Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

First Institute Organizational Behavior A. The Human Relations Movement. Discuss the Hawthorne Experiment and its implications as a legacy in the workplace; compare and contrast McGregor‟s Theory X and Theory Y assumptions about employees, and any personal experiences you have had with Theory X & Y managers, and which you prefer and why. Hawthorne Experiments conducted in a factory called Hawthorne Works by Elton Mayo and his associates have identified certain key human behaviors towards work (Kincki & Kreitner, 9).

These experiments revealed that workers changed their attitude and behavior when external environment was changed through greater monitoring or providing special focus on their work. These experiments included a variety of modifications to the work; all modifications resulted in greater productivity because of the fact that the workers were being observed or received special attention. Thus, workers are motivated to perform better when attention is given to them.McGregor’s Theory X is quite similar to the Hawthorne’s effect; however, Theory X proposes that workers are inherently lazy and that they need to be continuously monitored to derive optimum output or performance.

Most of the times, managers follow Theory X concept, and tend to supervise, plan, control, and monitor their subordinates’ work. On the other hand, Theory Y proposes that managers assume that people like to work to achieve their goals. Workers are self motivated and are smart, which makes them perform well (Kincki & Kreitner, 10). B. The Total Quality Management Movement. Explain the managerial significance of Deming‟s “85-15 rule,” and identify the Four Principles of Total Quality Management (TQM).

Also explain the Contingency Approach to Management and compare and contrast human and social capital, and the impacts of positive organizational behavior (POB) as a field in the practice of management.Deming’s 85-15 rule was developed to identify causes for failures in terms of quality and productivity. This rule proposes that 85 percent of failures in an organization are due to management, systems, policies etc and that employees account for only 15% of the failures (Kincki & Kreitner, 12).

Through this rule, Deming advises to encourage and motivate employees and not to lower their motivation and commitment by holding them responsible for failures or punishing them for failures. The four principles of TQM include, doing things right the first time and eliminate rework; listening to and learn from employees and customers; adopting continuous improvement as an everyday practice; and to work through team work, trust and mutual respect (Kincki & Kreitner, 21). The contingency approach proposes that management concepts including tools and techniques need to be adopted as per the situation, and not to rely only on one method as the best method (Kincki & Kreitner, 13).

Human capital includes the individuals’ abilities, knowledge and skills. It includes individuals’ aspirations and visions, which in turn help organization achieve better results. Individuals’ creative initiatives and understanding contribute to enhanced performance or profits for the organization. Human capital includes individual motivation levels, commitment, confidence, character and honesty. Social capital refers to the value derived from establishing strong social networks, interpersonal relationships, and coordination.

It also includes the goodwill earned from peers and customers through good relationships, service, and teamwork. Leaders earn social capital through effective leadership; empowering their subordinates; encouraging greater participation from employees; negotiating on win-win achievement; coaching and mentoring subordinates in the right manner, volunteering for social causes etc.Positive organizational behavior refers to the development of human strengths and potential that would enhance organizational performance through monitoring and providing feedback in order to focus on areas of improvement.

This process is applied by managers by positive reinforcement to improve performance and add value to organizational functioning. C. Define the term e-business, and explain at least three practical lessons about effective e-leadership in a virtual organization.E-business refers to conducting and managing business through internet. This means, e-business incorporates all functions like planning, organizing, controlling, and leadership through internet whereby individuals do not come into direct contact with each other and the workplace is virtual.

Fenn points to certain key lessons for effective e-business through a virtual organization, which includes specific requirements such as access to key management and operations information; hiring individuals with specific skills and required attitude to work in virtual environment; a common platform to highlight issues and concerns; regular meetings with all members associated with the e-business; and a strong communication medium for keeping regular contacts with customers and employees (Kincki & Kreitner, 20).

Works citedKincki, Angelo and Robert Kreitner. Organizational Behavior: key concepts, skills and best practices. New Delhi: TataMcGraw Hill, 2009.