1.

Define organisation and list THREE (3) common features of an

organisation.

Common Purpose
An organization without a clear purpose or mission soon begins to drift and become
disorganized. A common purpose unifies employees or members and gives everyone
an understanding of the organization’s direction. Ensuring that the common purpose is
effectively communicated across organizations (particularly large organizations with
many moving parts) is a central task for managers. Managers communicate this
purpose by educating all employees on the general strategy, mission statement,
values, and short- and long-term objectives of the organization.

Coordinated Effort
Coordinating effort involves working together in a way that maximizes resources. The
common purpose is achieved through the coordinated effort of all individuals and
groups within an organization. The broader group’s diverse skill sets and personalities
must be leveraged in a way that adds value. The act of coordinating organizational
effort is perhaps the most important responsibility of managers because it motivates
and distributes human resources to capture value.

Division of Labor
Division of labor is also known as work specification for greater efficiency. It
involves delegating specific parts of a broader task to different people within the
organization based upon their particular abilities and skills. Using division of labor, an
organization can parcel out a complex work effort for specialists to perform. By
systematically dividing complex tasks into specialized jobs, an organization uses its
human resources more efficiently.

Hierarchy of Authority
Hierarchy of authority is essentially the chain of command—a control mechanism for
making sure the right people do the right things at the right time. While there are a
wide variety of organizational structures—some with more centralization of authority
than others—hierarchy in decision making is a critical factor for success. Knowing
who will make decisions under what circumstances enables organizations to be agile,
while ambiguity of authority can often slow the decision-making process. Authority
enables organizations to set directions and select strategies, which can in turn enable a
common purpose.

2. Explain briefly Robert Own's contribution to human resource

management. 

Robert Owen, who, despite being a significantly lesser-known icon of economic

thought, greatly advanced the British Socialist movement. Owen used his personal
experiences as working-class citizen of Wales during the Industrial Revolution to
form new ideas about labor standards, working conditions, and education. He believed
the capitalist sentiment that mobilized the Industrial Revolution was inherently
individualistic and inevitably led to immorality, resulting in oppression and poverty
for the working class. Discontented with the human injustices that he attributed to the
Industrial Revolution, he started his own factory, which operated to a very different
set of standards. As a factory manager, Owen required fewer hours of his workers,
paid higher wages, and focused on creating a work environment that was encouraging
of collaboration and creativity in order to enhance productivity. Owen’s intent to
counteract the injustices that he believed were caused by capitalism was evident not
only in his business operations, but also in his writing and leadership of the Grand
National Consolidated Trades Union. While Robert Owen’s dedication to the
development of collaboration in work environments and in governance may often be
overlooked, they were nonetheless critical to the development of socialist economic
thought.The Robert Owen had raised the demand for ten-hour day in year 1810, and
instituted it in his New Lanark cotton mills. By 1817 he had formulated the goal of
the 8-hour day and coined slogan 8 hours labour, 8 hours recreation, 8 hours full rest.
Women and children in the England were granted the ten-hour day in 1847.
3. ISO 9000 has FOUR (4) criteria to convince customers that the
organisation improves the quality of their products and services. List all
the criteria.

1. A Customer Focus

As stated before, the customer is the primary focus of a business. By understanding

and responding to the needs of customers, an organization can correctly targeting key
demographics and therefore increase revenue by delivering the products and services
that the customer is looking for. With knowledge of customer needs, resources can be
allocated appropriately and efficiently. Most importantly, a business’s dedication will
be recognized by the customer, creating customer loyalty. And customer loyalty is
return business.

2. Good Leadership

A team of good leaders will establish unity and direction quickly in a business
environment. Their goal is to motivate everyone working on the project, and
successful leaders will minimize miscommunication within and between departments.
Their role is intimately intertwined with the next ISO 9000 principle.

3. Involvement of people

The inclusion of everyone on a business team is critical to its success. Involvement of

substance will lead to a personal investment in a project and in turn create motivated,
committed workers. These people will tend towards innovation and creativity, and
utilize their full abilities to complete a project. If people have a vested interest in
performance, they will be eager to participate in the continual improvement that ISO
9000 facilitates.

4. Process approach to quality management

The best results are achieved when activities and resources are managed together.
This process approach to quality management can lower costs through the effective
use of resources, personnel, and time. If a process is controlled as a whole,
management can focus on goals that are important to the big picture, and prioritize
objectives to maximize effectiveness.

5. Management system approach

Combining management groups may seem like a dangerous clash of titans, but if done
correctly can result in an efficient and effective management system. If leaders are
dedicated to the goals of an organization, they will aid each other to achieve improved
productivity. Some results include integration and alignment of key processes.
Additionally, interested parties will recognize the consistency, effectiveness, and
efficiency that come with a management system. Both suppliers and customers will
gain confidence in a business’s abilities.

4. Discuss the advantages of group decision-making.

1. More information:
A group is better equipped as far as information is concerned.An individual cannot
have all the information that is available to a group as it consists of several
individuals.

2. Diversity of views:
A group always has the advantage of varied views. This is because a group always has
more than one member, and since every member is unique, there is bound to be a
variety in their views also. This is also the reason why there are varied approaches to
solving a problem. As group decisions tend to cover a greater area, they provide a
better insight for decision-making.

3. Greater acceptability:
The views expressed by a group have more acceptance than those from an individual.
This is because the decisions are not imposed, but are part of a larger consensus
(general agreement). A group decision is automatically assumed to be more
democratic, and the decision of an individual can be perceived as being autocratic
(dictatorial).

4. Expert opinions:
There may be some group decisions that require expert opinion. The group can either
include experts or can call them from outside to form a separate group to take a
decision on a particular issue.

5. Degree of involvement:
The members of a group feel involved with a given problem. This minimizes their
resistance. It strengthens an organisation and facilitates decision-making.

6. Encourages people’s participation:

A group usually provides a platform for people to present their ideas. Group dynamics
is more likely to draw out participation from people who may otherwise be hesitant to
talk or interact. It encourages people to take an initiative as they feel part of the
decision-making process.Usually there is no individual onus (burden) in the event of
failure, which makes it easier for people to come up with suggestions and solutions to
problems.

5. What will happen when an employee’s performance deteriorates? 

Work Specialization
Work specialization is the first of the elements of organization structure. Business
leaders must consider the job tasks and specific duties associated with given positions.
Dividing work tasks among different jobs and assigning them to definite levels, is the
role of work specialization elements. An example would be giving the first person in
the assembly line the job of putting the first three components together. The second
person in the assembly line might then put the decals on the product, and the third
would put the item in the box.
Departmentalization and Compartments
Departmentalization and compartments are two other components of organizational
design. Departments are often a group of workers with the same overall functions.
They are often broken down by broad categories such as functional, product,
geographical, process and customer. Common departments include accounting,
manufacturing, customer service and sales.Compartments might have teams with
different department members that are put together for efficiency. For example, a
company delivering IT services to other businesses might have teams assigned to each
company. Each team might have a project manager, a graphic designer, a coding
specialist, a security specialist, a client rep and service provider.

Chain of Command
The chain of command is what the organizational chart typically illustrates. It shows
who reports to who in the company's human resources structure. Some companies
have a more traditional hierarchy with very clear department leaders and executives in
charge. Other companies use a more fluid chain of command and structure where
more people are considered part of the same level of command on a cross-functional
team.There are pros and cons to any model. What is important is that employees know
what is expected of them and how they get information to flow to the proper channels.
If an employee isn't sure who his direct supervisor is due to an unclear chain of
command, he might not properly relay the right information to the right party.

Span of Control
The span of control is the organizational design element that considers the capacity of
any manager. There are limits to the number of people one person can oversee and
supervise. The span of control addresses this design element. If a manager has too
many people to oversee, he might lose his effectiveness and not recognize problems
or successes.A span of four means that for every four managers, sixteen employees
can be effectively managed. Other industries might use a span of eight or another
number that describes how the human resources directors need to disburse managers.

Centralization and Decentralization

Centralization and decentralization are organizational design elements deciding the
degree which decision-making is made at one central level or at various levels by
employees. For example, all major budget decisions would filter to the chief executive
officer and chief financial officer in a centralized fashion. Customer service decisions
might be decentralized giving those interacting with customer directions on how to
handle issues but the authority to make certain decisions.

Formalization of Elements
Smaller organizations tend to have informal elements where large organizations
formalize roles more specifically. The reason smaller organizations use less formal
standards is that employees may serve multiple roles as necessary. Bigger
organizations need to formalize elements to ensure the right stuff gets done on time
and correctly.Formalization might also be seen with specific job duties. For example,
there may be a very specific way that payroll is done to ensure that everyone gets paid
on time, with the correct withholding. The sales department might not be very
formalized, and might allow each representative to find his organic process so that he
may succeed.

6. What will happen when an employee’s performance deteriorates? 

5 strategies to manage poor performance at work

To prevent the situation from getting out of hand, there are five key strategies to
manage poor performance by a member of your team:

1. Don’t delay
In many cases we see managers wait too long to raise performance concerns with an
employee or put off delivering tough feedback. Opportunities for incidental or casual
counselling sessions are missed. This can mean that the employee often has a false
impression of how well they are travelling and so feedback about their poor
performance comes as a shock.

In extreme cases, we have seen organisations decide it’s time for the employee to go –
without having implemented any formal performance management process at all –
which invariably ends in legal action for unfair dismissal.
2. Have tough conversations
Nobody likes being the bearer of bad news and so it’s tempting to soften the blow
when giving an employee feedback about their performance. Lack of frankness or
honesty does both the individual and the organisation a disservice. If you want your
employee to have a genuine opportunity to improve, they need to know where their
performance is lacking (with specific examples), what standard is required and there
needs to be a two way conversation about how they can improve. Knowing how to
have these tough conversations is a skill that can be learned and improved, but it
requires practice.

3. Follow-through
So you have had the tough conversation with the employee and you have come up
with a plan together as to how they will improve. This is the stage where things often
fall apart if no one takes responsibility for following through.

It’s very important that there is a clear follow-through process which establishes:

What the goal is ( i.e.: to improve their report writing to the Industry agreed standard)
What the timeframe is for achievement of the goal?
How will you measure whether they have achieved the goal?
How regularly will you meet during the time for progress discussions?
Failure to follow up with an employee afterwards at regular intervals can lead to old
habits resuming or for an employee to assume that they must have improved.

A clear and agreed process is also a useful tool that you can refer back to when
emotions get high. If the individual involved fails to improve and you need to
consider the next step, for example terminating their employment, that will be more
straight forward if you can demonstrate that you gave the individual an opportunity to
improve through a fair, documented process.
4. Document each step
The history of your management of an employee’s performance should be supported
by a clear document trail. This doesn’t need to be an onerous completion of reports
and forms. Clear diary notes that document meetings and emails confirming the
content of conversations can also serve this purpose.

5. Improve your own performance

Finally, if you are not confident in this area and you have people management
responsibility, then you need to improve your own performance! Successfully holding
difficult conversations and managing poor performance is a learned skill that you can
develop. Take our performance management course (see details below) or find a
coach who can give you some professional development.

Nobody likes having to manage poor performance – but with a confident and clear
approach you can ensure the process is constructive, respectful and hopefully,
successful.

7. Lewin introduced the "Three Step Model" and recommended steps on

how to handle the change process successfully. Discuss these steps. 

The 3 Stages of Change

Let’s look at how Lewin’s three-step model describes the nature of change, its
implementation, and common challenges:

Step 1: Unfreeze
Lewin identifies human behavior, with respect to change, as a quasi-stationary
equilibrium state. This state is a mindset, a mental and physical capacity that can be
almost absolutely reached, but it is initially situated so that the mind can evolve
without actually attaining that capacity. For example, a contagious disease can spread
rapidly in a population and resist initial measures to contain the escalation.
Eventually, through medical advancement, the disease can be treated and virtually
disappear from the population.
Lewin argues that change follows similar resistance, but group forces (the field)
prevent individuals from embracing this change. Therefore, we must agitate the
equilibrium state in order to instigate a behavior that is open to change. Lewin
suggests that an emotional stir-up may disturb the group dynamics and forces
associated with self-righteousness among the individual group members. Certainly,
there are a variety of ways to shake up the present status-quo, and you’ll want to
consider whether you need change in an individual or, as in a company, amongst a
group of people.

Step 2: Change
Once you’ve “unfrozen” the status quo, you may begin to implement your change.
Organizational change in particular is notoriously complex, so executing a well-
planned change process does not guarantee predictable results. Therefore, you must
prepare a variety of change options, from the planned change process to trial-and-
error. With each attempt at change, examine what worked, what didn’t, what parts
were resistant, etc.

During this evaluation process, there are two important drivers of successful and long-
term effectiveness of the change implementation process: information flow and
leadership.

Information flow refers to sharing information across multiple levels of the

organizational hierarchy, making available a variety of skills and expertise, and
coordinating problem solving across the company.
Leadership is defined as the influence of certain individuals in the group to achieve
common goals. A well-planned change process requires defining a vision and
motivation.
The iterative approach is also necessary to sustain a change. According to Lewin, a
change left without adequate reinforcement may be short-lived and therefore fail to
meet the objectives of a change process.

Step 3: Refreeze
The purpose of the final step—refreezing—is to sustain the change you’ve enacted.
The goal is for the people involved to consider this new state as the new status-quo, so
they no longer resist forces that are trying to implement the change. The group norms,
activities, strategies, and processes are transformed per the new state.
Without appropriate steps that sustain and reinforce the change, the previously
dominant behavior tends to reassert itself. You’ll need to consider both formal and
informal mechanisms to implement and freeze these new changes. Consider one or
more steps or actions that can be strong enough to counter the cumulative effect of all
resistive forces to the change—these stronger steps help ensure the new change will
prevail and become “the new normal”

7. Discuss briefly Situational Leadership Model.

Situational Leadership® is an adaptive leadership style. This strategy encourages

leaders to take stock of their team members, weigh the many variables in their
workplace and choose the leadership style that best fits their goals and circumstances.
In the words of leadership theorist Ken Blanchard, “In the past a leader was a boss.
Today’s leaders can no longer lead solely based on positional power.”
Situational Leadership® is the model of choice for organizations around the world
that want to do the following:
Develop people and workgroups
Establish rapport and to bring out the best in their people
Use a common leadership style across all units in an organization, be it local, national,
or international

9. Discuss briefly the characteristics of visionary leaders. 

1. They’re innovative.
Creativity and, more to the point, the ability to innovate are important qualities in a
visionary leader. This person has new ideas about how to solve problems and
contribute to a better world, so it stands to reason that they must be able to think
beyond the status quo. They also must be able to consider different ways of using the
world and its resources.
2. They’re persistent.
Everybody encounters obstacles. A visionary must be able to power through them in
pursuit of the larger goal of making the world a better place. Without persevering, an
individual will get stuck and will be unable to accomplish what they initially set out to
do. A visionary can’t spend too much time taking challenges and hiccups personally
and or letting them hold them back from what they want to accomplish.

3. They’re willing to take risks.

Change can’t occur without a willingness to take risks. Sometimes, risks mean
setbacks, but a visionary leader won’t let them stop her from pursuing goals. She must
be willing to both think outside the box and take steps that aren’t guaranteed to pay
off. However, that doesn’t mean the visionary is reckless — the risks she takes must
be well-thought-out and reasoned.

4. They’re organized.
Organization is critical to a visionary leader’s success. They must be able to mobilize
others, such as employees or followers, in an organized way to carry out their vision
of how things should be. That’s because a visionary has mapped out a path to
achieving her ideals rather than leaving them to chance.

5. They’re enthusiastic.
Visionary leaders are nothing if not passionate about their cause. Not only must they
have the drive to work toward their goals, but they also need to demonstrate
enthusiasm in order to, in turn, rally support from others.

6. They’re focused.
Focus is critical for achieving any mission. This type of leader won’t be sidetracked
by distractions but will remain committed to their cause, sometimes to a fault. They
must also ensure that their followers or employees remain focused on the end goal and
don’t get distracted by less important issues as well.
10. Differentiate between McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y.

BASIS FOR
THEORY X THEORY Y
COMPARISON

Meaning Theory X is a motivational Theory Y, is an advanced theory,

theory, which involves high wherein it is assumed that the workers
supervision and control over the are self-directed and self-motivated, for
subordinates, and greater degree growth and development and takes
of centralization. active part in decision making.

Work Dislikes work Work is natural

Ambition Little to no ambition Highly ambitious

Responsibility Avoids responsibility. Accept and seek responsibility.

Leadership style Autocratic Democratic

Direction Constant direction is required. Little to no direction is required.

Control Tight Lenient

Authority Centralized Decentralized

Self motivation Absent Present

Focuses on Psychological needs and Security Social needs, esteem needs and self-
needs actualization needs.