Management Functions & Behavior

Assignment A

1. How can the field of OB contribute to the effective functioning of organizations

and the well being of the individual?

Ans.

OB is related to the individual behaviors in organizations, apart from group behaviors and
behaviors in organizations. An organization is as good as its working group. An
organization needs to grow continuously therefore, there is a need to keep its persons
rising through following procedures they are:

1. Continuous Learning – The continuous learning in individuals works substantially in

the growth of the individuals. There are many ways of learning that helps individuals to
grow. Learning can be termed as any permanent change in behavior or behavior potential
that results from experience. There is need to promote functional behavior among
individuals for effective functioning of organizations, and discourages behavior that is
unfavorable to the organisations. There are different methods of learning and various
means through which learning can be converted into desirable behavior in the individuals.

2. Creating Right Perception: There is need to create right perception among

individuals. Perception can be termed as process through which we select, organize and
interpret inputs that are supplied to us by our sensory receptors. There are five senses in
humans (eyes through sight, ears through audition, nose through smell, mouth or tongue
through taste, and skin through touch) and these senses continuously gathers information
from the surroundings. It is the perception that gives meaning to the various set of
information’s that are gathered through these senses. The study of OB helps in creating
right perception that is prime requirement for the efficiently working with people.

3. Building Positive Attitudes and Values: The building of positive attitude and values
plays significant role in the growth of individuals. Attitude can be defined as long-lasting
evaluation that represents an individual like or dislike for an item, group, or issues.
Positive attitudes form an important element in building effective relationships. Values
are the fundamental ideas that a definite form of way of survival is individual or social
and is preferable to an opposite or adverse form of performing the work. Values are the
base of attitudes and behaviour, therefore it is important to discover values in OB.

4. Having Personality and Emotions Compatible at Work Place: Personality is

person’s unique and relatively constant model of behaviour, thoughts, and feelings. There
is requirement in organisations to generate a right grouping of person and job, in order to

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utilize full potential of an individual. According to the provisions of the work, qualities
can be also developed. Emotions are reactions which are the outcome of subjective
cognitive states, physiological reactions, and expressive behaviors. Cognition is the
mental behavior related to the thought, knowledge, and memory. Proper understanding of
emotions helps an individual for self-development.

5. Maintaining Stress-free Individuals and Environment: Stress is a self-motivated

condition in which an individual is to deal with an opportunity, constraint, or demand
related to what he or she needs and for which the result is supposed to be both doubtful
and significant. With rising competition and survival, and quality becoming higher and
difficult to match, stress is the administrative anxiety of modern era.

6. Keeping Individuals and Teams Motivated and providing Job Satisfaction:

Motivation can be explained as the most important indescribable source of the
organization. Motivation is an indirect in-house procedure that activates, guides, and
maintains behavior over time. Job satisfaction is a universal approach towards one’s job.
It also depends on the segregation between the amount of rewards workers receive and
the amount they believe they should be given.

Organisations as well as individuals do not exist in isolation. There is constant fluctuation

of environmental impact on organisation that helps in stimulating behavior pattern within
the organisation. It is important for organisation to muster flexibility for its long-term
existence. The boundaries of organisations are becoming more transparent rather more
fragile. Organisations are required to focus on many emerging issues so as to integrate it
well with the environmental changes. Some of these are as follows:

• Continuous improvement of people and process.

• Integrating human factor with grand objectives of the organisation.
• More emphasis on quality of products, services, and process.
• Restructuring to suit requirements of service organisations, task force teams, as well as,
in case of rightsizing and acquisition and merger.
• Managing diversity.
• Product innovation.
• Managing creativity and innovations.
• Cross-cultural management.
• Managing multinationals.

2. How are leadership theory and styles related to employee motivation? Explain
with suitable examples.

Ans.

The Best Leadership Theories for Employee Motivation

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Leadership theories, styles and types can have a powerful effect on motivating employees.
On the other hand, deciding which one will be the most effective will make your head
spin. There is an endless list of possibilities to choose from. At the same time you need to
decide whether to employ a style that fits your personality or go outside your comfort
zone. This article will help you develop the correct business leadership skills, way of
training and coaching methods.

It should be no surprise that your employees enjoy working in a positive workplace

culture. Leaders that are fair, but firm and bold will be accepted and followed compared to
leaders that are dictators. Being believable and not being assumed as being fake will gain
you points. Keep in mind that you cannot make everyone happy, so don’t even try.
Treating your workers fairly across the board while following proper policies and
procedures will make all the difference.

Many people have personnel preferences when choosing leadership theories. They choose
the style that best fits their own personality. Others may think outside their comfort zone.
These leaders take on new unknown techniques and styles that will have to be learned.

Ultimately the best theories of leadership is to choose the one that will involve the
combining of the two different styles. Find the best theory that fits your personality and
the one that involves learning. This will allow you to develop into a strong leader.

Leadership is the process of influencing people so that they will perform a variety of tasks
in an effective manner. It is, therefore, crucial to have a strong leader who can inspire and
motivate the employees.

A leader is different to a manager, since a manager is often appointed to a position of

power, whereas a leader may often emerge as the best to cope in a given situation (i.e. an
employee who is very competent at computing may well be viewed as a leader, even
though he may be towards the bottom of the organisational hierarchy).

There are a number of styles of leadership:

Autocratic.
This is often referred to as an authoritarian leadership style, and it basically means that the
people at the top of an organisation make all the decisions and delegate very little
responsibility down to their subordinates.

Communication is top-down, with no opportunity for feedback to the leader. It can cause
much resentment and frustration amongst the workforce and it is not very common in
today's business world.

Democratic.

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This involves managers and leaders taking into account the views of the workforce before
implementing any new system.

This can lead to increased levels of morale and motivation amongst the workforce, but it
can also result in far more time being taken to achieve the results since many people are
involved in discussing the decision.

Laissez-faire.
This is where employees are set objectives, and then they have to decide how best to
achieve them using the available resources. This method of leadership can result in high
levels of enthusiasm for the task in-hand, but it can at times rely too much on the skills of
the workforce.

Paternalistic.
This is fairly autocratic in its approach to dealing with employees, although their social
and welfare needs are taken into account when a decision is made that will affect them.
The leader is likely to consult the workforce before implementing any decision, but he is
unlikely to listen too much of the feedback.

3. Discuss in detail the contribution of Taylor to the development of Management

thought.
Ans:-

Scientific management concept

Scientific management concept is one of the principles of management and is also known
as classical theory. This principle is propounded by Fredrick Winslow Taylor (F.W Taylor)
– the father of management. He was born in USA in 1856. He joined Midvale steel
company where he worked as a machine shop worker for two years as gang boss for some
years and as chief engineer at the age of 28.he also joined Bethlehem steel company
where he served for a long time. Later he devoted his time to develop the concept of
scientific management.

He noticed that there were much disorder and wastage of human as well as other
resources at work place. The managers and staffs had no concept about systematic and
efficient performance of task. And all were following traditional ways of doing work. So
he tried to remove these problems through the development of new concept. Thus the
scientific management concept was developed.

Contributions of F.W Taylor

While working in Midvale Company as a manager Taylor observed that employees were
not performing as per their capacity of productivity. And he considered that this condition

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was occurring because of no care towards the waste. Taylor worked towards the
experiments at his work place to increase the worker’s efficiency so that maximum output
could be achieved by utilizing effort at maximum level.

1. Scientific task setting:- Taylor observed that the management does not know
exactly the works – pieces of work- volume of works- which are to be performed
by the workers during a fixed period of time- which is called working day. In a
working day how much work is to be done by a worker but be fixed by a manager
and the task should be set every day. The process of task setting requires scientific
technique. To make a worker do a quantity of work in a working day is called
scientific task setting

2. Differential payment system:- under this system, a worker received the piece
rate benefit which will attract the workers to work more for more amount of wages
and more incentives would be created to raise the standardization of output to
promote the workers to produce more and perform more task than before and
utilize waste time to earn more wages.
3. Reorganization of supervision:- concepts of separation of planning and doing
and functional foremanship were developed. Taylor opines that the workers should
only emphasize in planning or in doing. There should be 8 foreman in which 4 are
for planning and 4for doing. For planning they were route clerk, instruction cord
clerk, time and cost clerk and disciplinarian. And for doing they were speed boss,
gang boss, repair boss and inspector.

4. Scientific recruiting and training:-staffs and workers should be selected and

employed on scientific basis. Management should develop and train every workers
by providing proper knowledge and training to increase their skills and make them
effective

5. Economy: - efficient cost accounting system should be followed to control cost

which can minimize the wastages and thoroughly reduced and thus eliminated.

6. Mental revolution: - Taylor argued that both management and workers should try
to understand each other instead of quarreling for profits and benefits which would
increase production, profit and benefits.

4. Do you think when managers make decisions they follow the decision making
steps as has been conceptualized in the rational decision making model? Which steps
are likely to be overlooked or given inadequate attention? What can be the possible
consequences of overlooking any of the steps?

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Ans

Rational decision-making model, as it is called in organizational behavior is a process

for making logically sound decisions. This multi-step model and aims to be logical and
follow the orderly path from problem identification through solution.

However, there are a lot of assumptions, requirements without which the rational decision
model is a failure. Therefore, they all have to be considered. The model assumes that we
have or should or can obtain adequate information, both in terms of quality, quantity and
accuracy. This applies to the situation as well as the alternative technical situations. It
further assumes that you have or should or can obtain substantive knowledge of the cause
and effect relationships relevant to the evaluation of the alternatives. In other words, it
assumes that you have a thorough knowledge of all the alternatives and the consequences
of the alternatives chosen. It further assumes that you can rank the alternatives and choose
the best of it. The following are the limitations for the Rational Decision Making Model:

 It requires a great deal of time.

 It requires great deal of information
 It assumes rational, measurable criteria are available and agreed upon.
 It assumes accurate, stable and complete knowledge of all the alternatives,
preferences, goals and consequences.
 It assumes a rational, reasonable, non – political world.

The rational decision making model contains a number of assumptions.

 Problem clarity: The problem is clear and unambiguous. The decision maker is
assumed to have complete information regarding situation.
 Known options: It is assumed the decision maker can identify all the relevant
criteria and can list all the viable alternatives. Furthermore, the decision maker is
aware of all possible consequences of each alternative.
 Clear preferences: Rationality assumes that the criteria and alternatives can be
ranked and weighted to reflect their importance.
 Constant preferences: It's assumed that the specific decision criteria are constant
and that the weights assigned to them are stable over time.
 No time or cost constraints: The rational decision maker can obtain full
information about criteria and alternatives because it's assumed that there are no
time or cost constraints.
 Maximum payoff: The rational decision maker will choose the alternative that
yields the highest perceived value.

5. “Participation is an excellent method for identifying differences and resolving

conflicts”. Do you agree or disagree. Discuss with suitable examples.

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Ans

Conflict is a positive element of all groups. Without it, people would not be challenged
to think beyond their everyday, routine boundaries. When a variety of people with
different perspectives, values, experiences, education, lifestyles and interests come
together, differences abound. That diversity can enrich the discussion, the ideas and the
project goals if the conflict and tensions that emerge are resolved and the group uses the
learning to improve its work. Conflict can be pretty much inevitable when you work with
others. People have different viewpoints and under the right set of circumstances, those
differences escalate to conflict. How you handle that conflict determines whether it works
to the team's advantage or contributes to its demise.

You can choose to ignore it, complain about it, blame someone for it, or try to deal with it
through hints and suggestions; or you can be direct, clarify what is going on, and attempt
to reach a resolution through common techniques like negotiation or compromise. It's
clear that conflict has to be dealt with, but the question is how: It has to be dealt with
constructively and with a plan, otherwise it's too easy to get pulled into the argument and
create an even larger mess.

Understanding and appreciating the various viewpoints involved in conflict are key
factors in its resolution. These are key skills for all team members to develop. The
important thing is to maintain a healthy balance of constructive difference of opinion, and
avoid negative conflict that's destructive and disruptive.

Getting to, and maintaining, that balance requires well-developed team skills, particularly
the ability to resolve conflict when it does happens, and the ability to keep it healthy and
avoid conflict in the day-to-day course of team working. Let's look at conflict resolution
first, then at preventing it.

Resolving Conflict

When a team oversteps the mark of healthy difference of opinion, resolving conflict
requires respect and patience. The human experience of conflict involves our emotions,
perceptions, and actions; we experience it on all three levels, and we need to address all
three levels to resolve it. We must replace the negative experiences with positive one.

Participation definitely allows us to see that points which we were not even thinking
about, it throws light on new angles which definitely makes us to think more then what
we’re doing before looking at it, with more light of knowledge defiantly heat of difference
can be curb to a large extent, there is a difference between debating and arguing the
former brings light of knowledge the later brings heat of discontent so it’s better to the put
the points fwd. and hear from others there point of view then infer upon

Assignment B

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1. Why does communication break down? How can communication be improved?

Ans:-
Communication breakdown refers to failure in exchange of information. It may be as a
result of language barrier, lack of clear information, time pressures, emotions and
distraction.

Communication Failures

7. Believing there is one reality

6. Choosing the wrong communication method
5. Responding defensively
4. Failing to share information
3. Failing to be direct
2. Breaching confidentiality
1. Failing to listen

Why Communication Can Break Down

Leadership Issues

The inability of some leaders to create a conducive environment for communications in

the workplace can lead to incomprehension and inattention. For example, if a manager
"barks" orders rather than treating employees respectfully when delegating tasks, workers
might stop listening altogether. Another communication problem can occur if a manager
gives vague or inconsistent directives. Finally, a manager who ignores issues and closes
his door for most of the day creates a barrier that prevents active communication.

Rapid Growth

Rapid growth in your small business can be great initially for profits, but it can ultimately
cost you money if it adversely affects the communication in your facility. In periods of
expansion, the workload becomes greater and hiring new employees often becomes
necessary. More people necessitates more training and mentoring. Management and
longtime employees might have difficulties adjusting to new personalities and the need
for more communication. Also, you might be adding employees who speak English as
their second language, which can cause additional problems with comprehension in both
speech and written documentation.

Conflicts

Breakdowns in communicating between staff members as well as management can occur

due to disagreements and personality clashes. When conflicts are not properly managed,
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they can grow into large disputes in which employees stop speaking. Even if conflict only
exists between two workers, the morale of the entire company is likely to suffer to the
point that communications throughout your enterprise come to a standstill. Invest in
conflict resolution training for managers and staff to help improve communication
techniques for the entire workforce.

Distractions

Physical disturbances at the job also can result in ineffective communication. When a
company's production process causes a lot of noise, for example, the staff will find it
difficult to focus on work conversations. Another circumstance that can interfere with
work communications is when managers allow employees to use headphones at work,
make personal phone calls on a regular basis or engage in Internet surfing. This too-casual
environment can distract employees from active listening, which is a key component of
effective communication

Breaking the Breakdown & Improving Communication Skills

Conveying ideas and explaining information to others is an essential part of a manager’s

job, from daily feedback and instructions to in-depth employee development and training.
Many managers have never received formal training on how to relay information in a
concise, clear and effective way, yet those who invest time in strengthening their written
and verbal communications have a clear advantage in work relationships.

A “communication breakdown” can result in serious problems within an organization, so

it is more important than ever for leaders to work on improving communication skills.

1. Get your purpose straight.

Before you begin speaking, go over your objectives and talking points in your mind. What
are you trying to accomplish? Can you sum up your message in a sentence or two? Start
with a concise overall statement of purpose and go from there, supporting your message
with brief clarifying points.

2. Remember that others have objectives, too.

When you are communicating with other people, don’t be so focused on your own goals
that you forget to listen. A conversation involves give and take, so be flexible in your
interaction and give others a chance to talk. Listen to what they have to say, and try to find
ways to achieve everyone’s objectives as much as possible. You know your efforts toward
improving communication skills have been successful when all parties feel that they have
been heard.

3. Consider how your words will be interpreted.

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Choose your words carefully and pay special attention to how you insert bias or personal
opinion into your message. Are you speaking out of negative emotions, such as anger,
frustration or resentment? Will your words have a hurtful effect on the people you are
communicating with? Are you using bias to influence others into giving you the answer
they think you want to hear, instead of the truth?

4. Create a comfortable environment for discussion.

What kind of atmosphere do you create when communicating with others? Do your
employees feel at ease discussing problems and questions with you? Do they know they
can expect honesty, respect and support when they speak to you? Improving
communication skills requires you to be frank about your weaknesses as well as your
strengths. Challenge yourself to work on a few different ways you can encourage a
climate of open dialogue with your employees.

Effective Communication

In the information age, we have to send, receive, and process huge numbers of messages
every day. But effective communication is about more than just exchanging information;
it's also about understanding the emotion behind the information. Effective
communication can improve relationships at home, work, and in social situations by
deepening your connections to others and improving teamwork, decision-making, and
problem solving. It enables you to communicate even negative or difficult messages
without creating conflict or destroying trust. Effective communication combines a set of
skills including nonverbal communication, attentive listening, the ability to manage stress
in the moment, and the capacity to recognize and understand your own emotions and
those of the person you’re communicating with.

Effective communication skills

1 Listening

Listening is one of the most important aspects of effective communication. Successful

listening means not just understanding the words or the information being communicated,
but also understanding how the speaker feels about what they’re communicating.

Effective listening can:

 Make the speaker feel heard and understood, which can help build a stronger,
deeper connection between you.
 Create an environment where everyone feels safe to express ideas, opinions,
and feelings, or plan and problem solve in creative ways.
 Save time by helping clarify information, avoid conflicts and misunderstandings.

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 Relieve negative emotions. When emotions are running high, if the speaker feels
that he or she has been truly heard, it can help to calm them down, relieve negative
feelings, and allow for real understanding or problem solving to begin.

2. Non verbal communication

When we communicate things that we care about, we do so mainly using nonverbal

signals. Wordless communication, or body language, includes facial expressions, body
movement and gestures, eye contact, posture, the tone of your voice, and even your
muscle tension and breathing. The way you look, listen, move, and react to another person
tells them more about how you’re feeling than words alone ever can.

Developing the ability to understand and use nonverbal communication can help you
connect with others, express what you really mean, navigate challenging situations,
and build better relationships at home and work.

 You can enhance effective communication by using open body language—arms

uncrossed, standing with an open stance or sitting on the edge of your seat, and
maintaining eye contact with the person you’re talking to.
 You can also use body language to emphasize or enhance your verbal message—
patting a friend on the back while complimenting him on his success, for example,
or pounding your fists to underline your message.

3. Managing stress

In small doses, stress can help you perform under pressure. However, when stress
becomes constant and overwhelming, it can hamper effective communication by
disrupting your capacity to think clearly and creatively, and act appropriately. When
you’re stressed, you’re more likely to misread other people, send confusing or off-putting
nonverbal signals, and lapse into unhealthy knee-jerk patterns of behavior.

How many times have you felt stressed during a disagreement with your spouse, kids,
boss, friends, or coworkers and then said or done something you later regretted? If you
can quickly relieve stress and return to a calm state, you’ll not only avoid such regrets, but
in many cases you’ll also help to calm the other person as well. It’s only when you’re in a
calm, relaxed state that you'll be able to know whether the situation requires a response, or
whether the other person’s signals indicate it would be better to remain silent.

To deal with stress during communication:

 Recognize when you’re becoming stressed. Your body will let you know if
you’re stressed as you communicate. Are your muscles or your stomach tight
and/or sore? Are your hands clenched? Is your breath shallow? Are you
"forgetting" to breathe?

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 Take a moment to calm down before deciding to continue a conversation or

postpone it.
 Bring your senses to the rescue and quickly manage stress by taking a few deep
breaths, clenching and relaxing muscles, or recalling a soothing, sensory-rich
image, for example. The best way to rapidly and reliably relieve stress is through
the senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. But each person responds
differently to sensory input, so you need to find things that are soothing to you.
 Look for humor in the situation. When used appropriately, humor is a great way
to relieve stress when communicating. When you or those around you start taking
things too seriously, find a way to lighten the mood by sharing a joke or amusing
story.
 Be willing to compromise. Sometimes, if you can both bend a little, you’ll be
able to find a happy middle ground that reduces the stress levels for everyone
concerned. If you realize that the other person cares much more about something
than you do, compromise may be easier for you and a good investment in the
future of the relationship.
 Agree to disagree, if necessary, and take time away from the situation so
everyone can calm down. Take a quick break and move away from the situation.
Go for a stroll outside if possible, or spend a few minutes meditating. Physical
movement or finding a quiet place to regain your balance can quickly reduce
stress.

4. Emotional awareness

Emotions play an important role in the way we communicate at home and work.
It’s the way you feel, more than the way you think, that motivates you to
communicate or to make decisions. The way you react to emotionally driven,
nonverbal cues affects both how you understand other people and how they
understand you. If you are out of touch with your feelings, and don’t understand
how you feel or why you feel that way, you’ll have a hard time communicating
your feelings and needs to others. This can result in frustration,
misunderstandings, and conflict.

Emotional awareness provides you the tools needed for understanding both
yourself and other people, and the real messages they are communicating to you.
Although knowing your own feelings may seem simple, many people ignore or try
to sedate strong emotions like anger, sadness, and fear. But your ability to
communicate depends on being connected to these feelings. If you’re afraid of
strong emotions or if you insist on communicating only on a rational level, it will
impair your ability to fully understand others, creatively problem solve, resolve
conflicts, or build an affectionate connection with someone.

How emotional awareness can improve effective communication

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Emotional awareness—the consciousness of your moment-to-moment emotional

experience—and the ability to manage all of your feelings appropriately is the basis for
effective communication.

Emotional awareness helps you:

 Understand and empathize with what is really troubling other people

 Understand yourself, including what’s really troubling you and what you really
want
 Stay motivated to understand and empathize with the person you’re interacting
with, even if you don’t like them or their message
 Communicate clearly and effectively, even when delivering negative messages
 Build strong, trusting, and rewarding relationships, think creatively, solve
problems, and resolve conflicts

2. What is departmentalization? Why is it required? Discuss any one form of

departmentalization.
Ans:-
Departmentalization is a process through which items are compartmentalized into smaller
departments. This is usually done in the management of an institution to take advantage of
the benefits that come with division of labor.

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Popular Types of Departmentalization

 Functional departmentalization - Grouping activities by functions performed.
Activities can be grouped according to function (work being done) to pursue
economies of scale by placing employees with shared skills and knowledge into
departments for example human resources, IT, accounting, manufacturing,
logistics, and engineering. Functional departmentalization can be used in all types
of organizations.

 Product departmentalization - Grouping activities by product line. Tasks can

also be grouped according to a specific product or service, thus placing all
activities related to the product or the service under one manager. Each major
product area in the corporation is under the authority of a senior manager who is
specialist in, and is responsible for, everything related to the product line. LA Gear
is an example of company that uses product departmentalization. Its structure is
based on its varied product lines which include women’s footwear etc.

 Customer departmentalization - Grouping activities on the basis of common

customers or types of customers. Jobs may be grouped according to the type of
customer served by the organization. The assumption is that customers in each
department have a common set of problems and needs that can best be met by
specialists. The sales activities in an office supply firm can be broken down into
three departments that serve retail, wholesale and government accounts.

 Geographic departmentalization - Grouping activities on the basis of territory. If

an organization's customers are geographically dispersed, it can group jobs based
on geography. For example, the organization structure of Coca-Cola has reflected
the company’s operation in two broad geographic areas – the North American
sector and the international sector, which includes the Pacific Rim, the European
Community, Northeast Europe, Africa and Latin America groups.

 Process departmentalization - Grouping activities on the basis of product or

service or customer flow. Because each process requires different skills, process
departmentalization allows homogenous activities to be categorized. For example,

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the applicants might need to go through several departments namely validation,

licensing and treasury, before receiving the driver’s license.

 Divisional departmentalization - When the firm develops independent lines of

business that operate as separate companies, all contributing to the corporation
profitability, the design is call divisional departmentalization or (M-FORM). For
example, the Limited. Inc., has these division: Th Limited, Express, Lerner New
York, Lane Bryant and Mast Industries.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Departmentalization

Advantage

The main benefits or advantages of departmentalization are listed as follows

1. Specialization

In departmentalization, each department performs a different function. For

example, Finance department looks after finance, marketing department looks
after sales, etc. This results in specialization. Specialization leads to speed,
accuracy, efficiency and improvement in quality and quantity of work.

2. Growth and expansion

There are many different departments in the organization. Therefore, the

organization can easily grow and expand. Without departmentalization, the
organisation cannot grow and expand. It will remain small and static.

3. Fixing responsibility

Departmentalization helps to fix the responsibility of a specific job on a particular

department. If there is a mistake in the accounts, then the accounts department will
be held responsible. Similarly, if there is a mistake in the production, the
production department will be held liable, and so on.

4. Better customer service

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Departmentalization results in a better customer service. The customers get quick

and efficient service. Many organizations do Geographic Departmentalization and
Customer Departmentalization.

5. Performance appraisal

In departmentalization, a specific job is given to a particular person or department.

Therefore, it is very easy to do the performance appraisals. That is, the
performance of a person or department can be easily measured.

6. Management development

Training given to managers is called management development.

Departmentalization facilitates management development. This is because the
junior or trainee managers can be sent to different departments to get an On-the-
Job-training. They are allowed to take part in planning, decision making,
implementation of strategies, etc. This results in management development.

7. Optimum utilization of resources

Departmentalization facilitates optimum utilization of resources. The men, money,

materials, machines, methods and markets are put to maximum use. There are
many organizations that use Time Departmentalization. Here, there are working
shifts like morning shift, evening shift, night shift, etc. This results in optimum
utilization of resources.

8. Facilitates better control

In departmentalization, the organization is divided into small manageable

departments. These departments can be easily supervised and controlled. Hence,
departmentalization also facilitates a better control

Disadvantage

Isolation

By segregating functions such as marketing, human resources, production and

finance, employees in one department have little idea of what people in other
departments do. Because the challenges and opportunities that each department
face are mysterious to the other functional areas, misunderstandings and mistrust

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can occur. In effect, departments can become like tribes, competing for the
resources of the company.

Miscommunication

Departmental isolation can give rise to problems in communication. Each

department tends to increasingly communicate based on its own practices and
experiences. Those outside an area lack the same contextual understanding,
making communication less fluent. Meanwhile, a functional area might speak in
professional jargon, the use of which reinforces isolation. Departments "speaking
their own language" will find interdepartmental communication more difficult.
The language barrier hinders cooperative efforts.

Myopia

When management segregates departments, workers tend to forget goals beyond

their own area's focus. The company-wide picture can also be lost. Such myopia
makes it difficult for managers to marshal subordinates for the company's vision.
Instead, subordinates tend to shorten focus to the immediate concerns of the
department.

Rigidity

Layers of hierarchy means layers of bureaucracy. The bureaucracy results in

rigidity and slow-moving processes as proposed changes work their way up the
chain of command. This means that companies featuring functional
departmentalization cannot adapt quickly and aren't as flexible as other structural
setups. Companies might find themselves perpetually behind and reacting to
external forces.

Lack of Leadership

Managers leading functional departments can succumb to the same isolationist

forces as their subordinates, narrowing focus to departmental rather than company
concerns. They also can begin to see other departments as competitors for
company resources instead of as allies working together for the common good of
the company. This narrow thinking doesn't train managers in the kind of broad-
based vision necessary to lead others at the executive level. Companies may end
up lacking the leadership talent and ability needed for the future.

Need of depart mentation

The need for depart mentation arises on account of specialization of work and the
limitation on the number of subordinates that can be directly controlled by a superior. The

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size of the organization can still be expanded if its activities and personnel are grouped
into various departments. Besides, depart mentation increases the efficiency of
organization in the following ways.

1. Specialization:

In specialization, a person focuses his attention on a specialized piece of work and

attains mastery over it. Thus, specialization makes the organization’s operation
more efficient.

2. Fixation of Responsibility:

The responsibility of the work can be precisely and accurately fixed with the help
of depart mentation.

3. Facilities appraisal:

The performance appraisal of managers is greatly facilitated, since they perform

specified jobs.

4. Feeling of autonomy:

Departrnentation provides independent charge to managers. This feeling gives

them satisfaction and in turn increases their responsibilities and efficiency.

5. Development of Managers:

Depart mentation helps in the development of managers because of their focus on

some specific problems and prescribed roles.

3. What do you understand by authority and power? How are they different from
each other?

Ans:-

Authority is the right given to a manager to achieve the objectives of the organisation. It
is a right to get the things done through others. It is a right to take decisions. It is a right to
give orders to the subordinates and to get obedience from them. A manager cannot do his
work without authority.

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A manager gets his authority from his position or post. He gets his authority from the
higher authorities. The lower and middle-level managers get their authority from the top-
level managers. The top-level managers get their authority from the shareholders.

Authority always flows downwards. It is delegated from the top to the bottom.

According to Henri Fayol,

"Authority is the right to give orders and power to exact (get) obedience."

Power is a broader concept than authority. Power is the ability of a person or a group to
influence the beliefs and actions of other people. It is the ability to influence events.
Power can be personal power. A person gets his personal power from his personality or
from his expert knowledge. Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Programmers, etc. get their
power from their expertise and professional knowledge. Power can also be legitimate or
official power. This power comes from a higher authority.

Difference between authority and power

In management, authority differs from power in the following ways:-

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1. Nature

 Authority is the formal right given to a manager to make decisions or to

command.
 Power is the personal ability to influence others or events.

2. Flow

 Authority flows downwards in the organisation. This is because it is

delegated by the superiors to the subordinates.
 Power can flow in any direction. Even subordinates have power over their
superiors, if they can influence their behavior. So power can flow upwards,
downwards or horizontally.

3. Organizational Charts

 Authority relationships (superior-subordinate relationships) can be shown

in the organisation charts.
 Power relationships cannot be shown in organisation charts.

4. Level of Management

 Authority depends on the level of management. Higher the level of

management, higher will be the authority and vice-versa.
 Power does not depend on the level of management. Power can exist at any
level of management. Even a lower-level manager or a worker can have
power to influence the behavior of a top-level manager.

5. Legitimacy

 Authority is always official in nature. So it is legitimate.

 Power need not be official in nature. So it need not be legitimate.

6. Position and Person

 Authority is given to a position or post. The manager gets the authority only when
he holds that position.
 Power resides (lives) in the person who uses it

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Q4. Case study: Please read the case study given below and answer
questions given at the end.

Mr. R.K. Mishra owns a small trading company in Varanasi by the name of RKM
Enterprises. The company provided raw material to the manufacturers of silk sarees. The
business enterprise is also engaged in supply of silk sarees and other silk garments
produced by local weavers to the big stores in major cities. In addition they have
substantial export orders.

The company is mainly a family based enterprise. Mr. R.K. Mishra is the Director and his
son Ritesh is looking after finance department. The son is also assisting his father in other
strategical matters. Key decisions are taken by the Director himself after occasional
discussions with Ritesh. The existing employee strength is more than 200 with 15 offices
spread across the country. During the last one decade of its existence, the business has
grown considerably. In fact, the turnover surpassed Rupees 100 million in the year 2003-
04. However, since then the business faced stiff competition from other traders. In last
one year the orders that have been received have reduced substantially.

Rohit, younger son of the Director is holding a management degree from Banaras Hindu
University. He has recently left a job with an MNC located in Mumbai and joined his
father’s business to help in solving the problems. After joining, Rohit made several
changes in the organization. A major restructuring drive was carried out. The authority to
take several major decisions was transmitted to lower levels. Organization structure was
also made flatter. Instructions were given to all managers to consult their subordinates
before taking any decisions. He was determined to see that the company was
professionally managed.

Questions:

1. “The management of RKM Enterprises is not professional and is family

based”. Analyze and comment.
Ans

It is true that the management of RKM Enterprises is not professional and is family based.
On all the major post in the company there are family members. They are taking the
decisions without consulting anyone in the company. Mr. Mishra is the director of the
company and his son was handling finance. When company was not generating profit they
do not consult any senior manager or staff of the company instead his younger son came
into the company after leave his job and handled the family business. So we can say that
company is not professional and all the decision is taken by family members only. Any
company who wants to grow in the market and want achieve profit have to adopt
professional approach. They have to control the family interference in the company to
achieve success in the professional front.

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2. Analyze the changes brought in by Rohit.

Ans

The changes brought by Rohit were quite correct. He wanted his employees to be
Participative in decision-making (two-way) in order to help his father take right decisions
and did not wanted just one-way flow of communication. His decision to restructure the
hierarchy was also correct so as to know the authority-responsibility-accountability
relationship and to hold the right person responsible for any kind of problems.

Assignment C
(Objective Type Questions)

Tick Marks (√) the most appropriate answer.

1. Which of the following was NOT a need proposed by David McClelland’s Theory
of Needs?

(a) The need for power

(b) The need for esteem
(c) The need for affiliation
(d) The need for achievement

2. Managers engage in ________ to increase their power and pursue goals that favor
their individual and group interests.
(a) Organizational politics
(b) Political decision making
(c) Accommodation
(d) Self satisfaction

3. Which of the following is NOT A motivator according to Hertzberg?

(a) Achievement
(b) Relations with others
(c) Recognition
(d) Responsibility

4. Cognitive Dissonance theory has been given by

(a) Taylor
(b) Vroom
(c) Festinger
(d) Skinner

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5. The purpose of feedback in communication is

(a) To ensure that message has been understood

(b) To carry the message back from receiver to sender
(c) To complete the process of communication
(d) All of the above

6. Self Esteem means

(a) Love for yourself

(b) Respect for yourself
(c) Trust for yourself
(d) All the above

7. The Hawthorne experiment was started by:

(a) Kurt Lewin

(b) B.F.Skinner
(c) Elton Mayo
(d) W.Dickson

8. --------------is the systematic study of the ways interaction, interdependence and

influence among persons affect their behavior and thoughts

(a) Social psychology

(b) Industrial psychology
(c) Anthropology
(d) Sociology

9. Psychoanalytic theory has been propounded by?

(a) Rogers
(a) Alderfer
(b) Janis
(c) Freud

10. MBO was first suggested by?

(a) F.W. Taylor

(b) Henri Fayol
(c) Peter F. Drucker
(d) Watson

11. The three levels of analysis that are studied in organizational behavior are?

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(a) Traits, behaviors and results.

(b) Affective, cognitive and behavioral
(c) Individual , organizational and social
(d) Individual , group and organizational

12. Which type of leaders gives complete freedom to their employees?

(a) Autocratic leaders

(b) Bureaucratic leaders
(c) Participative leaders
(d) Laissez-faire leaders

13. ------------refers to the ability of individuals or groups to induce or influence the

beliefs or actions of other individuals or groups?

(a) Power
(b) Responsibility
(c) Delegation
(d) Discipline

14. Robert Own, Charles Babbage, Henry R. Lowne, Andrew Ure and Charles Duplin
contributed to the ___________school of management thought?

(a) Classical
(b) Behavioral
(c) Neo-classical
(d) Pre-classical

15. Which of the following is not a leadership theory?

(a) Trait theory

(b) ERG theory
(c) Contingency theory
(d) Transactional theory

16. Which is an advantage of decentralization?

(a) Encourages decision-making

(b) Easy to have uniform policy
(c) Greater Control
(d) Decreases complexity of coordination

17. Which type of depart mentation is useful only at the lowest level of organizations?

(a) Depart mentation by simple numbers

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 Management Functions & Behavior

(b) Depart mentation by time

(c) Depart mentation by process or equipment
(d) Depart mentation by strategic numbers

18. Which managerial function gives attention to influencing and motivating

employees to improve performance and achieve corporate objectives?

(a) Leading
(b) Organizing
(c) Staffing
(d) Controlling

19. The _______ refers to the delivery by one individual to another of the right to
act, to make decisions, to requisition resources and to perform other tasks in order to
fulfill job responsibilities

(a) Centralization of power

(b) Delegation of authority
(c) Centralization of authority
(d) Delegation of responsibility

20. In the process of communication, the translation of intended meanings into words
and gestures is known as?

(a) Encoding
(b) Decoding
(c) Processing
(d) Transforming

21. The establishment of a distinct area, unit of subsystem of an organization over

which a

(a) Centralization
(b) Depart mentation
(c) Decentralization
(d) Fictionalization

22. Which of the following processes shows how an individual seeks information
about a certain issue and how he interprets that information?

(a) Dogmatism
(b) Perception
(c) Stereotyping
(d) Cognitive dissonance

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23. The organization chart is a way of showing?

(a) How the task of an organization are divided and coordinated

(b) The informal patterns of communication
(c) The stakeholders who have an interest in the company
(d) The physical layout of the buildings on a site

24. When a manager secures the agreement of a colleague to work on a project in

return for the promise of providing the colleague with some extra remuneration,
what type of power is he or she exercising?

(a) Expert power

(b) Coercive power
(c) Referent power
(d) Reward power

25. Which of the following is not one of the steps identified as part of the controlling
process?

(a) Setting performance standards or goals

(b) Measuring performance
(c) Writing the reports
(d) Taking corrective action

26. Which of the following refers to changing a task to make it inherently more
rewarding, motivating and satisfying?

(a) Enlargement
(b) Rotation
(c) Enhancement
(d) Enrichment

27. When people are resisting because of adjustment problem, the _________method
for dealing with resistance to change is commonly used

(a) Facilitation and support

(b) Explicit and implicit coercion
(c) Manipulation and cooptation
(d) Participation and involvement

28. According to Fielder’s contingency model, leadership situations can be analyzed

in terms of three elements. What are they?

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(a) The quantity of the membership, the organizational structure and position
of authority
(b) The quantity of leader-member relationships, task structure and position
power
(c) The style of leadership, the educational level of the membership and
the organizational structure
(d) The power of the leadership, the member relationships and the
organizational structure

29. Which of the following characteristic distinguishes authority?

(a) It is vested in people not positions

(b) Subordinates accept it
(c) It flows across the horizontal hierarchy
(d) It emerges from the organizational values

30. Which of these refers to the set of characteristics that underlie a relatively stable
pattern of behavior in response to ideas, objects or people in the environment?

(a) Dissonance perception

(b) Personality
(c) Halo effect
(d) Attitude

31. The tendency to place the primary responsibility for one’s success or failure either
within oneself or on outside forces is referred to as

(a) Authoritarianism
(b) Emotional stability
(c) Locus of control
(d) Extroversion

32. The tendency to see one’s own personal traits in other people is called

(a) Perceptual defense

(b) Projection
(c) Stereotyping
(d) The halo effect

33. Which of the following theories deals with employee’s perception of fairness?

(a) Expectancy
(b) Reinforcement
(c) Need hierarchy
(d) Equity

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34. A financial budget that estimates cash flows on a daily basis or weekly basis to
ensure that the company can meet its obligations is called a

(a) Capital expenditure budget

(b) Balance sheet budget
(c) Cash budget
(d) Revenue budget

35. ______ is a process whereby companies find how others do something better than
they do and then try to imitate or improve on it.

(a) TQM
(b) Continuous improvement
(c) Benchmarking
(d) Empowerment

36. Standing plans are

(a) Plans that are developed to achieve a set of goals that are unlikely to be
repeated in the future
(b) Plans that are used to provide guidance for tasks performed
repeatedly within the organization
(c) Plans that define company responses to specific situations, such as
emergencies or setbacks
(d) Most important in the organization

37. Which of the following is not a perceptual distortion?

(a) Stereotype
(b) Halo effect
(c) Projection
(d) Extinction

38. Nonverbal communication behaviors includes

(a) Twitching, Scratching, rolling your eyes

(b) Secret notes passed between fellow works
(c) Intrapersonal dialog
(d) Sending an email response to an irate customer

39. Democratic leadership is also known as---

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(a) Autocratic
(b) Participative
(c) Bureaucratic
(d) Laissezfaire

40. A significant part of a manager’s job is an organization is to use the tools and
techniques developed through OB research to increase organizational
(a) Structure
(b) Morale
(c) Complexity
(d) Effectiveness

_____________________________

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