Name – Aakash Gupta

Roll No.- 25-1019

Reg No.- 25-1019
Specialization – Marketing
Batch – 2020-22
Institute – Balaji Institute Of Management and Human Resource Develpoment
Semester – 1st
Subject Name – Organisational Behaviour
Assignment No.- 3
Submission Date – 26/11/2020
Total No. of pages written – 18

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Q1- Think of a group in which you have been working. How do the five stage model and
the punctuated equilibrium model apply to this experience?

FIVE STAGE MODEL OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

A psychologist named Bruce Tuckman said that teams go through 5 stages of development:
forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. The stages start from the time that a
group first meets until the project ends.

Tuckman didn’t just have a knack for rhyming. (Although, it does make the stages easier to
remember.) Each is aptly named and plays a vital part in building a high-functioning team.

1. FORMING STAGE

The first stage of team development is forming, which is a lot like orientation day at college or a
new job. You could even compare it to going out on a first date.

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The team has just been introduced and everyone is overly polite and pleasant. At the start, most are
excited to start something new and to get to know the other team members.

During this stage, you may discuss:

 Member’s skills, background and interests

 Project goals
 Timeline
 Ground rules
 Individual roles

As the group starts to familiarize themselves, roles and responsibilities will begin to form. It is
important for team members to develop relationships and understand what part each person plays.

But, because this stage focuses more on the people than on the work, your team probably won’t be
very productive yet.

2. STORMING STAGE 

Have you ever reached the point in a relationship where you become aware of a person’s
characteristics and they frustrate or annoy you?

Perhaps they squeeze the toothpaste from the top of the tube instead of the bottom? Eat with their
mouth open? Or they listen to the same Drake song 15 times in a row?

Well, congrats, you’ve entered the storming stage.

Being in a team is like being in a relationship. At first, you may think someone is perfect and
flawless. But, then you realize that they aren’t. Once you’re aware of their flaws, you either learn
to embrace them or the relationship will end quickly.

In the storming stage, the reality and weight of completing the task at hand have now hit everyone.
The initial feelings of excitement and the need to be polite have likely worn off.

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Personalities may clash. Members might disagree over how to complete a task or voice their
concerns if they feel that someone isn’t pulling their weight. They may even question the authority
or guidance of group leaders.

But, it is important to remember that most teams experience conflict. If you are the leader, remind
members that disagreements are normal.

Some teams skip over the storming stage or try to avoid conflict at whatever cost. Avoidance
usually makes the problem grow until it blows up. So, recognize conflicts and resolve them early
on.

3. NORMING STAGE
 
During the norming stage, people start to notice and appreciate their team members’ strengths.
Groups start to settle into a groove. Everyone is contributing and working as a cohesive unit.

Of course, you may still think that your tech guy’s choice in music is obnoxious. But, you also
admire his knowledge of web design and coding skills, and value his opinions on anything tech-
related.

Storming sometimes overlaps with norming. As new tasks arise, groups may still experience a few
conflicts. If you’ve already dealt with disagreement before, it will probably be easier to address
this time.

4.PERFORMING STAGE

If you’ve reached the fourth stage, pat yourself on the back. You’re on your way to success.

In the performing stage, members are confident, motivated and familiar enough with the project
and their team that they can operate without supervision. Everyone is on the same page and
driving full-speed ahead towards the final goal.

The fourth stage is the one that all groups strive to reach. Yet, some do not make it. They usually
fail to overcome conflict and can’t work together.

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5. ADJOURNING STAGE

In the adjourning stage, most of the team’s goals have been accomplished. The emphasis is
on wrapping up final tasks and documenting the effort and results. As the work load is
diminished, individual members may be reassigned to other teams, and the team disbands.
There may be regret as the team ends, so a ceremonial acknowledgement of the work and
success of the team can be helpful. If the team is a standing committee with ongoing
responsibility, members may be replaced by new people and the team can go back to a
forming or storming stage and repeat the development process.

An alternative Model for group formation-

PUNCTUATED-EQUILIBRIUM MODEL

Temporary groups under time constrained deadlines go through transitions between inertia
and activity---at the half-way point, they experience an increase in productivity.

Punctuated equilibrium suggests that organizations enjoy long periods of stability,

or equilibrium. These periods of equilibrium are interrupted by compact, relatively short
periods of qualitative metamorphic change, or revolution.

EARLY STAGE/MEETING

With the punctuated-equilibrium model, the general agreement of the project/team is usually
outlined at the very first meeting. This often occurs by discussion of the more senior people
within the group, or potentially a formally designated project manager.

At this initial meeting it is even possible that a timetable, along with deadlines and
responsibilities, is allocated to various members of the group.

Because this is a temporary group, it is most likely that the group’s tasks will be in addition
to their usual workload. As a consequence, the individual members will have a conflict of

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competing priorities and, as a result, there is a tendency to delay action on the new project.
This means that in the early part of the group’s timetable there is a relatively high amount of
inertia and lack of progress.

INERTIA EXAMPLE

A good example of this type of inertia would be for a university student that has been
allocated to a group project. Often the team project is outlined early in the semester, but
nothing much is progressed until much later when the deadline becomes more evident.
Perhaps surprisingly the same concept applies in a workplace when there is a set task and a
reasonable deadline to deliver.

MID-STAGE/MEETING

Generally around halfway through the project’s deadline, there will be a follow-up meeting
for the temporary group, in order to check-in on progress to date. It is common that at around
this halfway point, that a follow-up meeting triggers a greater sense of urgency and the result
is a transition in the thinking of the members of the group to their approach to the project.

This transition will drive more action and the progression/completion of key tasks, often in a
short period of time. However, once things are back on track, there is a potential for a second
period of inertia – as individual members tend to relax having completed their own
immediate priorities and tasks.

SECOND INERTIA EXAMPLE

Again using the example of a group university/college assignment, this is the pattern that
students within groups will usually follow. An initial meeting at the start of the semester (or
task allocation) to outline responsibilities.  A check-in at a later stage often reveals that
nobody has really started the project. This triggers the individual students to complete their
assigned tasks, but once completed they again switch off free (inertia) as they are satisfied
that their part of the project is now up-to-date.

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END-STAGE/MEETING

Near the end of the project (that is, the deadline is looming), there is a significant level of
workload undertaken in trying to complete and finalize the project as a team. This occurs as
often the finalization of the overall project usually needs to be coordinated as a team effort.

“The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model = Stop/Start Approach”

As you can see, the above stages (outline the tasks/responsibilities – inertia – progress tasks
at the midpoint – inertia – rush to complete project by the deadline), represents a stop/start
pattern of work commitment.

This pattern of stop/start work load is referred to as the “punctuated-equilibrium

model”.”Punctuated” itself means divided or interrupted, while equilibrium refers to a sense
of balance. Therefore, the work task will generally be stopped (punctuated) when the task is
in equilibrium (that is, no pressing deadlines). When it is out of equilibrium (project task not
being adequately progressed according to the deadline) then activity will occur.

According to researchers of this model, the first period of inertia lasts until around half way
through the time allocated for the project. This is because there seems to be a recognition that
the team has used up half their time that they need to make something happen.

This punctuated-equilibrium model is more applicable to groups that have a reasonable time
deadline period, as well as the ability to allocate tasks somewhat individually, and a project
that can be mapped out at the start(rather than requiring continual assessment and decisions).

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Q2-Have you ever been amongst some form of conflict at your workplace or in any
work related situation? Why do you think the conflict happened (sources)? Discuss the
5 conflict resolution techniques to resolve conflicts.

Conflict is defined as “difference in opinion or some kind of disagreement between two or

more parties”. Conflicts need to be resolved effectively. It is not only important to resolve the
conflict, but also is equally important to ensure that the parties involved in conflict do not
unnecessarily end up being in any kind of emotional stress during the resolution process of
the conflict. Striking a balance between resolving the conflict to find the decision and
maintaining the emotional wellbeing of people involved will be critical to successful conflict
management.

MY EXPERIENCE

Conflicts are inevitable when number of people will be working together.

It was in my under-graduation when I came across one such experience. I have always found
myself pondering over the thought of how people are managed within organizations and how
actually the objectives are achieved together as a team and wanted to start at a small scale
initially.With this interest I used to participate in almost every management activity taking
place in my college. One such event was a management fest organized solely by the MBA
students of our college. I was fortunate enough to have selected to be part of the core team as
I was keen to learn from experienced seniors themselves. But, what it turned out was
completely different from what I was thinking.

Since, the whole college with about more than 4000 students it was necessary that
management team worked in coordination with eachother and the responsibility for the same
was of our group leader. So we were part of the creative team and their were certain
instructions that were changed last moment and were not communicated to us by the leader.
When the time of our coordination arrived it resulted in a complete disaster. Names were
shuffled and the certificates were aligned differently. Also,to face that failure infront of so
many students and that too for a post graduation student was quite humiliating. Nevertheless,

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we still tried to get through and by bringing little changes at the end ,managed to coordinate.
Later after the event was over, a huge fight among the leaders took place over the
misunderstanding, followed by the outlash of our group leader on us.

That day I understood that not everything is hunky dori when it comes to management. You
need to actually get to work,get people do their work and make sure that you are ready for
any small last moment glitches that may happen. Also, I realized there could be many sources
of conflict which we often ignore-

COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS

Suffice it to say that the various communication problems or ambiguities in the

communication process can facilitate conflict. When one person misunderstands a message or
when information is withheld, the person often responds with frustration and anger.

DEPENDENCE ON COMMON RESOURCE POOL 

Another previously discussed factor that contributes to conflict is dependence on common

resource pools. Whenever several departments must compete for scarce resources, conflict is
almost inevitable. When resources are limited, a zero-sum game exists in which someone
wins and, invariably, someone loses.

LACK OF COMMON PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

 Differences in performance criteria and reward systems provide more potential for
organizational conflict. This often occurs because of a lack of common performance
standards among differing groups within the same organization. For example, production
personnel are often rewarded for their efficiency, and this efficiency is facilitated by the long-
term production of a few products. Sales departments, on the other hand, are rewarded for
their short-term response to market changes—often at the expense of long-term production
efficiency. In such situations, conflict arises as each unit attempts to meet its own
performance criteria.

SOME OF THE CONFLICT RESOLUTION TECHNIQUES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Problem Solving / Collaboration / Confronting 

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 In this method, people involved in the conflict or having a difference in opinion, they
come forward to discuss the problem at hand with a very open mind. They focus on
resolving the conflict and finding the best alternative/solution for the team. They
discuss by rising above personal emotions with the sole intention to finding what is
best for the team. This leads to a win-win kind of an outcome. Here everyone
collaborates.
2. Compromising/Reconciling
Sometimes for certain conflicts, there will be a need for the involved parties to think of
a middle path wherein both parties decide to give up something and identify a
resolution. This kind of solution will be temporary for that moment and are not long
lasting solution. This leads to  lose-lose kind of an outcome as both parties may feel
they have lost something.
3. Withdrawing/Avoiding
In some situation one of the parties in the conflict may decide to retract from the
discussion and allows going with the other person’s opinion. Or some situation, one of
the parties may decide to completely avoid the conflict by maintaining silence. This
works well in situation where one of the parties in the conflict is emotionally charged
up or is angry. Hence avoiding any conflict resolution provides a “cooling off” period
to the people involved so that they can later come back for meaningful resolution.
4. Forcing/Competing
In some situations, a person with authority and power can force his/her opinion and
resolves the conflict without giving any chance to the other party/person. This leads to
a win-lose kind of an outcome. Someone may end up feeling as a loser while the other
person with authority may feel as a winner. This technique can be used if we see the
conflicts are unnecessary and mostly destructive for the team.
5. Smoothing/Accommodating
This is a technique which is used when the atmosphere seems to be filled with
apprehension/distrust among the parties involved. And no one is coming forward for
resolving the conflict. In these kind of scenarios, one of the parties can take charge and
tries to smooth the surrounding by using nice words and by emphasizing on the points
of agreements and playing down on the points of disagreements. This can work as
catalyst to break the discomfort between the involved parties by creating a feeling of
trust and encourages them to come forward and resolve the conflict.

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Q3-Explain Johari Window and Transactional Analysis.

TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
Transactional analysis, developed by psychiatrist Eric Berne, is a form of modern
psychology that examines a person's relationships  and interactions. Berne took
inspiration from Sigmund Freud's theories of personality, combining them with his own
observations of human interaction in order to develop transactional analysis. It is a
personality theory which gives us a picture of how people are structured psychologically.
Transactional Analysis is underpinned by the philosophy that people can change and we
all have right to be in the world and be accepted.
Transactional analysis is primarily concerned with following-
I. ANALYSIS OF SELF AWARENESS :
Self awareness is an important concept. It describes the self in terms of image, both
conscious and unconscious.
Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram have developed a diagram to look at one’s personality
including behaviours and attitudes that can be known and unknown to self and known
and unknown to others.
This diagram is known as JOHARI WINDOW.
A Johari is represented as a common window with four panes. Two of these panes
represent self and the other two represent the part unknown to self but to others. The
information transfers from one pane to the other as the result of mutual trust which
can be achieved through socializing and the feedback got from other members of the
group.

1.Open/self-area or arena –
Here the information about the person his attitudes, behaviour, emotions, feelings, skills and
views will be known by the person as well as by others. This is mainly the area where all the
communications occur and the larger the arena becomes the more effectual and dynamic the

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relationship will be. ‘Feedback solicitation’ is a process which occurs by understanding and
listening to the feedback from another person. Through this way the open area can be
increased horizontally decreasing the blind spot. The size of the arena can also be increased
downwards and thus by reducing the hidden and unknown areas through revealing one’s
feelings to other person.

2. Blind self or blind spot –

Information about yourselves that others know in a group but you will be unaware of it.
Others may interpret yourselves differently than you expect. The blind spot is reduced for an
efficient communication through seeking feedback from others.

3. Hidden area or façade –

Information that is known to you but will be kept unknown from others. This can be any
personal information which you feel reluctant to reveal. This includes feelings, past
experiences, fears, secrets etc. we keep some of our feelings and information as private as it
affects the relationships and thus the hidden area must be reduced by moving the information
to the open areas.

4. Unknown area –
The Information which are unaware to yourselves as well as others. This includes the
information, feelings, capabilities, talents etc. This can be due to traumatic past experiences
or events which can be unknown for a lifetime. The person will be unaware till he discovers
his hidden qualities and capabilities or through observation of others. Open communication is
also an effective way to decrease the unknown area and thus to communicate effectively.

ADVANTAGES OF JOHARI WINDOW

 Helps people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships.
 It can be used in group dynamics, team development and intergroup relationships
 Builds self awareness through both, disclosure and feedback
 Leads to a greater understanding of yourself, and a greater understanding of others.

2. ANALYSIS OF EGO STATES:

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  The ego plays an important role in human behaviour.
 People interact with each other in terms of psychological positions or behavioural
patterns known as ego states.
 Ego states are person’s way of thinking, feeling and behaving at any time.

There are three important ego states- Child, Adult and Parent

A person of any age has these ego states with varying degrees.

A) Parent Ego State

The parent ego states means that the values, attitudes and behaviours of parents an
integral part of the personality of an individual.
These people tend to talk to people and treat others like children. The characteristics
of a person with parent ego states are- Judgemental, Rule maker, moralising, over
protective, Indispensable

B) Adult Ego State

The adult ego state is authentic, direct, reality based,fact seeking and problem solving.
They assume that human beings as equal, worthy and responsible. The process of
adult ego state formation goes through one’s own experiences and continuously
updating attitudes left over from childhood. People with adult ego state, gather
relevant information carefully analyse it, generate alternatives and make logical
choices.
C) Child Ego State
The child ego state is characterized by very immature behaviour. The important
features of child ego state are creativity, anxiety, depression,
dependence,fear,joy,emotional sentimental etc.

3. ANALYSIS OF TRANSACTIONS

A transaction is a basic unit of social interaction. The heart of transactional analysis is the
study and diagramming of the exchanges between two persons.

Thus, where a verbal or non-verbal stimulus from one person is being responded by another
person, a transaction occurs.

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Depending on the ego states of the persons included or involved on the transactions, there
may be three types of transactions-

Complimentary Transactions: Both people operate from the same level of ego state

Crossed Transactions: This is where sender sends message a behaviour on the basis of his ego
state, but this message is reacted to by an unexpected ego state on the part of the receiver

Ulterior Transactions: Here, two ego states within the same person but one disguises the other
one.

4.SCRIPT ANALYSIS:

According to Eric Berne, “A script is an ongoing programme, developed in early childhood

under parental influence which directs the individual behaviour in the most important aspects
of life. A script is a complete plan of living, offering prescriptions, permissions and structure
which makes one winner or loser in life.

In transactional analysis, a person’s life is compared to a play and script is the text of the
play.

5. ANALYSIS OF LIFE POSITIONS

In the process of growing up, people make basic assumptions about their own self worth as
well as about the worth of significant people in their environment. The combination of
assumptions about self and other person called as Life Position. Transactional analysis
constructs the following classifications life positions or psychological positions-

I AM OK,YOU ARE OK:

It appears to be an ideal life position. People with this life position have confidence in
themselves as well as trust and confidence in others.

I AM OK,YOU ARE NOT OK:

This is distrustful psychological positions.This is the attitude of those people,who think that
whatever they do is correct.

I AM NOT OK,YOU ARE OK:

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This is a common position for those people who feel powerless when they compare
themselves to others.

I AM NOT OK,YOU ARE NOT OK:

People in this position tend to feel bad about themselves and see the whole world as
miserable. They do not trust others and have no confidence in themselves.

6.STROKING:

Stroking is one of the most important aspects of transactional analysis. The term
“STROKING” refers to “giving some kind of recognition to others”

People need strokes for their sense of survival and well being on the job. Lack of stroking can
have negative consequences both on psychological and physiological well being of a person.

Q4-.What experiences have you had using stress management techniques-formal or

informal/individual or organizational? For example, do you meditate? Do you find
physical exercise helps you relieve stress? Does talking to others help? Of the various
techniques described in the chapter which one do you think to be most beneficial?

Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to life experiences. Everyone

expresses stress from time to time. Anything from everyday responsibilities like work and
family to serious life events such as a new diagnosis, war, or the death of a loved one can
trigger stress.

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Stress is an inevitable part of our life and can though it can be positive at times, it is
important to understand how stress is managed and handled.

Repetitive exposure of the stress response on our body is proven to lead to long-lasting
psychological and physical health issues; these include cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, anxiety and depression.

While stress and its management works differently for different people, out of all the
techniques that I understood for stress management following are the points that helped
me to cope up with my stress and overcome it in the long run-

1. UNDERSTAND YOUR STRESS

How do you stress? It can be different for everybody. By understanding what stress looks like
for you, you can be better prepared, and reach for your stress management toolbox when
needed.What causes you to be stressed? Be it work, family, change or any of the other
potential triggers.

2. IMPLEMENT HEALTHY STRATEGIES

It’s good to be mindful of any current unhealthy coping behaviors so you can switch them
out for a healthy option. For example, if overeating is your current go to, you could practice
meditation instead, or make a decision to phone a friend to chat through your situation.
Many studies suggest that switching out one behavior at a time is most effective in creating
positive change.

3. MAKE SELF CARE A PRIORITY

When we make time for ourselves, we put our well-being before others. This can feel selfish
to start, but it is like the airplane analogy—we must put our own oxygen mask on before we
can assist others. The simplest things that promote well-being, such as enough sleep, food,
downtime, and exercise are often the ones overlooked.

4.TALK IT OUT
Don’t hold it all inside. Talk to someone close to you about your worries or the things getting

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you down. Sharing worries can cut them in half, and also give you a chance to laugh at
potentially absurd situations.

If you don’t feel up to sharing, writing them down is also a great way to release them.

Stress can prove to be boon as well as bane. It depends on us what we want to make out of it.
So, it is important to understand self worth and focus on getting the best out of any problem.

Q5-If you had to hold power in an organization, what are the bases of power? How
would you prefer to exert power over others?

The concept of power refers to the capacity that a person has to influence the behaviour of
another person. The influencing person influences another person to make them act in accordance
with the influencing persons’ wishes. Moreover, in other words, power exists as a potential or
fully actualizing influence over a dependent relationship. Many may be unaware of casual trivia
that organizational power is also known as power politics.

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Bases of Power

The concept of power derives its ultimate meaning from the 2 strong bases of power. In other
words, the following 2 bases are the core foundation for organizational power. They are as
follows:

 INFORMAL POWER- refers to the power that comes from an individual’s unique
characteristics. These are the most effective because personal skills, traits and knowledge
influence personal power.

 FORMAL POWER -refers to the power that establishes because of the individual’s
position in an organization.

Sources of Formal Individual Power

1. Legitimate Power – The power to monitor and use the organization’s resources in
order to accomplish organizational goals. For example, Firing, demotion, & subordinate’s
authority. Another example is that of a CEO who uses a Private Jet to travel.

2. Reward Power – The power that allows you to give pay raises, promotion, praise,
interesting projects, and other rewards to your subordinates. Moreover, there is a limit to
the number of rewards, however, it can be a great tool to motivate subordinates.

3. Coercive Power – The power to punish or to withhold a punishment. Punishments

have negative side effects and should be used with caution. Furthermore, punishments
can be:
o Suspension to demotion

o Termination

o Unpleasant job assignments

o Withholding of praise and goodwill

Sources of Informal Individual Power

1. Expert Power – An informal concept of power that stems from superior ability or
expertise. In this, the group members will tend to consult this person (the expert) for
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 advice or help on a project. However, it is this dependency is what gives the individual
power over their peers.

2. Referent Power – Fame is a critical aspect of referent power. However, this fame

could be in the field of film, sports, music stars, etc. Moreover, agreeable, conscientious,
and giving people are also awarded referent power. People with referent power possess
high expertise. Their ability to obtain resources, and also to secure their surroundings is
what provides them referent powers.

3. Charismatic Power – Intense form of referent power that comes from someone’s

personality. It also comes from physical attributes or abilities that induce others to follow
and believe in that person.

Accoring to my study, I believe expertise, authority levels, and salary adjustments are
important influence bases for a manager within an organization to gain support, hence
power.

This is because when we take into consideration the motivational systems, it is realized
that work-challenge is motivation-based; without encouraging creativity, ambitious
objectives cannot be easily achieved. Evidence reveals that the presence of interesting
work factors spur productivity. I believe Motivation works well for the system, the
project, for power, and for longevity too because an active mental state keeps the mind
and body going longer.

Therefore, in my opinion, if I am assigned to be in hold of an organisation, I would rather

use motivation as a driving force for the organization than other authoritative roles.

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