Wednesday 5 May 2010

Reference

Books

David Buchana &Andrzej Huczynski- Organisation Behaviour An introductory text fifth edition (2008)

HONEY, P. (2006) Line managers need all the help they can get, especially when they don’t realise it. Organisations & People. Vol 13, No 4, November. pp2-8.

Maslow, A. (1954) Motivation and personality, New York: Harper & Row

McClelland D. (1977) Human Behaviour at Work, New Delhi: Tata McGrawHill

Mullins, L. (1996) Management and organization. 4th ed. London: Pitman

Mullins, L. (1985) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Essex: Harlow

Porter, L., Lawler E. & Hackman JR. (1975) Behaviour in Organisations, McGraw Hill: New York
Vroom, V. (1966). Organizational choice: A study of pre- and post-decision process. In Organizational behaviour and human performance. 9th ed. New Delhi: Prentice- Hall of India




Online

BNET.COM (2009) BNET business dictionary [online] URL http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/Line+Manager.html [accessed on: 14th March 2009]

BUDINESSDICTIONARY.COM (2009) Recruitment definition [online] URL http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/recruitment.html

Chapman, A. (1995) David mcclelland [online]. Businessballs.com.
http://www.businessballs.com/davidmcclelland.htm [23.11.2008]
1995-2008) Locke's goal setting theory: understanding smart goal setting [online]. Mind tools ltd. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_87.htm

Relations contributions.
http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_03_mcgregor.html

• http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_03_mcgregor.html

• www.netmba.com

• www.valuebasedmanagement.net/

Tuesday 4 May 2010

employee involvement & communication

Employee participation:
Employee participation is the process whereby employees are involved in decision making processes, rather than simply acting on orders. Employee participation is part of a process of empowerment in the workplace.

Employee involvement:
BusinessDictionary.com (2010) defined employee involvement as a regular participation of employees in deciding how their work is done, making suggestions for improvement, goal setting, planning, and monitoring of their performance.
Involvement is about management who have the desire to encourage employees to be committed to the organisational values and aims and objectives which are in place. Employee involvement includes a different range of category which individuals may undertake whilst working such as:
• Sharing information
• Consultation
• Financial participation
• Quality improvements
• Individuals
• Community

How can organisations involve employees in decision - making?
By working more closely with people, sometimes own knowledge is not idle to solve some solution therefore employee’s knowledge, talent, skills and cleverness can make complex situation, straightforward.

There should be no limitations on others, but rather they should be seen as true reservoirs of awareness and intelligence.

Always ask for every workers opinion before making any final judgement to any problem because it leads to success.


Many organisations are now using social networking sites as a means of involving their staff, both for existing staff and potential recruits. Go online and find examples of how this works. What sort of information is provided? Which social networks are being used?

Social networking is used to involve staff in all discussion because the internet itself is like give and take therefore using this tool to engage employee. As a manager or team leader, if most your workers are using a blackberry messenger. You can easily pin them the suggestion and wait on their reply in order to make the right decision. Communication is an important aspect of employee engagement. Good two-way communication can help to build the psychological contract, in which employees feel valued by their employer, and the employer values.

Reward

Every organisation rewards their employees differently, this could be due to the industry the company is operating in or perhaps the standard of the business. My business rewards employee’s five different reasons.
These are:
• Receiving loyalty badge – length of stay with organisation (being employed 1 – 2 years)

• Employing of the month certificate – recognising the individual who worked very hard during a month

• Token e.g. vouchers for retail store

• Pay rise – given only to selected employees for their brilliant work.

• Promotion opportunities - It makes employees find ways to improve their performance and productivity

In this organisation each individual has the potential to receive a reward once the meet the condition. Every individual is treated the same so that there are no jealousy, envy or hatred at work.

Fairness is ensured by supervisors reporting back to the manager informing him of who worked well, updating records containing information about hard working staff so that all are given an opportunity to receive a reward.


Arguments For and Against .

For:
• That is he’s position therefore regardless of what happens he should get his bonus.
• He must be depending on the bonus to pay or purchase a product or service.
• Staff not working hard enough is not their problem.

Against:
• Sometimes chief executives have not worked as hard as they are supposing to.
• Less hours spent at work
• They should only get a bonus if there is a profit made
• All profit should be re invested into the organisation not pocketed.



Identify 3 financial and 3 non-financial ways of rewarding a teacher at a primary school. Which of these ideas would motivate you the most?

Favourite teacher should be voted for by students and a present chosen by students.

Rewarding a teacher for being 100% punctual and having 100% attendance at the end of each academic year as this shows 100% commitment to his/her job through certificate.

Student from teacher’s class who receive praise for their achievement from others such as teachers, headmistress or headmaster shows the teacher motivation and wisdom towards her student. Therefore there should be face-to-face appreciation to the teacher for his/her great effort.

Gift vouchers such as 20% off any book shop.

Every Christmas the teacher should receive a bottle of wine to show their appreciation for the teacher.

The head should give the teacher tickets for one of the adventures in the UK.

I think the one which will motivate me the most is financial because I like action with money than just word of mouth. I believe to show someone that you appreciate what they have done for you; financial power must be involved as this will make the person remember you every time he/she comes across what you gave him/her.

Training and Development

The aim of an induction programme is to make sure those new graduates are given all the help and guidance they need for them to do their job to the required standard as soon as possible. Each individual will receive an induction programme
The Induction plan and design:
• First day
A brief summary about each other, all new employees should receive a formal offer letter together with an employment contract. Where to be, at what time do you need to be there and how to get there. I brief description about the company.
You will be given a tour of around the workplace, pointing out toilets and restaurant facilities, office etc.
• Second day
The nature of the job, its role and key responsibilities, a real insight into the structure and culture of the organisation, behaviours, standards expected, future plans and intentions.
Employment terms and conditions, e.g. hours of work, holidays, sick pay policy, salary, benefits, etc.
• Third day
The goals and objectives of your immediate team and how they in turn contribute to the objectives of the organisation, introduced to members of staff and departments, visits to other offices and locations.
Some objectives that will give you clear directions and focus. You may also start compiling ideas for a personal development plan.
Different type of training begins. E.g. report writing, team leading, handling pressure, dealing with finances etc.
• Fourth day
A test would be carried out; graduates will have an hour to complete this test. They will have to provide information on what they have learnt so far, why they believe they will be able to carry out a managerial roll and what does it take to be a successful manager.
For the rest of the day, they will be given the opportunity to be mystery shoppers. Working in groups of two’s they will have to visit 3 different shops and they have to give presentation on negative and positive service the witnessed being offered to customers.
• Last day
Feedback will be given to individual.
What you need to send to HR,
Bank details etc should be completed by the new employee prior to starting by printing off and sending it to HR. Alternatively you all need to make sure that you have access to these forms on Day One of your employment. The information listed below will be sent to your emails:
• Where and when to report.
• Who will meet you?
A map, transport and car parking instructions, what else to bring, e.g. equipment, special clothing etc
Improvements that could be made to improve the induction process and also if there is any further support you need at this stage.

Managing Performance

I was given the title employee of the month which recognises the employee who worked really hard, always arrive at work time and provide excellent customer services regardless of the work environment an example of this is being self motivated to work under pressure and still be able meet companies expectations. The reason why I found this effective was because for the month my name was posted on the wall and everybody recognises my achievement, it made me feel valued as an employee and my hard work has paid off. As a reward I received a voucher.

Read the article from The Times on mentoring. What skills do you think are required to be an effective mentor?

You have to be dependent, have a leadership skill, determined to work with all types of people, be an outgoing person, accept it when you are wrong and the fact you can be criticised, contain a skill of a team leader and be able to work in team. Also it’s a key to be able to transfer new skills and knowledge, creating better networking opportunities as well as helping them improve their product and in some cases even going into business with their mentor.

Identify someone from your college/university, school, work, social life who has been a mentor to you. How have they affected your life?

As a Christian, you are supposed to live a religious life, let it reflect on your life and follow the rules of the bible but I wasn’t doing that not that I didn’t know what to do as Christian but actually showing it. In terms of reading and quoting scriptures I was good enough but presenting me as a Christian was a speck of a problem. One church member had a leadership skill to hearten me to become a better Christian. This help me realise that, there is time for everything in terms of knowing how to dress appropriate for church. Other than that he was willing to support me financially and was determined to maintain me on course.

Equal Opportunities and Diversity

Explain the difference between equality and diversity:

Equality is about “creating a fairer society” where everybody has the same opportunities to fulfil their potential (DH, 2004). Legislation exists to protect and support individuals or groups of people who have experienced discrimination, and to avoid discrimination against individuals in the near future. It is illegal to discriminate against, because there are acts which limits this from happening, not much discrimination takes place, different types of legislations which covers these aspect of discrimination are as followed:
• Sex discrimination Act 1975
• Race relations Act 1976
• Disability discrimination Act 2005
• Employment equality regulations 2003
• Equality Act 2006
• Human rights Act 1998

Diversity is about individual differences, everybody is different in a variety of aspects and this practice is about recognizing and respecting these differences, so as to create a productive environment and to allow all employees to realise their full potential.

Review the article below and state 3 arguments for and against her view

For:
• Same career and training opportunities as men because a woman cannot educate her entire life with a top university and stoop low because she is a woman.
• Woman should have equal rights because I think that most people have class and value regardless of their differences.
• If a woman workers the same amount of time then everything at the workplace should be equal without any discrimination.
• Demonstrate to all employees that they can rely upon the Company's support in cases of discrimination or harassment at work.

Against:
• Not all woman can manage a man’s job role at a work place
• Some women come across as lazy and unreliable to work at certain hours due to the fact that they may have to attend to children.
• Most women will not stoop low to help the organisation became successful; they also like things their way which does not help the company.

Suggest two ideas as to how organisations can attempt to change these attitudes:

Young people are fit and ready for challenges depending on the job role.
Older people are looked at as more mature with more experience.
Young person can come across as not reliable whereas an elder person can be referred to as the opposite. Most elderly person will be available for full-time jobs where as employing a young person on part-time role.

Organisation can change these attitudes by only employing full-time, reliable workers. They can also educate the young person to gain experience before he/she starts on full-time basics. Most of all having trust in young people to perform to their ability depending on the job.

British Airways believes in fairly treated and with respect whereas they should carry the qualities we require. They recruit people with capability such as good behaviour, individual skills, also loads of enduring and knowledge that can be determinants of the job. This person must have consistency and accuracy.

Asda treats their employees unfairly, even though they offer them training until they feel you are able to work according to their requirement. Pay rise to available to all staff members. Asda however do not treat staff at supply equally to permanent staff this is discrimination because they working the same hours and in the same sector of employment but permanent contract.

Write a conclusion about this topic and include it in your blog:

In conclusion, although discrimination in the work place is against the law, according to equality act 2005, some organisations do not abide by this law and work according to their business regulations. This can be seen as unfair and unjust for fellow employees and could cause disruption at the workplace due to inequality in pay or perhaps favouritism of particular staff members.

Although companies such as British airways and Asda are known simply because of their brand name and provide services for all types’ people, equality within the workplace is a problem which should not be expected in such companies. Overall, Equal opportunities are a major factor which needs to be considered in all circumstances to ensure that peace and happiness will be present at all times within an environment.

Selection

Find examples of three different selection methods used in an organisation with which you are familiar and identify when they are used and why, along with the pros and cons of each.

There are different types of selection methods used in order for companies to choose the best candidates for a job position. There are face-to-face interviews whereby the manager or someone in the recruitment department speaks with the potential employee. There are telephone interviews, whereby the person is interviewed over the phone and then there are also group interviews, this helps assess how well the person can work in a group.

Below is a listing the Pro’s and Con’s of each selection type.

Face-to-face interview -

Advantages:
Allows the candidate to express them selves fully and show the interviewer what they have to offer the company, by presenting the skills and qualifications they have acquired as well as describing their passion for that position.

Disadvantages:
Interviewees could be really nervous and may not like the fact that they are before a powerful person in the company. This could affect confidence level and in most cases loss of words. This method usually is broken down into steps and candidates normally have to come back for another interview.

Telephone interview –

Advantages:
Gives candidates the opportunity to express how they speak as well as being able to articulate there words over the phone. This method often involves reading a short piece of literature. This allows potential employees to show how well they read and speak in a professional manner. It is less nerve racking, cheap and a easy way for companies to select.

Disadvantages:
Since the interviewer can not actually see the person whom is on the phone, they don’t know if their personal appearance matches what they looking for. They may not have the practical skills required for the job and may not be sufficient in providing the quality of service to the company standard. Although it could be considered as cost effective, if there are no people who meet the standard of job position, then in fact it would have been a waste of money.

Group interview -

Advantages:
It gives the candidate the opportunity to express there team work and leadership, people skills. It also can help timid people come out of their shell and get involved in activities. This also is effective because the interviewer can analyse which people could manage and lead groups of people (potential team leaders) in the future

Disadvantages:
There will be loud and more dominant people in the group, who may over shadow the quieter ones. This will not be an advantage for the quieter ones as they may not be given the chance to participate. Less focus is made on individuals and they may have key skills beneficial to the company, which could be over looked. The size of the group is also a factor. When they are too large this does not help select strong candidates.

Describe an interview that you have taken part in. It may have been for a job, but could also have been within your school or university. Was the interview effective? If so, why. If not, why not.

An interview I was apart of was divided into two sections. First I participated in a telephone interview, where I had to express why I would be suitable for the job. I also had to read a piece of literature so that my reading was assessed. The second part of the interview was face to face, where I was asked questions about the work place and the job role. I was them given the opportunity to express the qualifications, skills and previous experience I had.

I think this was effective because I was given the chance to express myself over the phone as well as face to face. My speaking voice is very professional and so is my outward appearance. Therefore, both of the selection methods which were used were beneficial and very affective.

Interview a member of your family, or a friend not at university, to ask them whether they feel personality tests used within a selection procedure are advantageous. Describe and explain their views.

I asked this question to a family member and they felt that personality tests are not helpful because they don’t always relate to the individual whom the questions are directed to. the answers which are provided are not always true since the personality question does not relate to the person whom is taking part. Therefore, answers will be misleading or false. This in turn will affect the data which is being collected and the results will not correspond to what was expected.








In your own organisation or one with which you are familiar what recommendations would you make to improve selection processes?

Conclusion/ Recommendation

Selection process is very important and should be used in a correct manner so that companies can choose candidates fairly according to what the job role requires. Improvements such as allowing candidates to fully express them selves in group interviews is vital because there could be potential managers, supervisors and team leaders among that group. Therefore they need to show what skills they have to attract to eye of the interviewer. Group interviews should also be smaller in number so that partakers are given the chance to show what they have to offer the company. Since they are some times really large, there are too many people being observed, which is not helpful to the company.

recruitment

Monster is the leading provider of online careers and recruitment resources committed to connecting organisations with individuals.
For individuals thinking about a new job, new career, or a new direction, Monster helps you explore the possibilities and find the opportunities that are right for you.
For employers looking to recruit the most qualified candidates, Monster offers modern technology and superior services that streamlines the entire hiring process.
Their current layout is basic with an introduction of a new technology called 6 sense search technology as this type of search gives you more of an accurate description but very simple to use. The main purpose of the website is an online recruiting agency, which allows organisations and companies to places advertisements on the website for a small fee, and in return they get prospective individuals who meet their specification within their advertisement applying for the position. This website allows members to place their C.V on the website, which stores their information this is simply done by job title and postcode.

Brainstorm five advantages and five drawbacks of on-line recruitment.
Some of the benefits of an online recruiting agency are as follows:
• It has a low communication costs.
• It is convenient to access. Company and job information posted on the Net is easily accessible to job seekers 24 hours a day.
• Competitive advantage. Net technology allows recruiters to stay ahead of their competition.
• Greater advertising reach. Net advertising offers greater exposure to a larger audience than any other form of media.
• No time restrictions. Recruiting different time zones or working late at night is not a problem with the Net.

Disadvantages of online recruitment:

• Some description of a person will not match the description of candidate’s c.v.

• Too many candidates fill the form which makes it hard to choose the right person for the job also irrelevant applicant can apply for the job this waste a lot of time.

• It doesn’t always work because not every job role that is put online can or will be filled out. Some job applications are not easy to feel out and this lead to applicant being impatient.

• Some jobs require specific skill(s) therefore fewer applicants will apply for the role.

• Less face-to-face contact with the recruiter and candidate apply for the job role


Identify a recruitment campaign which has really interested you. Explain why you feel this campaign caught your interest.

The recruitment campaign that caught my eye was the advertisement for Wembley stadium. The first thing that came in mind was stadium and sports this is because I enjoy sports a lot especially football so to be able to work around some of the great sportsmen around the world was the main reason why this job advertisement caught my interest plus the application form wasn’t long, job role was fantastic, they offered good pay and flexible working hours.


Psychological contract:

Psychological contract is the insight of the employee and employer mutual obligations are towards one another. This type of mutual obligation helps the employee achieve his/her side of the responsibility. Basically it is a mutual trust between the employee and employer.

HR/Manpower planning

HR planning is the improvement of policies for matching the size and skills of the workforce to organizational needs. Therefore it is vital for organizations to recruit, train, retain, and optimize the deployment of the personnel needed to meet business objectives and to amend in the external environment.
This attribute engages carrying out a skills analysis of the existing workforce, carrying out manpower forecasting, and taking action to ensure that supply meets demand. This may contain the development of training and retraining strategies. HR planning has habitually been used by organizations to guarantee that the right person is in the right job at the right time due to the fact that all organisations directors demands success.

1. Physical make-up – slim built, clean shaven, male, tall, no piercings.
2. Attainments – degree in sports and science, week training, previous experience in football coaching, 2006, 2007 and 2009 league champions.
3. Intelligence - academic success in university: Verbal, Quantitative and Non-verbal, quick learner, patient with student and honest with feedback, analyzed all the relevant information and created a good, effective solution, gathering information, picking through it to decide what makes sense, and making sound decisions based on all available data.
4. Special aptitudes – being able to take order from high managers, no equipment required, hand flexibility in doing all things, economics a-level, and advanced computer skills.
5. Interests - intelligent being used to control students, always looking to experiment new things, the quality of causing change and motivating, outgoing, friendly with student in understanding and getting to what motivates student to get the best out of them.
6. Disposition - ability to act according to age of the person in terms of understanding them, very dependable person, very considerate in caring for my students. After all of the seriousness there is a funny side.
7. Circumstances – ability to travel anywhere for the success of university and able to work overtime and cover shift when asked to.

If Waitrose were considering opening a new store in High Wycombe, what are the key labour questions they would need to ask? Give at least 5 answers.

Are their products or services the kind that customers fancy?
Who is their existing competition?
How different is Waitrose product from competitors e.g. Tesco and Sainsbury’s?
What is the best locate to attract customers?
How many people live in High Wycombe?
What will make Waitrose a better value?
What is minimum wages of this area?

Role of the Line Manager

Some of the advantages of line management are as follows:
• Setting a good example by avoiding even the appearance of improper conduct and by treating all staff fairly, with dignity and respect

• Reviewing their own actions regarding staff employment and career decisions to ensure that they are free of bias and discrimination, both real and perceived.

• To be aware of what is happening in the work entity, watching for hostility or inappropriate exchanges between staff, or changes in behaviour such as anxiety, depression, increased absence or reduced efficiency.

• Learning how to deal with inappropriate workplace behaviours, by becoming informed about avenues of assistance and complaint procedures, and by consulting with experts in conflict resolution and respectful workplace behaviours.

• Let others know when their behaviour is offensive and make sure that offensive pictures, posters, screen-savers, etc., are not displayed in the work area;

As well as advantages, there are also some disadvantages of line managers being more involved with HR, these are as follows:
• Managers may be handed with too much responsibility
• They may not be able to share the balance of the job in the appropriate manor.
• They may try to undertake all of the task which are allocated to the HR department, and feel they have more power of the department, which simply means they are craving to be recognised
• Size and suitability of span of control
• Relationship between HR and line manager


What skills do you think that line managers need to develop in order to effectively manage people and why? How are your line managers developed at work?

Some of the skills in which managers need to obtain in order to develop people are as followed:
• People management
• Managing operational costs
• Providing technical expertise
• Organisation work allocation and rotas
• Monitoring work processes
• Checking quality
• Dealing with customers/clients
• Measuring operational performance.
(cipd.co. [Online] 2010)
By managers who obtain some of the skills stated above, already have the basic outline to insure people are getting the best of their ability, therefore getting the best out of their line manager. It is clear within the list stated above there is always room for improvement as a sense of self satisfaction, and workers would feel they are getting the best of his ability and are confident of him fulfilling his role as a manager.
As some members of staff are influenced by team moral and self satisfaction, they can also make a difference to their management practices which includes the following:
• performance appraisal
• training, coaching and guidance
• employee engagement (involvement and communication)
• openness – how easy is it for employees to discuss matters with their front line managers
• work-life balance
• Recognition – the extent to which employees feel their contribution is recognised.
• Build a good working relationship with their staff. They need to lead, listen, ask, communicate, be fair, respond to suggestions and deal with problems
• help and support employees to take more responsibility for how they do their jobs by coaching and guidance
• Building effective teams.
These skills are very important for a manager to posses and develop, because workers will pick up on their ability to perform well when needed. This also gives an insight that there is no need for change if the line manager is fulfilling their duties in the correct manor. Managers posses the ability to perform appraisal to members of staff, this gives them a sense of achievement, and that their good work doesn’t go unrecognised. By having this basic skill in identifying staff for the achievements, this shows staff their efforts are recognised, and are happy with the level of management within the organisation.

Do you feel your skills are more suited to the role of a line manager or an HR Manager? Explain your reasons.

Some of the job roles which are allocated to HR managers consist of the following things:
• working closely with departments, increasingly in a consultancy role, assisting line managers to understand and implement policies and procedures;
• promoting equality and diversity as part of the culture of the organisation;
• liaising with a wide range of organisations involved in areas such as race relations, disability, gender, age, religion and health and safety;
• recruiting staff - this includes developing job descriptions, preparing advertisements, checking application forms, short listing, interviewing and selecting candidates;
• developing policies on issues such as working conditions, performance management, equal opportunities, disciplinary procedures and absence management;
• advising on pay and other remuneration issues, including promotion and benefits;
• undertaking regular salary reviews;
• negotiating with staff and their representatives on issues relating to pay and conditions;
• administering payroll and maintaining records relating to staff;
• interpreting and advising on employment legislation;
• listening to grievances and implementing disciplinary procedures;
• developing HR planning strategies with line managers, which consider immediate and long-term staff requirements in terms of numbers and skill levels;
• planning and sometimes delivering training, including inductions for new staff;
• Analysing training needs in conjunction with departmental managers.
(prospects.ac. [Online] 2010)
Some of the skill required within this specific field in order to meet the requirements of this position, are started above. The level of skill needed changes depending on the size of the organisation. This shows the volume of the job, and what you have to be willing to undertake in order to meet the personal satisfaction when completing these tasks, and staff should be recognised when considering some of the skills needed to fulfil the position.

Teamwork

One thing I could give an example of me working as a team was at a football match. The reason why the team was a success was due to the fact that before the match kicked off we had a team meeting to solve the problem within the team and we communicated very well with each other during the match, encouraging each other and working harder than we had ever done.
The relevant theory that related to this teamwork was Bruce Tuckman’s 4 stages of group development especially the second one because there was a lot conflict going on which didn’t allow the team to perform to our ability. But when the issue was discuss between ourselves we where able to sort it and move on to the next stage.
Tuckman described the four distinct stages that a group can as it comes together and starts to operate. This process can be subconscious, although an understanding of the stages can help a group reach effectiveness more quickly and less painfully.
Stage 1: Forming
Individual behaviour is driven by a desire to be accepted by the others, and avoid controversy or conflict. Serious issues and feelings are avoided, and people focus on being busy with routines, such as team organisation, who does what, when to meet, etc. But individuals are also gathering information and impressions - about each other, and about the scope of the task and how to approach it. This is a comfortable stage to be in, but the avoidance of conflict and threat means that not much actually gets done.

Stage 2: Storming
Individuals in the group can only remain nice to each other for so long, as important issues start to be addressed. Some people's patience will break early, and minor confrontations will arise that are quickly dealt with or glossed over. These may relate to the work of the group itself, or to roles and responsibilities within the group. Some will observe that it's good to be getting into the real issues, whilst others will wish to remain in the comfort and security of stage 1. Depending on the culture of the organisation and individuals, the conflict will be more or less suppressed, but it'll be there, under the surface. To deal with the conflict, individuals may feel they are winning or losing battles, and will look for structural clarity and rules to prevent the conflict persisting.
Stage 3: Norming
As Stage 2 evolves, the "rules of engagement" for the group become established, and the scope of the group's tasks or responsibilities are clear and agreed. Having had their arguments, they now understand each other better, and can appreciate each other's skills and experience. Individuals listen to each other, appreciate and support each other, and are prepared to change pre-conceived views: they feel they're part of a cohesive, effective group. However, individuals have had to work hard to attain this stage, and may resist any pressure to change - especially from the outside - for fear that the group will break up, or revert to a storm.
Stage 4: Performing
Not all groups reach this stage, characterised by a state of interdependence and flexibility. Everyone knows each other well enough to be able to work together, and trusts each other enough to allow independent activity. Roles and responsibilities change according to need in an almost seamless way. Group identity, loyalty and morale are all high, and everyone is equally task-orientated and people-orientated. This high degree of comfort means that all the energy of the group can be directed towards the task(s) in hand.
My group didn’t manage to get to performance level until it was heading to the deadline. The reason is that my group where all talk but no action we settled all right, we decided to arrange what part each person takes and who does what for a agreed date we scheduled. The date set comes up and most of us had not even started or it’s was incomplete. Therefore getting to performance was more than a struggle at first; this attitude reflected hugely on our grade. Well we didn’t know each other very well I guess. Trust, is the key to success we had a lot of it at start until we started to approach performance that’s when we all got to know each others strength and weakness.

• Together for the good of the UK.
Strong employee engagement helps our winning organizations make a real difference to people’s daily lives, report Nick Rodrigues and Jamie McGinnes
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7059990.ece (accessed on 25/04/10)

• Special awards roll of honor.
Outstanding achievement in the workplace is recognized by five special awards.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7059844.ece (accessed on 25/04/10)

• Famous Models:
Stages of Group Development
http://www.chimaeraconsulting.com/tuckman.htm (accessed on 3/04/2010)

Organisation and Management theory

Mcdonald’s and Tesco:

Training, development and scientific sectioning of the workers are staff can be put on the job rotation system. Meaning experience is gained from working in every position inside the company. This reduces the risk of boredom as new skills are being enhanced every day.
Managers and workers sharing work and responsibility
These are Managers that treat staff with respect, and not blaming them for faults which aren’t their own. Learning to work together not of being individuals.
Development of true science for each person’s work;
Mac Donald’s helps employees to understand which ways helps them to work best and why. This would be done in a number of ways like personality tests, training exercises and so on.

Co-operation with works ensuring working is carried out in a prescribed way; Regarding Mac Donald’s it must mean managers and staff both listening to one another. If a decision is made by the managers and the staffs don’t agree then they must follow what has been said.

A Management theory is linked to the improvement of management as a means of increasing productivity and studying theories provides students of business management with information related to the braking down of work into a discrete task to find the ‘best possible way’

Tesco:
Training, development and scientific sectioning of the workers they continually update their staff knowledge to retain marketable skills by also making them rotate working areas, shift time etc. This is on the cutting edge of scientific knowledge and technology at Tesco.
They offer training to staff that will give them the opportunity to get on another level so that they are able to get the experience they need to do their job and to develop their careers at Tesco.

Managers and workers sharing work and responsibility
Managers find that growth gives them an increasing workload, so they add new members to their staff to perform some of the duties that were formerly handled by top management; this is because managers are responsible for the success and failure of the firm.

Development of true science for each person’s work
Tesco wants be a great place to work for all their staff. That's why they want everyone there to feel free to follow the career path that's right for them.

The advantages of Scientific Management
• Workers commonly had very little education.
• The de-skilling of work meant training would be simple and effective.
• Pay was increased by 60%.
• Increases the productivity from 121/2 tons per day to 471/2
• Labour and efficiency is divided. Specific roles and job description for management and workers.

The disadvantages of Scientific Management:
• Workers maybe become adjunct to machines.
• Price rates have meant a division between younger and older workers.
• It’s based on the assumption man are naturally lazy and motivated by money.
• It normally results in poor quality, high turnover and unrest
• Workers become hostile as they think it might lead to job losses.

Conclusion:
Scientific Management is an important factor of any business. This type of approach is old relating to the improvement of management.

It involves the braking down of work into discrete task finding the best possible solution to performing a task.

Taylor believed management acted on his ideas, work would become more satisfying and profitable for all concerned. E.g. workers would be motivated by receiving highest wage possible because of their working in the most efficient and productive way.

Enterprise week

How to fund your business - where money comes from and how to sell your idea.
The event was about having money, how to get it to fund your business, so Chris Wright spoke us about the different ways to fund a business and what should be considered in taking different routes.
Then he explained in detail how the whole procedure of achieving success when running your business.
When planning a business the first question that comes in mind is how I plan to fund my venture, he said the best is to explore your options of finance and choose the best one when the right option is chosen that is key start in your business already.
He also explain all types of funding you can receive when starting a new business, self funding was the first variety of funding. He then went on to talk about bank loans and angel investors, an angel investors are people who have pooled money together to invest in new and upcoming businesses. Government also provide funding for businesses in form of grants.
How to fund your business had an influence in my life because as a business student there are things I must know when starting my own business and these the things that any person looking to start a business must also know. As a result I now know where to go if I want to open a business, how I can receive support, how to start of and turn it into a success, how to detect if my idea will become a success in a long run. Most of all each choice that I take has its own advantages and disadvantages e.g. if a use a credit card I will have to pay back with interest therefore the profit that I make will be paying for interest but I can receive more money when ever I want to. With self-funding I will only have a certain amount even though all profit comes to me,the question is. what if I don’t make profit or enough of it?

Personality

Personality is the stable characteristics that illustrate how individuals behave in a particular way.
Nature endows us with inborn abilities and traits; Nature is something that cannot be easily changed this is referred to people who behave as they do according to genetic predispositions.
Nurture takes these genetic tendencies (nature) and moulds them as we learn and mature. These people think and behave in certain ways because they are taught to do so which can be changed at any particular time.

Nomothetic Approach:
Nomothetic approaches view the environmental and social influences as minimal and view personality as consistent, largely inherited and resistant to change. Although they would not diminish the difficulties that measuring personality brings, it is possible to measure and predict the ways in which personality types would behave given certain situations.
Nomothetic researchers closely align themselves to studies that are scientific in a positive sense. Methods used by them are transferred from the natural sciences. Some psychologists get interested by describing and measuring characteristics and comparing individual’s scores.

Idiographic approach:
Idiographic approach was supported by Erik Erickson; it is a holistic and dynamic overview which enforces the idea that managers take into account a whole understanding of the individual at work. These are known as idiographic approaches and are particularly related in understanding motivation, career development and team relationships.






First report:

My first test claim that ‘‘No one on earth is exactly like you’’. This shows that my personality is one of kind, different, unique this is because the qualities I carry cannot be identified in any order person apart from me; therefore I am a boss of my own and nobody else.
In addition, my report describes my level of comfort with each of the eight mindframes, along with suggestions for using this information to achieve greater success in life and work.

Second report:

My strengths:

Creativity and imagination are crucial for tasks and roles that require producing something new and original. It is not only creativity that drives innovation, but also providing the right environment for new ideas to flourish.

These behaviours are important for roles requiring good analytical skills. When working with information or solving problems, it is important to evaluate and review critically and produce solutions that are rational, practical and based on evidence.

Understanding other people, being tolerant and sensitive to their feelings, and treating them fairly and ethically are important behaviours when working in direct contact with other people, such as colleagues, clients or customers.

Comparing:
By looking at both test it clear state in the first report that there is no one on earth like me and the second test elaborates more on why I am unique in my own way. It states what makes me who I am just in more detail instead of it being in a sentence. I kind of agree with the findings of test because I know those strength are my strength.

Yes because personally it convenient for me to complete and gives me the opportunity to express my opinion for various question which are asked, it made me realise some strengths that I didn’t think I had and the my weakness can be gain my total focus however questionnaire sometimes may not benefit for the company responsible for the questionnaires. Therefore questionnaires should be able to have multiple answers and a column at the bottom to state otherwise.

Conclusion:
The two approaches which have been identified are Nomothetic and Idiographic. Nomothetic and Idiographic both have their own uses into days corporate structures whether organisation or company.

Nomothetic measures specific perspective looking at the identification of traits and personality.
Idiographic dynamically enforces the idea for mangers to understand individuals in a company.
Also the test stated what my strengths and weakness are in my personality.

Conflict

What is conflict?

Conflict occurs in all stages of situation at any levels of society but usually arises when to two or more (group) come into collision, disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition. The use of conflict is used as tool to intend to obstruct the achievements of other individual’s goals.

I was part of a football team that was not able to achieve our goals this was because less people turned up to training, some where not physically fit enough for a battle and the team work within the team was awful due to the fact that we didn’t actual work together in training but I think the best way to work as a team is to be able to communicate and understand each other. So the manager decide to have a team meeting which everybody turned up we discussed the issues surrounding the team which lead to more conflict because some couldn’t hold their anger in but at the end we all realise each other problems and strengths and how we can work as a team to motivate each other instead arguing among ourselves. We all established an understanding of each person, from then success was achieved.


Sources of power:
Coercive power is the use of threats, or physical sanctions for example, controlling the need for food.

Remunerative power involves manipulation of material and resources and rewards. This basically is playing with the truth for example through salaries and wages.

Normative power depends internally on the allocation and manipulation of symbolic rewards, for example esteem and prestige.

Alimentative involvement this happens when members are forced to be involved. Normally a strong negative orientation is held against the organisation.

Calculative involvement occurs when an organisation is motivated by extrinsic rewards. There won’t be a negative orientation or low positive orientation towards the organisation.

Moral involvement relates back to an individual’s belief in and value based on the goals of the company. There orientation towards the organisation will be high.

5 ways conflict can be resolved:
Set meetings so the feelings of everyone will be known and if any problems are brought to the table, suitable solutions can be thought of so the problems can be eradicated
Set out Social events so everyone feels comfortable with each other, this will lead to a relaxed environment and less hostility. It also builds self-esteem, making people feel like a member of the organisational family not just an employee.
Rotate the job so that everyone in the organisation will gain experience with different machines and will be able to work in different areas. This leads to the development of skills and ironing out of weaknesses.

Ian Beale had a conflict with his daughter about her seeing Leon Small. Ian takes away his daughter’s stereo until she follows his rules then he also grounds her. It stops her from leaving the house. Their conflict was solved when his daughters decided to apologise to Ian for her behaviour and they hugged.


Conclusion:
Power and conflict is in everyday life when it is related to an organisation. In an organisation there is likely to be conflict as there is more than five causes of conflict so it should be expected. This is also related to power as in an organisation as power also have positive attitudes to the workforce.

Improving Staff Performance

A process theory is a rational cognitive process occurring within the individual. How does it motivate someone?

Content theory is a term of need to satisfaction. What motivates someone?

Adidas and Tesco plc:

Adidas believe that their direct result of the commitment and talents of effective people who work for them; Adidas aim to make sure that their employees are happy and motivated. They offer them a challenging, fun and financially rewarding working environment, where fair competition and a responsible attitude towards the environment and their internal and external business relationships are encouraged.
Adidas makes sure that employees are aware to what their expectations are and what they expect of them. This done by given clear goals and guidelines that will make the employer do the job required. The objectives have to be intent and clear so that it can be measured and verified on a consistent basis for every job that is held throughout the company. The employees that they look for must have these skills; passion, vision, competitiveness and humility, engrained into their way of life in order to work for Adidas.

Adidas practice content theory to make their employees work to their goal for the business success. Adidas uses Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Motivation (motivator and growth). Adidas offers both motivator and growth; it clearly states that they make sure their employees are motivated and happy. They offer fair competition I believe by learning from each other will lead to their growth in different areas.

Motivation is a feeling that allows someone to have the aptitude to get their self to take action regardless of whether they feel like it or they don’t. The motivational strategies that Adidas uses to encourage their staff are listed below.

Bonus:
The annual Bonus system is open to all employees. Bonus targets are linked to all types of performance. The Bonus system is for new and existing employees from the date they joined Adidas. Once they are employed they are eligible for an impartial bonus, based on the number of full calendar months they work in the monetary year.
Promotion:
Promotion is available to every employee. When ever there is a new item being advertise in the market, they ask all employees for their thoughts towards that particular product before it get advertise into the market.

Opportunity to take more responsibility:

Adidas staffs are usually given the ability to express and demonstrate this is because before someone is employed by Adidas recruitment, it is essential that the person has an effectiveness skill. Therefore if he/she is given the opportunity to take a responsibility because they have the skill of effectiveness that responsibility given will not be a problem, everything that they do must cause a change.

Employee discount:
For all employees, any product purchase from the shop gets 10% discount.

Additional:
A range of offers and discounts are available exclusively only to Adidas employees. You can take advantage of special discounts on a wide range of holidays, health club memberships, leisure attractions and many more products and services."


Tesco have become a market leader by doing the little things that really matter for our customers and staff.
We believe in treating each other with respect, giving everyone an equal opportunity to get on. It's our people that make the difference every day - helping us create value for our customers and earning their loyalty for life.

Improving staff:
Tesco hold a training course. It is for there staff to learn to think out side the box and to help to motivate others around the store. They are also called in to meetings with management once a month to help them improve the work place and how it could be a better place to work.

Bonus:
At Tesco, they like to ensure that their staffs are cared for financially. So whether the employee has been with them for 3 months or 3 years they run three successful share schemes, as this helps employee earn a bit more cash than their usual payment.

Rewards:
Furthermore employees at Tesco are given free shares this only for staff who have worked there for a entire year. Tesco reward their employees with a proportion of their profit made.
Every October those people who've been here a year get the option to save up to £50 every 4 weeks for either 3 or 5 years and receive a tax-free bonus at the end. This can be using your savings and bonus to buy Tesco shares at up to 20% less than the market price, or taking the cash.

Pension:
With Tesco pension employees are able to understand how financially secure they will be when they decide to retire because their pension provision have access to a life assurance scheme that will provide financial protection for their family.
As well as competitive salaries at all levels, in every area of the business, they also offer a whole package of other ways to help you make more of money, safeguard future and look after health.



Analysing Tesco ways of motivation:

By looking at Tesco's employee benefits, it can be seen that they are using the content theory in practice. Identifying any use of the process theory could not be found. If appeared into Tesco's employee benefits, Tesco's cover all the stages of Maslow's hierarchy of needs:

From the above discussion about Tesco types of staff improvement, it can be seen that Adidas's has been concentrating on entirely on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and has found way to motivate an employee for every levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This seems to have a great impact on the development of Tesco because they are still the number 1 leading supermarket in the UK.

Conclusion:
Well what I have discovered is a deeper understanding of the content and process theory, how it has been carried out by Adidas and Tesco, what kind of encouragement they both use to keep employee motivated and get the best out of them. Understanding the differences between content and process theory were notable.
Furthermore it is vital for organisation to look to motivate their employees but it is up to the organisation on how they want this done. I think the motivation is through Herzberg or Maslow theory is the best way for retail shop to motivate their staff.
Lastly most people are motivated when they are aware that a reward/bonus will be available if targets are met this makes the employee work extremely hard in order to get his/her hand on the reward/bonus, this leads to success for the organisation.



http://www.adidas-group.com/en/careers/welcome.asp

http://www.tesco-careers.com/home/working/rewards-and-benefits

Leadership

A manager’s role is to organise the plans of the business while the leader motivates the staff. The manager is fully in control of the business and he/she is held accountable for what so ever happens in the organisation whereas a leader is something like a role model because of their work force and sets trend for every worker to pursue. But the manager must ensure that their leaders are well motivated and inspired. A leader is very important because they hold the key to the success of the organisation. Example is teacher (leader), the headmaster (manager) and the students. The teacher holds the key to the success of the school.

The managerial grid is used to identify and categorize a person’s leadership style. This grid is about positioning a leader in a “task versus person” orientation. It is a model of behavioural leadership. The managerial grip is a base on two dimensions; people and production. In the people dimension the leader is orientated on the team members, where he takes into consideration their needs, interests, and personal development. In the production dimension the leader is favouritism to the aim of production, concrete object and efficiency. Well when I use to work for Gap, the leadership style is more of production because they made staff attend work early in the morning, there are no tea breaks. The leaders focus on concrete objectives, organizational efficiency and high productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task, they forget that it is the team members that can accomplish the assignment given.

Article:

Terry is registered as a powerful with great reaction, he kisses the captain armband straight after he scores a goal this shows that when ever he scored the first thing he remembers is that he is a leader of a team therefore he kiss what represents his leadership. Now Terry leadership has earned him praise along side England legend Tony Adams who was describe as someone who can step back and assess where he was going, what he made of his life, and his advantages thus far. This also shows that Terry is setting an example to his team mates with his desire, endless effort and passion for the team.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/john-terry-defender-of-the-faith-412513.html

Conclusion:

Leadership has a huge role to play in the ways of a work force and influencing for employees to produce their best possible results. Companies must use the leadership style suiting their company structure best. I have concluded that a company must first understand its structure before determining what type of leadership style it suits. Knowing this will increase the chance of success for any company.

Organisational Culture

Organisation Culture:

Orange’s materials emerge solely not only on visible display, but also in the social, temporal, and theoretical relations that define the invisible. From what I saw from Orange’s shop every display catches the eye and it’s constant of orange labels everywhere designed into boxes, writing and the main thing is the phone and sim card they are selling.
Orange has designed their shop according to the name its called by (Orange).


Power culture means a web. This power culture is for family owned business. It can be large or small. This can be soap; example Eastenders the Mitchell family, and the pup.


Role culture means a Greek temple it has been stereotyped as portraying bureaucracy in its purest form. This is over seen and co-ordinated by a small group of senior managers. The individual and position isn’t as important as the role or job description.





Task culture means the characteristics of an organisation. Staffs feel motivated because they are empowered to make decisions within their team, they will also feel valued because they may have been selected within that team, and been given the responsibility to bring the task to a successful end.

Person culture means the characteristic of the consensus model of its management. Individual almost have full control of all autonomy and influence over them will be related backed to basics of personal power.





Culture is the most important factor accounting for success or failure in an organisation therefore classifying power culture with culture will make these problems occur especially lack of consultation can lead to staff feeling undervalued and de-motivated, which can also lead to high staff turnover. Another problem is power is not rewarding staff for their work effort.
McDonald's is the largest food service company in the world. They look upon themselves as ‘the leading global food service retailer’. Globally they have more than 30,000 restaurants serving more than 47 million people each day in 121 countries. The first McDonald’s in the UK was opened in 1974, however, on the 31 December 2001 they where recorded to have 1,184 restaurants (including there franchises)

After researching various sources I found that McDonald's were structured along functional lines. Their Chief Executive oversees five major areas of activity:
• Operations (equipment and franchising)
• Development (property and construction)
• Finance (supply chain and new product development)
• Marketing (sales marketing)
• Human Resources (customer services, personnel, hygiene and safety)
I chose this company because I believe they’re the leading global food service in the world.

Conclusion:
This subject matter looked at organisational culture and in an organisation. It led to four main areas being found out which were Person Culture, Task Culture, Role culture and lastly Power culture. These are all used in any organisation so there has to be the right mixture in any company. I realise that they McDonalds chose a structure which suited their organisation and helped with their operations on a local and global scale.