Management

Question 1

What is Organisational Behaviour?
Name 3 theories of OB?

Answer 1

Ans:

• Organisational Behaviour (OB)- Organisational Behaviour (OB) is the study of Human behaviour in an organisation, and how employees interact within a group. One of the main goals of Organisational Behaviour is to revitalize ‘Organisational Theory’. The Analysis of OB is used to improve the effectiveness of a business. Organisational Behaviour is used by Human Resource Managers in evaluating the culture of the organisation and how that culture helps or hinders productivity and employee retention in a business.

• Three Theories of OB are Classical Organisational Theory, Neo-Classical Theory and Modern Theory

Question 2

What are Line & Staff Functions in an Organisation?

Answer 2

Ans:

The Line Function involves all those functions that are directly involved in the purpose of an organisation example Sales, Manufacturing, Marketing etc. While the Staff Function involves all those functions that are performed to facilitate or support the organisation including “Line Functions” like Human resources, Operation Management, Accounting, Public relations etc.

Question 3

What is the Classical Organisational Theory?
Describe 4 key elements of the Classical Organisational Theory?
What are the limitation or Drawbacks of the Classical Organisational Theory?

Answer 3

Ans:

Classical Organisational Theory- Classical Organisational Theory is the traditional theory that emphasises more on the organisation than on the employees working in the organisation. According to the Classical Organisational theory, the Organisation is a machine and the employees working there are the components or parts of that machine.

Four Principles or elements of Classical Organisational Theory are:

1. Division of Labour- According to the Classical Organisational Theory, to increase the productivity of employees the employees should be divided among different work as per their specialisation
2. Scaler and Functional processes-
   Scaler Process- Deals with the vertical growth of the organisation. It deals with the relationship between subordinates and their superiors. It includes Command, Unity of Command, Delegation of Authority& Responsibility and Obligation to report.

Functional Process- Deals with the horizontal growth of the organisation. It involves the division of organisation into specialised parts and regrouping the parts into compatible units.

3. Structure- Structure is a logical relationship among different functions of an organisation and how these functions are organised and performed for the effectiveness of an organisation. The Classical organisational theory usually focuses on “Line” and “Staff” functions.

The Line Function involves all those functions that are directly involved in the purpose of an organisation example Sales, Manufacturing, Marketing etc. While the Staff Function involves all those functions that are performed to facilitate or support the organisation including “Line Functions” like Human resources, Operation Management, Accounting, Public relations etc.

4. Span of Control- The Span of Control element means the total number of Subordinates that can be supervised by the Manager efficiently. The total number of Subordinates should not be either less or more than needed because if the number of subordinates is more than required then the Manager will lose control and if the number of Subordinates are less then the Manager cannot produce the desired output.

Limitations:
• The Classical Organisation Theory assume that the organisation is a closed system and does not interact with the outside environment
• It does not emphasize the decision-making process
• It only focuses on the Line and Staff function of the organisation
• Human Behaviour is ignored in this theory

Question 4

What is the Neo-Classical Organisation Theory?

What are the features of Neo-Classical Organisationa Theory?

What are the Propositions of the Neo-Classical Organisation Theory?

Answer 4

Ans:
Neo-Classical Organisational Theory- Neo-Classical Organisational theory is the modified and extended version of the ‘Classical Organisational theory’. It is also called behavioural theory and focuses more on human behaviour within a workplace. According to the Neo-Classical organisational theory, The situation of an organisation should be observed in social, economical and technical terms.

Features/Concepts/Improvements of Neo-Classical Organization theory:

Flat Structure- The Neo-Classical theory suggests a ‘Flat Organisational Structure’ rather than the ‘Tall Organisational Structure’ that classical organisational theory has. The Flat structure has a better ‘Span of Control’ and Communication than the ‘Tall Structure’. It is also free from hierarchical control

Decentralization- Decentralization means the transfer of functions and Authority to different authorities rather than a single authority. Decentralization is more close to the flat structure so it allows autonomy and initiative at the lower level and also develops individuals at the lower level to achieve a higher position in the future.

Informal Organisation- Neo-Classical organisation theory emphasizes both formal and informal organisation. Formal Organisation is used to describe the intentions of the top level managers for interaction among employees. An Informal organisation is necessary to find the flaws and loopholes of the formal organisation and to satisfy the social and psychological needs of the employees. Management uses Informal organisations to overcome resistance to change and communication barriers.

Propositions of Neo-Classical theory are:
 An organisation in general is a Social System composed of various interacting parts.
 Informal Organisation exists within a Formal Organisation and both are affected by each other.
 Human beings are interdependent and their behaviour can be predicted based on the social and psychological factors
 The goals of the organisation often conflict with that of individuals working in the organisation. Thus reconciliation of these goals is important
 Communication is necessary as it carries information for the functioning of an organisation and also the feelings of the people at work.
 Teamwork is essential for the proper functioning of an organisation and organisations should work on this

Question 5

What is the Modern Organisation or Modern Management theory describe all three approaches?

Answer 5

Ans:
Modern Organisation Theory comprises 3 Approaches:

Quantitative Approach- Modern Management theory suggests the use of mathematical and statistical data to forecast the output of an organisation and improve decision making. The quantitative approach can be used in inventory management, Forecasting Human resource needs, Products scheduling etc.

System Approach- System theory suggests that an organisation is a unified whole system that is made up of a network of sub-systems that are interdependent or interrelated to each other to accomplish a common goal. For example- a ‘Car’ is a whole system that is composed of sub-systems like engine, tyres, chassis, brakes, handle etc.
There are two types of Sub-Systems:
Open System- It is a sub-system that interacts with their environment for example- Feedback and suggestions among employees in an organisation is a type of Open System that identifies the problems in an organisation for the improvement
Close System- It is a type of Sub-System that does not interact with the environment. For example- Research & Development department does not interact with other departments for developing new products.

Contingency Approach/Situational Approach- The Contingency approach suggests that there is no Particular/Universal way or strategy to manage an organisation. The decisions taken in an organisation depend on various Internal and External factors.
Internal Factors include- Size of business, People, Technology, Purpose, Structure etc.
External Factors include- Socio-Cultural factors, Political & Legal factors, Technological factors, Economic factors etc.
The organisation’s development programme taken may work in one situation but fail miserably in another situation
Therefore an organisation should use different theories and strategies for different situations to find solutions.

Question 6

What are the approaches to organisational behaviour?

Answer 6

Ans:
There are 5 approaches to Organisational Behaviour studies-

Human Resource approach- It is also called ‘Supportive-Approach’. It is concerned with the growth and development of the people towards a higher level of competency, creativity & fulfilment because people are the central resource of an organisation. In the human resource approach, the role of the manager shifts from controlling to supportive. It requires that the managers, instead of controlling should provide dynamic support to the employees by treating them as part of the group.

Contingency Approach/Situational Approach- The Contingency approach suggests that there is no Particular/Universal way or strategy to manage an organisation. The decisions taken in an organisation depend on various Internal and External factors.
Internal Factors include- Size of business, People, Technology, Purpose, Structure etc.
External Factors include- Socio-Cultural factors, Political & Legal factors, Technological factors, Economic factors etc.
The organisation’s development programme taken may work in one situation but fail miserably in another situation
Therefore an organisation should use different theories and strategies for different situations to find solutions.

System Approach- The system approach suggests that an organisation is a unified whole system that is made up of a network of sub-systems that are interdependent or interrelated to each other to accomplish a common goal. For example- a ‘Car’ is a whole system that is composed of sub-systems like engine, tyres, chassis, brakes, handle etc.
There are two types of Sub-Systems:
Open System- It is a sub-system that interacts with their environment for example- Feedback and suggestions among employees in an organisation is a type of Open System that identifies the problems in an organisation for the improvement
Close System- It is a type of Sub-System that does not interact with the environment. For example- Research & Development department does not interact with other departments for developing new products

Productivity Approach- It is also called the result-oriented approach. It deals with the ratio of input and output of an organisation. If more output can be produced from the same amount of input then productivity is improved and also if the same amount of output is produced from less input then productivity is improved. The input and output ratio is used to measure the efficiency of an organisation and also the manager’s efficiency in utilizing the resources.

The Productivity approach is generally used to measure the economic input and output of an organisation but the measure of human & social input and output is also important, for example- Good organisational behaviour will improve the job satisfaction of employees which will subsequently improve the output of the organisation.

Interdisciplinary Approach- An Interdesciplinary approach is used in an Organisation for Organisational Behaviour because it has theories, concepts and practises from psychology, sociology, economics, management, science and technology. All these theories, concepts and practises are interdependent and influence each other.

Question 7

What is Attitude and what are the components of Attitude?

What are the types of attitude in terms of Organisational Behaviour?

Answer 7

Meaning- An attitude is a positive, negative or mixed evaluation of a person, thing, location or event. It is a favourable or unfavourable evaluation of a person, place, thing or event. Likes or dislikes towards something determine our attitude towards that thing.

Components of Attitude- There are 3 components of attitude:

1. Cognitive Component- Cognitive component of an attitude means someone’s beliefs, thoughts or opinions towards something. For example, Generalising and Stereotyping something also comes under the cognitive component like All women are bad drivers, All Girls are physically weaker than boys come under Cognitive Component.
2. Affective Component- the affective component of an attitude refers to the feelings or emotions like hate, love, likeness etc towards something. For example, an employee will be more willing to work with the person he likes than the person he dislikes.
3. Behavioural Component- behavioural component of an attitude refers to a person’s tendency to behave in a particular way towards a person or thing. For example, a manager treating his employees rudely shows the behavioural component of that manager.

Types of Attitude in terms of Organisational Behaviour:

1. Job Satisfaction- It refers to an employee’s level of contentment regarding his job. An employee with a higher degree of job satisfaction will have a positive attitude towards the organisation while a dissatisfied employee will have a negative attitude toward the organisation
2. Job Involvement- It refers to a psychological identification of an employee with his job. It involves a level of participation of an employee towards the organisational goals. Higher participation tells about the positive attitude of an employee
3. Organisational commitment- It refers to the commitment of an employee toward the organisation. A committed employee feels proud to be associated with its organisation and its goals and visions and wishes to maintain membership in that organisation

Question 8

What are Values?

Answer 8

Ans:

Values are the collective conception of a person about how things are ought to be or how people are ought to behave especially in terms of qualities like integrity, honesty, generosity, kindness etc. Some common values followed in an organisation are fairness, innovation and community involvement. Values are relatively more enduring and stable than attitude because of how they were originally learned.

Question 9

What is personality and what are the factors that affect personality?

Answer 9

Ans:
Personality is the combination of different qualities and characteristics that forms a person’s unique identity. There are attitudinal, psychological and emotional dimensions of a person that are dynamic in nature and keep on changing as the person interacts within a group. Understanding of personality facilitates the understanding of a person’s behaviour, action and role within an organisation.

Factors Affecting Personality:

1. Heredity Factors- Heredity factors are those factors that are transmitted by the parents during birth. It includes temperament, height, facial features, disease, gender, race and eye colour of a person.
2. Physical appearance- It includes factors like looks, weight, physical structure, beauty and clothes he is wearing. The physical appearance of a person can be changed by a person or it changes with time.
3. Psychological factors- Psychological factors play a major role in a person’s personality development. It involves factors like attitude, motives, acquired interests, emotional well-being etc
4. Cultural factors- Cultural factors are the set of values and ideologies that a community follows in which a person is raised. The personality formation of a person depends majorly on the social group with which he hangout and its values and ideologies. There is a difference in the personality of western culture and Indian culture because of huge differences in their culture.
5. Family Factors- Family factors are those factors in which a person’s personality is influenced by his parents and family members like siblings, cousins and other relatives. Parents have the most significant influence on shaping a child’s personality. A child raised in a violent or toxic family will be cold and timid as compared to a child who has been raised in a family with a healthy environment.
6. Situational Factors- Situational factors are those factors that reflect a person’s personality in different situations. Every person reacts differently in different situations for example in a violent situation a person may react violently but another person may react calmly to handle the situation.

Question 10

What are the 3 traits of personality according to Gordon Allport?

Answer 10

Ans:
1. Cardinal Trait- Cardinal trait is a single dominating trait that reflects a personality. It is a dominating trait by which a person is identified as aggressive, kind, greedy etc.

2. Central Traits- Central traits are multiple traits by which a person is identified like shy, intelligent, honest, anxious etc. These traits are not dominating like the cardinal trait. Central Traits are general characteristics that form a basic foundation of a person’s personality.
3. Secondary Traits- Secondary traits are the traits that reflect a person’s personality according to situations. It includes preferences and attitudes of a person according to a particular situation for example a person may feel anxious while representing himself to a group while another person may feel confident.

Question 11

What are the Attributes/Characteristics of personality?

Answer 11

Some common attributes of personality are-
1. Core-Self Evaluation- Core Self Evaluation means how one perceives oneself. People with positive core-self evaluation believe they are effective, capable and can control their environment whereas people with negative core-self evaluation doubt their capabilities and believe they have no control over the environment.
2. Machiavellianism- It is a personality trait that denotes cunningness, manipulativeness and a drive to use whatever means necessary to gain power, succeed or achieve targets. People with high-level Machiavellianism are very manipulative & pragmatic and cannot be persuaded easily but they can persuade other people easily.
3. Narcissism- Narcissism is a personality trait that describes a person who thinks that he is very important. People with narcissism think they are great leaders or supervisors but in reality, they are the worst leaders. They are always admiring themselves and talking down on others. People with narcissism are not helpful and try to eliminate their threats because they are very selfish.
4. Self-Monitoring- It is a personality trait that describes people who can control their emotions and behaviour according to the social situation. People with high self-monitoring closely monitor their audience and present themselves according to the desired situation. There is a great difference between their true identity and their public persona
5. Risk-Taking- a person with a risk-taking personality is impulsive and takes less time and information to decide as compared to a person who is conscious and avoids risk.

Question 12

What is the Big five model personality theory?

Answer 12

Ans:
According to the Big five theory of personality, a person’s personality is the combination of inherited and learned traits. It is the sum total of characteristics, beliefs, motives, attitudes and habits. The Big five theory suggests 5 key traits of personality that describe a person’s personality. Different people have varying degrees of these traits ranging from low to high.

The five traits are-

1. Conscientiousness- This is a personality trait that describes a person who is self-disciplined and can control and regulate his impulses and temptations. people with this personality trait make great efforts in achieving their goals. People with a high level of conscientiousness are organised, pay attention to details and enjoy having a set schedule while people with a low degree of conscientiousness are lazy, procrastinate and do not like a set schedule.
2. Extraversion- It is that personality trait that reflects the degree to which a person engages with his social environment. People with a high level of extraversion traits are outgoing, energised by social interaction and enjoy being the centre of attention. People with low extraversion traits are reserved and dislike being the centre of attention.
3. Agreeableness- Agreeableness means the quality of social harmony a person has with others. People with a high level of this trait are kind, generous, trustworthy, empathatic, helpful and value getting along with others. People who have a low level of this trait are generally considered competitive and untrustworthy. They are uncooperative, suspicious and not friendly.
4. Neuroticism- Neuroticism Is also called Emotional Stability. Neuroticism is the tendency of a person to experience negative emotions like anxiety, anger, pessimism or depression. It is the level of emotional stability a person has. People with a high level of neuroticism have a low tolerance for stress and find difficulty in recovering from stress. People with low-level of neuroticism are more emotionally stable and tolerant to stress.
5. Openness to Experience- Openness to experience means one’s willingness to try new things and engage in imaginative and intellectual activities. People with a high level of this trait are curious, creative, unpredictable and follows unconventional beliefs while people with a low level of this trait are predictable and not very imaginative.

Question 13

What are the Type A and Type B personality theory?

Answer 13

Ans:
The Type A and Type B personality theories were developed by the American cardiologist Meyer Friedman and his colleague Ray.H.Hosenman. Their theory suggeseted that people with Type A Personality are more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease.

Type-A personality- Type-A personalities are highly competitive, proactive, impatient, insecure about their status and work hard in achieving their goals. Type A personalities try to do two or more things at once simultaneously and are more vulnerable to stress than Type B personalities.

Type B personality- Type B personalities are more relaxed and easygoing. They are innovative and open to new ideas. In a competition rather than focusing on winning or losing, Type B personalities enjoy the competition. Type B personalities have more tolerance for stress.

Question 14

What is emotional intelligence and what are three main models of emotional intelligence?

Answer 14

Ans:
Emotional Intelligence- Emotional Intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand, use and manage emotions. It is the ability to monitor one’s and other people’s emotions, discriminate among different emotions and label them appropriately and use perceived emotional information for guiding thinking and behaviour.

Three main models of Emotional Intelligence are:

1. Ability Model- The ability model was developed by Peter Salovey and John Mayer in 2004. It focuses on the cognitive aspects of emotional intelligence. It proposes that all individuals vary in the ability understanding emotions and emotional information. The four main components of the ability model are

a) Perceiving emotions
b) Using emotions
c) Understanding emotions
d) and Managing emotions

2. Trait Model- The Trait model suggests that an individual emotional intelligence is characterized by his or her personality traits. It focuses on five major personality traits that contributes to a person’s emotional intelligence which are Self Awareness, Self Regulation, Intrinsic Motivation, Empathy and Social skills.

Individuals’ possess varying degree of these emotional intelligence traits and they can be developed and improved through self-reflection and self-improvement.

3. Mixed Model- This model was developed by Daniel Goleman. This model is the combination of both ability and trait models and it emphasizes that the both cognitive ability and personality traits shapes emotional intelligence. It includes both components of ability model and trait model for analyzing emotions.

Question 15

What are importance of Emotional Intelligence?

Answer 15

Ans:
1. Building Strong Relationships- Emotional Intelligence helps in building a strong relationship with others because emotional intelligence is about understanding one’s and other people’s emotions. A Person with high emotional intelligence is more empathetic and has integrity which makes the person more trustworthy and reliable.
2. Manage change- People with low emotional intelligence find difficulty in adapting to the new changes in the organisation while people with high emotional intelligence are adaptive and flexible and can adapt to the change and turn it to their advantage.
3. Conflict Management- Emotional Intelligence helps managers in managing the conflicts within an organisation. A manager can use his emotional intelligence to pacify emotional conflict among people and bring disagreements to a middle ground that everyone can agree with.
4. Stress Management- Emotional Intelligence helps in the management of stress. A person with high emotional intelligence can manage stress more easily than a person with low emotional intelligence. Managing one’s stress is very important for staying calm and focused in a difficult situation.
5. Encourage Others- A person with high emotional intelligence is good at motivating and thus encourages other employees to perform more efficiently for the organisation.

Question 16

What are Daniel Goleman’s five components/elements/dimensions of Emotional Intelligence?

Answer 16

Ans:
1. Self Awareness- Self-awareness is recognizing and understanding your own emotions. It is the ability to recognize the impact of your own actions, decisions and emotions on other people. Emotional Intelligence also means understanding the relationship between the things they feel and how they behave.
2. Self Regulation- Self-regulation means monitoring your own emotions and using them appropriately. Self-regulation means using your emotions at the right time and right place. People who have high self-regulation are flexible, adapt well to change and are good at handling difficult situations.
3. Motivation- Intrinsic motivation plays a major role for people who are high in emotional intelligence. People who are high in emotional intelligence not motivated by the external rewards like money, fame, recognition etc but are rather motivated by inner goals and desires.
4. Empathy- Empathy is understanding other people’s feelings and reacting to them accordingly. If some person is feeling low or depressed then a proper understanding of emotional intelligence can make the other person help him in alleviate that situation.
5. Social Skills- Emotional Intelligence helps a person to improve his social skills and build a strong relationships with others. Strong social skills help a person to exceed in his career and help the manager to better manage an organisation

Question 17

What is Perception and what is the Perception process?

Answer 17

Ans:
Perception is how we analyze the environment, objects and people around us. It is the process of interpreting something we see or hear in our mind and using it to judge or make meaning of it. Perception involves five senses that are touch, taste, sight, smell and sound.

The 3 stages of the Perception Process are-
1. Selection- Selection is the first stage of perception. In this stage, a person receives and selects his information according to his interests. The selection of information is based on various internal and external factors like size of the information, intensity of the information, past experience, psychological requirements etc.
2. Organization- Organization is the next stage of the perception process. In this stage, the received and selected information is organised based on similarity, simplicity, closure and proximity. The information is also organised based on the Priority in which the important part of the information is given more priority than the part which does not require much attention.
3. Interpretation- Interpretation is the final stage of the perception process. In this stage, the meaning is formed from the selected and organised information.

Question 18

What are the errors in the Perception process?

Answer 18

Ans:
(a) Illusion- Illusion is the misinterpretation of information. It happens when a person perceives the information wrongly for example in dark, a rope may be mistaken as a snake or a person standing at a distance may be mistaken as your friend.
(b) Hallucination- hallucination happens when a person interprets information even when if the information is not present and a person sees an object, person or may hear a voice. Hallucination is also a psychotic disorder.
(c) Primacy & Recency effect- Primacy effect is when a person makes his judgement or opinion based on the first impression of information he has received like the first impression of a person. While recency effect is when a person makes his judgement based on the most recent information even though he has whole other information.
(d) Halo Effect- Halo effect is when a person based on the information generalises someone based on experiencing one trait. For example, a person who looks attractive is assumed that he has multiple positive traits while an unattractive person is assumed that he has multiple negative traits.
(e) Horn effect- Horn effect is when a person interprets and forms an opinion from the information based on only a negative quality or feature of that information and ignores other qualities or traits of that information.
(f) Stereotyping- Stereotyping is when a person interprets traits of information and associates it with a particular group of people, for example, a foreigner seeing India on television makes a stereotype that every Indian is poor and dirty.
(g) Perceptual Defence- Perceptual defence means that a person resists changing his perception of information even if his interpretation is wrong. A person does not feel comfortable changing his perception because he believes that his interpretation is right and it cannot be wrong.
(h) Similarity- Similarity is when a person judges another person based on the similarities with that person. A person forms a positive interpretation of a person who is similar to him for example- An interviewer from Delhi interviews two people one from Bihar and one from Delhi. As the interviewer is from Delhi, he selects the candidate from Delhi basis on his similarity

Question 19

What are the factors that influence perception?

Answer 19

Ans:
Three factors that influence perception are:
1. Characteristics of the Perceiver
2. Characteristics of the Target
3. Characteristics of the Situation
1. Characteristics of the Perceiver:
• Attitude- If a person has a positive attitude then the perceiver will form a positive perception about the target and a person with a negative attitude will form a negative perception of the target
• Motives and Desires- Motives and Desires of the perceiver also influence the perception of the perceiver. A person with motives and desires will pay more attention to that information that is relevant to his motives or desires or can help him achieve them.
• Interest- A person who has interests in the information will form a strong perception of the information while a person who lacks interests in information will form a weak perception of the information.
• Experience- A young and inexperienced person may take more time in forming a perception than a person who is experienced.
• Expectations- A person who has expectations from something or someone will perceive it according to his expectations
• Self Concept- Self-concept means how a person perceives himself which influences his perception of others. A person who understands himself more will perceive others more accurately.

2. Characteristics of the Target:
   • Physical Appearance- A person forms a perception of someone based on his or her physical appearance like height, weight, age, gender, race etc. A perception may form a positive perception of the person who has a good physical appearance and form a negative perception of a person with a bad physical appearance.
   • Verbal Communication- A person forms a perception of other people based on the verbal communication of other people like how a person talks, tone and accent.
   • Non-Verbal Communication- A person also forms a perception of the people based on non-verbal communication like facial features, expression, eye contact, posture and body movement of the people.
   • Objects- Objects, people or events also influence the perception of an individual. Objects, people or events that are similar are perceived together rather than perceiving them separately.
3. Characteristics of the situation:
   Characteristics of the situation influence the perception of an individual in such a way as when a person meets someone for the first time and that person is with someone he admires and respects then the person will form a positive perception of that individual. Location of the situation also influences the perception as when an employee is having a meeting with his boss inside the office will create a different perception than the same person having a meeting with his boss outside the office building.

Question 20

What is Reinforcement and what are the types of Reinforcement in Organisational Behaviour?

Answer 20

Ans:

Reinforcement means developing and strengthening the behaviour of a person. A person repeats the behaviour that leads to positive consequences and avoids behaviour that leads to negative consequences. There are two types of reinforcements-

1. Positive Reinforcement- In positive reinforcement, the behaviour is strengthened by positive reinforcers. Two types of positive reinforcers are primary and secondary reinforcers. Primary reinforcers are basic needs like food, water, shelter etc and secondary reinforcers include money, praise, promotion, awards etc.
2. Negative Reinforcement- In negative reinforcement, negative reinforcers are used on a person and the person avoids unpleasant consequences that could be imposed on him like a reprimand from the boss, criticism, demotion, salary reduction etc. Thus negative reinforcement also strengthens the behaviour.

Question 21

What is Organisational Change?

Answer 21

Ans:
Organisational Change is the major alteration in the overall work environment of an organisation. There are various types of organisational change-
1. Strategic Change- Strategic Change is the change in the strategy of an organisation. A change in strategy may be due to a change in mission, change in technology, innovation, market threats, government policies etc.
2. Structural Change- Structural change is the change in the hierarchy of management in an organisation. An organisation may adopt a flat organisational structure to improve the efficiency of an organisation because a flat organisational structure brings autonomy and improve the ability of lower-level employees to make on-the-spot decisions in critical situations.
3. Process-Oriented Change- Process-Oriented changes are the changes an organisation makes to improve the internal efficiency of the organisation. A process-oriented change focuses on new skills and operating processes.
4. Cultural Change- Cultural changes are the people-oriented changes taken by an organisation. The right culture is very important for the overall performance of an organisation. An organisation may adopt cultural changes according to the change in cultural trends in the country.

There are Various External and Internal factors that affects organisational change:

External Factors-
1. Technology- Technological developments and changes in AI (Artificial Intelligence) affects the change in the organisation. New technology may force an organisation to either adopt that technology or update its technology.
2. Market Condition- Changes in the demand and supply in the market or the competition in the market forces an organisation to change accordingly. For example, a decrease in demand in the market makes an organisation reduce its production quantity and save cost or an increase in competition forces an organisation to change its way of working to beat the competition.
3. Social Factors- Social factors like change in trends, culture, perception and expectation of people also affects the organisational change for example change in the trend to wear western clothes affects a clothing company to shift its focus from producing traditional clothes to western clothes
4. Government Policies & Legal changes- A new government policy or legal change forces an organisation to change according to the new policy for example change in the working days from six days a week to five days a week will force an organisation to make necessary changes required to complete its work in five days.
Internal Factors-
1. Leadership- Change in leadership affects change in the organisation because every leader brings a new strategy and way of working. The organisation has to change the leader if the leader is not competent.
2. Employees- Employees of an organisation affect change in an organisation in several ways. If employees of the organisation are not satisfied with the work environment the organisation may have to make necessary changes to avoid attrition
3. Performance- The performance of the organisation forces the organisation to identify the weakness and fill the gaps to improve the performance of the organisation
4. Mission- Change in the mission and vision of the organisation makes an organisation make necessary changes to achieve its new goals.

Question 22

What is Organisational Change?

Answer 22

Organisational Change is the major alteration in the overall work environment of an organisation. There are various types of organisational change-
1. Strategic Change- Strategic Change is the change in the strategy of an organisation. A change in strategy may be due to a change in mission, change in technology, innovation, market threats, government policies etc.
2. Structural Change- Structural change is the change in the hierarchy of management in an organisation. An organisation may adopt a flat organisational structure to improve its efficiency of an organisation because a flat organisational structure brings autonomy and improve the ability of lower-level employees to make on-the-spot decisions in critical situations.
3. Process-Oriented Change- Process-Oriented changes are the changes an organisation makes to improve the internal efficiency of the organisation. A process-oriented change focuses on new skills and operating processes.
4. Cultural Change- Cultural changes are the people-oriented changes taken by an organisation. The right culture is very important for the overall performance of an organisation. An organisation may adopt cultural changes according to the change in cultural trends in the country.

Factors that affect Organisational Change
Various External and Internal factors affecting organisational change are:

External Factors-
1. Technology- Technological developments and changes in AI (Artificial Intelligence) affects the change in the organisation. New technology may force an organisation to either adopt that technology or update its technology.
2. Market Condition- Changes in the demand and supply in the market or the competition in the market forces an organisation to change accordingly. For example, a decrease in demand in the market makes an organisation reduce its production quantity and save cost or an increase in competition forces an organisation to change its way of working to beat the competition.
3. Social Factors- Social factors like change in trends, culture, perception and expectation of people also affects the organisational change for example change in the trend to wear western clothes affects a clothing company to shift its focus from producing traditional clothes to western clothes
4. Government Policies & Legal changes- A new government policy or legal change forces an organisation to change according to the new policy for example change in the working days from six days a week to five days a week will force an organisation to make necessary changes required to complete its work in five days.
Internal Factors-
1. Leadership- Change in leadership affects change in the organisation because every leader brings a new strategy and way of working. The organisation has to change the leader if the leader is not competent.
2. Employees- Employees of an organisation affect change in an organisation in several ways. If employees of the organisation are not satisfied with the work environment the organisation may have to make necessary changes to avoid attrition
3. Performance- The performance of the organisation forces the organisation to identify the weakness and fill the gaps to improve the performance of the organisation
4. Mission- Change in the mission and vision of the organisation makes an organisation make necessary changes to achieve its new goals.

Question 23

What are different strategies for implementing Change in an Organization?

Answer 23

The strategies to implement change in an organisation are:

1- Plan Carefully- An Organisation should plan thoroughly before introducing the change by doing extensive research. The organisation should predict all the positive and negative consequences of the change and should try to minimize the negative consequences. The change implemented without a plan can be disastrous for an organisation
2- Transparency- An Organisation should be as transparent as they can while introducing the change to their employees. The organisation should explain all the negative and positive aspects of the change, this will make the employees comfortable and will help in gaining the trust of employees
3- Creating a Roadmap- The organisation should make the employees understand where the organisation is, where is it going and how the change will help reach the organisation to its goals, this will make the employees feel they are part of a bigger purpose that is going to shape their future.
4- Training- The organisation can provide training before implementing the change. This will help in making the employees comfortable who lack the experience and skills required for the new change and will ultimately help in implementing the change smoothly
5- Participation- The company can engage the participation of employees in the new change by listening to feedback and ideas of the employees. This will help in getting different perspectives and predicting the possible outcome of the change
6- Monitor and Measure- Once the change is in motion, the organisation should consistently monitor the implementation of change and should identify all the problems and loopholes while implementing the change, address any issues on time to implement the change smoothly
7- Demonstrate Strong Leadership- The organisation should display strong leadership in the whole change process by motivating and inspiring the employees through constant support and encouragement. Motivated employees will contribute better to the change process.

Question 24

What is Organizational Resistance, what are the reasons behind Organizational Resistance?

How to overcome Resistance to change?

Answer 24

Organisational Resistance is the tendency of an organisation as a whole to resist change. Companies that suffer from Organisational resistance become inflexible and are unable to meet the market demands.

Sources/reasons for Organisational change are-
1. Habit- Employees working on the same task every day become habitual to their work and when they are given new work, they show resistance to the new work.
2. Fear of the Unknown- Employees form a preconceived negative opinion about the change which is yet to happen, so when an organisation announces a new change, employees may see it as detrimental and resist the change
3. Selective Information processing- Employees in an organisation selectively process the information given to them by the organisation and because of selective information processing, employees do not completely comprehend the new changes and ultimately resulting in resistance to change.
4. Threat to Expertise and Relationships- The employees are resistant to change because they feel that either their expertise in a particular task or their relationships with peers might get affected because of the new changes introduced by the company
5. Fear of Failure- Employees resist change because of the fear of failure. The fear of failure may be due to a lack of knowledge or confidence, the employees fear that they might not be able to adapt to the new changes.
6. Poor Communication- Due to poor communication of the change from the organisation, the employees become hesitant about executing the change and thus resisting the change

Overcoming Resistance to Change-
Resistant to Change can be overcome or reduced by following various ways according to different situations, Different ways are required to tackle different Resistant:

1. Education and Communication- Resistant to change can be reduced if the logic and advantages of the change are explained to the employees clearly. This can be achieved through discussions, memos, group presentations and reports. The resistance will reduce if the employees completely understand the benefits of the change
2. Participation and Involvement- Resistance to change can be reduced by the participation and involvement of employees who are resistant to change. The company should involve employees by organising meetings to share inputs and ideas about the new change. It becomes difficult for an employee to resist changed decisions in which they have participated.
3. Support and Facilitation- The company can support and facilitate employees who are resistant to change by listening to their problems and supporting the employees emotionally. The company can also provide support in the whole change process to reduce resistance to change.
4. Negotiation & Agreement- If the resistance to change is very strong or it is from a very strong group of employees, then the company may have to negotiate with the employees and come to an agreement. The company may have to meet the demands of the resistant employees in exchange for implementing the change
5. Manipulation and Co-Optation- The company can reduce the resistance to change by manipulating key employees who are resistant by giving them an important role in the change. If the key resistant employees endorse the change, then they will gain support from the rest of the resistant employees. This is a quick and inexpensive strategy for reducing resistance but the purpose will fail if employees found out that they are being manipulated.
6. Coercion- The company can also overcome resistance to change by threats to the employees like lack of promotion, transfer of job or loss of job. This is a negative approach to overcoming resistance to change because the support of employees cannot be gained in this approach and will affect the company in future.

Question 25

Describe Kurt Lewin’s Change model?

Answer 25

Kurt Lewin was the german psychologist that suggested three stages for organisational change which are Unfreezing, Change and Refreezing

Unfreezing- The first step towards the change is to create an ideal environment before implementing the change so that the change can be implemented smoothly because employees will naturally resist the change. Communication takes a very important role during this stage because employees should be properly communicated that how the current way of working is hindering the growth of the organisation and how the new change is necessary for the growth of the organisation and to gain an advantage in the market. The idea behind the Unfreezing stage is that the more we know about the change and the more we feel it is necessary, the more we will be motivated to accept the change.

Changing- In This stage, the change is implemented. It is also called the ‘Transition’ or ‘Move’ stage because in this stage the employees move to a new state of work. This stage involves acceptance of new ways of working. The transition stage is hard to overcome due to uncertainties and fear because employees are struggling with a new way of working. During the changing stage, people begin to learn new behaviours, processes and new ways of thinking. The employees should be continuously reminded of why the change is important and how it will benefit them when fully implemented.

Refreezing- It is the final stage of Kurt Lewin’s change model. In this stage, the implemented change is stabilized and solidified and the changes made to the organisational structure, processes, goals and people are accepted and refrozen as the new way of working. The Refreezing stage aims to ensure that employees don’t revert back to the old ways of working and that efforts are made to guarantee the change is not lost.

Question 26

What is the Kurt Lewin’s Action Research Model used in the Organization Development? What are the various steps involved in the Action Research model?

Answer 26

The Action Research model was introduced by Kurt Lewin for Change Management in an Organisation. In the Action Research model, an organisation works with an expert researcher called Organisational Development (OD) practitioner or OD practitioner who helps the organisation in implementing the change in an organisation. The steps involved in the Action Research model are:

1- Diagnosis- In this step, the expert researcher gathers information and data on the various problems of the organisation. The data is gathered by listening to employees, conducting interviews and reviewing reports
2- Analysis- The collected information and data are analyzed in the second step. Patterns and frequency of various problems are identified in this step by using complex statistical calculations.
3- Feedback and Planning- The Diagnosis and Analysis done by the researcher are shared with the organisation in this step. The organisation and researcher work together and identify the strength and weaknesses of the organisation by analysing different patterns of problems. They Researcher and Organisation jointly agree on the further steps to be taken and work together in developing an action plan that would be necessary to eradicate the problems.
4- Action- In this step, the change is implemented as decided in the previous step. To correct the problems, the researcher and organisation implement the planned change which may be installing new methods & Procedures, reorganising structure or reinforcing new behaviours.
5- Evaluation- In the final step, the researcher evaluates the effectiveness of the planned change and provides methods to the organisation for managing the planned change. The initial data is used as a benchmark to compare and evaluate any subsequent changes.

6- Repetition of the Cycle- The Action Research model is a recurring process and the outcomes of the research are used again for further changes and enhancement in the organisation.

Question 27

What is Kurt Lewin’s Positive Model for Planned Change?

Answer 27

Kurt Lewin’s positive model of planned change focuses on the best practices of an organisation. It identifies everything that the organisation is doing right and uses it to achieve better results in the future.

5 Phases of the Positive Model are-

1. Initiate the Inquiry- In the first phase, an enquiry will be initiated to know the Subject of Change which will involve the active participation of the members of the organisation to recognize organisational issues they have the most energy to address.
2. Inquiry into best Practices- In the second phase, the best information will be gathered by the members of the organisation. For example, if the subject of change is Innovation then the members of the organisation will gather stories about the new ideas that were developed and carried on in the organisation. Then a group of Information will be formed by sharing stories of innovation among other members of the organisation.
3. Discover the Themes- In this phase, The group of Information collected in the previous stage will be used to recognize various themes of the subject which demonstrate common experiences of the employees. For example, the stories of Innovation gathered in the previous phase may have themes about how much freedom each employee got from the manager in exploring new ideas, how much support employees got from their co-workers or how the exposure to customers sparked creative ideas.
4. Envision a Preferred future- based on the group of information that contains various themes about the best practices used in the organisation, the members will challenge the current state of working and will collectively visualize a preferred future that will connect the current best practices with the preferred change in the future.
5. Design and Deliver Ways for the Future- The final phase will describe the Plans and activities that are necessary to bring the vision. The members of the organisation will make modifications, analyze different results and make necessary adjustments to move the organisation towards the future.

Question 28

What is Organizational Development?

Answer 28

Organisational Development is the collection of change methods used by an organisation to improve the effectiveness and employee well-being. Organisational Development values both Organisational growth and Employee growth. The Process of Organisational Development is:

1- Diagnosis- In the first stage organisation will analyze the current state of the organisation in terms of various structures, problems or opportunities. Then the organisation will engage with a consultant to gather and analyze relevant information about the present problem in the organisation
2- Action Plan- In the second stage, the consultant will share the diagnosis of the problems with the top management and the top management will develop a strategy or plan to bring change or improvement in the organisation.
3- Implementation of Action Plan- In the third phase, the action plan will be implemented to solve the problems and improve the effectiveness and performance of the organisation
4- Evaluation & Modification- In the final phase there will be continuous monitoring of the action plan and feedback will be collected to review the progress of the action plan. The top management will make necessary modifications if the need arises.

Question 29

Who is known as the father of Human Resource management?

Answer 29

Elton Mayo, Australian Psychologist

Question 30

What is Management, what are the different levels of Management?

Answer 30

Management is the art of coordinating employees, activities, resources and tasks to achieve the goals or objectives of an organisation. Management includes supervision of core operations, training of human resources and designing company infrastructure. There is no universally accepted definition of Management. According to Harold Koontz, an American organisational theorist, “Management is an art of getting things done through and with the people in the formally organised group”

There are three levels of Management:

Top Level Management- It consists of a Board of directors, Chairman, CEO, Managing Director and President. Top-level management is the ultimate source of authority in an organisation. It formulates goals and policies along with strategies and plans to implement those goals and policies. Top-level management sets up a proper structure or framework for the successful execution of the goals and policies. It also assembles the resources of the organisation like machines, capital, materials etc for achieving organisational goals.

Middle-Level Management- It consists of departmental managers of all the departments like the Marketing department, Operations department, Sales Department etc. Middle-level management serves as a link between Top-level management and Lower-level management. It is responsible for executing the plans and policies of the Top-level management by assigning duties and responsibilities to the Lower-level management. Middle-level management engages and cooperates with the entire organisation for the smooth functioning of the organisation.

Lower Level Management- It is also called Supervisory or Operational Level Management. Lower-level management directly interacts with the actual workforce. It include supervisors, foremen, superintendents, section officers and other managers who have direct control over the actual work force. The authority and responsibility of the lower-level managers depend on the policy and plans set by the Top-level managers. Lower-level management work as per the instructions of middle-level managers.

Question 31

What are different roles of a Manager?

Answer 31

Interpersonal Roles:
Interpersonal Roles are related to the Manger’s behaviour associated with employees’ interactions. There are three types of Interpersonal roles, according to Henry Mintzberg

1- Leader- The manager should display strong leadership. The role of the manager is to encourage and motivate the employees and provide support and guidance in face of difficulties. Other roles of a manager as a leader include staffing, training, supervising and evaluating the progress.
2- Liaison- The manager should have both internal and external relationships. Internal relationships involve communication with superiors and subordinates to achieve the organisational goals and external relationships involve communication with stakeholders outside the organisation that provide important information and help the organisation
3- Figurehead- The manager has symbolic, social and legal responsibilities. The manager should be a source of inspiration who performs social and legal responsibilities. The employees should look at the manager as a strong social figure.

Informational Roles:
Informational Roles are related to the collecting, receiving and disseminating information-

1. Monitor- In this role, The manager regularly seeks information related to the organisation from both internal and external sources. After gathering all the information, he will analyse it to identify and solve potential problems. The manager also monitors his team for their productivity and well-being.
2. Disseminator- In this role, the manager shares all the valuable information to the organisation gathered from both internal and external sources, which can help in the overall growth of the organisation.
3. Spokesperson- In this role, the manager works as a representative of the organisation and conveys information such as goals, policies, strategies and actions of the organisation to the external stakeholders.

Decisional Roles:
Decisional Roles are related to the choices made by the Manager for the organisation.

1. Entrepreneur- The role of a manager as an entrepreneur is to solve problems by developing innovative ideas and solutions for the organisation. The manager searches for change in an organisation and begins improvement projects.
2. Negotiator- A manager represents the organisation in important negotiations with external stakeholders and also takes part in internal negotiations of the organisation to bring positive changes.
3. Resource Allocator- A manager is responsible for managing and allocating resources of the organisation such as equipment, funding, human resources etc. The manager has to carefully determine where will the resources be best suited for the organisation
4. Disturbance Handler- A manager takes corrective actions when the organisation faces disturbance. The manager takes charge if the team faces unexpected challenges and resolve internal disputes in the organisation.

Question 32

What is Administration and what are the differences between Management and Administration?

Answer 32

The administration is a systematic process of administering the management of an organisation. The administration is related to the topmost level of the organization and lays down the fundamental framework within which the management of the organization works. The main functions of the administration are formulating policies and plans, setting up of objectives and goals etc.

Key Differences between Administration and Management:
1. Meaning- Management is the art of coordinating employees, resources and activities to achieve common goals and objectives while Administration is a systematic process of administering the management of an organisation
2. Authority- Management has authority over the middle-level and the lower level of an organisation while the Administration has authority over the topmost level of an organisation
3. Function- The functions of the administration are to formulate policies and plans while the functions of the Management are to implement policies and plans for the organisation.
4. Role- Administration takes decisive roles in an organisation by formulating plans and policies while the management takes executive roles and executes all the policies and objectives
5. Area of Operation- Management works under administration while Administration has full control over the activities of the organization
6. Interaction- Management directly interacts with the actual workforce while Administration does not directly interact with the actual workforce but it directly interacts with the Management
7. Representation- Management represents employees while Administration represents owners of the organization.
8. Application- Administration is mainly applied in government, military, religious and educational organizations while Management is mainly applied in business organizations.

Question 33

What is the Classical Approach to Management?

Answer 33

Classical organizational approach is the oldest formal approach to management thought. The classical approach is based on the belief that workers only have physical and economic needs. It does not focus on social needs and job satisfaction. The Classical approach focuses on Centralized leadership & Decision making, Specialization of Labour and Profit maximization. The Classical organisational theory is based on three approaches which are Scientific management, Administrative management and Bureaucratic management

a. Scientific Management- Fredrick Winslow Taylor also known as the father of Scientific management introduced the scientific management approach in the 19th century. The main objective of the scientific management theory is to improve the productivity within an organization by improving the productivity of labour. Taylor provisioned some principles of management:

1- Science, Not Rule of Thumb- Taylor emphasized replacing the old rule of thumb with scientific analysis of work, which involved scientifically analyzing each element of any work, and measuring the standard time taken to complete each work. This will improve efficiency and save time and energy for labours. Taylor believed that even a small activity like loading paper sheets into boxes can be planned scientifically.
2- Harmony, Not Discord- There should be a cordial relationship between the Management and Workers. The management and workers should acknowledge each other’s importance. For achieving total harmony, Taylor suggested a Mental Revolution which involves a shift of attitude of management and workers towards each other and acknowledging the values of each other.
3- Cooperation, Not Individualism- Instead of Individualism, there should be complete cooperation between the management and workers. The management should listen to constructive suggestions from the employees and reward them if the suggestions help in reducing the cost and time. The management should take workers into confidence in important decisions regarding the workers. The work and responsibilities should be divided almost equally between management and workers for more cooperation.
4- Development of Every worker to their greatest efficiency- The Scientific management of Taylor suggests that the best method of doing the work should be developed through a scientific approach and the method should be taught to the workers through proper training. The workers should be selected based on a scientific approach and then allocated the work as per their capabilities.

b. Administrative Management- While the Scientific Management of Frederick Winslow Taylor focuses on the productivity of work and workers at an individual level and lower level of management, Administrative management focuses on the productivity of the organization as a whole. It is more related to the top level of management. Henry Fayol is recognized as the first person who systematized the administrative approach to management. He systematized the administrative approach to management into six activities:
1- Technical Activities- It is related to the production and manufacturing of goods
2- Commercial Activities- It is related to buying raw materials and selling and exchange of finished goods
3- Financial Activities- It is related to search, acquisition and optimum use of financial resources
4- Security Activities- It is related to the security of human and non-human resources
5- Accounting Activities- It is related to the balance sheet, Profit & Loss account and statistics
5- Managerial Activities- It is related to functions of administrative management i.e Planning, Organizing, Commanding, Coordinating and Controlling

c. Bureaucratic Management- Max Weber, a German sociologist proposed the bureaucratic management theory. Max Weber described Bureaucracy as an organization which is highly structured, formalized and rational. The features of a Beurocratic organization are Hierarchy, Division of Work, Rules & Regulations and Impersonal relationships.

Question 34

What is the Neo-Classical approach to Management?

Answer 34

The Neoclassical approach to management is the extended and modified version of the Classical approach to Management. This approach uses behavioural science to solve the problems caused by the classical management approach. According to the Neoclassical approach to management, an organization is a social system and its performance is affected by human efforts.

While the Classical Management approach uses workers only as a means of production, the Neoclassical management approach focuses on both the “Production Oriented” approach and the “People Oriented” approach. The Neoclassical theory states that an organization is a mix of both formal and informal organizations. This aspect was ignored in the Classical management approach. According to the Neoclassical approach, Social and psychological factors play a crucial role in determining productivity and employee satisfaction and The management should also develop social skills along with technical skills.

The Neoclassical approach to management has two main approaches to management which are-

a) Human Relations Approach- Human Relations approach is based on the findings of the Hawthorne experiment conducted by Elton Mayo at the Hawthorne plant in Illinois, United States. Hawthorne effect is the effect on the behaviour of workers of knowing that they are being observed or taking part in an experiment. Hawthorne’s experiment is recognized for discovering the importance of the human factor in an organization. The Human Relations approach emphasizes the importance of employee attitude, group dynamics, interpersonal relationships and leadership in achieving organizational effectiveness. The features of the Human relations approach are:

Group Influence- There are informal groups in an organization that influence other workers in an organization. The productivity of an organization is also determined by these informal groups.
Conflicts- There may be conflicts between the workers and the management in an organization. The conflict may be due to the contradiction of the objectives of workers and management. The management should remove conflicts for the smooth working of the organization.
Leadership- Leadership is very important in directing the behaviours of the groups. Leadership can also be in the form of Informal leadership where an informal leader is a person who is more socially accepted by the workers than the formal leader appointed by the organization. In some areas, informal leaders may be more useful in directing the behaviour of workers in the organization.
Supervision- Supervision plays a key role in the effectiveness of workers and the final output of the organization. The supervisory environment should be friendly to the workers and extremely strict supervision should be avoided.

b) Behavioural Science approach- The Behavioural science approach uses concepts and methods from various behavioural science disciplines like psychology, sociology, anthropology etc to study human behaviour in an organization. The Behavioural science approach takes a wider view of the organization to study human behaviour than the Human relations approach which takes a narrow view of the organization. While the Human Relations approach focuses on interpersonal relationships, the Behavioural Science approach focuses on the productivity of individuals and groups. While the Human Relations approach studies only the behaviour of individuals, the Behavioural Science approach studies the behaviour of both individuals and groups in an organization. Some Features of the Behavioural Science approach are:
1- It emphasises more on group decision-making rather than individual decision making
2- It emphasises self-direction and self-control rather than control by the managers
3- It suggests taking positive measures to improve the performance of workers rather than taking negative actions against them
4- It suggests that the job itself is the source of motivation and satisfaction for employees.

Question 35

What are Henry Fayol’s 14 Principal of Management?

Answer 35

Henry Fayol has given fourteen principles of Management. According to Fayol, These principles are flexible and can be changed according to situations and can be used in any organization.
The fourteen principles of management are:

1- Division of Work- Division of work involves dividing the whole work into multiple tasks. Instead of assigning the whole work to a single employee, work is divided and assigned to different employees based on their competencies. Division of work leads to specialization of labour.
2- Authority and Responsibility- Authority means the right to give the command and make decisions while Responsibility means an obligation of a worker to complete the designated task. There should be a balance between Authority and Responsibility. Authority without responsibility will lead to misuse of powers and Responsibility without authority will lead to poor implementation of the task.
3- Discipline- Discipline means engaging employees in the desired behaviour prescribed by the organization through rules and regulations. Penalties by the management should be given in case of a breach of discipline. Violation of discipline will result in a delay in work and wastage of resources while adoption of discipline will result in systematic working in the organization.
4- Unity of Command- Unity of Command means that an employee should get orders and instructions from only one superior. If an employee has a reporting relationship with a single superior, then conflicts in instructions will be less and responsibility for achieving results will be high.
5- Unity of Direction- Unity of Direction means One plan, One boss. It means that all the activities which have the same objective should have one plan and should be directed by a single person, for example, Marketing activities like market research, advertisement, sales promotion and organizing events should be directed by a single person. Unity of direction is different from Unity of Command because it is concerned with the activities of the organization while Unity of Command is concerned with the functioning of people
6- Subordination of Individual interest to General interest- This principle means that the interests of an organization should be given more priority than an individual’s interests. There should be harmony between the individual interests of employees and the interests of the organization.
7- Remuneration- This principle suggests that all the financial and non-financial remunerations like salary, incentives, bonuses and commissions should be fairly given to the employees. Adoption of this principle will result in employee satisfaction and will eventually lead to the commitment of employees to satisfactory work performance.
8- Centralization & Decentralization- Centralization means the concentration of authority at a single source, entity or person. In an organization, centralization means the concentration of authority at the top level of management. Decentralization means the widespread distribution of authority at all levels of management. High Centralization will cause a delay in decision making and high decentralization will lead to coordination and control problems.

9- Scaler Chain- The Scaler chain is a chain of supervisors ranging from the topmost level to the lowest level. It means that if an employee at the lowest rank wants to deliver information to the topmost rank, then the information will be passed through the chain of supervisors after him to reach the topmost rank. He cannot deliver the information directly to the topmost rank.

Fayol introduced the concept of “Gang Plank” which means that two employees of the same rank and two different departments can pass the information directly to each other by avoiding the scaler chain of bottom-to-top flow.

10- Order- This principle means that there should be a proper place for every resource and manpower in the organization. The Right things in the right place help in the procurement of resources at the right time and result in the smooth functioning of the organization

11- Equity- This principle implies that everyone in the organization should be treated equally. There should be no discrimination based on gender, religion, caste, nationality etc. There should be an environment of justice and kindness in the organization.

12- Stability of Personnel- This principle implies that job security should be provided to the employees. The employees should be kept in the organization for a minimum fixed tenure and they should not be removed within a short period of time. Adoption of this principle will lead to a reduction in employee turnover and will save the cost of recruitment & training of new employees.

13- Initiative- Initiative means taking steps ahead of others in doing work. This principle says that employees should be encouraged to take initiative in an organization. The employees should be allowed to take initiative in formulating a plan. Adoption of this principle will result in creativity and finding new ways to do the work.

14- Esprit De Corps- Esprit De Corps is a French term which means “Union is Strength”. This principle says that the management should encourage team spirit in an organization. The employees should work in a union to achieve a common objective.

Question 36

What is the Modern Approach to Management, Discuss all three approaches to management?

Answer 36

According to the Modern Management approach, workers are complex and they have various reasons for working in an organization. Modern Management Approach uses mathematical calculation, technology and human behaviour analysis to make decisions in an organization. The Modern Management approach is more holistic and flexible than the Classical and Neoclassical approaches. It uses statistical analysis to measure the productivity of employees in an organization.
There are three main Modern approaches to Management:

1- Quantitative approach- Quantitative approach uses mathematical calculation and statistical analysis to manage an organization. The quantitative approach to management is used to calculate the risks, benefits and drawbacks of an action. Three branches of the Quantitative approach are:
a) Management Science- It focuses on strengthening the decision-making process of management by using mathematical and statistical techniques like linear programming, probability, capital budgeting, financial structure theories etc.
b) Operation Management- It focuses on the control and operation of the whole production process that involves transforming resources into finished goods and services. Operation Management uses quantitative and statistical techniques in purchasing raw materials, inventory management and selling finished products.
c) Management Information System- It focuses on the use of computer-based information systems to make decisions in an organization. The Management Information System (MIS) converts raw data into information for management. The MIS quickly processes a large amount of information which saves time and effort for an organization.

2- System Approach- System theory states that an organization is a complex collection of various parts or sub-systems such as departments that are interconnected and interrelated to each other. The sub-systems or parts work in synergy to achieve the common objective of the organization. The system approach emphasizes synergy and interrelations between different parts of the organization and emphasizes that departments and employees should work as a collective group and not an isolated unit.

An Example of System Theory is that a Car is a unified whole system comprising various sub-systems like chassis, tyres, engine, gear-box etc. All the sub-systems of the car work together to achieve a common goal which is moving the car.

Features of the System Approach are:
a) Hierarchy of Systems & Sub-systems- There are sub-systems within a sub-system. For example, a business organization has sub-systems like the marketing department, finance department, operations department, IT department and human resource department. The Marketing department further has sub-systems like Market Research, Advertisement, Sales promotions etc.
b) Interrelationships- Each sub-system of a system is interrelated to each other and changes made in one system will affect the functioning of other systems.
c) Input-Output process- A System act as a mediator in the transformation of input into output. The inputs are in the form of information, materials, money, human resources etc and Outputs are in the form of goods and services.

There are two types of Systems in an Organization:

Open System- Open system are those sub-systems of an organization that interacts with the external environment. The external environment invovles social, technological, political and legal factors that affect the working of the organization. An example of an open system business is Amazon which provides a platform for other companies to sell their products.

Close System- Close systems are those sub-systems of an organization that have negligible or no interaction with the external environment. Workers working in a closed system do not communicate with the other departments about their activities. For example- The Research and Development (R&D) department of an organization is a closed system that does not take suggestions from other departments for new product development.

3- Contingency Approach/Situational Approach- The Contingency approach suggests that there is no Particular/Universal way or strategy to manage an organisation. The decisions taken in an organisation depend on various Internal and External factors.
Internal Factors include- Size of the business, People, Technology, Purpose, Structure etc.
External Factors include- Socio-Cultural factors, Political & Legal factors, Technological factors, Economic factors etc.
The development programme taken by the organization may work in one situation but fail miserably in another situation
Therefore an organisation should use different theories and strategies for different situations to find solutions.

Each organization is unique, each problem is unique, each decision is unique and therefore the way of managing an organization is also unique. According to this approach, the task of the managers is to identify which technique in a particular situation, under particular circumstances and at a particular time will best contribute to the achievement of organizational goals

Question 37

Explain Nudge Theory?

Answer 37

Nudge theory is a concept that uses indirect techniques to influence the behaviour of people in making decisions. Nudge theory was introduced by American economist Richard Thaler and his partner Cass Sunstein through their book titled “Nudge: Improving Health, Wealth and Happiness” which was published in 2008. The Nudge theory mainly focuses on the designing of choices to influence people. According to the theory, choices should be designed as how people actually think and decide. It suggests that people take decisions instinctively and irrationally rather than the traditional belief that people only take decisions logically and rationally.

Some examples of Nudge techniques are:
1- Instead of directing a young child to clean his room, play a cleaning room game with him
2- Influencing students to think in a particular way by posting posters of inspirational leaders in the school
3- Reducing the consumption of plastic through stores by charging additional money for plastic bags, thus encouraging people not to buy the bag
4- Encouraging employees to quit smoking by providing incentives to employees who do not take cigarette breaks and ultimately increasing the efficiency of the organization

Advantages of Nudge theory:
1- Improving Sales- The nudge activities can be used to improve the sales of a particular product, for example, a supermarket increases the sales of chocolates by keeping them in a place where the children can reach easily and not on the top shelves
2- Boost Employee Morale- companies use nudge activities like giving employee of the month, and performer of the month which motivates employees to work better and encourages other employees to compete for achieving the titles
3- Better Outcome for society- Nudge techniques are also used by governments to contribute something good to society, for example, the UK government uses an opt-out system instead of an opt-in system for organ donation and to avoid all the paperwork for cancelling their organ donation, people are encouraged to donate their organs

Limitations and Disadvantages of Nudge theory:
1- Unexpected Outcomes- One of the reasons why nudging is difficult to implement is that its outcomes are not always easy to predict. For example, a project aimed at reducing the energy consumption of households sends a letter to each household containing details of their energy use and their neighbours. The outcome of this can be that people who were consuming less energy may consume more
2- Useless in Deep-rooted psychological problems- Nudge activities can be useful in changing minor behaviours but it is not useful in changing deep-rooted psychological problems like mental health, violence, drug usage etc.
3- Inappropriate use- Nudging is sometimes used in the wrong ways by the companies like deceptive marketing strategies to sell their products. Nudging is also used by people to scam other people and steal their funds.

Question 38

What is Motivation, what is its importance?

Answer 38

Motivation is based on the Latin word ‘movere’ which means “to move”. Thus, Motivation is a state of readiness of a person to achieve desired goals or objectives. In the context of management, motivation is the state of readiness of the individual to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Motivation is the study of understanding what drives a person to achieve a certain goal or objective. Motivation is used as a tool by the management to increase productivity because it is a driving force that pushes employees to work with a high level of focus and commitment. There are two types of motivation methods used by the organization:

• Positive Motivation- An employee is motivated by providing rewards in monetary and Non-monetary terms like incentives, bonuses, salary hikes, cash rewards, promotions, praise for performance, freedom to work and participation in decision-making.
• Negative Motivation- An employee is motivated by threats and punishments which are also in monetary and non-monetary terms like decrement of salary, fines, penalties, demotion, transfer and threat to lose the job.

Nature of Motivation
- Motivation cannot be measured in quantitative terms because it is an internal feeling of a person, It can only be observed in the actions and performance of employees.

• It is an ongoing process because the needs of the people are changing continuously.
• It is driven by how an individual is motivated and it can even bring the dormant skill or need of an individual which can be useful for the organization.
• Environment and situation can suppress the actions of motivation.
• It is a complex process as it involves humans and Humans are heterogeneous. Emotions and feelings of humans are hard to predict thus the effect of motivation is not uniform in all employees.

Importance
1- Improves Performance- Motivation improves the overall performance of the organization because a motivated employee works with his maximum ability while performing a job. A motivated employee performs better than other employees.

2- Reduce Employee Turnover and Absenteeism- A motivated employee tends to stay longer in an organisation because he feels a sense of belongingness to the organization. The organization uses motivation by showing the perks and benefits of staying in an organization. Thus, reducing employee turnover. It also makes employees punctual and reduces absenteeism. A motivated employee would want to stay associated with the organization for the long term.

3- Fights Resistance to Change- A new change introduced by the organization has a tendency to experience resistance to change. Motivation fights resistance to change and encourages employees to accept and implement the change.

4- Optimum Utilization of Resources- Motivation helps in the optimum utilization of resources because motivated employees utilize resources like equipment, machinery, finances etc in the best possible way.

5- Helps in Changing Attitude- Motivation changes a negative attitude of the employee into a positive attitude towards the organization. Thus, a positive attitude increases the efficiency and willingness of employees to work, ultimately resulting in the growth of the organization.

Question 39

What are Process theories and Content theories?

Answer 39

There are two Categories of Motivation theories:

Content Theories- These are need-based theories. They are concerned with identifying people’s need and their related strengths. Types of content theories are:
Four main types of Content theories are:
a) Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory
b) Alderfer’s ERG theory
c) McClelland’s theory of Needs
d) Herzberg’s two-factor theory

Process Theories- These theories are concerned with identifying how behaviour is initiated, directed and sustained. Individuals analyze their environment, develop thoughts and feelings and take action. Process theories attempt to understand and explain the thought process of individuals who demonstrate motivated behaviour.
Four main types of Process theories are:
a) Vroom’s Expectancy theory
b) Adam’s Equity theory
c) Goal-Setting theory
d) Reinforcement theory

Question 40

What is Maslow’s need hierarchy theory?

Answer 40

This theory proposes that people have needs that are arranged in a hierarchical order. Once a particular need is reasonably satisfied, it no longer serves to motivate a person. Then, the thought of satisfying a higher-level need motivates the man. Various needs in a hierarchy are interdependent because a high-order need emerges when a low-order need is satisfied. However, low-order need does not disappear but it is not a prime motivator.

According to Maslow, there are four main Hierarchical orders of needs from low to high:
1- Physiological Needs- Physiological needs are basic human needs that involve food, water, shelter, clothes etc. These needs are satisfied by the remuneration provided by the organization. Physiological needs have the lowest level in the hierarchy
2- Safety Needs- After Physiological needs are satisfied, a person wants safety needs which includes physical security and good health. Some organization fulfils these needs by providing a health insurance
3- Social Needs- Social needs are related to self-belongingness to other people, social interaction, love, affection, group acceptance etc. Working in an organization fulfils these needs as there are other employees with social needs.
4- Esteem Needs- These are related to self-respect and recognition. They include such needs that reflect achievement, power, competence and knowledge. Fulfilment of these needs leads to self-confidence. An organization provides esteem needs by giving awards, promotions, praise for work done, title, decision-making roles etc.
5- Self-Actualization needs- These needs are related to finding self-fulfilment and becoming the person one wants to become. It is the person’s motivation to transform a dream into reality. Self-actualization needs are at the top of the need hierarchy

Tip!- Can Increase word limit by adding Definition of Motivation and its Nature

Question 41

Explain Alderfer’s ERG theory?

Answer 41

Clayton Alderfer’s ERG theory is the extended version of Maslow’s Need hierarchy theory. Alderfer further classified human needs into three categories which are Existence needs, Relatedness needs and Growth needs (ERG). Existence needs are at the base of the hierarchy while Growth needs are at the topmost level.

Existence needs- These include Maslow’s physiological needs and safety needs. It includes the basic materialistic requirements of human beings.
Relatedness needs- These include Maslow’s social needs. All the needs that involve relationships with other people are included in this category.
Growth needs- These include Maslow’s self-actualization needs. This category includes desires for personal development.

Alderfer also proposed the concept of frustration regression which means that if a person is frustrated in achieving his needs and cannot satisfy his needs, he will regress and make more efforts in achieving the lower level needs. For example, if a person cannot achieve the Growth needs, he will make more efforts in achieving the Relatedness needs.

Question 42

What is Herzberg’s two-factor theory?

Answer 42

Herzberg’s Two Factor theory- Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory proposes that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not opposite and that removing dissatisfaction not necessarily leads to an increase in satisfaction. This theory categorized the characteristics that influence satisfaction into two factors:

Hygiene Factors:
Hygiene factors are also called Maintenance factors. These factors have the potential to decrease the satisfaction of employees. They include policy, work environment, salaries, interpersonal relationships with other employees and job security. These factors are there to maintain a reasonable amount of satisfaction in the organization. Thus, decreasing the level of these factors can lead to dissatisfaction but increasing the level will not lead to more satisfaction.
Motivating Factors:
Motivation factors are those factors that have the potential to increase the performance and satisfaction of employees. They include the award, bonuses, recognition of work, promotions and responsibility. Decreasing the level of these factors will not lead to dissatisfaction. Thus, these factors are also called “Satisfiers”

Question 43

Describe McClelland’s Need Theory?

Answer 43

David McClelland classified motivational needs into three categories:

Need for Achievement- It is the intense desire of a person to achieve something. People with a high need for achievement are more influenced by intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic motivation like money. The following are the characteristics of high achievers:
- High achievers take moderate risks and avoid both high-risk situations and low-risk situations. This is opposite to the belief that high achievers take high risks.
- High achievers dedicate 100% of their ability to do the work. They are only satisfied when they are dedicating their maximum output.
- High achievers seek immediate feedback for the work done by them to measure progress towards their goals.

Need for Affiliation- Need for affiliation is a sense of belongingness and involvement within a social group. Individuals with a high need for affiliation prefer spending time creating and maintaining social relationships. They prefer to choose group collaboration over competition and prefer to work in groups and avoid working alone.

People with a high level of need for affiliation are motivated by social connections. They are motivated by the desire of being loved and avoid the pain of rejection. They enjoy consoling and helping others. Individuals with a high level of this need, work better in areas which are based on social interactions like customer service, client interaction, vendor management etc.

Need for Power- Need for power is a desire of a person to have control and influence over others. People with a high need for power seek positions in a high level of an organizational hierarchy. They are motivated by status recognition, winning arguments, winning competitions and respect. They are dominant in social interactions with other people and get uncomfortable if other people recognize them as powerless or weak.

Question 44

What is Vroom’s expectancy theory?

Answer 44

Vroom’s expectancy theory proposes that people are motivated by the positive correlation between Effort, Performance and Reward. This means that high efforts will lead to improved performance and improved performance will lead to rewards that will satisfy individual needs and goals. This theory is based on three components:

Valence- It means the value a person puts on a particular outcome. If a person has a high Value for the outcome, he will make more effort in achieving the outcome whereas if the person has low value for the outcome, he will make fewer efforts.
Expectancy- It is a person’s expectations or probability that he makes for the performance. If he perceives that he can make efforts required to achieve superior performance, he will be willing to put those efforts
Instrumentality- It is the belief that performance will lead to certain rewards. If a person’s performance is good, it will most likely lead to rewards.

Question 45

What is Vroom’s expectancy theory?

Answer 45

Vroom’s expectancy theory proposes that people are motivated by the positive correlation between Effort, Performance and Reward. This means that high efforts will lead to improved performance and improved performance will lead to rewards that will satisfy individual needs and goals. This theory is based on three components:

Valence- It means the value a person puts on a particular outcome. If a person has a high Value for the outcome, he will make more effort in achieving the outcome whereas if the person has low value for the outcome, he will make fewer efforts.
Expectancy- It is a person’s expectations or probability that he makes for the performance. If he perceives that he can make efforts required to achieve superior performance, he will be willing to put those efforts
Instrumentality- It is the belief that performance will lead to certain rewards. If a person’s performance is good, it will most likely lead to rewards.

Question 46

What is Leadership? What are its features?

Answer 46

Leadership is a process of influencing the behaviours of others to work willingly and enthusiastically for achieving specific objectives. Leadership provides direction, guidance, inspiration and encouragement to people for achieving objectives. Features of leadership are:
- It is a continuous process of influencing behaviour.
- There is no coercive force which induces people to work. People work willingly to achieve the objectives
- Leadership style may be different in every situation. The same leadership style cannot be used in every situation and circumstance.
- A leader gives his experience to followers for achieving objectives.
- In an organization, leadership is performed under the framework of rules and regulations.
- All managers can be a leader but all leaders are not managers because leadership does not require a formal authority to lead.

Question 47

What are the differences between Leadership and Management?

Answer 47

1. Leadership involves establishing principles and values among employees. Whereas, management involves implementing policies and procedures.
2. Management notifies what work needs to be done while leadership guides how the work should be done.
3. Management focuses on organising the activities and procedures to achieve the objectives. Whereas, leadership focuses on aligning activities and procedures with employees to achieve objectives.
4. Leadership derive its powers from the characteristics of the leader whereas, powers to management are given by the organization.
5. Leadership focuses on bringing change to the organization whereas, management focuses on the stability of the organization.
6. Leadership requires the trust of the employees whereas, management requires control of the employees in the organization.

Question 48

What is Trait theory? What are its advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 48

Trait theory suggests that there are certain qualities and characteristics that an effective leader possesses. These characteristics and qualities are used to determine the success and failure of the leader. The following are some traits of an effective leader:
1- Physical Features like height, weight and appearance
2- Knowledge
3- Intelligence
4- Self-confidence
5- Assertiveness
6- Emotional stability
7- Integrity
8- Empathy
9- Decisiveness
10- Communication skills
11- Social skills
12- Motivation skills
13- Flexibility and Adaptability

Advantages
- This theory has general qualities that should be possessed by a person therefore, it can be applied to people in any organization.
- Managers can use this theory to assess their effectiveness and evaluate their position in the organization
- It gives detailed knowledge and understanding of the leader
- This theory is reliable because a lot of research has been done to validate the foundation of theory.

Disadvantages
- The list of traits is very long therefore, it is hard to identify an effective leader by applying all the traits.
- There is a disagreement over which traits are the most important for identifying an effective leader.
- The Behaviour of followers is not affected exclusively by the characteristics of the leader. It is also affected by other factors like management, infrastructure and environment.
- It suggests that a person has inborn traits to be a good leader which is not true because traits can be developed through training and development.
- traits like physical features are situational and their usefulness depends on the situation.

The traits approach gives rise to the question that whether leaders are born or made. However, inborn traits are not exclusively required to be a good leader.

Question 49

What is the behavioural theory of leadership?

What are its advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 49

According to this theory, Leaders are made not born. This means that leadership can be learned and it is not necessary to have inherited traits to be a good leader. This theory focuses on the actions and behaviour of a leader rather than qualities. It involves observing different behaviour patterns or actions and categorizing them as styles of leadership. Thus, this theory is also called the “Style approach to leadership”. The best leaders are those who use different leadership styles for different situations.
There are two common types of behavioural leadership:

People-oriented leadership
In this type of leadership, leaders work well with interpersonal connections. They focus on building strong relationships with employees and peers and inspire them to perform well in their roles. They are concerned for team members, mediate disputes and ensure that employees are valued. A people-oriented leader will try to solve the problem smoothly by building interpersonal connections with supervisors, employees, clients and other stakeholders.
Task-oriented leadership
In this type of leadership, leaders work well in a structured environment. They focus on setting up goals and achieving those goals. They focus on task execution and its outcomes rather than people management. They display authoritative behaviour to influence people to achieve organizational objectives. A task-oriented leader will solve the problem by analysing the process and finding loopholes.

Advantages
- It promotes participative decision-making.
- It aligns individual goals with the goals of the organization.
- It helps managers to find the right balance between implementing different leadership styles.
- It helps managers to evaluate how their actions and behaviours affect their relationships with other people in the organization.

Question 50

What is Contingency Leadership theory?

Answer 50

The contingency theory of leadership states that effective leadership depends on whether or not a leadership style suits a particular situation. According to this theory, a leader can be effective in one situation but can be ineffective in another situation. Therefore, a leader should examine each situation and decide which leadership style best suits the situation.

Fred Fiedler’s Contingency Model
The first contingency leadership model was developed by Austrian psychologist Fred Fiedler in the 1960s. According to this model, effective leadership can be determined by comparing the leadership style with three situational factors which are the Leader-member relationship, Task structure and Leader’s position power.

The first part of this theory is to determine the leadership style. The leadership style is determined by rating coworkers based on a preference scale with a score range. Individuals who get a high score are relationship-oriented leaders, individuals who get a low score are task-oriented people and individuals who get a moderate score can be considered both task-oriented and people-oriented leaders.

The next of this model is to determine the “Situational Favourableness” or how well the situation is favourable. This could be done by determining three factors:
1- Leader-Member relationship- It includes the level of trust and respect employees and coworkers have for their leader. The stronger the relationship between a leader and members, the higher will be the favourableness of a situation.
2- Task Structure- it means how clearly are tasks defined in a project or objective. Clearly defined tasks make the situation more favourable.
3- Leader’s position power- it means the level of authority a leader has over his employees. The level of authority also depends on the hierarchical position of the leader. Higher position power leads to more favourableness of the situation.

The final step of Fred Fiedler’s Contingency model is to implement the leadership by comparing the leadership style with the above three situational favourableness factors.

Situational Leadership Model
This leadership model was developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard. This leadership model applies different leadership styles based on the maturity levels of team members which move in stages or cycles. Therefore, this model is also known as the “Life-cycle theory of leadership”

High Maturity level team members are experienced and can take independent decisions. Moderate maturity team members have skills and experience but either lack confidence or are unwilling to do the task. Whereas, Low maturity team members are enthusiastic and willing to perform but lack experience and skills.
Four primary leadership styles can be applied based on the maturity levels of team members:

1- Delegation Style- In this leadership style, the engagement of the leader with team members is low. This leadership style suits high-maturity team members that can take the right independent decisions.
2- Participative Style- In this leadership style, there is sharing of ideas and decisions between the leader and team members. This style suits moderate maturity team members that have the skills and experience. The idea behind this style is to achieve the objectives effectively by making collaborative decisions with team members.
3- Selling Style- In this leadership style, the leader persuades his ideas or message with the team members to engage team members to do the work. This style is used with moderate maturity team members who have experience and skills but are unwilling to do the tasks.
4- Telling Style- In this leadership style, the leader engages more with his team members and guides them about how to do the work. This style is used with team members who have low maturity and lack experience.

Question 51

What is Charismatic leadership?

Answer 51

Charismatic leadership is defined as a person who uses his or her charm, persuasiveness and communication skills to influence people. They have the ability to connect to people on a deep level and build strong emotional bonds. A charismatic leader does not influence employees to achieve immediate goals but he inspires employees to achieve long-term organizational goals. Examples of some charismatic leaders are Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Mohammad Ali and Narendra Modi.

Characteristics of a Charismatic leader:
1- Articulation- A Charismatic leader is good at articulating his thoughts and beliefs. He uses his excellent communication skills to explain the information. Thus, followers can easily understand the leader.
2- Good Listening skills- A charismatic leader is a good listener and understands his followers. He allows his followers to present themselves before him and tries to completely understand the information before giving his insights.
3- Empathetic- A Charismatic leader understands the feelings and emotions of his followers. Thus, he connects emotionally and cognitively with his followers which leads to an increase in trust in the leader.
4- Confidence- A charismatic leader displays high confidence while communicating or expressing himself. He displays strong body language and a confident tone of voice which compels followers to believe in him.
5- Charming and Engaging- A charismatic leader has a charming personality and uses it to engage with people. Charming behaviour is liked by everyone and attracts a lot of people.
6- Unconventional Behaviour- A charismatic leader has unconventional behaviour and they do not interpret or understand the problems like an average person. This unconventional behaviour makes the leader different and they find unique solutions to the problem.

Question 52

What are Autocratic and Democratic leadership styles?

Answer 52

1- Autocratic leadership style- It is also known as an authoritarian, coercive or commanding leadership style. There is a centralization of decision-making authority in this leadership style. A leader controls the whole authority and employees are told what do to. Prior consultation is not taken before making decisions or giving directions. Opinions and suggestions of employees are rejected by the leader.

This leadership style works only when the leader is the best in performing, subordinates are unskilled and the job is monotonous.

Advantages
- It leads to quick decision-making as all the decisions are taken by a single person.
- It gives an opportunity to less competent employees to work in the organization who are not skilled or experienced.
- it improves goals-related communication because the rules, objectives and process are clearly defined by the leader.
- It is effective in handling a crisis that requires quick decision-making because the leader can quickly delegate authority to solve the crisis.
Disadvantages
- It leads to conflict, a decrease in morale and frustration among the employees of the organization.
- It leads to employee turnover and absenteeism.
- it leads to resentment and hatred against the leader.
- If the leader is unavailable, it can affect the performance of employees.
- It lacks creativity because ideas and opinions are rejected by the leader and it is difficult for a leader alone to bring creativity.
- It leads to a lack of trust between the leader and employees.

2- Democratic leadership style- Democratic leadership style is also known as the participative leadership style. It involves joint decision-making between superiors and subordinates. The decision-making takes place through frequent consultation with subordinates which includes suggestions, feedback and opinion. Everyone is given an opportunity to participate, ideas are exchanged freely and discussions are encouraged. Along with joint decision-making, the leader delegates adequate authority to subordinates.

Advantages
- It increases the morale of the subordinates as they take part in the decision-making process and are frequently encouraged and heard.
- It increases the commitment of employees to organizational goals as they contribute to decision-making for organizational goals. They see the goals as their personal goals and give their best in achieving those goals which ultimately leads to an increase in productivity.
- It increases organizational stability as employees feel a sense of belongingness with the organization. Thus, resulting in the reduction of employee turnover and absenteeism.
- It encourages creativity within the organization which can lead to finding new solutions to problems.
- It leads to finding multiple solutions to the problem

Disadvantages
- It slows down the decision-making process because it involves consultation and discussion with subordinates.
- It is ineffective in a crisis where quick decision-making is required.
- It is difficult to identify who is accountable for failure because the decision-making process involves a lot of participants. It is also difficult to consider a single subordinate accountable for a wrong decision because sometimes a wrong decision is connected with many subordinates.
- It can lead to communication failure because involving multiple participants can lead to communication barriers like psychological and personal barriers.
- It can lead to poor decision-making by unskilled subordinates.

Question 53

What is Laissez Faire leadership style?

Answer 53

Laissez Faire is a French term which means “Let it be”. In this leadership style, leadership takes place without intervention and gives complete freedom to subordinates. Superiors let subordinates use their creativity, knowledge and skills to achieve organizational goals.

Superiors make policies and rules for subordinates. They take necessary actions only when it is required. This style of leadership is suitable when the employees are skilled and experienced and there is a high trust between superiors and subordinates.

Advantages
- It reduces the burden on the leader as he is less involved in the process and only formulates policies and rules.
- It leads to the personal development of subordinates because they work independently and try to solve problems on their own.
- It makes a creative environment within the organization as subordinates are constantly involved in brainstorming and finding new ways to solve problems.
- It increases accountability for the subordinates because they are more involved in the decision-making process. Thus, they feel more responsible to achieve organizational goals.

Disadvantages
- The importance and role of a leader are questionable because the leader is less involved in the process. It leads to a feeling that there is no need for a leader.
- It creates confusion about who is in charge of the situation as many subordinates are involved. A dominant subordinate can take charge over a passive subordinate which can create uneven decision-making.
- It can create conflict within the organization as subordinates may have different opinions and strategies to handle the situation. Subordinates with different strategies may not agree with each other to solve the problem and create conflict.
- It is difficult to apply this leadership style to new subordinates because they require frequent training and guidance to work in the organization.

Question 54

What is Transactional Analysis?

Answer 54

Transactional Analysis is a method of understanding human behaviour by analyzing social interactions between people to analyze their ego state.

Canadian psychiatrist Eric Berne developed the concept of Transactional Analysis in the 1950s. In transactional analysis, people are taught how to alter their ego state to solve emotional problems.

During an interaction, a person manifests his behaviours, feelings and thoughts based on three ego states:

Parent Ego- People display behaviour based on how their parents acted or how they interpreted their parent’s actions. There are two sub-states of the Parent ego which are nurturing state and the critical state. In nurturing state, people show caring, understanding and protective behaviour for others. Whereas, in a Critical state people shows authoritative and judgemental behaviour toward others.

Adult Ego- People show a behaviour that is rational or logical. People make choices based on their own experiences. They gather relevant information, carefully analyze it and make logical decisions. People with adult ego are successful in leading and taking decisions that require complex logical reasoning.

Child Ego- People display a behaviour that is similar to how they did in childhood. People with child ego take less logical decisions, is emotional and want immediate action. They are more creative and innovative than people with adult and parent egos. They easily get emotionally connected with others and trust others quickly.

Question 55

What is the Johari Window?

Answer 55

Johari Window is a technique that is used to help people better understand themselves and others. It develops an internal and external awareness of how others see you in contrast to how you see yourself. This technique was developed by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in 1955.

The Johari Window helps a person to improve his self-awareness based on four quadrants that describe and reveal different information about the person related to his personality. In this technique, the person selects some adjectives that describe him and ask other participants to select the same number of adjectives that describes him. Adjectives are then matched and categorized into four quadrants. The list of adjectives used for describing a person can be honest, confident, empathetic, aggressive, emotional, happy, curious, inspiring etc.

The four Quadrants are:
Open Self or Arena- It is the quadrant that includes the information which is known to the self and known to others. A larger open area quadrant means more people are aware of the person as he is aware of himself. People with large open area quadrants are outgoing and express themselves to others more frequently. A person can expand this quadrant by expressing and communicating more about himself.

Blind Self- It is the quadrant that includes the information that is known to others but not known to the self. A large blind quadrant means that people interpret the person differently than he interprets himself. A person can expand this quadrant by “Feedback Solicitation” and asking for more information about himself from others.

Hidden Self- It is a quadrant that includes the information that is known to the person but not known to others. A large Hidden quadrant means that the person does not like to reveal much about himself.

Unknown Self- This quadrant contains information that is not known to the person and not known to others. A person can expand this area by being more expressive and expanding the Open quadrant.