Organizational Behavior - What Are the Challenges Facing the MOB Department - Assignment Example

and Section # of Organizational Behavior Part I What are the challenges facing the MOB department? Make a list. Rank them in order of importance. There would be increasing importance of research and service requirements as opposed to teaching with the change in leadership and this would cause difficulties for the MOB department as they lacked in the field of research Divergence in the expectations of the members of the department as per the direction in which the department should focus towards. Conflict of interests of senior and junior members on the basis of teaching and research Lack of communication and coalition among the members of the department which led to deficiency with respect to teamwork Uncertainty about how the future evaluations would be carried out with the changes in the department heads and the dean What are the causes of the problems? I.e. what are the specific OB related issues? There are some basic reasons that have brought about the problems in the MOB department. The problems stem from the lack of communication and collaboration among the members. Since the members comprise of a mix of senior and junior faculty, this increases the need for communication and interaction in order to understand each others mind sets and point of view. One of the fundamental reasons for the success of the Accounting department was due to the comradeship of the members and their regular meetings. The personality of the organization is called its the organizational culture. It can be described as the set of shared norms, values, beliefs and expectations that govern the way employees within an organization interact with each other, think about and act on problems and opportunities and work together towards the objectives of the organization. The components of organizational culture include Behavior and artifacts, Values and, Assumptions and beliefs. In the MOB department, there is a deviation in the culture and the representation of it. The divergence of the senior and junior faculty expectation has created a gap between their objectives and this leads to a lack of direction for the department. Now that you have analyzed the problems, what are the goals you think Vese needs to accomplish? List these in priority order. Increase communication by organizing regular meetings Encourage discussion in order to understand the various point of views and reach a common ground as to which area should the department focus upon Inculcate a common objective and a uniform culture within the department that is coherent with the overall goals of the university. Base performance evaluation by taking into consideration present as well as past performances of faculty. Conduct evaluations and communicate important information in an organized manner in order to avoid complains from faculty as they had these issues with the former department chair. Partner Senior faculty members with junior members in order to mentor them and collaborate in research Encourage spending more time working in university rather than from home Make a time schedule showing how Vese should use the hours of each day of his first week. For each entry, state the purpose of the listing, who is to be present (if anyone), what approach you will use, and why. Day 1: Conduct an induction meeting to introduce himself, his credibility and achievements. The meeting would accomplish his short term goals and how he would bring change in the department. This would involve a short meeting with all the members of the department. In order to make an appropriate change in the organization it is important to analyze its feasibility and how it should be carried out. The systematic process of congregation and analysis of data on certain ongoing system is called organizational diagnosis. Organizational diagnosis helps in forming a suitable direction towards making the change. Vese could conduct an organizational diagnosis of the department based on collection of data through questionnaires, interviews, observation or examination of documents. This could be a starting point to devise his strategies more appropriately. Day 2: Conduct a formal discussion involving all members for the purpose of understanding the expectation of each member of the department and in order to get their feedback and views as to how the department could be more recognized in the university. The discussion would allow all members to openly share their views regarding what is more important for the department and for the well being of the university as a whole. Formulize concrete goals on the basis of the outcome of the organizational diagnosis of the department. Set a particular day in the week to have weekly meetings. Day 3: Collaborate with the faculty members to set a performance evaluation schedule and take consensus and suggestions as to how they believe the appraisals should be conducted in order to make them relaxed as they are worried about the future after the dean and head of department are changed. This could be discussed with junior faculty members who are more anxious and nervous. Day 4 Partner senior faculty members with junior faculty so that senior, more experienced faculty members could assist and mentor junior faculty in research and to form research collaboration. Day 5 Set research objectives for the department so that it could gain visibility in the college of business and aid the well being of the university. Research is not only crucial for the department but it also increases in-depth knowledge and expertise of the faculty who then would be more well-versed in their field of study and could use that in their teaching experience. Part II Organizational behavior is the study of individuals that are part of an organization and how they act in the organizational setting and the reasons for their behavior. Every organization aims to keep its employees satisfied and content in order for them to be motivated and productive. Being a manager involves maintaining a pleasant corporate culture and making sure that all individuals are treated fairly. Vese made a major blunder on his first day as he was not knowledgeable about the faculty members of the department. In the previous part of the paper, the schedule of day 1 has entailed the first task as an induction meeting with all the members in order to have a formal introduction and a pleasant first impression. If Vese knew about the members, he would not have mistaken the faculty member as the administrative assistant. According to the social identity theory claims that people in organizations tend to homogenize the traits and characteristics of individuals who are not from their group and more often than not, they tend to exaggerate these differences. There is also a development of less positive images of people who do not belong to our group. The social identity process entails how one perceives others and how this it leads to stereotyping (McShane & Travaglione, 2003). In this case, Stoddard may have felt as there was some racist perception or stereotyping of her being at a lower designation due to her African American ethnicity. This could be dangerous to the standing and reputation of Vese. One aspect of improving perceptions is to empathize with others. Empathy is essential in organizational behavior studies. Empathy can be described as the ability of a person to understand and be sensitive to the feelings, thoughts and situation of others. At this point in time, Vese needs to develop empathy skills and show sensitivity towards Stoddard so she feels that it was not an act of stereotyping or preconceptions. Over the past decade, personality has become an imperative aspect in the organizational setting. After a plethora of studies, the Big Five personality traits were formed which showed the dimensions of effective personality traits that aid a favorable organizational behavior. These dimensions include the following with respect to Vese: Conscientiousness: this factor refers the ability of an individual to be careful and self-disciplined. This involves being responsible and planned which is necessary to being the MOB department into an organized form. Emotional Stability: it is important to be calm and poised. This makes it easier to resolve conflicts and be more approachable. Vese, being new to the department would need this trait to create a more comfortable environment. Openness to Experience: this refers to the characteristic of being understanding, sensitive and flexible. Under the current situation, sensitivity to the feelings of Stoddard would be helpful in curbing her anger. Agreeableness: these are perhaps of more relevance to the position of Vese. This refers to the traits of empathy, care and courtesy. Being a new department head, it is important that Vese gains the trust of the members and is cooperative with them in order to not just make them communicate openly with him but more significantly, with each other. Extroversion: This trait is already present in Vese and he could use it more efficiently. This refers to the characteristics of social ability and assertiveness. (McShane & Travaglione, 2003) These dimensions of personality should enable Vese to become a successful department head and maintain good relations with the faculty members and make the department more successful and prominent. With the inculcation of these traits into the organizational culture, the department could also become more collaborative and cooperative. It would avoid any future misconduct by Vese due to false assumptions or mistaken perceptions. In order to resolve the issue Vese should start with a formal apology to the faculty member. It is important to understand the position of the individual and communicate with understanding and compassion. According to the stages of socialization, pre-employment socialization was a key aspect for Vese that he missed. Pre-employment socialization would allow him to learn about the members and environment of the department prior to formally joining it. Stage 2 involves the encounter on the first day and the final stage is role management which involves the transition from an outsider to an insider. Vese should conduct a formal meeting and introduce himself to the members in a pleasant manner and explain his past achievements so that the members know that he would bring in positive change to the department. Vese should pledge to comply with the ethical policies of the workplace and ensure to the dean that there were no deliberate actions in the issue. A formal letter of apology should also be sent to Sarah Stoddard which would show sincerity and integrity from the side of the new department head. Works Cited McShane, S. & Travaglione, T. Organizational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim. McGraw-Hill. (2003) Read More