Formal Organizational Structure

Formal organizational structure is deliberately constructed to fulfill specific goals

To link individuals in an established networks of relationships so that the authority, responsibility and communication can be controlled

To group together the tasks required to fulfill the objectives of the organization as a whole and to allocate them to suitable individuals or groups. It may be done by the basis of functions (Eg, departments) geographical area (eg. Branches regional sales territories) product or product type.

To enable the flow of work, information and other resources through the organization, via clear lines of co-operation and communications so that the different parts of the organizations are able to meet their objectives.

Hertzberg’s Factors of Motivation

In the 1950’s the American psychologist Frederick Hertzberg interviewed engineer’s and accountants and ask two critical questions.

What makes you happy and satisfy about your job?
What makes you sad and dissatisfy about your job?

After analysis of information gathered, Hertzberg saw two basic needs or factors which individuals seek to satisfy.



Hygiene Factors

Therefore factors are related to the job context (job environment). Proper provision of these factors may minimize the dissatisfaction and also can help to retain employees within the organization.

Therefore these hygiene factors provide the answers for the question “Why work here?”

Some hygiene factors identified by Hertzberg are as follows.
Salary
Company policy and administration
Working relationship with the superiors, sub-ordinates and with colleagues
Job security
Working conditions
The quality of supervision

Motivation

Motivations are related to the work content. Proper provisions of motivation factors make employees satisfy and therefore they might work hard.

Motivators provide the answers for the question “Why work harder?”

Some motivators identified by Hertzberg are as follows

Achievement (What you gain from the job)
Recognition and appreciation
The work itself (the job should be interesting for the person who performs it)
Responsibilities
Advancement and growth in the job

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Harold Maslow (April 1908 – June 1970) was an American psychologist. He is noted for his conceptualization of a “Hierarchy of human needs” and it considered as the father of humanistic psychology.

Psycological / Basic Needs

They are very basic needs
Air
Food
Water
Sleep
Clothing
Medicine
These feelings motivate us to alleviate them as soon as possible.


Safety Needs

A protective environment without threats
Establishing stability and consistency in a chaotic world
These are mostly psychological needs in nature
Security of a home
Need for law and order
Often motive people to become religious

Social Needs

The desire to belong
We want to be needed
We want to be accepted
We need to feel loved by others

Esteem Needs

Two types
Competency
Attention and recognition
Admiration has to do with the need for power

Self concept comes into play
How I see myself and how I think others will see me.

Self Actualization Needs

The growth need
The self satisfaction
Now that the people have everything met, they can maximize their potentials

Motivation

What is Motivation?

Motivation is a desire to achieve a goal, combined with the energy to work towards that goal.

Motivation is the process by which the behavior of an individual is influenced by others, through their power to offer or withhold satisfaction of the individual’s needs and wants.

Why is Motivation Important

• You may be wondering whether motivation is really so important. It could be argued that if a person is employed to do a job, he/she will do that job and no questions of motivation arise. If a person does not want to work, he/she will do that job and no questions of motivation arise. If a person does not want to work, he/she can resign. So why try to motivate people?

• Motivation is about getting extra level of commitment and performance from the employee.

• It is suggested that if individuals can be motivated by one means or another, they will work more efficiently or they will produce a better quality of work.

• To motivate the workers manager’s normally use the “carrot and stick” method.

• For the employees who achieve the given targets, and whose performance and behaviors are in an acceptable level, Rewards are given by the management. These are called as Carrots.
Eg: Bonuses, Paid holidays, Salary increments, promotions and other Fringe benefits.

• For the employees whose performances and behaviors are in an unacceptable level, punishments are given by the management. These are called as “Sticks”.
Eg: Reprimand, Demotions, Restrictions on breaks and punctuality, assigning un-familiar tasks etc.

Resistance to Change

Any attitude or behavior that reflects a personal unwillingness to make or support a desired change

The reasons for resistance are

Fear of loosing jobs
Fear of loosing the colleagues
Fear of learning new things
Fear of adapting to a new environment
Fear of loosing the additional income

To avoid the resistance to change, as a manager consider the following

Inform the information about the change as soon as possible to the employees, to prepare than to face the change

Provide correct information about the change and the employees who will get affected from the change. i.e. who will loose their jobs, how much the company pays them and method of payment, whose jobs will change etc.

Provide training when necessary, so that the employees will be able to get adopt to the environment.

Change

Change is an event which causes a difference that can be done in the organizational structure, in the technology or working methods.

People go through four stages they face with a major change

Denial (Panic)
This is the rejection of the idea of the change because people are reluctant to consider that any change is going to affect them.

Resentment (Anger)
Still reject the idea of the change, grumping that the result will never work out.

Limited Acceptance (Ok)
The change is partially accepted, after they get some idea about the change and benefits of it.

Fully acceptance (Relief)
Completely agree with the change, because they see benefits of it.

Handling Employees in Stress

Talk to the employee personally and get to know the reasons for stress.

If the reason for stress is related to the office environment, then
Allocate sufficient workload to the employee and give enough time to perform them
Provide an assistant if necessary
Solve the industrial related problems immediately

If the reason for stress is related to a personal problem, then let the employee to solve the problem – Direct the employee to a counselor.

If you are an individual in stress, then consider the following
Talk about your problems with a reliable person
Start a new hobby
Proper dieting and exercising
Yoga
Meditation
Take the leave entitled
Practice positive thinking

Nervous Tension and Symptoms of Stress

Nervous Tension

Irritability and increased sensitivity
Pre-occupation with details (lack of attention / cannot focus)
A polarized view of issues (black and white view) which is no idea comes
to the mind
Sleeplessness
Various physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems and etc.

Symptoms of Stress

Unusual quietness and reluctance to communicate
Abuse of drug or alcohol
High absenteeism
Poor time keeping or even leaving the organization

Stress

Stress is a term which is used to describe feelings of tension or exhaustion. Harmful stress or strain can be identified by it’s effects on the individual and his/her performance.

Causes of Stress

Too many demands on the individual, over work, pressure, too little time to perform a task.

Few demands on the individuals’ monetary.

Uncertainty and therefore insecurity

Personal Factors
Emotional sensitivity
Flexibility of the person
Interpersonal Competence
Sense of responsibility

Ability and Aptitude

Abilities are the things that people can do or are good at. (Largely believed to be inherited)

Aptitudes are the capacity to learn and develop abilities or skills.

Managers should assign the tasks to the employees according to their abilities so that the expected results can be obtained.
Eg: When selecting employees and promoting them, abilities are highly concerned.

Managers should train the staff when necessary to improve their skills which will help them to perform their job better.

Attitude

Attitude is the way how you find something as interesting or not interesting, as important or not and behave accordingly.

It contains 3 basic components
Knowledge, beliefs or disbeliefs and perception
Feelings and desires
Volition

Behavior in a work context will be influenced by

Attitude to work
The individuals’ standpoint on working facilities available, colleagues, the task, the organization and management.

Attitude at work
All sorts of attitudes which individuals may have about other people, politics, education, religion among other things and which they bring with them into the workplaces to act on, agree, disagree or discuss.

Common Clashes of perception at work

Managers and Staff

The experience of work can be very different for managerial and non-managerial personal; therefore they might have different perceptions.
Eg: labor cut down, which the managers see as a method to reduce the labor cost, will be seen by the employees as a threat for their jobs.

Work Culture

Different functions in organization may have very different time scales and culture of work and will therefore perceive the work and each other in different ways.
Eg: Sales team might regard the importance of their work in relation to the production workers and vice versa.

Race, Culture and Gender.

A joke or a comment that one person made can be offensive and can be seen as an insult by another person.

Perception and Work Behavior

When dealing with people with different perceptions, consider the following.

Consider whether you might be misinterpreting the situation. See whether you have jumped to conclusions before you receive enough information. What needs and biases color you perception of things. What are you being sensitive about?

Consider whether others might be misinterpreting the situation, or interpreting differently from you. So listen to people, and get to know what their blind spots and biases are. Try to see things through their eyes.

When handling a task or a problem get the people involved to define the situation as they see it. Then every one will know what they mean and difference of perception can be cleared up before they can cause any confusion.

Perception

Perception is a psychological process. How people see things and understand things are called as their perception

Perceptional Selection

The sensory apparatus of humans has limitations which filter out certain stimuli (interests). This selection process is called as perceptional selectivity. This selection may be determined by any or all of the followings.

The context
People see what they want ot see.

The nature of the stimuli
Our attention tends to be drawn to large, bright, loud, unfamiliar, moving and repeated things.

Internal Factors
Our attention is drawn to things that match our personalities, needs, expectations and interests.

Fear of Trauma
People are able to avoid & see things that they do not want to see

Main Characteristics of a Business

Business Transaction
This is an event which involves exchanging or transferring of an item, which could be clearly measured in the terms of money. In every business transactions, for both parties who involve in it will have a giving value and a receiving value.

Cash Flow
Business transactions bring cash into the business (Cash inflows) and take cash out of the business (Cash outflows).

Industries
Any organization which produces products or services is called as productive organizations. Therefore these productive organizations are also called as industries.


It can be categorized as follows

Primary Industries
They are concern with extracting the raw materials from the nature. E.g.: Agriculture, Farming, Fishing, Forestry & Mining etc.

Secondary Industries
They are concerned with manufacturing or processing products. E.g.: manufactured food items, clothes, building, accessories and machinery etc.

Tertiary Industries
They are concerned with providing services. Therefore they are called as service industries. E.g.: Education, Health, Security, Banking, Insurance, Consultancy, Transport, Counseling, Postage and Communication etc.

Main Characteristics of an Organization

Structure
Organization structure shows how the employees (people) are lined up according to their power, authorities, duties, responsibilities and designations

Demand
This is the request that comes for the product or services of the organization.

Customers
They are the people who create the demand for the product or services of an organization

“Any organization operates with the main aim of earning profits is called as a business”

Business Drivers

Every organization has a reason to exist. These reasons are called as business drivers. Some of the business drivers are as follows.

To earn profits
To provide services to the public
To operate on a charity aim
To enjoy a common hobby or an interesting with like minded people. Eg. Sports clubs
To get the reputation

Leadership Styles

Tells (Autocratic)
The manager makes all the decisions and issues instructions which must be obeyed without a question.

Strengths
 Quick decisions can be taken when speed is required.
 It is the most efficient type of leadership for highly programmed routine work.

Weaknesses
 Communication between the manager and subordinates will be one way.
 It does not encourage contribution or initiative from subordinates.

Sells (Persuasive)
The manager still makes all the decisions but explains them to subordinates and attempts to motivate subordinates to carry them out willingly.

Strengths
• Staff will bare a better idea of what they do, because the manager or the leader will have explained his intentions.

Weaknesses
• Subordinates will not necessarily be committed to decisions in which they have not been involved.
• It may be felt to be “tells” style dressed up with pretended concerns for employees views.

Consult (Participative)
The manager confers (talks) with subordinates and take their views and feelings into consideration but retains the rights to make final decision.

Strengths
• Employees are involved in decisions. This encourages motivation through greater interest & involvement.
• Employees can contribute their knowledge & experiences to help in solving problems related to their work.

Weaknesses
 It may take longer to take decisions
 Subordinates might be limited in their view point on organizational issues
 If the managers does not take employees advises, they might perceive the process to be meaningless.


Joins (Democratic)
Leaders and followers make the decisions together on the basis of consensus or compromise and agreement.

Strengths
 It can provide high commitment to the decisions reached.
 It takes advantage of the knowledge and expertise of individuals in different areas for high quality, flexible decision making.

Weaknesses
• The authority of the manager might be undermined
• Decision making might become very long process
• Clear-cut decisions might be difficult to reach.

“Successful managers or leaders should adopt the correct style at the correct situation”

Management Skills

Management Skills

• Technical Skills – The ability to apply specialized knowledge or experience.
• Human Skills (Interpersonal Skills) – The ability to work with, understand and motivate other people both individually and in groups.

• Conceptual Skills – The mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations.

• Communication skills

• Decision making skills

• Time management skills


Managers Vs Leaders


Management involves
Planning
Organizing
Commanding & directing
Controlling

Leadership involves
Create a vision
Communicate the vision
Energize & inspire and motivate others to translate the vision in to achievement.

Managers are normally appointed people for that position. But some leaders are not appointed, instead they emerge out of the situation

An isolated person can be a manager. But an isolated person cannot be a leader & leaders should have followers.

Management Functions

Planning
Planning is a process that includes defining goals, establishing strategy and developing plan to coordinate activities.

Organizing
Organizing is determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom and where the decisions are to be made.

There are three main elements

Work scheduling – What has to be done and when.
Work allocation – Who should do and what task.
Resource allocation – what are the resources to be allocate to the employees in order to complete the given task.

Leading
Leading is a function that includes motivating employees, directing others, selecting the most effective communication channels and resolving conflicts.

Controlling
Monitoring activities to ensure they are being accomplished as planned and correcting and significant deviations.

MANAGEMENT

What Manager’s do??

Managers are individuals who achieve goals through other people. Management starts with planning. Good management starts with good planning. And proper prior planning prevents… well, you know the rest of that one.

Without a plan you will never succeed. If you happen to make it to the goal, it will have been by luck or chance and is not repeatable. You may make it as a flash-in-the-pan, an overnight sensation, but you will never have the track record of accomplishments of which success is made.

Managerial activities

• Make decisions
• Allocate resources
• Direct activities of others to attain goals.

Where Manager’s work?

Managers work in organizations. Organizations are consciously coordinated social unit composed of two or more people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.