This will involve looking into the organisational structure and culture of the Oceans 11 team.
For The Attention of Tricia Price
Thursday 2nd December 2004
Report Compiled by Marie, Ayla, Mohammed, Zapher & Jawad
Corresponding To
Organisational Behaviour 4HRB501
Word Count 2,983
Contents Page
.0 Executive Summary 3
2.0 Introduction 4
3.0 Analysis of Organisations 5
3.1 Motivation 5
3.2 Communication 7
3.3 Experience 10
3.4 Conflict 11
3.5 Leadership 14
3.6 Strategic Planning 18
3.7 Individual Differences and Perceptions 20
4.0 Conclusion and Recommendations 24
5.0 Bibliography 27
.0 Executive Summary:
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)1 wished to review how the Ocean's 11 team was formed and discuss by putting a management development programme together, the organisational behavioural aspects of the group. A vast amount of research was conducted in order to put together the management development programme together to show other organisations how to prevent problems within their group and avoid issues that will be mentioned in this programme.
The main objectives of this report are to research and analyse what motivates a group or team in order to perform successfully and cohesively. To look at the leadership of a group and the different roles they play in terms of power they may hold, which leads onto conflict that may occur and could cause problems within the organisation. This will also incorporate the strategy the leader, if elected, uses in order to control and influence its organisations. In addition to the above, to investigate the communication skills of a group and how significant the experience of its members is, whilst looking at the attitudes present amongst them. The report will also examine the individual differences and perceptions of a team/group and sees how they can conjure an aim and how to achieve it. This will involve looking into the organisational structure and culture of the Oceans 11 team.
All the above will use associated theories and models to analyse how the team was formed and backed up with relevant references.
2.0 Introduction:
This report intends to look at how our managerial development programme reflects groups and organisations and its concern with the improvement of the quality of work. The programme is designed to help people improve the work of task-oriented groups, whom have a job to get done and a goal to achieve. It focuses on groups with specific goals or tasks, where the members are required to make decisions and take actions whether it is planned or simultaneously.
The emphasis in this programme is primarily on ways of solving problems on processes and procedures. The programme is not a manual on how to run a successful management development programme, but directions and problems which may be encountered and how they can be overcome and avoided.
The main sources of information for this report came from a range of sources, which include: books, lectures, word of mouth and related websites. All relevant information used is stated using referencing and also listed in the Bibliography. In addition, the Internet and subject related textbooks were used to further research on the topic.
This report is due on Thursday 2nd December 2004 for the attention of Tricia Price, from The Department of Trade and Industry at approximately 6.00pm.
3.0 Analysis of Organisations:
The management development programme will be based on each issue related to a typical organisation and their requirements in order to operate successfully and consistently.
3.1 Motivation:
The success of an organisation is mainly reliant on the capability of a manager to offer an appealing atmosphere for which the remainder of the organisations can work peacefully and strive towards success. In most cases, the performance of employees within organisations can be highly reliable upon the manager or leader's attitude to them. In addition, the ambitions they personally set themselves also play a part in their achievement of overall job or tasks.
In the Ocean's 11 case study, Danny's skill to motivate the rest of recruiting team in order to form a successful team is a very significant part in the whole case study, as if it was not for his persuasive and influential attitude to pull together individuals specified for each allocated task and perform their best, the whole robbery would not take place in the same manner.
A strategic theory that is relative to Ocean's 11's team's formation is the "Goal Setting"2 theory published. A goal that could be exclusive and perhaps challenging will cause an individual to strive further in order to achieve that goal which would in turn lead to high performance levels. With reference to the Ocean's 11 case study, the Goal Setting theory indicates a key part in the motivation process for the whole team to thrive on, as they are working towards robbing a total of $150million Danny's rival Terry's three casinos. Danny reiterates the substantial chance the team has to succeed in this task as he makes them feel as if they are missing out on a one off opportunity and therefore stimulates and inspires individuals to perform using their distinctive talent in each task required to pull off the robbery. Meanwhile, performance goals stated within an organisation can play a key role in motivation as they can manipulate an individual's concentration and awareness towards success.
The Expectancy3 concept of motivation anticipated by Victor Vroom attempts to portray how people would decide whether or not to be motivated in order to pursue a specific task.
The 3 main factors consist of the following:
• Expectancy - This basically illustrates that the amount of effort an individual dedicates to a specific task will undoubtedly be rewarded by the same amount of achievement. In the Ocean's 11 case study, the effort provided by the team as a whole would be a personal success for each team member in their own right as they would know they played their own part in teaming together for the robbery. On the other hand, Danny would have thought his efforts to gain revenge on Terry has been paid off with the accomplishment of the robbery. This would also be the case for Reuben, who was previously humiliated by Terry. Meanwhile, the remaining team members' personal triumph would obviously be to have managed to successfully steal the $150million while using all their abilities in different ways and areas.
• Valence - This instant expresses how an individual has to satisfy a given requirement assigned to them. The Ocean's 11 team must use their expertise in order to complete the task of stealing from Terry's casinos. Therefore it is a must that everyone satisfies their individual task and uses their expertise to maintain a confident team; the aspiration leads them to succeed due to the craving and how badly they or Danny wants to achieve this task.
• Instrumentality - This looks at the how each individual performance will therefore lead to particular results. As each individual member from Ocean's 11 was preferred because of the distinct capability that they possess had to be important for their potential allocated task. Each member was chosen by examining their previous background and looking into if they had the determination to carry out their specific tasks allocated to them.
The leader in charge has to be influential in order to motivate its team, therefore to communicate this motivation effectively; there must be a high level of communication skill within the team/group.
3.2 Communication:
The effectiveness of communication is a key requirement for organisation performance. Very few people prefer to work alone, but the jobs of most managers involve interacting with other people. However, some still find it difficult to relate with each other on a one-to-one basis, which can be a problem for an organisation. Training for such skills should be provided to leap over this hurdle. In an increasingly diverse multicultural society, sensitivity to the norms and expectations of other cultures is important to the effective mix-cultural community.
Communication is regarded as a major problem in many organisations, for instance in the Ocean's 11 case study some of the characters namely Livingstone, Virgil, Turk and Yen all have communication problems, which could make life difficult for the team achieving their ultimate goal of stealing $150million.
Most aspects of organisational behaviour, whether face-to-face or over the phone or via a letter/email, involve communication, for example:
* An interview
* Meeting new colleagues
* Interacting with others in a group
* Dealing with customers
* Explaining problems to the Manager
* Negotiating
* Researching
* Socialising
The communication process involves the transmission of information and exchange of meaning between at least two people4. We do not receive messages; we process them to interpret or to decode them. However, interpersonal communication is an error-prone process; it entails more than the exchange of information it also involves the exchange of meaning.
For example a question which ...
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* An interview
* Meeting new colleagues
* Interacting with others in a group
* Dealing with customers
* Explaining problems to the Manager
* Negotiating
* Researching
* Socialising
The communication process involves the transmission of information and exchange of meaning between at least two people4. We do not receive messages; we process them to interpret or to decode them. However, interpersonal communication is an error-prone process; it entails more than the exchange of information it also involves the exchange of meaning.
For example a question which has a purpose or meaning e.g. "A person asking for the time". You might be able to tell how the person is feeling whether they are in a hurry or nervous. From their behaviour you can work out the purpose or meaning to the question. The same applies to the answer, whether you are being helpful which implies friendship. On the other hand, your reply can indicate frustration with a rude remark.
How do we get the information we want? We achieve information by implementing a range of questioning techniques. There are seven types of questions i.e.
* Closed To get a 'yes' or 'no' answer.
* Open To introduce a subject.
* Probe To demonstrate interest
* Reflective To demonstrate concern.
* Multiple Gives them a choice of questions.
* Leading To the answer that you expect to hear.
* Hypothetical To encourage creative thinking.
Unconsciously this is attaching labels of conversation which is apart of a routine. By using these labels, it is easier to analyse the conversation of others, and it is also easier to make conscious choices on how we choose to conduct our side of the conversation more effectively.
The main barriers to effective interpersonal communication include power differences, gender differences, physical surroundings, language variations and cultural diversity. However, barriers can be overcome through face-to-face communication by constantly checking the coding and decoding process, and to correct mistakes of one another and misunderstanding. By paying attention to others and trying to see things the way they do will make sure effective communication is adhered to within an organisation.
Successful communication is due to the use of communication control signals for example lubricators, inhibitors, bridges and pauses. We control our conversations through a variety of conscious and unconscious verbal and non-verbal signals that uncovers agreement, friendship, dislike and dispute emotions, which shapes the response of the listener.
Communication will become easier the more experience you have so therefore for an individual who has vast amounts of experience will tend to communicate better than someone who is relatively new and quite introvert. In addition, experience can play a part in terms of what role you play in an organisation. It is quite fair to say that the more experienced people are more likely to have reputable jobs that account for a large portion of the organisation work, in comparison to the less experienced employees or team members.
3.3 Experience:
One of the minor problems in the Ocean's 11 case study is Linus being the youngest member and also the most inexperienced. However, Danny analysed his expertise and decided to put him in the team regardless of him being young and inexperienced.
Being over skilled can be a threat, to both colleagues as well as to the manager. For example, a person who is new to the company received a pay rise due to being over qualified will cause conflict against a person who has worked hard for five years but still has been rejected a pay rise. The same situation may occur with the manager of the company being threatened in way that his or her job could be replaced by an over-qualified person.
In many cases, being under-skilled or over-skilled may cause conflict within a team or group. This in turn will affect the whole organization. For instance, a person being under-skilled could slow the team down, this will cause the team to be behind schedule and therefore cause conflict between the team and the manager/leader in charge.
3.4 Conflict:
Conflict is a disagreement between two or more parties - for example, individuals, groups, departments, organisations, countries - who perceive that they have incompatible concerns.
Conflict exists whenever an action of one party is perceived as preventing or interfering the goals, needs or actions of another group5. All organisations do experience conflict at some time within their own establishment. Some believe that conflict can be beneficial as it supports and encourages employees or members of a team to strive forward and maybe ignore conflict. However, some also say conflict can be risky and may hinder productivity within an organisation. The differences between individuals in a team are somewhat natural and expected. Handy6, believes "conflict is necessary" and if there was to no conflict then the organisation could not move forward and improve itself. It would remain as it is which could lead to bigger problems, although conflict can allow individuals to talk to each other in order to resolve the conflict between them.
There are four views7 on conflict:
* Unitarist - sees conflict as undesirable, destructive and should be avoided at all costs.
* Pluralist - consider an organisation as a collection of different groups. They propose the idea that conflict is natural and therefore procedures have to be put in place to deal with it.
* Radical - This view is derived from the Marxism view and suggests that organisational conflict reflects the conflict in the wider society between the capitalist owners and the workers.
* Interactionist - This view, proposed by McKenna8, sees conflict as neither good nor bad but simply inevitable. Handy9, believes "conflict is necessary" to the improvement of the organisation.
In the traditional view, Unitarist assumed conflict as dysfunctional and that managers should identify the sources of conflict and eliminate them in order to avoid the consequences. However, since Unitarist do not see differences in opinion as a positive element in an organisation's development, they missed out on what the Pluralists and the Interactionists saw, that conflict can have a positive impact on the organisation growth and prosperity.
The diagram below provides an overview of the conflict management process. Firstly the manager need to determine what stage the conflict is in. Then the source of the conflict has to be established. Next, the manger can examine the consequences and performance outcomes of the conflict; here the manager can identify the conflict as functional of dysfunctional. Finally, the manager needs to decide which conflict style orientation and specific strategy can be applied most productively to manage the conflict in the best manner.
Conflict seen in the Oceans 11 case study:
The situation that would have been most damaging to the team's coherence is where Linus is telling Rusty about Danny and Tessa meeting, secretly perhaps: 'Linus told Rusty of Danny's meeting with her (Tessa)". From this point, Danny and Rusty ended up having an argument and everyone in the team believed to think Danny was no longer part of the group. As a result, "Linus was given Danny's role."
When we look at this part of the case study, the result of the incident was Linus getting Danny's role, this clearly shows conflict over power. Referring to Collins10, Paul Wehr observed that a "social life is above all a struggle for power and status regardless of the type of structure. An inevitable power differential between groups, and between individuals, produces latent conflict in all social relations."
The conflict was "latent" until a triggering event caused it to surface; the event was Danny and Tessa's meeting, which was seen by Linus. By telling Rusty, Linus took advantage of the situation by obtaining Danny's position, which was quite powerful and distinguished. In addition to the above, when Linus no longer trusted Danny and did not do as he was told was clearly a sign of dysfunctional conflict which resulted in a near disaster to the whole project as they only just managed to escape the security guards, with Yen damaging his hand.
The management style used for this situation looks similar to the accommodating style; it was more co-operative and less assertive11. The members in the group had to adapt and adjust to the management of the group in order for them to be successful in their triumph.
In order to overcome conflict, an organisation must choose a confident type of leader which is important in any organisation as employees become highly reliant on managers or leaders in order to achieve 100%. Therefore to have a forceful and strong leader will only increase the organisation's morale and perhaps reduce the amount of conflict only if all is taken care of.
3.5 Leadership:
Leadership is a complex process by which a person influences others to accomplish a mission, task, or objective and directs the organisation in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. A person carries out this process by applying his/her leadership attributes, such as belief, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills to an organisation.
There are four main styles of leadership12, which organisations adapt to and use to operate their particular organisation. Management experts have gone from an autocratic approach to a very creative, participative approach. It also has been determined that different styles are needed for different situations and all leaders needed to know when to use their skills in a particular situation.
The four basic leadership styles are Autocratic, Bureaucratic, Democratic and Laissez-Faire. The Autocratic Leadership Style is often considered the classical approach for most establishments. It is one in which the manager retains as much power and decision-making authority as possible. This approach relies on threats and punishment to influence employees and make them strive forward. The Autocratic leadership can be the most effective style to use when newly untrained employees who do not know which tasks to perform or which procedures to follow.
The Bureaucratic Leadership Style is where the manager manages "by the book" where everything must be done according to pre-written procedure or policy. This style can be effective when employees need to understand certain standards or procedures. However, this style is ineffective when employees may lose interest in their jobs as well as fellow workers.
The Democratic Leadership Style is also called the participative style as it encourages employees to be a part of the decision making. The democratic leadership style is most effective when the leader wants to keep employees informed about matters that affect them and like to involve employees in decision-making and problem-solving duties. In addition, this system encourages team building and participation.
The Laissez-Faire Leadership Style, also known as the "hands-off" style, is one in which the manager provides little or no direction and gives employees as much freedom as possible. This is a successful style to use when employees are highly skilled, experienced, and educated. Additionally, employees have pride in their work and the drive to do it successfully on their own. On the other hand, this style should not be used as it makes employees feel insecure at the unavailability of a manager. The reason for this is that the manager cannot provide regular feedback to let employees know how well they are doing.
For the Ocean's 11 case study, the group's leadership uses a democratic style, as they encourage other group members to be part of the tasks and decisions made in order to utilise their full potential.
The concept of leadership comes from Bass's13 theory of leadership; this states that there are three basic ways to explain how people become leaders. The first two explain the leadership development for a small number of people; these theories are:
* Some personality qualities may lead people naturally into leadership roles. This is the Trait Theory.
* A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities; this is the Great Events Theory.
* People can choose to become leaders or can learn leadership skills. This is the Transformational Leadership Theory; it is the most widely accepted theory today.
Ocean's 11 case study claims that Danny was naturally a leader. He could enforce his tactics within his team effectively, using basic skills from a wise man. He made sure what everyone was doing and how they were going to do the tasks carefully allocated. This is something every organisation or team needs in order to be organised and successful to achieve something.
Every organisation has a particular work environment that determines to a certain extent how its leaders respond to problems and opportunities. This is brought about by a heritage of its past leaders and its present leaders. Leaders apply influence on the environment by three types of actions14:
* The goals and performance standards they establish.
* The values they establish for the organisation.
* The business and people concepts they establish.
Danny operates in the same manner using the environment to perform well and make sure the team members do the same. He establishes the goals and sets out to achieve them by each of the team's ability.
According to Bolman and Deal15, the Four Framework Approach suggests that leaders display leadership behaviours in one of four types of frameworks: Structural, Human Resource, Political, or Symbolic, which are illustrated below:
* Structural Framework - Structural Leaders focus on structure, strategy, environment, implementation, experimentation, and adaptation in an organisation.
* Human Resource Framework - Human Resource Leaders believe in people and communicate that belief; they empower, increase participation, support, share information, and move decision-making down into the organisation.
* Political Framework - Political leaders clarify what they want and what they can get; they also assess the distribution of power and interests within the organisations, persuasion first, and then use negotiation and force only if necessary.
* Symbolic Framework - Symbolic leaders view organisations as a stage to play certain roles and give impressions; these leaders use symbols to obtain awareness, they discover and communicate a vision.
Ocean's 11's team is a human resources framework as the support, information shared and decision making has been moved down to the organisation using a hierarchal structure to the group. Basically, illustrating that the leader has passed information down to its employees or members via messages through a distributor, like Rusty, and made clear what it expects from the whole venture.
A successful leader must always make the right decision and this will involve using a strategy that entails planning and organised thinking as well as tactics in order to overcome any hurdles on the way.
3.6 Strategic Planning:
All organisations need to define and set their group/team goals in advance, so when the group/team is formed there are clear and concise goals set for the group/team members to achieve. This advanced strategic planning will benefit the organisation as the manager or leader will use certain styles to support their view and make sure its members understand fully what is required from them. For the Ocean's 11 case study the goal was clear beforehand as members were recruited; the goal was to steal $150million from Terry.
In any organisation the way a group/team is selected can vary; the first instance could be that there are many candidates that could fulfil the goal of the group/team, so the optimal team is formed. However, individuals must be looked into for their unique ability to perform for a certain task16.
Another possible outcome may be that candidates are forced upon the organisation due to the lack of resources/interest. For Ocean's 11, the way the team was formed was by recruiting specific available candidates that had the necessary experience and skills that would allow the team to accomplish their given specified task.
Once a group is formed, set roles for each individual will be identified and established in order to tackle any hurdles that the organisation may come across. This will undoubtedly involve and consist of assessing each individual's strengths and weaknesses. Each individual should be instructed on the goals he/she will need to complete in order for the group to accomplish the overall task by using their own distinctive skills for their allocated task.
With Ocean's 11, the roles of the team were specified clearly and looked at whilst Danny the leader recruited and the goals were also outlined. There was the explosives expert who had to disable the electricity in the casino, which was significant to the team's success, whereas the technical expert was asked to hack into the casino computer system and provide information relevant. Another instance was where the actor had to convince the owner, Terry, he was going to spend big in his casino to prevent suspicions.
Before a team member can set about achieving their own goals, which will of course enable the organisation to succeed in their mission, the organisation will need to issue members vital information concerning their roles within the team and indicate the overall objectives. In the instance of the Ocean's 11's team, there was vital information that was passed around that assisted the members in achieving their goals and making sure they would co-operate given the approach and tactics to accomplish the objective.17
3.7 Individual Differences and Perceptions:
A group is several people working together in a face to face setting, on a task that requires their cooperation to reach an objective. For a production of good group work, many things are required; these are trust in others, the willingness to collaborate and the freedom to do so. However, back of these requirements lays the problem of skill; do we really know how to work well with others?
As discussed earlier, the underlining complexity of effective work with groups is only overcome by clarifying one's conception of leadership and group behaviour. A group consists of the individuals who make up its memberships and it is the behaviour and interaction of these individuals which manipulate all other areas of behaviour, from group organisation to leadership. Consequently, as it's these individuals who are the 'basic building material'18 around which a group functions, it is essential there is an understanding of individual differences and perceptions and how this may affect group behaviour.
Some believe that an individual's behaviour in groups can be changed quickly and simply, whilst many others believe that alteration in a way a person works with others is impossible. It is important to emphasise upon individuals, in terms of assessing personality, how attitudes and values are determined and lastly, how perception influences all of the above.
The diversity between individuals will inevitably create issues, which need to be resolved in order to achieve a successful venture. One of these issues is the tension of the individuals working as a team. For example in the Ocean's 11 case study, each member was employed because of their individual skills, but may not necessarily have had the ability and patience to work in a group. For example, Livingstone who has his specialist skill as a technical expert is unable to relate to people, however his role requires him to work well with Virgil and Turk. This could be difficult to overcome unless the team or individuals are motivated and talked upon effectively by a successful leader. This is a factor in which Danny will have to consider while creating his team, as discussed earlier, in group formation and strategic planning.
The initial point for an assessment of individual behaviour is personality. "Personality differences can lead to hostility between individuals who could hinder the developments of effective teams (Belbin 1996)."19
One of many definitions of personality is a 'specific characteristic of individuals which may be open or hidden and which may determine either commonality or differences in behaviour in an organisation'20. Personalities affect attitudes and motivations. For example, how individuals respond to motivational inducements or, how a negative concept can lead to attitudes which might hamper attempts to motivate individuals. Personal attitudes have an impact on how individuals perform, especially as these attitudes may be reflected in positive or negative actions.
These attitudes are formed from the reaction of a mixture of numerous factors acting together. These are external events, with the individual's own personality, e.g. direct experience is an influential 'moulder of attitudes'21. Therefore, if managers/leaders have prior knowledge about an individual's attitude, it can be used as a predictor of that person's behaviour.
Eysenck (1973) a trait theorist, recognised an assortment of personality characteristics along scales from "extrovert to introvert and neurotic to stable"22 and suggested that if the relevant traits of an individual can be identified, then that person's behaviour can be predicted. For example, if an individual has a very strong attitude on a particular issue, it might affect that person's behaviour more directly. Thus, it can influence decisions within group formations and how to avoid any conflict.
Lewin (1951), through his theory developed a model which he proposed explained the concept of factors affecting behaviour.
B = f (P, E) Where:
B = Behaviour
P = Person (innate)
E = Environment
He suggested that people are influenced by both intrinsic (innate) and environmental factors and that different behaviour resulted from the "continuous interaction between these factors"23. Consequently, he suggested that individual behaviour should be studied both from the groups and individual's perspective, objective and subjective, respectively.
Perception, as well as personality and attitudes and values, is also an essential factor in determining individual behaviour. By looking at the same thing but having a different perspective will result in reactions differing significantly24. To define perception, it is "the process by which a person selects, organises, and interprets information"25. Its how individuals "view and interpret the events and situations in the world about us"26. For example, some individuals may "perceive" a reorganising of an organisation negatively, e.g. as a threat to their job, whereas some may perceive it as a positive, in terms of career advancements and prospects towards the future.
For a group to develop, it's therefore imperative that the affiliates are co-operative rather than competitive and that the performance will be synergistic rather than individual. In addition, for a group to be effective characteristics such as a sense of commitment need to be shown and full participation by all the members i.e. no 'loafing'27. Obstacles such as lack of trust and reliability must be overcome and a belief in each member's dependency, need to be present in an organisation.
In the Ocean's 11 case study, the common purpose of stealing from the three casinos has been established; however there must be accountability for individual and team performances, as well mutual trust. For example, reliability and loyalty are important factors of whom Danny has picked to work towards such a big project. Most of this reliability had been established through prior knowledge of certain people e.g. Danny and Frank had 'known each other for years'28 as well as Basher and his friend Rusty.
Through the points discussed above, it is clear to see there are implications for managers that arise from these individual differences. The first is that they need to realise and understand that groups are built up of individuals, who will have a range of different personalities and behavioural patterns. The results of actions taken by managers may, therefore, differ according to the individuals concerned. The second is that they should be aware of how perception may influence an individual's behaviour, in relation to other people in the group. And lastly, it is useful to have an awareness of attitudes and values in individuals, as they may need to change if faced with a change of situation.
4.0 Conclusion and Recommendations:
In conclusion to this management development programme, that has been designed in order to develop a manager or leader so that they gain vital experience. The programme concentrated on a range of organisational behavioural factors which included motivating employees, communicating successfully, the level of experience, restraining conflict, the effect of a good leader and how they use strategic planning as well as how individual differences and perceptions are looked into.
One of the key organisational behavioural features that are very important is the level of conflict within an organisation. This programme recommends a range of both unique and similar conditions where the managers may well analyse their organisation's situations and relate sufficient appropriate experience to resolve the conflict. The programme focused on training managers or leaders to operate an approach which is cooperative to the concerns faced within the organisation.
The Ocean's 11 team in the case study was a successful group in a sense that they applied their individual skills to carry out their allocated task. This was helped by Danny and Rusty's motivation and communication techniques in order that they achieve their given objective. However, as the development programmed portrays there can be certainly mistakes in an organisation that can affect a targeted success.
The meeting of Danny and Tess was a turning point for the team as when Rusty found out he became very annoyed which increased the level of conflict between him and Danny. To avoid this, Danny should have told Rusty beforehand about his meeting and perhaps they would not have to deal with such an issue.
It seemed as though Danny wanted to achieve something else, such as winning back Tess, his ex-wife, from Terry as well as to steal $150million, therefore the teams perception may have changed towards Danny once they had found out about the above meeting, moreover influenced the awareness of Danny's ability as their team leader.
To improve the team's performance further, which they showed they were successful by using their ability to work together with respect to an aim of stealing $150 million would have been to give more time for the team to get to know each other better and become comfortable around each other before big night. As a result, this would have prevented any issues that are related to the case study. For example, the communication amongst members would have been more relative than before as a successful team can work towards an objective if they depend on and respect each other.
Another example for improvement would be if Danny was to give an improved role to Linus or maybe even shared his role by using Linus as protégé, as it seemed Linus may have been jealous of Danny's role and wanted more input, although he was the least experienced member. Therefore, if this was the case then Linus would become motivated to work that extra harder once given a different but better role, which may have resulted in a more harmonic team
The above recommendations are suggested to improve an organisation's technique as they work towards a set goal. An objective is more likely to be easy if it is clearly planned out by using specific strategies and skills to apply to the team.
Empirical Evidence:
When discussing amongst our group of consultants, we brought up a range of different personal experiences which could also improve an organisation if met with same problems.
For example, one member said they had been in conflict with another employee as they were given a higher role than them, despite having less experience. The reason for this was that the employee wanted the role rather than given it, he was motivated to perform at a higher level in relation to remain at the same level. If they had made it clear to the team then it would have avoided this argument and conflict that nearly ended up in one of the employees leaving their position.
Another example was when a consultant found it hard to communicate to the leader given his domestic problems. The reason for this is that the manager seemed unbothered about its employees and how they were. They found it hard to relate to their manager and as result saw their performance being affected, which when asked about brought the issue out into the open with the manager, who was regretful for not asking how each of its employees were getting on outside the work atmosphere. This can be significant as you must be able to respect your employees and their outside lives, which should be taken into account against performance.
5.0 Bibliography:
• Bloisi, W., Cook C. W. & Hunsaker P. L., Management and Organisational Behaviour, European Ed, 2003, UK, McGraw-Hill Education, Adapted from M. A. Rahim, Managing Conflict in Organisations, 2nd Ed, Westport CT, Praeger, 1992
• http://www.google.com - Handy, 1993
• E. McKenna, Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour, Hove UK, Erlbaum, 1994
• Paul Wehr "Conflict Emergence, "in the Online Training Program on Intractable Conflict. http://www.colorado.edu/conflict and Randall Collins, Conflict Sociology (New York: Academic Press, 1975)
• Thomas I. Rube and Kenneth W. Thomas, Support for a Two-Dimensional Model Behaviour and Human Performance, 1976
• D A Buchanan & A A Huczynski, (2004), Organizational Behaviour 5th edition, Harlow, Prentice Hall
• Bass, Bernard, Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of Theory and Research, New York: Free Press, 1989.
• Bass, Bernard, From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to Share the Vision, Organizational Dynamics, Winter 1990.
• Bolman, Lee and T. Deal (1991). Reframing Organizations
• Mullins, Laurie J and T. Deal (2002). Management and Organisational Behaviour.
• Brooks, Ian (1999), Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups, and the organisation, London, Pearson Education
• Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text
• Learning to Work in Groups - Matthew B. Miles
• Organisational Behaviour Lectures
• Ocean's 11 Case Study
• http://www.beyondintractability.org/m/latent_conflict.jsp
• http://www.allianceonline.org
• http://www.nwlink.com
• http://ut.essortment.com/leadershipstyle_rrnq.htm
Department of Trade and Industry drives 'prosperity for all' by working to create the best environment for business success in the UK.
2 Mullins, Laurie J and T. Deal (2002). Management and Organisational Behaviour.
3 Mullins, Laurie J and T. Deal (2002). Management and Organisational Behaviour.
4 Organizational behaviour An Introductory Text
5 Bloisi, W., Cook C. W. & Hunsaker P. L., Management and Organisational Behaviour, European Ed, 2003, UK, McGraw-Hill Education, Adapted from M. A. Rahim, Managing Conflict in Organisations, 2nd Ed, Westport CT, Praeger, 1992
6 http://www.google.com - Handy, 1993
7 Bloisi, W., Cook C. W. & Hunsaker P. L., Management and Organisational Behaviour, European Ed, 2003, UK, McGraw-Hill Education
8 E. McKenna, Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour, Hove UK, Erlbaum, 1994
9 http://www.google.com - Handy, 1993
0 Paul Wehr "Conflict Emergence, "in the Online Training Program on Intractable Conflict. http://www.colorado.edu/conflict and Randall Collins, Conflict Sociology (New York: Academic Press, 1975)
http://www.beyondintractability.org/m/latent_conflict.jsp
1 Thomas I. Rube and Kenneth W. Thomas, Support for a Two-Dimensional Model Behaviour and Human Performance, 1976
2 http://ut.essortment.com/leadershipstyle_rrnq.htm
3 Bass, Bernard, Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of Theory and Research, New York: Free Press, 1989. and Bass, Bernard, From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to Share the Vision, Organizational Dynamics, Winter 1990.
4 http://www.nwlink.com
5 Bolman, Lee and T. Deal (1991). Reframing Organizations
6 http://www.allianceonline.org
7 Mullins, Laurie J and T. Deal (2002). Management and Organisational Behaviour.
8 Brooks, Ian (1999), Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups, and the organisation, London, Pearson Education
9 Brooks, Ian (1999), Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups, and the organisation, London, Pearson Education
20 Brooks, Ian (1999), Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups, and the organisation, London, Pearson Education
21 Brooks, Ian (1999), Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups, and the organisation, London, Pearson Education
22 Brooks, Ian (1999), Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups, and the organisation, London, Pearson Education
23 Brooks, Ian (1999), Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups, and the organisation, London, Pearson Education
24 Learning to Work in Groups - Matthew B. Miles
25 http://www.google.com
26 Brooks, Ian (1999), Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups, and the organisation, London, Pearson Education
27 Organisational Behaviour Lectures
28 Ocean's 11 Case Study
Group: Marie, Ayla, Mohammed, Zapher & Jawad Organisational Behaviour Report
Organisational Behaviour 1
4HRB501
