MAN 128 Human Relations Assignment #2 Chapters 5 – 8

Grading: There are 20 questions for a total of 100 points for this assignment and
each question or case study question is worth 5 points.
5 points – Question answered completely and no spelling or grammar errors
4 points – Question almost answered completely and/or one spelling or grammar error
3 points – Question missing concept or answer and two spelling grammar errors
0 -2 points – Question lacking complete information and more than two spelling or
grammar errors

Chapter 5

1. What can employees and managers do to improve an organizational climate?

How is morale affected by the organizational climate?

Most of the burden of improving organizational climate rests with the manager, but there
are many things the employees can do as well. A manager can do all sorts of things to
help, ranging from simple things like an open-door policy, a positive attitude, or showing
their appreciation to their employees, all the way up to more serious changes, such as
changes in pay, or the physical work environment itself. Employees can work with one
another and have positive attitudes, creating a space where everyone can get along
and enjoy working with one another.

A good organizational climate leads to higher morale. With a good organizational

climate, employees will enjoy working more, and enjoying working with one another
more as well. Increased enjoyment at work can lead to a general increase in one's
happiness, which positively affects morale for everyone. A happy workforce is an
effective workforce, and one that is likely brimming with morale.

2. Overall, which motivation theory do you like best? Why?

Personally, I've always been partial to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. While I recognize
the model has its flaws, I find it to be a very simple and approachable model that easily
explains the basic needs of humans, and can be adapted and applied to a wide variety
of situations. Either on a macro or micro scale, one can see that people have basic
needs that must be met (whether these are literal needs like food and shelter, or
employment based needs like a safe/comfortable working environment) before they can
begin to be concerned with other needs. Once someone feels comfortably cared for in
this way, they can begin working on themselves as a person or employee.
 3. Which of the three needs in McClelland’s manifest needs theory (power,
affiliation, or achievement), motivates you the most? Give examples from your
own life.

I find that affiliation needs most accurately reflects my motivations. I am very much a
people pleaser, and want others to like me. At my work, for example, I always make an
effort to get the know others and tell them about myself to try and establish connections
with them. While the text notes that this type of motivation often does not make for good
managers (and I would agree), I've found it makes me a very good co-worker and
employee in general. I always hone in on things I can connect with others about, and try
to form connections with them there. Others have remarked before on the ease at which
I can make friends with someone I've just met, and I consider this a very valuable skill of
mine, due to my need to be accepted and liked by others.

Read Case Study 5.2 at the end of the chapter and answer questions 4. And 5.
below.

4. If you were Ron, where would you begin in creating a program to increase
motivation at Lincoln?

The problem stems from the employees feeling like their skills aren't properly being
utilized, and like their work is meaningless or very redundant. There is a lack of task
significance. In this situation, Ron should look to give his workers more autonomy, and
even possibly giving the employees more responsibilities. It's clear that Ron's workers
all want to do better at work, but don't feel like there's any point. But giving them new
work to do, or perhaps changing their daily routines to be more interesting, it could
create more motivation among the employees.

5. Analyze the motivation problems at Lincoln Machine Works using Skinner’s

behavior modification theory and Vroom’s expectancy theory.

Behavior Modification theory states that behavior that is rewarded enough will be
repeated, and behavior that receives no reward will likely cease. This is true for the
employees in the case study, as they are doing repetitive work and feel there is no
reward to their work. In this instance, the employees have voiced that they feel their
work is meaningless and unfulfilling, and as such it is not rewarding to them.

Vroom's expectancy theory states that if employees perform better, they will see better
results, which will lead to increased motivation. In this instance, the employees feel that
the quality of their work will change nothing. Regardless of how hard they work, there is
no incentive or reason to. The employees could likely produce the same quality product
with low effort work as they could with high effort, making them feel as if their results do
not match their performance, leading to low motivation.
Chapter 6
6. Are you usually an active listener? If not, do you know anyone who is? What
qualities set an active listener apart from other people?

I would generally consider myself an active listener. An active listener is one who listens
with a greater degree of concentration, paying more attention to what's being said while
tuning out other distractions (either 3rd party or self-made ones). Beyond that, an active
listener is also one who gives good and positive feedback to the speaker to show that
they are truly listening and engaged.

7. What are the major differences between a high-context culture and a low-context
culture? What steps could you take to prevent misunderstandings when dealing
with a culture that is opposite in context from your own?

A high-context culture is one where social context surrounding a written agreement is

far more important than the document itself. A low-context culture is the opposite, where
the contract may be taken at face value. When we American's (low-context) are dealing
with a high-context culture, one should be very aware of the other culture. Things such
as cultural norms, nonverbal cues, and other social differences should all be consiered,
or at least acknowledged, to help prevent misunderstandings.

Read Case Study 6.1 at the end of the chapter and answer questions 8., 9.
and 10. below.
8. How could the company have handled this situation differently? What principles
of effective communication have been broken in this case?

One principle of effective communication that has been broken is vertical

communication. In this case study, it is clear that the company should have been more
involved in telling the lower level employees what was going on. This doesn't
necessarily mean that the company needed to keep them abreast to everything, but any
sort of information would have been preferable to the complete silence that the
employees received.

9. If you were Jan, what would be your next step? Why?

Moving forward, Jan needs to try and regain her employees trust. It is very important
that she makes it clear that she intends to work on communicating with them, and must
make an active effort to do this. Something like an open door policy can be very helpful,
or perhaps frequent meetings where Jan can discuss going-ons with her
team/employees.

10. If the company decides to explain the situation, what form of communication
should they use? Meetings, memos, personal letters? Why?
Personally, I believe a meeting is the most appropriate, as this includes all of the
employees and possibly gives them a chance to feel like their opinions are also being
heard. While a memo or personal letter may still suffice in the sense that they serve to
inform and communicate with the employees, it risks feeling very impersonal or
dismissive, and leaves the employees with no avenues to ask questions or voice their
concerns.

Chapter 7

11. What makes a team work well together? Think of a team you belonged to and it
didn’t succeed. What could you have done to make it better?
I believe the two points the text lists are the most important things for a team to possess
to work well together: trust, and goals. Secondary to this can be things like friendship or
positive relationships, as well as a positive environment. When thinking of a team I
belonged to in a previous job, I think one of the biggest detriments to the cohesion of
the team was our interpersonal relationships. Some people on the team had poor
attitudes, or were very unwilling to work with others. Some people didn't get along for
various reasons, and this caused all sorts of issues when we'd attempt to get anything
done as a group. This lines up with the concept of trust, as it felt as though many of us
couldn't trust others with our work. To improve this team, I'm genuinely not sure how to
work on the trust factor, as many of the people just had clashing personalities. I think to
this end, it may have served us to break up into smaller teams where more like-minded
people could work on their goals together, causing fewer clashes of personality.

12. Recall a leader whose direction you once followed. Do you recognize that
leader’s style as autocratic, consultative, participative, or free-rein? Provide
examples of behaviors that showed that style. Explain whether you liked or
disliked this style of leadership.

I think the best manager I ever worked for had a free-rein style of management, though
maybe not as completely free as our text describes. This position was in IT, and we
would have weekly meetings every Wednesday to discuss new things to keep in mind
regarding IT problems we were seeing arise. Information and news about updates to
software or things of the sort would be brought to our attention. Then, we would each
have a chance to voice anything we wanted regarding work and how things were going.
My manager was incredibly receptive to hearing everyone and trying to make work as
positive for all his employees as he could. He frequently said he didn't like to be thought
of as a manager who gave orders, but as a fellow member of the team who helped us
all work together to reach our individual and group goals. While he would step in when
he needed to to make final decisions or handle certain things, he was often very “hands-
off,” and gave all of us the tools and skills we needed to succeed independently.

13. Is an organizational or corporate culture necessary? That is, can we all just go to
work and get our tasks done in an organization that does not have a shared
culture? How important is it for an organization to have a shared corporate
culture? Why is this such a common—practically universal—phenomenon? Think
about an organization that has no corporate culture: What would that be like?
Would people get as much accomplished?

I don't believe it's really possible to have an organization or business of any noteworthy
size and not have some sort of corporate culture, even if it's very minimal. To this end
I'd say it's “necessary” in that it seems to always naturally form, and I do think it
provides benefits to both employers and employees when handled and guided correctly.
I think having a positive shared corporate culture is found in nearly every organization
because of human nature, that is to say the need to be social creatures. When
imagining a workplace with no (or very minimal) corporate culture, the image that comes
to mind if an office filled with cubicles where people come in, sit at their desks, and
never speak to one another, but simply do their work, and then leave. Such an
environment still technically has a culture, as what I just described could qualify as one
(albeit a negative one), but this isn't something many humans want. People want to
interact with others, at least in some capacity, and have meaningful interactions as well.
This human need fuels the creation of corporate cultures, as people find ways to work
with one another and express themselves in the confines of their jobs and businesses.
While there are always exceptions, I'd argue a happy workplace with a positive
corporate culture would always be more productive than the above described scenario
where there was no culture to be found.

Read Case Study 7.2 and answer the questions below 14. and 15.
14. What leadership style does Daura seem to be using? And What are Daura’s
sources of power? Are these the most appropriate ones she should be using in this
situation?

Daura is using legitimate, reward, and coercive power, and has a very autocratic
leadership style. While thee types of leadership styles/sources of power are not
inherently bad, Daura is using them in a negative way, and exercising her power over
her employees in an oppressive and autocratic manner.

15. If you were Daura’s manager, would you try to change behaviors in her leadership
methods? Which ones and why?

Yes. Most of them, really. Daura does not seem to have a very good attitude, and frankly
may not be fit to manage. But it is possible to help her improve, and a good manager
should work to improve their employees rather than simply remove them at the first
signs of trouble or conflict. Making Daura aware of the ways that she comes across to
her employees, and discussing the sorts of problems this can cause, are good places to
start with Daura.

Chapter 8
16. Write a response to the below sentences using an appropriate emotionally
intelligent response using from Chapter 8 as the 16a. employee, 16b, the manager
or employee, 16c. the partner or wife, 16d. the employee or manager, 16e. the
manager to the employee.

16 A. Boss: “What’s the matter, can’t you ever do anything right?”

Response: “I apologize for the mistake I made in this situation, but we all make
mistakes, and it's how we learn to grow and do better. If you'd like, I'd love to show
you all of the other things I've done well recently here at work.”

16. B. Customer: “Is there anyone in your company who has one living brain cell?”

Response: “I'm sorry you're feeling frustrated about this situation. Would you like
me to continue to assist you, or would you rather speak with someone else?”

16c. Husband: “Why do you always have to be running off to work functions and
church activities? Did it ever occur to you that you have a family to care for?”

Response: “I spend a lot of my time taking care of the family, which I care very much
for, but I also have to take time to care for myself as well. If you or the kids would
like to join me at some of the work functions or church activities, I'd love to have you
all come along as well.”

16d. Customer: “I got this part for my washing machine here yesterday and it doesn’t
fit. I’ve about had it with your incompetence. Give me my money back and make it
snappy!”

Response: “I apologize for the frustration. If you'd like, we can replace it with a
different one that will hopefully fit, but if not I'd be more than happy to refund your
purchase.”

16.e. Employee: “Gee, I can’t seem to figure out how to get this new computer
program to work. I’ve never been too good with electronic stuff. Will you please help
me? I’m really frustrated.”

Response: “Of course. Learning new programs can be incredibly annoying and time
consuming, it'll benefit us all if we take some time together to work through it and
get you caught up.”
 17. How can a knowledge of emotional intelligence improve human relations in
business situations? How can it help you understand more about your
interactions with others?

Understanding emotional intelligence leads to a better understanding of others, which in

turn can lead to better communication. Because communication is one of the
fundamental pillars of human relations, it stands to reason that being able to understand
others well and communicate with them effectively will lead to strong or positive
relations. By better understanding and empathizing with the emotions of others, we can
thus better understand them and communicate with them more effectively.

18. Rewrite this situation for a better response: Customer: (harsh, critical tone) “I’ve
been standing at this counter for 20 minutes, and you’ve waited on four people
who came in after I did! What gives with you guys? Are you all blind and deaf, or
just rude?”
Sales Clerk: “I’m very sorry, madam. Sometimes it just gets crazy around here.
Now, tell me what you need so we can take care of you quickly; heaven knows,
you’ve been waiting long enough.” (calm, subdued tone of voice)

“I'm sorry ma'am, as you can see we've been extremely busy. I'd be more than happy to
personally assist you. What is it I can do for you today?”

Read Case Study 8.1 at the end of Chapter 8 and answer questions 19. and 20. Below:
19. What type of emotional competence is Heather displaying in this scenario? How
do you know?

Heather is not showing either personal competence or social competence in this

situation. Regarding personal competence, she seems to be temporarily un-self-aware,
not realizing how her actions and words will make her appear to others (or perhaps she
is aware, but simply doesn't care). More so, she seems to be lacking in social
competence, as she has no empathy for the customer (regardless of if the customer is
right or not), as well as lacking in sensitivity.

20. Do you think that Heather’s method of dealing with this situation required a lot of
self-awareness from her? Why or why not?

I think to handle the situation well would require a good deal of self-awareness, but
Heather's response shows that she is lacking in it, even if only in this situation. Heather
lashed out at a customer, and was not thinking about how the customer may have felt,
or how what she said would affect them.