Coursework
Are human beings rational?
All human beings are supposedly rational; that is, we think logically, or are given the faculties at a certain age and stage in life (even early in life) to know the cause and effect, think logically, understand the basics or essentials of right versus wrong. However, in reality, not many can exercise rationality at all times in all situations. Even the most educated at times give in to irrational ways or decisions, illogical steps or reactions because we have preconceived thoughts about things and people or because we have learned these from our environment or at times simply react instinctively or because we are hungry, tired or lonely.
Why do we study Organizational Behavior?
We study organizational behavior because it is a necessity; people are essentially social and congregate into groups whether formal or informal and this fact of life governs almost all of human existence in a day to day basis. A natural offshoot of studying inpidual behavior is to study organizations because the two are almost inseparable. When people work and are engaged with others there are dynamics at play that need to be understood and principles are indispensable towards a better working relationship among people with or without other aspects of the whole gamut of the work scene. Describe a cultural element (ritual, artifact, custom, etc.) in some organization other than a school or religious organization that you belong (or belonged) to. How did this element effect performance or the attainment of goals? Explain. note – this question is about organization culture, not national culture.
It is the wearing of the office badge. The badge when worn never failed to effect change in a sense that it created a sense of pride that people knew or noticed that I belonged to an esteemed workplace. It really mattered a lot to me as I wore my badge that my performance really made a difference once the company took on this major (which it was) change.
Emotions in the workplace is a topic that is often overlooked. Should you leave your feelings at home, or be free to express them on the work place?
Organizational problems are people problems which will always be opportunities for leadership challenges. It is a scene where complex emotions are involved and where choices for actions or conduct are crucial but at times taken for granted (Blaum, 2000). This brings us to the subject on emotional labor. Arlie Russell Hochschild, a sociologist, in 1983 defines emotional labor as “the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display [which] is sold for a wage and therefore has exchange value” in his book, The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Emotional labor is a type of emotional control in which employees endeavor to exhibit the emotions that they are anticipated to demonstrate as they function in their job.
Emotional labor is usually done in two principal modes: (1) entrenched acting in which people attempt to experience the emotions that they necessitate to convey, specifically, inpiduals have to exhaust energy to control emotions. In general, examples are that one is believing or sensing of one’s function s a teacher or as an interrogator (Briner, 1995) or depicting it like a child who is not liable for his /her conduct (Hochschild, 1983); and (2) exterior or superficial manner or acting in which inpiduals at the workplace hold back their valid feelings and, as a substitute, communicate feelings- like a façade- that they don’t feel in reality. This means that there is real emotional dissonance between a person’s internal feelings and his/her surface manifestation. Although many studies show that emotional labor is a personal thing (Brotheridge and Grandey, 2002), present research findings say that surface acting is “associated with increased stress and a sense of inauthenticity.” More studies should be made to fully validate these findings and the impact of emotional labor on workforce’s overall well-being and output in terms of quality of service.
Describe some perceptual error that you made that could have or did lead to a negative outcome (social perception, not physical perception). Could it have reasonably been avoided?
I did make one perceptual error which was that I thought this person was really a very ideal one because a friend became close to him/her. What happened was that I depended on my friend’s choice rather on my own standard. I took the person in for a relationship which later became my deep regret because I suffered humiliation and endless self blame for my wrong choice.
What do you think is the most important change in business communications that new managers will face in their career?
I believe the most important change in business communications that new managers will face in their career will be the constant and rapid shift of channels or venues for communication. It is the learning and unlearning that will keep new managers on their toes at longer times if they will be competitive and remain competitive in a dog-eat-dog world.
What is the difference between collaborative work and delegated work? (hint: think about the differences between teams and groups) When is each superior to the other.
Collaborative work is a superior to delegated work because it involves everybody with the superior or direct supervisor bonding in with the rest of the group. However, there are of course its disadvantages; such as the types of people who cannot work when bosses are around because they just could not think or feel pressured. Collaborative work puts everyone in a sense on an equal footing where the boss’ mind can be like the rests of the participants while delegated work means there is one quite superior to the other and gives the lower position employee the work/tasks to accomplish.
There are many theories of motivation presented in the text. Which theory do you think has the most practical value to managers?
Research on motivation is related to the overarching issue ‘What creates human action’ writes Franken (1994). While looking for more accurate scientific definitions, though, one finds a huge selection. Motivation theory, in addition, seems to necessitate an assumption of the human species, as various motivation theories formulate different assumptions about human nature. To presuppose that human beings are thinking creatures is of course not a contemporary breakthrough – the paradigm of the rational actor was based on such a conception – but due to the domination of behaviorist theory there are grounds to claim this once more.
Cognitive scholars argued that to appreciate human behavior, one must also examine that which is not directly observable, that is, people’s thoughts. Widespread to cognitive theories is the assumption that people’s ideas about how the world came to be influence their behavior. The relevance of cognitive theory to motivation is the fact that it is not just one undeniable reality that influences behavior, but cognitions of reality. As these differ involving inpiduals, it entails that inpidual differences become central in motivation theory. A reward may signify something essential to one person and yet quite a different thing for another. Furthermore, history becomes significant. Because how a human being cognizes reality today relies on how she envisioned of it yesterday, and of how he/she imagines her future.
Leading, early cognitive motivation theories were those of Kurt Lewin (1935) and Victor Vroom (1964/1995), where the authors made an effort to conceive of universal paradigms in order to understand human motivation, comprising such factors as how greatly a person rates a particular outcome, the possibility that the effect will be achieved, and other forces, termed driving forces and restraining forces (such as time, money, family obligations etc.) that may influence an inpidual’s behavior (Baron, 1983). Cognitive theories lead motivation theory today. Universal models may have been discarded, but there is a huge amount of explicit ones, such as self-efficacy theory, equity theory, goal theory, control theory, attribution theory, the theory of reasoned action, or theories of how expectations of one-self and others affect motivation.. This may well be very applicable to adult learners in terms of inpidual learning abilities and attitudes. Inpidual differences are accounted for with this model. Adults’ perception and attitude towards learning or education are best explained when using the cognitive theories of motivation.
Reference
- Baron, R. 1983 Behavior In Organizations: Understanding and managing The Human Side of Work. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
- Blaum, Paul. 2000. Emotional Labor Stresses Employees. Penn State news. (http://www.psu.edu/ur/2000/emotioncontrol.html).
- Briner, R. B. 1995. Emotional dissonance, emotional deviance, true feelings, and the self in organizational life. Paper prepared for the 12th EGOS Colloquium, 6-8 July (Istanbul, Turkey).
- Brotheridge, C. M., & Grandey, A. A. 2002. Emotional labor and burnout: Comparingtwo perspectives of ‘people work’. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 17-39.
- Franken, R.E. 1994, Human Motivation (Belmont, CA, Wadsworth).