Locus of Control Tool, Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument, and Kolbs Learning Theory in HRM - Essay Example

Portfolio Assignment

Locus of Control Instrument

The locus of control was developed by Julian Rotter in a bid to observe human behavior based on the concept of where one’s sense of control is situated in the world in which “where” is the locus. The instrument operates under a forced choice set of questions that one is expected to answer as a form of a survey test. The questions delve to measure the extent to which an individual believes he or she can control or dictate the occurrence in their life (Internal) or the extent to which they think forces outside their control influence their situation. Variations employed in this instrument have been employed in a wide range of situations such as the building of effective marriages for the purpose of determining outcomes. Business organizations, in particular, have been effective in the application of this tool using its results for many purposes such as the increase of job satisfaction and encouraging employees to enhance personal responsibility.

In using the locus of control to measure the extent to which I believe in my ability to control the things that happen to me and to measure how much I believe forces beyond my control affect my situation, I realized that I have an internal locus of control. From my tally in the scores that I achieved in the locus of control instrument, I scored 75% on internal locus of control which is relatively stronger compared to the 25% that I scored on an external locus of control which was relatively low. These results thus served to state and mean that I tend to take control of my life and less controlled by forces beyond me. To a greater extent, this is my actual personality, and the results feel right as they assert my personality as an individual who believes in taking control of his life.

The information revealed from taking the test using the locus of control tool can be vital in various aspects of my life. For one, the information can be crucial in helping me understand my strengths and weakness, which eventually amounts to understanding myself for the benefit of my growth. By realizing that I have an external focus of control, I can realize my capabilities fully. This information can also help me to understand other people by enlightening me on why some individuals take strong positions on some issues or are stringent in their routines. Like these types of people, the information can be useful in determining the sustainability of a situation for the purpose of making the right decision. Consequently, such a diagnosis can help one succeed in meeting specific goals. This information can also be instrumental in helping me work positively with others by allowing to take steps that I believe may be vital for the progress of the entire group. Lastly, the revealed information can help in working on my relationships with other people since the information reveal that I have difficulties in knowing my real friends. The fact then that others cannot control my life can help in determining the course of every relationship that I may engage in thus helping me manage such relationships.

I can, nonetheless, strengthen my internal locus of control to have an improved and strong locus of control. By carrying out a continued assessment that is consistent with the intention of gauging my abilities, I can often learn of my weak areas and my strengths to gauge my abilities. Continuous assessments can help in noting the potentials of some of my behaviors, enabling me to work on them and enhance them.

Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument

Another important instrument for behavioral assessment is the Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode instrument. The instrument is designed to focus on assessing the behavior of an individual particularly during situations of conflict. In this concept, a conflict situation is defined as a condition in which the perceptions of two individuals tend not to be compatible. The instrument bases its description of human behavior on two basic dimensions that include assertiveness and cooperativeness. Assertiveness, in this regard, is stipulated to be the extent to which a person attempts to seek gratification for his concerns while cooperativeness is the degree to which the same person tries to satisfy the concerns of other individuals. The two dimensions of behavior in the instrument are essential in defining the five methods of conflict resolution that include compromising, avoiding, accommodating, collaborating and competing.

After taking the test using this instrument, I scored relatively average on most of the methods for handling conflicts while I scored higher on competing. While I scored a nine on competing, I managed seven on collaborating, seven on compromising, six on avoiding and eight on accommodating. While I managed these scores, I realized that it is hard to be characterized by one single generic mode of handling conflicts since I was familiar with most if not all of the conflict-handling modes. As such, the profiling identifies me as a personality with a diverse mix of conflicting-handling, mechanisms. In essence, the results mean that I am good at conflict management. I believe that the results reveal who I am as I tend always to be positive in my life which in essence calls for one to have good conflict management skills.

The above information can be significant in my progress in a wide range of manners. For instance, the information helps me understand the values I have that may impede my efforts to conflict management thus making an effort to tone down or work on them. The instrument- for example- has revealed that I am too competitive, which may lead to other people avoiding me on issues that I may take a strong stand on. By understanding this, I can work on it for better management. Then I can also use this information to understand that some people possess traits different from mine during conflicting resolution thus calling for me to be more accommodating during conflicts. It is also important to note that the information can be used in diagnosing a situation that demands patience and more tolerance by understanding that certain stands can aggravate a conflict. By being exposed to this information, I can work with people conveniently and peacefully by understanding which mode of handling conflicts is best as well as how each mode enables quick and effective conflict resolution thus creating a stronger team. Lastly, using the information can help in managing relationships by understanding that one has to be cautious not to be overcome by emotions like being too isolative such that work mates or group mates find it strenuous getting one’s input on issues. As such, I can use this information to work on some of my conflict-handling modes that can help me in proper management of relationships.

There is the need to strengthen the above set of skills to increase my conflict-handling abilities. Nonetheless, this can be done by reviewing the effect of my previous actions to find out how effective they were. This way, I would be able to note the areas that need improvements that may jeopardize my efforts to a progressive conflict management in the future. I will then focus on working on the noted areas to strengthen my behavior.

Firo-B Assessment

Firo-B is a 54-item instrument that is also useful and effective in the behavioral assessment. The assessment uses three scales that include control, inclusion, and affection to gauge interpersonal needs. The tool attempts to ascertain the means by which people’s behaviors are influenced by interpersonal needs. By doing this, the instrument aims to shape the ability of individuals to develop trust while influencing other people and eventually developing healthy relationships. The abbreviations of the instrument stand for Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation. As the name suggest, the instrument operates under the concept of helping people to understand interpersonal needs and, further, the manner in which communication systems, as well as behavior, are influenced by the given needs resulting to improved personal relationships and professional achievements. The instrument has been effective in helping various organizations, individuals and teams develop and eventually be successful in meeting their goals.

Using the 54 items given to assess my interpersonal skills, I scored highly garnering 38 out of 54 for my overall interpersonal needs. This, in essence, reveals that I am a friendly personality. The results thus mean that I tend to involved with others in most occasions stipulating that I am not a shy person but rather an outgoing individual. The results sound right since, as revealed previously, I value good conflict management amounting to being social with my peers to avoid excessive conflicts. Thus by scoring high results on this tool, I am convinced of my personality.

Noteworthy, I can use this information in various levels to first understand my behavior in my organization or my environment. The information can help me maximize the impact of my reactions, note possible options for improving satisfaction and contribution in my group and also to identify other ways that may ensure that I attain my goals. Since the instrument is mostly based on the effect of my interpersonal skills on my environment and me, I can use the information to understand the inclusion that other people seek while gauging the extent of dominance they aim to achieve thus understanding them for better relations. Of more importance is the fact that Firo-B can help me note if my expressed behavior meet the wanted behavior thus helping me improve on certain behaviors- both for my benefit and the benefit of others. By noting the wanted behaviors, I can be in a greater position to improve on my skills and behavior thus meeting set goals. The information can help understand different situations such diagnosing a tense situation that has another individual seeking more closeness thus knowing how to handle the individual. Ideally, Firo-B offers the opportunity to gauge wanted behavior against expressed behavior thus letting one to work well with others. The information hence can be used to find out wanted behaviors from me by other people enabling me to work on expressing the behaviors resulting to a positive working environment. Similarly, by understanding the needs of colleagues or friends through the use of the information, I can easily get to manage existing relationships.

Emotional Intelligence Assessment

It is also often important to measure emotional intelligence. Noteworthy, emotional intelligence (EI) is crucial in understanding people in their calm situations and their capabilities in decision-making at such times. Measuring emotional intelligence lets one know the capabilities of also being able to read other people’s emotions and how to behave in such instances. This means of assessment centers on five aspects that include self-awareness, social skills, motivation, empathy and managing emotions. Self-awareness forms the premise from which all the other components are based. The emotional intelligence uses a set of questions to achieve its goal of determining an individual’s Emotional Intelligence Quotient.

Like all the above instruments of assessment, I managed to score highly on this scoring a high of 100 from a total of 125. My score identified me as being in the group of individuals with high emotional intelligence in any given work context. Therefore, my results mean that I possess a high self-awareness and equally have exceptional relationships. I believe that these results reflect my being since many people often tend to approach me to offer them advice on various issues. Nonetheless, this may be jeopardizing as I may get carried away and get distracted from attending to my needs.

Information from this assessment can help me understand which of my interpersonal needs require satisfaction and also if I am adequately and sufficiently aware of myself. The information can help me understand the level of my emotional intelligence by lending me the opportunity to gauge myself awareness thus understanding my relations with other people. I can also use the information to understand others by realizing their expectations of me. Realizing how other people expect me to behave will be akin be building strong working relationships. Further, the information can be vital as a means to diagnosing situations from effective regulation. For example, the information can help determine situations that call for me to practice self-control. Further, I can employ the information gained from this tool to read and understand other people’s emotions also to realize the best ways to address them in the effort to make them feel better thus enabling me to work well with others. The fact that the information reveals that having a high emotional intelligence enables one to manage sophisticated situation calmly and sufficiently gives evidence that I can employ the information to manage relationships by delving to understand people and their emotional status.

It is necessary to understand my strengths and weakness to work on building effective emotional intelligence. With regards to this, I can conduct a personal SWOT analysis while committing to seek for feedback from relevant associates on how I can strengthen my skills and emotional intelligence further. It is also imperative to note that I can set some time for personal meditation to rediscover my purpose in a bid to improve. Also, I can endeavor to concentrate on building my self-confidence as another way to strengthen my personality and ultimately improving.

Kolb’s Learning Theory

Another vital instrument for behavioral assessment is the Kolb's experiential learning theory. This instrument operates on two distinct levels: a four structured cycle of learning and another four different learning systems. The concept focuses an individual’s internal cognitive processes. The theory attempts to assert that the development of new concepts is enabled by new experiences that one goes through. In essence, the instrument operates on the belief that knowledge is a creation that is enabled by the transformation of experience. The four stage learning cycle that represents Kolb's experiential learning style endeavors to have a learner experience all the existing bases of the learning process. The four stage learning cycle include:

• Concrete experience in which a new experience is introduced
• Reflective observation delves on concerns that touch on experience and understanding
• Abstract conceptualization arises from reflection and gives the emergence of a new idea
• Active experimentation that is vital for testing the future hypothesis.

In essence, the Kolb learning style inventory is used to measure effective learning in an individual. Kolb's learning style inventory also has learning styles that allow the orientation of learning as per the method preferred. The learning style is useful in determining the effectiveness of a learning process in an individual. The learning styles include:

• Diverging (feeling and watching: CE/RO) in which individuals tend to view things from various perspectives, are highly sensitive and mostly prefer to watch and not do
• Assimilating (watching and thinking: AC/RO) in which individuals demand good explanations averting from practical opportunities
• Converging (doing and thinking: AC/AE) in which individuals can solve problems and always employ their learning in seeking solutions for practical issues.
• Accommodating (doing and feeling: CE/AE) in which individuals mainly rely on their intuition.

My score using this instrument was average for most learning styles but was, however, higher in the converging style. This profiling thus identifies me to belong to the group of people who treasure learning as a means to solving emerging issues. These results thus mean that even though I possess the other Kolb learning styles, I tend to value information gained from learning most. Further interpretation reveals that I thrive best in technical tasks endeavoring to use my learning to solve the problems. This, however, does not appear certainly realistic seeing as the sets of individuals under this style are said to be less concerned with interpersonal skills and people aspects they tend to be conscious about.

This information can be critical in helping understand my strength in learning that can help solve issues. In effect, I can use the information to realize the ideas that I can be able to solve. In this regard, therefore, I can employ the information to understand the abilities of others thus letting me know why other people handle issues differently. Of equal importance is the fact that the information can allow me to use my learning in diagnosing situations for the purpose of solving various tasks. Also, I can employ the information to help other members in a group to solve situations thus increasing the efficiency and bond in a group I exist in. Lastly, the information can help solve problems that will be vital in enabling me manage relationships. I can strengthen this behavior by constantly finding tasks to solve and also practicing other Kolb's learning styles to enhance my preferred style.

Leadership Practice Inventory

Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) also counts as an effective assessment tool for measuring behavior. The instrument is often a 30-item questionnaire that seeks to measure leadership behaviors that have the ability to influence organizational success. The profile attempts to define what leadership is about also delving to guide on how leadership can be done better. The instrument, unlike many other forms of instruments, creates self-awareness at a faster speed and in a shorter period. The tool is also simple and easy to understand, providing clear guidance on what to do in scenarios with fully developing leadership practices.

In this regard, I manage to score high results on the scales suggesting that I possess leadership behaviors that can change the scope of an organization positively leading to the success of the organization. The results then mean that I have a high possibility of becoming an effective leader. As I believe in efficient conflict resolution modes, the result appears correct in line with my actual personality. Nonetheless, this information can help in translating the leadership behaviors to help me understand my capabilities. I can also use the information to understand others by finding out how my reactions, as well as behaviors, affect them and how they respond to them. Besides, the information can assist me to analyze situations for diagnosis that solving can lead to success. Noteworthy, the information can guide in constructing meaningful relationships with other people by measuring the behaviors that are necessary to the existence of the relationship. I can, therefore, strengthen the behavior by finding from friends which of my behaviors need improving thus endeavoring to enhance them.

Tolerance of Ambiguity

Tolerance of ambiguity scale presents an extraordinary means of measuring human behavior. The instrument employs the use of a 16-item scale to measure and define how effectively a person responds when exposed to situations that may result in ambiguous effects. The 16-item scale is designed such that it contains half positive and half negative items with each item adjudged to tap at least one presented indicator of a given thought threat that may influence how an individual respond to certain situations. Tolerance of ambiguity, with regards to the concept, is considered as the tendency to find ambiguous occurrences desirable. Ambiguity, in this situation, is stated to arise from three main factors that include novelty, insolubility, and complexity of the three factors forming subscales within the instrument used for conducting the assessment.

Using this instrument, I managed to score relatively high scores in every subscale but I, however, managed to score higher in complexity score. These results profiled me as an individual with exceptional intolerance for ambiguity. Further interpretation of these scores revealed that in most occasions, I perceive situations as threatening and not promising. This is true because I tend to be cautious of my environment. For example, I will most certainly be nervous in situations that lack elaborate information thus serving to give evidence that results from the scale depict my true nature.

This information can be useful in understanding my perceptions of various situations to learn how to respond to the without panicking. Further, I can use the information to determine my weakness in perceiving situations and how I respond to them to determine how effectively I can improve on my responses to such cases in the future. The information can also factor in guiding me to understand other people by realizing why they tend to be uneasy in some situations and why others can be easy even in situations that I deem intolerable. Moreover, I can use the information to understand why some situations can have people conflicting as the information reveal that different people can react differently to ambiguous situations with others being tolerant and others being intolerant. The information alerts me that in spite being intolerant to ambiguous situations, I have to be tolerant of the views of other people who are tolerant of situations that may lead to ambiguous situations to work effectively in a group. Finally, I can effectively employ the information to help me in managing relationships by realizing that despite not being tolerant to situations that may result in ambiguity, other people may take different stands and respond differently. As such the information will provide the platform for understanding such factors to manage my relationships well. I can, nonetheless, strengthen my skills in this area by conducting a SWOT analysis consistently to determine areas that I am extremely cautious. Asking colleagues and friend can also contribute to my efforts to strengthen this behavior.