Entrepreneurial Psychology - Essay Example

ENTREPRENEURIAL PSYCHOLOGY Part Evaluating the Performance of a father based on the ten roles of a manager identified by Henry Mintzberg The first role of a manager as identified by Henry Mintzberg is that s/he is the figurehead (Mintzberg, 2003, p. 8). This role is taken up by fathers in most nuclear families and this is also the case at our home where the dad takes up all social and legal responsibilities of the family. Moreover, every person at home looked up to the father as a source of inspiration and for guidance. The father also took up the responsibility of correcting us to ensure that we grew up to be disciplined children able to live independently in the future. Furthermore, as we grew up we looked up at our father to provide for most of our needs. The second role of a manager identified by Mintzberg is that he is a leader where s/he offers leadership to a team, department or even the entire organization (Allio, 2011, p. 8). It is from being a leader that a manager is able to manage the performance of each person in the group (Kibort, 2004, p. 33). This role is replicated at home where the father offered leadership at home. The father determined where we went for holidays, to church and even the schools we went. Moreover, when it comes to making major decisions about life for instance career choice, our father always came to our aid and guided us. This is motivated by the fact that he always wanted the best for us. According to Mintzberg, a manager acts as a liaison between the internal organization and the external contacts (Mintzberg, 2003, p. 9). He further asserted that a manager must be able to network well for the group. This role was performed at home by our father where he used to represent the family in issues like family businesses and also in issues of insurance and medical cover. In case of eminent threat to the family, the father was always at the forefront to defend us. In addition, our father networked to identify the best people to serve the interests of our family, for instance, he chose the family doctor for us. Mintzberg also explained that a manager must bear the role of being a monitor (Kibort, 2004, p. 33). To discharge this role effectively, a manager should continuously seek information that relates to the organization and the industry as a whole and identify any changes in the business environment. In addition, the manager monitors the team to assess their productivity and well-being. At home, this role was discharged by our father where he used to monitor our performance by having to see our report cards. He also monitored our health and had to know how each and everyone spend his day. By doing this, our father remained in control of our lives. A manager also plays a role of a disseminator where s/he communicates any important information to the members of the team (Dunphy and Meyer, 2002, p. 17). This role was discharged at home by our father who took the fore front in communicating any important information at the deliberated with our mother. For instance our father communicated to us decisions when we wanted to change our neighborhood or school. A manager is also a spokesman of the manager where he represents and speaks out for the organization (Allio, 2011, p. 8). To discharge this mandate, a leader transmits information about the organization and the goals of such an organization to the external people. This role was accomplished by our father at home where he took up the initiative of guiding visitors to our home where he would explain everything about his family, such as, our ages and educational level. Our father also took up the responsibility of explaining different issues about our family to our lawyers in case of a legal process. A manager is also an entrepreneur who is expected to control an organization. As an entrepreneur, a manager also solves problems, generates new ideas and implements them (Dunphy and Meyer, 2002, p. 17). Our father played this role actively in the family given that from a tender age we used to report any issues to our father to resolve them. Furthermore, in most cases he came up with new ideas such as proposing where to invest or to move to and actively implemented them for the benefit of his family. According to Mintzberg, a manager must be prepared to handle disturbances which can hit an organization (Mintzberg, 2003, p. 9). In handling disturbances, the manager also resolves disputes which may crop up within a group. This role is performed in family by our father who mediates any dispute among ourselves. In addition, our father plays a significant role in managing and ensuring that the family remains prepared against natural disasters. Our father remains and handles small accidents which may occur, for instance he ensures that he gets the family car fixed when a mechanical problem occurs. Although this may seem a small thing, it demonstrates that he is always ready to defend the family. A manager is also a resource allocator who determines which resources will be used in a given activity (Burgaz, 1997, p. 9). The resources allocated by a manager may include financial, staff and other organizational resources. This role is performed by our father who would determine which finances to be allocated in different projects. In addition, our father plays a role in determining when the family goes for holiday and when to make a new investment. A manager also plays a role in negotiating for the organization. The manager takes part in direct and important negotiations for the organizations about new acquisitions and other investments (Burgaz, 1997, p. 14). Our father performed this role by taking part in negotiating when acquiring new property and played a role in negotiating as we changed schools. In conclusion, Mintzberg described ten critical roles of a manager and should be performed by every person leading a group or team. The first three roles, that is, figurehead, leader and liaison are categorized as interpersonal roles. Monitoring, disseminating and being a spokesman are grouped in an informational category while entrepreneur, handling disturbances, resource allocation and negotiation are all under the decisional category. Part 2: Analyzing Erin Brockovich movie through application of Shane aspects The movie is based on a true story of Erin Brockovich who is represented in the movie by Julia Roberts who fights against a US West Coast energy company Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Company. Julia Roberts is a single mother who is unemployed and had sued a doctor for compensation following a car accident. However, Julia fails to win the case in requests her lawyer to give her a job to compensate the loss and it is during her work in the office that she comes across a file about a deal where PG & E intends to buy the home of Donna Jensen. It is in the process that Julia realizes that PG&E has been paying for a doctor to attend to Jensen since they contaminate water with chromium. Julia makes a follow up of the case until the locals are compensated by PG&E for polluting their water. Based on the aspects of Shane, PG&E is motivated to engage in business in order to attain high achievement (Ascalon et al., 2008, p. 80). The company is driven by a desire to achieve high profitability. On the other hand, Julia who takes up a role to defend the plaintiffs in the case intends to ensure that the company operates meet high quality standards and improves performance for the benefit of the locals. The other aspect of Shane demonstrated in the movie is that of risk taking (Shane, Locke and Collins, 2003, p. 257). Julia accepts the face of uncertainty in life to influence the locals to come up with a law suit against the company. In bringing up another law suit, Julia is taking a risk given that she had already launched unsuccessful lawsuit against the same company. The aspect of self efficacy is also brought out in the case where PG&E continued to conduct its business although using a dangerous type of chromium with a belief that it would eventual be able to attain high quality environmental standards and triumph over various obstacles including rejection by the residents (Shane, Locke and Collins, 2003, p. 257). PG&E Company also based their activities on a Shane aspect of ‘internal locus on control’ where it had a belief that their actions would have a direct impact on how their business performs. Moreover, this aspect is brought out by Julia who took the initiative to influence a law suit against PG&E since it is only through the actions of the locals that could influence the company to observe quality standards (Ascalon et al., 2008, p. 80). Julia in her actions tolerated ambiguity since she began making a follow up about PG&E from Jensen although she did not have a clear understanding of its operations (Zahra and Dess, 2001, p. 9). She also acted on independence given that she did not concern the lawyer but took bold steps alone. Julia Roberts is also portrayed as an ambitious person who wants to ensure that people live in a safe environment (Ascalon et al., 2008, p. 80). Furthermore, PG&E is also ambition as it was seeking profitability. Lastly, the movie brings out the aspect of different driving forces when carrying out activities where PG&E is mostly driven by profitability while Julia is driven by love for the environment. In conclusion, there are different aspects entrepreneurs and people in general. These include love for independence, ambition, internal control and taking risks. Entrepreneurs are may also be described as having different driving forces, and have confidence that they can achieve self efficacy. Bibliography Allio, R.J. 2011, "Henry Mintzberg: still the zealous skeptic and scold", Strategy & Leadership, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 4-8. Ascalon, E., et al. 2008, “Teaching Psychology of Entrepreneurship; Perspective from six European countries”, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid: pp 1-260. Burgaz, B., 1997, “Managerial roles approach and the prominent study of Henry Mintzberg and some empirical studies upon the principals work”, Hacettepe Universitesi Egitim Fakultesi Dergisi (13): 9-20. Dunphy, S.M., PhD. & Meyer, D. 2002, "Entrepreneur Or Manager? a Discriminant Analysis Based on Mintzbergs Managerial Roles", Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 17-0_11. Kibort, P.M. 2004, "Management vs. Leadership", Physician Executive, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 32-35. Mintzberg, H. 2003, "Unconventional wisdom: A conversation with Henry Mintzberg", Leadership in Action, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 8-10. Shane, S., Locke, E., and Collins, C., 2003, “Entrepreneurial Motivation”, Human Resource Management Review (13): 257–279. Zahra, S., & Dess, G. 2001, “Entrepreneurship as a field of research: encouraging dialogue and debate”. Academy of Management Review, 26(1), 8–11. Read More