Management Factors of Professional Success - Assignment Example

Management Chapter 14 Question 1 The statement ‘most activities in an organization have little to do with the decisions or activities of the top leaders’ is mostly False. An organization’s leaders play an imperative role in its success, and the activities carried out (Daft 412). This is because their attitudes and behaviors play a significant role in molding the worker’s attitudes, organizational commitment and satisfaction. Therefore, a leader who shows no concern over the company’s performance will lead to its failure since almost all employees will follow his path and attitudes. On the other hand, a leader who shows concern will replicate similar traits and attributes among the employees. Though leaders have different styles of leadership, their activities immensely affects the operations of the organization. For instance, treating the employees nicely in anniversaries, taking them occasionally for lunch shows that one appreciates the work of the employees and how significant they are to the success of the organization. In essence, this shows that the manager or the leader values the employees (Daft 418). On the other hand, whenever the leaders delegate duties and decision making responsibilities to the employees, it shows that the leader believes in them. Therefore, the employees will have the autonomy to make decisions on how to accomplish the company’s objectives (Daft 419). It is, therefore, essential to note that the traits, activities and decisions of the top leaders have an impact on the activities that take place in an organization. Question 2 The statement “high versus low quality leadership has a bigger impact on a firm’s performance than business environment” is mostly false. The situational variables within the environment perform differently according to the styles of leadership employed by the leader. For instance, the personnel in an organization have varied performance levels as according to the different leadership styles (Daft 418-420). For instance, individuals with low task readiness and skills will require a different leadership style than that of the highly skilled and competent employees. Employs with low skills and work readiness will highly depend on a directive leadership style where they will be given guidelines and direction on how to accomplish tasks and responsibilities within the organization. With this approach, the company’s performance will be solely depended on the leadership style. In this case, the leader explains decisions and issues the workers with a chance to ask questions and attain clarity on comprehending their responsibilities. On the other hand, competent and skilled workers make the leadership style insignificant or redundant. This is because these employees know how to perform their tasks and do not require a leader who initiates structure or who directs them on what to do. Chapter 15 Question 1 Whenever employees are hired to a company they begin their new job with passion and energy, but lose their energy whenever the manager fails to motivate them. This is a common problem not only to the less experienced but also to the most experienced employees in an organization. Individuals have numerous requirements such as achievement, recognition and monetary gain that transforms to internal anxiety that motivates certain conducts with which to satisfy the need. Rewarding someone’s behavior indicates that the behavior was appropriate and it can be used again in the future (Daft 444). In this case, the experienced secretary will be de-motivated, and this may go to the extent of leaving or resigning. Rewards play an imperative role in motivating employees. In this case, the fact that a janitor earns more than the experienced secretary makes the secretary feel un-appreciated and may feel that their behavior or conduct within the organization is not appropriate. The reward in this case would have been a pay raise or promotion. On the other hand, the secretary may be de-motivated according to her perspectives on how she is treated when compared to her fellow work mates. The equity theory, as indicated by Daft (449), shows that people believe that they are treated equally in an organization whenever their compensation is equal to their work mates. Thus, the perceived inequality by the secretary will bring job dissatisfaction. In this comparison, the secretary may decide to either decide to decrease her inputs into the organization. This is because the people who believe that they are underpaid may reduce their level of efforts to the organization or increase their absenteeism. On the other hand, she may change her outcome by requesting for a pay increase or promotion. Question 2 A supervisor with the high desire for achievement would be the best individual to work with. This is because such people desire to attain something challenging, and a high standard of success. The desire 4 achievement is a discrete human motive that can be differentiated from other desires (Daft 457-60). People with a desire for achievement set fairly challenging but attainable results. The desire for achievement can be a guiding force in an individual’s life. A supervisor with a high need of power likely follows a trail of continued promotion over time. People with a desire for power enjoy being in authority, often want to influence others, tend to be worried about prestige and acquiring influence over others than with effectual feat, and prefer to be placed into aggressive and status-focused conditions. On the other hand, a supervisor with the desire for affiliation seeks social endorsement, fulfilling personal relationships, and companionship. Individuals with a desire for affiliation look forward to relationships, takes an interest in work that offers friendship and social endorsement, prefers supportive conditions than competitive ones, and may not make the best leaders or managers because of their desire for friendship (Daft 457-60). A supervisor with a need for achievement is attracted to their personal performance, and not interested in influencing others to do well. He or she will prefer to have precise response about them. These people are clear about their weaknesses and strengths. Debatably, they attribute their success to themselves but not to the situations. They like to be accountable for their failures and successes and prefer to be with like-minded individuals. Individuals with a desire for affiliation like to share time with others and like to be in the midst of other people. They desire to be liked and approved by other people and take pleasure being in the midst of other people. This is contrary to people with the desire for achievement. An individual with the desire for achievement is introverted and does most of his or her work alone. Chapter 16 Question 1 Communication is an integral part in an organization. Most of the contemporary organizations depend on effective communication for their success. Managers play an imperative role in communication in an organization. They gather significant information then distribute the appropriate information to the people who need it. Communication is defined as the process of conveying information between two or more people, with the intention of influencing or motivating behavior. The communication process has numerous elements, which are essential for the success of the process. These elements include the sender, the message, the receiver, encodes, decodes, channel and feedback (Daft 474). The sender is one of the most essential elements in the communication process. This refers to anyone who wishes to communicate a conception or an idea to others in health care. The sender may be an individual or the whole health care entity. The receiver’s discernment towards the sender affects the manner in which the communicated idea, information or concept will be accepted, translated and responded (Daft 474). The receiver is the other essential element in the communication process. A receiver refers to the party that receives the idea, information or concept communicated by the sender. This may be an individual or an entity. Effective communication relies on the understanding that exists between the receiver and the sender (Daft 474). Encoding refers to the process of gathering and collecting health care thoughts, information, and ideas into a message. The sender should encode the message in a manner that is understandable to the receiver. The encoding process results to the development of the message. Message is the information idea or concept send by the sender. Messages can take different forms such as symbols and signs (Daft 474). After the message has been formulated, it is conveyed to the receiver through a channel. A channel refers to the medium or method through which the message travels from the sender to the receiver such as e-mails (Daft 474). After the receiver receives the message, he or she decodes the message. Decoding refers to interpreting the information in order to understand it. Level of knowledge, noise, and attitudes influence the way the receiver decodes the message. Feedback refers to the responses of the receiver of the message to the sender. This takes a variety of forms. Feedback aids in communication effectiveness and helps in determining whether the receiver interpreted the message correctly. Question 2 Listening is an integral part of communication. It engrosses the aptitude to grasp both the feelings and facts to translate a message’s indisputable significance. It necessitates skill, energy and attention. A good listener listens enthusiastically, asks questions where he or she does not understand, and interprets what is said (Daft 480). A good listener seeks for areas of interest in a message in order to learn something new. In addition, a good listener defies distractions by being fully attentive and maintaining high levels of concentration (Daft 481). Arguably, a good listener takes advantage of the fact that thought is faster through summarizing mentally and weighing the evidence. A good listener is receptive. This is shown through nodding and showing interests. He or she evaluates the content of the message and passes over the delivery errors (Daft 480-82). A good listener avoids untimely conclusions and only judges after the comprehension is complete. He or she listens to the primary themes within the message, and works hard to listen through exhibiting eye contact and a relaxed, stable body state. Finally, a good listener exercises his or her mind through using heavy material (Daft 480-82). As a listener, I believe I have all the qualities of a good listener. However, these traits have varying degrees among listeners. I would rate myself at 90 percent in active listening, 99 percent in finding for areas of interest, 80 percent in restricting distractions, 99 percent in responsiveness, 80 percent in judging content, and 90 percent in listening to ideas. Chapter 17 Question 1 A face to face team is a team where the members have a direct personal contact. On the other hand, a virtual team is where the members do not have a direct contact with each other and linked through advanced information and telecommunications technologies. Interpersonal skills are required in all teams. These skills play an imperative role in the extent to which members are interested with the team and motivated to remain in it. Team interaction is one of the determinants of this cohesiveness in the team (Daft 510). When team members have direct contact with each other, they have to know one another. Knowing each other depends on the interpersonal skills that each posses. These skills will allow members to interact effectively and will have shared goals, and agree on the direction and purpose of the team. This is similar to the virtual teams where teams established on the information and telecommunication technologies depend on the individual’s interpersonal skills, right technical mix and communication skills. Though the members do not have a direct personal contact, they network with other people through sharing personal bibliographies and photos, which play an enormous role in team cohesiveness and success (Daft 510-13). Interpersonal skills are significant in interacting and communicating with others in a team. Interpersonal skills include effective communication, leadership, persuasion, and conflict resolution (Daft 511). The two teams require different interpersonal skills. In the face-to-face team, effective communication and persuasion is essential since the team members are in direct contact with each other. Question 2 Teams are essential units of an organization. A team’s effectiveness is associated to its output. In this case, its effectiveness is determined by the decisions, services and products’ ability to meet the needs of clients or customers in terms of quality, timeliness and quantity. As a team member, I would adopt both task specialist and socioemotional roles. Task specialist role will allow me to assist the team accomplish its goals and objectives through proposing new solutions and ideas, and evaluating other member’s proposals. However, this task will consider task accomplishment over the member’s needs (Daft 523). On the other hand, a socioemotional role will allow the support of emotional requirements of the team members. This will persuade the members of the team to reconcile conflicts, reduce tension and maintain team accord. However, this task will support and satisfy the team member’s, but the team members will not be productive since they will be hesitant to criticize each other or disagree. Chapter 18 Question 1 A balanced score card is an all encompassing “management control system that balances traditional financial measures with operational measures relating to an organization’s critical success factors” (Daft 540). It has four primary perspectives which include “internal business processes, financial performance, organization’s capacity for learning and growth and customer service” (Daft 540). Within these key areas, the managers determine the primary performance metrics to evaluate. The financial performance replicates a worry that the operations of the organization “contributes to improving the short-term and long-term financial performance” (Daft 540). On the other hand, customer service metrics evaluate the customer’s view about the organization and satisfaction, which can be used in improving the activities of the organization. Business process metrics provides information on production and operation statistics that can be used in determining the number of orders and their costs. These metrics assist the mangers in determining the organization’s progress towards its strategic goals. In essence, the balanced score card is an effectual instrument in managing and augmenting performance in an organization. If I created a balanced scorecard for McDonald’s, the customer service measures would be the customer’s responses regarding their standpoints about the organization, their satisfaction and retention. Question 2 In the previous classes, the professors have continuously established standards of performance. They all set goals for that class that include standard of performance against which they compare the class activities. In the previous management class, the professor set the following set standards: 4 hours of uninterrupted class lesson per week; at least two assessment tests, an average student performance of 50 percent and above, and consistent student class attendance. The professor measured the class actual performance through comparing it with the set performance standards. The actual performance is compared with the performance standards by placing the actual against the performance standards to determine any deviations. The professor then evaluated the deviations to determine the cause. These performance standards were very helpful and fair. They assisted in improving the student’s performance and the end of the lesson, many of them acquired good grades. This makes performance standards effective control measures in attaining the strategic goals of any organization. Works Cited Daft, R L. Management. 9th ed. Canada: South Western Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Read More