Download supervisor`s name: hilda armah

PARIS GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
NAME: OPOKU KOFI
INDEX NUMBER: WA1114
COURSE: EXECTIVE MBA (BANKING AND FINANCE)
SUBJECT: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
BATCH: 31ST BATCH
SUPERVISOR’S NAME: HILDA ARMAH
DATE: 25TH FEBRUARY 2014
TAKE HOME EXAMINATION SOLUTION
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 1
French, Kast, and Rosenzweig (1985) also emphasized the idea that stress itself is not
necessarily bad. “The term stress can be considered neutral with the words distress and
eustress used for designating bad and good effects.” They propose a model that defines
an optimum range of stress in terms of its effect on performance. Stress levels that
exceed an optimum level result in decreased performance and eventual burnout. Stress
levels below a minimum level result in decreased performance and “rust-out”.
The most commonly accepted definition of stress (mainly attributed to Richard S.
Lazarus) is that stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives
that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to
mobilize.
People feel little stress when they have the time, experience and resources to manage
a situation. They feel great stress when they think they cannot handle the demands put
upon them. Stress is therefore a negative experience. And it is not an inevitable
consequence of an event: It depends a lot on people's perceptions of a situation and
their real ability to cope with it.
Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand. It can be caused by
both good and bad experiences. When people feel stressed by something going on
around them, their bodies react by releasing chemicals into the blood. These chemicals
give people more energy and strength, which can be a good thing if their stress is
caused by physical danger. But this can also be a bad thing, if their stress is in
response to something emotional and there is no outlet for this extra energy and
strength. This class will discuss different causes of stress, how stress affects you, the
difference between ‘good’ or ‘positive’ stress and ‘bad’ or ‘negative’ stress, and some
common facts about how stress affects people today.
Many different things can cause stress - from physical (such as fear of something
dangerous) to emotional (such as worry over your family or job.) Identifying what may
be causing you stress is often the first step in learning how to better deal with your
stress. Some of the most common sources of stress that affect individual, group and
organisational point of view are:
Personal problems that can cause stress include:
Economic Problems: Some people are very poor money managers or they have wants
and desires that always seem to exceed their earning capacity. When individuals
overextend their financial resources, or in simple words, if they spend more than they
earn, it will always cause stress and distract the employees from their work.
Survival Stress: You may have heard the phrase “fight or flight” before. This is a
common response to danger in all people and animals. When you are afraid that
someone or something may physically hurt you, your body naturally responds with a
burst of energy so that you will be better able to survive the dangerous situation (fight)
or escape it all together (flight). This is survival stress.
Internal Stress: It is one of the most important kinds of stress to understand and
manage. Internal stress is when people make themselves stressed. This often happens
when we worry about things we cannot control or put ourselves in situations we know
will cause us stress. Some people become addicted to the kind of hurried, tense,
lifestyle that results from being under stress. They even look for stressful situations and
feel stress about things that aren't stressful.
Environmental Stress: This is a response to things around you that cause stress, such
as noise, crowding, and pressure from work or family. Identifying these environmental
stresses and learning to avoid them or deal with them will help lower your stress level.
Fatigue and Overwork: This kind of stress builds up over a long time and can take a
hard toll on your body. It can be caused by working too much or too hard at your job(s),
school, or home. It can also be caused by not knowing how to manage your time well or
how to take time out for rest and relaxation. This can be one of the hardest kinds of
stress to avoid because many people feel this is out of their control. Later in this course
we will show you that you DO have options and offer some useful tips for dealing with
fatigue.
Moreover, Group stress is caused by Organisational Climate. Much of the group or
interpersonal relationships depend upon the organisational climate. An overall
organisational climate may have a relaxed style of working or it may be tense and crisis
oriented. All the employees of such organisation will be continuously tense, if the
climate in general is unfriendly, hostile or totally task oriented.
Finally, Organisational issues that can cause stress include:
Surroundings - Living in an area where overcrowding, crime, pollution, or noise is a
problem can create chronic stress.
Social situation - Being poor, feeling lonely, or facing discrimination based on your race,
gender, age, or sexual orientation can add stress to your life.
Job - Being unhappy with your work or finding your job too demanding can lead to
chronic stress.
Unemployment - Losing your job or not being able to find work can also add to your
stress level.
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 2
Participation refers to joint consultation in decision making, goal setting, profit sharing,
teamwork, and other such measures through which a firm attempts to foster or increase
its employees’ commitment to collective objectives (businessdictionary.com). Also,
Participation is the process through which stakeholders influence and share control over
priority setting, policy-making, resource allocations and access to public goods and
services. Some examples of employee involvement include: Continuous Improvement
teams; formal quality of work life programs; quality control circles; flatter organizational
structures; labor management problem solving efforts; employee problem solving task
forces and teams; and structured suggestion systems.
Depending on your background or specialty, you may refer to it as engagement, voice,
participation, democracy, etc. Effective organizations everywhere understand the
importance of employee involvement in all levels of work and researcher has found
strong links between employee involvement and important work outcomes (Powell,
2011).
More
specifically,
employee
participation
can
be
broken
into: representative
participation (through unions), direct communication, and upward problem solving. To
simplify, we will focus on the latter two categories because, although unions do help
ensure that the employee “voice” is heard, this blog article is more about understanding
outcomes, tools, and methods. Employee involvement is something that can be present
at varying degrees within an organization, and is reinforced by leadership, culture and
environment.
Changing an organization from a strict top-down hierarchy to one that engages
employees at all levels to make decisions is not an easy thing to do - it involves not only
structure and policy changes but also cultural change, which takes time, effort, and
expertise. That being said, organizations from every industry are applying the concepts
of employee involvement to drive the continual improvement of their processes and
performance.
The following outcomes of employee involvement initiatives have been identified
through empirical organizational research:

Increased
employee
productivity across
industries,
even for
low-skilled
employees that do routine tasks (Jones, Kalmi, & Kauhanen, 2010)

In manufacturing, employee involvement programs are a long term investment,
but one that leads to increased plant performance over time (Jones & Kato,
2005)

Improved organizational decision-making capability (Apostolou, 2000)

Improved attitude regarding work (Leana, Ahlbrandt, & Murrell, 1992)

Substantially improved employee well-being (Freeman & Kleiner, 2005)

Reduced costs through elimination of waste and reduced product cycle times
(Apostolou, 2000)

Leads to employee empowerment, job satisfaction, creativity, commitment, and
motivation, as well as intent to stay [secondary effect] (Apostolou, 2000; Light,
2004)
In order for an employee involvement process to be effective, three things need to be
present: Employees need to be given the authority to participate in substantive
decisions; Employees need to have the appropriate decision-making skills; and
Incentives to participate (whether implicit or explicit) must be present.
Finally, sustaining an entire employee involvement process is no easy task. It would
require the work of highly trained internal or external consultants with expertise in
assessment, training, management education, and evaluation. A formal process
involves manager and employee training, support from the highest levels, and the
application of specific measures to increase employee participation. These can include:
quality circles, self-directed/self-managed work teams, gain sharing programs,
employee ownership, problem solving teams, and cross-functional task-forces.
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 3
Self-managed teams have grown rapidly in popularity following their introduction in the
1960s. Around 80 percent of companies in the Fortune 1000 and 81 percent of
manufacturing companies use self-managed teams within their organizational structure.
Companies favor self-managed teams as they offer cost savings and increased
productivity, if implemented effectively. However, self-managed teams aren't the right fit
for every company. The best-performing self-managed teams are found in companies
where the organizational culture clearly supports decision-making by employees.
A self-managed team is a group of employees that's responsible and accountable for all
or most aspects of producing a product or delivering a service. Traditional
organizational structures assign tasks to employees depending on their specialist skills
or the functional department within which they work. A self-managed team carries out
supporting tasks, such as planning and scheduling the workflow and managing annual
leave and absence, in addition to technical tasks. Management and technical
responsibilities are typically rotated among the team members.
Furthermore, Self-managed teams have greater ownership of the tasks they perform
and the end product or service they deliver. Self-managed teams tend to be loss costly
and more productive than employees working within a traditional hierarchical structure
because the team performs both technical and management tasks. Team members
may also fill in for each other to cover holidays and absences. Decisions made by selfmanaged teams are more effective because they're made by the people who know most
about the job.
However, the negative consequences that can occur are:
Although a cohesive self-managed team may create a sense of trust and respect
between team members, overly cohesive teams can lead to “groupthink”: Team
members are more likely to conform to team norms than raise issues that may upset
other team members. This may lead to reduced effort or stifled innovation. Teams may
struggle to make the transition from supervisor-led management to self-management,
either due to lack of interpersonal skills or poor implementation of the self-managed
team concept within the organization (MacDonald, 2012).
Finally, although self-managed teams are autonomous in terms of how they manage
and carry out their work, they still require guidance from leaders within the
organizational hierarchy. External leaders provide the link between the wider
organization and the self-managed team, empowering the team, and advocating on its
behalf. External leaders may struggle to find the appropriate balance in their leadership
style: Their own managers may expect them to be more hands-on, while the team may
resist perceived interference (MacDonald, 2012).
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 4
Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place to another,
whether this be vocally (using voice), written (using printed or digital media such as
books, magazines, websites or emails), visually (using logos, maps, charts or graphs) or
non-verbally (using body language, gestures and the tone and pitch of voice). Aristotle
defines Communication as the search for all available means of persuasion (McShane
& Glinow, 2009).
The importances of organisational communication are:
Decision making: Imagine the challenge of making a decision without any information
about the decision context, the alternatives available, the likely outcomes of those
options, or the extent to which the decision is achieving its objectives. All of these
ingredients require communication from coworkers as well as from stakeholders in the
external environment. For example, airline cockpit crews make much better decisions and thereby cause far fewer accidents - when the captain encourages the crew to share
information openly (McShane & Glinow, 2009).
Change behavior: When communicating to others, we are often trying to alter their
beliefs and feelings and ultimately their behavior. This influence process might be
passive, such as merely describing the situation more clearly and fully. Sometimes, the
communication event is a deliberate attempt to change someone’s thoughts and actions
(McShane & Glinow, 2009).
Finally, communication supports employee well-being. Communication conveys
knowledge that helps employees better manage their work environment. For instance,
research shows that new employees adjust much better to the organization when
coworkers communicate subtle nuggets of wisdom, such as how to avoid office politics,
and complete work procedures correctly (McShane & Glinow, 2009).
Furthermore, the barriers to communication are:
Attitudinal barriers come about as a result of problems with staff in an organization.
These may be brought about, for example, by such factors as poor management, lack
of consultation with employees, personality conflicts which can result in people delaying
or refusing to communicate, the personal attitudes of individual employees which may
be due to lack of motivation or dissatisfaction at work, brought about by insufficient
training to enable them to carry out particular tasks, or just resistance to change due to
entrenched attitudes and ideas (Armstrong, 1980).
Ambiguity of words/phrases thus words sounding the same but having different
meaning can convey a different meaning altogether. Hence the communicator must
ensure that the receiver receives the same meaning. It is better if such words are
avoided by using alternatives whenever possible (Armstrong, 1980).
Individual linguistic ability thus the use of jargon, difficult or inappropriate words in
communication can prevent the recipients from understanding the message. Poorly
explained or misunderstood messages can also result in confusion. However, research
in communication has shown that confusion can lend legitimacy to research when
persuasion fails (Armstrong, 1980).
Physiological barriers thus these may result from individuals' personal discomfort,
caused-for example-by ill health, poor eyesight or hearing difficulties.
Finally, presentation of information is important to aid understanding. Simply put, the
communicator must consider the audience before making the presentation itself and in
cases where it is not possible the presenter can at least try to simplify his/her
vocabulary so that the majority can understand (Berko et al, 2010).
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 5
An attitude is “a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral
tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols” (Hogg &
Vaughan 2005, p. 150).
Again, it is “a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity
with some degree of favour or disfavour” (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993, p. 1).
Attitudes structure can be described in terms of three components namely:
Affective component: this involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude
object. For example: “I am scared of spiders”.
Behavioural (or conative) component: the way the attitude we have influences how we
act or behave. For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”.
Cognitive component: this involves a person’s belief / knowledge about an attitude
object. For example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”.
This model is known as the ABC model of attitudes. The three components are usually
linked. However, there is evidence that the cognitive and affective components of
behavior do not always match with behaviour. This is shown in a study by LaPiere
(1934).
The Functions of Attitudes are:
Attitudes can serve functions for the individual. Daniel Katz (1960) outlines four
functional areas:
Knowledge: Attitudes provide meaning (knowledge) for life. The knowledge function
refers to our need for a world which is consistent and relatively stable. This allows us to
predict what is likely to happen, and so gives us a sense of control. Attitudes can help
us organize and structure our experience. Knowing a person’s attitude helps us predict
their behavior. For example, knowing that a person is religious we can predict they will
go to Church.
Self / Ego-expressive: The attitudes we express (1) help communicate who we are and
(2) may make us feel good because we have asserted our identity. Self-expression of
attitudes can be non-verbal too: think bumper sticker, cap, or T-shirt slogan. Therefore,
our attitudes are part of our identity, and help us to be aware through expression of our
feelings, beliefs and values.
Adaptive: If a person holds and/or expresses socially acceptable attitudes, other people
will reward them with approval and social acceptance. For example, when people flatter
their bosses or instructors (and believe it) or keep silent if they think an attitude is
unpopular. Again, expression can be nonverbal (think politician kissing baby). Attitudes
then are to do with being part of a social group and the adaptive functions helps us fit in
with a social group. People seek out others who share their attitudes, and develop
similar attitudes to those they like.
The ego-defensive function refers to holding attitudes that protect our self-esteem or
that justify actions that make us feel guilty. For example, one way children might defend
themselves against the feelings of humiliation they have experienced in P.E. lessons is
to adopt a strongly negative attitude to all sport. People whose pride has suffered
following a defeat in sport might similarly adopt a defensive attitude: “I’m not bothered, I
am sick of rugby anyway”. This function has psychiatric overtones. Positive attitudes
towards ourselves, for example, have a protective function (i.e. an ego-defensive role)
in helping us reserve our self-image. The basic idea behind the functional approach is
that attitudes help a person to mediate between their own inner needs (expression,
defense) and the outside world (adaptive and knowledge).
Finally, the cons of bad employee attitudes include a lack of interest and passion, as
well as an unwillingness to work any harder than necessary. An employee with a bad
attitude might try to hide his tracks, costing you more down the line. Employees with
bad attitudes have profound impacts on company morale. Their complaining can drag
down the morale of coworkers, and their typically lackluster performances create stress
for fellow workers who have to pick up their slack. An employee with a bad attitude is
likely to alienate customers, and even project the impression that you treat your staff
badly.
With what have been provided above, it can be concluded that today’s managers’ take
the two emphasis into consideration because if they under or over emphasis their
employees’ attitude, some of the employees will prove them wrong; so it better to
evaluate the two and draw your conclusion.
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 6
Job satisfaction is the contentment (or lack of it) arising out of interplay of employee's
positive and negative feelings toward his or her work (businessdictionary.com).
The leaders of the organization have the responsibility for creating a high level of job
satisfaction. Dr. Edwards Deming said, “The aim of leadership should be to improve the
performance of man and machine, to improve quality, to increase output, and
simultaneously to bring pride of workmanship to people.” A motivating environment is
one that gives workers a sense of pride in what they do. To show supervisors and
managers how to build a more productive work environment, I have created a five-step
process called the PRIDE system. Leaders can improve motivation and provide
feedback within their organizations (especially in insurance office) by following this plan:
Provide a positive working environment; Reward and recognition; Involve and increase
employee engagement; Develop the skills and potential of your workforce; and Evaluate
and measure job satisfaction.
First, provide a positive working environment. Creating job satisfaction begins by first
providing a positive work environment. Fran Tarkenton says to find what motivates
people, “you have to find what turns people on”. This is the most important factor in the
process. A motivating working environment requires going over and beyond the call of
duty and providing for the needs of the worker.
Walt Disney World Company provides an excellent work environment for their
employees or “cast members”. Employee assistance centers are spread strategically
across the theme park. Some of the services included employee discount programs,
childcare information, money orders, postage stamps, check cashing, and bus passes.
The Walt Disney Company realizes that taking care of their employee’s needs keep
them motivated, on the job and loyal to the company.
Also, Reward and Recognition thus Mark Twain once said, “I can live for two months on
a good compliment”. Personal recognition is a powerful tool in building morale and
motivation. A pat on the back, a personal note from a peer or a supervisor does
wonders. Small, informal celebrations are many times more effective than a once a
quarter or once a year formal event.
Graham Weston, co-founder and CEO of Rackspace Managed Hosting, gives the keys
to his BMW M3 convertible for a week to his top performing employees. This creative
way to reward employees has a bigger impact than cash. He says, “If you gave
somebody a $200 bonus, it would not mean very much. When someone gets to drive
my car for a week, they never forget it”. The important point is pay and money does not
necessarily create job satisfaction. There has to be something more.
Again, Involve and engage the workforce. People may show up for work, but are they
engaged and productive? People are more committed and engaged when there is a
process for them to contribute their ideas and employee suggestions. This gives them a
sense of ownership and pride in their work.
The Sony Corporation fosters the exchange of ideas within departments by sponsoring
an annual Idea Exposition. During the exposition, scientists and engineers display
projects and ideas they are working on. Open only to Sony’s employees, this process
creates a healthy climate of innovation and engages all those who participate.
Moreover, develop worker’s skills and potential. Training and education motivates
people and makes them more productive and innovative. At Federal Express, all
customer contact people are given six weeks of training before they ever answer the
first phone call. Learning never stops and testing continues throughout their
employment tenure. Every six months customer service people are tested using an online computer system. Pass/fail results are sent to each employee within 24 hours. They
receive a personalized “prescription” on areas that need reviewing with a list of
resources and lessons that will help. Federal Express’ intensive training and
development program has resulted in higher motivation and lower turnover.
There are many reasons training and development makes sense.
Well-trained
employees are more capable and willing to assume more control over their jobs. They
need less supervision, which frees management for other tasks. Employees are more
capable to answer the questions of customers which build better customer
loyalty. Employees, who understand the business, complain less, are more satisfied,
and are more motivated. All this leads to better management-employee relationships.
Finally, evaluate and measure job satisfaction. Continuous evaluation and never ending
improvement is the final step of the PRIDE system. Evaluation is a nonstop activity that
includes a specific cycle of steps. The primary purpose of evaluation is to measure
progress and determine what needs improving. Continuous evaluation includes, but is
not limited to, the measurement of attitudes, morale, and motivation of the workforce. It
includes the identification of problem areas needing improvement and the design and
implementation of an improvement plan. Good organizations conduct a job satisfaction
survey at least once a year.
Businesses have searched far and wide for the competitive advantage, the best
equipment, robotics, or the latest business technique. These devices provide only
temporary solutions. The true competitive advantage is trained and motivated people
proudly working together, contributing their vitality and energy toward the goals of the
enterprise. Greg Smith’s cutting-edge keynotes, consulting, and training programs have
helped businesses accelerate organizational performance, reduce turnover, increase
sales, hire better people and deliver better customer service.
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 7
Group norms are a type of informal rules that set standards for how members of a group
behave or behavioral patterns that are set by a group of people based on the situations
they are in. An example would be a group of students in a classroom who behave
based on the rules set by the teacher in charge.
Informal group came into existence through the interaction of people as a result of
socialization. When individual meet and interact with one another, there is the tendency
for individuals with similar interest and characteristics to form powerful cohesive groups
in order to obtain organizational objectives.
The formal group comes into being as a result of organizational hierarchy which defines
expected relationships among its workers in most cases, a group of people come
together and discuss about the problems of the company, individual problems and how
the problems should be handled. Also, talk about those with different opinion from other
and how such people should be treated or handled. Furthermore, this kind of group will
usually have its mission or area of activity spelled out.
Informal groups, on the other hand, Michael (1985:1990) develop in response to the
needs of the people making up the group. As a result they do not have an explicitly
stated set of goals nor are there institutionally defined in and position of authority. These
aspects of an informal group develop as a result of group of individual with the same
objectives. Hence, informal groups are not set up by the management of the
organization but arise as a result of people with similar interest interacting and also as a
result of friendship association. Most cases, group of people come together and discuss
about the company’s problems, some individual problems and how they should be dealt
with, does who have contrary opinion from others would be convinced, are forced to
accept the opinion spell out by other members of the groups.
The above comment succinctly shows the existence of informal groups in an
organization. These groups although not created by the management of the
organization are very powerful and have considerable influence on individual members.
Members are observed to be often committed to the achievement of the group
objectives. These objectives of the informal groups sometimes go contrary with
organizations objectives.
Therefore it is very important for the management to be aware of the existence of these
groups and understand how they work. Some managers fail to realize the fact that
informal groups work under certain conditions which dominate the formal organization
and neglect the efforts of management.
Moreover, they can be pervasive with some managers themselves belonging to the
informal groups. Depending on whether they are favourable or unfavourable, this may
result to the increase or decrease in the productivity of the organization. Improper
management of the informal groups may also lead to dissatisfaction of workers,
absenteeism, personal turnovers, grievances and conflicts and these may adversely
affect the stability of an organization.
Role conflict thus since informal organisations try to meet the social needs of their
members there is a natural tendency to produce role conflict. An individual perceives
role conflict when he has to fulfill conflicting requirements of both his group as well as of
organisation as a whole. Such a conflict may be dysfunctional from organization’s point
of view. Much of the role conflict can be avoided by carefully cultivating mutual interests
with informal groups. The more the interests, goals, methods, and evaluation system of
formal and informal organisations can be integrated, the more productivity and
satisfaction can be expected.
Finally, an informal organization is basically the social structure of an organization,
which focuses on social interaction and relationships between its members. Common
characteristics of an informal organization include fluid and flat structures that utilize
collective decision-making and are usually dynamic and capable of quickly adapting to
change. An informal organization can work concurrently with the formal organization,
parallel to it or even against it.
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 8
A)
Power is defined as the ability of the organization structure to utilize all the
mandatory resources in favor of organization development such as man, machine and
other resources. Power is not uniformly distributed to all levels in the organization
howsoever it is confined to certain departments, group of people depending on the level
of responsibility and seniority. The motive of assigning power to these levels is to
streamline the underlying activities by designing work structures, circulars, policies and
their successful implementation for the success of the organization.
Moreover, politics is the management of influence to obtain ends not sanctioned by the
organization or to obtain sanctioned ends through non-sanctioned means. The
important point to emphasize about organizational politics is the legitimacy of both the
outcomes and the methods used to achieve them. Political Activities may be classified
by political outcomes and political methods. Political methods may be divided into
organizational approval and organizational disapproval. Political outcomes may be
positive or negative.
B) Empowerment is a process by which we increase the capacity of an individual or
group in order to enable them to make choices and for them to transform their choices
into the desired actions. These actions help build collective and individual assets and
improve and as a result the efficiency of use of these assets is improved.
Rapport (1984) states that employee Empowerment is the process of unleashing an
individual’s potential and enhancing his abilities to nurture growth in the organisation,
therefore empowerment involves a process by which an individual is provided with
proper information regarding performance of the organisation. In an organisation
empowerment is important in that it helps remove the feeling of powerlessness through
enhancement of self efficiency of the individual. It therefore enables the individuals to
cope with problems that face them. Empowerment can be defined as the process, by
which we can increase the capacity of an individual or a group in order for them to make
their own choices which will lead to increased productivity in an organisation,
Empowerment enables or gives authority to an individual to take action and take control
of his work by making decisions on his own. The organisation in which the individual
works is therefore has a responsibility to enable the existence of an environment which
helps the employee to undertake their tasks in an empowered manner. The organisation
also has to remove any barriers that limit the process of empowerment. The processes
are explained below:
Provision of decision making information: This involves the provision of information to
employees that will help them make decisions on their own, this involves making sure
that all workers have access to this information and this will help them to make sound
decisions as they perform their tasks.
Involvement of workers in decision making: This involves including workers in decision
making of the organisation, this helps in empowering workers because they will find a
sense of power in the organisation future and they will have a feeling of worth in the
organisation. (Thomas (1990))
Feedbacks: It is important to frequently provide feedback to employees to show how
they have performed in the organisation for a given period, this ensures that the
employees feel a sense of recognition and also helps them develop their skills and
knowledge. (Thomas (1990)
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 9
A) Habit is a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure
that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance (Merriam Webster
dictionary). In a world flooded with technological tools that make life easier, there is a
huge focus on productivity in the workplace. People postpone work for a variety of
reasons, but too much procrastination can sabotage their career. They might be afraid
to succeed at work or presume that a task will be too difficult. To show a good work
ethic, you can benefit from tackling tasks head-on and getting help when they seem too
difficult. Managers are good sources of coaching and feedback for difficult tasks.
Sometimes, employees think they have good work habits, but when they seek honest
feedback from their manager, they learn there are improvements to make. If you take
time to develop work habits that make you more efficient without sacrificing your work
quality, you can use those habits in future jobs (Bianca, 2012).
Tendency is a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain
condition or character or effect. Tendency can occur in the presence of others, or when
an individual is alone. For example, people tend to follow social norms when eating or
watching television, even when alone (freedictionary.com).
People often conform from a desire for security within a group - typically a group of a
similar age, culture, religion, or educational status. This is often referred to as
groupthink: a pattern of thought characterized by self-deception, forced manufacture of
consent, and conformity to group values and ethics, which ignores realistic appraisal of
other courses of action (McLeod, 2011).
B)
Dependent variable (DV): Variable the experimenter measures, after making
changes to the independent variable that are assumed to affect the dependent variable.
Independent variable (IV): Variable the experimenter manipulates (changes) – assumed
to have a direct effect on the dependent variable. For example, we might change the
type of information (e.g. organized or random) given to participants to see what affect
this might have on the amount of information remembered.
In this particular example the type of information is the independent variable (because it
changes) and the amount of information remembered is the dependent variable
(because this is being measured).
When we conduct experiments there are other variables that can affect our results, if we
do not control them. The researcher wants to make sure that it is the manipulation of the
independent variable that has changed the changes in the dependent variable. Hence,
all the other variables that could affect the DV to change must be controlled. These
other variables are called extraneous or confounding variables (McLeod, 2008).
For example, a manager who believes that employee performance is increased by
increasing employee satisfaction, might do everything in her power to keep employees
satisfied in an effort to improve their level of performance. The manager’s actions are
based on a very simple mental model consisted of two variables: a dependent variable
(employee performance), and an independent variable (employee satisfaction).
REFERENCE
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