motivational implications of organizations

What are the motivational implications of organizations having reserved parking for individual members?

When a company tries to make efforts to motivate the employees appropriately, there are some psychological implications which are created which makes them feel like they should carry out that motivation in a different manner. By the time the goal is attained appropriately, it is expected that the employees will continue to behave the usual way before the motivation was done. A very relevant example of this case is the point of Hollywood giving provisions for nameplates that are personalized. These indicate that the employees have some parking lots which are reserved. In such cases, when an employee gets reserved parking, it is considered a success on the part of the employee. Such an apperception of how success feels like acts as a motivation to the employee. The employee is therefore encouraged to perform better.

2. What are the pros and cons of reserved parking from an expectancy theory perspective?

The theory of expectancy is usually aimed at encouraging the employees to have self – motivation and perform to the best level which will meet the likelihood of the organization. The employees in such circumstances are made to feel that they can achieve the highest level of the desired results. The company can properly employ such a strategy to entice and maintain some level of performance among the employees. The employees are also advantaged in the sense that they are made to get all that which they desire. One disadvantage of this approach to the company is that such an initiative comes with additional expenses. On the side of the employees, such an approach could easily result in bias. An employee who feels that the system is unjust can potentially target and attack those employees who have parking lots.

Chapter 9 Case Study Assignment

1. Discuss why two people with similar abilities may have very different expectations for performing at a high level.

Expectancy is a person’s perception of the extent to which effort (an input) will result in a certain level of performance. One employee may think that a high level of energy will lead to high performance, while another may believe that a high level of effort will not result in high performance. Managers who encourage their employees and express confidence in their ability to perform at a high level will likely have employees with higher expectancies than managers who do not promote or support their employees. Also, the employees may receive different training, another factor in expectancy level. Managers who provide training to ensure that employees have the expertise needed for high performance will have employees with higher expectancies than managers who do not provide training for their employees.

2. Describe why some people have low instrumentalities even when their managers distribute outcomes based on performance.

Instrumentalities include perceptions that people have about the extent to which performed at a certain level will result in the attainment of outcomes. A critical aspect of instrumentality is the linking of issues to performance. Employees will only be motivated to perform at a high level if they think high performance will lead to (is instrumental for attaining) rewards and benefits. Besides linking outcomes to performance, managers need to communicate this linkage to subordinates. Managers who only apply the outcome aspect, but do not communicate to employees how this works and the steps necessary to achieve desired outcomes, are missing the other half of the equation. Consequently, these managers may have employees with low instrumentalities, despite their efforts to base findings on performance.

Chapter 10 – Case Study Assignment

1. How do you characterize Peter Loscher’s leadership style?

Loscher can be described as a man who is well secured, and he is a CEO. By achieving his goals, he is making sure to achieve the goals of the company, and he tries as much as he can for the Company to succeed. He, therefore, puts up a plan and follows the program as much as he can. His leadership style is unique to him alone, and it is a rigorous form of leadership. A good example to indicate how this leader is stern was the point when he had to replace up to 50% of the employees in his organization. This happened when he arrived at Siemens when the middle managers could have no place in the organizations anymore.

2. What kinds of power does Loscher possess?

Loscher is in possession of two powers. He is first in possession of legitimate power, and then he is also in possession of expert power. With regards to the legal power, Loscher knows his position so much clearer and being sure of where he is, and he can control the company with surprising authority. For the expert power, he had to develop it with some specialized knowledge. This happened by the time he got to Siemens. He developed specialized knowledge as well as expertise from the experience he had in the past with the other organizations. These companies were such as GE and other companies where he served in various positions. On his arrival at Siemens, he had a balanced view and applications of these powers, and this made him an excellent administrator of the organization. Loscher correctly understood who he was about this organization.

Chapter 10 –Review Essay Questions

1. Describe the steps managers can take to increase their power and ability to be effective leaders.

A manager should ensure that he or she has sufficient levels of power. For example, to use their legitimate power, they must be given the authority or essential responsibilities within the organization. The other sources of energy that help a manager be an effective leader include reward power, coercive power, expert power, and referent power. A manager needs to use the power that he or she has in beneficial ways and not abuse it. For example, when using reward power, managers need to give or withhold tangible and intangible rewards to their subordinates. When using coercive force, they need to punish employees when necessary. This would include verbal reprimands, reductions in pay or working hours, or actual dismissal. When using their expert power, managers must show that they have gained significant knowledge from their experience. And to maintain or increase referent power, a manager should behave in ways that encourage, respect, admiration, and loyalty from subordinates and co-workers.

2. Think of specific situations in which it might be especially important for a manager to engage in consideration and in initiating structure.

Leaders engage in consideration when they show their subordinates that they trust, respect, and care about them. A manager is performing consideration behaviors when he/she takes steps that will benefit the well-being of his/her subordinates. It is always essential for managers to show their subordinates respect, an example of consideration behavior. Due to the increasing importance of customer service, organizations are beginning to realize that if they are considerate and respectful to their employees, their employees, in turn, will be polite and respectful to their customers. Delegating responsibilities is an example of initiating structure.

Chapter 11 – Case Study Assignment

1. In what ways can a company’s board of directors enhance performance, responsiveness to customers, and innovation?

A company can effectively enhance the performance of the customers through various means. The first critical aspect is the point of respect for the individuals who are attached to the particular company. The board of directors can give the appropriate approach to every situation using the support tools that are appropriate. They can make efforts to attract highly capable and adverse people who are innovative while at the same time recognizing the contributions that these people make to the company. People will through this make thorough and enthusiastic contributions in the various successes that they make as much as possible. The board of directors should do the much it can to focus on the achievement of the individuals at the highest level.

2. Why did HP add five new members to its board of directors?

HP had to announce the resignation of four directors who, according to several people familiar with the matter had expressed firm feelings both for and against the company’s handling of the Hurd situation – sexual harassment allegation from a B-movie actress resulted in Hurd’s abrupt resignation and the feud between Hurd and the HP board. Hp had to add five new members to the board of directors to get rid of its drama queen issues from past years.

Chapter 11 –Review Essay Questions

1. Why do all organizations need to rely on groups and teams to achieve their goals and gain a competitive advantage?

A group can be defined as two or more people who come together so that they can accomplish some goals as well as objectives. A team can be described as people or individuals who work together so that they might achieve some common or specific objective. Because of the existence of several dynamics, a group or a team can competently display their functionality in an organization and ultimately gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. They can serve as enhancers and improvers of the services that are offered to the customers and encourage the employees to perform even better. The motivations which take place within the teams can result in an increased advantage over the competitors of the particular organization.

2. Discuss the reasons why too much conformity can hurt groups and their organizational units

When there is too much conformity in the group, the results can be so much disastrous. One main danger which is looming for the organizations which tolerate compliance is conforming to norms some of which could be dysfunctional. The ultimate effect of this is that the goals of the organizations are adversely affected. When there is too much conformity, then the result is an imbalance and complete deviance from that which should be done accordingly. At some point, deviance can be very important while at some other times it is not necessary at all. Deviance causes the individuals to reflect their actions and then make the necessary adjustments if they find that their actions are not as appropriate as expected. It is therefore essential that the group does not compromise too much but to be very careful with conformity.

Chapter 12 Case Study Assignment

1. What challenges have managers at some technology companies faced regarding managing human resources?

Some technology companies are concerned about retaining talented engineers, designers, computer scientists, and executives who can stay ahead of a rapid change in a highly competitive industry. For example, Zynga recruited and hired Neil Rose man away from Amazon, and He was the engineer who led and launched the digital music business, and also developed the Kindle e-book reader software at Amazon.

2. How do managers at some technology companies recruit experienced hires?

Some technology companies use pay increases, benefits and promotions to recruit experienced employees. For example, even with lateral position moves, some former Cisco executives who went to Juniper received 30 % to 50% pay increases. The Human Resource Managers play a significant role I the aspect of managing information as well as securing the information on privacy. The provision of training for the employees and how the data is acquired could be a big hindrance and prevent the breaches of confidentiality which are experienced from time to time — communication with the vendors of technology aids in keeping up to date with the technical aspects of the operations.

Chapter 12 Review Essay Questions

1. Discuss why it is essential for human resource management systems to be in sync with an organization’s strategy and goals and with each other.

Managers need to have the development activities so that they might help them to adjust to the new responsibilities and the challenges that are faced today in various organizations. This is the main reason why the managers should perform as many duties as possible, and the multiple functions that are within the organizations and they should develop a proper understanding of these functions. A manager is not at a position to narrow his or her focus to the region or the product of their country alone. There is an opportunity where this leader needs to display his understanding of the functions that he or she should perform within the organization. Managers are also able to benefit from formal education. A manager should strive to apply the things that he or she has learned successfully in the process of developing various experiences. Through this mechanism, the manager will be at a position to successfully enable the organization to achieve its objectives.

2. Discuss why training and development are ongoing activities for all organizations.

The key to training and development is recognizing and adapting to changing conditions. A company should always be progressing, and during progress, new challenges arise as well as responsibilities. Training and development are ongoing as employees develop new problems and the company develops new standards. Practice new employees are vital for them to learn classroom instruction. As an employee progresses and develops on-the-job training, they will need to develop further. This will be an ongoing cycle in any company. Union membership has branched out to several new workforces since it began. It has now branched out to low-waging fields such as janitors, garbage collectors and more. Expanding the union allows for a more diverse membership. Unfortunately, many of these positions are held by minorities. Minorities may have a difficult time working their way up in a company.

Chapter 13 Case Study Assignment

1. In what ways can telepresence help increase a company’s efficiency and effectiveness: for example, efficiency or customer effectiveness?

There are several ways through which telepresence can help in adequately increasing efficiency as well as the effectiveness of the company. This technology allows for the use of the employee time more efficiently. The costs of traveling are also appropriately cut by this mechanism of operation. The other advantage is that this technology is capable of creating business transactions that are faster and easier collaborations between the stakeholders that are involved in the process. As a result, there is innovation and overall improvement of the operations of the nosiness.

2. What are the possible drawbacks or dangers of using telepresence devices for effective communication?

One drawback or danger is that telepresence networks can be hacked that could make a private meeting or a secret information exposure to the one who cut it. Also, the telepresence system is costly as the Cisco CTS $3000 for six-person conference reruns for $3000, 000. So if an organization wants telepresence has to invest a high amount of money. But in my opinion, the significant disadvantage is that face to face communication is lost which for me is very important because this way you can witness more formality and interest in the business.

Chapter 13 Review Essay Questions

1. What is the relationship between information systems and competitive advantage?

For you to guarantee the extent to which Information technology is appreciated, there should be several objectives and appropriate plans put in place to adequately support the mission of the business. The organizations and companies are making proper use of Information Technology to support the tasks and the ideas. For a long time, Computing has effectively been part and parcel of businesses, and it has been able to enhance the performances of these particular businesses. Technology enables an organization and the activities to be at the cutting edge at all times and hence getting the target market as often as possible. Information Technology is seriously making a big difference in the operations of organizations and businesses. There are several questions which arise regarding productivity which can only be answered by the use of technology. Competitive advantage occurs at the point when the organization or the business is at a position to create more economic value. The ultimate goal of the implementation of the information systems is to enhance competitive advantage in these organizations.

2. Why is face – to – face communication between managers still crucial in an organization?

There are several reasons why face to face communication is very important and necessary in organizations. The first advantage is that Face to face communication aids in building trust as well as credibility. When you meet a person face to face, then you have got the whole time to know the real personality, emotions, and reactions of this individual. The managers through such techniques can learn the best ways to handle the various individuals in the organizations.  Relationships develop and become stronger through face – to – face communication. Productivity is also increased accordingly through front – to – face communication. It effectively boosts collaboration as well as creativity through the ability of the managers to share the ideas in a freer environment.

Chapter 14 Case Study Assignment

1. Why is it essential that Home Depot improve its operating systems?

There are several reasons why Home Depot needs to improve its operating system. These reasons are such as:

• Update its old information systems technology, because Home Depot has lagged behind others in the industry in this area for more than a decade. This has hindered the company’s production system process.
• Boost online and mobile transactions and sales by attracting younger consumers accustomed to shopping online.
• In general, maintain or keep a competitive advantage over its rival Lowe’s

2. In what ways can updating IT help Home Depot improve its (a) responsiveness, (b) quality and (c) efficiency?

IT can be very helpful and instrumental in enhancing the responsiveness to the customers in ways such that the customer gets access to the information that they are looking for from the website or even at the home depots. An application can also aid the customers appropriately in seeking for the knowledge that they are looking for. The other advantage is the fact that these avenues can give you the exact prices of the items you are looking for and the right products. Also, they can give you the best advice on the best product to pick. In such a manner, they enhance user satisfaction.

Chapter 14 Review Essay Questions

1. What is efficiency, and what are some of the techniques that managers can use to increase it?

Efficiency refers to the number of inputs required to produce a given output. Contributions may include labor, parts, skills, knowledge, or time. Outputs can be any goods and services that the customer wants. These may be products, or they may be intangible things, like customer service. Managers can increase efficiency in several ways. One is to improve quality. When quality rises, less employee time is spent making defective products that have to be discarded or repaired. Designing products with fewer parts can increase efficiency since fewer parts to assemble the total assembly time and makes products easier to assemble. Managers can also change their facilities layout or the way in which machines, robots, and people are grouped. One design may be more effective than another, depending on the product. Flexible manufacturing can also increase efficiency by reducing the time required to set up production equipment. Another tactic is just-in-time inventory, which reduces inventory holding costs and frees capital that would otherwise be tied up in stock. Another way is to implement self-managed teams

2. Why is it important for managers to pay close attention to their organization’s production system if they wish to be responsive to their customers?

The attributes of an organization’s outputs – their quality, cost, and features – are determined by the organization’s value chain management. The ability of an organization to satisfy the demands of its customers is derived from its value chain. By monitoring this system, managers can find ways to improve quality while keeping prices low, as well as find ways to increase efficiency. Customers want value for money, and an organization whose efficient operating system creates high-quality, low-cost products is best able to deliver this value.