Business Organisations and Behaviour - Assignment Example

? Business Organisations and Behaviour assignment Contents Task 3 Task 2 5 Task 3 6 Task 4 8 Reference List 11 Task An organisational hierarchy can be described as a type of an organisational structure in which every entity, apart from the head or top controller, is subordinate to another entity. This kind of hierarchical structure generally follows a top down approach for normal functioning and can be seen in most of the corporate organisations, government bodies and organised religions. This type of organisational structure consists of many levels of management and power of authorities. Communication generally occurs at the immediate level. A traditional hierarchical structure is more favourable for smaller organisations. The organisations having less number of employees can be controlled and proper flow of communication can be maintained with a top down organisation approach. This is helpful in enforcing power and command over the organisation. However, with the rise in globalisation and technological advancements, organisations began to downsize and started to use technology instead. In the present business environment, a strict top down approach of hierarchal organisational structure is tough to follow. Since every department is branching out into many sub divisions and vertical as well as horizontal branches, cross communication has seen an enormous rise. Thus looking at the present scenario, a hierarchal organisational structure will lead to a lack in communication and the resultant organisational will be more bureaucratic in nature. Apart from this, another major disadvantage of this structure is that it does not encourage employees to collaborate, share ideas and information. Sometimes employees develop cliches and it may also result in fierce competition for power within departments. This decreases the motivation level of employees. Hawk Company was following taylorist methods of production. A taylorist method can be characterized as a production process in which every action or task is broken down into smaller segments with the objective of monitoring and correcting any action. This can be regarded as a rigorous method of production where each and every action is flowed by strict monitoring. A taylorist approach can be accompanied by many methods of organisational structure. These can be bureaucratic, hierarchal or specialised structure. In the bureaucratic, structure, strict rules and regulations are followed and procedures are delegated in order to achieve compliance and control of subordinated from those who give orders. The second one is hierarchical in which decision makers are separated from employees who implement. Traditional methods of taylorism are highly dysfunctional and lead decrease in motivation of employees and workers. From the above two theories, it is very evident that the arising issues and complications from the traditional methods of organisational structure and production process lead to the subsequent changes, which were implemented in the organisation. It is evident from the case that the work process in the manufacturing unit was boring and repetitive and workers were losing interest in the process. The organisational structure was hierarchal as well as bureaucratic because of which, the workers had a very little say in the decision making process. The technology used in the manufacturing unit was mostly basic and traditional because of which workers are highly dissatisfied. This had also resulted in high amount of absenteeism and difficulty in recruitment. Looking at the problems and issues, the management decided to consult with the workers and staff. With the help of workers and employee feedback, many changes were made. The first change was made on the workshop and the factory. Old and traditional machinery were replaced by new and more advanced equipments. Special training was also provided to the workers for making them acquainted with the latest machinery. The assembly lines of workers were changed from single task workers to teams, where a team will be handling specific task at a time, rather than working haphazardly and simultaneously at different places. The workers were also invited to take part in management decisions and this helped in increasing their motivation to a great extent. Thus, by removing bureaucratic structure form their organisational portfolio, the manufacturing company was able to increase motivation and commitment level from their employees. With the implementation of teams in the factory, the traditional hierarchal structure also became dysfunctional, and the workers as well as the employees were able to communicate as well as contribute in various decision making process. In terms of career development, the workers in the factory were given opportunities for promotions. This further increased the motivation among workers and helped in the reduction of absenteeism and high attrition rate. Apart from this, there was a great improvement in the environmental conditions in the manufacturing unit. Each work team were provided facilities such as individual team entrance to the work shop, separate changing room for each team as well as personal sauna facilities. Other facilities were also included such as lengthy paternity and maternity leave; leave for completion of higher education’s and better wages. All these facilities helped in overall growth and development of the human resource of the organisation, which in turned increased the overall efficiency and growth of the company. Task 2 The two factor theory was introduced by Douglas McGregor introduced theory of two factors. On the basis of X and Y assumptions, the two factor theory has been made. According to the theory, X assumptions are more on a conservative type while Y assumptions are more modern in their theories. X assumption are conservative and Y assumption are modern in style (Sapru, 2006). The Y and X assumptions are explained below:- X Theory There is no intrinsic motivation within employees to work. Being guided by bosses and superiors is the first expectations of employees. In order to achieve the objectives, it is critical to control the employees. Y Theory Task is visualized as a natural work for the employees. Self direction can help the employees in order to achieve the specified objectives. Accepting and holding responsibilities comes gradually among employees. Praising and criticising employees should be handled carefully. The managers should always make sure that the employees are not hurt or offended by their criticism. Thus, it is better to criticise personally, or in writing. These will definitely lift the motivational level of employees. Motivation among employees is the basic factor for energy among employees. To bring development and growth in an organisation, the potential of employees in terms of their work should be determined and appropriate strategies should be formulated in order to increase the level of motivation among them (Lauby, 2005). According to Aquinas (2009), employee motivation has three aspects such as direction of behaviour, its arousal and persistence. Activating few conditioned behaviours in an employee can be characterised as a behavioural arousal. When an employee behaved in a particular direction, it can be said that it is stimulated by the behavioural direction. A sustained behaviour is referred to as persistent. Motivation among employees is very crucial for the overall growth and success in a firm. In this context Karmakar and Datta (2012), the nature of motivation can be both negative and positive. Negatively is always a grey area is an organisation and negative motivation is no exception. Positive motivation can be both beneficial and fruitful to an organization in many ways. The role of managers in motivating employees is very crucial. Managers play a crucial role in motivating the employees. Various types of techniques can be used for motivating employees (Robbins 2012). The management style followed by the manufacturing company was basically authoritarian management style or the X theory. The organisational structure was hierarchal as well as bureaucratic because of which, the workers had a very little say in the decision making process. The technology used in the manufacturing unit was mostly basic and traditional because of which workers are highly dissatisfied. This had also resulted in high amount of absenteeism and difficulty in recruitment. Looking at the arising issues in the factory, the company decided to change into organisational structure into participative management style or the Y theory. According to Berns (2010) socialisation can be the major source of positive motivation among many employees. Peer pressure is one of the reasons for socialisation. Many employees can work extra mile in order to be treated fairly and equal with their counterparts. Thus, getting accepted in their choice of group can be a source of inspiration and motivation. The organisation encourages greater socialisation and team building among the workers which helped in increasing motivation and commitment level among the employees. With the help of participative management style, the organisation successfully implemented team building among the employees and workers. There was a subsequent reduction in absentees, internal competition and internal quarrel among employees. The company also saw a decrease in attrition are and increase in new recruitment. Task 3 Motivational theories can be divided into two categories that are process theories and content theories. Both theories have helped researchers as well as employers to understand the psychology and perception of employees and accordingly make changes. Hawk Car company followed many modern theories of motivation while attempting to implement certain changes in the manufacturing organisation. Maslow’s theory According to theory of Hierarchy of needs given by Maslow, psychological and self fulfillment needs are the basic needs which drive motivation in employees. The theory givens emphasis to performance driven needs (Sarkodie-Mensah, 2003). These basic needs are again categorized into psychological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self actualization needs. Psychological needs are the most basic needs such as clothes, shelter and food. When these basic needs are satisfies in an individual, the psychological needs are completed. But a mere satisfaction of psychological needs is not enough in the present society. Thus, individuals put more effort to reach for those needs which cannot be satisfied easily. Safety and security needs of employees are termed as safety needs. Here the employees seek safety, and ease in the workplace. Safety needs occur in cases such as workplace harassment, bullying, physical and verbal abuse, mental harassment etc. a sense of belongingness is generated in an individual if they are provided with a stress free and complimenting environment. Proper and s\sufficient interaction with collogues and higher authority. Proper management of employees, providing a supportive and collaborative environment can bring a sense of belongingness in an employee. Esteem needs are generated in an employee when the employee is able to achieve the task assigned. Achievement of a task often results in gaining prestige and fame and thus helps to establish the esteem needs of the employee. Esteem needs are high involvement needs as they affect the pride and overall nature of an individual. Self actualization needs are achieved when an individual realized his/her true potential (Kalat, 2010). Theory of Dual-Factor (Herzberg's Motivation Theory) According to this theory, there are few factors present in a workplace which lead to satisfaction and few others which lead to dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are two entities which are directly related to an employee’s job performance. It can also be said that few of the entities motivate while other factors de motivate a job. Most of the individuals are concerned with the factors which generate positive motivation. These can be rewards, incentives, bonus etc. There are many ways through which employees can be motivated in a job. These can be job enlargement, job enrichment and job empowerment. According to Herzberg, these three motivating factors are helpful in achieving motivation in a job. The above motivational theories can be related with the changes made in the company. With the help of workers and employee feedback, many changes were made. The first change was made on the workshop and the factory. Old and traditional machinery were replaced by new and more advanced equipments. Training facilities were introduced to increase the capabilities and efficiency of workers. There was an upgradation in the assembly lines, where a team will be handling specific task at a time, rather than working haphazardly and simultaneously at different places. The workers were also invited to take part in management decisions and this helped in increasing their motivation to a great extent. In terms of career development, the workers in the factory were given opportunities for promotions. This further increased the motivation among workers and helped in the reduction of absenteeism and high attrition rate. Apart from this, there was a great improvement in the environmental conditions in the manufacturing unit. Each work team were provided facilities such as individual team entrance to the work shop, separate changing room for each team as well as personal sauna facilities. Thus various content and motivation theories helped the management to understand the perception of workers and make necessary changes for a better organization. Task 4 Factors such as performance appraisal, compensation, employee motivation, training, and development and employee satisfaction are responsible for the overall performance of an organization. Employee behavior can be regarded as one of the behaviors determining the effectiveness of team performances. The major aim of organizational activities is to achieve the goals of the organizations in a positive manner. It also increases the development of an organization. With the help of team work, an organization can achieve its aims and objectives without use of much of resources and without putting pressure on the human resources. In a business organization where collaboration is extremely important, the performance of teams is crucial. These organizations favor team work rather than individual performances. There are many other aspects of organizational behavior which help in building motivation among employees. Internal motivation is generation in employees when they are provided with works and tasks which are meaningful and complimenting their capabilities. It is a great source of motivation. This also increases the experience in an individual’s domain and increases their confidence. The work or task should be distribution between employees such that each task is able to bring out the talents and hidden creativity among them. Leadership is another aspect which is critical in motivating employees in a workplace. The organizations are giving greater emphasis on intrinsic motivation, rather than external motivating factors such as rewards and bonuses. Most business group also believes that proper leadership and motivating strategies are more important than just periodic rewards and incentives. Intrinsic motivation is perceived as long terms and internally motivated individuals or employees are more loyal to an organization. Once the potential of an employee is challenged, it helps in the generation of creativity. With the help of proper mix of motivating factors and leadership strategies, an employee can be motivated (Babbie, 2012; Bruce, 2006). Leadership strategies are extremely crucial in team work. The leader needs to delegate the targets and the targets need to be clear and concise. This decreases the ambiguity about the work and the team is able to perform the task in a much more concentrated manner (Chadha, 2007). Providing feedback is important part in team building. There should be regular feedback system within the team where the performance of every individual should be evaluated and properly monitored. This feedback system can be conducted in a closed group also, with only the team members participating in the process. This also helps in increasing the level of confidence among team members. The nature of feedback can be negative or positive. Thus, it is very important for the leader as well as the team members to be thoughtful, before making any argument or opinion. Negative feedbacks or feedback explained in a critical manner can have worse effect in an employee. Thus, it is very crucial for the team to be fully prepared during feedback process (Brooks, 2006). Every individual has their own strengths and weaknesses. Even in cases of similar team characteristics, these are differences among individuals. Thus it is very important for the team leader to assign jobs to the team members which are compliment9ing their qualities such as educational qualifications, strengths and weaknesses, uniqueness etc. when employees are assigned jobs which are in their domain; they are more likely to succeed in the performance. Thus also helps in generating internal motivation and confidence The major disadvantage which can arise from team building is personal conflict and conflict of personal goals and motives. Another issue which is common in teams is disagreement with the team leader. Sometimes, team member’s opinions are not in agreement with the team leader and these results in group conflict. These issues can be overcome with proper leadership and delegation of powers. Thus, it can be concluded that with the help of motivation and organizational behavior theories, the organization was able to resolve conflicts and issues which occurred in the organization. Reference List Aquinas, P. G., 2009. Organisation behaviour. New Delhi: Excel Books India. Babbie, E. R., 2012. The practice of social research. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Berns, R. M., 2012. Child, family, school, community: socialization and support. 9th ed. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Brooks, I., 2006. Organisational behaviour. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Bruce, A., 2006. How to motivate every employee: 24 proven tactics to spark productivity in the workplace. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. Chadha, N. K., 2007. Organizational behavior. New Delhi: Galgotia Publications. Kalat, J. W., 2010. Introduction to psychology. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Kandula, S. R., 2006. Performance management. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Karmakar, A., and Datta, B., 2012. Principles and practices of management and business communication. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Lauby, S. J., 2005. Motivating employees. Virginia: American Society for Training and Development. Robbins, G., 2012. Praise, motivation, and the child. London: Routledge. Sapru, R. K., 2006. Administrative theories and management thought. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Sarkodie-Mensah, K., 2003. Managing the 21st century reference department: challenges and prospects. London: Routledge. Read More