Answers

Q-1. What is your understanding of Johari Window? What is the

major difference between blind and hidden area, how does it
facilitates a manager in his/her organizational life?
Ans.
The Johari Window is a communication model that can be used to improve
understanding between individuals within a team or in a group setting. Based
on disclosure, self-disclosure and feedback, the Johari Window can also be
used to improve a group's relationship with other groups The word "Johari
comes from Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham
Through Johari Window, we can get a view of ourselves as it appears to us
and as it appears to others. There are some things we are not aware of till
others tell us about us. So, if we want to grow and increase our effectiveness,
we need help of others. Graphically, it presents a visual model of awareness
and can be said to have four windowpanes, as tabled below:
Things I know Things I dont know
Things others know
about me
Things that others
dont know about me.
Arena Blind
Closed Dark
In the pane A (Arena), are aspects of a person know to self and other as
well. It will refer to knowledge, behavior, feelings and motivation. This is a
result of consequence of openness, honesty and frankness.
Panel B (Blind area) represents area, which is known to others. This
may be result of gestures, mannerism, in our behavior and speech of which
we may not be aware, until. Some one tells about this.
Panel C (Closed area) represents aspect of behavior and motivation,
which is known or open to self but not shared with others. This is often
termed as hidden or avoided area.
Panel D (Dark area) is the area neither of unknown activity where
behavior and motivation are known to self, nor to others. Much of this sort of
behavior is below the surface and one may be never aware of behavior and
motivation.
The Blind and Hidden areas are exactly opposite in nature. In Blind
area, it is the aspect, wherein, we dont know about our selves, but other
known about it. Whereas, in hidden area, it is the aspect, which we know
about ourselves, but we have kept hidden from others. It is natural during the
early phases of our interaction with a new superior, or no a new job or in a
new department with new colleagues, to be very cautious and careful in
dealing with other. We may hesitant to express our fears, our hopes or
ambitions, our doubts or anxieties.
A manager can make effective use of the Johari window concept, to
increase his effectiveness in the organization life, in various ways. He can
increase awareness on his own by seeking feedbacks so that, the blind area
can be reduced. However, one shall have to build a receptive attitude as well
as, create relationship to exist whereby other feels safe and comfortable to
give feedback. Moreover, one has to be prepared for certain self-disclosure.
This shall broaden area of free activity.
Q-2 How will you use the concept of Transactional Analysis for
removing dysfunctional behavior in your organization? Substantiate
your answer with suitable illustration
Ans.
Transaction analysis is a theory and practice of interpersonal
communication and behavior. The whole concept is concerned with four kind
of analysis namely:
Structural analysis
Transaction analysis proper
Time structuring
Script analysis
By the above stated methods, a detailed analysis can be carried out of the
individuals personalities, ego states, the way people adopt to communicate,
the games people play while communicating and the ways, people structure
time. As far as dysfunctional behavior in the organization is concerned, these
tools can analyze it in a structured way, the attribute cause can be traced, the
counter measures suggested, analyzed, implemented and feedbacks
undertaken.
In my work field, where, I am heading a manufacturing organization, in
the recent past, I have come across such situation, wherein; adopting TA
approach could avert a major crisis. The brief description is as follows:
Our wage settlement agreement, which is carried out every three years,
was due for resettlement on 1
st
April, 2002. The usual practice was that,
workers used to approach in an informal way to start the proceeding for
negotiation. But, this time, they never approached the P&A Dept. for such
discussions.
Since, presently, our company is passing through a service financial crisis, the
top management couldnt concentrate on this issue. We felt that, workers
union has understood the financial crisis; hence, they were quiet on the wage
settlement issue and were cooperating with the management. However, this
was not the case and some unpleasant behavior started amongst few
workers; they started resorting to indiscipline of lower productivity etc.
At this stage, the top management intervened. We analyze the whole
problem and used various TA tools and drew following conclusion:
When in first stage, they didnt approach the management, they had
Child ego state and expected that the management shall act in Parent
ego state and respond positively by inviting for the negotiation.
The top management went into the Adult ego state and expected that
the workers union be also in Adult ego stage. Hence, that was the
reasons thought by us for not approaching for the settlement. Whereas,
the workers were in a Child ego state. Hence. Crossed transaction
took place.
As a Script analysis, we analyzed that, by restoring to reducing
productivity at certain stages and without touching the main issue, they
wanted to convey their anguish to the management.
After making the observations, we called a meeting of the workers union
and
apprised them of the financial crisis of the company. We told them to wait for
at least 6 months to enable the management tackle financial problems. We
also committed that, when ever, the final settlement shall be arrived at, it
shall be made applicable with retrospective date i.e. 1
st
April, 2002, so that
the workers are not deprived of any financial benefit. They happily agreed to
this proposal and promised their full cooperation in enabling the organization
to overcome the financial crisis. As usual, presently, the cordial work
environment in the organization is maintained. In this, we acted in Adult ego
state and the workers union was always in Child ego state. Hence, a
Complimentary transaction took place.
Q-3 What is stress? Is it always bad for the individual? Explain the
nature, mechanism and classification of stress.
Ans.
Stress is a physiological abnormality at the structural or bio-chemical
level caused by overloading experiences.
Dr. Seyles, an expert in stress management, gives the best definition in stress
management. According to him stress is a non-specific response of the body
to situation.
It is the term used to describe burden, force or pressure, especially on the
individuals body or soul. Wolff and Goodell considered stress as inherent
characteristics of life. They indicated that living creatures are constantly in
state of more or less stress. Stress is a bodys reaction to a stressor and also
the way we experience it.
Some Behavioural Symptoms of Stress are:
Low productivity, decreased work performance;
Tendency to remain absent from work;
Much of interpersonal conflict;
Tendency to remain isolated;
Sudden change in habit (clothing, eating, drinking);
Talking around a subject;
Poor eye contact while talking;
Making others look ridiculous;
Brooding; feeling worthless
It is generally indicated that, stress is not always bad for the individual.
Selye went to the extent, that, complete freedom from the stress is death. A
little amount of stress stimulates the internal psychological thought process in
the minds of individuals and it paves ways for growth and success of the
individual in the organization. But, if the stress experienced by the individual
increases a specific level, it can cause both acute problems and chronic
diseases.
As per Bernard, the stress can be classified in two categories:
Dystress (Unpleasant stress) and
Estrus (pleasant stress).
Eustress
This stress is because of the sudden over joy. Fortunately this type of stress is
not long lasting .
Furthermore it is a state of happiness. Eustress, therefore, is not harmful,
being occasional and fleeting.
Distress
This is anti-thesis of eustress. Distress is caused whenever a person is
suddenly very sad or
angry. Distress is caused because of the demands of the modern life and
anxiety to cope with
them. This results in feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, nervousness, loss etc.
This type ofstress is harmful.
As per Kiretz and Moss, there are three factor on the effect of the stress; (1)
kind of adjustment needed (2) perception of control (3) Valence (loss vs.
gain).
In stressful situation, the individual reacts to the stressor in three steps:
Emergency preparedness
Resistance
Breakdown
It has been proved that after the initial shock, an individuals inner
defenses are mobilized and the next step is an automatic reaction (i.e.
attempt to restore balance). If this doesnt work then the defense mechanism
may breakdown.
Many different factors in an individuals environment can trigger stress
reaction. There is a correlation between specific life events, psychological
stress and health. The events can positive and negative impact. A death of
a family member, divorce, prison or illness can have deep effects.
Redundancies are the highest- rank event in the working life.
Q-4 In our culture, do you think the traditional or the behavioral
approach to conflict management is most frequently taken by the
managers? Give the plausible reasons for your projected answer?
Ans.
As one of the major cultural characteristics of Indian originations
is prevalence of conflict and lack of collaboration among people and
groups. Traditional methods to resolve the conflicts are being
excessively used by the manager. People with high need and aspiration for
achievement, work alone to accomplish excellence in their field of work and
use avoidance as the tool for conflict management. And if, at all, they tend
to resolve the conflict by imposing their `best solution. This causes
immense problem of conflict band collaboration leading to a vicious circle.
Although, at macro-level, much work has been done by sociologists,
psychologists, political scientists and economists, on the behavioral
approach to conflict, collaboration and resolution, but, at micro-level, the
individuals, groups and organizations are still in infancy stage.
Q-5 Apply the concepts of activities, interactions, and sentiments to
the group in which you have been a member either in academic
setting or in a work setting and describe the events. Describe for
each concept the required and emergent behavior in that situation.
Ans.
In my organization, I am at the position of unit head for technical,
commercial and administrative matter as well. In one of my core activity,
I am the team leader of Product Development activity. The main activities
involved in the whole process are product design layout, process layout,
prototype trials, pre production trials and regular production as a last stage
of development. It involves very complex machining process, involving a
lot of groups and sub-groups. The activity involves very high time frame
and the workload amongst various function is highly unbalanced. All the
functional heads for Production, Design, Quality Assurance and Purchase
are part of the across function team, looking after the whole activity. All
the team members are having a well-defined role in it. However, the team
is a very cohesive team and it is very informal in their action to share
each other's work- load to accomplish the ultimate goal. All the team
members are quite interactive on sharing of information at every stage
of development. Myself being the team leader gets all the related
communications at every stage from all the channels in a well effective and
efficient manner, which enables me to closely monitor all the processes and
take corrective and preventive actions, if required in-between. All this
processes are being carried out in a well-coordinated manner; all the
team members emotionally and sentimentally, feel pride in
accomplishing the task well within the defined targets. All the team
members share failures and success of the task in an informal manner.
Part b
Answers
Q-1 Describe your own pattern of needs and discuss the kind of work environment
that will be most satisfying to you in terms of fulfilling your needs from the any
theory of work motivation
Ans.
It was Abraham Maslow who thought that human needs that spark off an activity can be
arranged in a hierarchy of pre-potency and probability of occurrence. Maslow based his theory
that a need that is not satisfied dominates the behaviour sparking off an activity for its
satisfaction.
This need, when satisfied, in its turn activates the higher need. This sequence can be denoted
as under.
Since, in my present job, I am at a level of head of the organization, my physiological,
security and acceptance needs are already fulfilled. Hence, they are no more any motivators
for me. I am striving for getting self-esteem by getting more powers, prestige, status and
self-confidence. I personally feel and aspire to do and accomplish more. I feel that my
organization is not providing me sufficient growth opportunity to enable to explore my
potential to me full capabilities. I aspire the self-actualization opportunity to motivate me to
get job satisfaction in my present job.
Q-2 Explain the concept of perceptual defence. What are most common perceptual
errors that you make? How does it operate? How can we reduce it?
Ans.
According to Stephen P Robbins Perception is the process through which people select,
perceive, organize and interpret information from their environment. The term originated from
a Latin word percepio meaning receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension
with the mind or senses. Clearly, perception is an important dynamic to enable the manager
to avoid making errors while dealing with people and events in the work setting. The
perception acts as filter for the manager to receive information after screening the
information of irrelevant and disruptive contents. However, at times it distorts the
communication process. Perceptual errors can severely affect the managers capabilities to
adjudge the other person or situation in a right manner.
The perceptual error being commonly committed by managers are of following
type: -
Perceptual defense: People tend to defend the way they perceive things. Once established,
a persons way of viewing the world may become highly resistant to change. Sometimes,
perceptual defense may have negative consequences. This perceptual error can result in
managers inability to perceive the need to be creative in solving problems. As a result, the
individual simply proceeds as in the past even in the face of evidence that business as usual
is not accomplishing anything worthwhile.
Stereotyping: It is the belief that all members of a specific groups share similar traits and
behaviour. Most often, a person is put into a stereotype because the perceiver knows only
the overall category to which the person belongs. However, because each individual is
unique, the real traits of the person are generally quite different from those that stereotype
would suggest.
Halo effect: Under halo effect, a person is perceived on the basis of a single trait. It
generally occurs during performance appraisal where the supervisor rates an employee on
the basis of only one trait e.g. intelligence, punctuality, cooperativeness appearance etc.
Projection: It is the tendency of seeing ones own traits in others. Thus, individuals project
their own feelings, personality characteristics attitudes, or motives onto others. Projection
may be especially strong for undesirable traits that the perceivers possess but fail to
recognize in themselves. People whose personality traits include stingyness, obstinacy, and
disorderliness tend to rate others higher on these traits than do people who do not have
these traits.
Expectancy - This is the tendency to create or find in another situation or individual,
which you expected to find in first place.
HOW TO AVOID PERCEPTUAL ERRORS
1. AVOID HASTY CONCLUSIONS
2. TAKE MORE TIME PATIENCE
3. BE AVAILABLE--LISTEN--SEE OTHER VIEW
4. COMMIT SELF-SEEK INFO BEFORE JUDGMENT
5. CREATE PROPER CLIMATE -IS IT OK TO SAY
6. MAKE ADJUSTMENTS-BE PREPARED TO CHANGE
Q-3. What is risky shift? Give an example of the operation of the phenomena in any
situation that you are aware of, have been exposed to. Describe: A, the norms in
any of your class project groups in which you have been identified, B. the extent of
the cohesion in the group and the reasons therefore.
Ans.
When people are in groups, they make decision about risk differently from when they are
alone. In the group, they are likely to make riskier decisions, as the shared risk makes the
individual risk less.
They also may not want to let their compatriots down, and hence be risk-averse this is
sometimes called cautious shift. The overall tendency towards a shift in risk perception is also
sometimes called choice shift.
However, often, the evidence indicates that group tends towards a risky approach. This is
called a risky shift.
For eg: Entire football teams sometime get into aggressive or defensive moods as they either throw
caution to the winds trying to score or desperately try to avoid being caught out.
Juries given weak evidence will become very lenient after discussion, whilst when given
strong evidence they are likely to give harsh judgment.
We can another example, a group decides to travel to a place that is more than 800 km
away, by car. In normal circumstances, an individual will not prefer to travel during nighttime.
Or as a group, even as conservative shift, the group shall take conservative approach and
shall prefer to drive during daytime only. But people may decide to travel during night hours,
when they are in groups. This can be taken as a risky shift, as there are hidden risks involved
in night driving, but as a group, people might take such decisions. Generally, younger age
group people shall undertake group decisions, which fall under the category of risky shifts
Part c
Assignment C
1. c
2. None of the above
3. a
4. a
5. b
6. c
7. d
8. c
9. a
10. c
11. c
12. b
13. a
14. b
15. c
16. b
17. b
18. a
19. a
20. c
21. a
22. b
23. a
24. a
25. b
26. b
27. a
28. c
29. a
30. c
31. c
32. b
33. b
34. c
35. b
36. c
37. b
38. c
39. d
40. c
case study
Answers
Q-1. Why is there such conflict between these groups?
Ans.
As per Robins, whatever, may be the character of the conflict, it can be classified in to three
general conditions as source of conflict: Communication, structure and personal variables. In
the given case study, the basic reason for the whole issue can be classified as arisen out of
structure as the source. The reasons are as follows:
The hospital procedure manual is the outdated one. The management, on its part, has
failed to perform its duty. The manual, which has been written almost two decade
back, needs a revision. The reason for the same is that over the years, the motivation
needs of the employees have change from the basics to the security and affiliation
needs. Hence, the frustration and the conflict.
The job structuring has not been well defined and is not well laid out. That is the
reason, if the LPNs have restored to carrying out the job as per the written down
procedures, it has started proving counter productive. Had it been well laid out, and as
per the needs of the organization, it would have reduced the problem to an extent.
Even the work distribution between the RNs and the LPNs is not balanced. As per
the case study, the LPNs are more loaded as compared to the RNs. However, the
privileges are not in line with the workload. Hence, the inter group conflict arisen.
The classification of LPNs as other as the category in the hospital manual is also the
source of frustration. The LPNs have not been given the due recognition.
Q-2 What are the consequences of this conflict?
Ans.
The given case study is a case of inter group conflict. In the given case, the group
cohesiveness in the LPNs group is at very high level. At this stage, it has started proving
counter productive. It may even lead to intra group conflict also as the time passes. Because,
over a period of time the group members may not adhere to the group norms and start
finding out ways and means to resolve individual frustration and grievances. Moreover, the
group of RNs may also start opposing the demand of LPNs.
So far, the informal inter group cohesiveness between the RNs; and LPNs was at very
high level, which was proving very beneficial for the organization as the group members were
performing all the jobs in and informal manner and were acting as a team.
If the conflict is allowed to hang on for quite sometime, the organization may get
entangled with many complex issues. The goal of the hospital in terms of customer
satisfaction, increased business and the employee morale may get badly affected. The
present conflict, which is confined to one particular floor or department, may spread up to the
organizational level. It may involve more issues like legal or non-legal, to further complicate
the problem the employees may resort unruly behavior to the patients or may even go on
strike etc. thus tarnishing the image of the institution.
Q-3 What will you do as a consultant to this hospital?
Ans.
If I am given the opportunity to act as a consultant to the institution, I shall perform the
following steps:
1. I shall call representative of the LPNs group and listen to their problem carefully and
use TA tools to analyze the communication process. I shall keep my self in parent
ego state taking into consideration that, the representatives will be in the child ego
state. I may use even the script analysis to understand the hidden message they
might want to convey while communicating process is going on.
2. At this stage, I may request the representatives to maintain harmony at the work
environment for a given time frame, till the time the conflict can be resolved. The
time frame will be a short one only.
3. Apparently, the root cause of the problem is the out dated manual only. I shall study
the manual thoroughly and revised the job responsibility as per the present needs and
review the work procedure in a way that all the groups are utilized in a balances and
uniform manner.
4. In 1911 Frederick W. Taylor in his book of Principles of Scientific Management
stated that "offer proper incentives to cooperate the job science. Applying this
theory proper incentives/while amending necessary TA rules consideration should be
given to LPNs and RNs.
5. The revised policies and the procedures shall be implemented and put into close
monitoring for quite some time. Any modification required shall be thoroughly
examined and implemented and monitoring shall be carried out again and so on, till,
the time a widely accepted procedure is put into practices.
6. A time frame for periodic review of the company policies shall be charted out and put
into practice.