Question

Ghana recorded its first coronavirus case on 12th March 2020. The cases started increasing after a week leading to the President of the Republic instituting among several interventions; closing down first and second cycle schools, tertiary institutions, partial lockdown in some parts of the country, restriction on social and religious gathering, restriction on internal travelling, closure of borders and deployment of military on our borders to enforce the laws and the safety protocol directives issued by the government, other health experts and organisations. Some workers in Ghana welcomed these measures and directives in good faith, while others have resented these measures and directives. As a student of organisational behaviour, to what extent do you think diversity and errors in perception have played a role in splitting Ghanaians (advocates for and critics) among the government interventions? (40 marks) QUESTIONS TWO Discuss the statement that an organisation is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people that functions on relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. (30 marks) QUESTIONS TWO Using an organization that you are familiar with, explain how management deploys the use of various motivational theories to influence workforce to accomplish organizational objectives. (30 marks) Page 1 of 2

Answer 1

In order to effectively manage an organization it is inevitable to understand the beliefs, perceptions and culture of individuals in an organization. Hence, understanding organizational behavior is a pre requisite before implementing any plans or strategies. Take the case of Ghana, after the first Corona virus case detected; the country adopted a lot of measures to prevent the spread. A large proportion of the country welcomes these policy but a few groups resent such policies and started rebelling against government. We all experience that how lock downs benefited us to control the outbreak even if such government policies curtail some of our basic rights. An effective organizational study could have helped Ghana to implement their lock down strategies successfully.

An organization is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or people that functions on relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. In contrary to the early theories of Mr. Federic Taylor who profound scientific management- Man is a machine concept, Organization behavior studies human,social and psychological factors - individual preferences, belief system, trait of individual and profound motivational theories which  improves the organizational performance. It is based on social and psychological factors that contributes to the overall growth of individuals and the organization.

Organization also evolves continuously and management should closely associate with the continuous changes in their belief, culture and perception. Let us examine how individual perception affects their behavior. Perception is attaining awareness out of our sensory organs. Our behavior comes from .our perceptions. Perceptual errors results to wrong beliefs which in turn affects our behavior and action. In order to achieve a common goal , individual perception shall be aligned with organizational goal and individuals should be motivated to follow the rules.

Motivation theories have played a crucial role improving the organization effectiveness and the study of Mr. Elton Mayo, his Hawthorne experiment is the first real world experiment out lined how social psychological factors play a big role in organizational effectiveness. The experiment conducted in Hawthorne plant of Western Electric Company. Management conducted an experiment improving the environment by providing better lighting and facility to the workers. Also another experiment conducted to work closely observing a team ,being sympathetic and   building better relationship with the team. Both theses experiment showed a positive result. Employees work well when their physiological and social needs are fulfilled and  are being cared better.

Let us examine a real life scenario a Shipping company where I worked - Transworld shipping company. Company management observed that marketing team is not actively engaged in sales calls and very easy going and lethargic. . They found that company has a few space to accommodate all their staffs under one roof. Sitting Marketing Team so close with other staffs of  other department made it uneasy effectively engaging in sales call. The company management decided to shift the entire sales staff to a different room which has more space and a balcony where they can relax and chat with their customers. Management also deploy a sales  manger to supervise their job. The new environment created a positive vibe among the sales team. It became easy for them to talk with their clients in a more relaxed way and the numbers improved within a month.. Moreover, the sale manager closely engaged with the team that also motivate them to perform better.

Similarly the HR team adopted Abraham Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy – the need theory in order to motivate the employees. They identified that human need changes as they move up in the need hierarchy pyramid. When a new employee join the office, the HR team help them to arrange accommodation, transportation facility in such a way that they help the employee to satisfy their basis need. Throughout his/her period, the HR team closely analyses that satisfying which need can improve the efficiency of employee.

In nutshell, we can say that it is important to study organizational behavior and apply motivational theries which help mangement to implement new policies.