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IGNOU MBA MS-21 Solved Assignments 2011 Course Code Course Title Assignment Code Coverage : : : : MS - 21 Social Processes and behavioral issues MS-21/SEM - I /2011 All Blocks

Solved & Contributed by http://www.ignousolvedmbaassignment.blogspot.com/ Note: Answer all the questions and send them to the Coordinator of the Study Centre you are attached with.

1)

Briefly describe the importance of work ethics and values in the present day scenario of industrial organizations. Illustrate with reference to an organization. Briefly describe the organization you are referring to.

Solution : Work ethic is a set of values based on hard work and diligence. It is also a belief in the moral benefit of work and its ability to enhance character. An example would be the Protestant work ethic. A work ethic may include being reliable, having initiative, or maintaining social skills. Workers exhibiting a good work ethic in theory (and ideally in practice) should be selected for better positions, more responsibility and ultimately promotion. Workers who fail to exhibit a good work ethic may be regarded as failing to provide fair value for the wage the employer is paying them and should not be promoted or placed in positions of greater responsibility. Work Ethic concept Steven Malanga refers to "what was once understood as the work ethicnot just hard work but also a set of accompanying virtues, whose crucial role in the development and sustaining of free markets too few now recall. Max Weber quotes the ethical writings of Benjamin Franklin: Remember, that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labor, and goes abroad, or sits idle, one half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides. ... Remember, that money is the prolific, generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more, and so on. Five shillings turned is six, turned again is seven and threepence, and so on, till it becomes a hundred pounds. The more there is of it, the more it produces every turning, so that the profits

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rise quicker and quicker. He that kills a breeding sow, destroys all her offspring to the thousandth generation. He that murders a crown, destroys all that it might have produced, even scores of pounds(Italics in the original). Weber notes that this is not a philosophy of mere greed, but a statement laden with moral language. Indeed, Franklin claims that God revealed to him the usefulness of virtue.

2)

What is Perception? Discuss the occurrence of commons errors in Perception and how to overcome these errors. Give examples.

Solution : Perception may be defined as the dynamic psychological process responsible for attending to, organising and interpreting sensory data. From a psychological point of view, the process of sensation, on the one hand, and perception, on the other, work together through what are termed respectively `bottom-up' and `top-down' processing. In philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science, perception is the process of attainingawareness or understanding of sensory information. The word "perception" comes from the Latin words perceptio, percipio, and means "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses." Perception is one of the oldest fields in psychology. The oldest quantitative law in psychology is the Weber-Fechner law, which quantifies the relationship between the intensity of physical stimuli and their perceptual effects. The study of perception gave rise to the Gestalt school of psychology, with its emphasis on holistic approach. What one perceives is a result of interplays between past experiences, including ones culture, and the interpretation of the perceived. Types Two types of consciousness are considerable regarding perception: phenomenal (any occurrence that is observable and physical) and psychological. The difference every sighted person can demonstrate to himor herself is by the simple opening and closing of his or her eyes: phenomenal consciousness is thought, on average, to be predominately absent without senses such as sight. Through the full or rich sensations present in senses such as sight, nothing by comparison is present while the senses are not engaged, such as when the eyes are closed. Using this precept, it is understood that, in the vast majority of cases, logical solutions are reached through simple human sensation. The analogy of Plato's Cave was coined to express these ideas.[clarification needed] Passive perception (conceived by Ren Descartes) can be surmised as the following sequence of events: surrounding input (senses) processing (brain) output (re-action).

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Although still supported by mainstream philosophers, psychologists and neurologists, this theory is nowadays losing momentum. The theory of active perception has emerged from extensive research of sensory illusions, most notably the works ofRichard L. Gregory. This theory, which is increasingly gaining experimental support, can be surmised as dynamic relationship between "description" (in the brain) senses surrounding, all of which holds true to the linear concept of experience. Perception and reality In the case of visual perception, some people can actually see the percept shift in their mind's eye. Others, who are not picture thinkers, may not necessarily perceive the 'shape-shifting' as their world changes. The 'esemplastic' nature has been shown by experiment: an ambiguous image has multiple interpretations on the perceptual level. The question, "Is the glass half empty or half full?" serves to demonstrate the way an object can be perceived in different ways. Just as one object can give rise to multiple percepts, so an object may fail to give rise to any percept at all: if the percept has no grounding in a person's experience, the person may literally not perceive it. The processes of perception routinely alter what humans see. When people view something with a preconceived concept about it, they tend to take those concepts and see them whether or not they are there. This problem stems from the fact that humans are unable to understand new information, without the inherent bias of their previous knowledge. A persons knowledge creates his or her reality as much as the truth, because the human mind can only contemplate that to which it has been exposed. When objects are viewed withoutunderstanding, the mind will try to reach for something that it already recognizes, in order to process what it is viewing. That which most closely relates to the unfamiliar from our past experiences, makes up what we see when we look at things that we dont comprehend. This confusing ambiguity of perception is exploited in human technologies such as camouflage, and also in biological mimicry, for example by European Peacock butterflies, whose wings bear eye markings that birds respond to as though they were the eyes of a dangerous predator. Perceptual ambiguity is not restricted to vision. For example, recent touch perception research Robles-De-La-Torre & Hayward 2001 found thatkinesthesia based haptic perception strongly relies on the forces experienced during touch. Cognitive theories of perception assume there is a poverty of stimulus. This (with reference to perception) is the claim that sensations are, by themselves, unable to provide a unique description of the world. Sensations require 'enriching', which is the role of the mental model. A different type of theory is the perceptual ecology approach of James J. Gibson. Gibson rejected the assumption of a poverty of stimulus by rejecting the notion that perception is based in sensations. Instead, he investigated what information is actually presented to the perceptual systems. He and the psychologists who work within this paradigm detailed how the world could be specified to a mobile, exploring organism via the lawful projection of information about the world into energy arrays. Specification is a 1:1 mapping of some

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aspect of the world into a perceptual array; given such a mapping, no enrichment is required and perception is direct perception. Preconceptions can influence how the world is perceived. For example, one classic psychological experiment showed slower reaction times and less accurate answers when a deck of playing cards reversed the color of the suit symbol for some cards (e.g. red spades and black hearts) There is also evidence that the brain in some ways operates on a slight "delay", to allow nerve impulses from distant parts of the body to be integrated into simultaneous signals. Perception-in-action An ecological understanding of perception derived from Gibson's early work is that of "perception-inaction", the notion that perception is a requisite property of animate action; that without perception action would be unguided, and without action perception would serve no purpose. Animate actions require both perception and motion, and perception and movement can be described as "two sides of the same coin, the coin is action". Gibson works from the assumption that singular entities, which he calls "invariants", already exist in the real world and that all that the perception process does is to home in upon them. A view known as constructivism (held by such philosophers as Ernst von Glasersfeld) regards the continual adjustment of perception and action to the external input as precisely what constitutes the "entity", which is therefore far from being invariant. Glasersfeld considers an "invariant" as a target to be homed in upon, and a pragmatic necessity to allow an initial measure of understanding to be established prior to the updating that a statement aims to achieve. The invariant does not and need not represent an actuality, and Glasersfeld describes it as extremely unlikely that what is desired or feared by an organism will never suffer change as time goes on. This social constructionist theory thus allows for a needful evolutionary adjustment. A mathematical theory of perception-in-action has been devised and investigated in many forms of controlled movement, and has been described in many different species of organism using the General Tau Theory. According to this theory, tau information, or time-to-goal information is the fundamental 'percept' in perception.

PERCEPTION: ERRORS AND REMEDIES The main sources of errors in perception include the following: I. II. III. IV. V. Not collecting enough information about other people. Basing our judgements on information that is irrelevant or insignificant. Seeing what we expect to see and what we want to see and not investigating further. Allowing early information about someone to affect our judgement despite later and contradictory information. Accepting stereotypes uncritically.

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VI. VII. VIII.

Allowing our own characteristics to affect what we see in others and how wejudge them. Attempting to decode non-verbal behaviour outside the context in which it appears. Basing attributions on flimsy and potentially irrelevant evidence.

Thus, it is clear that errors in perception can be overcome by: I. II. III. IV. Taking more time and avoiding instant or `snap' judgements about others. Collecting and consciously using more information about other people. Developing self-awareness and an understanding of how our personal biases are preferences affect our perceptions and judgements of other people. Checking our attributions - particularly the links we make between aspects ofpersonality and appearance on the one hand and behaviour on the other.

Therefore, it can be said that if we are to improve our understanding of others, we must first have a welldeveloped knowledge of ourselves -- our strengths, our preferences, our weaknesses and our biases. The development of self-knowledge can be an uncomfortable process. In organisational settings, we are often constrained in the expression of our feelings (positive and negative) about other people due to social or cultural norms and to the communication barriers erected by status and power differentials. This may in part explain the enduring emphasis in recent years on training courses in social and interpersonal skills, self-awareness and personal growth. Adrian Furnham (1997) argues that the process of making evaluations, judgements or ratings of the performance of employees is subject to a number of systematic perception errors. This is particularly problematic in a performance appraisal context. These are: Central tendency: Appraising everyone at the middle of the rating scale. 31 Perception Contrast error: Basing an appraisal on comparison with other employees rather than on established performance criteria. Different from me: Giving a poor appraisal because the person has qualities or characteristics not possessed by the appraiser. Halo effect: Appraising an employee undeservedly on one quality (performance, for example) because s/he is perceived highly by the appraiseron another quality (attractiveness). Horn effect: The opposite of the halo effect. Giving someone a poor appraisal on one quality (attractiveness) influences poor rating on other qualities.(performance). Initial impression: Basing an appraisal on first impressions rather than on how the person has behaved throughout the period to which appraisal relates. Latest behaviour: Basing an appraisal on the person's recent behaviour. Lenient or generous rating: Perhaps the most common error, being consistently generous in appraisal mostly to avoid conflict.

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Performance dimension error: Giving someone a similar appraisal on two distinct but similar qualities, because they happen to follow each other on the appraisal form. Same as me: Giving a good appraisal because the person has qualities or characteristics possessed by the appraiser. Spillover effect: Basing this appraisal, good or bad, on the results of the previous appraisal rather than on how the person has behaved during the appraisal period. Status effect: Giving those in higher level positions consistently better appraisals than those in lower level jobs. Strict rating: Being consistently harsh in appraising performance.

3)

Explain the relevance of Behaviour modification in organizations and briefly discuss the role of ethics in behaviour modification.

Solution : Perhaps the most important argument for a system conception of organization is that the environment within which organization exist is becoming increasing by unstable. With the rapid growth of technology, the expansion of economic markets and rapid social and political change, come constant pressures for organizations to change, adapt, and grow to meet the challenges of the environment. And as one examines this process, one is struck that it is the total organization, not merely some key individuals, who must be studied if this process is to be properly understood The organization in relation to its environment The relationships between organizations and their environments are complex and as yet not well conceptualized. First of all, it is difficult to define the appropriate boundaries what size its environment is. Where does a business concern with its research departments, suppliers, transportation facilities, sales offices and public relations offices-leave off and the community begin? Is the relevant environment society as a whole, the economic and political system, other companies in the same market the immediate community, the union, or all of these? What is the relevant environment of a university? Is it is the community, in which the university is located, is it the parents of its student body, is it society as the consumer of its graduates and its research and scholarly output, or is it the professional association of its professors? If we are to understand the forces which act upon organizations as system. We must be able to specify the environmental origin of such forces. Second organization generally have several purposes or fulfill several functions, some of these functions are primary while others are secondary. Some are manifest and some are latent. The primary manifest function of a business concern is to make a product or service for profit secondary manifest functions is to private security and meaning for members of the community through the provisions of jobs. The cultural and social norms which dictate this secondary function are just as much a part of the environment as are the economic force which dictate a good product are a minimum cost. Yet these forces may impose conflicting demands on the organization. Third the organization carries within itself representative of the external environment. Employees are not only members of the organization which employs them, but they are also members of society, other

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organizations, unions, consumer group and so on. From these various others roles they with them demands, expectations and cultural norms. Fourth the nature of the environment is itself changing very rapidly. We see this most clearly in the rapid growth of technology, but change is also increasing in the economic sector because of the expansion of markets throughout the entire world and the socio-political sector because of changing norms about the priorities which should guide technologically sophisticated countries like the United States. From being relatively stable and predictable, portions of the environment have become what trist and emery call turbulent turbulent environments require a different kind of capacity to resound on the part of organizations. In the university, the professors respond to one set of norms deriving from cultural concepts of science an scholarship, students are developing a different set of norms based on their frustration that within society remain unsolved, while the curriculum remain unrelated to the solution of those problems, the alumni in their role as financial donors to the university bring a third set of norms having to do with the prestige and quality of the organization by more traditional criteria For all of the above reasons, organization theorists have begun to build more complex models, which attempt to take into account relationships between systems and their environments. Organizational Behavior modification Behavioral science is a very complex area itself. Therefore is not surprising that there are numerous specialists within it. Each specialist is concerned with some aspect of interpersonal relationships. Consequently with some aspect of interpersonal relationships. Consequently at training they usually to not teach the same body of knowledge, rather than approach the matter quite differently. Several Behaviorists proposed different training techniques for human recourses development. Disturbed by the assumptions of behaviorists concerning motivation. And yet retaining some of their insights Luthans has proposed that the designates as organization behavior modification. The differences are described thus, a motivational approach to organizational approach to organizational behavior infers that the practicing manager should attempt to define and manipulate such vague internal sates as desire. Satisfaction and attitude. Under the Organization modification approach, the manager determines the organizational goals he wants participant behavior to accomplish the organization stimuli available to control the behavior and the types and schedules of reinforcement that can be applied to the consequent behavior. Behavior modification is also called as operate conditioning and positive reinforcement. It is based on learning theory and directed towards changing individual behavior rather then that of group of total organization. The desired behavior of individual can be reinforced by incentives such as money, social approval and responsibility. Thus the behavior of organizational participants can be turned towards the results desired including efficient productive efforts. It has been increasingly efficient productive efforts. It has been increasingly applied to a variety of organizations including business firms. Behavior modification applies thorn dikes law of effect, which asserts that behavior perceived to lead to a positive result will be repeated, behavior that has a neutral or negative result will tend not to be repeated , Reinforcement of a persons behavior can positive or negative-positive if a desired behavior is regarded negative if an undesired behavior is punished. Most trainers push to avoid negative reinforcement and to reply on positive reinforcement skinner has advocated the maximum use of positive reinforcement he opposes negative reinforcement because of its conceive implication.

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Reinforcement proceeds in three stages. First, the superior gives frequent positive reinforcement based on feedback from subordinates performance, shaping their performance by constructive suggestion is infrequent and the use of praise. In the second stage reinforcement is infrequent and given at unpredictable times. Finally supervisory reinforcement is reduced greatly, allowing task accomplishment to become the subordinates primary souses of reward. All this call for training supervisors in reinforcement methods getting them to accept the psychology involved. Stages that is ideal, that has proved difficult to reach in May eases. Those methods have been extensively used in the Amery air freight corporation. Its programs begin with a performance audit to measure the individuals current result. Work standards are then adjusted established by the supervisors, Subordinates keep performance records which are then scrutinized by their supervisors to recognize praise and reward goods results ant to criticize poor results. The program met with the difficulty that the progress reports remained necessary the envisaged natural reinforcement. The company has nevertheless deemed the program successful. Organization Behavior Modification is a controversial technique, chiefly because of its implication of manipulation and control over people. It runs counter to beliefs in freedom and freewill and makes and environments the basis of control. But skinner believes that the feeling of freedom is the important thing and that the individual feels free when he can act to avoid a negative reinforcement or to obtain a positive reinforcement. Indeed the use of this technique appears to be promising and productive. ETHICS OF BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION The question of whether managers really want to know how to control behavior takes us from the issue of assumptions of the issue of ethics. If behaviour modification achieves its apparent potential, managers and psychologists in industrial/organisational settings will encounter ethical issues they could pretty much ignore in the past. Effective methods of control counter ethical issues they could pretty much ignore in the past. Effective methods of control are more threatening than ineffective methods. Moreover, as practically every writer of a behavioral text notes, there exist fairly widespread misconceptions about what behavior modification is and how it is usually applied. There are numerous past instances in which application of behaviour principles mental health facilities, prisons, and schools prompted strong negative reactions and even the banning of funds. Just recently the director of a federal programme advised this writer to avoid any use of the term "behaviour modification" on anapplication, even if it meant deleting information about relevant research or experience. Similar reactions could easily occur in business settings, where governmental regulation of practices and policies is extensive. It seems probable that legal issues will also be raised, just as they were when behaviour modification was applied to other institutions (see Budd & Baer, 1976 and Friedman, 1975 forextensive discussion on legal issues in other settings). Behaviour Modification One approach to such problems is to answer "No" to the questions: "Do managers really want to know?". In the long run, however, the strategy of avoidance is unlikelyto work. In general ignorance is not preferred over knowledge, and knowledge once gained will be applied. The real question is what can be done to insure that the application of behaviour modification to industrial/organisational settings will be done in an ethically acceptable manner. Part of the task involves correcting misconceptions about behaviour modification so that people will begin discussing real issues rather than phony ones.

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4)

Describe the growing importance of teams as an approach to work. Briefly discuss how team can be built effectively. Illustrate with reference to an organization where team played a crucial role in bringing success. Briefly describe the organization you are referring to.

Solution : Team Building refers to a wide range of activities, presented to businesses, schools, sports teams, religious or nonprofit organizations designed for improving team performance. Team building is pursued via a variety of practices, and can range from simple bonding exercises to complex simulations and multi-day team building retreats designed to develop a team (including group assessment and groupdynamic games), usually falling somewhere in between. It generally sits within the theory and practice of organizational development, but can also be applied to sports teams, school groups, and other contexts. Team building is not to be confused with "team recreation" that consists of activities for teams that are strictly recreational. Teambuilding is an important factor in any environment, its focus is to specialize in bringing out the best in a team to ensure self development, positive communication, leadership skills and the ability to work closely together as a team to problem solve. Work environments tend to focus on individuals and personal goals, with reward & recognition singling out the achievements of individual employees. "How to create effective teams is a challenge in every organization" Team building can also refer to the process of selecting or creating a team from scratch. Reasons for Team Building Reasons for Team Building include

Improving communication Making the workplace more enjoyable Motivating a team Getting to know each other Getting everyone "onto the same page", including goal setting Teaching the team self-regulation strategies Helping participants to learn more about themselves (strengths and weaknesses) Identifying and utilizing the strengths of team members Improving team productivity Practicing effective collaboration with team members

Team Building Exercises & purpose

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Team building exercises consist of a variety of tasks designed to develop group members and their ability to work together effectively. There are many types of team building activities that range from kids games to games that involve novel complex tasks and are designed for specific needs. There are also more complex team building exercises that are composed of multiple exercises such as ropes courses, corporate drumming and exercises that last over several days. The purpose of team building exercises is to assist teams in becoming cohesive units of individuals that can effectively work together to complete tasks. types of Team Building Exercises Communication Exercise This type of team building exercise is exactly what it sounds like. Communications exercises are problem solving activities that are geared towards improving communication skills. The issues teams encounter in these exercises are solved by communicating effectively with each other. Goal: Create an activity which highlights the importance of good communication in team performance and/or potential problems with communication. Problem Solving/Decision Making Exercise Problem Solving/Decision making exercises focus specifically on groups working together to solve difficult problems or make complex decisions. These exercises are some of the most common as they appear to have the most direct link to what employers want their teams to be able to do. Goal: Give team a problem in which the solution is not easily apparent or requires the team to come up with a creative solution Planning/Adaptability Exercise These exercises focus on aspects of planning and being adaptable to change. These are important things for teams to be able to do when they are assigned complex tasks or decisions. Goal: Show the importance of planning before implementing a solution Trust Exercise A trust exercise involves engaging team members in a way that will induce trust between them. They are sometimes difficult exercises to implement as there are varying degrees of trust between individuals and varying degrees of individual comfort trusting others in general. Goal: Create trust between team members Subgroups of Team Building Exercises

simple social activities - to encourage team members to spend time together

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group bonding sessions - company sponsored fun activities to get to know team members (sometimes intending also to inspire creativity) personal development activities - individual programs given to groups (sometimes physically challenging) team development activities - group-dynamic games designed to help individuals discover how they approach a problem, how the team works together, and discover better methods psychological analysis of team roles, and training in how to work better together

(and combinations of the above) Team interaction involves "soft" interpersonal skills including communication, negotiation, leadership, and motivation - in contrast to technical skills directly involved with the job at hand. Depending on the type of team building, the novel tasks can encourage or specifically teach interpersonal team skills to increase team performance. Models of Team Behavior Team building generally sits within the theory and practice of organizational development. The related field of team management refers to techniques, processes and tools for organizing and coordinating a team towards a common goal - as well as the inhibitors to teamwork and ways to remove, mitigate or overcome them. Several well-known approaches to team management have come out of academic work.

The forming-storming-norming-performing model posits four stages of new team development to reach high performance. Some team activities are designed to speed up (or improve) this process in the safe team development environment.

Belbin Team Types can be assessed to gain insight into an individual's natural behavioral tendencies in a team context, and can be used to create and develop better functioning teams. Team Sociomapping is an visual approach to team process and structure modelling. This model is based on social networks approach and improves the team performance by improvement of specific

cooperation ties between the people. Organizational Development In the organizational development context, a team may embark on a process of self-assessment to gauge its effectiveness and improve its performance. To assess itself, a team seeks feedback from group members to find out both its current strengths and weakness. To improve its current performance, feedback from the team assessment can be used to identify gaps between the desired state and the current state, and to design a gap-closure strategy. Team development

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can be the greater term containing this assessment and improvement actions, or as a component of organizational development. Another way is to allow for personality assessment amongst the team members, so that they will have a better understanding of their working style, as well as their fellow team mates. A structured teambuilding plan is a good tool to implement team bonding and thus, team awareness. These may be introduced by companies that does teambuilding sessionsm, or done internally by the human resource department. Team management refers to techniques, processes and tools for organizing and coordinating a group of individuals working towards a common goali.e. a team. Several well-known approaches to team management have come out of academic work. Examples include the Belbin Team Inventory byMeredith Belbin, a method to identify the different types of personalities within teams, and Ken Blanchard's description of "High Performing Teams". The 'Team Development Model', identified by Bruce Tuckman, offers a foundational definition of the stages teams go through during their lifecycle. Those stages are labeled Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. While the activities of team management are not new, many of the tools used by team managers are. The more Organizational Development-oriented practitioners often use interview-based analysis and provide reportage and insights that team leaders and their management may use to adapt team practices for higher performance. Teams can also be developed through team building activities - which can also be used simply to build relationships where team members lack cohesion due to organizational structure or physical distance. Project managers may approach team management with a focus on structure, communications and standardized practices. With the growing need to integrate the efforts of teams composed of members from different companies and geographies, organizations are increasingly turning to a new class of Internet software for team management These tools combine planning and collaboration with features that provide a structure for team relationships and behaviors. In addition, there are tools that facilitate the forming of highly productive teams through analysis of personality and skills profiles. utilizing above complete information, cite an example by referring any organization (it can be your own organization where you are employed).

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5)

Briefly discuss how organizational culture can be developed and describe the attributes of work culture and their relevance.

Solution : Organizational culture Organizational culture can loosely be defined as the shared assumptions, beliefs, and "normal behaviors" (norms) of a group. These are powerful influences on the way people live and act, and they define what is "normal" and how to sanction those who are not "normal." To a large degree, what we do is determined by our culture. Organizational culture is similar to, say, regional culture. The same person in different organizations (or parts of the same organization) would act in different ways. Culture is very powerful. (One example is the cultural change effort at British Airways, which transformed an unprofitable airline with a poor reputation into a paragon of politeness and profit). An example: Cultural change at Chrysler (1994) Many companies have turned themselves around, converting imminent bankruptcy into prosperity. Some did it through financial gimmickry, but the ones who have become stars did it by changing their own culture. Few remember that companies like British Air or Volvo once had a poor reputation. That's a credit to their drastic changes in customer (and employee) satisfaction, quality, and profits. The underlying causes of many companies' problems are not in the structure, CEO, or staff; they are in the social structure and culture. Because people working in different cultures act and perform differently, changing the culture can allow everyone to perform more effectively and constructively. This applies to colleges and schools as much as it applies to businesses. In the early 1990s, Chrysler had terrible customer service and press relations, with a history of innovation but a present of outdated products. Its market share was falling, and its fixed costs and losses were high. Bob Lutz, then the president, wanted Chrysler to become the technology and quality leader in cars and trucks -- a clear, globally applicable vision. A program of cultural change, Customer One, was built around it. It is also worth noting that quite a bit of the change in culture came from AMC, a much smaller company acquired from Renault. AMC executives and engineers brought the "do more with less," cross-functional methods they had at the unfortunate smaller automaker. These ideas and values were to play a major role in Chrysler's revival; two vehicles designed largely by AMC people with AMC methods were the 1993 Dodge Ram and 1995 Dodge Neon, both runaway successes (though the Neon would be handicapped by executive-ordered "cost saving" moves). The results were impressive: overhead was cut by $4.2 billion in under four years, the stock price has quadrupled, and the company reversed its slide into bankruptcy and became profitable. A completely new and competitive line of cars or trucks has appeared each year since. New engines produce more fuel economy and power as new cars provide more comfort, performance, and space. They did this with the same people, but working in different ways.

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It is important to note now, with hindsight, that the problem with this cultural change program - which afflicts far too many cultural changes - is that it can easily be sabotaged by new management. Chrysler's many gains were lost when the company was acquired by Daimler-Benz, forming DaimlerChrysler and instigating years of poor morale and financial performance. Still, this proves the importance of culture even more - for that is the main thing that changed in 1998. Involvement of People When Chrysler was entering its final "golden age," in four years, 4,600 ideas were solicited from suppliers; 60% were used, saving over $235 million. Customers were also called in during "virtually every stage" of the development of new models, to provide suggestions (rather than just ratings of what they liked). One designer was sent to photograph the interiors of about 200 pickups, to see where cups, maps, etc. were being stored, so they could tailor the interior of the new trucks to the needs of the drivers. Chrysler has also been listening to customers who write to the company; the designers even respond to some letters by phone. Rather than have a small number of people control new products, Jeep/Truck product manager Jeff Trimmer said planners were "speaking out for customer wants and needs in the initial stages...and working along with each of the various functional groups...The role becomes more advisory." Everyone who would be involved participated to "harness the best ideas and creativity." Even the assembly line workers were included; with the new Ram trucks, they were working with engineers six months before production started. Mechanics were consulted early, to help prepare the cars and trucks for real-life maintenance. Product teams followed vehicles through their development to identify systems and process issues. "Today, we feel we have a lot more facts, and more of a groundswell of information that comes from groups of people who know exactly what we're trying to do," reported Robert Johnson of Dodge Trucks. Agreeing on Objectives One change which helps to keep projects pure is setting down objectives clearly, at the beginning. Core objectives were agreed on at the beginning by all parties; because "Everybody agrees up front and we stick to the plan," (Bernard Robertson, Jeep/Truck team), there were no last-minute changes in focus, which can result in expensive disasters (such as the Corvair, Vega, and Fiero). Because everyone was involved in setting goals, they took responsibility for living up to them. Learning Changes in the way cars were made began with help from AMC, which had operated with a far smaller staff than most automakers. Bob Lutz and former AMC engineering chief Francois Castaing reorganized their departments into AMC-style teams. Since then, Chrysler changed its teams by learning from its achievements and mistakes. "We do a 'what went right, what went wrong' analysis at various points, and we transmit this information to the other platforms," said James Sorenson of the Jeep/Truck Team. Pilot vehicles in the new Ram program - which would triple Chrysler's market share despite a price premium - were ready 13 months ahead of time. The number of improvements made each year increased dramatically each year as learning spread.

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Emphasis of Quality Most people like building a quality product. It's natural to want one's labors to produce something of quality and beauty. That might be one reason why workers tend to support quality efforts, if they see them as being sincere. Chrysler's steps to improve quality started with calling in customers, suppliers, mechanics, and assembly line workers early in the design process. They continued by surveying all customers and basing dealer incentives on quality and support. The dealership rating process was improved at various points. Complaints were followed through, and negative surveys were returned to dealers for resolution (however, many dealers do not follow through on this valuable feedback). In the end, the Five Star process was implemented because other dealer quality efforts had failed; cultural change is very challenging when you're dealing with a large number of geographically diversed, independently owned companies. The strategy did not call for quality to be the number one objective from day one; first, the company had to overcome its reputation, newly gained, for lack of product innovation. The Viper, Intrepid, Ram, and Neon did this quite well. The first vehicle to have quality as its primary design goal was the 1996 Grand Cherokee. This theme has carried forward to the present; the clearest example is the 2000 Neon, where nearly every change was aimed at increasing reliability and perceived quality. It is still worth noting that even the original 1995 Neon was a far higher quality car than its predecessors, if you take away three poor decisions: using lower-cost exhaust couplings, lower-cost head gaskets, and in-house-designed frameless windows. The first two decisions were reportedly made directly by Bob Eaton, overruling quality-minded engineers. Without the head gasket and window problems, the Neon would probably have a far greater reputation for quality - and far greater sales. Even with them, and the warranty work they caused, they still were profitable. The best examples of the quality emphasis are probably the Chrysler PT Cruiser and Jeep Liberty; both have consistently appeared at or near the top of the quality charts, beating many Japanese competitors. Pitfalls Cultural change is neither easy nor foolproof. It can take time - at least one year, more likely between three and six years - and it takes effort and vigilance. A great deal of patience and long-term support is needed. Communication may be key, as small successes are used to support larger efforts. Sometimes, it is necessary to start changing small parts of an organization first, later expanding efforts. Chrysler did this by starting with their engineering teams and moving on to other areas. The proponents of change must carefully model the behavior they want to see in others. If they do not send a consistent message and keep that message clear and dominant over time, cultural change may be seen as just another fad. Frequently, change becomes harder when the organization starts to turn around. At Chrysler, the pace of change dropped off dramatically when profits started to appear regularly, and Bob Eaton began to fatten middle management again, adding layers between line workers and decision makers. Complacency is an ever-present danger when changes start to take effect.

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The example of Chrysler also shows that cultural change, though powerful, is always subject to the whims of senior leaders. In the late 1990s, Chrysler CEO Robert Eaton chose to sell the company to Daimler-Benz (at an immense personal profit). Strong leaders dropped away or were asked to resign, and Chrysler reverted to "old-style" behavior: massive, simple cost-cutting, lack of clear and honest communication, and concentrating on short-term fixes rather than more constructive long-term investments. There is a great deal of literature on cultural change, but successful efforts generally involve the services of an experienced consultant to provide some guidance and unbiased feedback. As the Chrysler example shows, vigilance by the senior leaders and process owners is also required over the long term. Applying Cultural Changes To Your Organization Cultural changes take time, and the process may be bumpy. Some people get used to it quickly, and other people take more time. Cultural changes may take a long time in a larger business. At Chrysler, they started with engineering, moved on to customer service, down to the dealers, and so on. This made for some strange experiences for those who dealt with the company during the transitional times. Certainly, many in the press wondered why Chrysler, in the midst of heavy losses, was spending billions on new buildings and research. Their answer did not come until years later, when Chrysler regained its billions and a few extra as well. Rensis Likert suggested that major changes could take two or three years before the results showed. The lag time may be shorter if your commitment to the program is deep and shows clearly; if your vision of what your business should look like is clear; and if all of your actions are consistent with this vision. For example, at advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather, posters and cards are issued to each employee with clear, colloquial statements on "how we do business" (signed by David Ogilvy). At Chrysler, the pace of change was slowed by structural problems (e.g., dealerships are independently owned) and by the jaded viewpoints of many industry insiders. Another problem has been the onset of complacency, as winning products, record profits, and high sales erased the "emergency" atmosphere that contributed to the speed of change. While simple cost-cutting may show faster results, the profits don't stay for long. The cost-cutting programs of Roger Smith and Richard Stempel resulted in the biggest losses in GM's history, while the cultural change programs of Chrysler stopped the company's losses and increased its market share for the first time in years. Chrysler's own cost-cutting after the takeover resulted in problems getting new products developed and produced, and do not appear to have helped profits, since sales also fell. You can't make a tree grow larger by cutting the roots. Cultural changes must often be spearheaded by one or two people with strong ideas. This may be the head of the business, a consultant, or a designated executive or team. The best results seem to be achieved when there is a firm commitment from the top, which is communicated directly to each and every person in the business. The accessibility of top people is a powerful incentive for workers to feel that they are part of the company. Often, if workers know they can walk into the president's or owner's office and be greeted with their attention and respect, they will work much harder to make that vision a reality. This one step may help to save a great deal of money, as workers may feel more free to bring in suggestions, and the executive may be more likely to try it out...sometimes with quite surprising results. (3M's successful Scotch tape and Post-It notes were the result of worker suggestions).

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Before planning a cultural change, it may help to study companies with successful cultures, such as 3M, Ben & Jerry's, Wal-Mart, or Chrysler, to find out how they became and stay successful, deal with failures and successes, and keep their fingers on their customers' and employees' pulses. In Search of Excellence (Harper & Row) describes a number of companies with successful cultures (though some have declined, which, if nothing else, shows the need for vigilance). Many consultants, such as Rensis Likert, Warner Burke, David Nadler, and Chris Argyris, have also written about their experiences. The power of cultural change is strong -- strong enough to turn an aging dinosaur into a state-of-the-art profit-maker. It may do wonders in your business or institution, as well. The key premise of organizational development is that organizations are social systems. The goal is to increase the long-term health and performance of the organization, while enriching the lives of its members. The OD approach emphasizes organizational culture, which influences the way people work, using change based on research and action. The method is using planned change based on research to increase motivation, remove obstacles, and make change easier. The ideal is an organization where continuous improvement is so prevalent that it is not thought of as an initiative.

Organizational development ("OD") transforms the organizational culture (loosely, shared beliefs, values, and behaviors) by working with social and technical systems such as culture,work processes, communication, and rewards. This site describes some of the tools and techniques of organizational development. Though these tools work best as part of a combined whole, they can also be used one at a time - though then it might not be OD! Organizational development is based on research, not case studies. Case studies can be interpreted differently, depending on what people know and what they already believe. Research into human behavior isolates and tests key assumptions and relationships, and is more reliable as a basis for change. If you're not ready to take the organizational development plunge, try it out on a small scale - a workshop, some process consulting, a brief employee survey, some customer feedback. We think the success of that first effort will make you want more - and make it easier to get more. Organizational development helps companies, colleges, and governments by:

Empowering leaders and individual employees. Creating a culture of continuous improvement and alignment around shared goals. Making change easier and faster. Putting the minds of all employees to work. Enhancing the quality and speed of decisions. Making conflict constructive instead of destructive.

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Giving leaders more control over results, by giving employees more control over how they do their jobs. Key benefits of organizational development The outcomes of organizational development may include increases in: Profits (cost reduction, for nonprofits). Innovation. Customer satisfaction. Product and service quality. Cost effectiveness. Organizational flexibility. Personal feelings of effectiveness. Job, work, and life satisfaction. More detailed goals of organizational development The objectives of organizational development are an organization where:

People and areas have the same goals Communication is open, laterally and vertically, and all relevant facts and feelings are shared. People can learn from experience. Decisions are made by people with the most relevant, direct knowledge. The reward system reinforces organizational health. Conflict is treated and resolved constructively - where it is used for innovation, not suppressed or allowed to interfere with productivity. Processes and structures are based on present needs rather than past needs or fads, so they are efficient and help people. People are rewarded for success but not punished for failure of innovation or creativity; so innovation is high. Customer needs are always known and thought about by employees and leaders.

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