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MPA

Final Examination in PA 214 Human Behavior in Organization

Give succinct, clear answers to the ensuing queries or circumstances. Be sure to

provide theory or principle to back up your claims. Total of 100 points.
1. Describe the connections between attitude, job satisfaction, and job
involvement. (10 points)

A: In order to identify the connection between attitude, job satisfaction, and job
involvement we must first define all three separately. First, attitude defined is the settled
way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one which is reflected
in a person's behavior and in this situation, the one which the person exhibits in their
work place. Second, job satisfaction is the feeling of fulfillment that one gains from doing
an efficient and effective work. Lastly, job involvement is the degree to which an
employee identifies with their work, actively participates in it, and derives a sense of
self-worth from it.
The connection between these three is that, one of the primary factor that affects an
employee attitude is job satisfaction. When employees fit the actual task given to them,
they will feel confident about their abilities to succeed in the tasks assigned. These will
also result in them appreciating the role they are assigned, thus resulting to a positive
attitude in the workplace. These positive attitude will result into more job involvement,
enjoyment in doing the task given to the employee will greatly affect the results of such
task.
All of these are supported by the study of Organizational Behavior done to describe how
people behave as they interact; understand why people behave as they do; predict the
future employee behavior so than appropriate course of action may be employed; and
control the situation or for the managers to develop human activity at work.
2. Relate the Carrot and Stick principle to Reward System in an organization.
What part do performance appraisals play in such scenario? (10 points)
A: The Carrot and Stick approach of motivation is based on the principles of
reinforcement. Historically, it came from a perspective that putting a carrot in front of a
donkey and jabbing him with a stick from behind will make it work better. In an
organization, Carrot and stick is a motivational approach that involves offering a “carrot”
which is a reward—for good work and behavior and a “stick” or a negative consequence
for poor work results or behavior. In an organization, it motivates staff by creating
actionable goals and desirable rewards for employees who can alter their behavior and
performance.
3. Discuss the essence of leadership in an organizational setting. (10 points)
A: Leadership defined is the action of motivating, helping and encouraging people in
an organization towards achieving goals and better results. In an organization, leaders
do this by influencing employee behaviors in several ways. A leader sets a clear vision
for the organization, motivates employees, guides employees through the work process
and builds morale. Leadership is an important component of a well-functioning and
effective organization, without it an organization will be unorganized and inefficient on
its function and will rarely meet its goals and desired results.
4. Pick two motivation theories, and explain how they help to explain one’s actions in a
workplace. (10 points)
A: First, Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is one of the more common
theories of motivation. Every time this theory is mentioned a triangle is visualized which
shows a five-stage model of needs. The deficiency needs are the four levels from
bottom and growth need is the topmost level. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is  a model
for understanding the motivations for human behavior. These include physiological
needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization, in a work-place all of
these are factors to how an employee do their work or the task assigned to them, when
these factors are enforced through proper leadership or management then better results
will follow as well as better working environment.
Meanwhile, another motivation theory is Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory which
illustrates that goal setting is linked to task performance. It puts forward a systematic
approach allowing management to focus on achievable goals to attain the best possible
results from available resources. Locke proposed five basic principles of goal-
setting: clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback, and task complexity. In an
organization when a goal is set with clarity, the path is clear and easy to follow,
however, challenges are not to be expected to no longer happen, but since there is
clarity as to the goal, the solutions is more easily to be figured out, commitment to the
goal is also relevant to achieve the same, and feedback is essential in keeping things in
check so that the task can be done without much complications. This theory will help in
motivating employees to look forward to their work since the goal is simplified and clear.

5. Explain the concepts of teamwork, conflict, stress and counselling in an

organization. (10 points)
A: Teamwork, conflict, stress and counselling are all factors of conflict management
in an organization setting. Conflict management is an umbrella term for the way we
identify and handle conflicts fairly and efficiently. The goal is to minimize the potential
negative impacts that can arise from disagreements and increase the odds of a positive
outcome. Teamwork is essential in making sure that everybody in your team agrees and
works for one certain goal, conflict and stress are both inevitable in doing a certain task
especially when numerous people are involved since not everybody has the same way
of getting their work done however these can all be resolved through a grievance
machinery which sometimes comes in a form of counselling.

6. Discuss the notion of organizational culture as applied to the public sector.

What factors should be considered in the analysis of the organization’s structure
and functioning? (10 points)
A: Organizational culture is generally understood as all of a company's beliefs,
values and attitudes, and how these influence the behavior of its employees, more
importantly it affects the organization and the employees of the same.
In the government, organizational culture mostly gets a bad rap not only inside the
organization but also outside of it or those that are subject of the government service.
Sadly, organizational culture in the public sector are mostly related to corruption,
nepotism, crab-mentality and bias.
Meanwhile the following factors should be considered in the analysis of an
organization’s structure. Although several factors can affect the choice of an appropriate
structure for an organization, the following are the most common: size, life cycle,
strategy, environment, and technology.
7. In what manner can the informal groups, norms, and values of an
organizational culture affect the shape of an organization? (20 points)
In order to determine how informal groups, norms and values of an organizational
culture can affect the shape of an organization first we must know the meaning and
difference between values and norms, values are general criteria, standards, or guiding
principles that people use to determine which types of behaviors, events, situations, and
outcomes are desirable or undesirable whereas Norms are standards or styles of
behavior that are considered acceptable or typical for a group of people, meanwhile,
informal groups or organizations are alliances that are neither formally structured nor
organizationally determined. Natural formations in the work environment in response to
the need for social contact.
Organization Culture greatly affects the shape of an organization since the people is life
blood of an organization and their developed culture determines whether an
organization will be effective or not.

8. How is power achieved and exercised in an organization and what role does
politics play within organizations? (10 points)
A: Power is achieved and exercised in organizations through hierarchical positions.
Organizational structures often use a hierarchical system where power comes from the
top most position and distributed to positions under it. Politics play within organizations
greatly affects behavior of employees working in an organization, political play mostly
result in a personal profit rather than an all over gain. It is mostly used by people in
power in an organization.
9. Which of the five traits of an organizational citizen most significantly influences
organizational behavior? Why? (10 points)
A: The five personality traits are extraverted personality, agreeable personality,
conscientious personality, emotionally-stable personality, and open to experience
personality. In my opinion, out of all of the five it is the conscientiousness which most
significantly influences organizational behavior. This personality trait refers to how
organized, achievement-driven, dependable, punctual, and systematic a person is. It is
determines an individual’s level of motivation in doing his assigned work. It sets them
apart and gives out the prediction about their level of performance in their work. The
other traits only contributes as to the conscientiousness of the employee to finish their
job efficiently.