Organisational behavior - questions essay example

1. Information is becoming a source of political power in organization since the ability to acquire and use specific information could affect decision-making and steer organizations in a particular direction. The most extreme form of information ownership is information feudalism, which implies that managers are in complete control of information and release it only if they believe it is appropriate. Although this strategy could be helpful for the units that possess the most information, in general it jeopardizes cross-fertilization and cross-unit collaboration. Moreover, information feudalism makes it hard for other units to obtain the required information. The situation becomes especially dangerous for the department that extensively rely on the information from other parts of the organization. The alternative to feudalism is information federalism, which is believed to be the most appropriate strategy in modern organizations. It implies that managers develop common objectives and process for information exchange that would facilitate the development of a common information pool. In this case managers should extensively engage in negotiation on the amount, frequency and type of information to be released. Under this strategy it is also important to have a strong leader, who would champion information exchange and streamline cross-departmental negotiations. In return, however, the organization will enjoy higher information disclosure, better transparency in communication and more productive relationships (Choo, 2002).
2. It is common to assume that there is a full congruence between the goals of managers within the organization and the organization itself. However, this assumption is hardly realistic due to the variety of conflicting interests within the company, especially when it comes to such multinational corporation as McDonalds and Chrysler. As the number of people in the company grows, their objectives begin to diverge due to the differences in individual interests and goals. This process is further augmented by the cultural differences among the people in multinational organizations and the conflicts between the headquarters and its subsidiaries. All parties of the conflict try to win in the internal competition for resources and power, which can be often achieved only at the expense of organizational success. Therefore, it is highly unrealistic to assume that there is no political game in organizations such as McDonald’s or Chrysler.
3. Leader-member exchange theory demonstrates that people, who remain outside of a group are usually treated worse and receive on average lower benefits than in-group members. That is why it is important to develop strong bonds with the group and its leader in order to become an insider. The first step in this process is to show enthusiasm and positive attitude in the group. This strategy can greatly impact the level of “ acceptance” of a person. In order to become an in-group member it is helpful first to evaluate group dynamics and characteristics in order to “ fit in”. Secondly, it is necessary to be proactive and to demonstrate the willingness to join the group. Finally, it is crucial to continuously show commitment to the group’s ideals, goals and follow the patterns acceptable and welcomed in the group. Such attitude will not only help to obtain the in-group status, but also to sustain and deepen the relationships with group members.
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4. Attribution theory describes the tendency of people to explain the world around them and the motives of people for performing certain actions (Borkowski, 2010). Based on this definition it is possible to suggest that a leader could use attribution theory to show that the poor performance of an employee team stems from the inability of its members to focus on the project and to commit to its successful completion. This fact is further reflected in the late submission of the work and the failure to meet deadlines. Moreover, disrespect of deadlines could be also related to scheduling problems as well as to ineffective resource rationalization and planning that eventually lead to poor performance. In this case, there might be no direct connection between performance and punctuality, however the need of the manager to find an explanation for the observed situation makes him/her use attribution theory to establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

References

Borkowski, N. (2010). Organizational behavior in health care. (2 ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones
z& Bartlett Learning.
Choo, W. C. (2002). Information management for the intelligent organization. (3rd ed.).
Medford, NJ: Information Today.