MGT501: Management and OrganizationalBehaviorModule 2 Case Assignment

MGT501: Management and OrganizationalBehavior

March 2016

Introduction
The case study presented involves Alex, who is the new manager of the family business. The company is facing challenges that he has to fight with to remain the leader of the very company in the region. Some of the problems include poor customer service, low professionalism, and a divided employee base. The situation requires a quick diagnosis before the giant company falls in humiliation and the competitors take its position. Alex, however, tried his best to understand the source of the conflicts and the solutions to the same, but he could not help.
The situation described in the family business run by Alex is very common in many organizations. It causes many problems with the workers, and the situation has the effect of affecting productivity. There is a need for the management to put in measures to ensure that there are proper structures and even activities that the workers can engage in the course of the working to bring cohesion. Some dynamics contribute to low professionalism, conflicts within the organization, poor service delivery and even divided employees (Patten, 1981). These factors if not properly handled might have devastating effects on the performance of the company.
Dynamics of Working in a Team
Some of the dynamics include the dynamics within the group. There are processes and considerations that give rise to the set of roles and relations together with the common goals that characterize a certain group. These include religion, politics, environment, military, sports, and work groups. In the groups, identified by given characteristics, there has to be some degree of interdependence for which the behaviors, attitudes and opinions of the members can influence each other collectively.
The dynamics of the groups have a significantlevelof influence on the performance of a group. Within an especially large group, there is certain distinct characteristic for a given subgroup within the large group. The faster the understanding of these small factors that characterize individuals in a particular group, the faster the cohesion and proper working. Communication plays a very great role in this dynamic. In case, there is no communication between the members of the given group, and then there can never be cohesion in the group.
The Formation of the Group.
Social cohesion suggests that group formation starts with the psychological bond of attraction between individuals and this births interpersonal attraction. Formation of a group begins when certain individuals that share some social category class come together and their friendship is enhanced by the fact that there is a social representation. The social categories can be smokers, nurses, football players and even Watchmen. Therefore, the social category becomes a very central factor to bring the people together. It is tough for strangers who have nothing in common to coalesce and work together harmoniously.
The absence of some form of social identity that can tie individuals together might be the source of conflict. Furthermore, with the poor conflict and arbitration methods employed, the problem is widened and enlarged to levels that it becomes beyond repair and handling.
Communication is imperative in an organization. Both vertical and horizontal forms of communication are very key and imperative in the organization. The firms with improper communication standards suffer productivity and even mere co-working because of poor communication skills. For instance, in Alex Company, there must have been poor communication skills both horizontally and vertically. Substandard communication flow can be seen in poor service delivery and also in the divisionof the employee base.
The workers within the organization do not understand one another. There is a lack of team building activities where the workers of the organization come together to enjoy time together. Most of the organizations handle their work in teams and groups and so it the incumbent family business. Teamwork requires more than the skills the various individuals can bring to the table to collaboration in the work for effectiveness. In most of the companies, the employees are not given adequate training on the same and effects are seen in the way the same employees relate to one another.
Team Building.Team building is therefore very necessary for the individuals to understand one another and to build relationships within the teams. The employees in the family business headed by Alex had not been taught on the mental factors that constitute a team. They had neither been taughtof the ways to handle conflicts in a group setting. Also, on the same, as a result of the divided base, there is a possibility that some teams were viewed as being favored maybe by the management than the others (Dyer, 1995). Therefore, it is possible that the team had also not been taught how to handle high performing teams within the large single existing team.
Consequently, the teams in the family business maybe had not undergone the development of teams. These include forming, storming, norming and then performing. It is possible that the teams skipped the storming phase to expedite the process of their duty. Most of the teams who skipped such vital process and little do they realize the magnitude of problems that befall them as a result of skipping one stage. Overlooking this phase is the stage where trust is built among the members. It is at this point that the “swift trust” comes into play. Trust can be gained with time as the members of the respective teams interact more.
However, it is also true and more practical stems from an initial point of assumption of trust and it is confirmed and or disconfirmed with time. The trust here becomes conditional, and it is progressively confirmed and verified by the actions of the respective team members. In such a case, the storming stage is very key and in case it is skipped, there is the possibility of conflict arousal at some point in the course of working.
Conflicts. In groups, conflicts is an inevitable action. The people who are working together are different, and all of them come from different backgrounds regarding religion, attitudes, temperaments and ideologies. The fact that these people are different means that there is a possibility that they might not agree on all issues (Dyer, 1995). Well-managed conflict with proper training can increase team performance, and this might result in better output. There is a need for the respective workers to understand that there exist destructive and constructive conflict and the respective resolution methods.
Alex business organization is faced with a conflict that has resulted in the divided employee base and loyalty. There is also the possibility that even the conflicts have spilled to poor customer relations. The employees were neither trained on how to handle such circumstances in life and or there is poor leadership from the top management (Patten, 1981). There is a need for arbitration and even skill enhancement among the members on how to curb the vice in the organization.
Consequently openness in a team enhances team building and cohesion. Teams, where individuals are very open, are very extremely effective. The workers perform their duties so well,and there is a solid foundation of trust among the members. Much canbe achieved in such a group because of the teams that are open to one another. However, Alex business lacked openness among the members and this emanated conflicts.
The use of the Johari Window is a very powerful model that can an individual learn very important things about oneself. It is used to improve understanding between individuals. The Johari Window model works on two principles, and these are, that one can build trust with others by disclosing information about oneself to the other (Dyer, 1995). Then it is supported by the help of feedback from the others that now confirms personality. Johari Window helps personal understanding of self-disclosure.
Stereotypes and Wrong Beliefs.
Additionally, prejudices and stereotypes of the nature of individuals in the group forms part of the dynamic of the group. The conflicts witnessed in the organization might be as a result of the individual member perceptions towards an individual or another group within the large team. In situations where such perceptions are evident, the working condition is marred by jealousy, poor performance, and frequent conflicts. The person’s beliefs about the group can be transformed depending on whether the respective individual is ingroup or outgroup.
The issue mostly affects new members, and it is worsened if the old members of the group marginalize them. The old members have undergone socialization and have received acceptance in the group. They possess more and better privileges than the newcomers. The marginalized members face separation because there is a possibility that they failed to live up to the standards of the expectations of the groups. They can only benefit the privileges of the full members if they undergo re-socialization. Some members of the organization might have faced separation and marginalization.
There is a need for cohesion and inclusion of all the members of the team so that all feel to be members of the same group. Therefore, the new, old and marginalized members should seek the good of the other. No individual work can succeed in a groupand, therefore, need for teamwork. On the same, the leadership plays a very critical role in the performance of the company. The low performance of the family business is also as a result of poor management. There is a need for the management to provide the pace for performance in the organization.
It is the very management that should expedite the processes like team development. In case, the management fail then the whole team will eventually fail. The management needs to motivate the workers. Motivation comes in various ways. These include performance appraisals, incentives, salary increase, allowances and gifts (Patten, 1981). These factors can only be driven by the management and therefore, the failure of the company represents to some degree the management failure.
Conclusion
Organizational behavior is determined by many factors that are influenced by other factors. These factors affect the business regarding its performance, profitability, and productivity. Proper leadership, communication, conflict resolution and team building are some of the factors for proper organizational behavior and, therefore, productivity.

References
Dyer, W. G. (1995). Team building: Current issues and new alternatives. Reading, Ma: Addison-Wesley. Retrieved from http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003016234
Patten, T. H. (1981). Organizational development through teambuilding. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Retrieved from http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000098052