Topic 5

1) What are the types of stress?

Type of stress
Emotional stress
Physiological stress
Acute stress
Chronic stress
Eustress

Distress

Explanation
This stress results when people consider situations difficult or
impossible to deal with.
It is the bodys reaction to certain physical stressors.
It is a short term reaction to an immediate threat.
This results from ongoing situations.
Eustress is a positive stress resulting from meeting challenges and
difficulties with the expectation of achievement. This kind of stress is
energising and motivating.
As stress increases, it reaches a point at which the effects become
negative. If a high level of stress continues for a prolonged period,
distress or bad stress occurs.

2) What are the pros and cons of each type of stress?

Pros;
-

Stress at low levels can improve work performance.

Cons;
-

Potential Heart Attacks; high levels of pressure including changes in metabolism, increase of
heartbeat and breathing rate and an increase in blood pressure may lead to headaches and
potential heart attacks.
Dissatisfaction; employees who experience high levels of stress are those who are least satisfied
with their jobs.
Tension, Anxiety, Boredom, Irritability and Procrastination.
Rapid Speech
Sleep disorders
Low productivity and performance.

3) Give examples of each type of stress?

- Emotional Stress; Stress from being observed and monitored closely.
- Physiological Stress: A persons body can become stressed when he or she fails to get enough
sleep.
- Acute Stress: An assciate might experience acute stress when being reprimanded by a
supervisor or when not able to meet a deadline.
- Chronic Stress: It can result from living in fear of future layoffs or having continuous problems
with a supervisor.
- Eustress: A student may get stressed as there are many assignments and home works which are
to be due in short period of time. However, as a result of all these efforts he/she may do very well
on the exams.
- Distress: A student cramming for final exam when he/she does not know anything.

Topic 6
1) What are the stages of Group Development?
Forming
This is an ice-breaking stage, which is also known as mutual acceptance. During this stage, all
members of a group meet for the first time.
At this point of time, members usually tend to avoid interacting with one another and will try to
act independently. They will attempt to identify what needs to be done, what needs to be accepted
and things to avoid within the group. The existing discomfort diminishes when members get to
know each other better and accept their presence as members of a new group.
This stage is also a stage of uncertainty (about the purpose of the group, power relations and
interpersonal relations) and emphasis is placed on orientation and adaptation among group
members.
Storming
During this stage, group members begin to learn to accept each other, conduct discussions and
openly make decisions. Sooner or later, members will gain confidence to participate in group
related activities.

Intra-group conflicts will also occur at this point of time as a result of members beginning to
express their individuality by exercising leadership. As group rules become more established,
members begin to discover their respective role/s within the group.
Conflict ends when the group structure solidifies via the consensual appointment of a leader and
with each member understanding his/her respective role, responsibility and authority. This stage
will witness interdependence within members of the group.

Norming
At the norming level, all conflicts and disagreements are resolved, relationships develop and
members of the group demonstrate cohesiveness. There will be cooperation among members in
order to get the best results.
Cohesiveness develops because the goals, expectations and rules of the group are now clear.
Managers should encourage groups to maintain good working relations, as the setting of norms
and values is instrumental to the success of a group.
Performing
At this stage, all issues pertaining to the structure of the group are settled. The group now
functions as one unit. The group will now focus on the task at hand. The group is now productive
as each member goes about his/her set task.
Adjourning
Finally, the group gets to the adjourning stage. This is especially so for groups established for
specific purposes or with pre-determined and limited tasks, i.e. special committees or project
teams.
Dissolution or adjournment takes place after the pre-determined tasks have been accomplished
and the goals are achieved. Here members are once again free to pursue their own work.
Whilst not all groups necessarily undergo the stages mentioned, an understanding of these stages
will assist managers to form effective and productive groups. In addition, managers should note
that there are differences between new and mature groups with the challenge being in setting
productive targets for mature groups.

2) What are the concerns of organisation and the people in each of

these stage?
Forming
-

Group members' roles and responsibilities aren't clear.

Storming
-

Group members may challenge their leaders authority, or jockey for position as their
roles are clarified.
Group members may resist taking on tasks.

Norming
-

As new tasks come up, the group may lapse back into behavior from the storming stage.

Performing
Adjourning
-

Group members who like routine, or who have developed close working relationships
with colleagues, may find this stage difficult, particularly if their future looks uncertain.

3) What is an alternative model to this?

Punctuated Equilibrium Model
This model is suitable for temporary or transient groups with specific deadlines.
(a) The First Meeting Sets the Groups Direction
During the first meeting, a framework for behavioural patterns and assumptions made by
the group is made known. Behaviour patterns can appear as early as the first few seconds
after the group is formed.
(b) The First Phase of Group Activity is One of Inertia
After goals have been set, they will be written down and normally would not be revised
throughout the first phase. This is a time of inertia, when the group is more static,
focusing on the set goal.
(c) A Transition Takes Place at the End of this First Phase when the Group has used
Up Half of Its Allotted Time

An interesting discovery made in these studies was that despite the fact that several of
these groups spent as little as an hour on their projects while others took six months, each
group experienced its transition at the same point in its calendar, which is precisely half
way between its first meeting and its official deadline. This transition makes the group
appear to have a midlife crisis. This midpoint appears to work like an alarm clock,
heightening members awareness that their time is limited and that they need to get
moving.
(d) A Transition Initiates Major Changes
This transition ends Phase 1 and is characterised by concentrated changes via the
dropping of old patterns and adoption of new perspectives. The transition sets a revised
direction for Phase 2.
(e) A Second Phase of Inertia Follows the Transition
Phase 2 is a new equilibrium or period of inertia. In this phase, the group executes the
plans created during the transition period.
f) The Groups Last Meeting is Characterised by Accelerated Activity
The final meeting is the last activity in accomplishing the task.

Topic 7
1) What is the difference between a manager and leader? Examples?
Leaders are people who can conceive ideas, ensuring the continuity of their organisation and meeting all
its goals. A leader strives to influence the people under him/her to accept and implement the ideas that
he/she produces.
A manager, in view of his/her authoritative position within an organisation, instructs subordinates to carry
out tasks in order to meet organizational goals.
Examples:
-

A manager ensures that things are done right. A leader ensures that the right things are being
done.
A manager magnifies corporate policies, processes and procedures. A leader magnifies the
person, their capabilities and their purpose.
A manager administrates. A leader envisions.
A manager maintains. A leader develops.

2) Types of leaders?
Transactional Leadership
Transactional leaders are task and relationship oriented, resulting in their ability to influence
employees to do as they (the leaders) wish in an effort to achieve organisational goals. Another
feature of this leadership is the exchange process or the use of reward and punishment to ensure
members follow orders. In this context, legitimate power, reward and coercion powers become
necessary attributes for this type of leaders. It has been said that transactional leadership only
works with followers who have a clear understanding of the organisational structure and are
currently performing specific daily and routine tasks.
Charismatic Leadership
A leader is considered charismatic if he has qualities that enable him/her to establish
exceptionally good relations with his/her followers.
Charismatic attributes refer to:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

Leaders who provide opportunity for employees or subordinates to develop their

career;
Leaders who are open and always ready for criticisms and constructive
suggestions from followers, often acknowledging other peoples views;
Leaders who encourage two-way communication with their followers and often
share useful information with their followers; and

(iv)

Leaders who are prepared to take personal interest for the benefit of their
followers and organisations.

Transformational Leadership
It has already been mentioned that transactional leaders are only effective in an organisation that
operates under average conditions (not complex) and are stable (as opposed to dynamic).
For complex and dynamic organisations, transformational leadership is more appropriate. What is
transformational leadership? While all the charismatic attributes embodied above are also
available in transformational leadership, leaders belonging in this category have a more extensive
intent and ambitions as compared to charismatic leaders. Transformational leaders are able to
inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organisation. This
results in followers being prepared to put in the extra effort to achieve organisational goals.
Transformational leaders are also able to encourage their followers to generate ideas to handle old
problems with novel approaches. In addition, according to Avolio and Bass as cited by Robbins
(2008), transformational leaders desire more than what is expected by the charismatic leader. The
transformational leader expects his/her followers to be able to question any views, including those
of the leader.
It is now clear that while transactional leaders are suitable for matters relating to the daily
management of an organisation, transformational leaders are needed to manage complex, unstable
and uncertain environment/s. However, both types are needed to ensure the smooth running and
stability of an organisation.
Moral Leadership
Leadership is not merely a set of practices with no association of right or wrong. All leadership
practices can be used for good or bad and thus have a moral dimension. According to Zaufderer
(1992), leaders choose whether to act from selfishness and greed to diminish others or in ways
that serve and motivate others to develop their full potential as employees and as human beings.
Moral leadership is about distinguishing right from wrong and doing right, seeking the just, the
honest, the good and the right conduct in practice. In this context, leaders have great influence
over others, and moral leadership gives life to others and enhances the lives of others. According
to Daft (2008), immoral leadership takes away from others in order to enhance oneself.
Servant Leadership
Much of the thinking about leadership today implies that moral leadership encourages change
toward turning followers into leaders, thereby developing theory potential rather than using a
leadership position to control people. According to Daft (2008), the ultimate expression of this
leadership approach is called servant leadership. This kind of leadership can be described by
comparing the category of leaders to other leaders.

3) Behavior model of leaders?

Behaviour theory studies the behaviours of effective leaders, emphasising the fact that there are certain
types of actions that contribute to successful leadership. To nurture effective leaders in an organisation,
the management should select those on the basis of the appropriate actions that they undertake whilst
leading their respective followers. The behaviour theory advocated that effective leaders can be groomed
with the right kind of exposure by practicing the right types of behaviours. What do the right types of
behaviour mean? Generally, there are two types of behaviours.

There have been a few studies specifically on behaviour and its relationship to leadership. Among them
are:
The Ohio State Studies (OSU)
Studies conducted at The Ohio State University divided the behaviours of a leader into two
dimensions: consideration and initiating structure.
In order to understand these two dimensions you need to re-look the two forms of behaviour:
consideration and work relations. Consideration is a behaviour that has to do with being
considerate. This study identified the behaviours of certain leaders and how the said behaviours
affect the relationship between leader and subordinates. These include maintaining a two-way
communication, showing appreciation for the ideas that were put forward by the employees, not
being prejudiced whilst taking an interest in employee welfare and having empathy towards them.
What about the initiating structure dimension? This initiating structure, which shares the same
characteristics with Task Relationships, is job oriented. In this instance, a leader tries to structure
and provide detail explanation about the job and the role played by employees in accomplishing
their respective tasks to ensure that organisational goals are met.

The University of Michigan Studies (UM)

Leadership studies at UM share similar objectives with those at OSU. The behavioural
consideration and job relationship are expressed as employee oriented and production-oriented. In
this study, leaders who were employee oriented tended to emphasise on interpersonal relations by
taking a personal interest in the needs and welfare of their employees.
On the contrary, leaders who are production-oriented were more concerned with the completion
of tasks and employees quality of work.
The Managerial Grid
Blake and Mouton as cited by Robbins (2008) developed a graphic representation of a twodimensional view on the styles of leadership. It is similar to the dimensions put forward by OSU
and UM. Figure 7.5 shows Blake and Moutons managerial grid.

Based on Figure 7.5, two dimensions are represented in this grid: concern for employees (people)
and concern for production. These are placed along two axes with each axis being made up of
nine positions, beginning from 1 to 9, which is the highest point. In total, there are 81 positions
representing the various leadership styles practiced by leaders.
For instance, a leader who is at position (1,9) is extremely concerned about his/her employees
welfare at the expense of their respective tasks. A leader who falls into position (9,1) overly
emphasises the task and rates very low pertaining to his/her concern for employees. Leaders who
are at (1,1) are neither concerned with tasks nor employees whilst a leader who is at (9,9) places
equal emphasis on employees and tasks. What about leaders who are at (5,5)? They place a
balanced and moderate emphasis on tasks and employees.

Topic 8
1) Why communicate? (Functions of Communication)
Communication acts to control the behaviours of members in several ways and organisations have
authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that employees are required to follow. For instance,
communication performs its control functions when employees are required to report (communicate) any
task related problems to their immediate boss, instructed to adhere to their job descriptions and comply to
company policies.
Communication fosters motivation by clarifying to employees what needs to be done, how well they
(employees) are performing on their job and what employees should do to improve performance.
Communication performs its motivational function in the processes of formulation of specific goals,
provision of feedback on employees progress towards goals, and reinforcement of desired behaviour
amongst employees.
In its function as a tool for emotional expression, many employees regard their work group as a primary
source of social interaction. This is in view of the fact that the communication which takes place within
the group is a fundamental mechanism by which members express their frustrations and feelings of
satisfaction. In this instance, communication provides a release for emotional expression of feelings and
fulfilment of social needs.
The final function of communication is related to its role in facilitating decision making by providing
information required by individuals and groups in order for them to make decisions. The data is used to
identify and evaluate alternatives in the decision-making process.
All the mentioned four functions of communication are equally important. For instance, organisations are
able to perform effectively when they are successful in maintaining some form of control over its
members, provide motivation for members to perform in a good way, provide a channel for members to
express themselves emotionally and allowing members to make decisions.

2) What is noise? Explain with a situation?

Noise is a general term used to refer to something that interrupts the transmission or comprehension of the
message.
Noises occur due to many factors, including: the encoded message is unclear; the sender is unsure of the
message he wants to transmit; the wrong communication channel is selected, the message is wrongly
decoded; illegible writing; poor hearing or vision; great physical distance between sender and receiver;
the receivers lack of time to properly decode the message; or lack of experience, knowledge or certain
skills. In this instance, managers can improve communication by minimising noises.

3) What are the Direction of communication? And its use?

Communication flows either vertically or laterally. The vertical dimension can go in two directions;
upward and downward.
Downward
Communication that flows from one level of a group or organisation to a lower level is known as
a downward communication, i.e. managers communicating to employees. This type of
communication is used by managers to instruct employees, provide job instructions, inform
employees of policies and procedures, point out problems requiring attention, provision of
feedback on performance, and ensuring the organisations goals and objectives are clear to all
members of an organisation. Downward communication also takes place to prevent the spread of
rumours on any impending changes.
Downward communication need not necessarily be performed orally or face-to-face.
Memorandums and all forms of written letters prepared by management to employees are also
forms of downward communication.
Upward
Upward communication flows from employees and/or managers to superiors of higher levels in a
group or an organisation. Upward communication is used to provide operational feedback, issues
and problems and information on performance and effectiveness of the organisation to the
superiors. This type of communication encourages the lower management and employees to be
involved in decision-making whilst providing them (employees) with the opportunity to share
their work concerns with top management.
Upward communication also enables managers to discover employees level of satisfaction with
their jobs, work-relationship between colleagues, and the organisation in general. Managers also
rely on upward communication for ideas on improvement of plans and schemes.
Some examples of upward communication are appraisal reports prepared by the lower
management for the middle and top management, suggestion boxes, a survey on employees
attitudes, a discussion between managers and employees, giving both a chance to discuss groundlevel problems with the higher managers.
Lateral
Lateral communication flows between managers or employees at the same level within the group
or organisation. For example, lateral communication occurs when the morning shift supervisor
discusses with the evening shift supervisor, or when the marketing manager meets the finance
manager to discuss costs and the new marketing strategies.
Lateral communication facilitates and expedites coordination and cooperation between various
divisions in an organisation and enables colleagues to share related information. It also helps
those at the same level to resolve conflicts and overcome problems without intervention from the
top management.

However, lateral communication is not without its problems. Firstly, it could lead to conflict
between the lower and upper management when the former fails to adhere to proper procedures
pertaining to issues that occur beyond the knowledge of the latter.

Topic 9
1) Importance of Organisational Culture? (Functions)
Organisational culture is a system of actions, values and beliefs that are developed in an organisation and
shared by all members of the organisation.
Function
Defining Boundaries

Providing Identity

Generating
Commitment

Enhances the Stability

of an Organisations
Social System

Serves as a Control
Mechanism that
Guides Employees
Behaviour and Attitude

Explanation
An organisational culture differentiates one organisation from another. This
is due to the fact that each organisation has its own culture that is practised
by its members.
Culture also provides members of an organisation with an identity that they
can call their own. For example, a culture that encourages employees to
come up with something new will promote creativity and innovation, in
addition to making employees feel that they stand apart from employees of
other organisations because of the values that they hold.
Organisational culture that consists of specific values can increase
commitment among members. For instance, when an organisation makes
employee welfare an important agenda, this will lead to the provision of
various benefits like medical insurance, scholarship and housing.
The stability of an organisations social system is reflected in the degree to
which the work environment is considered positive and conducive for
optimum performance in addition to how well conflicts and changes are
handled. This is due to the fact that organisational culture provides a
standard for the kinds of permissible actions that can be implemented whilst
handling all sorts of problems.
Social stability can result in a positive working environment, in which
problems and conflicts are amicably overcome.
Culture can influence an employees behaviour and attitude because it
determines what is acceptable and unacceptable in terms of behaviour and
actions. In addition, a strong culture would provide employees with a single
direction and/or guidelines on what to do. In fact, an employee-organisation
fit which is reflected in employee behaviour and organisational culture
compatibility, strongly influences decisions on who to employ, who is
appraised as a high performer and who is promoted.

2) What describes an organisational culture? (Characteristics)

Characteristics
Innovation and Risk
Taking

Attention to Detail

Outcome Orientation

People Orientation

Team Orientation
Aggressiveness

Stability

Description
This refers to the extent an organisation encourages its employees to be
innovative and to take risks. Organisations that rank high on this
characteristic strongly encourage their employees to try something new, such
as making decisions by intuition, irrespective of the fact that these
organisations are uncertain of whether the intuitions will be profitable to the
company.
This refers to the degree to which employees are expected to give attention
to detail in the course of their work. Organisations characterised this way
place a lot of emphasis on details and expect their employees to conduct
detailed analysis on any decision prior to implementing those decisions.
In this characteristic, the management focuses on results rather than on the
techniques and processes. In this instance, the management believes that if
the process is good, the outcome will be equally good. However, there are
also organisations that concentrate more on the quality of their products and
services rather than on techniques and processes.
This refers to the level in which an organisation is concerned over the effect
of its decisions on its employees. A management that is people-oriented
would always obtain the participation of its employees in the decisionmaking processes.
This refers to the number of teamwork activities in an organisation. An
organisation ranks high on this characteristic if it stresses on teamwork.
This refers to the degree in which members of the organisation are
aggressive and competitive. Organisations which emphasise on
aggressiveness like to encourage their employees to compete with one
another whilst offering merit based rewards.
Organisations with this characteristic prefer to maintain its status quo whilst
trying to avoid changes. Organisations such as this would most probably find
it difficult to adapt to changes occurring around them.

3) What are the categories of culture?

Category
Adaptability Culture

Achievement Culture

Clan Culture

Bureaucratic Culture

Explanation
This culture is characterised by strategic leaders encouraging values that
support the organisations ability to interpret and translate signals from the
environment into new behavioural responses. In this context, employees
have autonomy to make decisions and act freely to meet new needs; and
responsiveness to customers is highly valued. For example, leaders
encourage experimentation and risk taking as an everyday way of life.
An achievement culture is characterised by a clear vision of the
organisations goals, and leaders focus on the achievement of specific targets
such as sales growth, profitability, or market share. This is associated with a
result oriented culture that values competitiveness, aggressiveness, personal
initiative, and the willingness to work long and hard to achieve results.
This culture has an internal focus on the involvement and participation of
employees to meet changing expectations from the external environment.
Companies with a clan culture are generally friendly to work with, and
employees may seem almost like a family. The leaders emphasis on
cooperation and consideration of both employees and customers can avoid
status differences.
The bureaucratic culture has an internal focus and consistency orientation for
a stable environment. The culture supports a rational and orderly way of
doing business. Following the rules and being thrifty are valued. The
organisation will normally succeed by being highly integrated and efficient.

Topic 10
1) Explain power principle?
Power refers to a phenomenon that enables an individual to influence or force others to follow his/her
individual wishes or requests.
There are two principles from the general definition that can be put forward:
(a) The influential individual or the one exerting influence; and
(b) The influenced individual or the person who is being influenced.
In this matter, the individual who influences (identified as A) definitely has power. Whereas individual or
individuals who are influenced (B, C, D) are those who lack or are without power, unlike A, who is with
power. If B, C and D are influenced and follow the directions or wishes that A gives, this means A has
power over them.
Organisations are created to achieve certain objectives. For that purpose, human resources need to be
combined synergistically. This will only happen if there is power that can ensure human resources are
used optimally.
Powers that are created will enable individuals (power holders) to perform tasks for the good of the
organisation, such as taking disciplinary actions, giving rewards, implementing change, making decisions
and resolving conflicts.
Based on this explanation, we can say that power brings good to the organisation. However, some people
see power from a negative perspective. In this context, power is seen as a negative force since it can
always be abused.
In organisations, power can be abused by individuals for their self-interests. This is evident in instances
such as financial mismanagement, bringing down other people whom they do not like, nepotism, or
spreading influence and power domains.
In this aspect, it can be concluded that power does not only bring good, but at the same time can also
bring misfortune to organisations. Nevertheless, power is still being needed. More importantly, the higher
management should ensure that negative power is not allowed to be a dominant force in an organisation if
they cannot eradicate it totally.

2) What is functional conflict and dysfunctional conflict?

A conflict which supports and increases the objective achievement of a group or organisation is known as
a functional conflict or constructive conflict.
This conflict, when in the form of planned competition will encourage employees to work harder and
increase productivity, thus leading to a sense of satisfaction.

A conflict which deters or lowers a group or organisations performance achievement is referred to as

dysfunctional conflict or destructive conflict.
If this type of conflict happens, it will lead to lower working spirit, dissatisfaction, and increase in rate of
absenteeism and as a result, productivity will be affected.
For example, a situation which affects productivity can be caused by an individual who lost in a
competition and will feel discouraged, then followed by mistrust and ends up focusing only on his or her
interests rather than working as a group or team.
Besides that, a dysfunction conflict can also cause workplace aggression.
Workplace aggression refers to actions taken by an individual with the intention to hurt or injure others
in the organisation, such as sabotaging work, stealing organisational properties, and taking legal action
against the organisation.
A conflict that arises in a group at a workplace can be functional or dysfunctional depending on the types
of conflict, the job characteristics performed and group norms. Therefore, an effective manager will try to
manage any dysfunctional conflict by suppressing it and at the same time, learn how to create functional
conflict, which is beneficial. He can introduce and apply certain techniques to overcome the dysfunctional
conflict, then change it into a productive force in the organisation.

3) What is structural conflict?

Conflicts may arise due to structures of the organisation such as size, specialisations, job responsibility
and goals. Conflicts may occur between departments or individuals in the organisation. An individual
who holds a high position may have disagreements with people at the lower level of employment because
of communication problems. The more levels that exist in an organisation, the more a conflict is likely to
happen because the content of the messages sent becomes less clear and vague. There are three types of
structural conflicts, i.e. vertical, horizontal and diagonal conflict.

Topic 11
1) What is mandated pressure to change?
Organisations today are faced with a dynamic business environment, which forces them (organisations)
to adopt changes in their quest to have a competitive business edge.
Organisations are forced to take on activities similar to those of other organisations because of outside
demands placed on them to do so. These mandated pressures or requirements may be either formal or
informal.

2) What can be changed?

Structure
Changing an organisational structure involves activities that affect many issues, such as
organisational design, authority relationship and a monitoring mechanism.
For example, an organisational structure that is simple and lean can be changed with team-based
structures. In fact, altering the structure to new alternatives such as telecommuting or job sharing
can also change job design. These are done to ensure that the needs of todays employees are
fulfilled by the organisations development while making certain that the organisation can
successfully remain competitive in the market place.
Technology
The introduction of new technologies in an organisation usually refers to the introduction of new
machineries or usage of robots and computers. This change is vital in the development of an

organisation since it brings forth a vast improvement in productivity while simultaneously

reducing manpower cost in the long run.
Hence, technological changes play an important role in making certain that an organisation has
the vital competitive edge in the market place. These advancements assist an organisation to
obtain better and faster profits compared to competitors who are slow in embracing the
technological advancements.
Physical Arrangement
In addition to structure and technology, physical arrangements in an organisation can also be
changed. This change is usually done to ensure the ease and comfort of employees whilst at work,
thus increasing the employees productivity. Therefore, management needs to take into
consideration factors such as work stress, formal interaction needs and employees socialising
needs prior to making decisions on the workspace, arrangement of work tools and office interior
design.
Employees
Employees are the final element that can be changed by the change agent. Assisting employees to
increase their productivity and efficiency at work, both individually and in teams, results in
change. Employee change refers to positive changes in work attitude and work behaviour, and
these changes can occur through improvements in communication, decision-making and problem
solving skills. Can you think of how positive transformations in employees work attitude and
behaviour can occur through improvement in his/her communication, decision making and
problem solving skills?

2) What are organisational development techniques?

Organisational development is a term used to refer to a collection of change interventions that are
planned. These planned change interventions have a specific goal of increasing organisational
effectiveness while improving the welfare and wellbeing of employees.
Sensitivity Training
This refers to the use of unstructured group interactions to change the current behaviour of
employees. In the unstructured group interactions, employees are provided with the freedom to
give their opinions and to discuss the changes that are to be implemented.
A professional facilitator for these interactions is usually engaged by an organisation. The
facilitator will ensure that all employees are given the opportunity to present their ideas on the
organisations current culture/s and on the change that is to be implemented. In addition, the
facilitator will also raise awareness amongst employees on their positive and negative qualities
and ways of improving their current qualities. The main goal of this training (or unstructured
group interactions) is to increase the employees awareness on their behaviour whilst highlighting
the perception of their colleagues towards them.

Unstructured group interactions are also meant to increase employees understanding on group
process whilst highlighting the significance of improving their individual listening skills.
Employees are also encouraged to note the importance of having an open attitude, as well as
conflict resolution and tolerance skills to better manage individual differences.
Surveys Feedbacks
Feedback from surveys conducted in an organisation is another method that can be utilised to
evaluate the attitude of its members, identify differences in perception among them and narrow
the gap between these differences.
In general, survey questions usually focus on employees perception and attitude on various
topics, which include decision-making practices, the effectiveness of the organisations current
communication process, coordination among units and employees satisfaction pertaining to
work, co-workers and immediate supervisors.
The collected data will be used to identify the current problems of the organisation including
employees grievances. In addition, these data can also be utilised by the management to provide
employees with a clear feedback on other issues that are ambiguous to them. Survey results are
also tools to encourage employees to hold discussions amongst themselves with the hope that via
these discussions, employees can reach a mutual agreement and/or solution to the problems that
are highlighted through the surveys.
Process Consultations
Consultants are engaged by the organisations to provide managers with better feedback and
understanding about themselves, their surroundings and other aspects of the organisation. With
the assistance of a consultant, the manager will gain skills to diagnose management processes that
require change and identify alternative solutions to selected problems and/or misgivings.
Team Building
Team building is a method that uses group interaction activities to increase trust and openness
among members of a team. This is done via goal setting activities, interpersonal development
among team members, role analysis to clarify the responsibilities of each team member and
analysis of the team process. In addition, activities to analyse the main process of the team tasks
are also conducted. These activities would be able to identify current weaknesses whilst
highlighting improved work process techniques that would increase team effectiveness.
Inter Group Development
Inter Group Development refers to the techniques used to bring forth changes in the attitudes and
perceptions of teams towards other teams. For example, employees in the human resource
department would have a stereotypical assumption of employees in the finance department as
being overly prudent when resources are required for the purpose of human resource
development. A negative perception such as this will make coordination efforts between these
departments difficult.