No. Understanding human behavior is not the single most important requirement for managerial success .Its true that understanding human behavior helps managers effectively harness employee motivation, set better goals, get their workforce to function at peak efficiency and effectively harness employee motivation but in order to achieve the peak of success, one must not only acquire the knowledge of human behavior but also having the skills and expertise in planning ,organizing, leading and ways to control to achieve organization goals.
Ch.2 How can diversity create a competitive advantage for a firm?
The target market of a company is far from homogeneous. Likewise the workforce comes from different backgrounds, skills and aptitudes .Far from being a challenge, diversity can create competitive advantage by increasing innovation ,gain acceptance of customers and increase problem solving capacity and decision making. For instance, by hiring diverse candidates ,an organization has it’s pick from a much larger pool of highly talented individuals compared to an organization that doesn’t
Ch.3 Which of Gardner’s multiple intelligences do you feel are most important for managers. Why?
Linguistic Intelligence is a part of Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory that deals with sensitivity to the spoken and written language, ability to learn languages, and capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. Managers having linguistic intelligence will have an ability to analyze information and create products involving oral and written language such as speeches, books, and memos hence better communication in work.
Logical-mathematical intelligence refers to the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. Managers with logical-mathematical intelligence, have an ability to develop equations and proofs, make calculations, and solve abstract problems.
Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations, and desires of other people and consequently to work effectively with others .People with interpersonal intelligence, have an ability to recognize and understand other people’s moods, desires, motivations, and intentions hence an overall overview of human behavior.
Ch.4Do terminal and instrumental values have a larger influence of your behavior at work ?Explain.
Yes they do.Instrumental values are the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime, while terminal value are the preferable modes of behavior in achieving these values. Terminal values are the highest values in a person’s value system, while instrumental values are the ones that are most often used. Instrumental values dictate the behavoir of one at work and dictate the daily values we uphold. Terminal values determine the amount of importance one gives to work over other factors in one’s life. It can influence the behavior of an individual depending on how much one values the work as a terminal goal.
Ch.5 When has your level of perfomance been directly affected by your motivation? By your ability? By the environment.
Whenever I was rewarded and my efforts recognized at work, I was motivated to work harder. Lack of skills in certain fields have led to poor perfomance of some jobs. A positive work environment both physically and non-physical for example good office spaces and character development and open communication respectively create a workplace where all employees can thrive.
Ch.6 What are the primary similarities and differences between job enrichment and the approach proposed by job characteristics theory.
The similarity lies in the fact that both propose motivating employees through better asignmen t of work and job responsibilities. They emphasized the role of job design in the motivation and performance of the employees.
Their main differences are as follows:
Job enrichment is based on dual structure of motivation. This theory contends that, employees can be motivated by positive job related experience such as accountability, achievement and appreciation while job characteristics theory is an important contemporary model which describes how to design jobs. It is done by using five job characteristics and three psychological states.
Ch.7 Think about an effective team you have been to, that made it effective? Think about an underperforming team you have been on. Why was it underperforming?
Things that made my team effective :good leadership from our leader who seta good example to us and motivated us ,great organization of work for smooth running of group tasks, good and organized communication channels, everybody got to communicate their views and finally our team members were diverse bringing about creativity and broad range of ideas to the table.
Things that made a team underperform :poor problem solving processes, lack of openness and trust, low tolerance for diversity, vague role definitions and team members who lacked a commitment to the goal.
Ch. Eight. Why does it make sense to discuss several different models of decision making.
Allow the use of the most appropriate decision making technique.
Enable use of part or all of previous decisions.
Ensures capture of the important information needed to determine where a decision goes right or wrong.
To enhance a firm’s productivity and efficiency by picking the right one.
To understand all variables and criteria involved in making any decision.
Ch.9 Which do you think is more important for organizations: formal or informal communication .Why?
Formal communication is more important for organizations. In its purest form, formal communication is created to increase efficiency within an organization. Pre-determined channels of communication are meant to provide a smooth and streamlined method of communication that travels upward and downward. It is the way to easily communicate rules, procedures, and company policy to lower level employees. A formal notification is also favorable in situations where documentation is needed to prove or disapprove a claim or complaint. If someone violated company policy or broke a rule against another coworker, it is easy for employees to point to formal communications between staff and upper management.
Ch.10 How can managers promote constructive conflicts?
Constructive conflicts embraces different ideas and worldviews in an effort to move the company towards its goal and mission. This type of conflict increases productivity rather than ramper it. To promote constructive conflict, for me, managers must think as if they are also a member. They should not forget to be a human just because of a status. Managers must think and feel like members and eventually think of a solution applicable for everyone. Managers must be sensitive of what situations can his/her members be at their highest potential: The managers should appreciate the hard work of the workers, so that they feel motivated and there is less chance of conflict. The managers should create rules for the workers, so that they are disciplined.
Ch.11 Compare and contrast the LPC and path-goal theories of leadership. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?
Path goal theory says that the effective leader clarify the paths that will lead to preferred goals of the organization. This theory recognized four leader’s behavior such as “supportive, directive, achievement-oriented and participative”. The directive behavior clears what the leader to be expected from the subordinates. Leader provides the particular guidelines to accomplish tasks and goals. The supportive behavior makes the leader-subordinate relationship in a friendly manner. The achievement oriented behavior leader set the challenging goal and motivate the employees to accomplish their maximum level to achieve their goal.
LPC(Least Preferred Co-worker) theory says that the leader’s efficiency is influenced by several circumstances. This theory explains both complexities of a situation and leader’s personality. Some leaders will perform better in some situation and not in others.
Similarities.
The path-goal theory and the LPC model are illustrative of the perspective in which a. leadership is viewed as a set of traits possessed by effective leaders. b. leadership traits are seen to vary according to the situation. c. leadership effectiveness depends on characteristics of the situation. d. leadership is viewed as a set of behaviors displayed by effective leaders. e. nearly all situations benefit from strong task-oriented leadership.
Differences.
Path goal theory concentrates on “supportive, directive, achievement-oriented and participative behavior” however LPC theory is based on the situation behavior of the leader.
Strengths and weaknesses of these two theories.
The strengths of path goal theory are involving the employee in all process and treating them in a friendly way to achieve the goals. The LPC strength is handling situation in a good way to achieve goals.
The weaknesses of the path-goal theory is leader my lose his control over the subordinates, if he gives more freedom at the workplace. Likewise in the PLC, the leader selects the employee based on the LPC scale, which maybe influenced by the leader.
Ch.12 In what ways does strategic leadership differ from “non-strategic” leadership?
Strategic leadership is defined as the skills and abilities through which the leaders of an organization move towards a predefined goal in a systematic manner. On the otherhand, non strategic leadership style depends upon the personality of the leader and he or she may lead the organization without any strategic plan to the specified goal.
In strategic leadership ,long term financial stability is maintained. But on the other hand, non strategic leadership strict financial stability may not be maintained.
Strategic leadership is a simple form of development and execution of long term planning, therefore it is les oriented with motivation .On the other hand,non strategic leadership is highly motivation oriented. It encourages the employees to take part in the change process.
Ch.13 How can you ethically use power ,influence and politics to get a promotion?
Focus on the responsibility that come with power and use it in positive ways.
Develop a strong moral identity. A research team led by Katherine DeCelles (2012) found that a person who has a strong moral identity—meaning a person who sees attributes like justice, caring, and generosity as central components of their character—is less likely to act out of self-interest at work, even when he or she receives power.
Encourage others to voice their opinions and concerns. When you empower them to share their concerns, you reduce the risks that come with silent, conflict-avoidant employees and opposers to your promotions.
Have expertise in your area of work.
Ch.14 Why do you think companies are moving towards flatter, more organic structures? Do you think its appropriate?culture decides the way employees Why?
Yes it is. Employee morale may be higher, especially those who are high achievers. A company with a flatter organizational structure also has less bureaucracy because of fewer echelons or tiers. Therefore, a company can make quicker decisions in with a flatter organizational structure. Also greater communication between employees.
Ch.15 Do you think that culture is important to organizational perfomance? Why or why not?
The culture of the workplace controls the way employees behave amongst themselves as well as with people outside the organization. The culture decides the way employees interact at their workplace. A healthy culture encourages the employees to stay motivated and loyal towards the management.
No two organizations can have the same work culture. It is the culture of an organization which makes it distinct from others. The work culture goes a long way in creating thebrandimage of the organization. The work culture gives an identity to the organization.
The organization culture brings all theemployees on a common platform. The employees must be treated equally and no one should feel neglected or left out at the workplace. It is essential for the employees to adjust well in the organization culture for them to deliver their level best.
Thework culture unites the employees who areotherwisefrom different back grounds, families and have varied attitudes and mentalities. The culture gives the employees a sense of unity at the workplace.
Ch.16 Is most organization change forced on the organization by external or foster from within? Why?
By both.
External environment affects the organizations both directly and indirectly. The organizations do not have any control over the variables in such an environment. Accordingly, the organization cannot change the environment but must change themselves to align with the environment. A few of these factors are: technology ,market conditions, social, cultural and political changes.
Internal forces for organizational change are changes that occur within the organization .They are too many and it is very difficult to list them comprehensively. However, major internal causes are explained as follows: nature of work place, change in managerial personnel or deficiency in existing management structures.
