Globalization Trends Responding to Globalization Organizations are no longer constrained by national borders. Burger King is owned by a British firm, and McDonald’s sells hamburgers in Moscow. ExxonMobil, a so-called U.S. company, receives almost 75 percent of its revenues from sales outside the United States. New employees at Finland-based phone maker Nokia are increasingly being recruited from India, China, and other developing countries—non-Finns now outnumber Finns at Nokia’s renowned research center in Helsinki. And all major automobile makers now manufacture cars outside their borders; Honda builds cars in Ohio, Ford in Brazil, Volkswagen in Mexico, and both Mercedes and BMW in South Africa. The world has become a global village. In the process, the manager’s job has changed.Increased Foreign Assignments If you’re a manager, you are increasingly likely to find yourself in a foreign assignment—transferred to your employer’s operating division or subsidiary in another country. Once there, you’ll have to manage a workforce very different in needs, aspirations, and attitudes from those you are used to back home. Working with People from Different Cultures Even in your own country, you’ll find yourself working with bosses, peers, and other employees born and raised in different cultures. What motivates you may not motivate them. Or your communication style may be straightforward and open, which others may find uncomfortable and threatening. To work effectively with people from different cultures, you need to understand how their culture, geography, and religion have shaped them and how to adapt your management style to their differences. Managers at global companies such as McDonald’s, Disney, and Coca-Cola have come to realize that economic values are not universally transferable. Management practices need to be modified to reflect the values of the different countries in which an organization operates. Overseeing Movement of Jobs to Countries with Low-Cost Labor It’s increasingly difficult for managers in advanced nations, where minimum wages are typically $6 or more an hour, to compete against firms that rely on workers from China and other developing nations where labor is available for 30 cents an hour. It’s not by chance that many in the United States wear clothes made in China, work on computers whose microchips came from Taiwan, and watch movies filmed in Canada. In a global economy, jobs tend to flow where lower costs give businesses a comparative advantage, though labor groups, politicians, and local community leaders see the exporting of jobs as undermining the job ---market at home. Managers face the difficult task of balancing the interests of their organization with their responsibilities to the communities in which they operate. Managing Workforce Diversity One of the most important challenges for organizations is adapting to people who are different. We describe this challenge as workforce diversity. Whereas globalization focuses on differences among people from different countries, workforce diversity addresses differences among people within given countries. Workforce diversity acknowledges a workforce of women and men; many racial and ethnic groups; individuals with a variety of physical or psychological abilities; and people who differ in age and sexual orientation. Managing this diversity is a global concern. Most European countries have experienced dramatic growth in immigration from the Middle East, Argentina and Venezuela host a significant number of migrants from other South American countries, and nations from India to Iraq to Indonesia find great cultural diversity within their borders. The most significant change in the U.S. labor force during the last half of the twentieth century was the rapid increase in the number of female workers. In 1950, for instance, only 29.6 percent of the workforce was female. By 2008, it was 46.5 percent. The first half of the twenty-first century will be notable for changes in racial and ethnic composition and an aging baby boom generation. By 2050, Hispanics will grow from today’s 11 percent of the workforce to 24 percent, blacks will increase from 12 to 14 percent, and Asians from 5 to 11

percent. Meanwhile, in the near term the labor force will be aging. The 55-and-older age group, currently 13 percent of the labor force, will increase to 20 percent by 2014. Though we have more to say about workforce diversity in the next chapter, suffice it to say here that it presents great opportunities and poses challenging questions for managers and employees in all countries. How can we leverage differences within groups for competitive advantage? Should we treat all employees alike? Should we recognize individual and cultural differences? How can we foster cultural awareness in employees without lapsing into political correctness? What are the legal requirements in each country? Does diversity even matter? Improving Customer Service American Express recently turned Joan Weinbel’s worst nightmare into a nonevent. It was 10:00 p.m. Joan was home in New Jersey, packing for a weeklong trip, when she suddenly realized she had left her AmEx Gold card at a restaurant in New York City earlier in the evening. The restaurant was 30 miles away. She had a flight to catch at 7:30 the next morning, and she wanted her card for the trip. She called American Express. The phone was quickly answered by a courteous and helpful AmEx customer service representative who told Ms. Weinbel not to worry. He asked her a few questions and told her, “Help is on the way.” To say Joan was flabbergasted when her doorbell rang at 11:45 p.m. is an understatement—it was less than 2 hours after her call. At the door was a courier with a new card. How the company was able to produce the card and get it to her so quickly still puzzles Joan, but she said the experience made her a customer for life. Today, the majority of employees in developed countries work in service jobs, including 80 percent in the United States. In Australia, 73 percent work in service industries. In the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, the percentages are 69, 68, and 65, respectively. Service jobs include technical support representatives, fast-food counter workers, sales clerks, waiters and waitresses, nurses, automobile repair technicians, consultants, credit representatives, financial planners, and flight attendants. The common characteristic of these jobs is substantial interaction with an organization’s customers. And because an organization can’t exist without customers—whether it is AmericanStimulating Innovation and Change Whatever happened to Montgomery Ward, Woolworth, Smith Corona, TWA, Bethlehem Steel, and WorldCom? All these giants went bust. Why have other giants, such as General Motors, Sears, Boeing, and Lucent Technologies, implemented huge cost-cutting programs and eliminated thousands of jobs? The answer is to avoid going broke. Today’s successful organizations must foster innovation and master the art of change, or they’ll become candidates for extinction. Victory will go to the organizations that maintain their flexibility, continually improve their quality, and beat their competition to the marketplace with a constant stream of innovative products and services. Domino’s single-handedly brought on the demise of small pizza parlors whose managers thought they could continue doing what they had been doing for years. A mazon.com is putting a lot of independent bookstores out of business as it proves you can successfully sell books (and most anything else) from a Web site. After years of lackluster performance, Boeing realized it needed to change its business model. The result was its 787 Dreamliner and a return to being the world’s largest airplane manufacturer. An organization’s employees can be the impetus for innovation and change, or they can be a major stumbling block. The challenge for managers is to stimulate their employees’ creativity and tolerance for change. The field of OB provides a wealth of ideas and techniques to aid in realizing these goals

Emerging trends in organisational behaviour Organizations have witnessed a great development from the olden times particularly in respect of structure, operations and people. There is a considerable change in the crossculture environment, influence of MNCs, growth in the technical know-how and quality management which has provided

different environment in the modern organizations. Some of the important trends observed are mentioned below: Globalisation Emerging employment relationships changing workforce Knowledge Management Information technology and OB Globalization Organisation in recent days has changed the style of working and tries to spread worldwide. Trapping new market place, new technology or reducing cost through specialization or cheap labour are few of the different reasons that motivates organizations to become global Moreover the way companies integrate their business practices with other countries has also changed. Instead of controlling the whole supply chain countries outsource some part of it to gain advantage of specialization. Thomas Friedman highlights this phenomenon in his book “The world is flat” There are several types of organizational changes that has occurred to help business adopt to globalisation, as the old principles no longer work in the age of globalisation Strategic changes, technological change, change in organizational cultural including organizational structural change and a redesign of work tasks are some of the important one. In line with these changes, there is strong expectation of employee to improve their knowledge and become an integral part of successful business formula in order to respond to the challenges brought by the global economy. In other words it leads to formation of a learning organisation, which is characterized by creating, gaining and transferring the knowledge, and thus constantly modifying the organizational behaviour. Emerging employment relationship: Changing trends in organisations in recent years have made it utmost important to consider some of the emerging employee relations issues which can affect employers in the coming decade. Understanding these issues will help management to better plan and respond to changes in the workplace. Employer employee relationship is also showing change in the modern era. Employers are no more autocrats and participative style of leadership is welcomed. Flexible working hours and increased authority motivates employees to perform to their best. Management now welcomes upward communication and participation of lower level employees in the decision making process. Changing workforce The demographic of the workforce has changed in the recent years.. This is due to a number of factors such as an aging population, labour shortages and immigration. Another significant factor that has changed the workforce is the changes in the attitudes of workers. Employers need to adapt their recruitment, training and management processes to adapt to changing workforce. An example of this is that where employers may have previously looked to younger people as a source of recruits, they may now have to broaden their view as there are currently a large number of older people either currently employed or seeking employment. These people may need extra training to bring their skills up to date. New parents now want to work closer to home or from home, employers may find that they need to make this a possible option in order to retain or find new staff. Allowing people to work from home will also make the employer and job more attractive to a wider range of people. Recent days is also witnessing a shortage of skilled labour in many sectors. Hence employers may have to take on less skilled workers initially and develop them, rather than simply hiring experienced people. Hiring employees from overseas also serves the purpose. Knowledge Management: Knowledge management is a structured activity that improves an organization’s capacity to acquire, share, and utilize knowledge for its survival and success. Knowledge management is around us from a very long period of time in one form or the other. The decisions we make and the action we take both

are enabled by knowledge of some type. Hence to improve quality of these actions and decisions it is important to understand the process of knowledge management. Studies in knowledge management has proved an inseparable relationship between knowledge management and organizational culture (Davenport and Prusak,2000; Von Krogh, 2000; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) Research has also proved that organizational culture is a major barrier to leveraging intellectual assets. They focus on four ways in which culture influences organizational behaviours central to knowledge creation, sharing, and use. The first is the shared assumptions about what knowledge is and which knowledge is worth managing. Second is the relationship between individual and organizational knowledge. Third is the context for social interaction that determines how knowledge will be used in particular situations. Fourth is the processes by which knowledge is created, legitimated, and distributed in organizations. There are three basic elements of knowledge management 1. Knowledge acquisition:- It is method of learning through experiences, sensation or perception. 2. Knowledge sharing:- Knowledge sharing is a process through which knowledge is shared among family, friends or any community. 3. Knowledge dissemination: It is conceptual and instrumental use of new knowledge. Increased awareness and ability to make informed choice among available alternatives are the outcomes of knowledge dissemination. Knowledge maps:- Knowledge maps guide employees to understand what knowledge is needed to increase their efficiency and productivity and where these knowledge are located. Information Technology and OB Technological change and advancement is one of the most salient factors impacting organizations and employees today. In particular, the prominence of information technology (IT) has grown many folds in recent years. This innovation in IT has opened new ways for conducting business that are different from the past. Technology has changed the nature of work as well as the roles of employees. Managerial decision making, stress handling, and attitude towards work have changed as an impact of technology.It is also seen from decades that there is a normal tendency of human being to resist to changes, making adoption of new technologies a little difficult. It has become important for the business and management to understand and take these issues into consideration while introducing or implementing any new technology. Frequent sessions on change management can help employees understand, use and adopt new technologies easily.

Organizational behavior anchorTHE MULTIDISCIPLINARY ANCHORAs part of the social sciences, organizational behaviour is anchored around the idea that it should draw on knowledge from other disciplines rather than just its own isolated research base. In other words, OB should be multidisciplinary. The upper part of fig. 1 identifies the traditional disciplines that have had the greatest impact on organizational behaviour knowledge. Of these, the fields of psychology and sociology have contributed the most to current OB knowledge. The field of psychology has aided our understanding of individual and interpersonal behaviour. Sociologists have contributed to our knowledge of dynamics, organizational socialization, organizational power, and other aspects of the social system.Anthropology has mainly helped us to understand organization culture, whereas political science contributed ideas regarding power and politics (competing interests, strategies to gain control & influence) in organizations. Engineering played an early role in OB with productivity issues. Economics influenced early OB writing on organizational power, negotiations, and decision making. However, as recent economics concepts are applied to OB writing, some scholars warn that economics offers only one of way to view organizationsThe bottom part identifies some of the emerging fields from which organizational behaviour might acquire knowledge. The communications field is currently helping us to understand the dynamics of

electronic mail, communication corporate culture, and socialization processes. Information systems writers are exploring the effects of information technology on team dynamics, decision making, and knowledge management.The true test of OB’s multidisciplinary anchor is how effective OB scholars continue to transfer knowledge from traditional and emerging disciplines history suggests that field of inquiry tend to become more inwardly focused as they mature.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD ANCHOR

A second anchor of organizational behaviour relates to the way we study organizations. For the part, OB researches test their hypothesis about organizations by collecting information according to the scientific method. The scientific method is not a single procedure for collecting data; rather, it is a set of principles and procedures that help researchers systematically understand previously unexplained events and conditionsIn the Systematic Research Anchor, OB researchers believe in the systematic collection of data and information about organizations. It also utilizes the scientific method by forming research questions, systematically collecting data, and testing hypotheses.

THE CONTINGENCY ANCHOR

‘’ it depends’’ is a phrase that OB scholars often use to answer a question about the best solution to an organization problem. The statement may frustrate some people, yet it reflects an important way of understanding and predicting organizational events, called the contingency approach. This anchor states that a particular action may have different consequences in different situations. In other words, no single solution is best in all circumstancesMany early OB theorists have proposed universal rules to predict and explain organizational life, but there are usually too many exceptions to make these ‘’one best way’’ theories useful.Although contingency –oriented theories are necessary in most areas of organizational behaviour, we should also be wary about carrying this anchor to an extreme. Some contingency models add more confusion than value over universal ones. Consequently, we need to balance the sensitivity of contingency factors with the simplicity of universal theories.

THE MULTIPLE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS ANCHOROrganizational events are usually studied from three common levels of analysis: individual, team, and organizational. Three Levels of Analysis in Organizational Behaviour

1.INDIVIDUAL PROCESSES2.TEAM PROCESSES3.ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES

The individual level includes the characteristics and behaviour of employees as well as the thought processes attributed to them, such as motivation, perception, personalities, attitudes, and values. The team level of analysis looks at the way people interact. This includes team dynamics, decisions, power, organizational politics, conflict, and leadership. At the organizational level, we focus on how people structure their working relationships and on how organizations interact with their environments.

THE OPEN SYSTEMS ANCHORPhil Carroll is describing the fifth anchor of organizational behavior- the view that organizations are open systems. This means that organizations consist if interdependent parts that work together to continually monitor and transact with the eternal environment. An organizational system acquires resources from its external environment, including raw materials, employees, information, financial support, and equipment. Technology (such as equipment, work methods, and information) transforms these inputs into various outputs that are exported back to the eternal environment. The organization receives feedback from the eternal environment regarding the use of these outputs and the availability of future inputs. It also receives more resources in return of its outputs. This process is cyclical and, ideally, self-sustaining, so that the organization may continue to survive and prosper.To understand the open system anchor better, think about its opposite: close system. A closed system exists independently of anything beyond its boundaries. In other words, it is closed off from the outside environment and has all the resources needed to survive indefinitely. Organizations are never completely closed system, but those operating in very stable environments tend to become relatively closed by ignoring their surrounding for long period of time. For example, monopolies are relatively closed system because they don’t need to respond to customers or other stakeholders very much.

Open systems thinking are an important anchor in how we view organizations. However, it has traditionally focused on physical resources that enter the organization and are processed into physical goods (outputs). This was representative of the industrial economy, but not of the emerging knowledge- based economy. Organizational behaviour scholars increasingly recognize that knowledge is the driving variable in organization’s survival and success. Consequently, they have created an entire subfield of research dedicated to the dynamics of knowledge management

Knowldege managementKnowledge acquisition= Knowledge acquisition includes the organization’s ability to extract information and ideas from its environment as well as through insight. One of the fastest and most powerful ways to acquire knowledge is through grafting—hiring individuals or acquiring entire companies.For instance, Nortel Networks quickly became a leader in fibre optic networks by acquiring Bay Networks, Qtera Corp., and other organizations with leading-edge knowledge. Knowledge also enters the organization when employees learn about the external environment, such as discovering what the competition is doing or how customer needs are changing. A third knowledge acquisition strategy is through experimentation. Companies receive knowledge through insight as a result of research and other creative processesKnowledge sharing= Nearly half of Canadian executives say their companies are poor at transferring knowledge to other parts of the organization. To improve knowledge sharing, organizations need to improve communication . For example, lawyers at McMillan Binch in Toronto share all of their old and current precedents through a common database. Larger companies further encourage knowledge sharing through communities of practice. These are informal groups bound together by shared expertise and passion for a particular activity or interest.Andersen Consulting and Buckman Labs further improve knowledge sharing by awarding bonuses to employees who regularly contribute to the company’s knowledge database and online forums.Knowledge use Acquiring and sharing knowledge are wasted exercises unless knowledge is effectively put to use. “Companies are finding they need better ways of leveraging the knowledge that they already have,” says an executive at Open Text Corp. in Toronto.69 To do this, employees must realize that the

knowledge is available and that they have enough freedom to apply it. This requires a culture that supports experiential learning

ORGANIZATIONAL MEMORY Intellectual capital can be lost as quickly as it is acquired. Corporate leaders need to recognize that they are the keepers of an organizational memory. This unusual metaphor refers to the storage and preservation of intellectual capital. It includes information that employees possess as well as knowledge embedded in the organization’s systems and structures. It includes documents, objects, and anything else that provides meaningful information about how the organization should operate. How do organizations retain intellectual capital? One method is to keep good employees. “Our assets go home at night,” explains a Microsoft executive. “If enough of them don’t come back in the morning, the corporation is in danger.” A second strategy is to transfer knowledge systematically before employees leave. For instance, many employees at New Flyer Industries are getting close to retirement, so executives at the Winnipeg bus manufacturer anticipate the need for consultants who work exclusively at transferring knowledge from retiring employees to younger ones. A third organizational memory strategy is to transfer knowledge into structural capital.This includes bringing out hidden knowledge, organizing it, and putting it in a form that can be made available to others. DecisionOne Corp., a provider of computer maintenance and technology support services, has “knowledge architects” at each site that document best practices and other information from call centre operators. This information will then be available to everyone long after a particular call centre expert leaves. Before leaving the topic of organizational memory and knowledge management, you should know that successful companies also unlearn. Sometimes it is appropriate for organizations to selectively forget certain knowledge. This means that they should cast off the routines and patterns of behaviour that are no longer appropriate. Employees need to rethink their perceptions, such as how(Three years of employee buyouts and early retirements have left Ottawa’s City Hall with a bad case of corporate amnesia. The municipality started receiving more complaints about snowplow operators who had damaged homeowners’ lawns with their equipment. The reason? Several experienced employees had taken early retirement without teaching rookie snowplow operators about snow removal on specific streets in Ottawa. City councillors also had to reopen budget deliberations because they weren’t notified of a $1.4 million debt to the Province of Ontario. An audit found that employees who knew about the money had left the company due to downsizing. “When the city loses a long-term employee, it loses a piece of its corporate memory,” said the consultant who audited these incidents.75 What strategies could the City of Ottawa apply to minimize this loss of organizational memory?)they should interact with customers and which is the “best way” to perform a task.

Types of Individual Behaviour

Task PerformanceTask performance refers to goal-directed behaviours under the individual's control that support organisational objectives. Task performance behaviours transform raw materials into goods and services, or support and maintain technical activities.58 For example, foreign exchange traders at the Bank of New Zealand make decisions and take actions to exchange currencies. Employees in most jobs have more than one performance dimension. Foreign exchange traders must be able to identify profitable trades, work cooperatively with clients and coworkers in a stressful environment, assist in training new staff and work on special telecommunications equipment without error. Some of these performance dimensions are more important than others, but only

by considering all of them can we fully evaluate an employee's contribution to the organisation.Organisational CitizenshipCompanies could not effectively compete, transform resources or serve the needs of their stakeholders if employees performed only their formal job duties. Employees also need to engage inorganisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) Various forms of cooperation and helpfulness to others that support the organisation's social and psychological context.— In other words, companies require contextual performance (i.e. OCBs) along with task performance.

Australia Post Superstar PerformanceAustralia Post's Dandenong Letters Centre is the largest mail-processing facility in the Southern Hemisphere. Fifteen hundred employees work across seven shifts, processing more than 7 million separate mail articles each day. During Christmas season, daily production jumps to 12 or 13 million items. Computerised equipment processes most letters, directing them to regions and specific delivery routes. Each day thousands of documents aren't readable by machine, so the computer scans them and sends the image to human ‘video coders’ who view the image and type in the correct postcode. The performance of these video coders is staggering. One video coder named Edna routinely processes 5000 addresses per hour, even while carrying on a conversation. ‘She can sit there and just talk; she's just got such a light touch,’ says supervisor Michelle D'Rozario, who calls Edna her ‘superstar’.59

Organisational citizenship behaviours take many forms.61 Some are directed toward individuals, such as assisting coworkers with their work problems, adjusting your work schedule to accommodate coworkers, showing genuine courtesy toward coworkers and sharing your work resources (supplies, technology, staff). Other OCBs represent cooperation and helpfulness toward the organisation in general. These include supporting the company's public image, taking discretionary action to help the organisation avoid potential problems, offering ideas beyond those required for your own job, attending voluntary functions that support the organisation and keeping up with new developments in the organisation. In many ways, employees who engage in organisational citizenship act like company owners because they go beyond their own interests to the wellbeing of others and the organisation. This is illustrated in a recent story from Procter & Gamble (P&G) in India. P&G was waiting for a shipment of materials needed to keep its production lines running. The shipment had arrived in customs, but due to heavy rains the government declared a holiday for all of its offices (including customs). Undeterred by the weather, a P&G plant engineer took the initiative of arranging to pick up a customs official from his house and take him to the customs office to authorise clearance of the valuable materials. When the materials were cleared through customs, the engineer then made sure they were delivered to the plant the same day. By going beyond the call of duty, the engineer (with the cooperation of the customs officer) was able to keep the production lines running.62

Counterproductive Work BehavioursOrganisational behaviour is interested in all workplace behaviours, including those on the ‘dark side’, collectively known as counterpr. CWBs are voluntary behaviours that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the organisation. They include abuse of others (e.g. insults and nasty comments), threats (threatening harm), work avoidance (e.g. tardiness), work sabotage (doing work incorrectly) and overt acts (theft). CWBs are not minor concerns. One Australian study found that units of a fast-food restaurant chain with higher CWBs had a significantly worse performance, whereas organisational citizenship had a relatively minor benefit.63

Joining and Staying with the OrganisationTask performance, organisational citizenship and the lack of counterproductive work behaviours are obviously important, but if qualified people don't join and stay with the organisation, none of these performance-related behaviours will occur. Although staff shortages vary as the economy rises and falls, it appears that some employers never seem to get enough qualified staff. During the most recent economic recession, for example, one Australian newspaper published stories of employers who didn't have any qualified applicants in spite of rising unemployment. (Most employers filled their vacancies after the stories were reported.) The effects of staff shortages are apparent in Wittlesea, Victoria, where a chronic shortage of paramedics has resulted in cancellation of some ambulance services. The shortage has also placed a heavy strain on existing staff, some of whom are regularly (and reluctantly) working fourteen-hour days without a lunch break, and also covering other shifts on their days off. ‘The paramedics are exhausted and each patient is then forced to wait longer for treatment,’ says the union representing paramedics.64

Companies survive and thrive not just by hiring people with talent or potential; they also need to ensure that these employees stay with the company. Companies with high turnover suffer because of the high cost of replacing people who leave. More important, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, much of an organisation's intellectual capital is the knowledge carried around in employees' heads. When people leave, some of this vital knowledge is lost, often resulting in inefficiencies, inferior customer service and so forth. This threat is not trivial: One large-scale survey revealed that nearly two-thirds of Indonesian employees plan to move to a different employer even though the position, area of work and remuneration are the same. During the recent mining boom, a survey of thirteen mining operations across Australia reported an average turnover rate of 24 per cent, with some mining sites experiencing annual employee turnover approaching 60 per cent.65

Maintaining Work AttendanceAlong with attracting and retaining employees, organisations need everyone to show up for work at scheduled times. Situational factors—such as severe weather or car breakdown—explain some work absences. Motivation is another factor. Employees who experience job dissatisfaction or work-related stress are more likely to be absent or late for work because taking time off is a way to temporarily withdraw from stressful or dissatisfying conditions. Absenteeism is also higher in organisations with generous sick leave because this benefit limits the negative financial impact of taking time away from work. Studies have found that absenteeism is also higher in teams with strong absence norms, meaning that team members tolerate and even expect coworkers to take time off. One study of Queensland government employees discovered that absenteeism rates changed over time, and that these changing absence levels may be due to changing norms about how much unscheduled time off team members should take.67

Google Attracts and Keeps Talent through ‘Cool’ Campuses

Courtesy of Camenzind EvolutionGoogle is ranked by university students in many countries as one of the top ten places to work. One reason why the internet technology company is able to attract so many applicants is that its workplaces look like every student's dream of a university campus. Google's headquarters (called Googleplex) in Mountain View, California, is outfitted with lava lamps, exercise balls, casual sofas, foosball, pool tables, workout rooms, video games, slides and a restaurant with free gourmet meals. Google's new EMEA engineering hub in Zurich, Switzerland, also boasts a fun, campus-like environment. These photos show a few areas of

Google's offices in Zurich, including private temporary workspaces in beehives and ski gondolas. Google's offices are so comfortable that executives occasionally remind staff of building code regulations against making the offices their permanent home.66

05. Contemporary Challenges for Organisations

Perceptual SelectionPerceptual selection is driven by internal and external factors.Internal factors include:

Personality - Personality traits influence how a person selects perceptions. For instance, conscientious people tend to select details and external stimuli to a greater degree.

Motivation - People will select perceptions according to what they need in the moment. They will favor selections that they think will help them with their current needs, and be more likely to ignore what is irrelevant to their needs.

Experience - The patterns of occurrences or associations one has learned in the past affect current perceptions. The person will select perceptions in a way that fits with what they found in the past.External factors include:

Size - A larger size makes it more likely an object will be selected. Intensity - Greater intensity, in brightness, for example, also increases perceptual selection. Contrast - When a perception stands clearly out against a background, there is a greater likelihood of

selection. Motion - A moving perception is more likely to be selected. Repetition - Repetition increases perceptual selection. Novelty and familiarity - Both of these increase selection. When a perception is new, it stands out in a

person's experience. When it is familiar, it is likely to be selected because of this familiarity.Perceptual OrganizationAfter certain perceptions are selected, they can be organized differently. The following factors are those that determine perceptual organization:

Figure-ground - Once perceived, objects stand out against their background. This can mean, for instance, that perceptions of something as new can stand out against the background of everything of the same type that is old.

Perceptual grouping - Grouping is when perceptions are brought together into a pattern. Closure - This is the tendency to try to create wholes out of perceived parts. Sometimes this can result in

error, though, when the perceiver fills in unperceived information to complete the whole. Proximity - Perceptions that are physically close to each other are easier to organize into a pattern or

whole. Similarity - Similarity between perceptions promotes a tendency to group them together. Perceptual Constancy - This means that if an object is perceived always to be or act a certain way, the

person will tend to infer that it actually is always that way. Perceptual Context - People will tend to organize perceptions in relation to other pertinent perceptions,

and create a context out of those connections.Each of these factors influence how the person perceives their environment, so responses to their environment can be understood by taking the perceptual process into account.

Social identity theory features

Tajfel and Turner (1979) proposed that there are three mental processes involved in evaluating others as “us” or “them” (i.e. “in-group” and “out-group”. These take place in a particular order.The first is categorization. We categorize objects in order to understand them and identify them. In a very similar way we categorize people (including ourselves) in order to understand the social environment. We use social categories like black, white, Australian, Christian, Muslim, student, and bus driver because they are useful.If we can assign people to a category then that tells us things about those people, and as we saw with the bus driver example, we couldn't function in a normal manner without using these categories; i.e. in the context of the bus. Similarly, we find out things about ourselves by knowing what categories we belong to. We define appropriate behavior by reference to the norms of groups we belong to, but you can only do this if you can tell who belongs to your group. An individual can belong to many different groups.In the second stage, social identification, we adopt the identity of the group we have categorized ourselves as belonging to. If for example you have categorized yourself as a student, the chances are you will adopt the identity of a student and begin to act in the ways you believe students act (and conform to the norms of the group). There will be an emotional significance to your identification with a group, and your self-esteem will become bound up with group membership.The final stage is social comparison. Once we have categorized ourselves as part of a group and have identified with that group we then tend to compare that group with other groups. If our self-esteem is to be maintained our group needs to compare favorably with other groups. This is critical to understanding prejudice, because once two groups identify themselves as rivals, they are forced to compete in order for the members to maintain their self-esteem. Competition and hostility between groups is thus not only a matter of competing for resources (like in Sherif’s Robbers Cave) like jobs but also the result of competing identities.ConclusionJust to reiterate, in social identity theory the group membership is not something foreign or artificial which is attached onto the person, it is a real, true and vital part of the person. Again, it is crucial to remember in-groups are groups you identify with, and out-groups are ones that we don't identify with, and may discriminate against.

Improving perceptual accuracyThis article throws light on the seven important strategies for improving perceptual skills, i.e, (1) Knowing Oneself Accurately, (2) Emphatize with Others, (3) Having a Positive Attitude, (4) Positive Impression Formation, (5) Communicating Openly, (6) Comparing One’s Perception with that of Others, and (7) Improving Diversity Management Programmes.1. Knowing Oneself Accurately:One of the powerful ways to minimize perceptual distortions is to know yourself. One should be aware of his or her values, beliefs and prejudices. People normally misperceive others because they fail to perceive themselves accurately. The more accurately a person understands himself, the more accurately he can perceive others. The concept of Johari window must be applied by people so as to increase awareness about self and others.2. Emphatize with Others:Empathy refers to a person’s ability to understand and be sensitive to the feelings of others. Empathy is a natural phenomenon and develops within an individual by itself. However, empathy skills can also be developed over a passage of time by proper feedback system and by close interaction and working. By emphasizing with other person, one can perceive the other individual more aptly.

3. Have a Positive Attitude:Attitudes have a strong and long lasting effect on perception. If one holds a negative attitude towards someone or something, our perception is undoubtedly going to be distorted. We should make effort to have a positive attitude and should not let our personal biases to crop in and hinder the perceptual powers.4. Postpone Impression Formation:It is a natural tendency of the human beings to form impression about something or someone very quickly. Just in a meeting or two we draw conclusion about someone. Forming judgments with such limited information is very wrong. A much better strategy is to postpone the impression formation until more information about the individual and the situation is collected.5. Communicating Openly:Much of misperception in an organisation arises due to inadequate communication or one way communication. Utmost care should be taken, so that the message reaches the right person, at the right time and in the right manner. Proper transmission of information followed by appropriate feedback can help minimize perceptual distortions.6. Comparing One’s Perceptions with that of Others:Another useful strategy to reduce perceptual errors is to compare one’s own perception with the perception of the other person about the same object. By sharing perceptions we come across different point of views and potentially gain a much better understanding of the situation and the object.7. Introducing Diversity Management Programs:If we talk of today’s organisations, they are very much diverse and heterogeneous. The workforce is so diverse with language differences, religious differences and cultural differences that it becomes really hard to make the employees work together in an effective manner. The biggest challenge in front of the management in to minimize perceptual bias and benefit from such diversity.For this purpose, an important strategy it to use training programs which may help in communicating the value of diversity on one hand and help the participants acquaint with one another and provide them room to mix with one another with different backgrounds. These training programs mainly increase the employees, awareness of difference and thus help in minimizing perceptual biases and distortions.To include we can say that successful managers understand the importance of perception on behaviour and they act accordingly. They are aware of perceptual distortions and they know that perceptual differences are likely to exist in any situation. As a result they try to make decisions and take action with a true understanding of the work situation as it is viewed by all persons concerned.

Johari windowHave you ever been part of a team where everyone was completely open with one another?If so, then the chances are that you worked extremely effectively together. You knew your co-workers very well, and there was a solid foundation of trust between you. As a result of this positive working environment, you probably accomplished a great deal with this group.Most of us realize that teams rely on trust in order to function productively, but how do you go about building that trust?The Johari Window is a model that helps you do this, and it helps you learn important things about yourself, and so develop as a human being.In this article we'll look at how the Johari Window works, and we'll see how you can use it with your team to improve communication and trust.

About the ModelThe Johari Window is a communication model that is used to improve understanding between individuals. The word "Johari" is taken from the names of Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, who developed the model in 1955.There are two key ideas behind the tool:1. That you can build trust with others by disclosing information about yourself.2. That, with the help of feedback from others, you can learn about yourself and come to terms with

personal issues.By explaining the idea of the Johari Window, you can help team members to understand the value of self-disclosure, and you can encourage them to give, and accept, constructive feedback.Done sensitively, this can help people build better, more trusting relationships with one another, solve issues, and work more effectively as a team.Explaining the Johari WindowThe Johari Window is shown as a four-quadrant grid, which you can see in the diagram below. 

The four quadrants are:1. Open Area (Quadrant 1)This quadrant represents the things that you know about yourself, and the things that others know about you. This includes your behavior, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and "public" history.2. Blind Area (Quadrant 2)This quadrant represents things about you that you aren't aware of, but that are known by others.This can include simple information that you do not know, or it can involve deep issues (for example, feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, unworthiness, or rejection), which are often difficult for individuals to face directly, and yet can be seen by others.3. Hidden Area (Quadrant 3)This quadrant represents things that you know about yourself, but that others don't know.4. Unknown Area (Quadrant 4)This last quadrant represents things that are unknown by you, and are unknown by others.

The End GoalThe ultimate goal of the Johari Window is to enlarge the Open Area, without disclosing information that is too personal. The Open Area is the most important quadrant, as, generally, the more your people know about each other, the more productive, cooperative, and effective they'll be when working together.The process of enlarging the Open Area quadrant is called "self-disclosure," and it's a give-and-take process that takes place between yourself and the people that you're interacting with.As you share information, your Open Area expands vertically and your Hidden Area gets smaller. As people on your team provide feedback to you about what they know or see about you, your Open Area expands horizontally, and your Blind Area gets smaller.Done well, the process of give and take, sharing, and open communication builds trust within the group.At first glance, the Johari Window may look like a complex tool, but it's actually very easy to understand with just a little effort. As such, it provides a visual reference that people can use to look at their own character, and it illustrates the importance of sharing, being open, and accepting feedback from others.People who have a large Open Area are usually very easy to talk to, they communicate honestly and openly with others, and they get along well with a group. People who have a very small Open Area are difficult to talk to, they seem closed off and uncommunicative, and they often don't work well with others, because they're not trusted.Other people might have a large Blind Area, with many issues that they haven't identified or dealt with yet. However, others can see these issues clearly. These people might have low self-esteem, or they may even have anger issues when working with others.Using the ToolThe process of enlarging your Open Area involves self-disclosure. Put simply, the more you (sensibly) open up and disclose your thoughts, feelings, dreams, and goals, the more you're going to build trust with your team.Tip:Try to avoid "over-sharing" in your self-disclosure. Disclosing small, harmless items builds trust, however, avoid disclosing personal information which could damage people's respect for you.Another important aspect of enlarging your Open Area is accepting feedback from others on your team. This feedback helps you learn things about yourself that others can see, but that you can't. This is important for personal growth.Tip:Be careful in the way you give feedback . Some cultures have a very open and accepting approach to feedback, but others don't.You can cause incredible offense if you offer personal feedback to someone who's not used to it, so be sensitive, and start gradually.If someone is interested in learning more about you, they can reciprocate by disclosing information in their hidden quadrant.For example, imagine that you tell someone on your team that you're interested in going to business school to get your MBA. She responds by telling you that she enrolled just a few months ago, and then she tells you all about the MBA program that she's involved with. You reciprocate by opening up about your career goals, a-nd you discuss how an MBA will help you achieve them.As a person's level of confidence and self-esteem rises, it becomes easier to invite others to comment on their blind spots. Obviously, active and empathiclistening skills are useful in this exercise.

The Johari Window in a Team ContextKeep in mind that established team members will have larger open areas than new team members. New team members start with smaller open areas, because they haven't yet had the opportunity to share much information about themselves.FeedbackThe importance of feedback in this process can't be overstated. It's only by receiving feedback from others that your Blind Area will be reduced, and your Open Area will be expanded.Group members should strive to help other team members to expand their Open Area by offering constructive feedback. The size of the Open Area can also be expanded vertically downwards into the Hidden Area, as people disclose information and feelings to the group.Also, group members can help a person expand their Open Area into the Hidden Area by asking personal questions. Managers and team leaders play a key role here, by teaching team members how to give constructive feedback to individuals about their own Blind Areas.Key PointsJoseph Luft and Harry Ingham developed the Johari Window in 1955. The tool is a useful visual representation of a person's character, and is represented with a four-quadrant grid.The goal of the Johari Window is to demonstrate the importance of open communication, and to explain its effect on group trust. The model also teaches you the importance of self-disclosure, and shows how group feedback can help you grow, both personally and professionally.Your Open Area is expanded vertically with self-disclosure, and horizontally with feedback from others on your team. By encouraging healthy self-disclosure and sensitive feedback, you can build a stronger and more effective team

Personality Traits and Workplace CultureDetermine how compatible you are with your primary work group.Have you ever stopped in the middle of a work frenzy and asked yourself, “Why do I continue to work for this organization?” When you try to promote your ideas, do most of your peers frequently react with indifference? If so, it may be time to evaluate the relationship between you and your company.This article will help you explore one dimension of this complex relationship: the cultural match factor, or “How compatible is your personality with the organizational culture of the company for which you work?” Even more than that, it will provide you with the assessment tools to figure out whether you are, indeed, compatible. One tool helps you evaluate the company culture, one tests your personality type on the related dimensions, and the third shows you how to compare responses to see how closely they match. Together they help you address the question of “How well do I fit in this organization?”The cultural match between an individual and an organization is determined by the degree to which the individual’s personal traits fit the organizational culture, or perhaps vice versa. A lower cultural match may indicate that the individual is drained of important resources by having to continuously adjust to the workplace environment. A higher cultural match suggests the potential for a more satisfying interaction for both the individual and the organization.It is generally assumed that a successful relationship between an individual and an organization is based on a shared foundation of beliefs and behaviors. Similar beliefs and ways of working usually encourage communication and tend to support the working relationship, allowing synergies to emerge. In contrast, a high level of dissimilarity usually requires a high consumption of adaptive energy.

Integrated Cultural Framework as a measure of organizational cultureOrganizational culture can be described as a set of collective beliefs and values that influence behavior. The Integrated Cultural Framework (ICF) developed by Mallinger and Rossy offers a means for

measuring organizational culture. The ICF contains six dimensions which are described below. Also included is a set of questions to assess the level of each component.Ability to influence is the extent to which individuals are able to influence outcomes within the organization. A high ability to influence suggests that the organization is open to input from a wide range of members and is willing to consider and react to those suggestions. It is likely decentralized. A low ability to influence indicates a culture where most individuals have little chance to impact the outcomes. Decisions are made by a small group of individuals at the top who are not open to input from more than a select group of employees. Assessing questions include:

Where are decisions made within the organization? Is the organization centralized or decentralized? To what extent can most members participate in changing procedures and policies?

Comfort with ambiguity describes the extent to which the members of the organization are comfortable with uncertainty and risk taking.

Are there lots of rules and regulations that explicitly define the way “things should be done here?” Can decisions be made without complete information? Is risk encouraged?

Achievement Orientation refers to the extent to which the members of the organization are striving to accomplish goals and improve performance.

Is goal accomplishment the norm? Is there a high expectation of achievement?

Individualism vs. Collectivism refers to the extent to which the members of the organization are encouraged or given incentives to focus primarily on personal gain (individualism) versus considering first the interests of the group as a whole (collectivism)

Are rewards individual or group based? To what extent do members work as a team?

Time Orientation measures the extent to which the organization’s missions/goals are focused on values from past, present or future. However, combinations of time orientation can exist. For example, an organization may demonstrate both present and future orientation (e.g., focus on bottom line, while also engaging in meaningful strategic planning)

Is the vision based on the values of the founders (i.e. past), the current environment (present) or an estimation of the future?

Is the implementation of the strategy past, present or future oriented?Space Orientation refers to the extent to which physical layout is public, private or a mix of both.

To what extent is office space shared? To what extent do you see closed versus open doors? To what extent are members protective of their space?

Myers Briggs Personality TypesThe phrase Myers Briggs is most often used to describe a personality theory developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katherine Briggs. It explains some of the main differences between people and is often used to help choose a career, improve relationships, develop leadership skills, etc.OverviewThere is a lot to Myers Briggs theory, though at its heart are four simple preferences. Do you prefer to deal with:

People and things (Extraversion or "E"), or ideas and information (Introversion or "I"). Facts and reality (Sensing or "S"), or possibilities and potential (Intuition or "N").

Logic and truth (Thinking or "T"), or values and relationship (Feeling or "F"). A lifestyle that is well-structured (Judgment or "J"), or one that goes with the flow (Perception or "P").

Extraversion and Introversion - The first pair of styles is concerned with the direction of your energy. If you prefer to direct your energy to deal with people, things, situations, or "the outer world", then your preference is for Extraversion. If you prefer to direct your energy to deal with ideas, information, explanations or beliefs, or "the inner world", then your preference is for Introversion.Sensing and Intuition - The second pair concerns the type of information/things that you process. If you prefer to deal with facts, what you know, to have clarity, or to describe what you see, then your preference is for Sensing. If you prefer to deal with ideas, look into the unknown, to generate new possibilities or to anticipate what isn't obvious, then your preference is for Intuition. Thinking and Feeling - The third pair reflects your style of decision-making. If you prefer to decide on the basis of objective logic, using an analytic and detached approach, then your preference is for Thinking. If you prefer to decide using values - i.e. on the basis of what or who you believe is important - then your preference is for Feeling.Judgment and Perception - The final pair describes the type of lifestyle you adopt. If you prefer your life to be planned, stable and organised then your preference is for Judging (not to be confused with 'Judgmental', which is quite different). If you prefer to go with the flow, to maintain flexibility and respond to things as they arise, then your preference is for Perception.

ValuesValues refer to stable life goals that people have, reflecting what is most important to them. Values are established throughout one’s life as a result of the accumulating life experiences and tend to be relatively stable. [1] The values that are important to people tend to affect the types of decisions they make, how they perceive their environment, and their actual behaviors. Moreover, people are more likely to accept job offers when the company possesses the values people care about. [2] Value attainment is one reason why people stay in a company, and when an organization does not help them attain their values, they are more likely to decide to leave if they are dissatisfied with the job itself. [3] What are the values people care about? There are many typologies of values. One of the most established surveys to assess individual values is the Rokeach Value Survey. [4] This survey lists 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in alphabetical order. Terminal values refer to end states people desire in life, such as leading a prosperous life and a world at peace. Instrumental values deal with views on acceptable modes of conduct, such as being honest and ethical, and being ambitious.According to Rokeach, values are arranged in hierarchical fashion. In other words, an accurate way of assessing someone’s values is to ask them to rank the 36 values in order of importance. By comparing these values, people develop a sense of which value can be sacrificed to achieve the other, and the individual priority of each value emerges.

Where do values come from? Research indicates that they are shaped early in life and show stability over the course of a lifetime. Early family experiences are important influences over the dominant

values. People who were raised in families with low socioeconomic status and those who experienced restrictive parenting often display conformity values when they are adults, while those who were raised by parents who were cold toward their children would likely value and desire security. [5] Values of a generation also change and evolve in response to the historical context that the generation grows up in. Research comparing the values of different generations resulted in interesting findings. For example, Generation Xers (those born between the mid-1960s and 1980s) are more individualistic and are interested in working toward organizational goals so long as they coincide with their personal goals. This group, compared to the baby boomers (born between the 1940s and 1960s), is also less likely to see work as central to their life and more likely to desire a quick promotion. [6] The values a person holds will affect his or her employment. For example, someone who has an orientation toward strong stimulation may pursue extreme sports and select an occupation that involves fast action and high risk, such as fire fighter, police officer, or emergency medical doctor. Someone who has a drive for achievement may more readily act as an entrepreneur. Moreover, whether individuals will be satisfied at a given job may depend on whether the job provides a way to satisfy their dominant values. Therefore, understanding employees at work requires understanding the value orientations of employees.PersonalityPersonality encompasses the relatively stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns a person has. Our personality differentiates us from other people, and understanding someone’s personality gives us clues about how that person is likely to act and feel in a variety of situations. In order to effectively manage organizational behavior, an understanding of different employees’ personalities is helpful. Having this knowledge is also useful for placing people in jobs and organizations.If personality is stable, does this mean that it does not change? You probably remember how you have changed and evolved as a result of your own life experiences, attention you received in early childhood, the style of parenting you were exposed to, successes and failures you had in high school, and other life events. In fact, our personality changes over long periods of time. For example, we tend to become more socially dominant, more conscientious (organized and dependable), and more emotionally stable between the ages of 20 and 40, whereas openness to new experiences may begin to decline during this same time. [7] In other words, even though we treat personality as relatively stable, changes occur. Moreover, even in childhood, our personality shapes who we are and has lasting consequences for us. For example, studies show that part of our career success and job satisfaction later in life can be explained by our childhood personality. [8] Is our behavior in organizations dependent on our personality? To some extent, yes, and to some extent, no. While we will discuss the effects of personality for employee behavior, you must remember that the relationships we describe are modest correlations. For example, having a sociable and outgoing personality may encourage people to seek friends and prefer social situations. This does not mean that their personality will immediately affect their work behavior. At work, we have a job to do and a role to perform. Therefore, our behavior may be more strongly affected by what is expected of us, as opposed to how we want to behave. When people have a lot of freedom at work, their personality will become a stronger influence over their behavior. [9]

Big Five Personality Traits

Openness is the degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to new ideas. People high in openness seem to thrive in situations that require being flexible and learning new things. They are highly motivated to learn new skills, and they do well in training settings. [11] They also have an advantage when they enter into a new organization. Their open-mindedness leads them to seek a lot of information and feedback about how they are doing and to build relationships, which leads to quicker adjustment to the new job. [12] When supported, they tend to be creative. [13] Open people are highly adaptable to change, and teams that experience unforeseen changes in their tasks do well if they are populated with people high in openness. [14] Compared to people low in openness, they are also more likely to start their own business. [15] Conscientiousness refers to the degree to which a person is organized, systematic, punctual, achievement oriented, and dependable. Conscientiousness is the one personality trait that uniformly predicts how high a person’s performance will be, across a variety of occupations and jobs. [16] In fact, conscientiousness is the trait most desired by recruiters and results in the most success in interviews. [17] This is not a surprise, because in addition to their high performance, conscientious people have higher levels of motivation to perform, lower levels of turnover, lower levels of absenteeism, and higher levels of safety performance at work. [18] One’s conscientiousness is related to career success and being satisfied with one’s career over time. [19] Finally, it seems that conscientiousness is a good trait to have for entrepreneurs. Highly conscientious people are more likely to start their own business compared to those who are not conscientious, and their firms have longer survival rates. [20] Extraversion is the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, and sociable, and enjoys being in social situations. One of the established findings is that they tend to be effective in jobs involving sales. [21] Moreover, they tend to be effective as managers and they demonstrate inspirational leadership behaviors. [22] Extraverts do well in social situations, and as a result they tend to be effective in job interviews. Part of their success comes from how they prepare for the job interview, as they are likely to use their social network. [23] Extraverts have an easier time than introverts when adjusting to a new job. They actively seek information and feedback, and build effective relationships, which helps with their adjustment. [24] Interestingly, extraverts are also found to be happier at work, which may be because of

the relationships they build with the people around them and their relative ease in adjusting to a new job. [25] However, they do not necessarily perform well in all jobs, and jobs depriving them of social interaction may be a poor fit. Moreover, they are not necessarily model employees. For example, they tend to have higher levels of absenteeism at work, potentially because they may miss work to hang out with or attend to the needs of their friends. [26] Agreeableness is the degree to which a person is nice, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, and warm. In other words, people who are high in agreeableness are likeable people who get along with others. Not surprisingly, agreeable people help others at work consistently, and this helping behavior is not dependent on being in a good mood. [27] They are also less likely to retaliate when other people treat them unfairly. [28] This may reflect their ability to show empathy and give people the benefit of the doubt. Agreeable people may be a valuable addition to their teams and may be effective leaders because they create a fair environment when they are in leadership positions. [29] At the other end of the spectrum, people low in agreeableness are less likely to show these positive behaviors. Moreover, people who are not agreeable are shown to quit their jobs unexpectedly, perhaps in response to a conflict they engage with a boss or a peer. [30] If agreeable people are so nice, does this mean that we should only look for agreeable people when hiring? Some jobs may actually be a better fit for someone with a low level of agreeableness. Think about it: When hiring a lawyer, would you prefer a kind and gentle person, or a pit bull? Also, high agreeableness has a downside: Agreeable people are less likely to engage in constructive and change-oriented communication. [31] Disagreeing with the status quo may create conflict and agreeable people will likely avoid creating such conflict, missing an opportunity for constructive change.Neuroticism refers to the degree to which a person is anxious, irritable, aggressive, temperamental, and moody. These people have a tendency to have emotional adjustment problems and experience stress and depression on a habitual basis. People very high in neuroticism experience a number of problems at work. For example, they are less likely to be someone people go to for advice and friendship. [32] In other words, they may experience relationship difficulties. They tend to be habitually unhappy in their jobs and report high intentions to leave, but they do not necessarily actually leave their jobs. [33] Being high in neuroticism seems to be harmful to one’s career, as they have lower levels of career success (measured with income and occupational status achieved in one’s career). Finally, if they achieve managerial jobs, they tend to create an unfair climate at work. [34]

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Positive and Negative AffectivityYou may have noticed that behavior is also a function of moods. When people are in a good mood, they may be more cooperative, smile more, and act friendly. When these same people are in a bad mood, they may have a tendency to be picky, irritable, and less tolerant of different opinions. Yet, some people seem to be in a good mood most of the time, and others seem to be in a bad mood most of the time regardless of what is actually going on in their lives. This distinction is manifested by positive and negative affectivity traits. Positive affective people experience positive moods more frequently, whereas negative affective people experience negative moods with greater frequency. Negative affective people focus on the “glass half empty” and experience more anxiety and nervousness. [37] Positive affective people tend to be happier at work, [38] and their happiness spreads to the rest of the work environment. As may be expected, this personality trait sets the tone in the work atmosphere. When a team comprises mostly negative affective people, there tend to be fewer instances of helping and cooperation. Teams dominated by positive affective people experience lower levels of absenteeism. [39] When people with a lot of power are also high in positive affectivity, the work environment is affected in a positive manner and can lead to greater levels of cooperation and finding mutually agreeable solutions to problems. [40] OB Toolbox: Help, I work with a negative person!Employees who have high levels of neuroticism or high levels of negative affectivity may act overly negative at work, criticize others, complain about trivial things, or create an overall negative work environment. Here are some tips for how to work with them effectively. Understand that you are unlikely to change someone else’s personality. Personality is relatively

stable and criticizing someone’s personality will not bring about change. If the behavior is truly disruptive, focus on behavior, not personality.

Keep an open mind. Just because a person is constantly negative does not mean that they are not sometimes right. Listen to the feedback they are giving you.

Set a time limit. If you are dealing with someone who constantly complains about things, you may want to limit these conversations to prevent them from consuming your time at work.

You may also empower them to act on the negatives they mention. The next time an overly negative individual complains about something, ask that person to think of ways to change the situation and get back to you.

Ask for specifics. If someone has a negative tone in general, you may want to ask for specific examples for what the problem is.

Self-MonitoringSelf-monitoring refers to the extent to which a person is capable of monitoring his or her actions and appearance in social situations. In other words, people who are social monitors are social chameleons who understand what the situation demands and act accordingly, while low social monitors tend to act the way they feel.[41] High social monitors are sensitive to the types of behaviors the social environment expects from them. Their greater ability to modify their behavior according to the demands of the situation and to manage their impressions effectively is a great advantage for them. [42] In general, they tend to be more successful in their careers. They are more likely to get cross-company promotions, and even when they stay with one company, they are more likely to advance. [43] Social monitors also become the “go to” person in their company and they enjoy central positions in their social networks. [44] They are rated as higher performers, and emerge as leaders. [45] While they are effective in influencing other people and get things done by managing their impressions, this personality trait has some challenges that need to be addressed. First, when evaluating the performance of other employees, they tend to be less accurate. It seems that while trying to manage their impressions, they may avoid giving accurate feedback to their subordinates to avoid confrontations. [46] This tendency may create problems for them if they are managers. Second, high social monitors tend to experience higher levels

of stress, probably caused by behaving in ways that conflict with their true feelings. In situations that demand positive emotions, they may act happy although they are not feeling happy, which puts an emotional burden on them. Finally, high social monitors tend to be less committed to their companies. They may see their jobs as a stepping-stone for greater things, which may prevent them from forming strong attachments and loyalty to their current employer. [47] Proactive PersonalityProactive personality refers to a person’s inclination to fix what is perceived as wrong, change the status quo, and use initiative to solve problems. Instead of waiting to be told what to do, proactive people take action to initiate meaningful change and remove the obstacles they face along the way. In general, having a proactive personality has a number of advantages for these people. For example, they tend to be more successful in their job searches. [48] They are also more successful over the course of their careers, because they use initiative and acquire greater understanding of the politics within the organization. [49] Proactive people are valuable assets to their companies because they may have higher levels of performance. [50] They adjust to their new jobs quickly because they understand the political environment better and often make friends more quickly. [51] Proactive people are eager to learn and engage in many developmental activities to improve their skills. [52] Despite all their potential, under some circumstances a proactive personality may be a liability for an individual or an organization. Imagine a person who is proactive but is perceived as being too pushy, trying to change things other people are not willing to let go, or using their initiative to make decisions that do not serve a company’s best interests. Research shows that the success of proactive people depends on their understanding of a company’s core values, their ability and skills to perform their jobs, and their ability to assess situational demands correctly. [53] Self-EsteemSelf-esteem is the degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about his or herself. People with high self-esteem view themselves in a positive light, are confident, and respect themselves. On the other hand, people with low self-esteem experience high levels of self-doubt and question their self-worth. High self-esteem is related to higher levels of satisfaction with one’s job and higher levels of performance on the job. [54] People with low self-esteem are attracted to situations in which they will be relatively invisible, such as large companies. [55] Managing employees with low self-esteem may be challenging at times, because negative feedback given with the intention to improve performance may be viewed as a judgment on their worth as an employee. Therefore, effectively managing employees with relatively low self-esteem requires tact and providing lots of positive feedback when discussing performance incidents.Self-EfficacySelf-efficacy is a belief that one can perform a specific task successfully. Research shows that the belief that we can do something is a good predictor of whether we can actually do it. Self-efficacy is different from other personality traits in that it is job specific. You may have high self-efficacy in being successful academically, but low self-efficacy in relation to your ability to fix your car. At the same time, people have a certain level of generalized self-efficacy and they have the belief that whatever task or hobby they tackle, they are likely to be successful in it.Research shows that self-efficacy at work is related to job performance. [56] This relationship is probably a result of people with high self-efficacy setting higher goals for themselves and being more committed to these goals, whereas people with low self-efficacy tend to procrastinate. [57] Academic self-efficacy is a good predictor of your GPA, whether you persist in your studies, or drop out of college. [58] Is there a way of increasing employees’ self-efficacy? Hiring people who are capable of performing their tasks and training people to increase their self-efficacy may be effective. Some people may also respond well to verbal encouragement. By showing that you believe they can be successful and effectively playing the role of a cheerleader, you may be able to increase self-efficacy. Giving people opportunities

to test their skills so that they can see what they are capable of doing (or empowering them) is also a good way of increasing self-efficacy. [59] OB Toolbox: Ways to Build Your Self-ConfidenceHaving high self-efficacy and self-esteem are boons to your career. People who have an overall positive view of themselves and those who have positive attitudes toward their abilities project an aura of confidence. How do you achieve higher self-confidence? Take a self-inventory. What are the areas in which you lack confidence? Then consciously tackle

these areas. Take part in training programs; seek opportunities to practice these skills. Confront your fears head-on.

Set manageable goals. Success in challenging goals will breed self-confidence, but do not make your goals impossible to reach. If a task seems daunting, break it apart and set mini goals.

Find a mentor. A mentor can point out areas in need of improvement, provide accurate feedback, and point to ways of improving yourself.

Don’t judge yourself by your failures. Everyone fails, and the most successful people have more failures in life. Instead of assessing your self-worth by your failures, learn from mistakes and move on.

Until you can feel confident, be sure to act confident. Acting confident will influence how others treat you, which will boost your confidence level. Pay attention to how you talk and behave, and act like someone who has high confidence.

Know when to ignore negative advice. If you receive negative feedback from someone who is usually negative, try to ignore it. Surrounding yourself with naysayers is not good for your self-esteem. This does not mean that you should ignore all negative feedback, but be sure to look at a person’s overall attitude before making serious judgments based on that feedback.

Locus of ControlLocus of control deals with the degree to which people feel accountable for their own behaviors. Individuals with high internal locus of control believe that they control their own destiny and what happens to them is their own doing, while those with high external locus of control feel that things happen to them because of other people, luck, or a powerful being. Internals feel greater control over their own lives and therefore they act in ways that will increase their chances of success. For example, they take the initiative to start mentor-protégé relationships. They are more involved with their jobs. They demonstrate higher levels of motivation and have more positive experiences at work. [60] Interestingly, internal locus is also related to one’s subjective well-being and happiness in life, while being high in external locus is related to a higher rate of depression. [61] The connection between internal locus of control and health is interesting, but perhaps not surprising. In fact, one study showed that having internal locus of control at the age of ten was related to a number of health outcomes, such as lower obesity and lower blood pressure later in life. [62] It is possible that internals take more responsibility for their health and adopt healthier habits, while externals may see less of a connection between how they live and their health. Internals thrive in contexts in which they have the ability to influence their own behavior. Successful entrepreneurs tend to have high levels of internal locus of control. [63]

Personality Testing in Employee SelectionPersonality is a potentially important predictor of work behavior. Matching people to jobs matters, because when people do not fit with their jobs or the company, they are more likely to leave, costing companies as much as a person’s annual salary to replace them. In job interviews, companies try to assess a candidate’s personality and the potential for a good match, but interviews are only as good as the people conducting them. In fact, interviewers are not particularly good at detecting the best trait

that predicts performance: conscientiousness. [64] One method some companies use to improve this match and detect the people who are potentially good job candidates is personality testing. Companies such as Kronos and Hogan Assessment Systems conduct preemployment personality tests. Companies using them believe that these tests improve the effectiveness of their selection and reduce turnover. For example, Overnight Transportation in Atlanta found that using such tests reduced their on-the-job delinquency by 50%–100%. [65] Yet, are these methods good ways of selecting employees? Experts have not yet reached an agreement on this subject and the topic is highly controversial. Some experts believe, based on data, that personality tests predict performance and other important criteria such as job satisfaction. However, we must understand that how a personality test is used influences its validity. Imagine filling out a personality test in class. You may be more likely to fill it out as honestly as you can. Then, if your instructor correlates your personality scores with your class performance, we could say that the correlation is meaningful. In employee selection, one complicating factor is that people filling out the survey do not have a strong incentive to be honest. In fact, they have a greater incentive to guess what the job requires and answer the questions to match what they think the company is looking for. As a result, the rankings of the candidates who take the test may be affected by their ability to fake. Some experts believe that this is a serious problem. [66] Others point out that even with faking, the tests remain valid—the scores are still related to job performance. [67] It is even possible that the ability to fake is related to a personality trait that increases success at work, such as social monitoring. This issue raises potential questions regarding whether personality tests are the most effective way of measuring candidate personality.Scores are not only distorted because of some candidates faking better than others. Do we even know our own personality? Are we the best person to ask this question? How supervisors, coworkers, and customers see our personality matters more than how we see ourselves. Therefore, using self-report measures of performance may not be the best way of measuring someone’s personality. [68] We all have blind areas. We may also give “aspirational” answers. If you are asked if you are honest, you may think, “Yes, I always have the intention to be honest.” This response says nothing about your actual level of honesty.There is another problem with using these tests: How good a predictor of performance is personality anyway? Based on research, not a particularly strong one. According to one estimate, personality only explains about 10%–15% of variation in job performance. Our performance at work depends on so many factors, and personality does not seem to be the key factor for performance. In fact, cognitive ability (your overall mental intelligence) is a much more powerful influence on job performance, and instead of personality tests, cognitive ability tests may do a better job of predicting who will be good performers. Personality is a better predictor of job satisfaction and other attitudes, but screening people out on the assumption that they may be unhappy at work is a challenging argument to make in the context of employee selection.In any case, if you decide to use these tests for selection, you need to be aware of their limitations. Relying only on personality tests for selection of an employee is a bad idea, but if they are used together with other tests such as tests of cognitive abilities, better decisions may be made. The company should ensure that the test fits the job and actually predicts performance. This process is called validating the test. Before giving the test to applicants, the company could give it to existing employees to find out the traits that are most important for success in the particular company and job. Then, in the selection context, the company can pay particular attention to those traits. The company should also make sure that the test does not discriminate against people on the basis of sex, race, age, disabilities, and other legally protected characteristics. Rent-A-Center experienced legal difficulties when the test they used was found to be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The test they used for selection, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, was developed to diagnose severe mental illnesses

and included items such as “I see things or people around me others do not see.” In effect, the test served the purpose of a clinical evaluation and was discriminating against people with mental illnesses, which is a protected category under ADA

Attitude In psychology, an attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular object,

person, thing, or event.

Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing.

They can have a powerful influence over behavior.

While attitudes are enduring, they can also change.A Closer Look at AttitudesWhat's your opinion on the death penalty? Which political party does a better job of running the country?

Should prayer be allowed in schools? Should violence on television be regulated?

Chances are that you probably have fairly strong opinions on these and similar questions. You've developed attitudes about such issues, and these attitudes influence your beliefs as well as your behavior. Attitudes are an important topic of study within the field of social psychology.

How Do Psychologists Define Attitudes?Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. This can include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times. For example, you might have mixed feelings about a particular person or issue.

Researchers also suggest that there are several different components that make up attitudes. The components of attitudes are sometimes referred to as CAB or the ABC's of attitude.

1. Cognitive Component: Your thoughts and beliefs about the subject.2. Affective Component: How the object, person, issue or event makes you feel.3. Behavioral Component: How the attitude influences your behavior.

Attitudes can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitudes are those that we are consciously aware of and that clearly influence our behaviors and beliefs. Implicit attitudes are unconscious, but still have an effect on our beliefs and behaviors

There are a number of different factors that can influence how and why attitudes form.

Experience:Attitudes form directly as a result of experience. They may emerge due to direct personal experience, or they may result from observation.

Social Factors:Social roles and social norms can have a strong influence on attitudes. Social roles relate to how people are expected to behave in a particular role or context. Social norms involve society's rules for what behaviors are considered appropriate.

Learning:Attitudes can be learned in a variety of ways. Consider how advertisers use classical conditioning to influence your attitude toward a particular product. In a television commercial, you see young, beautiful people having fun in on a tropical beach while enjoying a sport drink. This attractive and appealing imagery causes you to develop a positive association with this particular beverage.Operant conditioning can also be used to influence how attitudes develop. Imagine a young man who has just started smoking. Whenever he lights up a cigarette, people complain, chastise him and ask him to leave their vicinity. This negative feedback from those around him eventually causes him to develop an unfavorable opinion of smoking and he decides to give up the habit.Finally, people also learn attitudes by observing the people around them. When someone you admire greatly espouses a particular attitude, you are more likely to develop the same beliefs. For example, children spend a great deal of time observing the attitudes of their parents and usually begin to demonstrate similar outlooks.How Do Attitudes Influence Behavior?We tend to assume that people behave in accordance with their attitudes. However, social psychologists have found that attitudes and actual behavior are not always perfectly aligned. After all, plenty of people support a particular candidate or political party and yet fail to go out and vote.

Factors That Influence Attitude StrengthResearchers have discovered that people are more likely to behave according to their attitudes under certain conditions:

When your attitudes are the result of personal experience.

When you are an expert in the subject.

When you expect a favorable outcome.

When the attitudes are repeatedly expressed.

When you stand to win or lose something due to the issue.Attitudes Can Change to Match BehaviorIn some cases, people may actually alter their attitudes in order to better align them with their behavior. Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon in which a person experiences psychological distress due to conflicting thoughts or beliefs. In order to reduce this tension, people may change their attitudes to reflect their other beliefs or actual behaviors.An Example of Changing an Attitude Due to Cognitive DissonanceImagine the following situation: You've always placed a high value on financial security, but you start dating someone who is very financially unstable. In order to reduce the tension caused by the conflicting beliefs and behavior, you have two options.You can end the relationship and seek out a partner who is more financially secure, or you can de-emphasize the importance of fiscal stability. In order to minimize the dissonance between your conflicting attitude and behavior, you either have to change the attitude or change your actions

5 Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence

Self-Awareness Know your own mood and how you feel about itKnow your own emotional strengths and weaknessesKnow words (signs) for your feelings

Know what action options you have (what you can do about your feelings)

Handling Emotions Know how to handle upset feelingsKnow how to calm yourselfKnow how to control impulsesKnow how to stay positive under pressureKnow how to be flexible

Motivation Able to set your own goals and work to achieve those goalsAble to set small steps to achieve large goalsAble to continue to work despite frustration (perseverance)Able to follow through and finish tasks (persistence)

Empathy Able to read and understand other people’s feelingsAble to read body languageAble to take another’s perspectiveWant to help others who are hurt or sad.

Social Skills Able to get along with others

Able to work well in groups and teamsAble to make and keep friendsAble to solve problems and conflicts with othersAble to interact appropriately with different people in different

situations

Categories of Organizational CommitmentGiven that the nature of organizational commitment is layered in terms of one’s possible commitment level, three specific commitment types have been identified:

Affective Commitment – Refers to one’s feelings of loyalty to a company or organization because he or she believes in the organization. This is the most common type studied and refers to "an employee's emotional attachment to and identification with the organization" (PSUWC, 2013). Because of this loyalty, one is fully willing to accept the company’s goals and values as his/her own. Affective commitment can enhance job satisfaction because employees agree with the organization’s objectives and principles, because employees feel they are treated fairly in terms of equity, and because employees receive organizational care, concern, and support (Hawkins, W.D. 1998). Affective commitment involves staying with the organization because you want to (PSUWC, 2013). This type of commitment is typically the result of a supportive work environment in which individuals are treated fairly and the value of individual contributors is embraced.

Continuance Commitment - Refers to an employee feeling that he/she has to stay with the

company because the costs of leaving are too great. This is manifested by an individual who

maintains commitment to the organization because he/she is unable to match salary and/or benefits with another employer. Continuance commitment involves staying with the organization because you have to (PSUWC, 2013). For example, an employee that has already vested many years in a company, building up years of leave, employee benefits (such as pension) and salary. If the employee were to leave to the company, he/she may lose the time vested, as well as seniority and pension loss. It would not be beneficial for this employee to leave, so he stays because he has to, not because he wants to stay loyal to the company. While employees may remain with an organization, they do not necessarily feel compelled to perform at a high level.

Normative Commitment – Of the three types of commitment, normative is the least researched

of all of them and refers to the employee that feels that he/she owes it to the employer to stay out of a perceived obligation. These feelings of obligation may come because the employer took a chance on the employee when nobody else would. In turn, the employee feels indebted to the employer. Therefore, by a show of loyalty and duty, it would be difficult to leave. Normative commitment involves staying with the organization because you ought to (PSUWC, 2013). For example, an employee may feel a sense of obligation to stay with their employer during its time of need even though it is no longer advantageous to do so. They may fear the potential disappointment in their employer or teammates.

Motivational cycleMost of our motives have a cyclical nature- they are aroused, they trigger behaviour, which leads to a goal and finally, after the goal is reached, they are shut off. The behaviour that is related to drive state is called "Instrumental behaviour" because it is instrumental in bringing about the goal or the satisfaction of need.Stages of Motivational Cycle

The first stage of the motivational cycle is the Driving State, simply called as drive. This term is often used when the motive state has a biological or physiological basis. It is regarded as impelling a person or animal to action.

Drives can originate when an organism lacks something. Drives can also be aroused by environmental stimuli, such as advertisements from newspaper magazines and television etc.

For example, when someone sees a sexy picture in a magazine, his sex drive is aroused. Besides all these factors, some cognitive factors like thoughts and memory can also trigger driving states. Very often term "need" is used to refer to the driving state. Drives can originate when an organism lacks something in its needs. This is one meaning of the word need. The need creates a drive state in the organism. It acts as if it pushes the orgs to behave in a certain fashion to satisfy its need.

The second stage of the motivational cycle is the instrumental behaviour. It is instigated by the driving state. Thirst, for example, drives an animal to explore water. Sooner or later this behaviour succeeds, thereby reducing the need and the drive state, in other words, the animal's exploratory behaviour is instrumental in finding water and reducing the thirst drive.

When instrumental behaviour achieves its goal, the need is satisfied there follows a temporary period of relief. This is the third stage of motivational cycle. For example, in thirst, lack of water in the body

produce need and a drive state (first stage); the organism has shown some explore behaviour (second stage) and finally he quenches his thirst by drinking water i.e., reaching the goal (third stage).

When the thirst is satisfied, motivational cycle is over. But when the need for water will build up again, the organism will once more go through motivational cycle.

Goals may be positive or negative. Food, sexual satisfaction and championship are some of the examples of positive goals. These are the goals, which the individual approaches or tries to reach.

On the other hand, negative goals are those, which the organism tries to escape from or avoid. Dangerous, unpleasant and embarrassing situations are some of the examples if negative goals. However, goals depend upon the drives or needs, which are active.

Needs, Drives, and incentives

The terms such as need, drive and motive are frequently used interchangeably. But each term is distinguished from the other.

Motive is a general term, which refers to any process internal or external involved in instigation, direction and termination of behaviour. All voluntary responses involve motivation.

Motivational process consists of (a) a drive state in the individual, (b) the behaviour aroused and directed by this state and (c) le goal towards which the behaviour is directed.

Thus motivation is one of le determinants of behaviour. Motivation is considered to be a state of the individual where his/her energies are mobilized selectively towards the attainment of a goal. It is an internal or external state of an organism that forces it to action- to start upon a sequence of behaviour.

Therefore motivational states are specific to particular "drives" and "needs" and are explained in terms of specific goals and the directions it takes. Motives cannot be observed directly. It is inferred from behaviour of the organism.

Needs are the physiological or environmental imbalances that give rise to rives". A need is the absence of something desired, required for the organism's welfare, individual is aware of his needs when she/he is in a state deprivation. When a person is hungry, he/she needs food, when thirsty needs water, and when alone, needs social companion.

Drives are the effects of the deficits and lacks, which define needs. Drives the tendencies or urges to act in specific ways, determined by the nature the need that gives rise to the drive. For example, on account of fasting, the fed for food gives rise to hunger drive. The hunger drive may then be seen a motive for behaviour relating to eating.

Incentives are motivators of behaviour. Like need and drive incentive motivational concept, which is associated with drive-reduction components or subjective value attached to a goal.

Incentive means value or effectiveness of the goal as a motive for behaviour. For example attractiveness of dress material determines one's behaviour purchasing it. But goals or objectives do not possess the same incentive value for a person; they have low or high incentive values.

Therefore incentives are conditions or objects that are perceived as satisfier of some need. The greater the value of an object the greater is its perceived incentive.

Further, a supplementary reward for example, a bonus in a company job, a merit promotion in an office serves as incentive before reaching the goal. Annual prize ceremony in schools for high rank holders is an incentive better performance in examinations

Motivation in the WorkplaceGenerally speaking, motivation is what energizes, maintains, and controls behavior. As such, it is clear why it plays an important role in the workplace. But empirically measuring that role is another matter; it is challenging to capture an individual's drive in quantitative metrics in order to ascertain the degree to which higher motivation is responsible for higher productivity. However, it is widely accepted that motivated employees generate higher value and lead to more substantial levels of achievement. The management of motivation is therefore a critical element of success in any business; with an increase in productivity, an organization can achieve higher levels of output.Research has shown that motivated employees will:

Always look for a "better" way to complete a task

Be more quality-oriented

Work with higher productivity and efficiency

In summary, motivated employees will retain a high level of innovation while producing higher-quality work more efficiently. There is no downside—i.e., the opportunity cost of motivating employees is essentially zero, assuming it does not require additional capital to coach managers to act as effective motivators.Internal and External MotivationSalary is often enough to keep employees working for an organization, but it's not always necessarily enough to push them to fulfill their full potential. Herzberg's theory emphasizes that while salary is enough to avoid dissatisfaction, it is not necessarily enough to propel employees to increase their productivity and achievement. In fact, the output of employees whose motivation comes solely from salary and benefits tends to decline over time. To increase employees' efficiency and work quality, managers must turn to understanding and responding to individuals' internal and external motivations. External motives include work environment (e.g., cramped cubicle vs. airy, open office); internal motivations include thoughts and emotions (e.g., boredom with performing the same task over and over vs. excitement at being given a wide variety of project types).

Theories of motivationDozens of theories of motivation have been proposed over the years. Here are 5 popular theories of motivation that can help you increase workplace productivity…1. Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

The Two-Factor Theory of motivation (otherwise known as dual-factor theory or motivation-hygiene theory) was developed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg in the 1950s.

Analysing the responses of 200 accountants and engineers who were asked about their positive and negative feelings about their work, Herzberg found 2 factors that influence employee motivation and satisfaction…

1. Motivator factors – Simply put, these are factors that lead to satisfaction and motivate employees to work harder. Examples might include enjoying your work, feeling recognised and career progression.2. Hygiene factors – These factors can lead to dissatisfaction and a lack of motivation if they are absent. Examples include salary, company policies, benefits, relationships with managers and co-workers.

According to Herzberg’s findings, while motivator and hygiene factors both influenced motivation, they appeared to work completely independently of each other…

While motivator factors increased employee satisfaction and motivation, the absence of these factors didn’t necessarily cause dissatisfaction. Likewise, the presence of hygiene factors didn’t appear to increase satisfaction and motivation but their absence caused an increase in dissatisfaction.

How to apply it to the workplace

This theory implies that for the happiest and most productive workforce, you need to work on improving both motivator and hygiene factors.

To help motivate your employees, make sure they feel appreciated and supported. Give plenty of feedback and make sure your employees understand how they can grow and progress through the company.

To prevent job dissatisfaction, make sure that your employees feel that they are treated right by offering them the best possible working conditions and fair pay. Make sure you pay attention to your team and form supportive relationships with them.

Don’t forget that all of your employees are different and what motivates one person might not motivate another. Paul Hebert of Symbolist believes that benefits packages should not be one-size-fits all…

“For true engagement to occur in a company you must first remove the issues that cause dissatisfaction – the baseline benefits offered by the company that satisfy the hygiene needs of the employee. Then you must focus on the individual and what they want out of their association with your enterprise.”

2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The Hierarchy of Needs theory was coined by psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”.

The crux of the theory is that individuals’ most basic needs must be met before they become motivated to achieve higher level needs.

The hierarchy is made up of 5 levels:

1. Physiological – these needs must be met in order for a person to survive, such as food, water and shelter.2. Safety – including personal and financial security and health and wellbeing.

3. Love/belonging – the need for friendships, relationships and family.4. Esteem – the need to feel confident and be respected by others.5. Self-actualisation – the desire to achieve everything you possibly can and become the most that you can be.

According to the hierarchy of needs, you must be in good health, safe and secure with meaningful relationships and confidence before you are able to be the most that you can be.

How to apply it to the workplace

Chip Conley, founder of the Joie de Vivre hotel chain and Head of Hospitality at Airbnb, used the Hierarchy of Needs pyramid to transform his business. According to Chip, many managers struggle with the abstract concept of self actualization and so focus on lower levels of the pyramid instead.

Conley found one way of helping with higher levels was to help his employees understand the meaning of their roles during a staff retreat…

“In one exercise, we got groups of eight housekeepers at a table and asked an abstract question: if someone from Mars came down and saw what you were doing as a housekeeper in a hotel, what name would they call you? They came up with “The Serenity Sisters,” “The Clutter Busters,” and “The Peace of Mind Police.” There was a sense that people were doing more than just cleaning a room. They were creating a space for a traveler who was far away from home to feel safe and protected.”

Conley’s team were able to realise the importance of their job to the company and to the people they were helping. By showing them the value of their roles, the team were able to feel respected and motivated to work harder.

In order to get the most out of your team, you should also make sure you support them in other aspects of their lives outside work. Perhaps you could offer flexible working hours to give employees time to focus on their families and make sure they are paid fairly to help them feel financially stable.

3. Hawthorne Effect

The Hawthorne Effect was first described by Henry A. Landsberger in 1950 who noticed a tendency for some people to work harder and perform better when they were being observed by researchers.

The Hawthorne Effect is named after a series of social experiments on the influence of physical conditions on productivity at Western Electric’s factory at Hawthorne, Chicago in the 1920s and 30s.

The researchers changed a number of physical conditions over the course of the experiments including lighting, working hours and breaks. In all cases, employee productivity increased when a change was made. The researchers concluded that employees became motivated to work harder as a response to the attention being paid to them, rather than the actual physical changes themselves.

How to apply it to the workplace

The Hawthorne Effect studies suggest that employees will work harder if they know they’re being observed. While I don’t recommend hovering over your employees watching them all day, you could

try providing regular feedback, letting your team know that you know what they’re up to and how they’re doing.

Showing your employees that you care about them and their working conditions may also motivate them to work harder. Encourage your team to give you feedback and suggestions about their workspace and development.

4. Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory proposes that people will choose how to behave depending on the outcomes they expect as a result of their behaviour. In other words, we decide what to do based on what we expect the outcome to be. At work, it might be that we work longer hours because we expect a pay rise.

However, Expectancy Theory also suggests that the process by which we decide our behaviours is also influenced by how likely we perceive those rewards to be. In this instance, workers may be more likely to work harder if they had been promised a pay rise (and thus perceived that outcome as very likely) than if they had only assumed they might get one (and perceived the outcome as possible but not likely)

Expectancy Theory is based on three elements:

1. Expectancy – the belief that your effort will result in your desired goal. This is based on your past experience, your self confidence and how difficult you think the goal is to achieve.2. Instrumentality – the belief that you will receive a reward if you meet performance expectations.3. Valence – the value you place on the reward.

Therefore, according to Expectancy Theory, people are most motivated if they believe that they will receive a desired reward if they hit an achievable target. They are least motivated if they don’t want the reward or they don’t believe that their efforts will result in the reward.

How to apply it to the workplace

The key here is to set achievable goals for your employees and provide rewards that they actually want.

Rewards don’t have to come in the form of pay rises, bonuses or all-expenses paid nights out (although I find these are usually welcomed!) Praise, opportunities for progression and “employee of the month” style rewards can all go a long way in motivating your employees.

5. Three-Dimensional Theory of Attribution

Attribution Theory explains how we attach meaning to our own, and other people’s, behaviour. There are a number of theories about attribution.

Bernard Weiner’s Three-Dimensional theory of attribution assumes that people try to determine why we do what we do. According to Weiner, the reasons we attribute to our behaviour can influence how we behave in the future.

For example, a student who fails an exam could attribute their failure to a number of factors and it’s this attribution that will affect their motivation in the future.

Weiner theorised that specific attributions (e.g. bad luck, not studying hard enough) were less important than the characteristics of that attribution. According to Weiner, there are three main characteristics of attributions that can affect future motivation.

1. Stability – how stable is the attribution? For example, if the student believes they failed the exam because they weren’t smart enough, this is a stable factor. An unstable factor is less permanent, such as being ill.

According to Weiner, stable attributions for successful achievements, such as passing exams, can lead to positive expectations, and thus higher motivation, for success in the future.

However, in negative situations, such as failing the exam, stable attributions can lead to lower expectations in the future.

2. Locus of control – was the event caused by an internal or an external factor?

For example, if the student believes it’s their own fault they failed the exam, because they are innately not smart enough (an internal cause), they may be less motivated in the future. If they believed an external factor was to blame, such as poor teaching, they may not experience such a drop in motivation.

3. Controllability – how controllable was the situation? If an individual believes they could have performed better, they may be less motivated to try again in the future than someone who believes they failed because of factors outside of their control.

How to apply it to the workplace

Weiner’s Three-Dimensional theory of attribution has implications for employee feedback.

Make sure you give your employees specific feedback, letting them know that you know they can improve and how they can about it. This, in theory, will help prevent them from attributing their failure to an innate lack of skill and see that success is controllable if they work harder or use different strategies.

You could also praise your employees for showing an improvement, even if the outcome was still not correct. For example, you might praise someone for using the correct methodology even though the results weren’t what you wanted. This way, you are encouraging employees to attribute the failure to controllable factors, which again, can be improved upon in the future.

Content Theories

Focuses on the content of motivation, or the needs that motivate us to take action and achieve goals that satisfy these needs. Content theories include:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs : our behaviour and actions are driven by a ‘hierarchy’ of needs where lower level needs, such as survival, must be satisfied before we are motivated to meet higher level needs, such as ‘feeling connected’ and self-actualisation.

Alderfer’s ERG Theory : uses empirical research to modify Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to: Existence, Relatedness and Growth (‘ERG’). Alderfer’s needs can operate at the same time, rather than in

a hierachy. Where higher level e.g. self-actualisation needs are frustrated, we seek out greater satisfaction of a lower lever need e.g. financial security, to compensate.

Herzberg’s Motivators & Hygiene Theory : two groups of factors affect motivation at work. Intrinsic ‘motivators’ (relate to Maslow’s higher needs) such as achievement and recognition can positively influence motivation, while extrinsic ‘hygiene factors’ (relate toMaslow’s lower needs) such as pay and working conditions can negatively impact motivation if they are not satisfactory. Hygiene factors do not motivate, but can negatively affect motivation if they are absent. Motivators improve motivation but do not eliminate dissatisfaction.

McClelland’s Theory : we are motivated by three forces Achievement, Power and Affiliation. The intensity of each varies by individual and one will tend to dominate.

The following theories explain manager’s attitudes towards people, which in turn influence how they will try to motivate employees. These theories include:

McGregor’s Theory X & Y : a manager’s style reflects their attitudes to people and about human behaviour / nature. It is either: ‘X’ negative, needing coercion to work, or ‘Y’ positive, that work is a natural state and that people are self-controlling.

The theory can also be related to Maslow: ‘X’ indicates where lower order needs are influencing motivation and ‘Y’ reflects motivation by higher order needs.

3. Process Theories

Process theories focus on the process of motivation. They try to identify the variables that influence motivation, the relationship between them and how their design can be improved in order to improve motivation.

Process theories include Expectancy-based models and Equity, Goal and Attribution Theories.

Expectancy-based models are based on the premise that people’s motivation is influenced by the expected results of their actions. Key theories include:

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory : motivation is a function of three variables, Valence: the preference for a particular outcome, Instrumentality: the extent to which these outcomes to lead to second-level outcomes and Expectancy: the probability that the action will lead to the preferred first-level outcome. Valence and Expectancy combine to form the ‘motivational force’.<

Porter and Lawler’s Expectancy Model : further developed Vroom’s model, stating that motivational force (effort) does not lead directly to the desired level of performance, as it is moderated by a person’s abilities, traits and role perceptions.

Lawler’s Revised Expectancy Model : further developed that model by defining two types of expectancy. The first is the probability that the effort will lead to the intended level of performance and second, the probability that the given level of performance will deliver the need-related outcome. Both probabilities are measured on a scale of 0 to 1, when 0 is zero probability and 1 is certainty.

See also House and House and Dessler Path Goal Theory : a contingency theory of leadership that is based on expectancy models of motivation.

Ways to Reduce Inequity

Employer Options

Employers also need to remember that employees can value different outcomes. For example, younger employees tend to value more pay (Miles, et. al., 1994). Even if an employee receives a higher salary than their co-worker they could still develop a perception of inequity if that co-worker has a flexible schedule, and a flexible schedule is more valuable to them than extra salary. To combat this problem, employers can implement two strategies. First, they could continually request feedback from employees to determine what they value and how they would prefer to be compensated. Another strategy used by employers is to offer a choice in benefits. For example, one employee might want to use a health flexible spending account while another employee might prefer to have a dependent care flexible spending account. Employers can offer choices on health or dental insurance as well as other choices among benefits. This type of plan, called a cafeteria style, allows employees to select outcomes that they value most. This can help prevent perceptions of inequity because each employee has the outcomes that they value the highest. This helps increase their ratio of inputs to outcomes when compared to their co-workers.

Employers can also utilize intangible rewards such as a pat on the back, a luncheon, or even simple praise in front of co-workers. These simple intangible rewards can help balance a measure of inputs and outcomes.

Utilizing equity theory to understand how employees measure their inputs and outcomes can help employers prevent problems related to perceptions of inequity, such as reduced productivity or theft. In addition to reducing or preventing negative behavior, employers will maintain satisfied and motivated employees.

Behavioral Options-

1. Changing their input to match outcomes (e.g., leaving early or slacking off) ("Motivation theories," 2009)2. Change outcomes to match inputs (e.g., asking for a pay increase, stealing) ("Motivation theories," 2009)3. Persuading others to change inputs (e.g., complaining to superiors) ("Motivation theories," 2009)4. Withdrawal (e.g., tardiness or turnover) ("Motivation theories," 2009)

Behavioral options in reducing inequity involve risks. Many times employees find themselves avoiding these options because pursuing one of them and failing it could be detrimental to the level of future rewards. As a result, the individual may end up feeling worse than before. Often employees decide to restore equity through mental processes instead (cognitively). Altering your thought process is not perceived as the easier option; but it produces a minimal risk factor in comparison to changing your behavior. (Redmond 2013)

Cognitive Options-

1. Distort one's own inputs or outcomes (e.g., "I'm not really working that hard," "I have a lot of free time") ("Motivation theories," 2009).

2. Distort the inputs or outcomes of others (e.g., he/she gets more money than me but they have to live in Buffalo) ("Motivation theories," 2009).

3. Change the comparison others ("Motivation theories," 2009). The longer a person has had their comparison other the harder it is to change.

Equity Theory ComponentsAdams' equity theory is based on a ratio consisting of inputs to outcomes (Adams, 1963). Inputs consist of contributions by an individual. An attribute is only considered an input if it is perceived as relevant by the individual (Adams, 1963). Inputs can include abilities, effort, performance, age, seniority, education, and other attributes. Outcomes are the rewards an individual receives for their inputs (Adams, 1963). Outcomes can include pay, benefits, status symbols, and even intrinsic rewards (Adams, 1963). The value of an outcome is determined by the recipient (Adams, 1963), so no outcome has a specific objective measure. For example, an individual might rate their college degree as a more valuable input than the college degree of another person due to their perception on a college's prestige. Or an individual makes more money than a co-worker but has a less flexible schedule; they might value the flexible schedule more than their extra income. An individual calculates their subjective value of inputs and outcomes then compares it to others’ ratios in order to determine if it is equitable.

Equity theory can be applied in almost any exchange situation, so there are a multitude of components that can be listed as inputs or outcomes. There also can be significant difficulty in determining these exact components due to their subjective nature (Siegel, Schraeder, & Morrison, 2007). Siegel, et al. found that there might be patterns to how individuals cognitively frame inputs and outcomes. For example, employees tend to distinguish inputs based on whether they are controllable, such as communications or attendance, or non-controllable, such as seniority or job training (Siegel, et. al., 2007). Employees also distinguish differing characteristics of outcomes (Siegel, et. al., 2007). Outcomes are evaluated on whether they are economic or non-economic and whether they are personalized or generalized outcomes (Siegel, et. al., 2007). It is important to understand if there are general guides for how employees evaluate inputs and outcomes, in order to help prevent perceptions of inequality. It is important for managers and employers to find a suitable measure between them (Cory, 2006).

If managers can help prevent perceptions of inequality they can help prevent their employees from becoming de-motivated. “Swinton (2006) developed a list of ways an employee can express motivation.

There needs to be a balance between the inputs and outputs received.

The employee must also be content when trying to perceive these all in balance.

However, if an employee’s perceived input is greater than their perceived outcomes, they can become de-motivated and engage in disruptive behaviors (Swinton, 2006). Examples of disruptive behaviors include decreasing productivity, theft, increased breaks, or absenteeism. Management can do a lot to prevent perceptions of inequity, the assessment of inputs and outcomes will remain based on individual's subjective perception (Adams, 1963).

Although management can do a lot to prevent perceptions of inequity, the assessment of inputs and outcomes will remain based on an individual’s subjective perception (Adams, 1963).

Equity SensitivityIndividuals are happier and experience less tension when they are equitably rewarded, as opposed to experiencing under-reward or over-reward (Austin & Walster, 1974). Equity theory is based on the “norm of equity” which assumes that everyone is equally sensitive to equity and inequity (Huseman, et. al., 1987). This means that everyone experiences the same level of tension when they experience the same level of inequity; however, this isn’t always true. Research has found that other norms may exist which are dependent upon factors such as age or personality (Huseman, et. al., 1987).

The Equity Sensitivity Construct describes a spectrum of varying sensitivities to equity and inequity (Huseman, et. al., 1987). The idea of equity sensitivity determines the extent to which an individual will tolerate inequity. There are three categories of individuals identified along the equity sensitivity spectrum: benevolents, equity sensitives, and entitleds (Huseman, et. al.,1987). Benevolents are “givers” and are more tolerant of underreward inequity (Huseman, et. al., 1987). Equity sensitives are in the middle of the spectrum, and behave in accordance with the “norm of equity” and equity theory. Equity sensitives experience tension with inequity and will seek to restore a balance of equity in their relationships (Huseman, et. al., 1987). On the other end of the spectrum is the entitleds. Entitleds prefer to be over-rewarded. As the name indicates, entitleds are individuals who frequently have an attitude that they are owed and thus are entitled to great outcomes.

Equity sensitives will experience distress when faced with either type of inequity: under-reward or over-reward. Benevolents will experience distress and possibly guilt when they in a situation of over-reward. Because benevolents don’t necessarily seek out under-reward, they might not experience distress when in an equitable relationship. Entitleds experience distress when in an equitable or under-reward situation.

The Equity Sensitivity Construct is useful to understanding equity theory and individual behavior; however, the three categories of equity sensitivity don’t account for all individual differences in preferences and behavior.

Individuals might show different equity sensitivities in different contexts (Huseman, et. al., 1987). For example, an individual might be equity sensitive in their personal relationships, preferring an equitable balance; however, they might be an entitled at work and feel comfortable with over-reward.

In addition to preferring different outcome ratios, equity sensitivity groups also differ in their preference for types of outcomes (Miles, Hatfield, & Huseman, 1994). Specifically there are differences in preference for extrinsic tangible outcomes versus intrinsic outcomes (Miles, et. al., 1994). Entitleds have a stronger preference for extrinsic tangible outcomes (Miles, et. al., 1994). A specific example of

this is in the realm of pay: entitleds rate pay higher in importance than the other two equity sensitivity groups (Miles, et. al., 1994). Conversely, benevolents rate extrinsic outcomes lower in preference and show a stronger preference for intrinsic outcomes (Miles, et. al., 1994). It is possible that some of these differences can be attributed to other factors such as age. Younger workers and older workers value different things and the meaning of work varies by age (Smith, 2000). With this is mind, it is possible that age, or other external factors, might play a part in which equity sensitivity group an individual is likely to be in.

Effective GoalsChallenging: Your goals should be realistic and suited to your present capabilities. You can’t go from habitual couch potato to world-class athlete overnight, or recover the “look” you had in your 20's if you’re pushing 60 right now. Small, progressive steps toward reasonable, long-term goals are crucial to success. But your goals should also push you to extend yourself beyond where you already are.Otherwise you will get bored and quit the game.

Example: It's great to work on drinking those eight cups of water everyday, but people do not lose weight from water drinking alone. Get thee off thy butt and go do something that makes you sweat. Then you'll need the water and it won't be so hard to drink.

1. Attainable: Don't take the challenging characteristic (above) too far. Make sure you can actually achieve what you're setting out to do. Otherwise, you will get frustrated and quit the game.

Example: Sixty minutes of aerobic exercise may be better than 30 minutes, but two hours may not be—especially if you're so worn out afterward that you have to stop exercising completely for a while. You can always build up the time and intensity of your workouts as your fitness level improves over time.

2. Specific: Trying to "do your best" or "do better" is like trying to eat the hole in a donut. There's nothing there to chew on or digest. You need to define some very specific, concrete, and measurable action-steps that tell you what your goal looks like in real-life terms. Include how you will measure your results so you can tell whether you are getting anywhere.

Example: If you want to get a handle on emotional eating and you've decided that keeping a journal may help, set aside scheduled time to do your writing each day; set up some specific changes in your behavior that you want this work to produce (like not eating after your last scheduled snack); and create a time interval and/or method to figure out whether your journaling is helping you reach that goal or not.

3. Time-limited: Goals need to come with deadlines, due dates, and payoff schedules. Otherwise, they'll fade into the background with your daily hubbub, and you'll quit playing the game. If your long-term goal is going to take a while to reach, create some intermediate- and short-term goals. These will make your larger goal seem less daunting and keep you focused on what you can do here and now to help yourself get there.

Example: If your overall goal is to have the weight off in one year, make sure you set up some intermediate weight goals to serve as check points along the way. Otherwise, those small things you

need to do every day, and the small successes you achieve, can seem so insignificant compared to how much further you still have to go that you may lose interest.

4. Positive: Goals should always be framed in positive terms. Humans are not designed to white-knuckle their way through life, always trying to not do things or to avoid certain thoughts, feelings, actions or circumstances. We are much better at approaching what we DO want than avoiding what we don't want.

Example: If you want to reduce the amount of “junk” food you eat, frame that goal in positive words likeincreasing the amount of calories you eat from healthy foods, and identifying which healthy foods you want to eat more. Instead of trying to eliminate chocolate treats, for example, plan a low-fat yogurt with fruit for your sweet snack. If you do this for a few weeks, your brain will disconnect the habitual association between treat and chocolate and make a new one with the yogurt and fruit. And you’ll be just as happy with this new treat!

5. Flexible: Good strategies and goals are always flexible, because nothing in this world stays the same for very long, and staying alive and on course means being able to adapt to changing circumstances.

Example: You are always going to run into circumstances that make it difficult to stick to your diet or exercise plan—special occasions, unexpected schedule conflicts, even just a really hard day where you need a break from the routine for your mental health. Your goals should include some contingency plans for dealing with these problems so that you don’t fall into that all-or-nothing thinking that lets one difficult situation become an excuse for ditching your whole plan.

And remember, meeting your goals is 90% attitude. No one is perfect, and you’re going to have days where you just don’t do what you set out to. Make sure you build up some good stress management habits and tools to help you deal with those days without losing sight of your long-term goals, or losing your motivation.

Types of teams

Teams can be formed anywhere, anytime whenever the task is little difficult and complicated. Let us understand the various types of teams in detail.

1. Permanent teams- These teams perform on a permanent basis and are not dissolved once the task is accomplished. Let us understand the concept with an example.

Mike, Peter, Joe and Ana had a strong inclination towards branding as well as promotions and hence were a part of the branding team with a leading organization. They were primarily responsible for promoting their brand and designing marketing strategies to generate maximum revenue for their organization. They worked extremely hard and always managed to achieve their targets well in advance, but their team was always in place and never dissolved. Their organization never asked them to leave or ever dissolved their team. Such teams are called permanent teams.

Work or no work, the human resources team, operation team, administration team always function effectively through out the year and hence are permanent teams.

2. Temporary teams - Unlike permanent teams, temporary teams loose their importance, once the task is accomplished. Such teams are usually formed for a shorter duration either to assist the permanent team or work when the members of the permanent team are busy in some other project.

When organizations have excess of work, they generally form temporary teams which work in association with the members of the permanent team for the accomplishment of the task within the stipulated time.

3. Task Force - Such teams are formed for a special purpose of working on any specific project or finding a solution to a very critical problem.

The government generally appoints special teams to investigate critical issues like bomb blasts, terrorist attacks and so on. The task force explores all the possible reasons which led to a severe problem and tries to resolve it within a given deadline.

4. Committee - Committees are generally formed to work on a particular assignment either permanently or on a temporary basis. Individuals with common interests, more or less from the same background, attitude come together on a common platform to form a committee and work on any matter.

To organize any cultural event, organizations generally make committees to raise funds, invite celebrities and all the major tasks involved to successfully organize any event. The committee members work together, design strategies to successfully accomplish the task.

In educational institutes, various committees are formed where students with a common interest join hands to organize cultural events and various other activities required for the all round development of students.

5. Organization/Work Force - Such groups are formed in organizations where team members work together under the expert guidance of leader. A leader or a supervisor is generally appointed among the members itself and he along with his team works hard to achieve a common goal. The leader all through must stand by his team and extract the best out of each team member. He must not underestimate any of his team members and take his team along to avoid conflicts.

Samuel was working with a leading advertising firm with two members reporting to him. Samuel always believed in his team members and worked together with his team and no doubts his team always did wonders and was way ahead of others.

6. Self Managed Teams - Self Managed Teams consist of individuals who work together again for a common purpose but without the supervision of any leader. Here as the name suggests every individual is accountable for his individual performance. The team members of self managed teams must respect each other and should never loose focus on their target. No leader is

appointed and the team members have to take their own responsibility. Individuals take the initiative on their own and are their own guides and mentors.

7. Virtual Teams - Virtual teams consist of individuals who are separated by distances and connected through computer. Here individuals communicate with each other online through internet. Sam at Los Angeles can form a team with Mandy at Mexico and Sara at Denver all working for a common objective but the communication is totally digital through internet. Such teams are helpful when employees need to connect with each other and are located at different places. Individuals supporting any community in social networking sites such as facebook or orkut also form a virtual team as all the members are from different locations but support a common community. They all have a common objective -to support and promote their community.

Team effectiveness model

The first class in the Executive MBA program at the Naval Postgraduate School is a course on managing teams. What my classmates and I learned during orientation week is that the program has a strong team component, and that the NPS has seen improved effectiveness by participants when starting the program with this course. Central to this improved effectiveness is a model[1] introduced by McShane and VonGinow that provides a framework for discussing and evaluating team effectiveness in general. In my own journey to define team effectiveness, I hit upon parts of this framework, about which I’ve written previously. However, seeing it all together in one model brought it home for me in a way that I haven’t achieved on my own. In this post I’d like to share the parts of this model, along with applying the model to my own recent experiences with building and leading effective teams.

The model starts with a description of the Organizational and Team Environment, defined by contextual factors that influence a team’s design, processes, and outcomes at the start:

Reward systems – how members are at least partly rewarded for participation; Communication systems – how the team communicated both internally and externally, which is

of special criticality for virtual teams; Physical space – the co-location and layout of physical space for the team; Organizational environment – the collection of resources, policies, procedures, expectations,

and regulations the surround the team; Organizational structure – the relationship between the team and key stakeholders, along with

the reporting structure; and Organizational leadership – the degree of buy-in and support the team can expect to receive

from key leaders outside the team.In my own recent experiences with leading teams to develop strategies for purchasing the goods and services we need for Mission Control-Houston, astronaut training facilities, mission planning systems, and mission operations “plan/train/fly” services, I’ve hit upon all of these. Regular readers of Leading Space will note that I’ve spent quite a bit of my own time over the last few years writing on human spaceflight policy and fiscal matters, and engaging the teams I lead in conversation on how those might impact our workings as a team. (That’s a check in the Organizational environment column.) Through experience, I’ve developed and shared a working understanding of the supporting and stakeholder organizations in our work, which are different than what is typically encountered by the team members. (Check in the Organizational structure column.) I’ve also taken great pains to work with upper

management in my organization to outline expectations, timetables and communication mechanisms, and to have the upper management address the team at a kick-off meeting before the team starts work. (Check in the Organizational leadership and Communication systems columns.) I arrange for the team members to be assigned to the team full-time for the duration of the effort, and for us to be co-located in a secure facility affectionately known as “The Bunker.” (Check for the Physical space column.) Lastly, I arrange with management for specialty rewards and recognitions for team members, and provide inputs into their respective performance reviews. (Check for the Reward systems column.) Based on this model, I’m doing well at identifying and addressing all of the contextual factors that can influence the good start of a team. I just need to keep at it and continue to find ways to improve my performance in each.The next major area of the model is Team Design, consisting of the following elements:

Task characteristics – a categorization of the work of the team in terms of degree of interdependence: reciprocal, sequential, or pooled;

Team size – the number of people on the team (theories abound as to the ideal number; the best number is the amount necessary to do the work, and no more); and

Team composition – the balance between homogeneity (to unify) and diversity (to broaden possibilities).

Regular readers of Leading Space will note that I’ve devoted a lot of effort to the team composition element, one that I’ve determined previously as being critical to team success. The model agrees that it is an important component, but not a sole criterion for success. Team size and task characteristics are important as well, and these are areas that I’ll need to address carefully in the future. For instance, on task characteristics I’ve defaulted to an approach assuming the work requires reciprocal interdependence, meaning that it is highly interactive and collaborative. This is born out by the fact that I led most of the work through long team meetings in a conference room. In retrospect, a significant fraction of the work doesn’t require that approach, and might be better suited to a sequential or pooled approach. Additionally, I’ve tended towards teams with 7 members, because that is the maximum I’m permitted under current guidelines. However, there are clear instances where a smaller team (say, 4-5) is more appropriate. Both of these are something for me to emphasize for future teams.

The third major area of the model is Team Processes, consisting of the following elements: Team development – this is the “forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning”

lifecycle of a team; Team norms – the list of behaviors that the team agrees to exhibit and discourage, developed

and agreed to by the team itself; Team roles – the functions and positions held by team members that permit the team to

perform work; Team cohesiveness – the degree of attraction the members feel towards the team and their

motivation to remain team members, driven by interactions, feedback, and team “maintenance” functions; and

Boundary management – addresses who is and is not on the team, and who the other critical “partners” are in other parts of the organization.

Assessing my performance in the area, I see lots of reason to be pleased. With each of the team I lead a team norms development meeting where we establish and agree to the norms of behavior for the team, which are posted in the common area and are enforced by each team member. I’ve also shared the team lifecycle description with team members and use the language during the entire time the team is together, such as “we’re storming!” or “we’re really performing!” As for roles, I strike a balance between initiative of individual team members to tackle what needs to get done, as well as to assign

tasks to members based on preferences, aptitude, experience, and natural talents. As for cohesiveness, we spend time talking about non-team related items, whether they are happenings in the larger space community, or about our respective interests and activities outside work. We also routinely get away from the Bunker and each lunch together every Friday. Still, I could do a bit more in this area, such as starting the team with sharing stories about ourselves, which I have seen other leaders use quite effectively. Finally, I haven’t addressed boundary management in my previous teams. This is definitely worth adding to my repertoire.

The final area of the model is Team Effectiveness, which addresses the elements that define team success. These are as follows:

Achieve organizational goals – obviously, did the team deliver meaningful results? Satisfy member needs – were the needs of individual team members met? Team growth/learning – did the team members learn something new from the experience? Maintain team survival – for continuing teams, do they survive outside challenges and threats? Satisfy outside stakeholder needs – obviously, did the work of the team meet expectations?

Assessing my performance in this area, again I’m rather pleased. I’ve focused on achieving organizational goals and satisfying outside stakeholder needs, so nothing more needs to be discussed here. I’ve also put special emphasis on team members learning something new from having been a part of the team, such as learning more about the business side of NASA, or about the other team members. Both will have benefits that extend beyond the lifetime of the team, and carryover into the work when the team members return to their respective parts of the organization. However, I can see room for improvement on satisfying member needs. This starts with a question, up front: what are your needs? From there, continue to monitor and reassess to ensure that individual needs are being met to the most practicable extent.

I continue ahead in the Executive MBA program with a concrete example of a benefit from participation. I would not have received the affirmation of a sound approach to building and leading teams that I’ve built on my own. I also now have several areas for improvement identified by this model, which I will implement right away. Overall, I’m pleased and excited and am looking forward to new discoveries as I continue in the program.

Stages of team development

Forming

In this stage, most team members are positive and polite. Some are anxious, as they haven't fully understood what work the team will do. Others are simply excited about the task ahead.

As leader, you play a dominant role at this stage, because team members' roles and responsibilities aren't clear.

This stage can last for some time, as people start to work together, and as they make an effort to get to know their new colleagues.

Storming

Next, the team moves into the storming phase, where people start to push against the boundaries established in the forming stage. This is the stage where many teams fail.

Storming often starts where there is a conflict between team members' natural working styles. People may work in different ways for all sorts of reasons but, if differing working styles cause unforeseen problems, they may become frustrated.

Storming can also happen in other situations. For example, team members may challenge your authority, or jockey for position as their roles are clarified. Or, if you haven't defined clearly how the team will work, people may feel overwhelmed by their workload, or they could be uncomfortable with the approach you're using.

Some may question the worth of the team's goal, and they may resist taking on tasks.

Team members who stick with the task at hand may experience stress, particularly as they don't have the support of established processes, or strong relationships with their colleagues.

Norming

Gradually, the team moves into the norming stage. This is when people start to resolve their differences, appreciate colleagues' strengths, and respect your authority as a leader.

Now that your team members know one another better, they may socialize together, and they are able to ask one another for help and provide constructive feedback. People develop a stronger commitment to the team goal, and you start to see good progress towards it.

There is often a prolonged overlap between storming and norming, because, as new tasks come up, the team may lapse back into behavior from the storming stage.

Performing

The team reaches the performing stage, when hard work leads, without friction, to the achievement of the team's goal. The structures and processes that you have set up support this well.

As leader, you can delegate much of your work, and you can concentrate on developing team members.

It feels easy to be part of the team at this stage, and people who join or leave won't disrupt performance.

Adjourning

Many teams will reach this stage eventually. For example, project teams exist for only a fixed period, and even permanent teams may be disbanded through organizational restructuring.

Team members who like routine, or who have developed close working relationships with colleagues, may find this stage difficult, particularly if their future now looks uncertain.

Causes of team cohesivenessAttraction, task commitment and group pride are also said to cause group cohesion. Each cause is expanded upon below.

Attraction[edit]

Festinger and colleagues (1950) proposed the theory of group cohesiveness that suggests that cohesiveness can be considered as attractiveness to individuals within the group and attractiveness to the group as a whole.[7] Lott and Lott argue that interpersonal attraction within the group is sufficient to account for group cohesion.[8] In other words, group cohesion exists when its members have mutual positive feelings towards one another.

Other theorists believe that attraction to the group as a whole causes group cohesion. [9][10] This concept of being attracted to the group itself is reminiscent of the social identity theory. According to Hogg (1992), group cohesiveness is based on social attraction, which refers to "attraction among members of a salient social group"(p. 100).[9] Hogg usesself-categorization theory to explain how group cohesiveness develops from social attraction. The theory states that when looking at others' similarities and differences, individuals mentally categorize themselves and others as part of a group, in-group members, or as not part of a group, out-group members. From this type of categorizing, the stereotypes of their group becomes more prominent in the individual’s mind. This leads the individual to think and behave according to group norms, thus resulting in attraction to the group as a whole. This process is known as depersonalization of self-perception. The social attraction (as used in Hogg's theory) refers to the liking of depersonalized characteristics, the prototype of the group, which is distinct from interpersonal attraction among individuals within the group. It is also important to note that group cohesiveness is more associated with group attraction than with attraction to individual members. [10]

Group pride[edit]

Many theorists believe that group cohesion results from a deep sense of "we-ness," or belonging to a group as a whole.[11][12] By becoming enthusiastically involved in the efforts of the group and by recognizing the similarities that exist among group members, more cohesion is formed. Furthermore, group pride creates a sense of community that strengthens the bonds of unity that link group members to one another.

Task commitment[edit]

Other theorists stress that cohesion comes from group members’ commitment to work together to complete their shared tasks and accomplish their collective tasks or goals.[13][14] Members of task-oriented groups typically exhibit great interdependence and often possess feelings of responsibility for the group’s outcomes. The bonds of unity that develop from members’ concerted effort to achieve their common goals are considered indicative of group cohesion.

Factors[edit]

The forces that push group members together can be positive (group-based rewards) or negative (things lost upon leaving the group). The main factors that influence group cohesiveness are: members’ similarity,[15][16] group size,[17] entry difficulty,[18] group success[19][20] and external competition and threats.

[21][22] Often, these factors work through enhancing the identification of individuals with the group they belong to as well as their beliefs of how the group can fulfill their personal needs.

Similarity of group members[edit]

Similarity of group members has different influences on group cohesiveness depending on how to define this concept. Lott and Lott (1965) who refer to interpersonal attraction as group cohesiveness conducted an extensive review on the literature and found that individuals’ similarities in background (e.g., race, ethnicity, occupation, age), attitudes, values and personality traits have generally positive association with group cohesiveness.

On the other hand, from the perspective of social attraction as the basis of group cohesiveness, similarity among group members is the cue for individuals to categorize themselves and others into either an ingroup or outgroup.[10] In this perspective, the more prototypical similarity individuals feel between themselves and other ingroup members, the stronger the group cohesiveness will be. [10]

In addition, similar background makes it more likely that members share similar views on various issues, including group objectives, communication methods and the type of desired leadership. In general, higher agreement among members on group rules and norms results in greater trust and less dysfunctional conflict. This, in turn, strengthens both emotional and task cohesiveness. [citation needed]

Entry difficulty[edit]

Difficult entry criteria or procedures to a group tend to present it in more exclusive light. The more elite the group is perceived to be, the more prestigious it is to be a member in that group [citation needed]. As shown in dissonance studies conducted by Aronson and Mills (1959) and confirmed by Gerard and Mathewson (1966), this effect can be due to dissonance reduction (see cognitive dissonance). Dissonance reduction can occur when a person has endured arduous initiation into a group; if some aspects of the group are unpleasant, the person may distort their perception of the group because of the difficulty of entry.[18] Thus, the value of the group increases in the group member's mind.

Group Size[edit]

Small groups are more cohesive than large groups. This is often caused by social loafing, a theory that says individual members of a group will actually put in less effort, because they believe other members will make up for the slack. It has been found that social loafing is eliminated when group members believe their individual performances are identifiable - much more the case in smaller groups. [23]

Causes of ConflictOrganizational StructureConflict tends to take different forms, depending upon the organizational structure. [1] For example, if a company uses a matrix structure as its organizational form, it will have decisional conflict built in, because the structure specifies that each manager report to two bosses. For example, global company ABB Inc. is organized around a matrix structure based on the dimensions of country and industry. This structure can lead to confusion as the company is divided geographically into 1,200 different units and by industry into 50 different units. [2] Limited ResourcesResources such as money, time, and equipment are often scarce. Competition among people or departments for limited resources is a frequent cause for conflict. For example, cutting-edge laptops and gadgets such as a BlackBerry or iPhone are expensive resources that may be allocated to employees on a need-to-have basis in some companies. When a group of employees have access to such resources while

others do not, conflict may arise among employees or between employees and management. While technical employees may feel that these devices are crucial to their productivity, employees with customer contact such as sales representatives may make the point that these devices are important for them to make a good impression to clients. Because important resources are often limited, this is one source of conflict many companies have to live with.

Task InterdependenceAnother cause of conflict is task interdependence; that is, when accomplishment of your goal requires reliance on others to perform their tasks. For example, if you’re tasked with creating advertising for your product, you’re dependent on the creative team to design the words and layout, the photographer or videographer to create the visuals, the media buyer to purchase the advertising space, and so on. The completion of your goal (airing or publishing your ad) is dependent on others.

Incompatible GoalsSometimes conflict arises when two parties think that their goals are mutually exclusive. Within an organization, incompatible goals often arise because of the different ways department managers are compensated. For example, a sales manager’s bonus may be tied to how many sales are made for the company. As a result, the individual might be tempted to offer customers “freebies” such as expedited delivery in order to make the sale. In contrast, a transportation manager’s compensation may be based on how much money the company saves on transit. In this case, the goal might be to eliminate expedited delivery because it adds expense. The two will butt heads until the company resolves the conflict by changing the compensation scheme. For example, if the company assigns the bonus based on profitability of a sale, not just the dollar amount, the cost of the expediting would be subtracted from the value of the sale. It might still make sense to expedite the order if the sale is large enough, in which case both parties would support it. On the other hand, if the expediting negates the value of the sale, neither party would be in favor of the added expense.

Personality DifferencesPersonality differences among coworkers are common. By understanding some fundamental differences among the way people think and act, we can better understand how others see the world. Knowing that these differences are natural and normal lets us anticipate and mitigate interpersonal conflict—it’s often not about “you” but simply a different way of seeing and behaving. For example, Type A individuals have been found to have more conflicts with their coworkers than Type B individuals. [3] Communication ProblemsSometimes conflict arises simply out of a small, unintentional communication problem, such as lost e-mails or dealing with people who don’t return phone calls. Giving feedback is also a case in which the best intentions can quickly escalate into a conflict situation. When communicating, be sure to focus on behavior and its effects, not on the person. For example, say that Jeff always arrives late to all your meetings. You think he has a bad attitude, but you don’t really know what Jeff’s attitude is. You do know, however, the effect that Jeff’s behavior has on you. You could say, “Jeff, when you come late to the meeting, I feel like my time is wasted.” Jeff can’t argue with that statement, because it is a fact of the impact of his behavior on you. It’s indisputable, because it is your reality. What Jeff can say is that he did not intend such an effect, and then you can have a discussion regarding the behavior.

In another example, the Hershey Company was engaged in talks behind closed doors with Cadbury Schweppes about a possible merger. No information about this deal was shared with Hershey’s major stakeholder, the Hershey Trust. When Robert Vowler, CEO of the Hershey Trust, discovered that talks were underway without anyone consulting the Trust, tensions between the major stakeholders began to rise. As Hershey’s continued to underperform, steps were taken in what is now called the “Sunday night

massacre,” in which several board members were forced to resign and Richard Lenny, Hershey’s then current CEO, retired. [4] This example shows how a lack of communication can lead to an escalation of conflict. Time will tell what the lasting effects of this conflict will be, but in the short term, effective communication will be the key. Now, let’s turn our attention to the outcomes of conflict.

5 Conflict Management Styles

Here are the five conflict management styles according to Thomas, K.W., and R.H. Kilmann:

1. Accommodating – This is when you cooperate to a high-degree, and it may be at your own expense, and actually work against your own goals, objectives, and desired outcomes. This approach is effective when the other party is the expert or has a better solution. It can also be effective for preserving future relations with the other party.

2. Avoiding – This is when you simply avoid the issue. You aren’t helping the other party reach their goals, and you aren’t assertively pursuing your own. This works when the issue is trivial or when you have no chance of winning. It can also be effective when the issue would be very costly. It’s also very effective when the atmosphere is emotionally charged and you need to create some space. Sometimes issues will resolve themselves, but “hope is not a strategy”, and, in general, avoiding is not a good long term strategy.

3. Collaborating – This is where you partner or pair up with the other party to achieve both of your goals. This is how you break free of the “win-lose” paradigm and seek the “win-win.” This can be effective for complex scenarios where you need to find a novel solution. This can also mean re-framing the challenge to create a bigger space and room for everybody’s ideas. The downside is that it requires a high-degree of trust and reaching a consensus can require a lot of time and effort to get everybody on board and to synthesize all the ideas.

4. Competing – This is the “win-lose” approach. You act in a very assertive way to achieve your goals, without seeking to cooperate with the other party, and it may be at the expense of the other party. This approach may be appropriate for emergencies when time is of the essence, or when you need quick, decisive action, and people are aware of and support the approach.

5. Compromising – This is the “lose-lose” scenario where neither party really achieves what they want. This requires a moderate level of assertiveness and cooperation. It may be appropriate for scenarios where you need a temporary solution, or where both sides have equally important goals. The trap is to fall into compromising as an easy way out, when collaborating would produce a better solution.

By knowing your own default patterns you improve your self-awareness. Once you are aware of your own patterns, you can pay attention to whether they are working for you and you can explore alternatives.

By using a scenario-based approach, you can choose more effective conflict management styles and test their effectiveness for you and your situations.

Conflict proce

Barganing zone model

In collective bargaining, both labor and management realize that their counterparts will not completely agree on their ideas for a perfect settlement.

Therefore, both sides will prioritize potential settlements along a range of acceptable and unacceptable positions. This gives both parties room for negotiation. For any given issue, negotiators for both parties target two limits: the position most favorable to their party and the position that is least acceptable. The space between these two positions represents the bargaining range -- the area in which a settlement is possible.

As both management and the union are driven by different factors, each side will have their own upper and lower limits. They do not share this information directly with one another.

The bargaining zone is the area where each side’s bargaining range overlaps, and is the area in which agreement is possible. Through the bargaining process, negotiators for each side need to determine the other’s party’s likely bargaining range, whether the ranges overlap, and if so, how best to maximize a settlement for their party within the bargaining zone. For example, management’s bargaining range for a wage increase is 1% to 6%. The union’s range is 4% to 10%. So the bargaining zone is between 4% and 6%.

If an offer extends past either side’s limits, the settlement is unacceptable and the negotiation is in danger of breaking down. Of course, both parties are able to modify their range of acceptable and unacceptable offers, and often will do so to avoid strikes and lockouts.

Keep in mind, that any contract negotiation can have hundreds of these bargaining issues. While each issue will have its own range, they are rarely determined in isolation of the other issues. Consider a second issue of employee sick leave. Management’s position ranges between 2 and 8 days, while the union’s position is 5 to 13 days. This means the bargaining zone is between 5 and 8 days. However, if the parties both agree to the lower end of the wage settlement, the union may not settle for anything less than 10 additional sick leave days, throwing the sick leave issue out of the bargaining zone.

Thus, negotiating on any particular issue will have a “give-or-take” effect on the other bargaining issues. It is very important to view bargaining as a whole, because a concession on one issue may knock a settlement on another issue out of the bargaining zone.

Perspectives of Leadership

As we describe the leadership of Jacques Nasser-or any other leader in the private or public sector-it becomes apparent that there are many ways to understand leadership in organisational settings. There are a number of different perspectives on leadership, five of which are shown here.

Competency (Trait) Perspective of Leadership

Probably the oldest perspective of leadership focused on the traits or competencies of great leaders. Recall from chapter 2 of the textbook that competencies are the abilities, values, personality traits, and other characteristics of people that lead to superior performance. In other words, the competency perspective seeks to identify the characteristics of effective leaders.

Recent writings suggest that effective leaders have:

Drive, that is, inner motivation. There is a strong link between leadership and a high need for achievement as identified in McClelland's Theory of Learned Needs (Week 5, chapter 3)

Leadership motivation. This tends to be seen as a high need for socialised power in McClelland's theory.

Integrity. Trust between a leader and followers is critical. Telling the truth and keeping commitments build trust.

Self-confidence. Above-average intelligence. This does not however, require managers to be geniuses. Knowledge of the business. Knowledge of the business environment in which they operate

enables leaders to employ powerful intuition in their decision making. High emotional intelligence. This was discussed in detail in week 7 and chapter 7 of the

textbook. It requires self-monitoring, empathy and social skills to build rapport.

Limitations and implications of this approach include:

It assumes that all leaders have the same competencies in the same measure and that all of them are equally important in all situations. In reality, the competency mix of successful leaders may vary and leaders may use some competencies more or less depending on the situation.

The possession of `leadership characteristics´ may affect our perception that someone is a leader. For example, we may treat someone with high self-confidence as a leader because they act like a leader, not because they actually make a difference.

The other side of the coin is that we may see someone as a leader and attribute to them characteristics we consider essential to leadership whether or not they actually possess those characteristics.

Hiring practices of organisations, looking for leadership potential at all levels, will increasingly put weight on issues of personal characteristics/competencies. Leadership potential, identified through the possession of leadership competencies, will then need to be developed. It is possible that people with lower levels of leadership competencies can nevertheless become successful leaders if their potential is maximised through training, development and experience.

Behavioural Perspective of Leadership

As the name implies, the behavioural perspective of leadership seeks to identify the behaviours that make leaders effective. Two clusters of behaviour that are associated with leadership effectiveness are:

People oriented behaviours - this cluster includes showing mutual trust, exhibiting respect for subordinates and demonstrating a concern for subordinates' needs and welfare.

Task oriented behaviours - this cluster includes define and structure work roles.

Early studies linked people oriented behaviours with higher job satisfaction, with associated lower turnover and absenteeism. However job performance was also lower than employees with task oriented leadership. Task oriented leadership was linked with higher productivity and team unity but had lower levels of job satisfaction.

Behavioural leadership scholars hypothesised that the most effective leaders display high levels of people- and task-oriented behaviours. This became know as the `hi-hi´ leadership hypothesis. A popular program that grew out of this theory is the Leadership Grid that is exhibit 14.3 in the textbook.

Have you worked with a leader who consistently exhibited the same style of leadership?

Where did they fit on the Leadership Grid? Was it an effective style of leadership? Why or why not?

If you have worked under a number of different leaders:

Did they all use the same style of management? Were they all equally effective? Does the Leadership Grid account for the differences? If the Leadership Grid does not account for differences in effectiveness, what else might?

Limitations with the behavioural approach include that it purports to be a universal approach and it ignores the possibility that the best leadership style may depend on the situation. As a result, there has been a shift towards contingency theories of leadership, which are described next.

Contingency Perspective of Leadership

The contingency perspective of leadership is based on the idea that the most appropriate leadership

style depends on the situation. Several contingency theories have been proposed over the years including Fiedler's contingency theory, Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory and path-goal theory.

Fiedler's Contingency Model: This is the earliest of the contingency theories. Fiedler theorised that the style of leadership appropriated depended on the level of situational control that the leader had. Situational control consisted of a hierarchy of factors from the most important, leader-member relations, through task structure to position power.

While an important milestone in leadership theory the leadership scale employed has been widely criticised and the theory has only limited empirical support.

Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory:This model suggests that leadership style should vary with the `readiness´ of the followers. The readiness of followers is assessed on the basis of their motivation/willingness and their ability to undertake a certain task. Leadership behaviour was also a combination of two characteristics, directive behaviour and supportive behaviour. (These bear strong resemblance to task- and people-oriented behaviours of the Leadership Grid.)

This model has proven popular with trainers and is elegant and memorable but unfortunately it lacks empirical support.

Path-goal Leadership Theory:None of the contingency leadership theories is perfect, but path-goal leadership theory has withstood scientific critique better than the others. Path-goal theory states that effective leaders influence employee satisfaction and performance by making their need satisfaction contingent on effective job performance. It identifies four leadership styles:

Directive: The leader clarifies performance goals, means, standards and consequences such as rewards or disciplinary actions.

Supportive: The leader treats employees with respect, and shows concern for them.

Participative: The leader encourages employee involvement through providing the opportunity to make suggestions, which they conscientiously consider before making a decision.

Achievement oriented: The leader sets challenging goals, has high expectations and continuously seeks improvement in the performance of the employee.

The theory identifies several contingencies relating to the characteristics of the employee and the situation that indicate which style of leadership will be most effective. These are:

The skill and experience of the employee - Where an employee perceives themselves to be inexperienced or unskilled the best leadership style includes a combination of both directive and supportive behaviours.

Locus of control - Employees with an internal locus of control prefer participative and achievement oriented styles of leadership. An employee with an external locus of control will prefer directive and

supportive leadership.

Task structure - The more ambiguous and non-routine the task the better a directive style of leadership. Non-routine tasks also suggest a participative style. Highly tedious, routine tasks suggest a supportive style of leadership.

Team dynamics - High team cohesiveness can substitute for a number of leadership functions, but when team norms run counter to the formal task a directive style is called for. A team with low cohesiveness would benefit from a supportive style of leadership.

Some of the contingencies of path-goal leadership are shown here:

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Servant Leadership:Path-goal theory states that effective leaders influence employee satisfaction and performance by making their need satisfaction contingent on effective job performance. This notion is further extended by the increasingly popular concept called `servant leadership´. Servant leaders do not view leadership as a position of power; rather, they are coaches, stewards, and facilitators. Leadership is an obligation to understand employee needs and to facilitate their work performance. Servant leaders ask, "How can I help you?" rather than expect employees to serve them.

The Fast Company article on the "grassroots leadership" of Commander D. Michael Abrashoff relates to servant leadership, path-goal leadership, and other forms of leadership. Read through this article, then give some thought to the following questions to help you make the connections between what you have read and practical situations.

1. This Fast Company On-Line feature describes how D. Michael Abrashoff relies on what he

calls "grassroots leadership". How does this leadership model incorporate various path-goal leadership practices?

2. In this Fast Company article, Abrashoff describes six principles of grassroots leadership. Can you relate them to anything you have read this week?

Leadership Substitutes

So far, we have suggested that organisations need leaders with certain competencies and styles to suit the situation. But one stream of research identifies conditions that either limit the leader's ability to influence subordinates or make that particular leadership style unnecessary. Leadership substitutes have increasingly become important as organisations remove supervisors and move toward team-based structures. An emerging concept is that effective leaders help team members learn to lead themselves through leadership substitutes. Indeed, self leadership is recognised as a potentially valuable leadership substitute in self-directed teams.

Transformational Perspective of Leadership

Path-goal theory and other contingency models describe leadership from a transactional view. Transactional leaders "manage" people; they help people achieve their current objectives more efficiently, such as by linking job performance to valued rewards and ensuring that employees have the resources needed to get the job done.

But leadership involves more than the day-to-day tactics of improving employee performance and well being. It is also about moving organisations in new and better directions. This refers to transformational leadership.

Transformational leadership is a perspective that explains how leaders change teams or organisations by creating, communicating, and modelling a vision for the organisation or work unit, and inspiring employees to strive for that vision.

Transformational leaders are agents of change. They develop a vision for the organisation or work unit, inspire and collectively bond employees to that vision, and give them a `can do´ attitude that makes the vision achievable.

There are many transformational leaders throughout Australia and New Zealand. John Anderson may come to mind because of his dramatic turnaround of BHP. Stephen Tindall, founder of New Zealand's The Warehouse, is also recognised as a transformational leader because he lives his values and "walks the talk" every day. Jacques Nasser at Ford and Doug Daft at Coca-Cola are two Australians in the United States who are clearly making changes in their respective organisations.

The elements of transformational leadership include:

Creating a strategic vision - A transformational leader creates a vision that is integral to members' understanding of why the organisation exists. It is much more than a statement on the wall or a document in a filing cabinet.

Communicating the Vision - They may use symbols, metaphor, stories or other means but the effect is the same. Transformational leaders can communicate to the employees in a way that makes their vision for the organisation seem both desirable and attainable, creating an organisational community that has a new and dynamic shared focus.

Modelling the vision - Transformational leaders not only talk about the vision but their actions support and reinforce the vision.

Building commitment toward the vision - The communication, consistent action, contagious energy, ‘can do' attitude and persistence of transformational leaders all act to build commitment in employees. They also tend to encourage participation in the shaping of the vision.

Empirical study of transformational leadership is hampered by a tendency to define a transformational leader in terms of their success. It may therefore be seen as the most powerful and desirable form of leadership because failed transformational leaders are not considered. This perspective is also a universal approach and disregards the possibility that there may be situations in which a transactional leader is actually more effective.

There is some evidence that employees under transformational leadership are more satisfied in their jobs and perform them better. There is also evidence that employees value transformational leadership over transactional leadership. For example, one recent survey of 1,400 New Zealand managers reported that they experience too much transactional leadership. In contrast, Australian and New Zealand executives typically describe effective leaders in terms of transformational activities.

Romance Perspective of Leadership

The various leadership perspectives that we have discussed so far assumed that leaders enhance organisational performance. However, some leadership experts suggest that the importance of leadership can be inflated through attributing leadership, stereotyping leadership and the need for situational control. These three perceptual processes are collectively known as the romance of leadership.

Elements of Organizational Culture:

There are many possible elements of organizational culture. The above definition includes three of the elements of organizational culture.

Organizational Values. Values reflect what we feel is important. Organizations may have core values that reflect what is important in the organization. These values may be guiding principles of behavior for all members in the organization. The core values may be stated on the organization's website. For example, an organization could state that their core values are creativity, humor, integrity, dedication, mutual respect, kindness, and contribution to society.

Organizational Beliefs. Beliefs that are part of an organization's culture may include beliefs about the best ways to achieve certain goals such as increasing productivity and job motivation. For example, an organization may convey the belief that the expression of humor in the workplace is an effective way to increase productivity and job motivation.

Organizational Norms. Norms reflect the typical and accepted behaviors in an organization. They may reflect the values and beliefs of the organization. They may reflect how certain tasks are generally expected to be acomplished, the attributes of the work environment, the typical ways that people communicate in the organization, and the typical leadership styles in the organization. For example, the work environment of a company may be described as relaxed, cheerful, and pleasant. Moreover, the organization may have a participative decision making process in which many people in the organization are able to express their views concerning important decisions. Also, an organization may have many meetings to discuss ideas.

Strengthening organizational cultureActions of founders and leaders Founders establish an organization’s culture.62 In the opening story to this chapter, we saw the powerful influence of PeopleSoft, Inc., cofounder Dave Duffield. “The culture of any start-up is driven by the founder,” says a PeopleSoft executive. “We are what Dave Duffield is.”63 Founders develop the systems and structures that support their personal values. Founders are often visionaries whose energetic style provides a powerful role model for others to follow. The founder’s cultural imprint often remains with the organization for decades. Wal-Mart, the discount retailer, has a deeply embedded customer satisfaction value long after its founder Sam Walton passed away. In spite of the founder’s effect, subsequent leaders can break the organization away from the founder’s values if they apply the transformational leadership concepts described in Chapter 14. Transformational leaders strengthen organizational culture by communicating and enacting their vision of the future.64 Cultural values are particularly reinforced when leaders behave in ways that are consistent with the vision (“walking the talk”). James Preston did this when he became CEO of Avon. He dismantled the boys’ club culture by promoting women into more senior positions and removing macho rituals (such as the annual hunting trip) that previously existed. Today, 44 percent of Avon’s senior vice presidents are women.65 Introducing culturally consistent rewards Reward systems strengthen corporate culture when they are consistent with cultural values.66 Aggressive cultures might offer more performance-based individual incentives, whereas paternalistic cultures would more likely offer employee assistance programs, medical insurance, and other benefits that support employee wellbeing. Home Depot relies on rewards to strengthen its corporate culture. Employees at the Atlanta-based home improvement retail chain

receive stock incentives which the company hopes will support a value system of customer service and entrepreneurship. “We’ve always wanted this to be part of our culture,” explains Home Depot CEO and cofounder Arthur Blank, “that associates feel that they own the stores, that they own the merchandise, that they have total responsibility for the customers in their aisles, and that they create the value.”67 Maintaining a stable workforce An organization’s culture is embedded in the minds of its employees. Organizational stories are rarely written down; rituals and celebrations do not usually exist in procedure manuals; organizational metaphors are not found in corporate directories. Thus, organizations Exhibit 16.4 Strategies for strengthening organizational culture Selecting and socializing employees Introducing culturally consistent rewards Managing the cultural network Maintaining a stable workforce Actions of founders and leaders Strengthening Organizational Culture 514 Chapter Sixteen depend on a stable workforce to communicate and reinforce the dominant beliefs and values. The organization’s culture can literally disintegrate during periods of high turnover and precipitous downsizing because the corporate memory leaves with these employees. Corporate culture also weakens during periods of rapid expansion or mergers because it takes time for incoming employees to learn about and accept the dominant corporate values and assumptions.68 For this reason, some organizations keep their culture intact by moderating employment growth and correcting turnover problems. Managing the cultural network Organization culture is learned, so an effective network of cultural transmission is necessary to strengthen the company’s underlying assumptions, values, and beliefs. According to Max De Pree, CEO of furniture manufacturer Herman Miller Inc., every organization needs “tribal storytellers” to keep the organization’s history and culture alive.69 The cultural network exists through the organizational grapevine. It is also supported through frequent opportunities for interaction so that employees can share stories and reenact rituals. Senior executives must tap into the cultural network, sharing their own stories and creating new ceremonies and other opportunities to demonstrate shared meaning. Company magazines and other media can also strengthen organizational culture by communicating cultural values and beliefs more efficiently. Selecting and socializing employees When Terri Wolfe interviews applicants for employment at Patagonia, she is looking for more than their ability to fill the vacant positions. The human resources director of the Ventura, California, outdoor clothing company also wants to see whether their values are compatible with the company’s values. “I screen for corporate culture fit,” Wolfe explains.70 Patagonia and a flock of other organizations strengthen their corporate cultures by hiring people with beliefs, values, and assumptions similar to those cultures. They realize that a good fit of personal and organizational values makes it easier for employees to adopt the corporate culture. A good person-organization fit also improves job satisfaction and organizational loyalty because new hires with values compatible to the corporate culture adjust more quickly to the organization.71 Job applicants are also paying more attention to corporate culture during the hiring process. According to one recent survey, job applicants ask corporate culture questions more than any other topic, aside from pay and benefits.72 They realize that as employees, they must feel comfortable with the company’s values, not just the job duties and hours of work. Kathy Wheeler learned this important point the hard way. A few years ago, the Hewlett-Packard engineer accepted a career opportunity at Apple Computer. Apple’s headquarters are only two miles away from HP, but its corporate culture is on another planet. HP’s culture emphasizes collaboration, consensus, and advanced engineering technology, whereas Apple’s culture applauds marketers rather than engineers, and slick user interfaces rather than advanced technology. Fourteen months later, Wheeler was back at HP. “I admire Apple to a large extent,” says Wheeler. “But I wouldn’t work there again because of the cultural issues.”73 The point here is that you need to look at corporate culture artifacts when deciding whether to join a particular organization. By diagnosing the company’s dominant culture, you are more likely to determine whether its values are compatible with your own. Along with selecting people with compatible values, companies maintain strong cultures through the effective socialization of new employees. Organizational

socialization refers to the process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles organizational socialization copy to come Organizational Culture 515 in the organization.74 By communicating the company’s dominant values, job candidates and new hires are more likely to internalize these values quickly and deeply. We will learn more about the organizational socialization process in the next chapter (Chapter 17) on employment relations and career dynamics. At this point, you should know that socialization partially includes the process of learning about the company’s culture and adopting its set of values. This process begins long before the first day of work. People learn about the organization’s culture through recruiting literature, advertising, and news media reports about the company. During the recruitment process, some companies provide information about “the way things are done around here.” Even if this information is not forthcoming, applicants might learn from employees, customers, and others who regularly interact with the organization. By the first day of work, newcomers have a fairly clear (although not necessarily accurate) perception about the company’s culture. These perceptions are tested against everyday experiences. To some extent, newcomers align their values with the organizations to minimize conflict. Like Kathy Wheeler, however, some employees eventually leave the organization when they realize how much their personal values differ from the organization’s culture.75 Throughout this chapter, we have learned that organizational culture is pervasive and powerful. For corporate leaders, it is either a force for change or an insurmountable barrier to it. For employees, it is either the glue that bonds people together or drives them away from the organization. So many artifacts communicate and reinforce the existing culture that it requires a monumental effort to replace the current values. Transformational leadership and effective management of change can assist in this process, but it is a challenge that no leader should take lightly