[MB0038] Management Process and Organisational Behaviour Book ID: B1621 Q1: Describe the concept of vision and

mission in an organisation. A1: Every organisation has a vision and mission. In the case of X, he may not have expressed it in a statement, i.e. it may not be explicit; but perhaps if we had talked with him, we would come to know that he wants to provide faultless tables to the people, earn money, provide for his family, get social status in the process, etc. A vision statement is a formal statement of what a business wants to be. But who decides what it wants to be? Well, it is not only X, but also the customers, the employees, and the society or in other words those who have an interest in the business because they get some benefit out of it. They are called stakeholders. In our case, X [owner or promoter or stakeholder], the other carpenters [employees], the saw mill [supplier], the shops [distributors], bank who may have given loan [the financiers], and the people who bought the tables and chairs [the customers] are all stakeholders. So the vision cannot be made by the owner alone. He has to fulfil the wishes of the stakeholders. An owner who puts in money has to ask other people before deciding his/her vision. There has been lot of research on this and various views. But Collins and Porras in their noted article Organisational Vision and Visionary Organisation spelt out that a vision statement has to have four parts namely: i. ii. iii. iv. Core values. Core purposes. The Big Hairy Audacious Goal or BHAG. Vivid description.

The core values are those things very close to our heart that we will not give up at any cost. It can be integrity or quality, etc. Usually we say that we should have only 4 to 6 core values. Of course, personal values and business values may differ but if we have too many of them, they fail to remain core and loses their impact. When we have a decision dilemma, they come up like a lighthouse to navigate us. Core purpose is the purpose of organisation. This is something we want to achieve within the framework of our core values. It gives the achievement orientation to the business and therefore the focus. When we get an opportunity to expand or sell off and if we are in a decision dilemma, this acts as another lighthouse. The BHAG is about having a goal which qualifies the purpose. We say that BHAG should be big, yet specific and that our chance of attaining it is only 70%. If the probability of attaining it is more than 70%, perhaps your BHAG is not big enough and not audacious enough and we have set our goals too low. The vivid description should make the entire vision statement very inspiring to all stakeholders. It should be simple and easily understandable. The vision statement

is meant for the stakeholders and therefore, the importance of the vivid and simple statement In the Collins and Porras format, the vision and mission are fairly well integrated. Vision is the state that one wants to be in and mission is the way of doing it. The Mission statement can be a separate one or it can be rolled into one but Collins and Porras model has been gaining popularity of late because it encapsulates the vision and mission into one and anchors the value. Q2. I. II. A2: Planning can be defined as a basic management function which enables one to select the purpose of the business, and how the resources should be mustered to achieve that purpose to include using the available resources optimally to do that. Planning implies goal setting for the organisation keeping in mind the constraints, opportunities and threats as much as what the person or business which is planning wants to do. Thus, a plan is a blueprint for a goal achievement, a blue print that specifies the necessary resource allocations, schedules, tasks and other actions to achieve the purpose. A goal is a desired future state that the organisation attempts to reach. Goals are important because an organisation exists for a purpose, and goals define and state that purposes. Goals specify future ends; plans specify the means to do it. Planning answers six basic questions in regard to any activity: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. What needs to be accomplished? What are the alternative routes to it? What is the deadline? Where will this be done? Who will be responsible for it? How will it get done? How much time, energy, and resources are required to accomplish this goal? Define planning. Explain the importance of planning.

Planning is important for the following reasons: i. ii. iii. iv. v. It helps the management to clarify, focus, and research their businesses or projects development and prospects. It provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business. It offers a benchmark against which the actual performance can be measured and reviewed. It plays a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognise hidden opportunities. In the business context, it guides the development of products, management, finances, and most importantly, markets and competition.

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It helps in forecasting the future and makes the future visible to some extent. It bridges between where we are and where we want to go.

Why leading is important? What are the characteristics of leading?

Importance of Leading Leading or leadership function is said to be the heart of management process. Therefore, it is the central point around which accomplishment of goals takes place. A few philosophers call leading as Life spark of an enterprise. It is also called as an actuating function of management because it is through direction that the operation of an enterprise actually starts. Being the central character of an enterprise, it provides many benefits to a concern which are as follows: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. Initiates actions Sustains action Integrates efforts Means of motivation Provides stability Copes with the changes Utilises resources efficiently

One can justify that leading, surely, is the heart of management process. Leading helps the subordinates to perform in the best of their abilities and that too in a healthy environment. The manager makes use of the four elements of direction so that work can be accomplished in a proper and right manner. Characteristics of Leading 1. Pervasiveness In a team based working, the team leader has to act much like a CEO except that the level of working may be much smaller. 2. Continuity Leading is a continuous activity as it is continuous throughout the life of organisation. 3. Human Factor It follows that there is a key human factor in leading and because human factor is complex and behaviour is unpredictable, leading function is important and people have to learn the art of leading. 4. Creativity

Leading is a creative activity because of the human factors and individual variances and group variances. Hence, we can see that creating functions around which people find meaning is a creative function that leads to the achievements. 5. Executive Function Leading implies that the followers execute the functions, which the leader and the follower agree is important for achieving the organisational goals and through it the individual goals. 6. Delegating Function It follows that the leader trusts his/her followers and the vice versa. Hence, mutual trust always exists in leading. Therefore, delegation function based on mutual trust is a characteristic of learning. Q4: I. II. A4: OB can be defined as a systematic study that investigates the impact of individuals, groups and organisational factors on productivity to include effectiveness and efficiency, absentee, turnover, organisational citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction. i. By systematic study we mean looking at relationships and attempting to attribute causes and effect, and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence. By productivity we mean a performance we measure that includes both effectiveness [achievement of goals] and efficiency [ratio on output versus input required to achieve it]. By absenteeism we mean failure to report to work especially without informing. By turnover we mean voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organisation [simply put exiting or quitting]. By organisational citizenship we mean discretionary behaviour that is not part of an employees formal job requirement, but that nevertheless promotes the effective functioning of the organisation. By job satisfaction we mean a general attitude towards ones job; the difference between the amount of reward the workers receive and the amount they believe they should receive. Define organisation behaviour (OB). What are the limitations of OB?

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OB has some limitations: i. OB is not a remedy for the removal of conflict and frustration but can only reduce them.

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It is only one of the many systems operating within a large social system. There is a great danger of OB when in the hands of people who lack system understanding. They tend to look only at the behavioural basis, which gives them a narrow viewpoint. This tunnel vision often leads to satisfying employee experiences while overlooking the broader system of an organisation in relation to all its public. The law of diminishing returns also operates in the case of organisational behaviour [the law states at some point increase of a desirable practice produces declining returns and sometimes negative returns when that point is exceeded]. The ethical standards of those in charge and those who use OB techniques are a great concern. Its knowledge and techniques could be used to manipulate people without regard for human welfare. People who lack ethical values could use people in unethical ways.

Q5: I. II. A5: Emotional intelligence is the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves for managing emotions well in us and in our relationships. Golemans model of Emotional Intelligence [EL] Daniel Goleman and the Hay Group have identifies a set of competencies that differentiate individuals with EL. The competencies fall into four clusters: i. ii. iii. iv. Self-awareness: Capacity for understanding ones emotion, ones strengths and ones weaknesses. Self-management: Capacity for effectively managing ones motives and regulating ones behaviour. Social awareness: Capacity for understanding what others are saying and feeling and why they feel and act as they do. Relationship management: Capacity for acting in such a way that one is able to get desired results from others and reach personal goals. What is meant by emotional intelligence? What is the impact of emotional intelligence on managers?

The most popular and accepted mixed model of EL is the one proposed by Goleman [1995]. He viewed EL as a sum of personal and social competences. Personal competence determines how we manage ourselves, whereas social competence determines how we handle our interpersonal relationships. Personal Competence

Personal competence comprises three dimensions of EL, such as, self-awareness, self-regulation and motivation. Self-awareness is the ability of an individual to observe himself/herself and to recognise a feeling as it happens [Goleman, 1995]. The hallmarks of this ability are self-confidence, self-assessment and openness to positive criticism. Self-regulation is the ability to control emotions and to redirect those emotions that can have negative impact. Trustworthiness, integrity, tolerance of ambiguity and attitude to accept change are some characteristics of this ability. Motivation is the ability to channelize emotion to achieve a goal through self-control and by moderating impulses as per the requirement of the situation. The people who have this ability are optimistic and committed towards organisational as well as individual goals. Social Competence Social competence comprises of two dimensions namely, empathy and social skills. Empathy is the ability to feel and show concern for others, take their perspective and to treat people according to their emotional reactions. People with this ability are experts in generating and motivating others. Social skills are the abilities to build a rapport and to manage relationships with people. People having this skill are very effective in persuasiveness and team management. Social skill is the culmination of all other components of EL assuming that people can effectively manage social and work relationships only when they can understand and control their own emotion and can emphasise with the feeling of others. Q6: Suppose you are the Team Manager in a multinational company with team strength of 10 members. You are given the responsibility of ensuring that the team gives excellent performance or results. What are the key issues you have to handle in team building? A6: Key Issues in Team Building i. Have clear expectations and context: Have clear performance targets and expectations from the team. The team should get sufficient resources people, time and money. Their work should receive sufficient emphasis as a priority in discussions. Commitment: All team members may not be equally committed. First, ensure that all the team members believe in the mission and anticipate recognition for their contribution. They expect their skills to grow and develop and they should feel excited and challenged by the opportunity. Only then does a team work well. Team design and competence: The next important aspect is having adequate competences. If the team is to improve a process, it should have people with expertise in each step of the process. Therefore it is not sufficient to get some people together, but it is necessary to get people with the requisite competencies. Charter of performance: The team should take the assigned responsibility as its mission. This is the crux of a successful team. It

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must define its goals, the outcomes, the timelines, measuring success, and the process to accomplish tasks. Control and coordination: Any management function works through controls and coordination and teams are no exception. Some of the issues to be considered are what are the controls the team members accept and impose on themselves, what are the limitations in terms of money, time, how far the members should go in pursuit of the solutions, what is the degree of freedom and chain of reporting. Collaboration: The team goals should be a collaborative one and not a competitive one. This would lead to their understanding and interpreting the goals correctly. Communication: This is a common problem in team building. The barriers of communication should be broken down and free flowing communication should be established. Consequences: Team members should feel responsible and accountable for the achievement and they should inherently get the idea of consequences of not achieving it. Reward is one of the important factors to be considered to achieve this. Creative innovation: Depending on the problem, the teams should be able to innovate and they should have the freedom to do so. Cultural change: Teams can function only if the organisation has such a culture. Teams need flat organisational structure, rewards and recognitions, and training and development of a high order.