Organisational Behaviour: Paradoxical Twins - Case Study Example

Organizational Behaviour Student’s Name: Institutional Affiliation: University: Organizational Behaviour The case study of the Paradoxical Twins gives an opportunity of evaluating the structure and organization of a business from different angles. Complex behaviour’s exposes us to different circumstances, environments and social and personal relationships. The two corporations Omega and Acme electronics that are considered in this study initially had the same structure of organization, under different management. However, since they were sold to different investors, each company consequently has its own company policies and procedures. This analysis will apply and emphasize various relevant theories to the identification of issues in the aspects of organizational management within the two companies’ structure. The main case is that the new president of Acme Electronics, John Tyler and the new Omega Electronics president, Jim Rawls, are directly accountable for the success or failure of the respective companies. Both leaders come from different backgrounds, and their leadership and management styles are completely different from each other. John Tyler’s style had been more aggressive and firm as compared to that of Omega’s Jim Rawls. According to one of the Acme’s employees, John Tyler was described as a ‘one man band.’ This leadership style can be referred to as a Legitimate Power, meaning that John Tyler does not share much of information regarding the going on in the company. However, this greatly demoralizes employees of the company, as they like to participate in decisions that are made by the company’s management (Kettl & Fesler, 2005).   The firms’ structures The organizational design of Acme is in the form of a mechanistic structure. This is where employees are induced to carry out themselves in a predictable and accountable manner. All workers in this organization have been assigned tasks that they have to perform, and are not allowed to take on extra tasks unless the management says so. On the other hand, Omega’s organizational structure takes the organic form and the internal organization can be characterized by free-flowing, adaptive and looser. This structure of an organization is designed to enhance flexibility so that workers can introduce change, and adapt quickly to the changing or shifting conditions (Elliott, 2001). John Tyler style of leadership John Tyler’s autocratic style of leadership is reflected. It greatly influences the relationship and style of his workers; alters the peaceful co-existence between various departments. Here, motivation and communication are low, and cooperation between colleagues is very minimal. For instance, after the receiving of blue prints, John decides to send a memo to various departments of the organizations and direct them on what to do. Another good example that occurred later is that after John had been informed about the missing component, he decided to assign methods design department, the task of looking for the best way of assembling units of memory without delaying the production, whereas the missing constituent is delivered (Clegg, Kornberger & Pitsis, 2005). Nevertheless, before the methods design department finishes the assembly methods, John Tyler orders to begin the assembly and production of the memory units, the engineers’ reaction were disappointing and frustrating. Jim Rawls style of leadership   The style of leadership of Omega’s Jim Rawls is more relaxed and with a more practical approach to the solving of problems. The consultation or participating style is highly motivating to employees, whereby the manager asks for suggestions and ideas, though the staffs does not in some aspects, consent to his style of management. Some of the staff describes him as a person, who spends much of his time ‘filling in’ individuals who could not contribute to solutions or problems. This situation is created by lack of organization and structure. Since starting his new responsibility, Jim Rawls manifested that he did not believe in the organizational charts; an attitude which bears to bring about confusion (Scott & Davis, 2006).   Some theorists had proposed various taxonomies of procedures of decisions, and there had been an accord about the best possible number of procedures for decision or even the best way of describing them. Jim Rawls action-centred style shows how he reacts differently to deal with the problem to meet the project’s deadline, assembling his senior management, take part in a common mission, and become more efficient to solving any issue or problem of the corporation, in this instance, the same missing component for the gathering of the units of memory. This democratic style of leadership can be seen in the staff’s level of motivation, and the propensity to contribute to solving problems. A good case in point is when the staff, after finishing the design methods decides to test the unit before taking it to production, where they found the flaw in the unit and then reported to Jim Rawls (Mullins, 1999). This move or step shows the autonomy and motivation of taking decisions for themselves, in which they save the company money, effort as well as the satisfaction of an excellent job. Analyzing the two leadership styles of Omega and Acme with the theory of Path-Goal, we will see the strengths and weaknesses of each leader. Considering the leadership style of Omega’s Jim Rawls, we find that his result mostly in terms of a mass-speedy production, control of the departments, information and subordinates. The Acme Corporation becomes ineffective in terms of job satisfaction, motivation and the capacity to react to unclear circumstances. The rigid hierarchy and department’s control within the organization, the formal communication and existence of rules, increase the inconformity and pressure within the staff (Scott & Davis, 2006). Different from the Omega leadership style, we find that here it is more effective in the situation of problem solving; the expert power, ability of dealing with unclear circumstances, the possibility of giving suggestions or ideas and the increase in communication are motivation factors for the staff.   The theory of Path-Goal has some conceptual weaknesses. The greater deficiency is the application of expectancy theory, as the fundamental basis for explaining the influence of the leader. This logical model of decision, offers a very complex and apparently impractical description of behaviour of human beings. This theory does not take into consideration decision and response dilemmas, like distortion or denial of relevant information, and do not also involve significant aspects of motivation of human beings like self-concepts. The behaviour of a leader has two features; the first one being, ‘The dimension’ whereby, consideration represents the extent at which the behaviour of the leader of supervisor shows respect for the ideas, warmth and trust of subordinates. This implies that a thoughtful and understanding supervisor shows concern for the feelings and needs of subordinates (Thompson, 2003). The second feature is ‘Initiating structure,’ whereby leaders high on this aspect define both the responsibility and their subordinates’’ with respects to the attainment of the organizational goal. Therefore, it is essential for the leaders to plan well, push for high quality output and productivity.   The behaviour of individuals is determined by what gives them motivation. In Omega Company, what can be singled out as an aspect of motivation is when its leader had been given information regarding the component that was missing and the probable delay of the production, whereby the management decided to hold a meeting in an attempt to find the best possible solution (Thompson, 2003). Anybody could come up with an idea or suggestion, but the final decision still lied with the president of the company, in which the ideas and suggestions given by the other members were options to be taken by the president in trying to find out the best that could suit the situation appropriately. Question 2 Principle that relates to organizational behavior in general Everybody belong to organizations, but what do we understand about the organizations? Not the social, whereby people only get together for the purpose of doing whatever crosses the mind, but the continuing kind where people purposely try to get organized in order to achieve something. There is clearly much difference in these kinds of organizations. It is true that such organizations conventionally form along the hierarchy that is pyramid-shaped based on a model of military. For an organization to be formal, it should have a mission statement, tasks, objectives, goals together with a roster or members or personnel (Thompson, 2003). It is further apparent that for an organization to be rational, it should be in a position of depicting their membership in some form of chart, and there will be rules or principles like a unity of command, chain of command, communications channel and span of control. What we do not understand is how and why informal organizations form inside of a formal organization. An organization that is informal is always formed, and can either hinder or help in the mission accomplishment. We also do not have an idea about the way managers are supposed to acquire accountability for the duties and adherence to the principles. For instance, how can power be delegated? Further, there is the issue of size. Nevertheless, as organizations grow in size, their units appear to become more specialized (Yulk, 2002). This can promote efficiency and effectiveness, but overdoing it can bring serious obstructions to the mission. It needs a high level of management, and coordination is essential for any corporation, whether specialized or not, small or large. By design, many organizations have the components called mission, goals, objectives and behavior.   The mission can be described as the corporation’s reason for existence, and it is the constituent maintained to the external environment or external world that makes the corporation to be relevant to the societal progress or social order. Goals refer to the organization’s functional divisions or general purposes that are specific enough to allow the stakeholders; that is individuals who are economically impacted, and the clientele; that is individuals served to relate to the corporation. Objectives refer to specific, measurable results that are related to goals, like a thirty percent reduction or improvement in something, and they are normally time-specific, even though more significantly are designed to be what workers can be able to relate. Lastly, behavior can be described as the ordinary or common task productivity of the employees (George & Jones, 2000). Behavior’s accountability to objectives is a function of personnel, and that of behavior to goals is an oversight function. In addition, channels of communication always exist, between goals and behavior in much organizational design. Corporations can attain remarkable wonders when, by the plan or design, they center on all small number of roles in a systematic manner, to accomplish coherent objectives and goals. Principles relating to the study of the individual Human beings differ in gender, sexual orientation, age, national and social background, mental and physical ability and worldview as well as the ability. Diversity is a source of innovation and creativity that can offer the potential for future competitive advantage and development. Making sure that diversity is made productive and visible remains a major concern of the management of diversity. Consequently, structural and individual representation of appreciation and perception might be reflected upon (Yulk, 2002). Although the schemata of assessment and perception make us feel safe by giving a structured perception of the world, they might also bring about prejudice if they stay in that manner. Relying on rigidly stereotyped and rigid perception of an individual or group of individuals might deprive this person or group of person of equal opportunities. It might hinder the access to resources like the power of decision making, money or knowledge. The management of diversity intends to reduce discrimination and promote equal opportunities. Motivation is a very complex matter. Many theories try to explain how it functions. In the circles of management, perhaps the most common explanations of motivation as a concept is based on individual needs. The basic need model, which is also known as the ‘content theory of motivation’ lists the factors that motivate a person (Yulk, 2002). However, although the factors are within a person, we find that things outside the person can have effects on him or her, as well. In other words, all individuals have needs that should be satisfied. Some are classified as primary needs like water, sleep food; that is needs that are associated with the behavior’s physical aspects and are considered to be unlearned. These requirements are relatively stable and biological in nature. Their impacts on behavior are normally apparent and hence can be identified easily. On the other hand, secondary needs are psychological, meaning that they are learned essentially from experience. These needs significantly vary by individual also by culture. These needs include internal states like the desire for love, achievement and power. The identification and analysis of these needs is quite a difficult task since they are shown in various ways. These kinds of needs are responsible for the majority of behavior that a manager is concerned with also for the rewards that an individual seeks to a corporation or organization (Yulk, 2002). Many theorists such as David McClelland, Abraham Maslow, Clayton Aiderfer and Fredrick Herzberg have offered theories that can help in explaining needs as a critical source of motivation. Principles relating to the study of a group Communication is one of the key aspects in the management of a group of individuals in an organization. As a manager, having good communication skills is paramount to the success of an organization. Through communication, a lot of things can be achieved, such as the passing of essential information from one individual to another in an organization. However, the level at which the information can have a positive impact on the recipient exclusively depends on the way in which it is conveyed. Conflict is also another common issue in an organization where there are many people (Barry & Whitcomb, 2005). Conflicts should always be well managed in an organization as failure to do that often leads serious negative repercussions. A good manager should be in a position of understanding all the needs and interests of the people under him or her. He or she should also be able to know how to go about them in case of problems. When conflicts are well managed, it leads to peaceful co-existence as well as motivation of employees. Power is a very critical concept to the survival or an organization. It is very important for an organization to have a structure of leadership whereby each and everyone reports to a senior person who is above him or her. This brings about accountability in an organization each, and every move or action that any member of the organization takes does not go unchecked. This makes it to be easy for the manager to discharge his or her duties as there is a chain of command to be followed whereby everything is in order. Principles relating to the study of the organization An organization is a social unit of individuals structured and managed in a systematic manner for the purpose of meeting a need or even pursuing common goals on a continual basis. Organizational culture forms several different concepts, situations and strategies which affect each level of planning in the organization when it comes to any type of hierarchical institution. The organizational culture and structure’s implications apply to charitable organizations, sports organizations or teams, corporations, governments and companies. Understanding the operations of internal culture and structure, and the machinery or tools behind the scenes that make it run, will enable those within the culture of the organization to strengthen and organize the good, remove the bad, and then create an environment that encourages and breeds success among its members (Miner, 2002). Presently, organizations and teams experience quick change like never before. Globalization has significantly increased the opportunities and markets for more revenue and growth. Nonetheless, more diverse markets have an extensive variety of expectations and needs that should be understood if expect to become strong collaborators and customers. Concomitantly, stakeholders’ scrutiny had risen as some managers have been accused of illegitimate actions in their organizations, and the managers’ compensation appears to be increasing whereas others’ wages appears to be leveling off or decreasing (Yulk, 2002). Therefore, the ability to manage change, whereas continuing the stakeholders’ needs is a very essential skill that the current managers and leaders require. The development of organization and, specifically, how change is managed impacts the success of the business. Activities of organizational development intervene in the people systems’ interaction like informal and formal groups, work climate and culture, and organization design to raise their efficiency using various applied behavioral sciences. As a manager, it would be important to take all these into consideration so as to ensure success in the career. References Barry, D. & Whitcomb, H. (2005). The legal foundations of public administration. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Clegg, S., Kornberger, M., & Pitsis, T. (2005). Managing and organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Elliott, J. (2001). Measurement of responsibility: A study of work. New York: Routledge. George, J. M., & Jones, G. R. (2000). Essentials of Managing Organizational Behaviour. USA, New York: Prentice Hall. Kettl, D., & Fesler, J. (2005). The politics of the administrative process. Washington DC: CQ Press. Miner, J. (2002). Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Theories, and Analyses. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mullins, L. J. (1999). Management and Organizational Behaviour. (5th Edn.). London, Prentice Hall. Scott, W., & Davis, G. (2006). Organizations and organizing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Thompson, J. (2003). Organizations in Action. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Yulk, G. (2002). Leadership in Organizations. (5th Edn.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Read More