 1989) : a. Extroverted or introverted (E or I). b. Sensing or intuitive (S or N). c. Thinking or feeling (T or F). d. Perceiving or judging (P or J). •

These classifications are then combined into sixteen personality types. For example:

a. INTJs are visionaries. They usually have original minds and great drive for their own ideas and purposes. They are characterized as skeptical, critical, independent, determined, and often stubborn. b. ESTJs are organizers. They are realistic, logical, analytical, decisive, and have a natural head for business or mechanics. They like to organize and run activities. c. The ENTP type is a conceptualizer. He or she is innovative, individualistic, versatile, and attracted to entrepreneurial ideas. This person tends to be resourceful in solving challenging problems but may neglect routine assignments. The big five model •

Many researchers argue that five basic dimensions underlie all other personality dimensions (e.g.; McCrae and Costa, 1990; Digman, 1997). The five basic dimensions are:

1. Extraversion. Comfort level with relationships. Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and sociable. Introverts tend to be reserved, timid, and quiet. 2. Agreeableness. Individual’s propensity to defer to others. High agreeableness people—cooperative, warm, and trusting. Low agreeableness people—cold, disagreeable, and antagonistic. 3. Conscientiousness. A measure of reliability. A high conscientious person is responsible, organized, dependable, and persistent. Those who score low on this dimension are easily distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.

4. Emotional stability. A person’s ability to withstand stress. People with positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and secure. Those with high negative scores tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure. 5. Openness to experience. The range of interests and fascination with novelty. Extremely open people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the other end of the openness category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar.

Research suggested important relationships between these personality dimensions and job performance (Barrick, & Mount, 1991). For example, conscientiousness predicted job performance for all occupational groups. Individuals who are dependable, reliable, careful, thorough, able to plan, organized, hardworking, persistent, and achievementoriented tend to have higher job performance. Employees higher in conscientiousness develop higher levels of job knowledge. For the other personality dimensions, predictability depended upon both the performance criterion and the occupational group. Extraversion predicted performance in managerial and sales positions. Openness to experience is important in predicting training proficiency.

4 Explain the stepwise procedure of Rational Decision Making Model

This model proposes six steps, which are as follows: Step 1: Defining the problem • •

A problem is a discrepancy between an existing and a desired state of affairs. Many poor decisions can be traced to the decision-maker overlooking a problem or defining the wrong problem.

Step 2: Identify the decision criteria important to solving the problem. • •

The decision maker determines what is relevant in making the decision. Any factors not identified in this step are considered irrelevant to the decision maker. This brings in the decision maker’s interests, values, and similar personal preferences.

Step 3: Weight the previously identified criteria in order to give them the correct priority in the decision. Step 4: Generate possible alternatives that could succeed in resolving the problem. Step 5: Rating each alternative on each criterion.

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Critically analyze and evaluate each alternative. The strengths and weaknesses of each alternative become evident as they are compared with the criteria and weights established in the second and third steps.

Step 6: The final step is to compute the optimal decision: •

Evaluating each alternative against the weighted criteria and selecting the alternative with the highest total score.

The above-mentioned model works with following assumptions (March, 1994): • • • • •

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Problem clarity. The decision maker is assumed to have complete information regarding the decision situation. Known options. It is assumed the decision maker is aware of all the possible consequences of each alternative. Clear preferences. Criteria and alternatives can be ranked and weighted to reflect their importance. Constant preferences. Specific decision criteria are constant and the weights assigned to them are stable over time. No time or cost constraints. The rational decision maker can obtain full information about criteria and alternatives because it is assumed that there are no time or cost constraints. Maximum payoff. The rational decision maker will choose the alternative that yields the highest perceived value.

5 Elaborate Group Structure

Group Structure Work groups in order to function as a coordinated unit need to have a proper structure where there must be certain elements like formal leadership, role clarity among group members. In the absence of these factors groups not only become conflict ridden, but also suffer from confusion, and function on a sub optimal level. Each element is explained briefly below: 1. Formal Leadership Almost every work group must have a formal leader, which is typically identified by a title. The leader can play an important part in the group’s success. 2. Roles

All group members are actors, where each is playing a role. While some of these roles may be compatible others create conflicts. Different groups impose different role requirements on individuals. 3. Role perception For playing one’s role effectively in a group, one’s view of how one is supposed to act in a given situation must be clear leading to clear role perception. By watching and imitating senior members of a group the new comers learn how to take on their roles effectively and also learn how to play them well. 4. Role expectations Tuning oneself and behaving in a socially desirable manner is a part of fulfilling role expectations in a given situation in the context of achieving group goals and organizational goals. 1. Role conflict When a group member is faced with the challenge of playing multiple roles, role conflict may occur due to inability of the individual to balance all the roles effectively, thereby reducing role effectiveness, hampering the group and organizational goal attainment process.

6 Write down different steps of Conflict Management.

There are two types of conflict management approaches: • •

Direct Indirect

Direct conflict management approaches There are five approaches to direct conflict management. They are based on the relative emphasis on cooperativeness and assertiveness in the relationship between the conflicting parties. They are as follows: Avoidance – it is an extreme form of inattention; everyone simply pretends that the conflict does not really exist and hopes that it will go away. Accommodation involves playing down differences among the conflicting parties and highlighting similarities and areas of agreement. This peaceful coexistence ignores the real essence of a given conflict and often creates frustration and resentment.

Compromise – it occurs when each party gives up something of value to the other. As a result of no one getting its full desires, the antecedent conditions for future conflicts are established. Competition - Here a victory is achieved through force, superior skill, or domination by one party. It may also occur as a result of authoritative command, whereby a formal authority simply dictates a solution and specifies what is gained and what is lost by whom. This is a case of win- lose situation and as a result, future conflicts over the same issues are likely to occur. Collaboration – it involves recognition by all conflicting parties that something is wrong and needs attention. It stresses gathering and evaluating information in solving disputes and making choices. Indirect conflict management approaches Indirect conflict management approaches include reduced interdependence, appeals to common goals, hierarchical referral, and alterations in the use of mythology and scripts (Schermerhorn et al 2002).

Reduced Interdependence When work-flow conflicts exist, managers can adjust the level of interdependency among units or individuals (Walton & Dutton, 1969). To reduce the conflict, contact between conflicting parties may be reduced. The conflicting units can then be separated from one another, and each can be provided separate access to resources. Buffering is another technique to build an inventory, or buffer, between the two groups so that any output slowdown or excess is absorbed by the inventory and does not directly pressure the target group. Appeals to Common Goals An appeal to common goals can focus on the mutual interdependence of the conflicting parties to achieve the common goal of an organization. Hierarchical Referral – Here conflicts are reported to the senior levels to reconcile and solve.