Business Management

1. Consultative decision making would be most appropriate when solving a rising conflict among the members of the organization. In this style of decision making, the leader gathers thoughts and suggestions from various people and gets the best possible solutions from the members hence making the final decision fair to all the involved parties since decisions were derived from their fellow members (Montana & Charnov, 2008). Additionally, consultative decision style would be a good choice when solving matters affecting a group of individuals. In this case, views are obtained collectively through discussion, collaboration and questioning hence the final decision making is based on a broader scope of information with enough clarity for decision making.
2. Group decision making would be most appropriate in an organisation when planning for a range of activities within the organization. This is important because a group is capable of generating a broader number of high quality alternatives than a single individual (Montana & Charnov, 2008). With such alternatives, the group will ultimately attain a superior solution than a single individual.
3. There are instances where managers are ethically obligated to step in a self managed work team regardless of social loafing. In case the organizational performance is low, the manager has to step in since it is his responsibility to control the general performance of the organization (Montana & Charnov, 2008). The manager has to step in case there is a problem beyond the capacity of the team members.
4. Ambiguity can be defined as a state of uncertainty, conflicting directions, unpredictability and having multiple demands. There are instances where ambiguity is important and applicable to the organization. In advertising the organizational products, generalized statements are avoided. Instead, the organization aims to give an impacting message that highlights things to make the organizational products and brand appear stronger than others. Therefore ambiguity may be used as a language to promote the products of the organization.
5. Here are some of the things a manager can do to prevent the loss of good employees due to hostility of some customers. As a manager, I can tactfully talk to the disgruntled customers against their actions towards the employees by telling them that the employee would only be loyal to them if they are also loyal to the employees (Montana & Charnov, 2008). By doing so, the customers may change their actions towards the employees. In some cases, you can let the customer go to protect the good employee.
6. Organizational behavior refers to the human behavior within and towards the organization. As a business owner, I can help my managers understand the importance of organizational behavior. Firstly, I will define the organizational culture, rules, experiences and behavioral expectations and how they can influence those within the organization (Montana & Charnov, 2008). These will help them to work as per the culture of the organization and for the better mate of all in the organization.
7. Autocratic leadership refers to a style of leadership where the leader dictates and controls all decisions without meaningful participation of the subordinates (Klein, 2002). This style of leadership would be effective when a high expert is training the subordinates on a specific task where the subordinates are inexperienced. The leader does not need any supplementation from the subordinates due to their inexperience.
8. Charismatic leadership refers to a style of leadership where one or more individuals seen as inspiring are granted the power to provide guidance to the organization that result into dramatic changes and extraordinary performance levels (Klein, 2002). Charismatic leaders are often people with a clear vision and experience in particular fields. Examples of such leaders are found in religious institutions, social and political movements whereby they are relied on to inspire others the followers.
9. Span of control can be defined as the number of subordinates being controlled or supervised by a particular manager (Klein, 2002). The span of control of a given manager in an organization determines the size of the organization. Span of control can be determined by the following factors; nature of work done by subordinates, the increase in the complexity of work calls for more managerial attention hence reducing span of control. The capability of subordinates, knowledgeable subordinates require less supervision hence increasing span of control. Capability of the manager, a more experienced manager is capable of supervising more subordinates hence increasing the span of control.
10. Theory X managers assume that individuals generally do not like work, irresponsible and need close supervision in order to do their work whereas theory Y managers assume that individuals are generally productive, creative and able exercise self control in their work (Montana & Charnov, 2008). Therefore, theory X managers will always supervise their employees closely based on the stated assumption whereas theory Y managers will always act in a way that communicates trust in employees with less strict supervision.
11. Locus of control refers to the degree to which people perceive that the outcomes of events result from individual behaviors or external forces to themselves. Locus of control makes an individual believe that there is always a cause for the occurrence of events and for this reason it affects one’s ethical behavior to work towards achieving positive outcomes.
12. A formal organization consists of two or more persons coming together to work with an aim to achieve common objective. It has a set of rules and regulations governing it. An example is a company, a bank, a college, a school, etc (Katzenbach & Inayat-Khan, 2010). Whereas, informal organization refers to an arrangement of personal and social relationship within a formal organization. It does not have a set of rules to be followed. An informal organization consists of people in the formal organization working together, eating together, travelling together, etc.
13. As a manager, in a scenario where other employees perform higher than others, motivation will serve best (Montana & Charnov, 2008). This is a way of recognizing hardworking employees for their good work done. By doing this, the rest of the employees will love to be treated the same hence increasing their efforts to work.
14. In a scenario where employees want to quit job as a result of harsh supervision, I would have a joint talk with the employee together with the supervisor to analyze the cause of dissatisfaction. In the course of the talk, I will educate Bubba on the dangers of too much supervision to the employees. By doing so, the employees will realize their need to work even without strict supervision and Bubba will also know the harm of being strict to the workers (Klein, 2002).
15. Unethical behaviors among employees are always not acceptable regardless of whether they benefit the organization or they are not life threatening. This is because these behaviors are against the set standards of business operation and its impact can be felt negatively at some point (Klein, 2002). Therefore unethical behavior should be completely unaccepted.

 

References

Klein, S. (2002). Ethical business leadership: Balancing theory and practice. New York [u.a.: Lang.

Montana, P. J., & Charnov, B. H. (2008). Management. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series.

Katzenbach, J. R., & Inayat-Khan, Z. (2010). Leading outside the lines: How to mobilize the (in)formal organization, energize your team, and get better results. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.