People Organisations and Management - Assignment Example

1. ““Provide a brief explanation of the distinction between formal and informal types of organisation.” Formal organisations are characterized by structure and hierarchy, with assigned responsibilities and deliverables. Informal organisations are formed on the basis of relationships and people liaise with each other with an emotional connect. In formal organisations, people come together to form a team or a group to achieve organisational goals and have assigned responsibilities, whereas in informal organisations are groups or teams of employees bound together on the basis of common interests and emotions, intended to build personal and social relationships. 2. “Detail the principal differences between private sector and public sector organisations.” The principal difference between private sector and public sector organisations is their for-profit and for non-profit ideologies, respectively. Private sector organisations function in a disciplined and structured manner. Although public sector organisations have their own defined policies and structures, approaches and control mechanisms become diluted owing to the large span and bleak management. These can be attributed to the fact that private sectors lay special emphasis on investment in people management compared to investment in services in the public sector organisations. 3. “Provide a detailed and accurate definition of the concept of employment.” Concept of employment refers to the legally bound agreement between two parties in which one, the employer, agrees to pay the other, the employee, salary in return of services expected from the employee; besides this, the total wages may be divided into several components including paid leaves, compensation benefits, work safety measures, facilities etc within the limit of expected service, and has no legal obligations related to any other aspect that falls outside the purview of this relation. 4. “Explain the purpose and function of management in an organisational context.” The broader purpose and function of management is to formulate plans and procedures that help the organisation function appropriately in order to achieve its goals. This entire process entails planning in terms of human resources, investment and technology; appropriate distribution of resources and investment; developing leadership to guide and control all the processes; risk factor assessment and control procedures; acquiring appropriate talent from the market based on skill set required to help organisation achieve its goals. 5. “What are the principal categories of environmental forces that can impact on an organisation and the way it operates?” The principal categories of environmental forces that can impact on an organisation and the way it operates can be broadly divided into external forces comprising customer segments and competitors, and internal forces such as finance, talent, and organisational culture and development. People of the organisation form the most important determining factor of the outcome of organisation as they tend to define the organisational culture and development, can bring profits or lead to loss, bring customer satisfaction, and help the organisation sustain competitiveness in the market. 6. “Explain the notion of homo economicus (‘economic man’).” The broadest sense of homo economicus is to be concerned with pure business. Every person involved in business seeks profits at the lowest possible investment and absolutely no losses. Its perspective is solely from a trade point, and the trader/business man tends to adopt the attitude and practices that bring profits and more business, adheres to wholesome commercial and calculated measures. This perception also typifies man as that one who uses absolute logic to amass wealth or fulfil his desires, and ensures no wastage of time or money in areas that do not promise the desired returns. 7. “What do we mean when we consider work to be a moral obligation?” We relate ourselves to certain forces that bind our existence with the society, and work is one of those forces that determine our action in accordance with what is ought to be performed in order to create the value that sustains existence of the society. Hence, whether legally bound, or bound with other commitments, work should be considered as a moral responsibility in order to help society develop, including ourselves, and be prepared to confront the constant new challenges. 8. “What is a labour market?” Labour market refers to that virtual market where the producers are employers who produce jobs and consumers are the people or employees seeking jobs for a pay, and the job or work forms the product. Cost of this product is determined based on its nature, aptitude and skills required by employers and possessed by employees, location and conditions of the employment, and existing competition or demand in the market. 9. “Define the term profession.” Profession may be defined as that entity of work which guides the way of life, activity, knowledge, or process to be followed and is formed with the help of education, training, or practice. It is that aspect of life which gives the human being an authority to help others accomplish their goals and tasks. Socially, it gives recognition to the individual and defines the dos and don’ts of relationships formed on the basis of profession. 10. “What do we mean by the term ‘rational forms of organisation’?” Rational forms of organisation refer to those structures formed on the basis of a common goal with each individual entity performing specific function aligned with the goal. However, these structures are formed by people and functions are allocated to people with appropriate authority assigned to each one. Typically, these are characterized by systematic methodologies, predefined policies, hierarchy, authority and discipline. Results and outcomes are measured on the basis of achievements versus expectations related to the goals. 11. “Explain the concept of leisure time.” Leisure time is that time at workplace when there is no obligatory work to be performed. It also refers to the time that is allocated for other recreational activates meant to relieve stress and improve occupational health. Some organisations provide leisure time to their employees for psychological, intellectual, and social development; employees use this time to build social networks, perform other activities like enhancing skills, taking part in fun games, sports, meeting different people, physical exercises, or learning and developmental activities. 12. “Provide a plausible explanation as to why a recent study by the Work Foundation indicated that self-employed people tended to be happiest in their work.” Self-employed people are generally the happiest in their work because their choice of work is usually in their area of interest. They get the opportunity to work according to their own ideas and do not have to follow or report to others. They tend to enjoy the value their customers and clients create for the service provided, and this eventually increases their motivation and self-confidence. Besides this, other possible reasons could be flexibility of timings, working style, opportunities to expand in different dimensions etc. 13. “Explain the term ‘job security’.” The term job security indicates the likelihood of an employee being employed by the employer for an indefinite period of time, but not exceeding the age of retirement. This also excludes reasons of expulsions due to non adherence to the terms of employment. This probability of retaining the job, with exceptions of the conditions mentioned, depends on major external factors such as ability to sustain competitiveness and health of the economy, and internal factors such as employee and organisational performance. 14. “What do we mean by the term ‘specialisation of tasks’?” Specialisation of tasks means allocating different tasks of an activity or work to specific groups or individuals based on the skills possessed. This method of work allocation leads to increased efficiency of workers thereby reducing time of production/work and increased returns, higher profits and better work management. Challenges involved in executing this process include, the effort required to find labour with desired skills and training them on the process, which involves time and money; and coping with sudden challenges occurring due to absenteeism or turnover of employees in specific groups can hinder or shake the entire work process. 15. “Explain how control is maintained over processes in a bureaucracy.” Control in bureaucracy is attained through various types of policies and procedures directing the courses of action to be taken under specific conditions. This type of control is typically seen in large and market-dominating organisations that specifically require skilled labour. Policies act as control measures aimed to prevent loss of labour and resources, technology, knowledge pool, time and money, customers and shareholders. Besides these, they are also meant to direct desired employee behaviour which can promote motivation and performance. 16. “Provide a brief overview of how FW Taylor developed his ideas on scientific management.” F.W.Taylor’s ideas on scientific management acted as turning point resulting in a change in the way work was being performed to the way work should be managed through better performance. This methodical improvement procedure was referred to as scientific management, and was proposed by observing people’s styles of working in production industries. Creative thinking and viewing situation with different perspectives formed the foundation of development of scientific management. The paradigm shift of moving power of decision making and authority to managers of the unit was a significant movement in scientific management. 17. “Explain the principle facets of Taylor’s ideas on scientific management.” Scientific management, in totality, involved modifications in aspects related to the way work was distributed, planning and organising work, types of skills possessed by employees, measuring and rewarding performance, standardization of best suitable methods of working and defining the role of each employee, group, function and/or unit. All these practices aligned to the widespread organisational goals meant to achieve better efficiency, control, distribution of work and quantifiable results; thus, referred to as scientific management. 18. “Provide a brief outline of how work is organised under the system we now refer to as ‘Fordism’.” Fordism, proposed and first used by Henry Ford in assembly of cars, employs organising and planning practices of scientific management practices, but not limiting to specialization of tasks; instead, this practice employs more mechanical aids, requiring lesser physical effort and labour. With this methodology, production with homogeneity of systems and methods can lead to higher efficiency and quality. Unlike Taylorism, Fordism results in lesser skills, effort and time for completion of work. 19. “Outline the key findings of Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Experiments that would be of interest to those seeking an understanding of human behaviour in the workplace.” The key findings from Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Experiments were: Variations in external environment, in the form of varied illumination, impacted performance of the workers; variations in pay in the form of performance incentives motivated workers to perform better; increased social interactions that occurred during breaks between work motivated workers in turn leading to higher productivity. Inferences derived from these findings point to motivation through extent and type of supervision, motivation through rewards and motivation through socialization. 20. “Explain the notion of complexity and how it fits into our understanding of skill in the workplace.” Complexity in work refers to the different types of tasks in specific work, requirement of different decisions to be made and adoption of different approaches to complete the work. Complexity of work determines the potential and competence of the workers, which depend on the skills possessed such as decision-making, analyzing, thinking, and innovation. For instance, the complexity involved in management and leadership roles can be attributed to a blend of skills such as communication (written and verbal), comprehending and grasping skills, influencing and coaching skills, planning and organising skills, and innovative-thinking and decision-making skills. 21. “List the components of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs from the lowest to the highest.” Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model explains the motivators of human behaviour through psychological aspects, and is based on the postulation that motivation of human behaviour corresponds to the level of satisfaction. This means, the first order needs have to be satisfied in order for human being to be motivated by the next order needs. Components of this model, from lowest to the highest order, physical needs, safety and security needs, love and belonging, respect and confidence, and finally knowledge and understanding needs. Thus, a step-by-step achievement of all these needs in the same order will motivate a human to learn and gain knowledge. 22. “Summarise the key criticisms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.” The key criticisms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs were in aspects of the hierarchy, intensity of needs and existence of other influences on motivation. Some experiments confirmed no specific hierarchy in motivational levels, and that human beings may seek to satisfy more than one need simultaneously. Also, the seriousness of needs and their motivational impact on individuals vary with time and among different people. The biological, social and psychological motivating factors are also culturally impacted. 23. “What is the key distinction between content and process theories of motivation.” Content theories of motivation are based on the outcome of an activity or work, whereas process theories of motivation are based on the manner in which the outcome is achieved or the activity is carried out. Content theories point at the driving force of the motivation, such as recognition, incentives, vacation, complexity in work, career progression etc. Process theories determine the outcome based on the method of motivation used. For example, giving positive assurance and instilling confidence in people motivates them towards better performance; negative assurance like bad remarks may motivate employees to work overtime in order to achieve better results. 24. “Outline the key dynamics of the expectancy theory of motivation.” The expectancy theory of motivation is based on the thought that people tend to behave in a manner that can give them the desired results. However, other factors such as abilities, skills, relationships and knowledge play a significant impact on achieving the desired results, besides the manner of behaviour adopted. In addition to the outcome, these factors may also be altered positively or negatively. Hence, an individual’s level of inclination towards the desired outcome and other factors determines the actual manner of behaviour. 25. “Outline what research has indicated to be the consequences for health of an unsatisfying experience of work.” Much research undertaken in the sphere of organisational psychology has pointed at reduced motivational levels in people engaged in unsatisfying work or job. These unsatisfying experiences can be caused due to various factors such as leadership, supervisor-employee relationship, pay, work load, lack of incentives, absence of recognition, favouritism, monotony, skill mismatch, ambiguity of responsibilities, lack of power and accountability, unsafe work environment etc. Along with low motivational levels, health issues such as increased physical and psychological stress, risk of injury or accidents, chronic headaches and musculoskeletal disorders, identity crisis leading to depression have been reported. Read More