Classics of organizational behavior

Requirement

Chapter Review Essays each review essays (300 to 500 words) related to your readings from the textbook

Solution

Chapter 1

Fundamental leadership practices James M. Kouzes and Posner
Thesis
After a decade of evaluation and research for understanding the economic changes, technologies and workplaces by Kouzes and Posner it was seen that the attitudes, actions and systems of leaderships are vital in any organization. On the basis of research the authors have considered five primary practices for leadership development, which are: Challenge the process, Inspire a shared vision, Enable others to act, Model the way and encourage the heart. 
Evidence
In this article, the five practices for the development of leadership skills have been mentioned. These skills can be helpful and beneficial in leadership development in the particular organization. The article mentions that the leaders must stand up for their values and beliefs and challenge the organizational process. Their must further be highly clear about the guidelines principles and along with identifying their voice can authentically and clearly provide the same to their values and beliefs by inspiring others towards a shared vision. The authors stress on the act that the eloquent speeches for shared vision are not enough. The author focuses on the fact that the leaders must be consistent with their deeds and words. They should set out an example for others and build a relationship of commitment for creating progress and building momentum. 
The authors have conducted surveys, interviews and carried out an intense research on the particular topic for drawing the conclusions.  
Thoughts and Reflections
Kouzes and Posner’s five leadership principles are highly educative and guide the leaders and employees to recognize the leadership work entailing the inward journey through self-development and self-discovery.  I also believe that a clarity must be established for setting the core values so as to guide the organizational towards achievement of goals. The authors’ views on communication of comprehensible sense vision and purpose for inspiring the commitment towards shared destiny sense is commendable. 

References

  • Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z., 2010. The truth about leadership.
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Chapter 2

Group and Interpersonal Relations
Thesis
Edgar Schein in this article presented the theory of management and how and what types of group exist in a management. The thesis of this article presents the very fact that there are various types of groups present in an organization and how to facilitate adequate distribution of relevant and critical skills and abilities among group members.  
Evidence
In this article, Schein discusses the various functions, types, variables affecting the functioning of group in the organization. He provides a description on informal and formal groups and needs for fulfilling the criteria of these groups along with the issues that these groups might face. According to Schein, formal groups present in the organization can be divided into permanent formal groups consisting of permanent committees, specialized services groups, top management and temporary formal groups which consists of groups or committees formed only for specific duration and are terminated on the completion of the job or the task. Whereas the informal groups are created for fulfilling the human needs which is not provided to them by their job. These are usually formed on the basis of their work timings, physical location and the requirements of their job.
No researches or studies have been deduced for this particular article however the author has explained all the concepts and notions by providing roles, examples taken from his analysis of real life situations.  
Thoughts and Reflections
Edgar Schein has presented the groups of the organization with great representation and advocated various factors that might impact the dimensions of the study. I agree to the fact that groups be it formal or informal are an integral part of the organization and contribute to the whole organization. However, I also feel that there are some factors which affect the integration in groups of organizational goals and personal needs and the same have been discussed thoroughly by the author. The formal and informal groups must be in equilibrium so as to facilitate a clear and direct communication channel in the organization. 

Chapter 3

Group Development
Thesis
Bruce W Tuckman in this article has presented five stages of group development after analyzing the behavior of the small groups in various environment of the organization. The author after recognizing the various phases suggested the important of experiencing these five stages. The five stages of group development are: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. These stages are then compared with other studies presented in the article with different viewpoints.
Evidence
The first four stages were described by Tuckman and were suggested to be important for the groups to come together and for their operation. These processes can likely be present in subconscious but the author maintains that their understanding of the stages would benefit the effectiveness of the groups in order to reach to the members quickly and less painfully. The author maintains that the groups can be formed among people of similar interest or goal and every member must be free to storm their ideas for development of groups. In the next stage, the skills and attitudes of the members should be evaluated and finally given a chance to perform. These stages have been critically reviewed by other authors like Zurcher, Spitz and Sadlock, Dunphy etc.
No researches or studies have been deduced for this particular article however the author has explained all the concepts and notions by providing roles, examples taken from his analysis of real life situations.  
Thoughts and Reflections
The article is highly informational and begins with Tuckman model of the group development. The analysis of this model is educative in nature. The article flows naturally by comparing this model with various similar models and analysis it critically. The article presents a broad viewpoint on development of groups and various stages related to it with analyzing the factors associated with group development in an organization.

References

  • Tuckman, B.W. and Jensen, M.A.C., 1977. Stages of small-group development revisited. Group & Organization Management, 2(4), pp.419-427.

Chapter 4

In search of Excellence
Thesis
Peters and Waterman in this article were seen to find eight common themes and present them as the factors responsible for the immense success of the corporations chosen by them and the authors also claim to present these factors as the critical pointers to the corporation’s managers.
Evidence
Peters and Waterman have presented eight characteristics of themes and present them as common traits present among the strong corporations. They were 1) a bias for action, getting the job done and decision-making; 2) an emphasis customer service by providing reliability and quality; 3) providing a reliable atmosphere for fostering the feeling of product innovation  and creative thinking; 4) considering every employee as an important contributor by respecting them; 5) preserving the company’s basic philosophy; 6) operating businesses with familiar management; 7) very simple top-level staffs; and 8) centralizing and decentralizing certain functions. The authors suggest these overriding characteristics as a firm and intense commitment towards the human resources. These factors, according to the authors can also be a tool for propensity for spurring innovation and development of new product. 
The authors have identified all the excellent corporations using a twenty-five-year reviews of the organization and have conducted surveys, interviews and carried out an intense research on the particular topic for drawing the conclusions.  
Thoughts and Reflections
The whole article has been well-researched and written very clearly and can be presented as a considerable study regarding the business and the productivity of American corporations. The article has explained everything thoroughly using various detailed examples in a very convincing manner. The article can be highly beneficial for the people working at management levels of various industries. The authors have presented the piece-meal mentality of the companies and their focus on efficiency and productivity along with maintaining their employees with the help of rigid rules and regulations.

Referencing

  • Peters, T.J., Waterman, R.H. and Jones, I., 1982. In search of excellence: Lessons from America's best-run companies.

Chapter 5

Thesis
Burns and Stalker in their study claim that a mechanistic management system is highly suitable towards stable condition whereas the organismic form is suitable for the conditions are changes rapidly. This system gives rise to the new issues and problems and also the demand of unforeseen requirements for actions are seen and these requirements cannot be distributed automatically or broken down as they arise from roles which are defined using a hierarchic structure.
Evidence
Burns and Stalker have distinguished the mechanistic management with the organic system stating that the mechanistic management is the specialized differentiation of various functional tasks into which all the tasks which face issues are broken down whereas the organic system is contributive in nature towards the experience and knowledge for common tasks of concern. Additionally, the mechanistic management is abstract in nature and is pursued using purposes and techniques which are different from the tasks having concerns and issues. Therefore the functionaries must pursue technical improvement instead of accomplishment of the ends of all the issues. On the other hand, the organic ones are realistic in nature and are set by the overall concern of the task. 
Thoughts and reflection
This system of engagement among the organizations describes the characteristics and traits of social business pundits describing the near-utopian concepts. Their work presents a mixture of organic and mechanical, designed and well-defined structure which is ambiguous, undefined and even fluid in some parts however, I firmly believe that the whole study will result in an overall good performance. I believe that the mechanistic and organic are conceptually in opposite to each other but at the same time are continuum and present various gaps between the two. Therefore it is important for the organizations to co-exist and find an equilibrium among the two so as to keep the business going and thriving. 

References

  • Burns, T. and Stalker, G., 2000. Mechanistic and organic systems of management. Technology, organizations and innovation: The early debates, pp.24-50.

 

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Chapter 6:-

Position power and personal power
Thesis
Amitai Etzioini in this paper identifies and distinguishes two bases of power namely: Position power and personal power. The author states that power must be derived from the personal influences and organizational office or both. 
Evidence
According to Etzioni, people able to inducing other people to perform a certain task or job due to organizational power are seen to be having a positional power. Whereas the people who derive power because of their followers will have a personal power. There are some individuals who can have positional as well as personal power. Author asserts that managers and organizational office are provided with positional power. The organizational leaders, according to the authors are not seen to have any impact on the amount of positional power accrued to them. Whereas the author states that personal power is with respect to the followers and refers to the extent to which the followers want to follow their leaders. The author further classifies leaders on the basis of having a personal and positional power as informal and formal leaders. Further the paper divides the formal leaders into various classes and calls them organizational elites.
Thoughts and Reflections
The paper succeeds in distinguishing the organizational leaders on the basis of personal and positional power and further classification has been done on the basis of power driven from the organization and these are termed as organizational and non-organizational elites. I believe that the zone of indifference presented in the study is thoroughly presented. The paper also clearly states the situation where the dependence on informal and formal leaders can be placed. I personally liked the way author has clearly drawn a line between the personal and positional power in the organization and even mentioned the gap and overlapping of the two. 

Chapter 7

The Human Side of Enterprise
Thesis
Douglas McGregor in this study has defined two sets of assumptions regarding the human nature and has explained how the attempts of influencing the people’s behavior are affected especially focusing on how the attitude of managers towards employees are impacted. The various styles and approaches of the managers are suggested by McGregor along with a detailed discussions on its effectiveness and ineffectiveness.
Evidence
McGregor found that supervisors and managers thought that they had lazy and unambitious employees who had to be constantly punished, bribed, threatened in order to make them work. His Theory X amounted either to the stick or the carrot approach for motivation and soft and hard approaches have been used.  McGregor has labeled the two theories of human nature and attitudes regarding their work “Theory X” and “Theory Y.” Where the Theory X is a representation of the traditional management view but the Theory Y represents the latest attitudes in the psychology of the organizational management. The managers either believe totally on Theory X or in Theory Y. but various managers are seen to have a belief that people are an amalgamation of both and also have a tendency of behaving like a single type.
No researches or studies have been deduced for this particular article however the author has explained all the concepts and notions by providing roles, examples taken from his analysis of real life situations.  
Thesis
It can be suggested that most of the realization of this study comes from the motivation theory given by Abraham Maslow. The Theory Y, according to me requires higher amount of skills as it expects the employee to meet the high standards set by the theory. Further the Theory Y is seen to be highly participative and allows the managers to take risks. Therefore, I firmly believe that the organizations must maintain an equilibrium between the two. 

Reference

  • McGregor, D., 1960. The human side of enterprise. New York, 21(166.1960).

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