Management & Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example

Management and Organizational Behavior 11 Management GROUP FUNCTIONING: AN INSIGHT “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” -Henry Ford This adage is especially relevant for prevailing times where the significance of collective efforts and notions like decision making by mutual consensus, strategy formulation after consideration of all possible ideas, encouragement of a free-flowing structure are practices not only being enthusiastically embraced by organizations, but also being implemented and promoted. With the advent of new concepts, organizations are recognizing that a mechanistic structure has been rendered obsolete by the dynamics of the global world and by the variability in nature, preferences and demands with time. They now realize that the most favorable organization structure to boost their productivity is an organistic structure which is defined by few regulations, and inspires working of employees as teams, their coordination with each other as well as the unbounded exchange of knowledge and thoughts between employees and the management. The focus of this essay is the description of the characteristics of healthy groups, the recognition of barriers that impede their efficacy, the possible methods towards elimination of these hindrances, and underlining of the maneuvers to be taken to increase productivity. A group is characterized by two or more individuals who are contingent upon each other, in the accomplishment of goals designated to them by the organization. They communicate effectively and divide work amongst them, such that maximum potential can be extracted from every member. Generally, two forms of groups operate within an organization; members of a formal groups work together to reflect the goals of the organization, on the contrary, informal groups involve pursuit of social and other common interests of the members which are not directly linked with the task assignments of the organization. (Robbins and Coulter, 2003) A formal group development is a comprehensive phenomenon; the activities of the groups are influenced by the fluctuation in aspects as well as the change in entities of the external and internal environment. It comprises of stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. These include establishing structure, purpose and organization of the group, delegation of authority amongst the group members, nurturing of interconnection between them, enabling the group’s functionality as well as procrastination of the task by members in the onset of focusing on more immediate concerns. A group generally assumes the adoption of four basic characteristics; role structure, behavioral norms, informal leadership and last cohesion amongst its members. The Role Structure involves description of the role of every individual, in a group delegation of authority occurs and there is a project leader who proposes the goal to be accomplished by the group, segregation of tasks and division of labour accordingly, and development of the collective program. The facilitator describes the procedure to be adopted, guidelines to be taken as well the steps of the project plan, as well as focuses on reviewing of the goal and the progress towards its achievement. The other members within each group follow instructions that are prescribed to them and work with conformity and adoption of the group’s core values. Behavioral norms have flexible goals underlined which are altered as per needs. Informal leadership includes selecting one or two leaders to preside over the activities. The leaders are chosen after acceptance from the other members of the group. Cohesiveness is the developing of interconnectedness between the members of the group and its aims. The activities of a goal are negatively influenced by the breaking out of a conflict or discord amongst the members of the groups. Conflict arises when there is an evident difference of opinion amongst members of the group. Conflict among groups of different interests is inevitable. The success of a group functioning is contingent upon nurturing values like respecting each other’s’ opinion, and valuing everyone’s contributions. Managers intercede when a group conflict has to be resolved. They act as mediators between two or more employees. There are several barriers which impede the effective accomplishment of goals by groups and threaten its working. These include communication issues amongst members which might put the trust and existence of the group to jeopardy. The development of misunderstandings and misinterpretations amongst members leads to pre-conceived notions and assumptions. The absence of clarity over job responsibilities is called task ambiguity and it frequently leads to hostility between group members. When responsibilities are not articulated clearly, uncertainty persists amongst members and when the established tasks are not achieved, matters get worse when each person thrusts the blame on the next. Personality clashes are also responsible for undermining a group. Every member has a distinct attitude, approach and unique values. There might be disagreement between members of a particular group and members of two different groups. Sometimes, dearth of existing resources also poses a problem. When individuals start pursuing self-interests against the motives of the organization, a dispute breaks out. (Daft, 2003) Moreover, factors like scarcity of available resources, different work orientations, conflicting reward systems, interdependence etc. are those that cause disharmony amongst groups. The differences between group members need to be addressed patiently and a solution should be derived. All possible steps should be taken to avoid aggravation of the circumstances. The members should exercise caution on their own behavior too. As for conflicts that develop between groups, they can be eliminated through reasoning and realizing which goal is more significant for the given time period. It can also be resolved through inciting cooperation between the groups and asking them to agree on a common ground. (Nierenberg, 1968). At the very same, collaborative action also brings about a lasting harmony amongst groups and they realize that they need to coordinate to incur prosperity in the organization. Groups or work teams are the primary tools used by managers. Managers need groups to co-ordinate individual behavior in order to reach the organizational goals. Groups can make a managers job easier because by forming a group, he need not explain the task to each and every individual. A manager can easily co­ordinate with the work of an individual by giving the group a task and allow them to co-ordinate with each other. But for a group to work effectively, the interactions between its members should be productive. Therefore, managers must pay attention to the needs of individuals. Healthy team working does exercise positive influences on the productivity output and members contentment. Moreover, if team work is incited in a favorable environment, it needs to an augment in the motivational levels of the employees. Employee teams frequently unfurl innovativeness and energy from individual workers who like engaging in tasks physically and mentally, and possess a capability to make worthy contributions in the form of propositions, unique ideas, etc. Additionally, some workers have higher energy levels when they are accompanied by people who share their concerns and tasks focus, i.e. the concept of social facilitation works to their advantage. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs elucidates the primary need of humans to develop a sense of belonging as well as associate themselves with those around them. Where, participative working has an energizing effect as discussed above, it might also help involving employees more enthusiastically in the job as cause their dignity to increase many folds. It also leads to alleviation of an individual worker’s stress levels because the sense of interrelation prevents them from feeling excluded and alone, and they know that they can rely on their group members for assistance and sharing of work load. (Maslow, Stephens and Heil, 1998) Groups of members which are successful also incite the sense of empowerment of employees and help them feel appreciated and talented. The consent of the employees is deployed at several occasions and they are also involved in decision making and influencing the activities of the organization. These groups also encourage development of multiple skills in individual employees so they can exchange works, and share each other’s work load. But, nevertheless, we need to understand the fact that conflict might be used as a strategy, where it is an attempt to coerce power, once the efforts of understanding and reasoning prove futile. There are many individuals and groups who might use conflict as a strategy so that they can achieve their goals and exercise changes. They may initiate conflict to get recognition to their selves and invite attention to their wants. They want higher management to delve in to their problems and seek methods for their resolution. Conflict can be used as a strategy in administering a social change. One of the essential "tools" in conflict management is the awareness as well as comprehension of the strategies that charged individuals use to generate conflict (Robinson and Clifford, 1974). There are some simple maneuvers which organizations can adopt and implement to increase the efficiency of groups. The goals that the teams are expected to accomplish should be articulated clearly. The members should be well aware of how to execute them and satisfy the management. In other words, all forms of uncertainty should be eradicated. Moreover, every individual must be allocated a job as per his/her area of expertise. The management needs to understand that not every person can be good with technical, interpersonal and conceptual skills, at the same time. Trust plays a vital factor in strengthening groups. Efforts should be exercised to attain the trust of team members and inculcate high mutual trust between members. They must understand none of them would perform activities against the interest of the group and so neither of them possesses the right to raise questions or get suspicious about anyone. Members should be loyal to one another, should be able to see reason in times of discord, as well as be able to negotiate and agree to a fair solution to their problems. All of these however, should be encircled by strong leadership. There should be a leader who can dispense motivation in the worst possible circumstances. What organizations at present need to understand is that conflict is inevitable and exists almost everywhere. It cannot be culminated so efforts should centralize not on avoiding it, but its minimization. Group work produces more output, and ways in which it is favorable for organizations has been already discussed above. What is evident is that, t is being readily adopted as a practice in modern times, but as they say that every cloud has a silver lining, so does group functioning, its negative aspects may seem to overshadow its benefits, but it not only unfolds potential of employees and motivates them substantially to boost their productivity, but also helps them feel socially secure, stable and less stressed. (Word Count: 1757) References: J. Richard Hackman, ‘Group Influences on individuals,’ in Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology; ed. M. Dunnette. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1976 A. Maslow, D.C. Stephens, and G. Heil, ‘Maslow On Management’. New York: John Wiley and sons, 1998. J.A. Wagner III, ‘Participation Effects on performance and Satisfaction: A reconsideration of research and Evidence’, Academy of Management Review, April 1994, pp. 312-330. K.W. Thomas, ‘Conflict and negotiation process in Organizations’, in M.D. Dunnette and L.M. Hough (eds.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, vol 3, 2d ed. (Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists press, 1992. Pp. 651-717 Daniel G. Feldman and Hugh J. Arnold, ‘Managing Individual and group behavior in organizations’. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983. Harvey J. Brightman, ‘Group Problem Solving: An Improved Managerial Approach’. Atlanta: Georgia State University, 1983) Richard L. Daft, Management 9th edn. Florida: The Dryden Press, 2009 Stephen P. Robbins and Mary Coulter, Management 8th edn. NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1998 Robbins, SP 2004, Organizational Behaviour, 11th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Robbins, SP & DeCenzo, DA 2004, Fundamentals of management: essential concepts and applications, 4th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Read More