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Luiz, Bruno de Paula Organization Behavior – Professor Joe Chevarlley Page 1 Personal Application Assignment– Theories of Managing People A. What is your own theory of management? You can describe it in words or draw it as a model.
First, I would like to define theory as “perspectives with which people make sense of their world experiences” and as “a systematic grouping of interdependent concepts (mental images of anything formed by generalization from particulars) and principles (generalizations or hypotheses that are tested for accuracy and appear to be true reflections or explanations of reality) that give a framework to, or tie together, a significant area of knowledge. (Stoner et. al. 1995, pp. 31-2)”.
That said, I believe that a manager who makes an effort to translate theory into reality is assured to increase productivity more than a manager who chooses the “trial and error” approach. My own theory of management would be focused on: 1. Motivation. Everyone has a talent. A good manager needs to match the talent of the employee with the tasks in which the employee will utilize their talent, a competitive advantage. I believe that each individual using his/her best talent will feel motivated to do a good job, to achieve his/her personal goals, and to perform their best every day.
A good manager provides, and makes sure that, every employee is provided with the guidance and support to achieve their full potential. 2. Development. Development is concerned with encouraging employees to identify ways in which they want to improve their careers and other aspects of their working lives and is concerned with helping people to fulfill themselves at work. 3. Responsibility. A manager must encourage his co-workers to take extra responsibilities within an existing job role to make the work more rewarding and to give a broader range of responsibility, plus extra knowledge as well as skills development. . Division of Work and Specialization. Specialization produces more and better work with the same effort. It focuses effort while maximizing employee efforts. It is applicable to all work including technical applications. Luiz, Bruno de Paula Organization Behavior – Professor Joe Chevarlley Page 2 5. Unity of direction and Teamwork. A manager must clarify the outcomes expected, without the steps to achieve them. Team work is fundamentally important for an organization to accomplish its goals. I not only all the brains that I have but all that I can borrow” Woodrow Wilson said. 6. Remuneration of Personnel. Salaries are the price of services rendered by employees. It should be fair and provide satisfaction both to the employee and employer. 7. Equity and Stability. Employees must feel that their manager treats them with equality, respect, and justice. Motivation, Development, Responsibility, Division of Work and Specialization, Unity of direction and Teamwork, Remuneration of Personnel, Equity and Stability
Delivers Engaged Employee Delivers Superior Performance Organizational and Individual Targets Luiz, Bruno de Paula Organization Behavior – Professor Joe Chevarlley Page 3 B. Based on your theory of management and today’s environment, answer the following questions: a. What blind spots could your theory lead to have? The blind spots of my theory of managing people are related to Theory X and Theory Y. Douglas McGregor, in his 1960 book “The Human side of Enterprise”, stated a fundamental distinction between management styles.
He assumed that workers, who behave as Theory X stated, “…dislike work and will avoid it to the extent possible, therefore they must be continually coerced, controlled and threatened with punishment to get the work done and that they have no ambition prefer to avoid responsibility and chose security above everything. Managers, who believe in theory-X assumptions, create stick-and-carrot approach based firms with restrictive discipline and pervasive controls (McGregor, Douglas. The Human Side of Enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1960)”.
He also assumed that workers, who behave as Theory Y stated, “are generally motivated, exercise self-control, self-direction, creativity, and ingenuity in pursuit of individual and collective goals, they seek responsibility or learn to accept it willingly, and that their potential is not tapped in most organizations. Managers who believe in theory Y assumptions create trust based firms with empowered employees (McGregor, Douglas. The Human Side of Enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1960)”. I am a manger, who believes in Theory Y.
Therefore, I have difficulty accepting employees who behave according to Theory X. b. What personal values seem to underline your theory; that is “People, managers, or organizations should/should not __________________ (what)? The personal value underlined in my theory of managing people is self-fulfilling prophecy. The concept of self-fulfilling prophecy can be stated as: we form certain expectations of people and communicate those experiences. People tend to respond by adjusting behaviors to match, creating Luiz, Bruno de Paula Organization Behavior – Professor Joe Chevarlley
Page 4 a circle of self-fulfilling prophecies. Intentionally, or not, we tend to tip people off as to what our expectations are. We tend to be comfortable with people who meet our expectation, whether they are high or low. Once formed, expectations about us tend to be self-fulfilling. I was raised in a family where my parents always had higher expectations for their sons. They were always supportive of to their children’s goals. Therefore, I expect the same from other people. c. What implicit assumptions, if any, are you making about human nature or human motivation?
The assumptions that I am making on my theory of managing people are: First, I assume that other employees who work for me are motivated by the same factors as I am. For example, I was always motivated by the challenge of proving myself to others. On the other hand, my coworkers were motivated by loyalty to the company or by making money. Despite this, I recognize that my own motivation is driven by factors that have nothing to do with money, I fail to understand that people are somehow different, and that money is central to their motivation.
One great pitfall to managers is the tendency to motivate others by focusing on what motivates you. Second, I suppose that managers can motivate their employee by challenging targets. I believe that by raising the bar higher and higher employees will be more and more motivated. However, by acting like that, my coworker’s quality of life was compromised and sacrificed. I realize that achievement for achievement’s sake is no basis for motivation, a person’s quality of life must benefit too. d. What skills do you think are necessary to be “master” manager? I think a “master” manager must be: 1.
A good listener. When a manger is asked a question, he has the chance to listen the employee. Therefore, he begins to better understand the employee motivation, language, Luiz, Bruno de Paula Organization Behavior – Professor Joe Chevarlley Page 5 and issues. He gets them to speak about issues that confront them and enable them to find a solution. 2. Enthusiastic. I believed that employees want to be motivated. Enthusiastic managers have positive energy and positive commitment. 3. Equal. A master manager must treat all his employees as equals. “The sum of the parts is greater than the whole “. . Positive Communicator. A master manager should be able to communicate in good and in bad times. Positive communication creates loyalty and mutual exchange of ideas and attitudes. 5. Decisive. A master manager should make quick decisions to difficult problems and find immediate solutions. 6. Fair reward. The sense of pride and self-worth is a large issue for most employees. Managers must understand that most employees desire more than just money as a reward. In today’s market place, employees, although happy, are looking for more contentment from their jobs. Seventh. 7. Teamwork.
Leaders should not isolate themselves from the team and should not divide the team from each other. 8. Creativity. A creative manager can separate competence from excellence. 9. Intuition. Intuition is the capacity of knowing without the use of rational processes. Managers who are intuitive are able to respond perfectly to other’s feelings and thoughts. 10. Versatility and Flexibility. Manager should be open to “adjustments /changing at moment’s notice” when necessary. e. Which of these do you already possess? I think I am a good listener, and creative individual, as well as selfless team player. Luiz, Bruno de Paula . Organization Behavior – Professor Joe Chevarlley Page 6 What skills would you like to work on during this course? I would like to be a positive communicator. g. Write an action plan for learning these skills. How will you work on it? How will you know when your skills have been proved? My action plan will be based on three steps: Open atmosphere, clear communication, and listening. The first step, open atmosphere, will be focused on development of the ability to allow coworkers to express opinions, thought, recommendations and complains individually without the fear that they might be frowned upon.
The more open the atmosphere, the better the feedback that will be received. The second step, clear communication, will be based on eliminating confusion from the communications between manager and employee. I will try to be more concise, specific and clear when communicating to employees. The third step, listening, will be concerned in listen objectively. Attend to what is being said rather than attending to listen what I would like to hear. Employees respect managers who listen to them.