Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

Organizational Behavior-2 What is the difference between the emotion and attitude? Give example of each Emotions are psychological and physiological episodes experienced toward an object, person, or event that create a state of readiness (McShane & Glinow, 2007; p.68). For example, arrival of a new leader into existing and established operations usually triggers a variety of reactions initially. These are shaped by each team member’s expectations from the leader; individual perceptions formed at the beginning based on their firs impressions and last for very little time, usually till the interaction improves. Attitude is the cluster of beliefs, assessed feelings, and behavioral intentions toward an object, which forms the attitude object. For example, arrival of a new manager into existing and established operations can trigger various thought processes in the team members, which could be a result of previous good or bad experiences, leader’s personality traits like looks, gait, dressing, talking styles etc. Such comparisons happen because of some logical reasoning process thus determining a conscious opinion about the leader. These opinions further reinforce members’ behavior towards the leader, whether the leader is readily accepted or is facing resistance from the team members. The three components of attitudes include beliefs, feelings, and behavioral intentions (McShane & Glinow, 2007). These components are impacted by emotional episodes, which manifest in the form of behavior towards learning and motivation (DuBrin, 2004). In the present case, the behavior could be seen as acceptance of the leader by team members; in their commitment towards the tasks; and in meeting leader’s expectations. In conclusion, emotions are a result of our behavioral and physiological reactions to the events around us. Attitudes are a result of some preconceived information that remains same over a period of time. 2. In any service organization, employees are dealing directly with their customers. In some cases they do something against their belief. Discuss such situation. Organizations define values that are stable and include evaluative beliefs that guide every employee’s behavior and preferences. However, individual values and beliefs may or may not be same as organizational values. Very often, clash of values and beliefs of individuals and with management or customers leads to significant stress among employees; leads to incompatible decisions; and lower satisfaction and commitment among employees (McShane & Von Glinow, 2009). Class of values and beliefs are more common in cross-cultural contexts because all individuals have specific beliefs that come with their national or societal cultures; in addition, individuals working in an organization are also obliged to follow organizational values. For example, in a customer service industry, employees constantly interact with customers from different cultures that come with varied values and beliefs. As customer service associates, they are expected to serve all customers to utmost satisfaction. Usually customers from the Eastern cultures, such as China or India, insist on getting their issues resolved with the manager though the front line employees enjoy equal authority to take specific decision regarding a customer. This is attributable to high power-distance in the Eastern cultures and low power distance in the United States (Jandt, 2009); this perspective highlights that in China power and authority to make critical decisions rests with superiors, unlike the United States. In such cases, employees are forced to hand over customer issues to their managers. Though employees are able and willing to serve the customer, they are forced to act according to the customers’ wishes. This example illustrates the significance of impact of organizational values on individuals’ values and beliefs. Incongruence between organizational and individual values and beliefs can cause tension and stress on employees. 3. Define the emotional intelligence. How can you utilize such idea in directing your subordinates behavior? Meyer and Salovey (1997) define emotional intelligence as the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in oneself and others (cited in McShane & Glinow, 2007; p.84). Daniel Goleman posits that emotional intelligence is the most critical element of leadership. The main components of emotional intelligence are self management, self awareness, social awareness and social skills (Armstrong, 2008). Leaders are responsible for directing subordinates towards achievement of tasks; however, providing guidance, coaching, training, and feedback are also required to help subordinates achieve the tasks. These activities need to be performed according to the need, and must be well timed so that the desired outcome is achieved. Leaders’ emotional intelligence plays a significant role in achieving these tasks. As a leader, one should be able to assess the competence level of subordinates before assigning them tasks. If an individual is in the learning stage, then leader should provide appropriate coaching and training so that the subordinate is made aware of the process of work. This will help in addressing the individual’s apprehensions and anxiety related to new task. Once the individual is aware of his/her goal and has gained required training, he/she should be monitored closely and provided feedback on performance. Appreciating good performance will enhance the individual’s confidence; and bad performance needs to be corrected. Once the individual exhibits sustained performance, he/she can be delegated the entire responsibility of the task; this will further reinforce his/her confidence in achieving the desired task. 4. Discuss the relation between the job satisfaction and attitude Job satisfaction is a collection of attitudes about different aspects of job and work context (McShane and Glinow, 2007; p.75). Employees tend to form specific attitudes towards various aspects of job based on their beliefs, experiences and intentions. Job satisfaction is dependent on all these aspects, or the attitude objects, which include career progress, supervisor and management, co-workers, working conditions, and pay and benefits. Job satisfaction has a direct impact on employee behavior and organisational outcomes. If job satisfaction is low, then employee response is exhibited by exiting the organization; voicing their concerns related to the dissatisfaction; loyally waiting for situation to change; or by neglecting the work by causing low quality, increasing absenteeism and lateness. Based on this, it is evident that job satisfaction directly impacts employee behavior and thus their performance. Highly satisfied employees produce high organizational productivity; however, the reverse may not be true. Dissatisfied employees may also produce high productivity, but choose to either voice their concerns, or exit. An important factor of job satisfaction is rewards and/or recognition for good performance. Secondly, high job satisfaction produces good customer satisfaction as employees are motivated to serve the customers as deemed by the organization. Mathis and Jackson (2007; p.70) explain that job satisfaction is a positive emotional state resulting from evaluating one’s job experiences related to work, pay, promotion opportunities, supervision and co-workers. In conclusion, job satisfaction a resultant of cluster of attitudes formed by employees in relation to experiences connected with different aspects of job; job satisfaction has an impact on performance and customer satisfaction. 5. What are the expectancy theory elements? Discuss how to increase the expectancy of converting performance to outcome The expectancy theory of motivation explains the process of motivation based on the premise that amount of effort people expend depends upon how much reward they expect to get in return. The three elements of expectancy theory are valence, instrumentality, and expectancy; hence also known as VIE theory (Dubrin, 2005). Valence refers to the anticipated satisfaction or dissatisfaction towards an outcome, which will have positive impact if the outcomes are valued by the individuals and negative if the outcomes are not within their value systems. Instrumentality refers to the individual’s assessment of the outcome, or performance-to-outcome expectancy. Expectancy refers to individual’s assessment of the effort required to achieve certain performance, or effort-to-performance expectancy. To increase the expectancy of converting performance-to-outcome, accurate performance evaluation and assessment will help in directing individuals towards the right standards of performance that will help them in achieving the desired goals. Rewarding individuals for achieving the goals is also effective in exemplifying higher rewards for higher performance. This can be done either by appreciating individuals verbally or in written form on a regular basis. Nominating individuals for specific recognition programs like awards, promotions, learning and developmental activities etc. Providing higher incentives and greater remuneration are also effective. These practices should be aligned to individuals’ abilities as well as needs (Daft, 2007). In conclusion, expectancy theory helps in understanding how individuals decide their motivational needs, and what actions to take in order to achieve their needs. This theory indicates that the motivational needs are different for every individual and that their goals are closely linked with the expected outcomes. 6. Discuss only one motivational practice within your subordinates. Motivation is an important aspect of organizational behavior and performance. Organizations sought various activities to keep their employees motivated like learning opportunities, growth and promotion opportunities, appreciation through rewards and recognition, challenging tasks etc. It is important that the motivational activities should not only be able to meet individuals’ motivational needs but also create new motivational needs to avoid over motivation of employees. For this McShane and Von Glinow (2009) assert that complementing balance must be achieved between financial rewards and challenging opportunities. One such motivational practice is the pay for performance followed at our workplace. This pay for performance is linked to different motivational schemes such as appreciation certificate, monthly incentives, and yearly bonus with performance appraisal. For individuals that value appreciation and recognition more than money, certificates of appreciation and achievement are provided on a monthly basis. Individuals who are motivated to earn more money tend to perform better to earn the monthly incentives and yearly bonus schemes; these individuals also receive certificates. To motivate individuals who value challenges, performance is evaluated based on their overall achievements during the year during their yearly appraisal process. Based on these evaluations, these individuals are also nominated for selection into the next promotional levels. In this process, individuals’ contribution to achievement of their goals and additional responsibilities are fully credited. In total, the pay for performance scheme followed at our workplace is a comprehensive motivational practice that considers most types of extrinsic motivational needs. References Armstrong, M. 2008. How to Be an Even Better Manager: A Complete A-Z of Proven Techniques and Essential Skills. 7th Ed. London: Kogan Page Publisher. DuBrin, A.J. 2004. Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior. 3rd Ed. OH, USA: Thomson/South- Western. DuBrin, A.J. 2005. Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, Skills. USA: Houghton Mifflin Co. Daft, R.L. 2007. Management. 8th Ed. OH, USA: Cengage Learning. Jandt, F.E. 2009. Culture. In Eadie, W.F’s 21st century communication: a reference handbook, Vol.1 California: SAGE. (pp:396-404). Mathis, R.L and Jackson, J.H. 2007. Human resource management. 12th Ed. OH, USA: Cengage Learning. McShane, S.L and Glinow, M.A.V. 2007. Organizational Behavior: Essentials. New Delhi: Tata McGrawHill. McShane, S.L and Von Glinow, M.A. 2009. Organizational behavior: Emerging knowledge and practice for the real world, 5th Ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Read More