In multicultural organizational contexts what could be a good strategy to keep people motivated towards a common task?

A good strategy would be to offer rewards to those who achieve the task, by doing this, people will be really motivated to work hard to get the reward. Another strategy would be to put employees to work in teams, in each team there would be people from different cultures, so that they can get to know each other and break the cultural block, and by doing that they can work better, because they understand and like their fellow employees.

 

What I said above is related to the expectancy theory, where employees think that if they do a great effort they will have a great performance and they will get a good reward.

Image

http://hubpages.com/hub/Reward-Incentive-Programs

Ethical decission making in organizations

In the fifth class we saw the topic “Ethical decision making in organizations”.

In our lives there are programmed decisions (routine) and non programmed decisions (More complex, requires creative solution).

 

The decision making process is:

• ·         Recognize the problem and the need for a decision.

• ·         Identify the objective of the decision.

• ·         Gather and evaluate data and diagnose the situation.

• ·         List and evaluate alternatives

• ·         Select the best course of actions.

• ·         Implement the decision.

• ·         Gather feedback.

• ·         Follow up.

There are different model of decision making:

• ·         Rational Model says how an individual should act in order for him to obtain a reward.

• ·         Bounded rationality model suggests that limits are present upon how rational a decision maker can be.

• ·         Garbage can model says organization make decisions randomly and unsystematically.

Escalation of commitment is when an individual continue committing its resources to a failing course of actions, it can occur for different reasons like personal pride, and individuals should deal with it by splitting responsibility for decisions.

Some companies need more creativity than others. There are some blocks that diminish creativity like trying to be logical or being afraid to look foolish.

Group think is a deterioration of mental efficiency resulting from the pressures of being inside a particular group, it can lead to biased of the information processing and to a failure to work out contingency plans.

There are different techniques for group decision making like:

• ·         Delphi Technique: Gathering expert’s judgements to make decisions.

• ·         Devil’s Advocacy: Prevents group thinking, a group or an individual critics during the decision making.

• ·         Dialectical Inquiry: Debate between two opposite sets of recommendations.

Cultural differences in decision making can lead to problems selected, time orientation belief in the ability of people to solve problems and more.

Values are the principle that distinguishes what is bad from what is wrong, it is internal, ethics are behavioral right and rules are external, and social responsibility is the obligation of an organization to behave in ethical ways.

There are also some ethical theories like:

• ·         Consequential Theory: Emphasizes on the results of a behavior.

• ·         Rule-based theory: Emphasizes the character of the act.

• ·         Character theory: Emphasizes the individual’s character, personal virtues and integrity.

Locus of control is a personality variable that affects individual´s behavior; it can be internal or external.

Machiavellianism is a personality characteristic indicating one’s willingness to do whatever it takes to get one’s own way.

The cognitive moral development is the process of moving through stages of maturity in terms of making ethical decisions, there are three levels.

• ·         Level One “Premoral level”

• ·         Level Two “Conventional level”

• ·         Level Three “Principled levels”

 First Image

http://www.mansibhatia.com/2010/09/ethical/

Second Image

http://www.sterling-adventures.co.uk/blog/2008/08/03/wet-snowdonia-sunny-pothole/

Third Image

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Machiavelli

In this documentary, corporations are defined as “legal entities” and they meet the clinical definition of psychopathic behavior. Do you agree, why, or why not?

I do agree with this statement because even though a corporation is a legal entity, and it acts mostly in legal ways, lots of corporations do unethical things in order to get the biggest possible profits.

In the film we can see that they evaluate different aspect a psychopath has like for example unconcern for the feeling of others, deceitfulness and failure to conform with social norms with respect to lawful behaviors, and corporations meet all of these aspects so as a legal person they can be seen as psychopaths that do whatever It takes to earn more money and be the best.

Image
http://www.cinemapolitica.org/node/894

The Corporation!

 CAPITALISM is an “economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth”.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capitalism

A PSYCHOPATH is a person afflicted with a personality disorder characterized by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts and a failure to feel guilt for such acts.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/psychopath

LEGAL INSTITUTIONS are institutions formed by more than one person and that functions under the legality, legal institutions can go from a marriage to a formed corporation.

 AN EXTERNALITY occurs in economics when a decision (for example, to pollute the atmosphere) causes costs or benefits to individuals or groups other than the person making the decision.
www.scienzagiovane.unibo.it/english/pollution/glossary-pollution.html

LIMITED LIABILITY IS a concept whereby a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a company or partnership with limited liability. In other words, if a company with limited liability is sued, then the plaintiffs are suing the company, not its owners or investors. A shareholder in a limited company is not personally liable for any of the debts of the company, other than for the value of their investment in that company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_liability

 

 First Image

http://priyankaseconomicblog.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/capitalism-vs-corruption/

Second Image

http://www.infoniac.com/health-fitness/psychopaths-are-more-likely-to-bully-the-underdog.html 

Third Image

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/07/0725_secondlife_eco/source/6.htm 

Fourth Image

http://www.portaec.net/library/pollution/index.html

Fifth Image

http://www.klmanagement.com.my/category/blog/business/page/2/

How can organizations effectively manage both risk taking and escalation of commitment in the decision-making behavior of employees?

Risk taking is when a person is willing to accept greater potential for loss, also that person tolerates greater uncertainty and are more likely to take risky decisions. Escalation of commitment is when a person tends to commit resources to a failing course of action.

In order to effectively manage risk taking, organizations should teach their employees properly how to act under pressure, and when it is good to take a risk and when it is simply reckless. Organizations can also reduce or eliminate punishments for making mistakes, because with the punishment the employees are always scare and always play safe.

In order to manage escalation of commitment, organizations should teach their employees, when is a good time to keep trying and when it is right to stop committing to the same action because better results are not possible, they should also split responsibilities for decisions so a single person won’t be capture under the temptation of full commitment. 

Image
http://www.crisisriskmanagement.com/

Organizational Motivation..

In the third class we saw the topic “Organizational motivation”,  The business dictionary defines motivations as internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested in and committed to a job, role, or subject, and to exert persistent effort in attaining a goal.

There are different motivation processes like:

Internal: Give primary consideration to variables within the individual.

External: Focus on elements on the environment.

Process: Emphasize the nature of the interaction between the individual and the environment.

A need is a state within an individual that generates movement toward some outcome, there is the Intrinsic motivation (internal needs) and the Extrinsic motivation (external incentives).

The maslows need’s hierarchy we can find five different needs: Self actualization, Self steem, Love, Safety and security and Physiological. The three first are under the Y theory (Higher order needs), the other two are under the X theory (Lowe order needs). Usually people under theory X dislike work and avoid, but people under theory Y view work as natural and seek responsibility.

The ERG theory says that workers pursue multiple needs at the same time (Growth needs, relatedness needs and Existence needs), according to the regression hypothesis when a person gets frustrated trying to satisfy some needs, they start trying to satisfy some lower needs.

The McClelland’s needs theory sees need as needs of achievement (Challenging goals), power (Influence others) and affiliation (Maintain close relationships).

The two factor theory sees two kind of factors, the motivation factors (Job satisfaction and psychological growth) and Hygiene factors (Job dissatisfaction and avoidance of pain).

The social exchange and equity theory sees three categories of exchange between individuals and organizations 1. Committed (Moral relations). 2. Calculated (Reciprocate relationship). 3. Alienated (High negative intensity).

The Stacy Adams theory of inequity says that people are motivated when they see think they are in risk and they compare their incomes and outcomes with others.

The expectancy theory says that a good effort leads to a good performances and it should lead to a reward.

Moral maturity is the degree in which people are motivated to act ethically (mature) or unethically (egocentric).

It is important to say that there in not a perfect theory, and that managers should try to understand their employees needs and train them to increase their motivation to work.

First Image

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ95z6WPfTGHSQIVq0CMOKTE55BrQLqnifLmVY35ubSlI2rLehG2nHt2GQMUZ42dmJDKzFsaubH5qFQM4cdV1JSmTalSUCN1HaWrxiW3lU6OTBrzw1SQp4u9ecdV-rTUTWyIHxC3Y8GM4/s1600-h/motivation 

Second Image

http://www.sba.oakland.edu/Faculty/mathieson/philosophy/index.html

To what do I attribute the success of JICA?

I attribute the success of JICA to different factors. The first of these factors is the fact that JICA has a good will, it intents to reduce poverty, protect the unprotected and build peace, so it is very well seing by the people and the fellow governments.

Another thing is that Japan doesn´t count with a lot of resources, so it also needs help from the countries JICA assists, and in order to receive that help, they have to do a really great job at those countries, one clear example of that is what JICA does.

Finally I think JICA success has growth over the years because it counts with the experience of 30 years and the support of 81 countries where it has voluntaries nowadays. 

Image

http://www.dc.jetalumni.org/2010/11/18/career-opportunities-at-jica/

Personality, Perception & Attribution!

In this class we saw the topic of personality, perception and attribution, attitudes and values.

The personality is a relatively stable set of characteristics that influence an individual’s behavior.

There exists a theory called the trait theory, that evaluates the big five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience).

There is another theory that describes personality as a composite of an individual’s psychological processes and it is called the Integrative approach.

The personality characteristics in Organizations are:

• ·         Core self evaluation: It refers to self concept. It is comprised of locus of control, self-steem generalized self-efficacy and emotional stability.

• ·         Self monitoring: People base their behavior on cues from other people and situations.

• ·         Affect (Possitive, negative) Tendency to accentuate positive or negative aspects of himself.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Instrument is an instrument developed to measure Carl Jung’s theory of individual differences (extraversion, introversion, thinking, feeling, sensing, intuition, judging and perceiving).

Social Perception is the process of interpreting information about another person

Three categories of factors influence our perception on another person: Characteristics of ourselves, as perceivers, Characteristics of the target person we are perceiving and

Characteristics of the situation in which the interaction takes place. There are also some barriers to social perception like: Selective perception and stereotyping.

Some impression management techniques are self enhancing others are Other-enhancing and other are social identity-based impression management.

The Attribution Theory is the one that explains how individuals pinpoint the causes of their own behavior and that of others on Internal attribution or External attribution.

The Fundamental Attribution Error and the Self-Serving Bias are known as the Attribution biases.

Attitude is a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating an entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.

The ABC model of an attitude evaluates three components: Affect, Behavioral intention and Cognition.

A cognitive dissonance is when an individual experiences conflict between attitudes and behavior.

Work attitudes depend on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Job satisfaction is a positive emotional perspective of one’s job. Organizational commitment is the strength of an individual’s identification with an organization. It consists of: Affective, Continuance and normative commitment.

Values are Enduring beliefs that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence. 

First Image

http://wwworphanstones.blogspot.com

Second Image

http://www.sanjeevhimachali.com/?p=431

Third Image

 http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~renglish/377/notes/chapt14/index.htm

Why is managing organizational behavior in changing times challenging?

Nowadays organizations are changing constantly, and the organizations from some years before can not be compared to the organization we have nowadays.

One Factor we can see has change is that a lot of organizations nowadays are multicultural organizations and the diversity is really important, so it is really important to learn how to use culture properly to manage organizational behavior, because otherwise culture will use you. A strong organizational culture helps an organization adapt to the environment. One mistake an 

organization can make is ignoring diversity.

Also nowadays organizations need a great and innovative boss, who not only can dictate, but can also have a good relationship with his employees, and can motivate them to do a better job.

First Image

http://www.vanevalentine.com/?paged=2 

Second Image

http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/mmostamandy/c_conclusion.html

Organizations Behavior, National & Organizational Culture!

In the first class the teacher gave us an introduction to what an organization is A structured social system consisting of groups and individuals working together to meet some agreed-upon objectives.

Organizational behavior is the study of individual behavior and group dynamics in organizations that provides a set of tools that allow people to understand, analyze and describe behavior in organizations and also allows managers to improve, enhance or change work behavior so that individuals, groups and the whole organization can achieve their goals.

It is really important to understand human behavior from an internal perspective (inside the person) as well as from an external perspective (Outside the person).

The organization has two contexts the formal (office) and the informal (unofficial and less visible part). Another important factor is that customers are focusing on high quality, and the organizations should be customer oriented. There are different models of quality like “TQM” an “Six Sigma”.  TQM is The total dedication to continuous improvement and to customers so that the customers’ needs are met and their expectations exceded. And Six sigma is A high-performance system to execute business strategy that is customer-driven, emphasizes quantitative decision making, and places a priority on saving money.

Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another… Culture, in this sense, includes systems of values; and values are among the building blocks of culture.

National culture is an environmental factor; it characterizes the national group and influences the behavior of its individual members (age, gender).

Organizational culture is a set of values and beliefs that is unique to any organization, it guides the decision making of the organization, provides identity for members, guides employee behavior, etc.

There are different types of culture like: The clan (very familiar), Hierarchy (very formalized), Adhocracy (very dynamic), and Market (results oriented).

International management is defined as the generation and transfer of knowledge across initial settings, organizations, and countries. And cross-cultural Management is defined as Development and application of knowledge about cultures in the practice of international management, when the people involved have different cultural identities.

Diversity is something that should not be ignored; it has two dimensions, Primary (age, gender, race) and Secondary ( Income, Marital status). Diversity has some benefits like attracting and retaining the best human talent, and some problems like communication.





First Image
htpp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Title_Guarantee_and_Trust_Company_Building,_Los_Angeles.JPG 


Second image
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/200805/there-is-only-one-human-culture 


Third image
http://crazyfamous.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/benetton-gets-it/