Management Theories Quiz

Introduction to Psychology in Business and Public Life

• This course, EMA1312, is for first-year B.Com students.
• The notes provide a study resource, but not a substitute for lectures or the lecturer's guidance.
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Organisational Behaviour

• Psychology Definition: The scientific study of behavioural and mental processes. It seeks to describe and explain human thought, feeling, and actions.
• Organisational Behaviour: Studying how individuals and groups within organisations behave, to improve performance within those organisations. This is important because it helps understand organisational performance and structure to improve performance in general.
• Psychological Contract: An informal agreement between employees and employers defining expectations, commitments, and understandings, that go beyond any formal agreements.
• Individuality: When individual needs conflict with organisational demands, frustration and conflict can result. Creativity and individuality may be encouraged but can be undermined by bureaucracy.

The Analysis of Work in the 20th and 21st Centuries

• Job Characteristics Model (JCM): Developed by Hackman and Oldham, this has 5 key features:
  • Skill Variety
  • Task Identity
  • Task Significance
  • Autonomy
  • Feedback
  • These features produce 3 critical psychological states
    • Experienced meaningfulness of work
    • Experienced responsibility of the outcome
    • Knowledge of the results of work activities
• Motivating Potential Score (MPS): A measurement derived from the JCM features to gauge the potential for motivation in a job.

The Vitamin Model

• This model, by Peter Warr, explains that organizations, like organisms need certain "vitamins" (job characteristics) for growth and employee well-being.
• Job characteristics such as:
  • Supportive Supervision;
  • Autonomy;
  • Interpersonal Contact;
  • Externally Generated Goals;
  • Availability of Finances;
  • Variety ;
  • Environmental Clarity;
  • Valued Social Position;
  • Physical Security.

The Nature and Context of Organisations

• Classical Theories (Taylorism): Frederick Taylor's scientific management aimed to improve efficiency by clearly defining work standards and responsibilities. His work proposed:

  • Replace rule of thumb with scientific management method.
  • Divide work and responsibilities between management and workers efficiently
  • Scientifically select and train workers, and
  • Co-operate with workers to ensure the principles are followed

• Bureaucratic Management (Weber): Max Weber proposed structuring organizations with hierarchies, clearly defined roles, standardized procedures, and detailed record-keeping.

• Neoclassical Theories: These theories incorporated behavioral sciences, and focused on motivational strategies to foster better work outcomes for employees within an organisation.

Personnel Selection

• Competency: Specific characteristics needed for effective job performance.
• Job Analysis: Defining the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities (KSAs) needed for a job role.
• Job Analysis Methods: Include methods like Interviews (structured, semi-structured and unstructured), Situational/Competency-based, Group/One-to-one, Biodata, Psychometrics; these methods can be used to discover aspects of the person's history (hard and soft data) and measure competence in numerical scales or categories.
• Cognitive Ability Tests (CATs): Assessments of mental abilities including reasoning, verbal comprehension, and problem-solving.

Assertiveness

• Assertiveness: Standing up for beliefs while remaining calm and positive to foster healthy relationships in the workplace.
• Passive/Aggressive/Assertive: Different responses to situations and their workplace implications.

Emotional Intelligence

• Emotional Intelligence: A person's ability to identify, comprehend, manage, and utilise their own emotions and others.
• Goleman's 5 Pillars: Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills - all contributing to Emotional Intelligence.

Job Motivation

• Job Motivation: The desire or willingness to put in effort to achieve organizational goals. - Motivators include: Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness
• Self-Determination Theory: People are motivated to satisfy psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: A hierarchical model of needs that influence motivation, starting with physiological needs and progressing to self-actualization.

Herzberg's Two-Factor Model

• Motivators: Factors that increase job satisfaction (achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement).
• Hygiene Factors: Factors that decrease job dissatisfaction (company policies, salary, working conditions).

McClelland's Human Motivation Theory

• Three Motivators: Achievement, affiliation, and power, that are dominant driving factors for individuals

Power

• Power: The ability to influence or control others.
• Different forms of power are: Legitimate, Reward, Coercive, Referent, Expert, and Informational

Work-Life Balance

• Work-Life Balance: The ability to manage work and personal life effectively. Achieving this balance is crucial for work productivity, health, and personal well-being.
• Lack of work-life balance can manifest as: Physical (fatigue, headaches, sleep problems, appetite issues); Emotional (Depression, anxiety, mood swings, anger); and Personal (Missing opportunities with family, Burnout, Resort (to alcohol,drugs etc.)

Performance Management Tools

• Performance Management: Continuously measuring and improving employee performance.
• The Performance Cycle: Plan, Monitor, Review, Reward employees based on objective SMART goals.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Quantifiable metrics that track how effectively an organization or department is achieving its goals.
• Performance Appraisals: A systematic evaluation of employee performance used to understand their capabilities.

Personal Development Plans

• Personal Development Plans: Self-evaluation and self-reflection tools that focus on employees' personal and professional goals aligned to boost motivation, employability and to identify existing strengths or areas to improve.

Balance Scorecard

• Balance Scorecard: A strategic planning and performance management framework that align business activities to the organizational vision and to ensure clear measurable goals are achieved.

Strategy Mapping

• Strategy Mapping: A visual tool which demonstrates the connections between the organisation's strategy and actionable steps for employees.