Task Culture
A task culture is usually seen in Matrix structures or project teams, where individuals from different divisions are put together and let them work on particular projects.
Person Culture
Person culture refers to a culture where an organisation is concerned about the interest of the individuals with in it. This Culture however rare in organisations, it can be seen in non-profits organisations or charities.
Factors which influence individual at work
It is very hard to understand what people want or what exactly they think in view of the fact that everyone has its own personality and perception.
Personality is the unique way of thinking, attitudes, feelings and behaving of each person. The Individual personality represents a variety of Traits.
Traits are the way of an individual to behave in a certain way.
There are five factors which help to classify and describe personality. OCEAN:
Openness to experience
Someone who is willing to develop new experiences for personal reasons
Conscientiousness
responsible, organised and motivated to achive goals.
Extraversion
A social, friendly and enthusiastic person
Agreeableness
Someone who has attitudes towards other people
Neuroticism
The extent in which people react emotionally in situations, such anxiety, depression and anger.
Furthermore, People may be influenced at work depending by the compatibility in the organisation in different aspects:
• Wether someone is suited for its personality to work on a particular task
• If the person may accept the management culture and system of the organisation
• If the individual personality wont have any clashes with the staff.
To adjust those incompatibilities, the managers have the responsibilities to find the right solution for each personality.
Everyone looks at things differently from each other, and this factor may influence individual behaviour at work. People everyday are attacked by all type of sensory data, for example, sight, smell, sounds etc. However we filter those sensory data that we could focus on it.
This process is called Perceptual selectivity, and the choice we make are based on,
context, nature of stimuli, internal factors and fear or trauma.
human being usually give attention to stimuli that reflects their personality interests and needs.
People may avoid things which they don’t want to see, the reasons why are things such painful for them or dangerous.
To sum up, this essay has analysed different types of organisational structures and culture and the relationship of the structure and culture in organisations.
Moreover, It has looked about the factors which influence individuals at work.
Task 2:
2.1 Compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organisations:
In the public services they confront different types of scenarios on a day to day basis, where different leadership styles may be used. A leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction for a team, promoting plans and motivating people to complete a task. There are several different leadership styles, each with advantages and disadvantages. The most effective leadership styles in the public services I would say were the authoritarian, autocratic, democratic and transformational leadership.
Authoritarian leadership – This is a very direct leadership style where the leader tells the team members what they must do. Sometimes this style is also described as autocratic. It is often considered a common leadership style and is used when a leader needs to maintain as much power as possible and keep control over the decision making.
Autocratic leaders – This leadership style may rely on threats or intimidation to make sure that followers conform to what the leader requires. This approach could bring down team members by ignoring their knowledge and input. There is a clear chain of command. Formal systems of discipline are in place. Team members do exactly what the manager tells them to do and have no authority.
Democratic leadership – This is a style of leadership where the leader maintains control of the group, but team members' opinions and views are encouraged. A democratic leadership is an effective leadership style as its only one person in charge so that person can assist team members on the task if they forget or lose concentration they can encourage them to carry on doing the task set.
Transformational leadership - This is when the leader inspires the people who they are leading. The leader has to motivate people and make them realize that they can achieve things and relate to their own personal life. A transformational leader usually cares about the people that they are leading and will build up their confidence to believe in themselves as well. This leadership style is very much focused on the leader encouraging the members of their team to reach their potential and all the good things that could happen to them if they do reach that potential.
2.2 Explain how the organisational theory underpins the practice of management:
Organizational theory and management theory is used in many aspects of a working business. Many people strive to adhere to the theory to help them become better at their jobs or more successful in life, although this may lead to them having to sacrifice some of their personal principles in order to succeed.
One example of following organizational theory in the financial sector would be an employee or manager who wants to know how to achieve goals by having a set structure to follow. In addition, someone in a Human Resources sector will have to make decisions throughout their working day that will undoubtedly change the structure and practice of a working day for all other employees in the company.
If an individual gets so wrapped up in trying to fit the mould of what they interpret their role should be in terms of organizational theory, they may start to neglect other areas of business.
In the same way, management theory may also underpin the personal values of some individuals. For instance, they may disagree with a particular rule or regulation that has been introduced by the company, however in order to carry out their job as a manager effectively and professionally, they need to move away from their principles and execute the job.
It is difficult to try to execute both management and organizational theories as a psychological contract between the employer and employee still needs to be maintained. This will need to consider how fairly the company is treating the employee and how ‘fairly’ the employee is treating the company, i.e. Are they actually putting 100 percent effort into their work? Any changes to the organization or management in a company, is undoubtedly going to have an effect on all of this.
2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organisations:
Managers must make choices about how to group people together to perform their work. Five common approaches — functional, divisional, matrix, team, and networking—help managers determine departmental groupings (grouping of positions into departments). The five structures are basic organizational structures, which are then adapted to an organization's needs. All five approaches combine varying elements of mechanistic and organic structures. For example, the organizational design trend today incorporates a minimum of bureaucratic features and displays more features of the organic design with a decentralized authority structure, fewer rules and procedures, and so on.
Functional structure
The functional structure groups positions into work units based on similar activities, skills, expertise, and resources. Production, marketing, finance, and human resources are common groupings within a functional structure.
As the simplest approach, a functional structure features well-defined channels of communication and authority/responsibility relationships. Not only can this structure improve productivity by minimizing duplication of personnel and equipment, but it also makes employees comfortable and simplifies training as well.
Divisional structure
Because managers in large companies may have difficulty keeping track of all their company's products and activities, specialized departments may develop. These departments are divided according to their organizational outputs. Examples include departments created to distinguish among production, customer service, and geographical categories. This grouping of departments is called divisional structure. These departments allow managers to better focus their resources and results. Divisional structure also makes performance easier to monitor. As a result, this structure is flexible and responsive to change.
However, divisional structure does have its drawbacks. Because managers are so specialized, they may waste time duplicating each other's activities and resources. In addition, competition among divisions may develop due to limited resources.
Matrix structure
The matrix structure combines functional specialization with the focus of divisional structure. This structure uses permanent cross-functional teams to integrate functional expertise with a divisional focus.
Employees in a matrix structure belong to at least two formal groups at the same time—a functional group and a product, program, or project team. They also report to two bosses—one within the functional group and the other within the team.
Team structure
Team structure organizes separate functions into a group based on one overall objective. These cross-functional teams are composed of members from different departments who work together as needed to solve problems and explore opportunities. The intent is to break down functional barriers among departments and create a more effective relationship for solving ongoing problems.
Network structure
The network structure relies on other organizations to perform critical functions on a contractual basis. In other words, managers can contract out specific work to specialists.
This approach provides flexibility and reduces overhead because the size of staff and operations can be reduced. On the other hand, the network structure may result in unpredictability of supply and lack of control because managers are relying on contractual workers to perform important work.
Task 3:
3.1 Discuss the impact that different leadership styles may have on motivations in organisations in periods of change
Situational Leadership has all the more relevance when teams work together especially across functions or locations. In these cases the team members might be physically separated from the leaders and the work situations might rapidly change, in such cases, maintaining the involvement and motivation level of team members becomes important. To create a high performance team that works effectively, the style that the leader would have to choose may be unique for each team.
Apart from this, a leader has to provide a vision to the people; it is the visions which help them direct and redirect their efforts towards it. In the recent times where changes are rapid in the organizations, the leaders have to be fully sensitized to what style would work the best, sometimes they might have to use a combination of styles to address issues effectively. For e.g. for a new change that is being introduced, the initial approach has to be Selling, where people are educated about the change, the next step becomes Telling, where the people have to be instructed as to how the change would be carried out. When the change starts settling in and people adopt it, they style can become Participating, where the people get an opportunity to partner in the change and take it ahead. The last change would then become delegating when the change can now be carried on by the others. The ultimate aim of any leader is to smoothly arrive at a stage where he/she can easily delegate tasks without worrying about its completion or effectiveness.
The leadership style also has a bearing when leaders are to act as mentors and coaches for their subordinates. The learning style of the subordinates can be interpreted in the terms of Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating. Some subordinates learn when they know exactly what is to be done, some learn when they know the importance of the task, some learn when they understand the how of what is to be done, and ultimately some learn when they are actually allowed to perform the task. When a leader acts as a coach he/she has to keep in mind what works best for the coachee and the fact that what works for one might not work for the other.
3.2 Compare the application of different motivational theories within workplace:
Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 – 1917) put forward the idea that workers are motivated mainly by pay. His Theory of Scientific Management argued the following
Workers do not naturally enjoy work and so need close supervision and control.
Therefore managers should break down production into a series of small tasks. Workers should then be given appropriate training and tools so they can work as efficiently as possible on one set task. Workers are then paid according to the number of items they produce in a set period of time- piece-rate pay. As a result workers are encouraged to work hard and maximize their productivity.
Elton Mayo (1880 – 1949) believed that workers are not just concerned with money but could be better motivated by having their social needs met whilst at work (something that Taylor ignored). He introduced the Human Relation School of thought, which focused on managers taking more of an interest in the workers, treating them as people who have worthwhile opinions and realizing that workers enjoy interacting together.
From this Mayo concluded that workers are best motivated by:
✓ Better communication between managers and workers ( Hawthorne workers were consulted over the experiments and also had the opportunity to give feedback)
✓ Greater manager involvement in employees working lives ( Hawthorne workers responded to the increased level of attention they were receiving)
✓ Working in groups or teams. ( Hawthorne workers did not previously regularly work in teams)
Frederick Herzberg (1923-) had close links with Maslow and believed in a two-factor theory of motivation. He argued that there were certain factors that a business could introduce that would directly motivate employees to work harder (Motivators). However there were also factors that would de-motivate an employee if not present but would not in themselves actually motivate employees to work harder (Hygiene factors). Motivators are more concerned with the actual job itself. For instance how interesting the work is and how much opportunity it gives for extra responsibility, recognition and promotion. Hygiene factors are factors which ‘surround the job’ rather than the job itself. Importantly Herzberg viewed pay as a hygiene factor which is in direct contrast to Taylor who viewed pay, and piece-rate in particular. Herzberg believed that businesses should motivate employees by adopting a democratic approach to management and by improving the nature and content of the actual job through certain methods. Some of the methods managers could use to achieve this are:
✓ Job enlargement – workers being given a greater variety of tasks to perform (not necessarily more challenging) which should make the work more interesting.
✓ Job enrichment - involves workers being given a wider range of more complex, interesting and challenging tasks surrounding a complete unit of work.
✓ Empowerment means delegating more power to employees to make their own decisions over areas of their working life.
Clayton Alderfer’s ERG Theory:
Alderfer has tried to rebuild the hierarchy of needs of Maslow into another model named ERG i.e. Existence – Relatedness – Growth. According to him there are 3 groups of core needs as mentioned above. The existence group is concerned mainly with providing basic material existence. The second group is the individuals need to maintain interpersonal relationship with other members in the group. The final group is the intrinsic desire to grow and develop personally. The major conclusions of this theory are:
✓ In an individual, more than one need may be operative at the same time.
✓ If a higher need goes unsatisfied than the desire to satisfy a lower need intensifies.
✓ It also contains the frustration-regression dimension.
3.3 Evaluate the usefulness of a motivation theory for managers:
People have various and different reasons for working. Every individual works to obtain something in return. What the employee wants has a direct impact on employee morale, employee motivation and the quality of life. Management need to implement steps in the work environment, where employees are self-motivated to perform tasks that exceed management’s standards.
Employees seek certain benefits from an organization, either intrinsic or extrinsic benefits. Intrinsic benefits develop from performing the work itself, such as feeling important and learning valuable skills. Extrinsic benefits are involved in the work process, but not directly part of it. Extrinsic benefits include compensation and benefits like health insurance.
Motivating Employees with Maslow’s Hierarchy
is a popular theory to understand what motivates an employee. Maslow identified five levels of needs that have to be satisfied for an employee to be motivated. An employee can’t move up the hierarchy unless the basic needs have been satisfied. The following is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory:
- Physiological: This is the lowest need that has to be satisfied first. Higher needs in the hierarchy can’t be met until the basic need is satisfied. These include air, water and sleep.
- Safety: The second need is safety from physical and emotional harm. This includes job security and medical insurance.
- Social: This is where the higher level needs begin. Social needs are important for employees to maintain interaction with other people. Social needs include the need for friends and a sense of belonging.
- Esteem: Self-esteem is needs which employees want satisfied, either externally or internally. These needs include attention and reputation.
- Self-actualization: The need for self-actualization is the highest level in the hierarchy and is seldom ever reached by employees. During this step, employees try to reach the highest possible potential.
The five levels have to be satisfied if management want employees motivated. The theory, however, does indicate that employees have different needs. For management to motivate employees, the needs of each employee have to be identified. Effective motivational techniques can be adapted to suit the needs of each employee.
Motivating Employees with McGregor’s Theory
The theory of McGregor indicates that organizations can manage employees in two ways. The first view is McGregor’s theory X, which is a negative assumption of employees. McGregor’s theory Y is the second view of managing employees, which is more of a positive and participative approach. Theory X and Y can further be classified into the following assumptions:
Theory X
- Employees don’t like work and will attempt to avoid it.
- Since employees don’t like work, punishment has to be enforced to achieve goals.
- Employees avoid responsibilities.
- Most employees display little ambition.
Theory Y
- Physical and mental effort at work is as natural as rest or play.
- Employees do exercise self-control and are committed to goals.
- Employees are willing to exercise creativity to solve problems.
- The average employees’ brainpower is only partly used.
Theory X assumes that lower-order needs dominate employees, while theory Y assumes that higher-order needs dominate. Managers that make use of theory X lead with an autocratic leadership style, while theory Y leads by means of participative leadership. To motivate employees, theory Y is the model assumed to improve employee productivity. The theory is a guideline for managers and employees to work in unity.
Employees are seen as the driving force that holds an organization together. Management can make use of motivational theories, such as Maslow and McGregor to increase employee morale. By identifying unique employee needs, management can implement techniques to encourage employees to reach the highest possible level.
Task 4:
- Explain the nature of groups and group behaviour within organisation:
A group is a collection of two or more people who work with one another regularly to achieve common goals.
Groups:
- Help organizations accomplish important tasks.
- Help to maintain a high-quality workforce by satisfying members’ needs.
Effective groups achieve high levels of:
Task performance.
Members attain performance goals regarding quantity, quality, and timeliness of work results.
Members satisfaction.
Members believe that their participation an experiences are positive and meet important personal needs.
Team viability.
Members are sufficiently satisfied to continue working together on an ongoing basis.
Synergy.
Effective groups offer synergy. With synergy, groups accomplish more than the total of the members’ individual capabilities. Synergy is necessary for organizations to compete effectively and achieve long-term high performance.
Situations in which groups are superior to individuals.
When there is no clear expert in a particular problem or task.
When problem solving can be handled by a division of labor and the sharing of information.
When creativity and innovation are needed.
Social loafing as a performance problem.
Social loafing is the tendency of people to work less hard in a group than they would individually.
Reasons for social loafing.
Individual contributions are less noticeable in the group context.
Some individuals prefer to see others carry the workload.
Ways of preventing social loafing.
Define member roles and tasks to maximize individual interests.
Link individual rewards to performance contributions to the group.
Raise accountability by identifying individuals’ performance contributions to the group.
Social facilitation as a performance problem.
Social facilitation.
The tendency for a person’s behavior to be influenced by the presence of others.
Positively affects performance when a person is proficient on the task.
Negatively affects task performance when the task is not well-learned.
Formal groups.
Officially designated to serve a specific organizational purpose.
May be permanent or temporary.
Permanent work groups are command groups in the vertical organization structure.
Temporary work groups are task groups specifically created to solve a problem or perform a a defined task.
Virtual groups.
Groups whose members convene and work together electronically via networked computers.
Activities are facilitated by groupware.
Can accomplish the same things as members of face-to-face groups.
Informal groups.
Emerge without being officially designated by the organization.
Types of informal groups. Friendship groups. Interest groups.
Benefits of informal groups.
Can speed up work flow by supplementing formal lines of authority.
Can satisfy needs that are thwarted or unmet by the formal group.
Can provide members with social satisfaction, security, and a sense of belonging.
- Discuss the factors that may promote or inhibit the development of effective teamwork in organisations:
There are often dozens of internal and external factors that separate effective and ineffective teams. Moreover, what makes some teams strong, be it competitiveness, toughness or high energy levels, can make other teams weak; these traits may benefit sports and sales teams, but they are not what you look for in a doctor or nurse. That said, there are a few factors of effective teamwork that are common to teams of all types.
Effective teams embrace and are constituted by a diversity of cultures, talents and personalities. Diversity can promote creativity and innovation, and raise awareness of and respect for differences, which will support effective teamwork. By contrast, teams that lack diversity can find it difficult to solve particular problems; it is much harder to find innovative solutions when all of the team members think about problems in the same way, draw on similar experiences for support and come to the same conclusions. The merits of diversity noted, difference also raises the potential for conflict within teams, which can be harmful if not managed properly.
Effective teamwork is facilitated by clear and open communication. All team members should be on the same page with respect to targets, responsibilities and timelines. This cohesion is facilitated by effective communication. Perhaps obviously, it would be very difficult to do anything if team members could not somehow communicate with each other, and this is the basic crux behind the reason why communication is one of the factors that promote effective teamwork. Beyond the basic need to convey directions and share information, though, is also the necessity for some people to provide ideas, others to interpret complex concepts into simple-to-follow thoughts, and for some to emerge as leaders that can more powerfully promote productivity within the group. Communication can be a tricky concept when several are involved, but it will also be among the most important tools to master.
Teamwork is supported by effective leadership. All teams benefit from one or several sources of inspiration and direction; leaders can support collaboration by coordinating the efforts of team members and encouraging team members to speak their minds during team meetings. They can ensure the team projects stay on track by checking in with different contributors and measuring daily/weekly progress against overall timetables and objectives. Additionally, they can work to motivate and discipline team members to ensure that everyone is performing to their highest potential.
Effective teamwork is developed through shared experiences and practice. The use or avoidance of team-building activities can be an important factor in determining the development of effective teams; in the age of advanced technology and fast-paced business environments, some team members would never see one another face to face if they did not make a point to do so. Team-building exercises can be targeted to improve particular aspects of team performance such as communication, problem-solving or creativity. Games and drills are an effective way to bring people together to build relationships, boost morale and promote mutual understanding of interests, personalities, strengths and weaknesses.
If everyone believed that a project was doomed to fail, then it probably would, simply because people would not be putting a sincere effort into it, nor working toward any goal in their mind. In addition, the opinion that someone has concerning their teammates can affect success as well; having a negative opinion of neighbouring workers may harbour a hostile working environment, begin planting seeds of strife and conflict, or even the unwillingness to both participating together. Instead, co-workers should enter the group setting fully intent on completing the given work, and do so without overly negative complaints and petty comments.
Trust is one of the essential factors that promote effective teamwork, because so many of the valuable strategies and methods that help bring team members toward task completion are rendered impossible or altogether unavailable without it. Without trust, people do not share as much information with each other; without trust, some may want to shoulder more of the load than they can truly handle rather than appropriately delegate portions to others; without trust, nobody can take any risks, even when wisely calculated.
The factors that promote effective teamwork may be inadvertently discovered when distinct individuals are suddenly thrust into a group to work together without warning, but hopefully, they instead have had the training, team-building exercises, and/or experience in the same environment necessary to foster future success in teamwork.
- Evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within a given organisation:
The technology needs of a small company exist in an almost constant state of flux, adapting and changing based on business demands and advancements in the industry. Almost every business relies on technology for day-to-day operations, from the decision of a solo entrepreneur to purchase a new laptop to a growing company's roll out of time-management software.
Beyond the standard office laptop and smart phone, organizations implement information systems, custom software or specialized technology equipment to keep operations running smoothly. Advancements in technology have the potential to decrease the time needed to complete a task, or in some cases eliminate the need for a business process or job function. Typically, the desire for increased productivity drives upgrades to technology within an organization, which can significantly influence company operations.
Progressions in computers and technology improve the efficiency of a business. Organizational structure adapts to these changes by restructuring departments, modifying position requirements or adding and removing jobs. Employers often require training on new software programs or equipment as a job requirement if it becomes industry standard. Web-based businesses may add new departments or jobs to specialize in new areas of technology. On some occasions, implementing new forms of technology may render certain job duties obsolete in some industries.
For employees, technological enhancements often reduce the number of tedious office tasks or improve efficiency. Changes in day-to-day operation may come in the form of an upgrade to desktop computers, faster office equipment or the introduction of a new information system. Business owners increasingly utilize comprehensive software platforms to streamline operations. For example, customer relationship management (CRM) systems provide a cloud-based computing system for project management, assigning tasks and maintaining an accurate log of client communications.
The decision to purchase or upgrade technology has the potential to put a big dent in company finances for large and small operations. To determine the time frame and scale of adding new computers or software, business owners must weigh the cost of improvements against the perceived added value to the company. Concerns about costs can often lead small businesses to delay upgrades and purchases. However, technology that significantly improves operations can offset costs through with an increase in profit.
References:
- Mokate, G. 2007. Annual Report. National Development Agency, 20 February. Pretoria.
-
Social Development (assessed fromhttp://www.nda.org.zaon 10 March 2009).
- Ridgeway, C. L. 1993. The Dynamic of Small Groups. New York: St Martin’s Press.
- Scarnati, J. T. 2001. On Becoming a Team Player: Team Performance Management. An International Journal, 7 (2): 5-10.
- Steyn, A. F. and Uys, T. 1998. The Small Group: Structure and Dynamics. Sunnyside: Konsortium.
- Wageman, R. 1997. Critical Success Factors for Creating Superb Self-ManagingTeams. Organisational Dynamics, 26 (1): 49-62.
-
Buckley, P. J., Glaister, K. W. and Husan, R. (2002). “International joint ventures: Partnering skills and cross-cultural issues”. Long Range Planning, Vol. 35, pp.113-134.
-
Hamel, G. and Prahalad, C. K. (1994). Competing for The Future, Harvard Business Press, Boston, MA.
-
Inkpen, A. C. (1998). “Knowledge management processes and international joint ventures”. Organisation Science: A Journal of the Institute of Management Sciences, Vol. 9, Iss. 4, pp. 454.
-
Kale P., Dyer, J. and Singh, H. (2001). “Value creation and success in strategic alliances: Alliancing skills and the role of alliance structure and systems”. European Management Journal, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 463-471.
-
Morrison, M. and Mezentseff, L. (1997). “Learning alliances: A new dimension of strategic alliances”. Management Decision, Vol. 35,No. 5, pp. 351-358.
- Chow, Chee W; Waller Wiliam S.; Management Accounting and Organizational Control. Management accounting Vol: 63 Iss: 10 Date: 1982 p: 36-41
- Frese M., Entrepreneurship in East Europe: A general model and empirical findings. Trends in Organizational Behavior. Vol: 2 Date: 1995 p: 71-82
- Froehner K.D., Some designing principles of production systems based on field research in Europe and Japan. International Journal of Production Economics. Vol: 23, Date: 1991, p: 99-103
- Gibson, Cristina, B.; An investigation of gender differences in leadership across four countries. Journal of International Business Studies. Date: Second Quarter 1995 p: 225-279
- Hall R.H., The concept of bureaucracy: AN empirical assessment. American Journal of Sociology. Vol: 69, Date: 1963, p: 32-40
- Hofstede G., The cultural relativity of organizational theories. Journal of International Business Studies. Vol: XIV No: 2, Date: 1983, p: 75-90
by
sunny2006 (student)
