Management and Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

Management and Organizational Behavior Registration Number Module Number and of Assignment Task1: Scenario I currently work in a large accounting firm that offers outsource bookkeeping, payroll and tax services. The department has about 100 staff strength and is managed by two directors, whom twelve managers report to. In turn, the managers manage a pool of staff ranging from associates, the most junior level, to senior supervisors. Team sizes range from 3 - 8 members. Because of the high number of staffs in the department and the numerous clients that need to be served, sometimes all at the same time, the work is competitive and teams must ensure they are alert at all times. Time management also plays a key role in this line of work. As a large organization that has been in business for over thirty years, they have a set of mission and core values in place. These include having high level of professionalism and service standards. All these are made possible with the correct recruitment process and retention of professionals that make up the key teams in the business. Being a cost-conscious organization, individual employees are required to account for their time spent at work. This allows the management to ensure that the efficient and effective recoverability of charges turn into profits. The managers are required to provide explanations if these are not met. However, the uneven distribution of jobs result in inaccurate recording of time charges due to the low level of work. Moreover, employees are also questioned and given demerit points if their total charge time is less than 50% on a monthly basis as the management perceive this as being unproductive. Performance appraisal occurs at individual level. These has resulted in low levels of communication, cohesion and poor performance. Different working patterns and different motivational needs exist among the teams. Although there are currently sets of guidelines and checklists available to ensure consistencies in the jobs carried out, there are still occasions when these are ignored. In addition, members of a team are required to act as a backup for one another in case any staffs go on study, maternity or holiday leave. There are also staffs that take on night classes or moonlight due to the competitive remuneration package the organization offers. To minimize the disruption or drop in the standard of work, the management must relook into job distributions that would provide optimal benefits and meet the needs of the staff at the individual and team level. Continuous training and educating the employees are essential in meeting the level of service that is expected of them, and making sure the employees are kept motivated and relevant. Task 2.1: Impact of Problems on Attitudes and Perceptions The problems that are evident in the organization are commonly shared and are influenced by the failure of management to further improve the situation. An attitude is an inclination of a person to positively or negatively react to someone or something in one's environment. On the other hand, a perception is "a process by which individuals organise and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment" (Robbins et al. 2004 p. 45). Perceptions are influenced by a person's traits and background, environment and how a person looks at a situation. The uneven distribution of work creates job dissatisfaction amongst the employees and causes negative attitudes. The lack of job involvement results in low commitment to the organization that may eventually experience problems in retaining professionals. The competitive remuneration package compels low-level employees to seek alternative jobs outside of work to satisfy their needs. Thus, they are unable to give 100% of their performance at work due to fatigue, dissatisfaction and low commitment. Because these negative attitudes arise together with the inaccuracy of accounting for their time due to low volume of work, the management is quick to assume that the employees are being unproductive and inefficient. In short, the management's perception is distorted. Applying the attribution theory, the management focuses on the internal causes when interpreting a person's behavior, for instance, a person's ability or personality. This results in the assumption that a person is in charge of either being praised or blamed. On the contrary, external causes are made when interpreting a person's behavior based on aspects beyond a person's control and therefore, a person can not be held responsible. This 'self-serving bias' notion applies when management tends to make internal attributions for their own positive behavior while making external attributions for negative behavior. Incidentally, another bias known as 'fundamental attribution error' explains the management's tendency to explain a person's behavior in terms of internal rather than external causes. Thus, it is apparent that the management is inclined towards the internal causes when interpreting a situation. However, continuous application of this bias can lead to serious problems for management. The management must be made aware that such biases exist so as to prevent arriving at the wrong perception of the employees. Otherwise, these factors will negatively contribute towards the employees' attitudes at work. If these issues are not resolved, the organization will suffer in the long term because of the lack of manpower resources that will enable to keep the business growing as it relies heavily on its employees to carry out the work of the business. The management must realize this is part of the objective and core values of the company. Resolving the problems will also ensure that employees are treated fairly across the board and receive recognition for their contributions when due. Task 2.2: Two Relevant Motivational Theories and the Impact of Problems in the Scenario upon the Motivation of Staff Motivation is a need-satisfying process and is referred to as the eagerness of a person to perform at high levels of effort to meet the organization's goal provided a person's need is met. Effort is a measure of the quality of passion in meeting organizational goals. Theory 1: Theory X and Theory Y In McGregor's negative Theory X, which the management of the accounting firm uses, the management believes the employees dislike work and will avoid it as much as possible. Thus, they are unable to productively maximize their time spent at work. Therefore, the management must impose demerit points in order to threaten the employees. In addition, the management also believes that regardless of the workload, the employees are only concerned about receiving their monthly salaries. The management believes the employees do not have to put in more effort or take initiative to do better at work because they do not aspire to be promoted or succeed in what they do. Consequently, the employees feel less important and irrelevant in the company. They do not have a sense of belonging because the management do not think of them as valuable assets to the business. Indeed, the employees' morale is low and they merely perform their job without much passion. On the contrary, the positive Theory Y believes the employees treat their job with passion and possess self-direction or self-control as they have a strong commitment to the objectives. Moreover, the employees are encouraged to think out of the box and give new ideas that the management recognizes. To curb issues with periods of low work volume, the management organizes training that will better enhance the quality of jobs the employees give. With this, the employees are highly motivated to perform better in their work because they feel relevant. Theory 2: McClelland's Theory of Needs Firstly, the employees are divided between those that perform their job well but feel restricted because of the uneven job distribution and those who do not perform well because they are less committed. To the former, there is a strong need for achievement but do not feel so because they do not receive enough jobs to showcase their talent. To the latter, they do not seek achievement because they do not share the same goal as the organization. Hence, this area is clearly absent and overall, the employees do not feel motivated. Reliable feedback, setting of attainable goals and job advancement must be present to ensure that the job scopes given to the employees meet their motivational needs. Secondly, since the management has already set upon the employees a biased perception of their work attitude, the employees feel less influential and less effective. There is no motivation to lead and make an impact because they do not feel relevant to the organization. They do not feel the need to exert high levels of effort because they will not receive any recognition for their work. Thus, they simply remain in their comfort zone and do their job as asked without initiation. Thirdly, there must be a need for affiliation. However, the employees do not have a comfortable working environment due to fear of receiving biased perception if they interact too much. This restrictive behavior at work is stifling and negatively affects the motivational level of the employees. They would rather be outside of work than be in it. Because the working environment is not an ideal one, they do not feel happy or satisfied with their job. Hence, it upsets their work performance. Task 2.3 Critically Discuss Group Dynamics in the Scenario The organization has formal groups as part of its structure to achieve the organization's objectives. These formal groups can be classified as being functional because they are permanently created to provide an ongoing service to the group's clientele base. Fiedler (1967) describes such groups as interacting as each member's job is dependent on the supervisor's work. However, the group's cohesion is oriented towards social relations than goals. This negatively impacts the group's decision-making process, which results in groupthink (McCauley, 1998). Members of the group prefer not to speak up and go against the norm in order to avoid conflict because they are afraid of spoiling the positive relations within the group. Encouraging members to share their views and opinions and engaging them in discussions can help to minimize this negative factor. Members of the group participate in few discussions and decisions are easily made without much effort to examine any mistakes in great details. In order to avoid conflict, members generally exercise supportive views. Employees choose to remain idle as members of the group feel they do not receive recognition for the effort they put in at work. Members rely on the fact that each act as backup for another in ensuring that jobs allocated are completed. The minimal participation of staffs in meetings and decision-makings strengthens this gap between the lower level employees and the management. Having an informal group can improve the situation by encouraging participation of the informal group members in the decision-making process. Members do not have the ability of providing feedback and this has increased their feeling of alienation and worsened communication between the supervisors and subordinates thereby resulting in potential conflict. Communication is vital in ensuring that groups remain stable. As such, informing group members of any actions taken by the management, which is lacking, can also improve the situation. These unspoken values are necessary in controlling behavior and measuring the performance of members. With no proper interaction and communication and evidence of interpersonal conflict, members feel constraint and oppressed being in the group. They cannot showcase their talent and ability in their jobs. Furthermore, the boundaries drawn around groups can create inter-group conflict. Task 3 Recommendations Attitudes and Perceptions Recommendations Support Groups Grievances at work should be addressed accordingly to prevent issues from escalating. Setting up a support group to handle such situations can improve the employees' attitudes and perceptions at work. Monitoring of the matter should be done to ensure problems are solved. Feedback Feedback is essential in organizations because it updates the employees of their performance or gives suggestions for improvements. Corrective measures should be taken, if necessary and the situation should be monitored regularly. It provides constant communication in which both the management and employees are kept informed. Motivations Recommendations Promote Continuous Training Training and coaching should not be restricted to low-level employees. Instead, it should extend all the way to senior managers to ensure their management skills improve. Skills development training on the employees should be done regularly to ensure they remain redundant in the workforce. Job Rotation In accounting field, especially when handling large clients, it is necessary to segregate the workload to ensure there are checks and balances and to minimize errors. On the other hand, employees will not get bored with their jobs and they are able to gain more skills. Rewards System Rewards on individual or group performance basis, such as bonuses or promotions will encourage and motivate staffs. It will also boost their morale. Group Dynamics Recommendations The Bales System This system classifies group members to belong in task area or social-emotional area. The activities in each area can be identified with questions and answers. The results of the scores can help to analyze the group and identify the causes of problems within the group. Create Informal Groups Informal groups help to encourage and promote interaction between members. Task 4 Reflection Motivation plays a key role for the growth of both the organization and its employees. When the employees are motivated, the goals of the organization can be met easily. There are different needs that contribute to the motivation at the individual and group levels. The management of the organization must be aware of the consequences of failing to address grievances of its staff as it might lead to negative attitude and poor performance at work. Analyzing every situation from different perspectives will prevent 'self-serving bias'. Members of a group do well if there is strong cohesiveness and if measures are taken to ensure that groupthink does not occur. This includes learning to be objective and speaking up even when there are different opinions. This helps to ensure that the group remains alert and realistic with their decision-making process. References: 1. Paul R. Timm and Brent D. Peterson. (1994). People at Work: Human Behavior in Organizations. Read More