Motivation is the psychological process that arouses and directs behavior. There are three theories that will help us understand the motivation of employees in the workplace:

• Goal-setting theory suggests behavior can be motivated with specific, challenging goals that are obtainable. The key to goal-setting theory is ensuring employees understand what is expected and accept the goals.
• Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s personal ability to do a task. There is a lot to be said to scoring high in this trait. People who are confident about their ability tend to succeed, whereas those who doubt their ability tend to fail.
• Reinforcement theory explains how behavior can be altered by administering positive or negative consequences to actions of employees. Behavior with positive consequences tends to be repeated, and behavior with negative consequences tends not to be repeated.

Step 2 – Post a Response

Respond to the following.

• Take a moment to think about what it would take to motivate you to achieve your goals at work, which theory would you use and why?
• In reflecting on either an experience at work or with a family or friend, how can you motive them to achieve the goals in their lives? Which motivational theory would you use and why?

CASE 4: GOING TO THE X-STREAM

By Roy Smollan, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

Gil Reihana was the chief executive officer of X-Stream, a company he launched in Auckland, New Zealand, six years ago at the age of 25, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in information technology and management. He had inherited $300,000 and had persuaded various family members to invest additional money. X-Stream assembled personal computers for the New Zealand and Australian markets and sold them through a number of chain stores and independent retailers. The company had soon established a reputation for quality hardware, customized products, excellent delivery times and after-sales service.Six months ago it had started a software division, specializing in webpage design and consulting on various applications for the development of electronic business.

Gil was driven by a desire to succeed. He had started working part-time at an electronics retailer at age 16 and in his spare time took apart old computers in his garage to see how they were made. He was extroverted, energetic, and enthusiastic, often arriving at work by 5 a.m. and seldom leaving before 7 p.m. He felt that work should be challenging but fun too. He had initially picked a young senior management team that he thought shared his outlook. A casual, almost irreverent atmosphere developed. However, a poorly organized accounting department led to the replacement of the first accountant after two years. Gil believed that major decisions should be made by consensus and that individuals should then be empowered to implement these decisions in their own way. In the beginning he had met with each staff member in January to discuss with them how happy they were in their jobs, what their ambitions were, and what plans they would like to make for the coming year in terms of their own professional development. These one-on-one meetings became more difficult as the company grew, so senior management team members were eventually delegated the task of conducting reviews with their own staff.

However, Gil was unsure whether every manager was actually performing the reviews or how well they were working. Now he tried to keep in touch with staff by having lunch with them in the cafeteria occasionally. Denise Commins (affectionately known to all staff as Dot Com) was the chief financial officer. She and Gil could not be more different. Denise was quiet, methodical, and very patient. Her superb interpersonal skills complemented a highly analytical mind. At 55, she was considerably older than most of the employees and often showed a strong maternal side. Many of her team (and several from other departments as well) frequently consulted her on work issues and personal problems too. She enjoyed the informal relationships she had built up but found that the technical aspects of her role were becoming less rewarding.

Don Head, the marketing manager, was considered to be a rather ruthless operator, often undercutting the competition in terms of price, and, on more than one occasion, by circulating false rumors of defects in their products. He deemed himself “a ladies’ man” and was known to flirt with a number of the staff. A case of sexual harassment had been dropped after a 22-year-old secretary had been paid a sizeable sum of money. Gil and the members of the senior management team had been furious but Don had denied any wrongdoing, claiming that she had “led him on.” Don had been at university with Gil and they spent many hours after work at a pub around the corner from the factory. With sales rising year after year, his marketing expertise and cunning were regarded as essential to the company’s continuing growth. He had a department of eight whom he had carefully screened as ambitious self-starters. They were required to set and achieve their own targets, as long as they were “big hairy ambitious goals,” a phrase he had heard at a seminar.

Jason Palu, the production manager, was a soft spoken man who had started as a supervisor and who had quickly worked his way to the top position. He set extremely high standards for the production staff and was considered to be a perfectionist. He was highly regarded by his colleagues for his efficiency and reliability. There were very few occasions when an order could not be fulfilled on time and his goal was zero defects. He tended to be autocratic and some people complained that he never listened to them, allocated work hours that did not suit people, and often required staff to work (paid) overtime on very short notice. When one production worker complained, he tersely remarked that “we have a job to carry out and we just have to get on with it. The company depends on us.”

Heather Berkowitz was the chief webpage designer. She had blue hair, a ring through her nose, and she dressed in exotic clothes that had been sourced from a number of secondhand stores. She seldom arrived at work much before 11 a.m. and often left before 4 p.m. She said she did her best work at home, often at night, so why should she “punch the clock like the drones on the assembly line”? Gil and others had often received e-mails from her that had been sent at all hours of the night. She had established a reputation as a top webpage designer, and although her physical appearance did not go down too well with some of the company’s clients (or staff) the quality and quantity of her work was extremely high.

On Tuesdays at 9 a.m. the senior staff met to discuss weekly plans and any significant issues that had arisen. All employees were invited to the meeting, and some accepted this opportunity to attend. Gil trusted all staff to keep confidential matters within the company. He believed that if the organization shared information with employees they would be more likely to support management decisions. The meetings lacked formality and usually started with some jokes, usually at the expense of some members of staff. By and large the jokes were meant to be inoffensive, but were not always taken that way. Nicknames were often assigned to staff, mostly by Don Head, some quite derogatory. You were thought to be a “wet blanket” if you objected. Don seemed oblivious to the unflattering nickname he had been given, preferring to call himself Braveheart, sometimes even signing memos in this fashion.

Although employment agreements referred to a 40-hour week there was an expectation that staff would put in substantially more than that. Only the assembly line workers had to clock in and out, but this, Jason had explained, was due to the overtime that assembly staff were required to work to meet deadlines. The overtime pay was welcomed by some production staff and resented by some employees in other departments who believed they should be entitled to the same benefits. Recently a conflict had arisen between Jason and Don. The company had been developing for some time a top-of-the-range laptop which was scheduled for launching in two weeks’ time. Jason had been urging senior management to delay the introduction of the new X-MH until some glitches had been sorted out. A batch of chips acquired from abroad had contained some defective features. Jason wanted to postpone the new model until these problems had been completely sorted out, a process which he believed would take another month. Don found this to be unacceptable.

A former New Zealand rugby team (All Blacks) captain had been contracted to attend the launch and market the new model on a roadshow that would travel to New Zealand and Australia’s main cities. He would not be available at the time Jason was prepared to release the X-MH. At a heated staff meeting, some of the senior staff backed Don, while others agreed with Jason. Don had urged all of his department to attend the meeting, to present a united front and convey an image of power.

Heather Berkowitz had arrived halfway through the meeting and with a mouthful of muffin proclaimed that there was no rush to get out the “new toy.” The company had plenty of other issues to which it could devote its energy. She said she had met the head of information technology of a chain of fast-food restaurants that wanted to revitalize its website. She maintained she needed three extra staff to get this up and running. She left the meeting five minutes later. Don was fuming at the interruption and demanded that Gil should stick to the original launch date of the X-MH. Gil calmly replied that he understood Don’s frustration but that more consultation was necessary. He said that it would be discussed by the parties concerned during the week and a final decision would be made at the following Tuesday’s staff meeting. Don spent the rest of the day lobbying other members of the senior staff. He offered Dorothy the use of his beach cottage if she backed him and promised to support her on the acquisition of expensive new accounting software. She just laughed and said that she was convinced the senior management team would approve the new software. She also informed Don that a member of her staff had seen one of his sales representatives entering a strip joint the previous week at a time when the sales force had been engaged in a staff meeting.

Other problems had arisen in recent months. Ramesh Patel, the newly recruited head of e-business applications had, with help from a personal contact, developed a software program that would help hotels and restaurants source products and services over the Internet. It was beginning to generate useful revenue. His contact had now billed X-Stream for $25,000 in consultancy fees and development costs. Ramesh claimed that his contact had owed him a favor and that no mention of money had ever been made. X-Stream had referred the matter to its legal counsel. Les Kong, the research and development manager (hardware), had complained to Gil that he could no longer work under Jason Palu. While he considered him a very pleasant man, and a very capable production manager, he could no longer tolerate his strict control style. “You can’t do creative work on command!” was his lament. He loved his job and had spent hours over several weekends developing and refining a new product. There was considerable resentment from Jason and Don about the resources that had been invested in the software division, partly because they did not see the need for the company to diversify and partly because they claimed that money was being diverted from their departments to fund the new ventures.

Ramesh claimed that “a good e-business starts at home—we should open up all our procurement via the Internet.” His suggestion did not go down well with Jason and Don. Gil had been pondering the structure of X-Stream for some time. The old functional structure no longer seemed appropriate. “Silo” mentality and departmental interests seemed to predominate and turf wars took place. The company had grown to 64 staff in New Zealand and 8 in Australia. The ongoing development of new hardware and the introduction of the software side of the business had made management tasks somewhat complicated. He missed the old days when he knew every member of staff. The informal decision-making that was characteristic of the business might have to give way to more formal processes. Yet he did not want to lose the creativity that underpinned its success. Despite the open invitation to attend the management meetings, many staff complained that they never knew what was going on. He expected all senior managers to keep their departmental staff informed of developments. Some had done this admirably, while others had virtually ignored his wishes.

A human resources manager, Alkina Bennelong, had been appointed a month previously and reported to Denise Commins. She had been reviewing the company’s loosely worded job descriptions and person specifications and the recruitment and selection systems and had suggested more professional but more elaborate approaches. She had also suggested the introduction of a performance management system, including feedback from peers, direct reports and outsiders, such as suppliers and customers. “Over my dead body!” was the retort of Don Head. “How can you allow subordinates to tell you how to do your job?” queried Jason Palu. “Can’t see what the fuss is all about,” said Heather Berkowitz. “Everybody keeps telling me what to do anyway, even though they don’t understand the first thing about my job! But it doesn’t worry me.”

Discuss, and examine the implications of the following questions:

• What is your diagnosis of the situation in the company and the accounting department? Use 4 theories from chapters 1-4 in the textbook to diagnose the situation.
• What interventions would you recommend and why?
• For your preferred intervention, develop an action plan

Reference to Organizational Behavior By Mcshane 7th edition and other 3 scholarly references

Required questions should serve as headings. This paper will contain a minimum of four scholarly sources, one reference may be the textbook. 

-12-point Font; New Times Roman; Double Spaced; 1” Margins

-APA Format with regard to citations; Reference page required. APA Running Head or Abstract are not required. 

-Development of Main Points – Quality of Writing 

5 pages including reference page, use (MS Word)

Chapter 15 of our text talks about bucks for behavior.  We’ll be introduced to the notion that the type of behavior we reward is the type of behavior we will get.  Take a moment to contemplate this concept then look at your own or previous employers and the “bucks” you received.  What kind of behavior did the rewards you received prompt in you?  Emma wants to have a discussion on what kinds of behaviors various types of rewards will elicit in CM Tech employees.  

• In your initial discussion post share with your classmates three types of rewards (base pay, overtime pay, profit bonus, sales bonus, project bonuses, piece pay, vacation, the sky is really the limit.) and what kind of behavior you think each type of reward would elicit from CM Tech employees.  Do you think those three would be effective?  Why or why not?  In your responses to your peers expand on your agreement or disagreement with the behaviors the types of rewards would elicit and share any experiences you have had with the reward types the group has shared.
• Support your initial post with at least one scholarly reference.    

Choose one title from the following:

1. Describe and evaluate some of the major factors that have been influencing the supply and demand for food in recent years. What are the main reasons for some of these factors? You could include such topics as food scarcity, food prices and volatility. 

2. Discuss the important aspects of food related to a religion with which you are familiar.

3. Evaluate the factors that influence food habits and culture. 

4. Explain the rationale behind “California cuisine”. Assess the role of different chefs in the development of California cuisine.

5. Present a reasoned argument for and against the fast food industry in the US. You may include the advantages such as economic and social advantages, along with the disadvantages including increases in obesity, types of employment, etc.

6. Should the fast food industry be regulated in a similar manner to the tobacco industry? Explain the factors behind your reasoning.

7. In your view, how sustainable is the so called “western diet”

8. Describe and evaluate Native Americans’ perspectives on life. This may be from a particular tribe or more generally.  You may include such aspects of the environment, health, the family, religion and diet.

9. Describe some of the most important changes that have taken place in wine production in the new and old world over the past three to four decades.

10. Evaluate the major effects that prohibition had for the American wine industry

11. What were the major effects of the Judgment of Paris of 1976 on Californian wines?

12. Taste a sample wine and use the deductive tasting structure explained in class. Comment specifically on clarity, brightness and other color characteristics, along with the nose and the palette. Give details of the grape varity(ies), vintage, producer etc. Does the wine have the characteristics discussed in class? Which types of food would you recommend to compliment/contrast with the wine? (Note you must be of legal age to be able to consume alcohol (21 years old) and to complete this assignment.

13. Explain some of the norms with food and wine pairing and put together a sample menu showing dishes with the wines chosen. Explain your reasoning behind the choice of wines for the food. Are they meant to complement or contrast the food? This could be a classical menu, fusion food or food from your own country.

14. Evaluate one of the new food movements such as FRESH!, slow food, raw food, etc. Amongst other things you may explain the aims and objectives of their organization, the method of getting their message across, the prime prospects for the organization and future direction of the movement.

15. Investigate urban farming. Outline some examples and evaluate the major advantages and disadvantages of urban farming.

16. Read the following article  on farm – to- table available at:http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/07/30/539112692/a-chefs-plea Discuss the major themes in the article on authenticity of farm-to-table, immigrant labor, food affordability etc. You may supplement the reading with your own research.

 

Learning by Doing

Conaty & Charan write that, “Developing talent through experiences expands capability and capacity… This is learning by doing, and no book or classroom teaching can substitute for it.”

• Describe an example of “learning by doing” that has helped you or a colleague to grow professionally.
• What did this experience teach that could not be taught through formal training?
• What part of the experience could have been learned through formal training? 
• Should your organization create formal training to complement its hands-on learning activities? Why or why not?

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates’ initial posts by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.​​

1st Response to this classmate

 RE: Week 4 DiscussionCOLLAPSE

Hello Class and Professor, 

In most organizations, formal training is an essential component of keeping up with new trends and technologies in the industry. However, training may not solve all performance and behavioral problems. Hence, an organization should conduct a training needs assessment before introducing training programs to assess whether training may solve a performance problem. Other than training, learning by experience may be an option. As such, evaluation of learning by doing or experience is essential in informing its effectiveness in complementing formal training. 

Describe an example of “learning by doing” that has helped you or a colleague to grow professionally.

After graduating from university with a bachelor in Statistics, Kelvin joined our local animal feeds manufacturing company as a data analyst. His university training was majorly mathematical and had nothing to do with animal health and nutrition. However, his new role required him to have insights into animal nutrition. He quickly got in touch with the production manager and was occasionally involved in the production team while formulating the food rations. With time, Kelvin developed the skills of accurately preparing feeds’ components such as proteins and minerals while retaining acceptable profit margins. Soon, Kelvin became an essential component of both the production and analytics teams. 

What did this experience teach that could not be taught through formal training?

Although the training was an option in learning animal nutrition, it would take time to cover all aspects. Still, the organization does not use all aspects of animal nutrition modules. Learning by doing was the most suitable learning method as it incorporates relevant theoretical and practical elements of animal nutrition. Nevertheless, training modules hardly existed at the organization to enhance the incorporation of animal health and data analytics. 

What part of the experience could have been learned through formal training? 

Animal health and nutrition training is available at the organization. Employees within the production team regularly participate in formal training relating to trends and new technologies in line with animal feed production. However, Kelvin’s case stood out, as it required integrating skills in feeds formulation, production, and data analytics. 

Should your organization create formal training to complement its hands-on learning activities? Why or why not?

Kelvin’s case depicts a situation where learning through experience may yield significant outcomes. However, it is rational to analyze such a situation in the context of the problem at hand. Organizations should also adopt formal training to complement learning by experience. Learning through experience enhances personal growth and competence aligning with new roles (Fernández-Aráoz et al. 4). Formal training improves collective responsibility for success among current employees and new teammates by sharing experiences, challenges, and insights (Stibitz 3). A blend of learning through experience and formal training enhances performance and employee outcomes.

Fernández-Aráoz, Claudio, Andrew Roscoe, and Kentaro Aramaki. “Turning potential into success: The missing link in leadership development.” Harvard Business Review, vol. 95, no. 6, 2017, pp. 1-9.

Stibitz, Sara. “How to get a new employee up to speed.” Harvard Business Review, 2015, pp. 1‑5.

2nd response to this classmate

 

Dear Professor Dibenedetto and Class

1. Describe an example of “learning by doing” that has helped you or a colleague grow professionally.

I am a long-life learner in all aspects of my life. I have developed a growth mindset. I have improved my life quality and work as observe people doing things that I will not ordinarily do well. One example that stands out in my pursuit of learning by doing is how to do proper workforce planning, which is a combination of HR concepts such as organization design, budgeting, and job pricing. These are competencies that involve knowledge in HR, finance and remuneration, and data analytics. I realized that I do not have a budget to hire an employee who is an expert in workforce planning, as it is a critical skill in the insurance business. Most actuaries do not want to work in HR but were keen to design a workforce tool. I approached our CEO, who agreed that he would second an actuary into HR to develop the tool. I used to watch him with the design and play with the tool until it was executed.

2. What part of the experience could have been learned through formal training?

There is no part in the learning process that I would say required formal training. I am already a seasoned excel spreadsheet practitioner; otherwise, I would have preferred formal training as a beginner. I still believe that 70/20/10 learning is still relevant, where 10% is about formal learning.

3. What did this experience teach that could not be taught through formal training?

I currently do all my annual workforce planning and reporting using the tool, and I have trained others in the team through action learning and are using the tool in all our 33 countries. We used the same tool during COVID-19 to schedule the workforce and understand who can work from home indefinitely (and only come as required), hybrid model, and tracking those on sick leave due to the pandemic. We are also using it to plan for the workforce plan during the recovery phase caused by the pandemic as we want headcount growth not to increase by 2% over the past three years. I would not gain a portfolio of diverse skills in reward, budgeting, and data analytics at the same time if it were not through action learning.

4. Should your organization create formal training to complement its hands-on learning activities? Why or why not? My organization has formal training programs supported by a learning management system. Our main challenge is that learning it is isolated from the day to day work requirements of employees. I believe learning on the job through the 70/20/10 action learning process should be the norm. Learning can be powerful if it is integrated into the daily workflow. As scholar Josh coined, “there is a new paradigm of learning in the flow of work.” The fourth industrial revolution tools such as AI, automation, podcasts, youtube has enabled an environment where lifelong learning is part of the economic imperative. For employees, research now shows that development opportunities have become the second most crucial factor in workplace satisfaction (after the nature of the work itself). In my view, the traditional corporate learning portal (the learning management system) is rarely used (other than for mandatory compliance training), and it often takes many clicks to find what you need. Learning, therefore, ends up being reduced to important-but-not-urgent matters.

References

Dr. John. E. Di Benedetto, H.R.M. ANNUAL, Executive On-Boarding… Successfully Assimilating New Leaders, Week 4 JWI 521. 2020 JWI 521, Week 4 Lecture Notes, 2020