Teamrole Selfperception Inventory - Personal Statement Example

 Team‐role Self‐perception Inventory All I have ever wanted since I was a child was to study business and to grow up to become a successful businessman. This was as a result of nurturing a passion that I developed for business and dealing with human beings since I started school at an age of five years (Spitzberg, 2014, p. 25). The dynamic character of a business together with its competitiveness go hand in hand with my constant desire to always feel the adrenaline-like ‘rush’ that comes with it. Success in business requires an individual ready to undergo personal and professional development. Since the trends are ever-changing, and new ideas are always coming up, it is imperative that a businessperson strives to keep up with them to maintain significance in the economy (Peltonen, 2012, p. 70). This paper showcases my reflection on personal and professional development that I got after reading texts by Hofstede. & Minkov, Belbin and Jared Diamond and others revolving around culture, organization and teamwork. It also scrutinizes the useful aspects I acquired around internal business, economics and research methods based on the same books. In his book, Hofstede presents the cultural dimensions theory that provides a framework for cross-cultural communication. The reading offers a valuable insight into effects of a society’s culture on the values of its members and the way these values relate to behaviour (Hofstede, 1980, p. 90). I learn that the society behaves differently according to its culture. In a society that exhibits a high degree of power distance accepts hierarchies without the need for justification. Society with low power distance, seek equal distribution of authority (Tuckman, 1965, p. 390). In addition, individualistic societies put too much stress on personal achievements and rights while collective organizations promote the culture of cohesion and unity (Rhodes, 2014, p. 116). People living in societies with cultures having high uncertainty avoidance tend to be anxious and emotional and try minimizing this uncertainty as opposed to those with low uncertainty avoidance that are more tolerant to change (Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov, 2010, p. 33). It is important as a businessman to consider the cultural set-up of a society before establishing a business in it. Such an action will determine how well the people will accept my business in that the corporation, what quality of employees I will get and consequently how well the company will perform. A society that is indulgent and impulsive will likely result in more sales for my company as opposed to one, which is tied down by restraint (Indulgence versus restraint). An understanding of the differences provide a guideline on how to communicate and work with the people of a given society (Keleman and Rumens, 2008, p. 200). Belbin team role report provides an understanding of the effects of teamwork on the performance of a business. According to the Belbin report, the balance in the enterprise structure among individuals with high intellect and those with a weak intellect was the determining factor for the success of the enterprise (Belbin, 2012, p. 98). This is as opposed to mere element of intelligence. I gain an understanding of the development of a holistic approach to business. Belbin team roles can be used to identify people’s behavioural strengths and weaknesses in the workplace. Most successful companies happen to be those with a mix of different people, that is, those with a range of various behaviours. The results can then be used to build productive working relationships in the workplace (Aggarwal, 2014, p. 87). Entrepreneurs can also use them to select and develop high performing teams, as well as build mutual trust and understanding (Rhodes, 2014, p. 10). As an entrepreneur, I could also use them to raise self-awareness and personal effectiveness, as well as aiding of recruitment processes (Belbin, 2012, p. 78). The Belbin Team Roles measure the behaviour and not the personality. Belbin describes it as the tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with other people in a particular way. By identifying the team roles, the staff in a business can ensure that they use their strengths to their advantage and learn how to manage their weaknesses (Fishers, 1998, p. 56). Management teams provide a valuable insight on how to make teams effective basing on the similarity of their personalities, creativity and leadership. An important lesson from the text is how to design winning teams by looking at its features like size and by projecting their performance in some time in future like thirty years. Jason Diamond’s book ‘Guns, Germs and Steel: Fate of Human Societies’ argues that gaps in power and technology between human societies stem from environmental differences. For instance, Jason argues that Eurasian civilizations (e.g. North Africa) have survived and dominated over others because of the influence of geography on societies and cultures (Diamond and Ordunio, 2005, p. 61). This is as opposed to the idea that the survival was due to their genetic make-up. A business relies on both its internal and external environment to survive and succeed in modern society. Geography makes a significant component of the external environment. As a prospective entrepreneur, learning the dynamics of a geographical site might help me foster the success of a potential business. An agricultural-based business requires a site with favourable climate and efficient transport infrastructure (Diamond and Ordunio, 2005, p. 65). Jason’s work disputes the idea that success or survival of anything lies in the genetic make-up of the individual. Success lies intricately in effectively exploiting the environmental resources in the particular environment. The texts provide useful aspects in the fields of International Business and Economics. For instance, the Hofstede model implies that decisions taken in international management have to be based on the country’s customs and values. When working in international companies, business managers can provide training to their staff to make them more sensitive to cultural differences (Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov, 2010, p. 36). The texts provide a useful entrepreneurial tool in economics. A comprehensive understanding of the culture of a society may be the determining factor in successes of a business or its failure (Fisher, Hunter and Macrosson, 1998, p. 285). Consequently, for me to be able to set up a successful organisation mandates that I study the culture of my potential employees. Such an understanding will enable me to understand the staff and to know how to bring the best out of them. Belbin team role report emphasizes the importance of building a culture of teamwork in the business by efficient designing of the enterprise structure (Chia, 2014, p. 99). A United staff improves the chances of success in a company as the people share tasks that save time as well as improving efficiency. Belbin first studied teams at Henley Management College to come up with his nine team roles. He then carried out extensive observational research to determine the factors that influenced team failure or success. The design of the experiment was along scientific lines with careful measurement at each stage. Jared Diamond work was a theoretical discussion based on studies of long-term historical structures by using a synthesis of sociology, geography and history (Furnham, Steele and Pendleton, 1993, p. 250). It was essentially an examination of the effects of geography, climate and land use. All in all, I learn that culture influences the values of people. In order for me to run a successful business with employees, critical understanding of the culture of my staff is necessary. Also, the environment plays an integral role in the success of a company. One needs to understand the resources available and the most efficient ways of exploiting the same. In addition, unity, teamwork and co-operation cannot be underestimated.Dr.Belbin points out that a team is not just a group of people with job titles but is a congregation of individuals each of whom has a role to play. The team members seek out particular roles that are most natural to them which increases their overall performance (Belbin, 1993, p. 90). References Aggarwal, P., 2014. Psychological contract organizational citizenship behavior and organization effectiveness in business organization. Belbin, R. M., 2012. Beyond the team. Routledge. Belbin, R. M., 2012. Team roles at work. Routledge. Chia, R., 2014. From Relevance to Relevate: How university Diamond, J. M. and Ordunio, D., 2005. Guns, germs, and steel. National Geographic. Fisher, S. G., Hunter, T. A. and Macrosson, W. D. K., 1998. The structure of Belbin's team roles. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology,71(3), 283-288. Furnham, A., Steele, H. and Pendleton, D., 1993. A psychometric assessment of the Belbin Team‐role Self‐perception Inventory. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 66(3), 245-257. Hofstede, G., 1980. Culture and organizations. International Studies of Management & Organization, 15-41. Hofstede, G. Hofstede, J. & Minkov, M. 2010. Culture and Organizations. New York. McGraw Hill. Keleman, M. and Rumens, N., 2008. An Introduction to Critical Management Research. London: Stage. Meredith Belbin, R., 2011. Management teams: Why they succeed or fail. Human Resource Management International Digest, 19(3). Peltonen, T., 2012. Exploring organizational architecture and space: a case for heterodox research. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 20(1), 68-76. Rhodes, C., 2014. Writing organization/romancing fictocriticism. Culture and Organization, (ahead-of-print), 1-15. Spitzberg, B. H., 2014. Toward a model of meme diffusion (M3D).Communication Tuckman, B., 1965. Development Sequences in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 384-399. Winston, R., 2004. Human Mind. New York: Bantam Press, Ltd.. Read More