Essay on Elements of Management

Question: Write about theEssay on Elements of Management. Answer: Introduction Organizations formulate ways and strategies that aim at improving their overall performance. Analyzing their human and material resources is an essential step to achieving their goals and objectives. However, the management of some organizations fails to formulate policies and measures that control the behavioral patterns of individuals (Abadi, et al. 2011, 157-169). Thus, they are unable to manage their employees effectively. Therefore, it is important to determine the various elements of management that influence the behavior of supervisors, subordinates, and our peers. Maintaining a shared workforce that focuses on improving the performance is a must do the task, although personality factor brings conflict between individual and organization behavior. In this report, motivation, individual differences, conflict and change management are the key elements discussed to evaluate their influence on employees effort and behavior (Abadi, et al. 2011, 157-169). Understanding the different styles and skills of people helps management in getting the right people to a particular job title and at the end improve work performance and achievement of the set goals and objectives. The report has provided an in-depth analysis and evaluation of motivation, conflicts, individual differences and change as elements of management. Motivation Motivation is a key determinant of the behavior in a given organization. Employees should be motivated to arouse them towards certain goal directors, but the question remains, how the management reinforce such an action. Various definitions and theories of motivation have been developed by different scholars such as Maslow, who established the need hierarchy theory (Abadi, et al. 2011, p.157-169). Such approaches provide detailed explanations on how to motivate the employee to improve the performance of organizations, but their practical applications in real life of a business environment become cumbersome. Use of intrinsic motivations by management gives personal satisfaction, hence leading to individual recognition, trust, empowerment, and good relations among the employees in various departments. However, intrinsic motivations are applicable when employees take their tasks and duties to be routine and bureaucratic and where there they perceive that it is paramount to comply with r ules and procedures. Extrinsic motivations such as bonuses, salary raise, gifts, and promotions also play a significant role in inspiring the firms workforce (Slocum and Hellriegel, 2007). People always put more effort to improve their performance when they are sure of material rewards. The management of an organization should ensure that they motivate their employees in a hierarchical order as described by Maslows theory. The employees behavior is influenced by the ability to satisfy basic needs first before moving to a different level (Khan, et al. 2010, p.37-52). A persons paycheck can be used to meet the psychological needs, but it is crucial to ensure that such pay meets safety and esteem need as well. However, this theory may be challenging to apply in real life situations because what one perceives to be a basic need may be a luxury to another person. Therefore, not all categories of the members can be fully satisfied. Individual needs cannot be the only motivators as several elements can encourage a person to work efficiently to improve the performance of the firm. The two-factor theory of Fredrick Herzberg has approached motivation in two perspectives, motivators and hygiene. Its hard to classify since people attribute the causes of satisfaction to themselves and blaming a given situation that occurs to be the cause of dissatisfaction (Josse Robert, 2007, p.605-624.) Although the theory has various limitations, managers can use its concepts to improve the working environment so as to motivate their employees. They should not solely focus on only hygiene factors look at other ways of enriching the jobs such as greater responsibilities and challenging work. Life experiences have led to individuals acquiring a need for achievement, affiliation, and power. This argument is as per the acquired needs theory of McClellands (Greguras Diefendorff, 2009, p.465-477). Such combination of requirements influences the behavior of employees in an organization. Individuals with high need of achievement always prefer doing tasks for themselves and not delegating them to subordinates. Therefore it is not simple for them to perform the managerial activities that involve coaching and holding meetings. The outcomes of a person regarding rewards should be proportional to inputs. When there is the perception of inequity among the working staff, they will tend to reduce their inputs and quality of their duties. This explanation is derived from Adams equity theory which specifies that people with same qualifications and efforts should be rewarded equally (Chowdhury, 2007, p.238-243). Individual Differences Individual differences affect all the areas of an organization including behaviors, perceptions and interactions and influence how people respond to change and productivity in the organization Gully, S., Chen, 2010, p.3-22). Diversity, perceptions, emotions, attitudes, personality, abilities and skills are the elements of individual differences that impact workplace behavior either negatively or positively. If management wants to improve the performance, they have to understand and take into consideration peoples drives, and desires operate (Bauer, et al. 2007, p.707-721). Therefore it is not easy to motivate two different people using the same methods. The values a person accumulates throughout the life experiences affect how he/she makes decisions regarding assigned duties and responsibilities in an organization and their actual behaviors. Value attainment leads to satisfaction and as a result motivate people to work efficiently to achieve the set goals and objectives (Fritzche, 2 007, p.335-343). Although, it is difficult for managers to select which personal values should be sacrificed to achieve consistent values among employees. Understanding employees personalities such as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism help a manager to effectively manage organizational behavior. Encouraging openness among people in the workplace leads to high adaptability to change and team experience (Suar Khuntia, 2010). Management should be cautious of the extent of openness as it can result in poor performance. Employees can end up spending much of their time with their friends and fail to perform their tasks and duties (Blader, 2007, p.108-126). Highly conscious personnel tend to focus on improving their performance. It is complex for managers to correctly maintain a lasting between personality and behavior of individuals since personality traits are inborn. Additionally, it is difficult to predict job performance using a character as one may portray to be open and extravagant, but as time goes, such behavior diminishes and ends a being a cause of conflicts in an organization. Effective application of the abilities and skills of individuals contribute to the success of a firm. They influence how one feels concerning an assigned task (Borghans, et al. 2008, p.972-1059). In the selection of employees, personality traits of a person help in predicting the work behavior of the individual and how he/she can influence other staff in bringing either positive or negative outcome. It is hard to manage employees with low self-esteem as a negative feedback by managers aimed at improving their performance can be viewed as underestimating their worth as subordinates. Self-monitoring is also a personality trait should be encouraged among employees. Despite the vital role self-monitoring plays, it has limitations too. How can a person monitor the actions at the same time focus on avoiding confrontations from the authority due to either underperformance or misrepresentations? It is quite difficult, and therefore self-monitored people may use a certain situation as a stepp ing stone to move to a different level or organization. Conflict Conflict is an element that is inevitable by the managers of an organization. The various types of conflicts that occur may result in either negative or positive outcome. It can lead to maladjusted behavior among the employees of the organization (Cropanzano, et al. 2007, p.34-38). Various strategies have been established that management team can use to neutralize the conflict that may exist with their employees. They include; when wages are paid on a regular basis, workers are expected to perform duties more efficiently. However, delay of payments cause strikes and lack of devotion. According to Skinners theory of motivation, rewarding individuals basing on spectacular performance encourages excellent performance and doing it more exceptionally and repeatedly without causing conflicts (Danish Usman, 2010, p.159-167). Provision of free training and participation in decision making motivates employees to be more productive and develop a behavior that enhances the image of an organization. Establishing conflict resolution techniques such as negotiation and arbitration can enhance peaceful coexistence among the workforce and thus improve their morale in job performance (Bauer, et al. 2007, p.707-721). Such resolution methods should be accompanied by other measures or else they will not have any impact on the overall performance. The measures may include; establishment of an enabling working environment, recreation facilities and canteen services and computerized communication networks. Therefore, managers need to analyze the various sources, causes, and consequences of disagreements so as to establish an enriching and conflict free working environment. Understanding the basics of human recognition will enhance their management of employees (Cropanzano, et al. 2007, p. 34-38). The values and personality traits need to be aligned with the organization vision and mission so as to establish a behavior that encourages efficient work performance. Change Management Managing change is a significant part of the tasks of managers. Therefore, when implementing changes, such advanced methods of production ensure that all people including employees are involved in the process. Participation of employees can lead efficient utilization of resources and efficiency on duties given as they shall respond positively to the change (Bauer, et al. 2007, p.707-721). Besides, there is reduced labor reductions, willingness to contribute, and reduced staff turnover. The rapid changes in the workplaces call for employee satisfaction. However, this function of management is more complex as employees motivations change from time to time. Moreover, also, various researches have made assumptions that as income of employees increase, money cannot continue motivating them to work more. Also, as they become older their interest to work is the motivator (Beier, Kanfer 2010, p.65-98). However, one person may treat a given change to be unfair while the other one perceives it to be fair, as a result contradicting opinions arise within the work environment. The management uses concepts from reinforcement theory by Skinners to either reward or punishes employees behavior that gives positive or negative outcomes respectively. However, how can one be sure that after rewarding a certain behavior the person will repeat it? It is not an excellent way of encouraging positive behaviors that lead to improvement in overall performance. Task performance is linked to goal setting. Establishment of new targets and the appropriate changes required gives employees direction on what should be done to improve performance. They help in developing a desirable behavior of employees who focus on attaining the set goals and objectives. However, when people set their goals, they may end up conflicting with management goal, according to Lockes goal setting theory (Mani, 2010, p.129-139). Change management helps to determine challenging task and hence, fit with the social environment in which they operate (Bauer, et al. 2007, p.707-721). When managing it is good to put in mind Katters steps to successful changes, which include, increasing the urgency, empowering actions, make the change to stick, getting the vision right and creating short-term wins. However, before applying such techniques try to understand how they people will respond to the change. How a person communicates the recommended changes to the affected individuals substantially determines the feedback in the long run. Conclusion In summary, to improve performance level in the organization, the management should motivate their employees, try to neutralize individual differences and conflicts. Motivated workforce focus on creativity, innovation and zeal components that aim at pushing the firm to a higher level. 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