Test II Questions

1. Comment on the LPC scale, job stressors and group think.

2. What are the various approaches to Conflict Management?

3. Is workforce diversity an important factor to develop Teams?

4. What are the unique differences between ERG theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory?

5. What are the elements of Organisation structure?

PART-B : ANSWER ANY TWO

6. What are the different Social Networking Norms experience  or practiced by any ONE of the following?

South Indian Communities

Student Groups

Employees

Religious Practitioners

Tourists

Any others (please Specify)

7. What are the various bases of Power, as per French & Raven? Comment on the use or misuse of power on any ONE of the following?

Politics

Educational Administration

Religion

Teaching

Entrepreneurs

8. Briefly describe any TWO:

Work life Balance

Providing Idiosyncratic Credit

Quality of Work life

Promoting Desirable Behaviour

360 Degree evaluation

Steve Jobs (Apple) as a CEO/ Leader

Group Think!

Here is a Brilliant assessment of how to test the tendency for group think, by Irving, which is worth noting. To make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms indicative of groupthink (1977).

Type I: Overestimations of the group—its power and morality

1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
2. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.

Type II: Closed-mindedness

1. Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.
2. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, impotent, or stupid.

Type III: Pressures toward uniformity

1. Self-censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
2. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
3. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty"
4. Mind guards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.

Groupthink, resulting from the symptoms listed above, results in defective decision-making. That is, consensus-driven decisions are the result of the following practices of groupthinking

1. Incomplete survey of alternatives
2. Incomplete survey of objectives
3. Failure to examine risks of preferred choice
4. Failure to reevaluate previously rejected alternatives
5. Poor information search
6. Selection bias in collecting information
7. Failure to work out contingency plans.

Janis argued that groupthink was responsible for theBay of Pigs Invasion 'fiasco' and other major examples of faulty decision-making. The UK bank Northern Rock, before its nationalisation, is thought to be a recent major example of groupthink. In such real-world examples, a number of the above groupthink symptoms were displayed.

Look at the picture below for 60 seconds. Now take 15 to 20 minutes to write a story about what you see happening in the picture. Your story should address the following issues:

1. Who are the people in the picture? What is their relationship?

2. What is currently taking place in the picture? What are the people doing?

3. What took place in the hour preceding the picture?

4. What will take place in the hour following the picture?




READ THIS SECTION ONLY AFTER THE ABOVE EXERCISE............

This exercise is based on a tool, the Thematic Apperception Test, used by his associates to assess people's needs for achievement, affiliation, and po mine where you fallon these three needs, do the following:

1.    Give yourself one point for need for achievement every time one of the following themes shows up in the story: ·    Your story involves a work or competitive situation. ·    Feedback is being given or received. ·    Goals or standards are being discussed. ·    Someone is taking responsibility for his or her work. ·    Someone is expressing pride in his or her own accomplishment of another person. 2.     Give yourself one point for need for affiliation every time one of the following themes shows up in the story: ·    The relationship between the characters is personal. ·    Help is being given or received. ·    Encouragement, comfort, empathy, or affection is being give received. ·    Someone expresses a desire to be close to the other person ·    The characters are engaged in or talking about social activities 3.    Give yourself one point for need for power every time one of the :::; themes shows up in the story: ·    The relationship between the characters is hierarchical. Someone has more status than the others. ·    Someone is trying to get someone else to do something. ·    Someone is attempting to get others to work together. ·    Someone is concerned about reaching organizational goals. ·    Someone is evoking rules, policies, or regulations.

Add up your points for each of the needs, and answer the following q ,

1.    What is your dominant need? That is, in which category did you ha most points? What does this suggest about you? 2.    Does this assessment seem valid to you? Why or why not? 3.    If you are not as high on need for achievement as you thought yolo be, what can you do to increase it? Sources: D.C. McClelland et aI., "A Scoring Manual for the Achievement Motive," in J. ed., Motives in Fantasy, Action and Society (New York: Van Nostrand, 1958); CD. Morg Murray, "A Method for Investigating Fantasies: The Thematic Apperception Test," Arch rology and Psychiatry 34 (1935): 289-306.

NOW DO THE EXERCISE WITH THE PHOTOGRAPH BELOW. WRITE A STORY AND INTERPRET BASED ON THE ABOVE INTERPRETATION. DO YOU FIND ANY DIFFERENCE IN YOUR ASSESSMENT ABOUT YOUR SELF?

PICTURE CREDITs: 
http://haacked.com/archive/2007/11/13/groupthink-vs-market-think.aspx
http://zormsk.tripod.com/Pictures/boe10.jpg

reinforcement strategies

21. Compare Fred Fiedler's 'contingency' model with the 'Path Goal' theory of leadership. Which of them achieve Organisational Goals better?

21.       The Fiedler contingency model bases the leader's effectiveness on what Fred Fiedler called situational contingency. This results from the interaction of leadership style (LPC scale) and situational favourableness. The theory defined two types of leader: those who tend to accomplish the task by developing good-relationships with the group (relationship-oriented), and those who have as their prime concern carrying out the task itself (task-oriented). 

20. Comment on 'individual differences' in modern organisations. Explain how this diversity is addressed by MNC's.

20.       The existence of Individual differences within organisations provides an opportunity to help recognise an individual’s capabilities. It can be on issues like gender, emotions or at the physical plane. Some indicators could be uniqueness, experience, learning, cultural backgrounds, mentall make-ups, parentage, hardships, work ethic, attitudes, expectations list, etc.                           individual differences are seen to be present among leaders, employees, customers, and other stakeholders in an organisation. Workplace diversity can be viewed positively by MNC’s as they present creative opportunities to individualise attention and be custom based in providing services to individuals. It is a known fact that customisation is the key to true satisfaction and if the corporate sector recognises individual differences existing in the work place as an opportunity to be tapped, it might create a more practical, realistic, and even an enjoyable work environment for all stakeholders. Hofstede’s’ approach can be also used to explain.

19. What is participative management? What are the processes that are necessary to influence participation? Comment on the benefits of Participative management?

1.       Respecting labor and employees, as co-participants in the achievements of an organisation is a form of management which is truly the ideal and optimal way to function, the entrepreneur, leader along with other functional leaders of the organisation gets true share of the wealth/ profits generated. It also implicates that labor/ employees have a stake in the management processes of the organisation because there is recognition of merit and competency, discussion, along with implementations and feedback. The processes that predispose ‘participative- management’ are important concepts like ‘free expression’, ‘sharing of information and wealth’, ‘idea generation’, ‘group participation’ etc.