Management Psychology - Coursework Example

Management Psychology Management Psychology Introduction Management is essentially concerned with how an organisations resourcesare planned, coordinated and controlled towards achieving prescribed goals and workers form a key component of the resources. On the other hand, psychology basically entails studying the mind. Therefore, the workplace and the entire organisation will only be as good as its workers and how good the workers are is dependent on the way they are led and managed (Froman 2010, p. 69). This means management psychology has an influence on and impacts the way people are managed in the workplace. In this sense, management psychology may be defined according to Gilbreth (2005, p. 14) to mean the impact the mind directing work has on that work and also the impact of the directed and undirected work on the worker’s mind. Ideally, the perceptions of a manager of what their team members are motivated by will impact on the way the managers manage the workers. When managers understand the manner in which their assumptions about their employees’ motivation influence their management style, they are able to appropriately adapt their approach and mange the workers more effectively. On their part, workers with an understanding of management psychology will understand themselves when they work and give deeper consideration to interactions between themselves and others in the workplace. Further, they will learn to appreciate both the intended and unintended results of management. The purpose of this essay is to critically evaluate the influence management psychology has on the way people are managed in the workplace. This will be done by considering how certain images of the person at work have been constructed by management approaches and discussing the consequences the approaches have on how people may be managed. This will also be in consideration that some aspects of human behaviour and emotion are often overlooked and ignored in the management process. The average workplace is always characterised and crowded by organisational (business) goals to an extent that often compromises the recognition of the practical value of psychology. However, it is imperative to understand that the focus of successful management should be on the worker rather than on the work. This focus is mainly by modifying management methods in a way that makes the most out of the workers and it is in recognition that the workers’ minds are controlling factors in their efficiency. On the part of the managers, their minds are also controlling factors that determine how they manage workers and this is mainly in the form of how they perceive workers. From this understanding, it is possible to see that the mentality of a worker influences their work activity and their work activity, in turn, influences their psychology and behaviour. This is directly linked to the way the workers are managed because it will determine how they plan, organise, manage and control individual and joint activity. It follows, therefore, that managers need to address issues not only related to professional work but also, and equally importantly, the workers performing the work. Such issues will mostly comprise of personnel selection, interpersonal relations, leadership and motivation. This is in opposition to earlier and largely unfounded assumptions that management theory was not as concerned with psychology as it was with the economic perception of workers. Hence, from the perspective of behaviourism, this is an implication that the minds of workers must be understood by strictly evaluating how they behave under specific circumstances. Personnel selection is one of the key roles and decisions managers are involved in since it is a prerequisite to effective workforce development (Rasim 2006, p. 3). Personnel selection is also one of the management approaches that construct specific images of the person at work because it typically identifies, attracts and chooses workers that the managers feel will satisfy organisational human resource needs. Essentially, the selection process finds, assesses and engages new employees and promotes existing ones according to the values the organisation has constructed by trying to match the interests and capabilities of prospective workers with a given job’s rewards and demands. From this perspective, the assumptions and beliefs of the managers as to what their workers will be motivated by will influence their management style. For example, as opined by psychologist McGregor, if the managers assume that the workers will not like work, they will tend to have authoritarian management styles (Rasim 2006, p. 3). It, therefore, means that the management must intervene actively in order for work to be done. Basically, as explained by McGregor’s theory X, managers that assume workers dislike work will employ management strategies that are designed to address avoidance of responsibility. This is because the managers will feel the workers must be directed, controlled, threatened or forced to deliver results. This approach essentially constructs the image of a worker who needs to be supervised throughout the steps of work and be enticed to produce organisational objectives. It is also an assumption that the workers lack incentive or the ambition to work. Management styles that emphasise on theory X are usually skeptical and characterised by minimal delegation of authority as controls are typically centralised. Communication has often been shown to be central to the way an organization is managed (Glomb et al 2011, p. 200). However, when managers construct an image of workers who must be directed, controlled, threatened or forced to deliver results, it is unlikely that there will exist healthy communication. The very lack of healthy communication that involves feedback is already an indication that management psychology impacts on how people are managed at the workplace (Ferres, Connell J & Travaglione 2004, p. 613). On the other hand, McGregor’s theory Y gives further details about a participative and de-centralised management style. In this, it is assumed that workers are self-motivated, creative and happy to work. Since the managers believe that the workers will enjoy working under circumstances in which they have more responsibility, they involve even those at lower levels in decision making. The significance of McGregor’s theory X and theory Y in management psychology is that it links the personnel selection and leadership to the manager’s perception of potential and existing workers (Richardson 2009, p. 28). The managers will manage their workers as influenced by the images they construct of them and there will be consequences. On one hand, there may be unwelcome activities that will challenge, distort or subvert attempts by the managers to control the workers as well as the dominant power relations that exist in the organisation (Fleming & Spicer 2003, p. 169). The activities will often be in the form of behaviour and speech forms. Here, theory X and theory Y basically describe control as being dependent on the identification of managers with given norms and ideas such as identification with the image of the perfect worker, their employability or the organisation. On the other hand, when managers follow behaviourism, they either punish or reward as a means of reinforcement (Pirani & Varga 2005, p. 188). From the perspective of positivism, they may also be able to predict behavioural outcomes. When behaviorism is embedded in management theory and practice, the managers will search for human behaviour laws that are universally applicable and place realistic focus on behavioral outcomes rather than emotions. Therefore, when managers understand their assumptions and perceptions of their workers’ motivation, they will be able to adopt more effective management styles. For example, it has been pointed out that modern industrial organisations are characterised by a degree of interdependence (Glomb et al 2011, p. 194). The subordinates not only rely on managers to satisfy their needs and accomplish goals but the managers also depend on the subordinates to accomplish goals. Therefore, management psychology will significantly impact on this interdependence by its potential of determining how workers are managed. More importantly, the manager’s assumptions and perceptions of the workers may result in workplace stress that arises from the management style adopted. This can get more complicated in the event that a ripple effect is triggered by the fact that the manager’s own performance will always partly depend on the workers’ performance. If the manager’s assumptions of the workers do not impact positively on how the workers interpret the leadership, the managers will not use the full potential of the workers. This can be explained by the concept of impression management as it is used in social psychology. It entails either subconscious or conscious goal-directed processes that managers use to influence their employees’ perceptions (Aronson, Wilson & Akert 2009, p. 94). From this perspective, managers should be able to predict and control human behaviour among their workers in the organisational environment. However, from the perspective of management psychology, the impression the manager will attempt to impose upon the workers will be determined by how the managers perceive the targeted workers. It is through the manager’s perception of the workers that they may or may not create a workplace in which workers are treated as humans or offer rewards and incentives which enable workers to motive themselves towards high quality productivity. This is manifestation of the definition of management psychology which has a focus on the impact the mind directing work has on that work and also the impact of the directed and undirected work on the worker’s mind. For example, a manager who views his workers as an investment will impact on them differently from one who views workers as a cost. As Aronson, Wilson and Akert (2009, p. 44) explain, the manager who considers his workers to be an investment will manage them in a way that they will not only develop professionally but also personally. More often than not, they will formulate strategies that will fairly and accurately measure and evaluate the performance of workers. It can be seen from the management psychology point of view that it is impossible to ignore the emotional element of producing and processing knowledge, making decisions and implementing those decisions (Richardson 2009, p. 215). Therefore, the emotionalized decisions of a manager will impact on the way workers are managed. Management psychology will determine whether managers acknowledge the significance of the “human” element in the practice of management (Aronson, Wilson & Akert 2009, p. 49). It is also management psychology that will determine whether managers acknowledge that management is founded on the principle of recognising the individual as a personality and not only economic unit. From their position, managers view workers and work differently than the workers view themselves and work. Ideally, whereas a worker may value being complemented by colleagues as being a hard worker, he may fail to notice the managers view the hard work as a struggle to catch up or keep up with the required pace at the workplace. To the manager, such a worker may be considered as not fitting in the organization. It follows, therefore, that such a worker will be managed and treated differently from others and such management and treatment are typically functions of management psychology. According to Pirani, B and Varga (2005, p. 204), emotion is an often neglected factor in organisational management. Yet, emotions and emotional intelligence need to be considered in the domain of management because effective management will stem from emotional intelligence. Further, as George (2008, p. 1027) suggests, emotions play a critical role in the process of management (George 2008, p. 1027). In this sense, emotional intelligence is described as the ability of managers to not only understand the moods and emotions of the workers but also to manage such moods and emotions effectively. Therefore, management psychology can again be shown to impact on how emotional intelligence will impact on the way workers are managed. The impact is largely shaped by the managers’ knowledge of emotions, how they describe them and how they appraise them (Glomb et al 2011, p. 222). Moods and feelings are aspects of behaviour that are often overlooked and ignored in the process of management and this is mainly attributed to the lack of emotional intelligence (George 2008, p. 1028). Managers who are not emotionally intelligent will not understand and fully appreciate the fact that moods and feelings are inextricably linked to the human experience. More importantly, moods and feelings influence the way the managers will behave, think and also make decisions. On the part of managers, their roles typically involve substantive processing when they are up against complex decision making tasks that require constructive and extensive processing of information. However, moods and feelings have been shown to infuse and influence judgements in the process of substantive processing and, consequently, impact on the way managers handle workers. Emotions are capable of making managers selective in the way they perceive workers and also how they encode and retrieve information (Richardson 2009, p. 216). This explains why negative moods promote systematic processing of information and may be disadvantageous when managers are dealing with sensitive issues that require them to put the emotions of their workers. When emotional intelligence is understood to be able to regulate emotions reflectively, it can also be seen that the lack of such intelligence will be detrimental to the way workers are managed and also the workplace. When managers try to imagine what workers see in them as leaders and incorporate such imaginations in their decisions, they show an understanding of emotional intelligence and also that management psychology influences their thought process (George 2008, p. 1034). Emotionally intelligent managers will aspire to images that are sympathetic to images that they have of themselves. When managers intend to make certain impressions, they will need to consciously avoid certain tendencies while promoting themselves towards the objectives they wish to achieve. This can be seen as the manner in which the managers present themselves, and that is essentially in the way they manage workers. Again, this is manifestation that management psychology shapes the way workers are managed. The manner in which the managers understand themselves and view the workers they manage will be the key drivers of how the management is conducted. Moods are not as high in intensity as emotions because emotions always require attention and may disrupt behaviors and cognitive processes if not addressed. Hence, if a manager lacks emotional intelligence, emotions may not be addressed correctly and effectively. The aspect of emotions is or critical significance because it not only involves the emotions of workers and how managers perceive them but also the emotions of the managers themselves. According to Richardson (2009, p. 221), research has shown that just like the roles they play, the character or managers has the potential to motivate workers. It is also their character that will determine the way their management styles can interact with situational conditions depending on how their emotions cause them to perceive workers. Essentially, since emotion has a role in the management process, the manager’s emotion will impact on what they do, what they are like and the way they make decisions as may be explained by the following example by George (2008, p. 1028). For instance, a worker may deceive a manager on the position of certain circumstances, which leads the manager to intense anger although it will eventually subside once he recovers from the shock and settles to address the situation. However, it is also very likely that as long as he has the matter on his mind, some anger will still linger on for the rest of the day and greatly influence how he will make decisions and handle workers. Further, it can also be shown that his thought process and interactions with workers will be different for the rest of the day (George 2008, p. 1028). Emotions will always play a role in the judgements managers make by influencing what facts they recall from memory as well their deductive and inductive reasoning (Ferres, Connell & Travaglione 2004, p. 158). For example, when the manager in a positive mood, he will perceive and evaluate situations in ways that will more likely be favourable for the workers. In most times of positive mood, they will tend to remember and use more positive information and be helpful to workers rather than blame them for failures. When managers understand the significance of emotional intelligence, they are prone to manage in ways that enhance flexibility and facilitate inductive reasoning and creativity. Emotional intelligence enables a manager to be a coach rather than a boss (Glomb et al 2011, p. 198). Conclusion On one hand, management has been shown to be concerned with how an organisations resources are planned, coordinated and controlled towards achieving prescribed goals while psychology basically entails studying the mind. From the perspective of organisational structure, workers are a key component of the resources that managers plan, control and coordinate. On the other hand, management psychology has been shown as being concerned with the impact the mind directing work has on that work and also the impact of the directed and undirected work on the worker’s mind. Therefore, the perceptions of a manager of what workers are motivated by will impact on the way the managers manage the workers and how the workers behave. When managers understand the manner in which their assumptions about their employees’ motivation influence their management style, they are able to appropriately adapt their approach and mange the workers more effectively. Even though the typical workplace is always characterised by business goals to an extent that the value of psychology is compromised, it is imperative to understand that the focus of successful management should be on the worker rather than on the work. It is implied from the perspective of behaviourism that the minds of workers must be understood by managers strictly evaluating how they behave under specific circumstances. This rationale was arrived at by the understanding that the way workers are managed is dependent on the manager’s perception of the worker. Finally, it has also been shown that emotion and emotional intelligence influence the way workers are managed. The aspect of emotions needs to be viewed from the perspective of both the workers and managers. It is only an emotionally intelligent manager that will be able to consider the emotions of their workers as well as their own in making managerial decisions. 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