Planning and Playing Game - Coursework Example

Planning and Playing a Game Abstract It is important to understand individual differences in order to study organizational activities and management. A direct effect on behavior is caused by individual differences. Every individual differs because of their surroundings, individuality, requirements, and their perception about other people and the world. Individual perceptions play a big role in a person behavior. Individuals with diverse personalities relate in their own way with superiors, colleagues, juniors, and clients. The success of an organization and a person are shaped by the organizational behavior which largely depends on individual differences. For instance, individual differences help us understand why some individuals fear or embrace change. Or why the productivity of certain staff increases or decreases when they are watched closely by their higher authorities. Or why some are fast learner in comparison to their colleagues. Individual Differences influences almost every part of the organizational actions (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.61). Planning and Playing Game: The personality assessments reflect in the behaviors participants Introduction The accomplishment of a company and a person are created by the organizational performance that largely depends on individual dissimilarities. The surroundings, individuality, requirements, and perception about other people and the world differ from person to person. Individual views play a huge role in a person behavior. Persons with diverse personalities relate in their own way with superiors, associates, juniors, and consumers ((Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.61). Game theory is related with communication between an organization and different individuals through a medium of game. It a set of ideas under specific rules that is focused on making decision in a divergence and rivalry situations. It utilizes strategic games where two or more competitors face choice of action where they can gain or lose depending on the choices they make and the final result is decided in cooperation by strategies used by every contender, thus helping an organization to understand individual differences and work behavior (www.businessdictionary.com). On the other hand personality test gives a series of questions with multiple options related to behavior and answers to these questions helps in evaluating a person personality (Myers Briggs Personality Test, www.myersbriggs.org). This essay will help us analyze the individual dissimilarities and work performance of various participants through the medium of a game (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.61). To understand different individual behaviors we played the Sown Drifting Game which is based on the idea of the classic prisoner’s dilemma. To understand the concept I chose 4 participants (Anya, Sherry, John and Marie) and gave each of them a code (INTJ, ISFJ, ISTJ, and ENTJ respectively). I was the leader in this game (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). The circumstance of the Snowdrift game entails two drivers who are ensnared on reverse areas of a snowdrift. Both have the opportunity of waiting in the vehicle or spading snow to clear a lane. Allowing the challenger do the entire work is the finest alternative (resulting in a reward of $20), but by spading alone whilst the challenger sits in the vehicle give a chance of earning an extra $10. (Either both can sit or spade and earn $0 or $20 respectively (Kümmerli (2007, www.physorg.com). The game as mentioned before was played by Anya, Sherry, John and Marie (INTJ, ISFJ, ISTJ, and ENTJ respectively) (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). As Anya (INTJ) has a unique mindset and great ideas to accomplish the laid goals. She is quiet skeptical and self-determining and has high principles of competency and presentation (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). She achieved $100 as she was organized, committed and executed the job well as she was well planned. Sherry (ISFJ) on the other hand achieved $200 owing to her quiet, conscientious and affable nature. She is very steady and committed when it comes to achieving her goal. She is very detail oriented, dedicated and sensitive to how others feel. She creates a systematic and pleasant atmosphere at home and work (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). John (ISTJ) who is serious, calm, and achieves accomplishment via reliability and diligence earned only $75 due to his force on dependability on his rival by waiting for him to spade the snow (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). Finally our last participate Marie (ENTJ) who assumes leadership readily, is blunt and influential earned $ 200. She is swift in seeing incompetent and irrational policies and procedures. She is competent in developing and implementing complete systems in order to resolve organizational hindrances. Due to her long term planning and goal setting attitude she is competent of achieving many targets in short time. She also believes in spreading her knowledge and is persuasive in presenting her ideas (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). Owing to each ones personality traits Marie (ENTJ) each one has their own ways to achieve their goals in the real world. The personality test clearly determines each of the individual differences and has affected the game. As Marie (ENTJ) and Sherry (ISFJ) were more detail oriented they happened to achieve more money than Anya (INTJ) and John (ISTJ) (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). Our perceptions vs. others perceptions Perception of each individual varies. Accordingly to my perception Marie (ENTJ) can a better leader due to her excellent abilities shown. On the other hand this perception may differ from individual to individual. Although all the participants hold leadership qualities but Marie’s (ENTJ) quality of detection of irrational and incompetent policies and procedures surpasses the other (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). Moreover the perception of other may differ in comparison to mine due to various factors like gender, race, and ethnic environment, attitude. For example people may perceive that women may be less dedicated to their organizational duties due to their family commitment or Chinese and Indian workers are more dedicated to their work etc. Although perception varies from person to person, it is one’s ability that influences individual differences and behavior (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.66). In formal Role and My Learning from the game There were not many informal roles except for that John (ISTJ) assumed that if both sat and did not work they would still keep earning. This was very different from the planning portion of the game hence he did not make as much as the others. This stated that John (ISTJ) had not understood the concept properly and assumed something which contradicted the game. This helped me understand that one should never assume thing. It is always better to clarify at least once rather than just assuming. This game involved 5 of us and I was the leader in this game (Kümmerli, 2007, www.physorg.com). I learned that this game created worldwide contest if applied in an organization and the organization could award the highest achiever for his or her excellent performance. Different strategies were applied but Marie (ENTJ) earned more than the others due to her Pavlovian or Tit for Tat strategy (Kümmerli, 2007, www.physorg.com). Only if this strategy was applied by all players, we could have earned equal amount. This denotes that uniformity is also an essential element for managing individual differences. Moreover there was more cooperation between Marie (ENTJ) and Sherry (ISFJ) as they applied this strategy thus resulting in more amount of pay-off in comparison to Anya (INTJ) and John (ISTJ). This thus denotes that there is no separate rule for men and women behave in diverse organizational performance. Kümmerli (2007, www.physorg.com) states that ‘The most important outcome is that humans acclimatize the degree of cooperation as per the social situation and the performance and sexual category of their partner’ (Kümmerli et al, 2007, www.physorg.com). Besides this offers a possible clarification for better levels of collaboration amongst individuals, and might also have more actual-life relevance than the game. For instance, working together on a report might profit if the other toiled harder. However when the co-worker does not do any work, it is almost certainly beneficial for one to do everything by him or herself. This way he or she would end completing the project than losing money as it happened in the game (Kümmerli, 2007, www.physorg.com). Kümmerli (2007, www.physorg.com) also states that ‘Many normal circumstances of collaboration in an individual differences and work behavior are similar to the situations in the game which help to reveal differences in collaboration amongst the participants’ (Kümmerli et al, 2007, www.physorg.com). I was happy that my team earned $200 although was trying to earn more. Moreover, it also helped me understand the ‘locus of control’ of people establishes the amount to which they deem their behaviors control what ensue to them’. (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.78). Some individuals consider themselves to be independent and ‘rulers of their own destiny and owe personal liability for what occurs to them (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.78). On the other hand the others consider this to be the work of their skills and efforts. And further some see themselves as feeble victims of fate who are proscribed by outer forces on which they possess less or no control. Moreover they credit luck as a factor for their success or because it was a less difficult job (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.78). Observation about others There were different things that I learnt from my four teammates. Marie (ENTJ) taught me that having a long term goal and being details oriented helps us achieve our goals in the manner we want (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). John (ISTJ) helped me understand that it is really important not to assume thing and it is better to ask is things are not clear. Moreover John (ISTJ) was under stress because his earning had not increased much because he had assumed things but because of his responsible and realistic attitude he earned $ 75 before the game ended (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). Anya (INTJ) a person with an innovative mind helped me understand that Individual differences largely influence work behavior and help the organization become successful (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). She also helped me understand that it is really important to be dedicated in order to accomplish goals for oneself and others as a team member. Finally Sherry (ISFJ) helped me understand that being concern about team members is an important role of a Leader and helps him lead a good team. Moreover he creates a sound and harmonious atmosphere at work place and also helps to create the same in one’s personal life (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). Key factors involved in gaining cooperation amongst individuals in an organization Various factors played a part in gaining cooperation amongst individuals in an organization. A few that I gauged from my game experience are as follows (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.62-78): Observing and Recognizing the dissimilarities Studying relationships amongst unpredictable elements which influence an individual’s behavior. Capitalizing on one’s individual potencies and overcoming their flaws. Overcoming negative expectations that are set by other people around them. Learning from the negative and positive incidents. Possessing can-do approaches. Genetics factors Social class and various groups that influence an individual Cultural aspects. These were some of the key factors which according to me influence when it comes to gaining cooperation amongst individuals in an organization. The role of a leader is also another factor which plays an important role as many are influenced by the leader that leads them. If a leader is a person who is amicable and easy to approach then it is easy to gain the co-operation of the individual in an organization. Similarly, if the leader is not that amicable and reserved then chances of the team approaching him is quiet less hence there is less cooperation amongst the individuals (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.62). Increasing cooperative behaviors As we know that there are various factors that can help in increasing cooperative behaviors amongst individuals in an organization. A few that I could have employed in order to increase behaviors are: More rewards amongst the members A serve punishment of shelling out more money for non performance. Set an example in my own perspective and allow the team to deal with problems and opportunities and reach to a conclusion for the problem Encourage people who have committed mistakes and make them feel more comfortable by letting them know that it’s ok to make mistakes as we learn from them. These were a few which we could implement to achieve more cooperative behavior (George &. Jones, 2007, p. 98). Getting cooperation from a difficult co-worker Difficult individuals subsist in every organization and dealing with them is simpler when they are just horrible or if their behavior impacts more than one individual. However, it’s much difficult when you are personally assaulted or your professional status is demoralized by them (George &. Jones, 2006, p. 70). However by identifying those, assessing the situation, taking concrete step in case it’s a grave scenario, not letting them aggravate the situation, safeguarding your reputation, not sinking to their level, keeping thing that happen between you guys private, agreeing to disagree, for instance if the person has given a good suggestion then approach them by making the first move, and appreciate them if they have done something good or disagree politely if you don’t agree with what they say. This way a difficult co-worker can be easily tackle (George &. Jones, 2006, p. 70). Conclusion The spirit of any company is distinct by the individual who work there. Hence its success and standing are constructed by the staffs and leaders who continuously go beyond the limits to achieve a better quality and higher standing (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007, p.62). This paper has helped us analysis various personality traits of different individual through the medium of a game and how they would effect an organization. In this essay Marie and Sherry applied the concept properly hence won more money, this if applied in an organization can help the organization achieve success (www.keirsey.com, www.myersbriggs.org). Similarly, various factors have been discussed that can help an organization to increase cooperative behaviors, Key factors involved in gaining cooperation amongst individuals in an organization, perceptions of various people and how they effect others and finally how to handle difficult coworker in getting his or her cooperation standing (George &. Jones, 2006, p. 70, George &. Jones, 2007, p. 98). References Definition of Game Theory- http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/game-theory.html  George &. Jones (2006), Outlines & Highlights for Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior (4th Edition), (cram101 Textbook Outlines), Publisher: Academic Internet Publishers, Publishing Date: 2006-10-26, page 70 Jennifer M. George, Gareth Jones, (2007) Understanding And Managing Organizational Behavior (5th Edition), Publisher- Prentice Hall, Date of Publication- 2007-03-10, pages 98-101 Jennifer M. George, Gareth Jones, (2007) Understanding And Managing Organizational Behavior (2nd Edition), Publisher- Addison-wesley, Date of Publication- 1998-08, page 67-98. John Ivancevich, Robert Konopaske and Michael Matteson, 2007. Organizational Behavior and Management (8th Edition), Publisher : McGrawl Hill, Date of Publication- 2/3/2007, pages- 624, pages-61-84. Kümmerli, Rolf, Colliard, Caroline, Fiechter, Nicolas, Petitpierre, Blaise, Russier, Flavien, and Keller, Laurent, 2007. “Human cooperation in social dilemmas: comparing the Snowdrift game with the Prisoner’s Dilemma.” Proc. R. Soc. B, doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0793. www.physorg.com. Keirsey Personality Test on http://www.keirsey.com/sorter/instruments2.aspx?partid=0 Myers Briggs Personality Test on http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/ Read More