Yuiop[Case 1: being too nice to people.

Q1: How would you react to your fathers comment if you were imran?
Ans: if I would have been in the imrans position, I would have highlighted the importance of the human element in the business in response to his comment. Human resources play an important role in the success of modern business. Human factor is very important and it depends largely on human efforts which ultimately determine the success of business. Thus if we are getting something out of them, we should take care of them in return. And most important, the human skill is the only thing which gives an organization the competitive edge over others. For developing the human skills, they should remain in the organization for longer time, but if we will not behave properly with them there are more chances of workers attrition. Because the most important challenge in front of modern business organizations is the employ attrition, it is very easy to get a new employ in your organization but it is very difficult to get a trained and effective worker for your organization. In a nut shell I would like to make him understand the importance of human resource approach, which is concerned with the growth and development of people towards high level competently creativity and fulfillment, because people are the central resources of any organization and in any society.

Q2: Do you think Imrans father understood and interpreted the Hawthorne studies correctly?
Ans: I think imrans father have not understood and interpreted the Hawthorne studies, as it is clear from his statement I remember when we discussed the Hawthorne studies when I was in the university and everybody got excited about them but believe me, there is more in managing people than just being too nice to them. He thinks that being too nice to people and making them feel at ease and just supervising is not enough in managing people and getting best out of them. However he considered that being too nice to people is the only criterion of human relation movement. By pointing out that there is more to managing people than just being nice to them, he was right. Because apart from this we should give better working conditions to them so that we can motivate them to achieve higher performance but we should also take care while employing this behavior, whether the employee will come under the assumption of theory x or theory y because this behavior can not be suitable with the employees who will come under the assumption of theory x.

Q3: How would you explain to your father the new perspective that is needed and how the study of management and organizational behavior will help the business be successful in the new paradigm?
Ans: I can understand that books can not teach us that thing what real life teaches us, however at the same time we have to take in to consideration the recent trends in the environment, I would like to make imrans father understand the changing scenario of the modern management world, and that is what he is referring to when he says that there is more in managing people than just being nice to them. Because not only the workplace the basic nature and form of the organizations and the management of human resources have dramatically changed, so has the surrounding environment that is driving these changes. The world has become the global village. As mentioned earlier the human skill is the only thing which can give an organization the competitive advantage over its competitors. An organization can purchase the same machinery, he can get the same advantage of location as his competitors, the only thing were an organization can take lead is human resource so we have to study the human side of the organization. Since human nature is very complex, we have to study management and organizational behavior in order to understand how to deal with the employees in the different situations.

Q4: What phase of management do you think imrans father has gone through in family business? Do you think he understood the significance of recent trends in the new environment and how the new paradigm will affect the business?
Ans: I think imrans father has gone through the traditional management phase where humans are just considered as the other factors of production like machinery etc. but in the new paradigm the humans are considered as the most important and only dynamic factor of production so effort are made to improve human skills, for improving the human skills they must be retained and for that we have to take care of there needs, but as mentioned imrans father still have semi-skilled workers, this means he have still not understood the significance of new paradigm. The nee paradigm can do wonders in his business. I would like to support my argument by an example, instead of having 25 semi skilled workers he could have had only 12 skilled workers thus could have reduced the cost. If the workers will be trained and motivated in the proper way they will be ready to put extra effort and thus it can give the organization the advantage over its competitors.

Case 2: How is this stuff going to help me?

Q1: How would you relive shazias anxiety? How is the course in management and organizational behavior going to make her better manager?
Ans: Let us analyze this question in terms of the definition of Newstrom and Davis. They have defined organizational behavior as the study and application of knowledge about how people as individuals and groups act within organization it strives to identify ways in which people can act more effectively. Shazia already have knowledge about accounting finance and marketing, but is it enough to be an effective manager. Not at all, the manager also needs interpersonal skills in order to work with others. Human beings are complex because they are not alike, two people often act differently in the same situation and the same person behavior change in different situations, but that does not mean that we cant offer reasonable accurate explanation of human behavior or make valid predications. E.E. Lawler and V.G.Rhode in information and control in organization states behavior generally is predictable, if we know how the person perceived the situation or what is important to him or her. OB gives us the meaningful insight into persons behavior, if we cannot predict him with 100% accuracy but we can predict him with great accuracy which otherwise is not possible. Thus at last I can say that OB can help her to be an effective manager. After making Shazia understand these technicalities I think her anxiety will be relieved. Q2: why did professor start of with a brief overview of development of management thought and emerging environmental challenges? Ans: This question can be answered by the saying of W. Churchill the farther back you can look, farther forward you are likely to see. Why study history? Supreme Court justice Oliver Wandell answered this question when he said when I want to understand what is happening today or try to decide what will happen tomorrow I look back by looking back at the history of OB we gain a great deal of insight in to how the field got to where it is today. It will help us to understand for instance how management come to impose rules and regulations on employees, why many workers in an organization do standardize and repetitive issues on assembly lines, and why a number of organizations in the recent years have replaced there assembly lines with team based work units. Thus to understand our present and to predict what will happen tomorrow we need to have thorough knowledge of past, that is why the professor starts with a brief overview of development of management thought.

Further we are studying management in a time and place where many people are rethinking that management is all about. The impetus for this revaluation comes from the increasing place of change both in organization and in the larger world. In this complex dynamic environment, Managers must continuously adjust to the changing conditions. Thus we must be well familiar wit the emerging environmental change like globalization, business ethics etc, for becoming an effective manager, that is why the professor gave a brief overview of emerging environmental challenges.

Q3: How does the course in management and organizational behavior differ from the courses in fields like accounting, finance and marketing?
Ans: The main difference between course in management and OB and course in field like accounting, finance and marketing are very technical. These have laws that are consistent and apply in a wide range of situations, thus those can provide some clear cut answers. But in management and OB, we study human beings who are very complex and are not alike, thus our ability to make simple accurate and comprehensive generalization is limited. Two people often act very differently in the same situation and the same persons behavior changes in different situations thus OB cannot provide us with the clear cut answers. Therefore we can say that the main difference between the courses is that in finance, accountancy and marketing we can overview but in OB we can not.

Reference from:
Organizational behavior by: (1) (2) (3) (4) S. Robbins. Keith Davis. F. Luthans. L.J. Mullins.

Theoretical framework: Evolution of management thought:

A number of people have given there contribution for the development of management thought. F.W.Taylors principals of significant management were instrumental in engineering accuracy and standardization in to peoples job. Henry fayol defined the universal functions that all managers perform and the principals that constitute good mgt practice. Max Weber developed a good mgt activity based on authority relations. The people side of org came in to existence in 1930s primarily as the result of Hawthorne studies, these studies led to new emphasis on the human factor in the organization. In late 50s managers attention was caught by people like Abraham Maslow and Douglas Mcgregor, who proposed that org structure and mgt practice had to be altered so as to bring out full productivity potential of employees. Motivation and leadership theories offered by David Meckland, Fred Fiedler, Fredrick herzberg and behavioral scientist during 1960s and 1970s provided managers with still greater insight in to employee behavior. Key issues in the case: There are basically two issues in this case:
(1) (2)

Shazia wants to become an effective manager. Management and Organizational Behavior course does not offer her clear cut solutions while managing people.

The case primarily revolves around:

Hawthorne studies. The case also has its relevance to: Paradigm shift.

Theoretical framework:
The Hawthorne studies: Hawthorne studies were conducted in four different phases: Relay assembly test room experiment (illumination test). Relay assembly test II (1927). Interviewing stage (1928). Bank wiring observation room (1931-32). Mayos conclusion were that behavior and sentiments were closely related, that group influence significantly affected individual behavior, that group standard established individual worker output, and that money was less a factor in determining output than were group standards, group sentiments and security. These conclusions led to a new emphasis on the human factor in the functioning of organization and the attainment of there goals. Paradigm shift: The term paradigm comes from the Greek word paradeigma, which translates as model, pattern, or example. First introduced years ago by the philosophy of science historian Thomas Kuhn, the term paradigm is now used to mean a broad model, a frame work, a way of thinking, or a scheme for understanding reality. In the words of popular futurist Joel Barker, a paradigm simply establishes the rules (written or unwritten) defines the boundaries and tells one how to behave within the boundaries to be successful. This means for todays and tomorrows organizations and management, there are new rules with different boundaries requiring new and different behavior inside the boundaries for organization and management to be successful.