mb0022 - management process and organizational behaviour -new

8/6/2019 MB0022 - Management Process and Organizational Behaviour -New

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ASSIGNMENTS - MBA Semester-I

Subject code: MB0022 - Management Process and Organizational

Behaviour (Set I)

Q1. Today managers need to perform various functions:Elaborate the statement

Answer

Management functionally can be defined as the action of measuring a quantityon a regular basis and of adjusting some initial plan.

Management functions are as follows:1. Planning2. Organising3. Commanding4. Coordinating5. Controlling

However in recent times, management functions have been regrouped into 4categories. Since the managerial tasks have become highly challenging a fluidnature of making distinctions redundant to a certain context.

1. Planning2. Organising3. Leading4. Controlling

1. Planning:It involves the process of defining goals, establishing strategies to achieve thesegoals, and developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities. Effectiveplanning enables an organisation adapt the change by identifying opportunitiesand avoiding problems. It provides direction to the other functions ofmanagement and for effective team work. All levels of management engage inplanning in their own way for achieving their presser goals.Planning in order to be useful must be linked with strategic intent of anorganisation.

Strategic Planning:

Top level managers often engage in strategic planning or long term planning. Itis a process of developing and analysing the organisations mission, overallgoals, general strategies and allocation of resources.The tasks in strategic planning include the following steps:

a. Define mission:Planning begins with clearly defining the mission of the organisation. Amission statement should be short and should be easily understood by everyemployee. It guides employees to work independently yet collectively toward

the realisation of organisation potentialb. Conduct SWOT analysis:

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Behaviour (Set I)

A situation or SWOT [Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats]analysis is vital for the creation of any strategic plan. It begins with the scanof external environment. Organisations need to need to examine their

business situation in order to map out the opportunities and threats presentin their environments. It provides assumptions and facts on which a plan willbe based.In general terms the best strategy is one that fits the organisations strengthsto opportunities. The SWOT analysis is used as a base line for futureimprovement, as well as gap analysis.

Set goals and objectives:Strategic goals and objectives are developed to fulfil the gap between currentcapability and the mission. They are aligned with the mission and form basis for

the action plans. Objectives are also called performance goals.Develop related strategies (Tactical and operational):Tactical plans are based on organisations strategic plan. In turn, operationalplans are based on the organisations tactical plans. These are specific plans thatare needed for each task or supporting activity comprising the whole. All plansmust be accompanied by controls to ensure proper implementation.Monitor the plan:A systematic method of monitoring the environment must be adopted tocontinuously improve the strategic planning process. Feedback is encouragedand incorporated to determine if goals and objectives are feasible.

2. Organising:It involves designing, structuring and coordinating the work components toachieve organisational goals. It is the process of determining what tasks are tobe done, who to do, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, andwhere decisions are to be made. The purpose of this function is to make the bestuse of the organisations resources to achieve organisational goals.The steps in organisation process include:

a. Review plansb. List all tasks to accomplishedc. Divide the tasks into groups one person can accomplish-a jobd. Group related jobs together in a logical and efficient manner.e. Assign work to individuals.f. Delegate authority to establish relationships between jobs and groups of

jobs.

3. Leading:An organisation has the greatest chance of being successful when all of theemployees work toward achieving its goals. Since leadership involves theexercise of influence by one person over others, the quality of leadershipexhibited bys supervisors is critical demand of organisational success.

Leading involves the following functions:a. Team Building:

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Behaviour (Set I)

Rigid department boundaries and fixed teams are giving way to ad hocsquads whose membership changes with every project. Competitive arenasrequire quick decisions by knowledgeable employees who work close to the

source of problems. Teams enable knowledge-based and innovative decisionmaking. This collaboration is a revolution in work place.b. Consensus Building:Top performance demands the joint effort of many people working togethertoward a common goal. Together, employees can do more than the collectiveefforts of each individual working alone.c. Selecting:Selecting competent, high-performing employees capable of sustaining theirperformance over the long run is a competitive advantage. The sectionprocess consists of forecasting employment needs, recruiting candidates,

interviewing applicants and hiring employees.d. Training:After selecting employees, they enter an organisational program to beformally introduced to their jobs. Orientation sets a tone for new employeeswork by describing job-related expectations and reporting relationships.Employees are informed about the benefits, policies and procedures. Specificduties and responsibilities and performance evaluation are clarified. Duringorientation, the supervisor has the opportunity to resolve any unrealisticexpectations held by employee. All new employees [current employee in newjobs] must be trained. Cross training prepares employees for a job normally

handled by someone else. Training starts with Organisational analysis.Task analysis identifies the current and future tasks to be done. Personalneeds analysis involves asking managers and employees to analyse theirtraining needs.

4. Controlling:It involves monitoring employees behaviour and organisational processes andtakes necessary actions to improve them.There are 4 steps in control process:

i. Establish performance standards. Standards are created and objectivesare set during planning process.

ii. Measure actual performance. Supervisors collect data to measure actualperformance. Oral reports will allow for fast and extensive feedback.Computers give supervisors direct access to real time, unaltered data,and information.

iii. Compare measured performance against established standards. Establishthe acceptable variation. Deviations that exceed this range would alertthe supervisor to a problem.

iv. Take corrective action. If the performance is from a defect in activity, thenthe supervisor can take immediate corrective action and getperformance back on track.

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Behaviour (Set I)

Controls are effective when they are applied at key places. Supervisors canimplement control measures before the process begins [Feed forward],during the process [Concurrent], or after it ceases [Feedback].

Q2. Skills are the tools for performance Explain Differentmanagement skills.

Answer

Management Skills

According to Katz (1974), management skills are as follows:

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Behaviour (Set I)

1. Technical Skills

2. Human Skills

3. Conceptual Skills

1. Technical Skills:

The ability is to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. All jobs require somespecialized expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job.Vocational and on-the-job training programs can be used to develop this type of

skill.

2. Human Skills:

This is the ability to work with, understand and motivate other people (bothindividually and a group). This requires sensitivity towards other issues andconcerns. People, who are proficient in technical skill, but not with interpersonalskills, may face difficult to manage their sub-ordinates,. To acquire the humanskill, it is pertinent to recognize the feelings and sentiments of others, ability tomotivate others even in adverse situation and communicate own feelings to

others in a positive and inspiring way.

3. Conceptual Skills:

This is an ability to critically analyse, diagnose a situation and forward a feasiblesolution. It requires creative thinking, generating options and choosing the bestavailable option.

Q3. What is negotiation? Explain the process ofnegotiation.

Answer

Negotiation:

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Behaviour (Set I)

Negotiation is the process in which two or more parties exchange goods orservices and attempt to agree upon the exchange rate for them. There are twogeneral approaches to negotiation

- Distributive bargaining:Ones tactics focus on trying to get ones opponent to agree to ones specifictarget point or to get as close to it as possible.

Hard distributive bargaining / negotiation:This takes place when each party holds out to get its own way. This leadsto win-lose outcome.

Soft distributive bargaining / negotiation:This takes place when one party is willing to make concessions to the

other to get things over with.

- Integrative bargaining:This strategy is adopted to create win-win solution. Following conditions arenecessary for this type of negotiation:a. Parties who are open with information and candid about their concerns.b. Sensitivity by both parties to the others needs.c. The ability to trust one another.d. Willingness by both parties to maintain flexibility.

The Negotiation Process:

Preparation and Planning:

At this stage, homework needs to be done in regard to the nature, history,concerned parties of the conflict. Based upon the information, a strategy isdeveloped. Both the parties Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement(BATNA) needs to be determine. BATNA determines the lowest valueacceptable to you for a negotiated agreement for both the parties.

Definitions of Ground rules:

At this stage, the venue, the negotiators, time will be decided.Clarification & Justification:

When initial positions have been exchanged, the original demands of boththe parties need to be explained and justified. Proper documentation isrequired at this stage to support each of the parties position.

Bargaining & Problem Solving:

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Behaviour (Set I)

The essence of the negotiation process is the actual give and take in tryingto hash out an agreement; concessions will undoubtedly need to be madeby both parties.

Closure and Implementation:

This is the final step, where the agreement is formalised and procedures toimplement the agreement will be developed.

Issues in Negotiation:

a. Overall assessments of the personality negotiation relationship finds thatpersonality trait have no significant direct effect on either the bargaining

process or negotiation outcomes.b. Men and women do not negotiate differently. The belief that women are

nicer is probably due to confusing gender and the lack of power typicallyheld by women.

c. Negotiating styles clearly vary across national cultures.

Q4. Explain Classical Conditioning Theory?

Answer

Classical Conditioning is the type of learning made famous by Pavlov'sexperiments with dogs.

Classical conditioning was accidentally discovered around the beginning of the20th century by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov [1927]. Pavlov was studying

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Behaviour (Set I)

digestive process in dogs when he discovered that the dogs salivated beforethey received their food. In fact, after repeated pairing of the lab attendantand the food, the dogs started to salivate at the sight of the lab assistants.

Pavlov coined this phenomenon psychic secretions." He noted that dogs werenot only responding to a biological need (hunger), but also a need developed bylearning. Pavlov spent the rest of life researching why this associate learningoccurred, which is now called classical conditioning.

To experiment on classical conditioning, Pavlov utilized a tuning fork and meatpowder. He hit the tuning fork and followed the sound with the meat powder.Pavlov presented the sound (tuning fork) with the meat powder at the exactsame time increments. In the beginning, the dog salivated only to the meatpowder, but after this was repeated, salivated at the sound of the tuning fork.

Even when Pavlov took away the meat powder, the dog continued to salivate atthe sound of the tuning fork.

PRINCIPLES OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONINGIn classical conditioning, an organism learns to associate one stimulus withanother. The organism learns that the first stimulus is a cue for the secondstimulus. In Pavlovs experiment above, the tuning fork (Bell) cued the dogsthat food might be coming. Following is an example of classical conditioning.

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Behaviour (Set I)

KEY CONCEPTS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)A stimulus that elicits a response without conditioning

Unconditioned Response (UCR)Automatic response elicited by the unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)A neutral stimulus that when paired with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)elicits a similar response

Conditioned Response (CR)

A response that is learned by pairing the originally neutral conditionedstimulus (CS) with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

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Behaviour (Set I)

Acquisition:The acquisition phase is the consistent parings of the CS (bell) and the UCS(food) that produces a CR (salivation). In the example above, this phase

occurs when the dog begins to salivate at the sound of the bell. Conditioningoccurs more rapidly when the food follows the bell by a half a second.

Extinctionthe extinction phase is when the conditioned response no longer occurs afterrepeated pairings without the unconditioned stimulus. The dogs response tothe bell can be extinguished by repeatedly presenting the bell (CS) withoutthe food (UCS). The dog has not completely forgotten the associationbetween the bell and the food. If the experimenter waits a day, the dogmay have a spontaneous recovery of the conditioned response and salivate

again to the bell.

GeneralizationOccurs when there is a small difference in the presented stimulus and theoriginal conditioned stimulus. If Pavlovs dog heard a bell of a similar tone,the dog would still salivate.

Discrimination

The opposite of generalization, discrimination happens when a conditionedresponse does not occur when there is a difference between the presented

stimulus and the original conditioned stimulus. If Pavlovs dog heard a bell witha different tone and was not awarded the unconditioned stimulus (food), the dogwould learn not to salivate to the second tone.

Classical conditioning is used by trainers for two purposes: To condition (train)autonomic responses, such as the drooling, producing adrenaline, or reducingadrenaline (calming) without using the stimuli that would naturally create such aresponse; and, to create an association between a stimulus that normally wouldnot have any effect on the animal and a stimulus that would.

Q5. How are culture and society responsible to built valuesystem?

Answer

Values represent basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end stateof existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode

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Behaviour (Set I)

of conduct or end-state of existence. When the values are ranked in terms oftheir intensity, it is called value system. Types of values include social valuesand aesthetic values. Values have both content and intensity attributes.

- The content attribute specifies that a mode of conduct or end-state of existence is important.

- The intensity attribute specifies how important it is.- Ranking an individuals values in terms of their intensity equals

that persons value system.Values shape relationships, behaviours and choices. The more positive ourvalues more positive are our actions.

Culture, Society and Values:

According to Hofstadters Research, the following points can be noted:

Power distance-This dimension measures the social equality in families, institutions andorganisations. Inequality of power in organisations is generally manifested inhierarchical superior-subordinate relationships.

Uncertainty avoidance-This is representation of a society tolerance for uncertain situations. It measures

to what extent a society manages those situations by providing specific andconventional rules, regulations and norms; by rejecting aberrant ideas orbehaviour; by accepting the possibility of absolute truths ans theaccomplishments of expertise.

Individualism Vs Collectivism-Individualism gauges to what extent individuals in a country considerthemselves as distinct entities rather than members of cohesive groups.Collectivism, on the other hand, emphasizes on social ties or bonds betweenindividuals. Individualistic society considers self interest as more important that

the group goal.

Masculinity Vs Femininity-This dimension refers to what extent dominant values in a society emphasizesmasculine social values like a work ethic expressed in terms of money,achievement and recognition as opposed to feminine social role will show moreconcern for people and quality of life.

Long term orientation-

Measures employees devotion to work ethic and their respect for tradition. TheAsian countries are strong in work ethic and respect for tradition.

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Behaviour (Set I)

He also states that each person carries several layers of cultural programming.It starts when a child learns basic values, what is right and wrong, good and

bad, logical and illogical, beautiful and ugly. Culture is about your fundamentalassumptions of what is to be a person and how you should interact with otherpersons. The first level of culture is deepest and difficult to change. Other layersin the culture are learned or programmed in the course of education throughprofessional or craft training and in organisation life.

According to GLOBE, there are 9 cultural dimensions.

Uncertainty avoidance: the extent to which a society or an organisationtries to avoid uncertainty by depending heavily on prevalent norms, ritualsand bureaucratic practices.

Power Distance: it is the degree to which power unequally shared in asociety and organisation.

Collectivism I [Social collectivism]: it is the degree to which society andan organisation encourage and recognises collective performance.

Collectivism-II [In-group Collectivism]: it is the degree to whichindividuals take pride, loyalty and cohesiveness in their organisations andfamilies.

Gender egalitarianism: this is an extent to which a society or anorganisation minimizes gender differences.

Assertiveness: it is the degree to which individuals, both in organisational

and social context are, assertive and confrontational. Future orientation: it is the degree to which individuals are encouraged in

long term future oriented behaviour.

Performance orientation: this encourages and rewards persons onperformance improvement.

Human orientation: it is the degree to which organisations or societyencourages or reward for being fair, altruistic, friendly and caring.

Work behaviours across cultures:

In every culture, there are different sets if attitudes and values which affectbehaviour. Mangers portray trust and respect in their employees in differentways in different cultures. This is a function of their own cultural background.For example managers from specific cultures tend to focus only on the behaviourthat takes place at work, in contrast to managers from diffused cultures whofocus on wider range of behaviour including employees private and professionallives. Most managers from diffused cultures believed that company shouldprovide such facility where are managers from specific cultures agreed on thesame.

Task and relationship:

In response to the statement which states that, the main reason of hierarchalstructure was to communicate the authority relationship, most of US managers

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Behaviour (Set I)

disagreed where most Asian and Latin American managers are agreed. It wasclear that US managers have extremely task oriented culture, believe more inflatter organisational structure to become more effective. The second set of

managers was from relationship oriented cultures where the concept of authorityis more important.Managers as experts or problem solvers:Manager from various cultures were asked whether it was important for them tohave at hand, precise answers to most questions their subordinates might raiseabout their work. French managers believed that they should give raise toprecise answers to the questions in order to maintain their credibility and retaintheir subordinates sense of security. On contrary, US mangers believed that amanagers role should be to act as a mentor who would facilitate employees tosolve the problem. They also believe that providing direct answers to a problem

actually discourages subordinates initiatives and creativity and ultimatelyhampers performance.

Q6. Write short notes on Locus of Control

Machiavellianism

Answer

Locus of Control:

A persons perception of the source of his/ her fate is termed as Locus of

Control. Locus of control was formulated within the frame work of Rotters{1954} Social Learning Theory of Personality. Rotter {1975} pointed out that

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Behaviour (Set I)

the internality and externality are the two ends of a continuum, not an either/ortopology.

External Locus of ControlIndividual believes that his/herbehaviour is guided by fate, luck, orother external circumstances

Internal Locus of ControlIndividual believes that his/herbehaviour is guided by his/herpersonal decisions and efforts.

Internals tend to attribute outcomes of events to their own control.Externals attribute outcome of events to external circumstances.

For example, college students with a strong internal locus of control may believethat their grades were achieved through their own abilities and efforts. Whereas,those with strong external locus of control may believe that their grades are theresult of good / bad luck, or to a professor who designs bad tests or gradescapriciously; hence they are less likely to expect that their own efforts will resultin success and are therefore less likely to work hard for higher grades.

Individuals who rate high in externality are less satisfied with their jobs, havehigher absenteeism rates, are more alienated from work wetting and are lessinvolved on their jobs than are internals. Internals believe that health is

substantially under their own control, and hence, of absenteeism, are lower.

Internals generally perform better on their jobs, but one needs to considerdifferences in jobs. Internals search more actively for information before makinga decision, are more motivated to achieve, and make a greater attempt tocontrol their environment, and hence, internals do well on sophisticated tasks,internals are more suited to jobs that require initiative and independence ofaction and want autonomy and independence in their jobs. Externals are morecompliant and are willing to follow directions and be led, and do well on the jobsthat are well structured and routine and in which success depends heavily oncomplying with the direction of others.

Machiavellianism:

Machiavellianism is the term that some social and personality psychologistsuse to describe a persons tendency to deceive and manipulate others forpersonal gain. The concept is named after Renaissance diplomat and writerNiccolo Machiavelli, who wrote II Principe [The prince]. Christie and Geis[1970] developed a test for measuring a persons level of Machiavellianism. Thiseventually became the MACH IV test, a 20 statement personality survey that is

now standard self assessment tool for Machiavellianism.

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Behaviour (Set I)

Mach IV, the Machiavelli (Mach) scale measures an individual's willingness to putself-interest and his or her preferences above the interests of the group, and anindividual's ability to influence and manipulate others for personal gain (Jaffe et

al, 1989). Individuals with a high score on the scale are comfortable usingvarious means to achieve their personal goals. A high Mach has a cynical view ofhuman nature, few scruples, and is willing to step outside the bounds of formalauthority (Rayburn and Rayburn, 1996). Grams and Rogers (1990) found thatpeople who were high in Machiavellianism used indirect, non-rational tactics likedeceit, but also appealed to emotions to try to plant their ideas to influence theircolleagues.

High Mach scorers manipulate more, win more, are persuaded and persuadeothers more. High mach outcomes are moderated by situational factors and

flourish when they interact face to face with others rather than indirectly, andwhen the situation has minimum number of rules and regulations, thus allowingroom for improvisation. High machs makes good employees in jobs that requirebargaining skills or that offer substantial rewards for winning.

Literature review

Several hundred studies have examined Machiavellianism, including several thathave researched the degree of Machiavellianism among current and futurebusiness executives (Hegarty and Sims, 1978; Chonko, 1982; Singhapakdi andVitell, 1990). However, no previous studies have attempted to examine theextent of Machiavellianism among Egyptian students.

Robinson and Shaver (1973) reviewed various studies on Machiavellianism. Theauthors found different degrees of Machiavellianism between generations, whichindicate that people are becoming more manipulative and impersonal. Alsoreviewed, field studies at medical schools reveal that psychiatrists are mostMachiavellian and surgeons are least Machiavellian. The explanation offered isthat psychiatrists' role involves manipulation per se vs. the surgeon who has aslittle personal contact with patient as possible.

Miesing and Preble (1985) compared the different business ideologies, includingMachiavellianism, and tested them with 487 MBA students. This survey revealedthat postgraduates and those with work experience were less Machiavellian inapproach, compared to undergraduates and those without work experience. Inaddition, women compared to men, and those with some religious convictionswere found to be less Machiavellian in their dealings.

Gemmill and Heisler (1972) investigated the relationship between Machiavellianorientation and several job-related correlates among 150 managers in a largemanufacturing firm in the US. The findings indicate that Machiavellian

orientation is positively associated with job strain and perceived opportunity for

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formal control, and negatively associated with job satisfaction. Machiavellianorientation was not significantly associated with upward mobility.

Siegel (1973) examined the extent to which managers, MBA students, andfaculty members exhibit the Machiavellian, manipulative interpersonal behaviorand leadership using the Mach scale and theory X/Theory Y leadership scale. Thestudy found the following ranking of Machiavellian orientation: managers(lowest), students, faculty (highest). They found Machiavellianism relatesnegatively to participative leadership attitudes for both students and managers.

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