Chapter 12

In this chapter the author discusses "Individual and Group Decision Making." We all make decisions on a daily basis. From what we are going to eat to what clothes to wear, our decisions impact our lives in many ways. In the business world everything is about making good decisions by identifying a problem and then finding the right solution that leads to a desired result. The book introduced the rational model approach which is used by most managers. "The rational model approach proposes that managers use a four step sequence when making decisions: 1) identifying the problem, 2) generating alternative solutions, 3) selecting a solution, 4) implementing and evaluating the solution." This approach is used by most companies in order to find good solutions to a problem. In the retail industry they use this approach when the stores are not reaching the sales goals of the month. In this case, the managers will meet with the employees to figure out why they are not selling more, then they will find a solution, and finally they will carry out the solution plan and see if it works.

Easing Change

An important section highlighted in Chapter 18 talks about characteristics that are related to resistance towards change. These personal traits include: the employee's commitment towards change, their resilience towards change, their level of self-concept, their tolerance of risk, and their levels of self-efficacy. These characteristics may stem from the "obstacles within the work environment" (Kreitner 537).

In the article, "The Relationship Between Charismatic Leadership, Work Engagement, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors," Babcock, et. al. study the relationship between charismatic leadership and employee perceptions. Their results suggested that there is a significant and positive relation between charismatic leadership and work engagement.

Charismatic, positive leaders can help pave the way for change by easing their employees into the idea. Great leaders can build trust within the workplace, thus possibly removing the antichange attitudes that may once have existed.

Source: Babcock-Roberson, Meredith Elaine, and Oriel J. Strickland. "The Relationship Between Charismatic Leadership, Work Engagement, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors." Journal of Psychology 144.3 (2010): 313-326. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010.

Common Organizational Themes

What I found particularly interesting in Chapter 17 is the discussion of common themes among all organizations. Despite the diverse forms and variations that may exist within and among organizations, four common characteristics include: coordination of effort, a common goal, division of labor, and a hierarchy of authority. In order to function effectively, there must be some form of these characteristics implemented in the organization.

In the article, "Initial Attraction to Organizations: The influence of trait inferences," Slaughter et. al. study how organization personality perceptions are associated with an organization's characteristics. Research shows that the organization personality perceptions: Boy Scout, Innovativeness, Dominance, Thrift, and Style may determine an individual's attraction to firms that display the traits they are looking for. Furthermore, organizations can highlight these traits for future recruitment in the workplace.

Establishing an organizational mission statement or purpose separates the organization from others. Though all share a general structure, it is up to the organization to build upon that foundation to create something great.

Source: Slaughter, Jerel E., and Gary J. Greguras. "Initial Attraction to Organizations: The influence of trait inferences." International Journal of Selection & Assessment 17.1 (2009): 1-18. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010.

Delegating Trust

An interesting topic in Chapter 15 is the empowerment that comes with delegation. In this section, Kreitner describes a study conducted by the State University of New York in which researchers found that a greater delegation of tasks given from managers was associated with trust as the key component: “Managers prefer to delegate important tasks and decisions to the people they trust ... it takes time and favorable experience to build [it]” (Kreitner 441). Since much time is invested into building and developing trust, it is therefore, fitting that important jobs are assigned to those that are trusted the most.

The article, “Power and Trust in Global Virtual Teams,” by Panteli and Tucker explore the power balances and shifts within groups that internally ranged from high-trusting to low-trusting. Results showed that high-trusting teams shared the following: the members had similar goals in mind, the leaders prioritized the team’s success as their primary role, and the power did not disappear among members, but rather shifted throughout as the job progressed (Panteli and Tucker 2).

Trust, is therefore, necessary for organizational leaders, managers, and team members to be able to create, hone, and maintain in order to be successful and efficient within the workplace. Although it may be easily destroyed, trust is a vital component in how an organization can prosper.

Source: Panteli, Niki, and Robert Tucker. "Power and Trust in Global Virtual Teams." Communications of the ACM 52.12 (2009): 113-115. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 25 Apr. 2010.

What are the strengths of Du Pont's approach to managing change?p534

-       The chairman of DUPONT was very reactive toward the bad economic situation: he asked the managers to participate to a new way of management, due to the current crisis. Thus, the managers are aware of the company’s situation and of its will to face it.

-       The company was not afraid of cost cutting, because it realized that it was for its own good.

-       The immediate reactivity in reducing the costs is another strength for this company: it enables the company to act in the good way as fast as possible. The strength lies in the fact that the managers are aware of the situation and do not want to be blind; they know what will help their company to survive the crisis.

-       The deadline of two or three months shows that the leaders want fast actions.

-       The involvement of Holliday in the change management is so good that is becomes ‘contagious’: all the employees usually behave as their manager, and such a manager is a good way of developing change.

Chapter 18

This chapter discussed how to manage changes and stress in the workplace. The one part of the book that I found really interesting was about the alternative strategies for overcoming resistance to change. This was interesting to me because I believe that change is constant and it is common for people to refuse to accept any changes. This part of the chapter talked about dealing with that refusal to change—especially if the change would be something that would affect the workers negatively. According to the book, there were four things that a manager should do to be able to ease the workers into taking in the new changes.

(1) Providing as much information as possible
(2) Inform the employees about the reasons/ rationale for the change.
(3) Conduct meetings to address the employees’ questions
(4) Providing employees to discuss how the proposed change might affect them.

In a way this reminded me of the case study we were doing in class last week. These are the four tasks that Roberta should do to be able to appease her workers—after finding out, of course, more information about the changes.
This particular subject was more discussed more in an article I found. According to the article, these where what the manager should do when change is about to occur in the workplace.

“* First, take internal measures including, i) attaining a good understanding of the change situation, 2) ensuring optimal involvement and 3) openness to feedback, and 4) remaining honest to the entire workforce.

* second, focus on mutual issues by using i) fair and honest communication in order to 2) motivate all parties involved, 3) nurture a climate of trust, 4) ensure agreement on the change and the path toward realizing it, and 5) instate a solid plan toward implementation.

* Finally, focus on operational strategies that facilitate the change process, such as i) providing training to optimize implementation of the change; 2) maintaining a climate of creativity to respond effectively to unfore seen challenges; 3) ensure optimal performance, including possible attraction of external consultants; 4) determine the formulation and review of several options (scenario planning) to possibly follow; 5) keep an eye on the budget; 6) remain friendly but alert on those who exit the organization; 7) establish leverage points to motivate workers toward better performance; and 8) maintain flexibility when sudden alterations in plans need to be made.” (Marques)


Source: Marques, J.. "Making the Best of the Inevitable: Change. " Journal of Global Business Issues 2.2 (2008): 33-42. ABI/INFORM Global, ProQuest. Web. 25 Apr. 2010.

Internal communication as motivation for all employees

In recent years, the role of internal communication has become more complex. She can not just be the tool for transmitting information from the hierarchy all employees. His real challenge is that of membership of employees at the company and its values. The goal: to encourage them to invest and thus motivate them.

In the current highly fluid, characterized by numerous mergers, restructuring and innovation, the relationship of employees the company has changed. Since the 90s, the speech did more to consumers only limited to communication on products but has sought to convey an overall picture of the company. The reorientation of internal communication flows from this development.

Internal communication is a vehicle for mobilization, but the manager has been vital for the individual motivation of its staff, mainly because of its relationship with them daily

To successfully develop the involvement of employees through communication, we must first reflect on what creates motivation. An employee will be motivated if he knows why and to what he's working. We must therefore give meaning to what is requested by entering its contribution in a company project.

An answer to the work/family conflict: maternity leave all around the world

Europe is the continent probably most aware of the difficulties of mothers return to work once their baby is born. The prize goes to Bulgaria with 45 weeks. Slovakia provides a total of 28 weeks for the birth of first child. The United Kingdom and Ireland are 26 weeks in theory but the Thatcher era and its liberal practices have left a legacy: nearly half of women renounce part (51% in Ireland, 53% in Great Britain) . Parental leave in Sweden: the dad is spoiled. 16 weeks in France, ten years after the birth as Spain, Austria or Luxembourg, France grants 16 weeks of maternity leave: six before the birth of the child, ten years after. The rule applies to the first and second child but leave extends to the small third. In Canada, which gives 18 weeks, women are free to define the period "before and after. They may even take 16 weeks before and two weeks later, or vice versa, according to the law on labor standards, if they are employed. But many do not take advantage of all, lack of money. Nothing in the U.S. On the other side of the border, the United States, they do not make any effort. They are on a par with Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea. There are also a number of countries where the law is strictly respectful of young mothers, especially in developing countries, but where the application is more tentative. Especially when just a few tickets to bribe an official of the local labor inspectorate.

Advantages of Individualistic Cultures

Western countries are marked by an individualistic culture, including United States, Australia and in Europe, England and France, among others. These countries have adopted several centuries of liberal ideas promoting individual initiative, and the success. These liberal ideas was supported by the Church, dominant in the West, which emphasizes the responsibility individual. The East, including China, Japan and India, is marked the collectivist culture, too, is rooted in history. For one found collective dominance of the teachings of Confucius and the major religions like Buddhism and Hinduism.

The individualistic culture allows people to raise outstanding resources so vast that they have no precedent in history. We found in their ranks, personalities who gave their name to illustrious institutions, John Davison Rockefeller, Matthew Vassar, Leland Stanford... Many brands have their origin directly to their founders: Henry Ford, J. Paul Getty, Richard W. Sears, Roebuck Alvah, Clarence

Birdseye, W. K. Kellogg, Philip Danforth Armour, W. R. Grace. Henry Ford is particularly interesting because it provides innovation, both technologically and socially. After Reading Emerson's essay entitled "Compensation", he doubled the salaries of workers, which allowed them to buy the Model T which he had by

also cut the price.

One result of American individualism is that the system of philanthropie United States is among the most innovative, the richest in ideas and the most exciting in the world. It gives meaning to the formulas: "Helping people help themselves" and "No a gift, but a boost ».

Hierarchy Culture in France

France is a country where the sense of hierarchy is very important. every decision is taken at a specific hierarchical level must be validated by the higher levels and applied without question by the lower levels. it is very important to understand that in such a hierarchical organization, the final decision rests with the person who is the highest ranking. The French hierarchy manifests itself in the process of decision making but also in the life of the company. so it is very difficult to contact a manager who is more than two levels of hierarchy above without going through intermediate levels. thus at an important meeting, the floor is assigned in the hierarchical sense. so when you send an email to the recipients must be in hierarchical order, starting with the highest person.
Such an organization enables individuals to know where he stands, what he has to do, to whom he is accountable but it is not without flaws. information are much more time to run and urgent decisions are taken at the last moment. more if the decision of the CEO or someone highly placed is not good, it will be applied.

Managing Stress

Stress is usually considered a negative factor in people's lives. My mom always taught me that stress was a sin since sin was anything that was not healthy in a person's life. Therefore, I tend to get ahead on my work and never wait till the last minute to complete assignments or make plans. However, some forms of stress are unavoidable, such as the stress that comes from change. Some people are able to deal with stress better than others. It oftentimes takes practice. The more change that one experiences in one's life, the more one is able to figure out techniques to adapt quickly. Such experience also teaches people that whatever happens, life goes on and they will be able to deal with it.

The book discusses how stress can also be a positive factor, which I had never considered before.. Stress is the body's way of dealing with pressure and pushes people to pin point the worst cause of their stress and start seeking solutions for it. It helps them improve because change only comes when something forces it to occur.

"Organisational change can be a stressor, sometimes to an overwhelming extent, but it can also offer creative opportunities for dealing with the stress that accompanies it (McDermott 2002).

Workplace stress and personal stress are not mutually exclusive phenomena. Each has direct and indirect effects on the other, and, while ways to address stress in each environment differ, they can also overlap" (Hurley).

By recognizing this, people can start to deal with their stress through meditation, organizing their problems and choosing to address them. Just breathing deeply for a few moments has been found to have a calming effect on a person since more oxygen is taken into the body. This helps to clear a person's mind and make them mentally ready to take on whatever is next.

Source:
Hurley, Mary. "Managing stress in the workplace. (Cover story)." Nursing Management - UK 14.3 (2007): 16-18. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 24 Apr. 2010.

Open Systems

It's going to be short today, but nobody reads my posts, so I doubt anyone will even notice. The year is coming to a rapid conclusion, and we're just about ready to wrap up our fun-filled semester in this class. I'm kind of sad to see it go, to be perfectly honest. John is a good teacher who knows what he's talking about, and we've learned a lot about teamwork and organizational culture. The whole blogging system for doing homework (a system also utilized in his internet marketing class) was a really cool idea that made homework feel more communal with other classmates. In all, I had a good semester in this class. But enough of my nostalgic banter.

In doing the reading for this week, I came across something really important that feels like a great note to begin the fade to black. In chapter seventeen of the luminous tome, Organizational Behavior, by none other than the dynamic duo, Kreitner and Kinicki, there was something in chapter seventeen that really caught my eye. Of course, this was the Open System Perspective of Organizations.

An open system refers to an entity that constantly interacts with its environment in order to survive. It's not difficult to generalize with a topic like this. As human beings, for instance, we must interact with our environment in many ways, such as procuring food and going for long hikes on Mt. Tamalpais. But how does an organization adhere to the concept of an open system? In what ways does an organization such as a business lend itself to contextual environmental interaction? The answer is not quite as straightforward as you'd think, and this can be a very nuanced topic.

The book makes a good point when describing open systems. Every system in existence is partially closed and partially open, so the discussion about an open system is essentially taking a look at the nuanced parts of a system and coming to a conclusion about its openness. The book suggests looking at how great the role of the overall environment is in the functions of a system in order to make a determination.

But what does an open system look like?

If we go back to the 1950's and keep going backwards, business was not organized the way it is today. Businesses were mostly seen as a well-oiled machine that functioned off of a strict sense of discipline and had a tendency to be run like a military brigade. Fortunately for us in this day and age, most businesses are not run that way anymore. A different framework was needed to progress the organizational paradigm.

Essentially, there is a barrier between the organization and the outside environment as a whole. Inside this barrier are subsystems pertaining to each aspect of organizational functionality: goals and values, the technical aspects, psychosocial aspects, structural considerations, and the managerial processes of the company. In an open system, the barrier that protects these internal components of the organization needs to be a permeable membrane, capable of allowing inputs (money, materials, human capital, and information) into the organization freely. Equally important is the ability of the membrane to allow outputs (products, services, organizational growth, social benefits) to escape in order to fulfill their purpose, with the feedback from the outputs turning around and influencing the supply of necessary imports, starting the cycle over again.

In essence, an open organization is one that operates in the most logical fashion, with overlapping internal components, and a perforated outer shell that allows the free flow of necessary environmental components through the company. In this way, the company can move faster and make more money, due to the very nature of its design. The human body operates in a similar fashion. We have a semi-permeable membrane (our skin), which lets key environmental nutrients into our bodies (vitamins from the sun, moisture from the air). We also eat food, a necessary input, in order to function internally, and then export our outputs, which expend energy. So a company that takes a little lesson from biological processes can function at a much higher level than one that simply views its design as some kind of soulless cubicle farm with a rigid sense of 1950's-era discipline.

Chapter 18

Lewin’s Change Model helps to explain how to initiate, manager, and stabilize the change process. The underlying assumptions about change in this model are that it involves learning, it needs motivation in order to have change, it requires individuals to change, there’ll be resistance, and effective change requires reinforcing what they’ve learned. The first stage in this model is unfreezing, where motivation is created to change by encouraging people to replace old habits with new desired ones. A method would be to make employees unhappy with the old habits of operating. When business is bad because of the old habits, it encourages employees to change those habits to improve. Benchmarking also is helpful because it compares the company with others to see where they stand in performance. This encourages people to adopt successful companies’ systems and habits or create new and better methods. The second stage is changing, where the actual change occurs by providing employees with new information and instructions, such as, sending managers to leadership training programs or installing new information technology. Change should be targeted towards a desired end-result with actions that are designed to reach that goal. The last stage is refreezing. In this stage, support and reinforcement are utilized to implement the new change into their normal ways of operation. Employees are given a chance to learn and demonstrate this change, which is then followed by reinforcement or coaching.

In a book exert from the online website, ChangingMinds.Org, it gave an overview of Lewin’s Change Model, however, it touched on some important points not mentioned in our book. One point Straker brings up is that people have a natural tendency to find context that they feel a sense of safety and control and that talking to people about the future doesn’t help to ‘unfreeze’ them. To ‘unfreeze,’ a push strategy should be implemented to initiate the change, and a pull strategy to motivate people to continue making the change. Some people are ‘change ready’ while others take longer to accept the need for change. In the transition or changing stage, time is essential because change is often a journey rather than a single step. A good leader should help to coach their followers so that everyone can follow through with the change. Initiating change can also be hard because it’s the 1st step. To move past this, a slow initiation of change or preparation will help to ease the uncertainty. Another problem is that often people purposely stay in the transitioning stage rather than reaching the desired change. People become comfortable with the temporary situation where they’re not held accountable for their actions, and replace real action with just talking about change. Instead of completely unfreezing, Straker writes that it’s ideal to be in an inbetween stage where freezing isn’t fully reached so that the next unfreezing will be easier. However, the problem with that is that people experience ‘change shock,’ where they perform ineffectively because they anticipate a new change. This website is helpful in realizing other points about the Lewin’s Change Model.

Works Cited
Straker, David. Lewin's Freeze Phase. 23 April 2010 (http://changingminds.org/disciplines/change_management/lewin_change/lewin_change.htm).

Stress

Stress means something different to every individual. However, managers need a working definition so the book defined stress as "an adaptive response, mediated by individual characteristics and/or psychological processes, that is a consequence of any external action, situation, or event that places special physical and/or psychological demands upon a person." This seems very complicated and confusing but it basically means the following: "environmental demands that that produce an adaptive response that is influenced by individual differences."

Recently, more people have become more stressed because of the recession. The father of the concept of stress, Hans Selye, stated that both positive and negative events can trigger an identical stress response that can be beneficial or harmful. He defined positive stress as eustress. He emphasizes that efforts need to be directed at managing stress, not at somehow escaping it altogether.

The article "Define Stress" re emphasizes this point of managing stress. It states that "Managing stress and symptoms of stress is important because stress and health are related to each other." That is why it is important to know what stress is and what your personal stressors are and how you can you manage them, which may be by seeking professional help.

"Define Stress." Manage Stress. 23 April 2010. http://www.aboutstressmanagement.com/stressrelief/stress-management/define-stress/define-stress.htm

Chapter 18

In chapter 18, I felt that I had a real world connection with the “Real World” section. This chapter was all about managing change, the world is changing rapidly and is we don’t keep up with it technologically and socially, we will be left in the dust. This section talks about how Amgen inc. took an unusual approach of asking shareholders what they thought of their compensation plan. It was the first of its kind, a 10 question, online survey which shareholders could participate in. This set trends for other firms in the industry to do the same.
I directly related to this in how John asked his students what they thought of the syllabus, and what changes they would make. In doing this, the students felt like they were valued and respected. No matter how small your roll is, it feels good to be a part of something and to contribute. It also makes the students accountable for their actions when they mess up. Just like it’s easy for you to complain about a president which you didn’t vote for, it’s easy for students to hate a syllabus which was thrown at them. However, if the students write the syllabus, there is not much they can complain about.
I did some additional research on shareholder involvement and found that it is now the norm to involve the shareholders to a certain extend. The biggest factor however, is how large the share. Someone who owns .002% of Nike doesn’t have as much say in the direction of the company as Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. However, there are meeting, conferences and polls that any shareholder can participate in in many companies.
http://connectedresearch.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/walker-report-calls-for-greater-shareholder-involvement/

Dynamics of Decision Making

In chapter 12, on page 345, a section titled, “Dynamics of Decision Making” caught my attention. The reason this caught my attention is because decision making is an enormous factor on our lives. Each decision can hold intended and unintended consequences or rewards. Not every decision will change a person’s life, however it is important to remember that one choice has the ability to do so. It is for this reason that I wanted to better understand the dynamics related to the decision making process.

The book describes decision making as, “part science and part art.” The science of decision making is the more important factor because it addresses the expected result whereas art is related to intuition and a person’s ethical perspective of the situation. However, it is important to include both aspects to the decision making process. By including both science and art to the equation, one can increase the likeliness of meeting their goal without compromising their integrity.

It seems that in today’s business world, many people focus on the science of decision making and forget about the art. Repeatedly we are reminded of situations in which ethics were ignored because they interfered with accomplishing the goal. Such high pressure to succeed in today’s world makes it more convenient to ignore morals, so it takes a stronger individual to avoid this temptation.

Behavioral Components

What caught my attention in chapter 6 was pg 161 where they discuss the affective component, cognitive component, and the behavioral component. These components form a person’s attitude which the book defines as, “a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object.”

The affective component is feelings or emotions that a person will have in regards to a situation or object. This component can be expressed as positive, negative, or neutral if the situation does not influence any emotion. This is an important concept because nearly every situation evokes emotion to some degree.

The cognitive component refers to pre-existing beliefs a person holds regarding a situation. This component influences everybody and is a result of past experiences which have influenced an opinion on the subject. In society, we commonly witness the cognitive component as we see people conform into political and religious groups. This is an obstacle when working in teams because it is hard for people to look past their own beliefs, therefore making it more difficult to come to a consensus.

The behavioral component represents the actions that one will take in a given situation. In many ways, this component has the greatest influence on team moral because it is the most noticeable. Unlike the affective and cognitive components which are related to emotion, this component is visible and harder to disguise.

By breaking ones attitude down into these components, it becomes easier to analyze our impact on others. By acknowledging our positive features and working to change are negative ones, we can become more supportive and efficient when working in teams.

Need for Achievement

A section titled, “The Need for Achievement” in chapter 8 caught my attention. Making perfect sense, but still interesting, was the fact that entrepreneurs have a higher need for achievement than other workers. The three common characteristics mentioned include, “they prefer working on tasks of moderate difficulty, they prefer situations in which performance is due to their efforts rather than other factors, and they desire more feedback on their successes and failures.” A person who challenges themselves, wants rewards based on efforts, and wants honest feedback is much more likely to be successful than someone who does not strive to achieve. I believe that anyone could relate to these characteristics as long as the objective is of interest to them and something they are passionate about.

The reason this section caught my attention is because I have been doing a lot of research of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. What I have found is people have a more successful career working on something they are passionate about than when they are rewarded by extrinsic factors such as a large pay check. While trying to figure out my career path, I have made this concept the basis of how I choose.

Hiring

While reading chapter 9, one particular statement caught my attention. “Never compromise on hiring.” The author of this statement went on to explain that compromising will lead to regret. When hiring an employee, you are essentially letting them represent your company and giving them the power to influence your business either positively or negatively. Depending on the level of responsibility, their inabilities and mistakes will not only be frustrating, but also potentially devastating to the business. By not compromising to fill the position, the employer is more likely to find a motivated and talented individual who will represent their company in the desired manner.

Mentioned in the chapter is that employees are motivated more by appreciating and feeling apart of the process than by monetary rewards. This concept is important for managers to consider when hiring and supports the fact that they should not compromise. When hiring, it is important to make sure that the person’s core values and interests line up with the job that they are applying for.

Threats to Group Effectiveness

A section titled, “Threats to Group Effectiveness,” on page 295 is very informative and relevant. It caught my attention because group effectiveness is vital to success and I wanted to understand what factors could threaten it. This information is relevant to nearly every situation which has a group at its core.

The three threats to group effectiveness mentioned in this section are the Asch effect, groupthink, and social loafing. Out of these, I found the Asch effect to be most interesting. The Asch effect deals with perspective and is named after a psychologist who studied group dynamics. He conducted an experiment which people would have to match the length of one line with one of three others on a separate card. Because there was only one correct choice, the results should have been unanimous, but they weren’t. This is because Dr. Asch arranged to have one of the participants offer up incorrect information, and under pressure, other people followed.

I have witnessed this effect occur several times when working in a group, yet didn’t understand the context until now. What may appear to be consensus might actually be the Asch effect in disguise.