Organization Behaviour: the Birkman Method - Case Study Example

Introduction The success one achieves in both life and work largely depends on how well an individual understand himself and those within his circles. Majority of the time is spent with others in an endeavor to accomplish certain goals[DSc02]. Arguably, people skills are the most critical one can develop. In this regard, scholars have developed systems and models that would increase the effectiveness skills both to individual and groups. Birkman Method is a renowned method in this field. By definition, the Birkman Method is a scientific model, a multi-dimensional assessment designed to bring the best out of an individual in life. The model integrates behavioral, occupational and motivational facts as one to predict behavior and job satisfaction among varied situations. Basically, Birkman Method can be viewed as a personality assessment for aligning roles, relationships and improving people skills for maximum productivity and success[RBi05]. The creation and comparative study of the Birkman Method are tailored to provide a deep insight to what specifically drives an individual’s behavior with the objective of creating greater choice and more-responsibility. It endeavors to measure social behaviors, possible stress reaction to unfulfilled expectations, organizational strength, occupational strength and basic expectations of task dealings and interpersonal. The model is empirically supported by theories such as Item Responses Theory and Classical Tests Theory[Bir13]. The area of interest to Birkman Method includes; effective behavioral, basic needs, stress behaviors, interests, management style, occupational, and work environment. These integral elements have pronounced influence on the productivity of an individual. Therefore, understanding them and how they can impact on an individual helps produce the best out of a person. Birkman Method is applicable in coaching both in business and normal life, leadership development, career management, team building and career counseling among others[Lou07]. An Organizational Approach People have a different perception, and that significantly affects how they see and respond to issues in life. There are thinkers, eloquent speakers and logistical thinkers among others. All these multi-faceted characters can be found in a team in varying degree. The characteristic of the team members in terms of what they perceive will have varying impact on the organization performance. Fundamental work orientation Growth and success are what defines any organization. It explains the existence of the organization in that it fulfills that the organization was founded. All efforts are directed towards a smooth running system. This is a fundamental work orientation that every organization strives to achieve. Fundamental work orientation engages in managing resources within an organization. The resources can only be managed if there are good decision makers who can make timely and informed decisions. Marketers who can sell the name of the organization to the prospective clients and the society in general and a motivated workforce to ensure that the tasks are performed well. Besides, the organization would need coordinators who would be involved in bringing together and aligning the activities being carried out in an organization. This is the basic premise of a well-oriented organization[Arl09]. Nevertheless, the ideal situation is never easy and in most of the cases firm finds themselves immersed in organizational problems. Naturally, increased globalization and use of technology have contributed significantly to myriad problems experienced by organizations. These problems range from stiff competition need for improved skills, sales and marketing and customer satisfaction. All these are integral in any organization to perform effectively. The ineffectiveness of such processes would require the firm to provide a platform for solving the problem. Firms and organizations should, therefore, find a mechanism to solve such problems[Wad11]. Nature undisputedly takes its course, and so did such common problems that occur within an organization. For instance, decreased sales volume leads to automatic aggressive methods to win back the clients. Many organizations tend to change the operational structures to lead to a more sales. Unproductive employee will lose touch with the clients and hence lose the markets. Naturally, the organization will try to find means to adapt and shift to a better way to solve the problems that might be occurring. If problems occur, then methods of solving the problem can be found. One sure way is engaging and influencing others. The management of an organization has the role of making the organization steer towards the mission, vision and the core values it was established on. The decisions of the managers have the power to influence the individuals at the lower levels. If the representatives are focused in their job, the workforces have few options not to oblige and conform to the standards needed. There are several ways the management can influence a team. For instance, compensation is a motivational factor and has immense powers to influence how the team. Inculcating a positive attitude in an organization is the work of the management. A classic example is an organization that condemns certain practices by their employees and can lead to termination of the contract if one is found guilty of such offenses[DSc02]. There are those factors that can streamline operations in an organization run efficiently. The presence of such factors is primarily based on how the different people who are engaged perceive and handle various issues. The perception of an individual makes him strong and at the same weak in other areas. A well-integrated team of individual having a different perception of may make a successful organization. In this report, analysis of various Organizational Focus Birkman devised a phenomenal way to assess the perception of individuals. It is with the questionnaire that was analyzed through Birkman that identified individual strengths and capabilities and mapped them into four categories. These are organization strength that can be applied in any organization. According to the information given, the group has four strength and capability which are denoted by various colors namely blue, green, yellow and red[RBi05]. The blue color is likened to individuals who are very creative in an organization. They always brainstorm new ideas and methods of working things. Such kind of people appreciates problems and always has an ingenious ways of solving such problems. These are the heads, chief executive officer, head of departments and supervisors. Whenever a problem arises, they can handle it with at most diligent and within the shortest time possible. The blue are also thoughtfulness and caring. As a leader handling, other people require some level of thoughtfulness and caring. Humans are a social being which means they get easily affected by the environment and circumstances they find themselves in[RBi05]. Failing to understand their true nature of their status may lead to problems. It is, therefore, of paramount importance to more of the blue in the leadership position as they can handle the problems more effectively. Besides, blue people always think ahead and are great planners. Those two factors tallies with a visionary person. A leader is a visionary person by nature and so do the people in blue. The other category of individuals is green. These are the people have the gift of the gap. They are eloquent speakers and have immense power and ability to communicate and persuade others. Naturally, there are charming and competitive. An organization would achieve little without such inputs from such kind of people. For an enterprise to flourish, it must be known to the world if not the prospective customers. Without such an influence, the organization would be hardly noticed. That the perfect role, such kinds of people do play: sales and marketers. As the organization commences its operations, it reaches out to the prospective people it wants to serve to determine if the idea they have is viable and suit the perceived needs. Similarly, during operations, the company needs to incorporate the needs of the clients in their manifesto. This means they have to have an agent out in the field who would gather the relevant information to assist in decision-making. Not everyone would fit in such jobs that explain why the green is so essential for the success of the organization. Yellow is denoted by administrative part and operational part of an organization[RBi05]. These kinds of people enjoy working with others. Have a taste of repetitive tasks and enjoy following procedures. The employ plans whenever they have some goals to achieve. They are cautious and consistent and appreciate the stability in the working environment. They analyze data thoroughly. The description fits well with an individual who would be working in an organization. A workforce with such characteristics would be an asset. Many of the tasks done in any organization are repetitive, require teamwork and involve data analysis to assess the progress. Such kind of people finds themselves drawn to focus concentrations, systems and numbers, organizational and measurements. Those features aptly describe what an employee would be valuable for in an organization. The yellow group can produce their best through involvement with people who would speak up in groups, be open to ideas, dealing with change and ambiguity[RBi05]. These would fill in the gap which they lack and ensure they deliver the best. The last color is red that denotes technical and logistical individuals. Such kind of individual makes quick and hard to make decisions. They are technical in the way the deal with issues and usually have hands-on skills. They speak candidly and like to tackle operations and production processes. Red category produces tangible results. Operations manager are classic examples of red category. They had the operations and production of the organization activities. They always make hard and quick choices. For instance, a breakdown of machines may hamper the whole system in an organization. As such, quick and hard choices must be made to prevent damages. For them to function effectively, they need people who are sensitive to emotions and can handle ambiguity. Besides, such people must be diplomat and tact and can envisage the superior picture[Lou07]. The team which is composed of Aljasser, Alkahtani, Almashwali, Alkhalaf, & Aljuraybah have a good combination of talents but misses on important aspects. For instance, the foundation of the thinkers denoted by blue score a lower value. These kind of people should forms the foundation of an organization by providing vision, working on the welfare of others, research, and development, generating concept and ideas. A higher value for blue means the organization has a stronger foundation. The converse is true. If an organization has more of marketers than the workers on the ground, the resources will tend to have skewed flow. Most of the money would be going to the marketers yet they are no products to sell. This is the case here; the marketers are more than the producers. Intuitively, the red fits in their place. It is, therefore, thinkable  to conclude that the combination of the team needs adjustment and improve on areas that attach much weight on process and success of an organization. In this case Almashwali & Alkhalaf need to improve on their creativity and thoughtfulness part. The people on the ground should have scored a little bit higher with Alkahtani attaining a higher score. The values represented by Aljuraybah & Alkahtani in marketing and sales are above the mark and have the potential of making an organization unattractive. Area of Interest Alkhalaf is a better creative thinker and fits in the blue strap better than anyone. He can brainstorm ideas create vision and integrate the welfare of all in organization operations. It would be a strong foundation having him as a leader. Aljuraybah can form repetitive tasks, concentrate on organizations tasks and analyze data thoroughly. As such the production department would see a milestone. Alkahtani area of interest is marketing. He can be persuasive and is self-motivated. Additionally, he likes to work individually, and most important is an effective communicator. Almashwali interests lie in making hard decisions. He is the operational manager who would enjoy facing a dilemma of losing millions and saving life. The organization would be better with his skills. The team has fared well though, for a balanced performance, Alkhalaf would be better if he raised the bar just above. The foundation would be at most importance. Almashwali have fared poorly, and the results are needs a plus for an effective team. The sales and the marketer should have a value not too high to avoid wasting company resources. Sales and marketing are just meant to create a presence in the market and establish a market. Conclusion Roger Birkman died a legend. Arguably, he was a scholar in his field. The Birkman method is an effective way of analyzing the components that make an effective organization. The combination of individual talents and their respective roles have shown a convincing strategy that an organization can adopt to enhance productivity. Besides, the model can be employed in real life situation to bring the best out of an individual[Wad11]. In the team analyzed, every individual has an integral role by acting as building blocks towards a productive organization. The characters involved varied and weighed differently in their respective fields. Nevertheless, the delicate balance was not met and hence the need for adjustments to suit an ideal model. For instance, adjustment such as Alkhalaf honing his creative and thoughtfulness skills, the foundation can be sturdy. The vision that is the light of the organization would be easier to follow. Bibliography DSc02: , (Schweiger, 2002), RBi05: , (Birkman, 2005), Bir13: , (Birkman Fink, 2013), Lou07: , (Ferrebee, 2007), Arl09: , (Lassin, 2009), Wad11: , (Wadlington, 2011), Read More