East West University

Midterm Examination-02_2020
Course: Management and Organizational Behavior (MOB); Code: MBA503
Total Marks: 20; Date: 01 September 2020
Online Evaluation

Name Zubaer Amin

ID 2020-2-95-024

Rules for online evaluation

 Last date of submission: 01 September 2020 on or before 12pm
 Give Color for the right answer.
 For the analytical questions and assignment write-up, students cannot copy others’ answers
(Maximum similarity 20% is allowed). If any similarity is found more than that, both answer
scripts will be cancelled.
 You can write the answer on this script or you can write on a page then take image of the pages.

Section-A: Answer the following CASES/Questions 1x5 = 5

1. At Milton farms, where a large part of the management comes from the same sociocultural
background, many employees of diverse ethical or cultural origins are hired only to ensure legal
compliance with laws relating to diversity at the workplace. The company's day-to-day
functioning leaves much to be desired in terms of promoting diversity. Recently, the owner's
cousin was promoted to the post of a branch manager while three suitable candidates hailing
from different cultures were blatantly overlooked. This is an example of ________.
A) social loafing
B) ingroup favoritism
C) groupthink
D) contrast bias
E) social exchange

2. Janice Cooper has recently joined a hospital as a part of the internship program prescribed by
the nursing school she attends. Janice, who was inspired to take up this profession by the story of
Florence Nightingale, has very strong ideals about how she should behave as a nurse. She feels
that as a nurse she must be gentle, pleasant, and caring at all times so she can serve her patients
well, and she often goes to great lengths as an intern by putting in extra hours at the hospital and
so on. The scenario reflects Janice's ________.
A) role fuzziness
B) role ambiguity
C) role conflict
D) role perception
E) role status
3. Janice and Shane are both senior software analysts. They have worked together on projects for
six years and get along very well. Janice is anticipating the arrival of her first child and will not
be able to work on a full-time basis in the future. Shane is contemplating opening his own
business as a home media installation consultant and does not want to continue to work full time.
They both need some income. Which of the following alternative job structures would be best for
Janice and Shane?
A) job enlargement
B) telecommuting
C) job rotation
D) job sharing
E) job enrichment

4. Daichi Inc. is a Japanese software development firm known for its high quality products.
Recently, the company held its annual conference and awarded all those employees who were in
the top five percent with substantial monetary rewards. Their performance was evaluated on the
basis of target achievement, client feedback, and quality ratings. Employees whose performance
had not changed drastically were given a minor raise and those who fared badly received no
incentives. Many employees blamed the company for creating differences among employees
because they felt that it would harm the company in the long run, but Daichi Inc. truly believes
that to retain and motivate its best performers, a large incentive is a good step. Daichi Inc. is
using a(n) ________ here.
A) piece-rate plan
B) employee stock ownership plan
C) modular plan
D) merit-based plan
E) flexible benefits plan

5. One of the sources of self-efficacy is ________, becoming more confident because you see
someone else doing the task.
A) arousal
B) enactive mastery
C) visualization
D) vicarious modeling
E) verbal persuasion

Section-B: Short Questions 2x2.5 = 05

(Answer the following questions)

1. “Motivation is the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and
persistence” Explain this statement in brief.
2. Explain the concept of social loafing? As a Behavioral Scientist how do you identify
social loafer and how do you prevent this social loafing? Explain in brief.
Section-C: Analytical Questions 2x5 = 10
(Answer the following questions)

1. How David C. McClelland Theory is similar with Abraham Maslow’s need theory of motivation?
Explain in brief. How do you apply the Maslow’s need theory of motivation in the RMG sector of
Bangladesh? Explain in brief.

2. How does Ingroups and outgroups pave the way for social identity threat, which is akin to
stereotype threat? Explain in brief.

Section B

Answer to the question no. 1

Motivation is a concept that deals with an individual's intensity, direction, and persistence of effort
toward achieving specific goals or targets. The level of motivation an individual aspires to may vary
between individuals and within the specified individuals.

The three key elements of motivation are given below:

1. Intensity: It indicates how hard a person tries to achieve given goals or targets. High intensity
does not always mean better results as it's dependent on which direction the intensity takes
depending on the goals.
2. Direction: The consistency of an individual’s effort and its relation to company’s targets, goals
and achievement is the characterization of direction.
3. Persistence: The measurability of how long a person can continue his or her effort to achieve
company goals is persistence. Highly motivated individuals will always give effort until the
company reaches its objectives.

Answer to the question no.2

Social loafing refers to the concept that people are likely to exercise less effort on a task if they are in a
group versus when they work alone. The idea of working in groups is typically seen as a way to improve
the outcome of a task by accumulating the skills and talents of the individuals in that group. But, in some
groups, there is a tendency among the participants to contribute less to the group's goal than if they
were doing the same task themselves.

There are several practices that can be implemented to prevent social loafing. These are given below:

1. Assigning specific tasks and responsibilities to individuals in the group.

2. Creating a clear line of communication and making sure individual accountability.
3. Evaluate and reward individual performances within the group.
 4. Assuring that each individual is able to provide unique and meaningful contribution.
5. Allocate all the resources among the group members equally.

Section C

Answer to the question no. 1

Abraham Maslow and David McClelland both researched and developed the theories of motivation.
There are similarities between the theories of both Maslow and McClelland as both of them emphasize
need as the primary driving force of an individual’s motivation.

We will explore Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory and then we will find similarities of ideas
with the McClelland’s theory of needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory: One of the most famous needs theories is Abraham Maslow's
hierarchy of needs theory. Maslow suggested that motivation is the result of an individual's endeavor to
satisfying five basic needs: physiological, safety-security, social-belongingness, esteem, and self-
actualization.

1. Psychological needs are those needs required for human survival such as air, food, water,
shelter, clothing and sleep.
2. Safety needs include those needs that accommodate a person with a sense of security and well-
being. Personal security, financial security, good health, and protection from accidents, harm,
and their adverse effects are all included in safety needs.
3. Social needs, refer to the need to feel a sense of belongingness and acceptance. Social needs
are important to humans so that they do not feel alone, isolated, and depressed. Friendships,
family, and intimacy all work to fulfill social needs.
4. Esteem needs relate to the necessity for self-esteem and respect, with self-respect being
somewhat more important than attaining respect and admiration from others.
5. Self-actualization refers to the feeling of fulfillment or realizing that an individual is living up to
his or her potential. One unique characteristic of self-actualization is that it seems different for
everyone. For one person, self-actualization might mean helping others; for another person, it
might include achievements in an artistic or creative field.

McClelland’s theory of needs: This is a theory that illustrates the process of motivation by pointing out
what and how needs are formed and how they develop over time. This motivational theory asserts that
the needs for achievement, power, and affiliation significantly influence the behavior of an individual.
Let’s explore the three needs theory and relate it to Maslow’s Needs Theory.

1. Need for Achievement is the characteristics of individuals who drive for excellence and strive
towards their goals in accordance to a set of standards. This need theory can be related to
Psychological needs and Safety needs of Maslow’s Needs Theory.
 2. Needs for Power produces a need to be influential, effective, and to make an impact. There is a
definite need to lead and for their ideas to predominate. This can be related to Esteem Needs
and Self-actualization as both of this theory relates to achieving greatness and influence on
others.
3. Need for Affiliation indicates the need of an individual’s friendly relationships and is motivated
towards synergy with other people. They need cooperative relationships with other people and
need to feel accepted by other people. This can be related to Social Needs theory of Maslow’s
Needs Theory.

Let’s explore Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory with the perspective of a manager of an RMG
industry. As a manager of RMG company following theories can be implemented:

1. Making sure that the psychological needs of the employees prevails by providing them a
comfortable working condition, reasonable work hours, lunch facilities and accommodation
allowance.
2. Provide a safe working condition, job security even in toughest economical situation and health
or life insurances. These will ensure employee’s safety needs.
3. Accommodating cooperative working environment, facilitating team building sessions and
helping the employees to have a good work-life balance will see that their social needs are
fulfilled.
4. Offering promotions, performance-based rewards and appraisals can be key methods to satisfy
an employee’s esteem needs.
5. In order to achieve self-actualization needs for the employees a manager can provide
challenging work, invite employees to participate in decision-making and give them flexibility
and autonomy in their jobs.

Ans to the question no. 2

Ingroup favoritism is a result of a perception of members of a group as better than other people, and
people not in their groups as inferior. Recent research suggests that people with low openness and low
agreeableness are more vulnerable to ingroup favoritism. Whenever there is an ingroup, there is by
necessity an outgroup, which is essentially everyone else who is not a member of that group.

Social identity theory defines and predicts the conditions under which individuals think of themselves as
individuals or as group members. The theory also acknowledges the importance of personal and social
identities for individual perceptions and group behaviour.

The theory argues that social identity underpins intergroup behavior and sees this as qualitatively
distinct from interpersonal behavior. It delineates the circumstances under which social identities are
likely to become important, so that they become the primary determinant of social perceptions and
social behaviors.
According to social identity theory, group members may experience different kinds of identity threats.
Group-status threat occurs when the perceived competence of the group is devalued. Group members
may also experience various forms of social identity threats, one of which takes place when the moral
behavior of their group is called into question. The latter form of threat is sometimes experienced even
by group members who can in no way be held personally accountable for their group’s behavior.

Group members can also experience social identity threat when they think that their group is not
sufficiently acknowledged as a separate entity with unique characteristics. Such group-distinctiveness
threat is experienced when different groups of people are included in larger, more inclusive groups or
organizations.

Ingroup Outgroup

Some degree of Lack of familiarity,

familiarity, intimacy and intimacy and trust
trust

Negative feelings of
Feelings of closeness hostility, aggression,
aloofness or superiority

Bond with common

No such bonds and no
friendships or
special relationships with
relationships or goals
us