Enterprise Week

Introduction

The enterprise event was during the guided learning week, therefore I was able to attend two of them events. The first activity I attended was “PR, Marketing and Media in the digital age” which took place at the Buck New University High Wycombe campus. The second activity was “It’s not all about making money” and that activity took place at Bucks New University Uxbridge campus. Both of them activities started at 12.00 and lasted till 13.00. They tried to stick to their time as both those activities ended earlier then expected, which is reasonable then running late. 

The purpose of “PR, Marketing and Media in digital age” activity was  to show us that they are bringing new techniques and challenging ideas together to create marketing campaigns that provide the reach and scope that traditional PR can’t match. They have mentioned that they have 20 million users and also are the 5^th in technology, but the 48^th in the whole of UK. It has been 9 years since they have started and they employee around 58 employers.

The purpose of “It’s not all about making money” was to let the people know who attended that event that work can also be done without making money. They spoke about charities and some other companies, for those who are willing to do voluntary work. They were motivating young aged people to join those sorts of charities and companies.

What you did and what benefited you

On the “PR, Marketing and Media in digital age” event was all theory based as we didn’t get to do any sort of activities. From this event I got more knowledge about the social Media, Social Network, Communication as well as PR.

“It’s not all about making money” event was interesting, as it was an unusual and was keen to attend that event I found it better than the other one. On this event we were also severed with refreshments and also got some opportunity to talk to other attendees about topics which we were interested in. I found that this event was really useful for me and also encouraged me to take part in charities and some other company where I could do voluntary work. 

Which of the two activities was more successful?

As I have mentioned before I was very keen and was looking forward to attend “It’s not all about making money” event and also found it interesting, I found that it was the success one out of them. It inspired me and also gave me whole lot of knowledge about the charities and other similar companies which are out there for young people to do voluntary work. Young people think that voluntary work is ‘boring’ and ‘not cool’, but once they go onto events like this, they would get the idea of what it is and how it can motivate people to work for those organisations. I think it is a very useful event to me and I would mind going to other similar events. They have proved that “it’s not all about making money.

Improvements

I think that the “PR, marketing and media in the digital age” event was little unexciting, as they didn’t have anything special there. They could have had activities, refreshments or some other sorts of fun stuff like quizzes, which could have made the attendees more excited. I also think that they could have advertised those events a little more as many of my friends didn’t even get to know those events were taking place. The advertising is meant for all the events which took place, as it was just those two which people didn’t get to know.

Looking forward to attend more of those events.

Conflict

Definition

Conflicts means when an issue arises within two members or more within an organisation or anywhere else, whereas the two different members have different point of views of the matter and this could cause a disagreement or an argument. Conflicts are important within an organisation, as it should be controlled of not happening as it could affect the workforce productivity.

Conflict within a Group

We had Group assignment of four people, which we had to hand in and it was marked as a whole assignment and not individual part. Therefore we all tried to do our best, whereas one of the girl in our group didn’t bother at all. We had few meeting to talk about it, then also sat down together in the library and tried to our work helping each other. We kept calling here, texting her even sending her messages on facebook and email. All we knew was that she was ignoring us and the work. It wasn’t fair on us, because we put our head down and did work. Just like everyone else would, we wouldn’t want to lose marks on it because her part was missing. She didn’t turn up to classes either, but the day before we had to hand in the work she tried contacting us. We were all annoyed and wanted to talk to her about it. The next day she turned up with half of the work done and as we worked hard to get a good grade we were obviously angry. This caused a conflict at that point, whereas she tried to give us excuses. After a while we realised that we are just loosing time on it, therefore helped her out to add some more information on it and handed in the work. We didn’t get the expected result and since then we haven’t done any groups work with her again.

French and Raven’s Five forms of Power

The most well know power was performed by social psychologist John French and Bertram Raven in 1959. The powers they have identified are as follows:

§   Coercive Power- this is factor where the manager or leader has the ability to punish another for non compliance. This power is authorised to those who are fully responsible or is the manager or leader. This sort of power is important for the de-motivated staff, as they would work rather than being punished.

§   Reward Power- Here how holds this power can control the provision of reward and benefits, which means that a person is able to compensate another for compliance. This sort of Power has the manager, as he can promote an employee or appraise them for a good job they have done. This will motivate the employees to achieve more set goals in order to be rewarded. 

§   Expert Power- This power is based upon the employees experience, skills and knowledge. It is very useful within an organisation, as they would be able to guide them. Example in a construction firm, the builders wouldn't be able to build anything without the engineer being there or telling them what to build.

§   Legitimate Power- This is the highest power on the hierarchy, which means that they have the right or lawful power for everything within the Organisation. The people who are on those positions are mostly the Manager. Even bigger people than them would be the queen or the president, as they have the whole country under their power.

§   Referent Power- This power is the respect they have for a well off person such as the manager or leader, but the better their image is the more power they will have. Some also have a respect due to esteem, personal character and reputation.

(http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_56.htm. Last accessed 22nd Jan 2011)

Strategies to Overcome Conflict at work

However there are many strategies that organisations can use to overcome conflicts at work, such equal payment. Employee within the same area of same job role should all be paid equally, which reduces the chances of having conflicts at work. Disciplinary policy can be a very useful policy within organisations or business, as that makes sure the employee’s are all aware of the policy and not misuse the policy. Communication within the organisations are very important, as without communications they wouldn’t be able to express themselves and wouldn’t be able socialise and get to know other colleague. Therefore the organisations and other business should make sure they have the communications, consultant and involvement in decision making is important. Making sure the workers know about the goal and objective is also important, because every individual of them should know what they working towards and have a clear knowledge about it.

The Final strategy to overcome conflict at work is by ensuring that employees have the chance to air complaints and have complaint policy and procedures, so it then can be deal with a manner.

Conflict within organisation can cause a negative effect on the overall performance. This can demonstrate a negative effect on the productivity in workforce, which than effects the sales and profit. Therefore being aware of all of possible conflict that can cause problem and have a solution for it makes the business success.

Reference:

Anon. (No Date). French and Raven's Five Forms of Power. Available: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_56.htm. Last accessed 22nd Jan 2011.

Leadership

Leadership & Management

There are many people who get confused between leadership and management as they both have many differences even though they might sound similar. A Leader is there to motivate his group or follow them by inspiring them and encouraging them with their job and they also generate ideas towards the business or organisation. The leaders job is to guide an individual or as a group toward the success. They main Duties are to motivate & inspire, establish a direction, encourage change, align people with a vision, etc. (Kottor, 1990).

Whereas a mangers role is to plan well before he or she gets the job done on time or as soon as possible and also solving issues concerning in a business or organisation. The manager is also responsible to supervise employees as well as should be aware of what is happening at present. Their main duties are to control &  solve problems, plan budget, organise things and encourage order and predictability (Kotter, 1990). 

“Management can be taught. Leadership cannot be taught or learned, it must be earned.” (http://www.thepracticeofleadership.net/2008/06/08/the-essential-difference-between-leadership-and-management/)

Managerial Grid by Blake and Mouton

Leadership and Management’s difference can be seen on the managerial grid, which was created by Blake and Mouton in 1964. The different styles of management have been identified on the managerial grid, which makes it easier for people to understand. This grid is based on two behavioural dimensions which are as follows

§   Concern for people- For which the leaders considers the need of team members and their interests, in order to develop when it comes to deciding how to complete a set task. 

§   Concern for production- Here the leader highlights concrete objectives, in order to complete a task successful and being organised to help the firm or organisation increase its profit and sales.

This table as you can see shows a range of managing styles, which was created by Blake and Mouton. This table is being used by identifying the concern for production and concerning for people. Leadership is based on two different behavioural features which can be shown on the grid.

§   Impoverished- being on this part of the grid shows that there is less or even very little concern for both production as well as people. This shows that there isn’t any sort of commitment towards it. This usually happens when the leader is inactive and therefore isn’t able to motivate the team to success. 

§   Country Club- this part of the grid shows that there is a higher concern for people, but therefore very little concern for production. These sort of Leaders Just care about the happiness and satisfying of the team.

§   Middle of the Road- The leader who is middle of the road shows that he wants to be on the safe side. This shows that the leader concerns both part equally.

§  Produce or Perish- however being on this part of the grid shows that the leader is more concern about the production and being extremely not concerned about people. These sorts of leaders are strict and believe discipline is important to success.

§   Team Leader- now this is the leader who achieves the highest as he is concerned a lot on both production as well as in people. This shows that the team work has been motivated (MindTools, No Date)


Co-Operative
I believe in Co-operative, being a sale assistant that the manager was only around the range of middle of the road if possible even below that. this is because the managers have been changing few times and the latest manager, he is totally new to Co-operative and doesn't motivate us in any sort of way, because he needed training himself. He wasn't able to work hard as we did or wasn't even able to organise or sort problems out. This used to be pretty annoying, because some other colleagues took that as an advantage and drop back with their work, whereas they used to be hard working. This is since the Manager wasn't able to manage and organise in a way that everyone did equal work. Therefore I would place him in the middle of the road on the grid.

Michael Jackson
I believe Michael Jackson was a great leader, because he has touched so man people or fans with his songs all over the world. He was not an actual leader directly to anyone guiding, but he was inside many people's hearts and I believe he was a great leader He changed the way music industry looked, sounded and felt to us and also inspired us into dance. He showed us the culture of music to us and I believe he has inspired us with his life. Michael Jackson had masses of followers all over  world. Even in the next Generations, Michael Jackson will be the leader.

Conclusion
Overall I enjoyed the topic leadership, as I am now able to identify the difference between management and leadership without struggling. Again I got to say that Michael Jackson was a true leader, with which ha inspired music culture to us people. A Leader's aim is to motivate, inspire and also lead, which Michael Jackson did.




Reference:


Anon. (No Date). Blake Mouton Managerial Grid. Available: http://www. mindtools.com/pages/articles/newLDR_73.htm. Last accessed 17th Jan 2011.

Bea Fields (2009). Michael Jackson: The King of Pop But Also A Global Leader. Available: http://beafields,com/2009/06/michael-jackson-the-king-of-pop-but-also-a-global-leader/. Last accessed 17th Jan 2011.

GEORGE AMBLER. (2008). The essential difference between Leadership and Management. Available:http://www.thepracticeofleadership.net/2008/06/08/the-essential-diffenece-beween-leadership-and-management/. Last accessed 17th Jan 2011

Organisation Culture

Definition

Organisation Culture is the structure of understanding of behaviour of a large group with same values, beliefs, attitude and expectations. It also includes the behaviour of group of people about what they think, say, do, and also they believes such as religion, language, and attitudes that compose a persistent perspective for everything we carry out and believe in an organisation (Hofstede G. 1997).

Co-Operative

There are many Organisations that have visible aspects of culture in their organisation, but I have chosen Co-Operative, as I believe that they are also one of the largest mutual leading retailers in the United Kingdom. The Co-Operative has got many visible aspects of culture such as their uniform which represents their organisations and in addition to their logo, which shows out in the public and is being recognized. Being part of the Membership with the Co-Operative is also a visible factor as the customer are always being reminded about excellent customer servicers over and above the unique products and services they offer to them. They also produce their own products and services, which is a major visible factor as it makes the organisation stand out its uniqueness. These are the main visible aspects, which I was able to find out about the organisation.

Handy Theory

Handy came up with four different types of organisational culture which include:

§         Power Culture- This culture describes an individual being a central power, whereas the individual has to follow with business decisions. Usually power cultures exist in small firms, where they would have less rules and regulation to follow, because they rely on communication skills, trust and also empathy to make it effective. For the individual who will be responsible and who will be the central power, wouldn’t have any difficulties as there wouldn’t be anyone to have a disagreement with any decisions they make. Nevertheless it can de-motivate some staff as they wouldn’t want to work under their condition. 

§   Role Culture- This is different to the culture above as it has many rules to be obeyed within the organisation. Organisation that work in a role culture feel truly and have the hope that their product or services is the most excellent. Each employee of an organisation would also have different roles, as a result each individual would be working and concentrating in their task, as time goes by they would be more experienced in a certain task. These sorts of Cultures would be used in larger firms.

§   Task Culture- in Task cultures the employees as individual or as a team would have a deadline to complete a given task in a certain area. This culture applies where some firms work or have to complete a project on a given date. This could apply in organisation such as Accountancy firm, for which they would have to finish the Taxation in a year within a date.

§   Peron Culture- This type of Culture mostly in firms or organisation where they are self employed, whereas they can make their own decision such as when they would like to work and how many hours they wish to work. This could be business such as charity where they wouldn’t make any sort of profit, but are the centre of the business.

Problems of trying to classify Culture

Nevertheless organisations and business have their own unique way of representing cultures and don’t have to follow Handy’s term. There are many more cultures that organisations use such as environment, leadership, technology, etc. Therefore it is difficult to apply these cultures into an organisation and to differentiate. This depends on an individual regarding to their job role. If for example salesman or sales assistant working at Tesco’s would like to work as an individual being a central power, which wouldn’t work out as the Power Culture can’t be applied on his case. Whereas he likes working in groups or team in certain sections or shifts, the Task culture could be applied for him.

Therefore it is difficult to just distinguish between those four types of cultures mentioned above.

Conclusion

However, I believe Culture is very important within an organisation, but having only four types of culture is very difficult to choose or even apply them on certain organisation as they might not apply at all. If other cultures make any organisation successful, it is important they work towards it, because it has got a huge effect on the decision making, motivating, etc. From the culture Lecture and now the Report research I have made, it brought a wider idea of how culture is being applied in organisations, which will help me with my future plans and career.

Reference:

Co-operative Group Limited. (online). Our Business. Available: http://www.co-operative.coop/corporate/aboutus/ourbusinesses/. Lasy accessed 7th Jan 2011

Hofstede, G. (1997). Cultures and Organizations. Available: http://www.tamu.edu/classes/cosc/choudhury/culture.html. Last accessed 6th Jan 2011

Lindsay Sherwin. (2009). Culture - Handy. Available: http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_overview/05_culture_handy.htm. Last accessed 6th Jan 2011

Improving Staff Performance

A business needs to have motivation in order to improve staff performance.  Managing the employee’s performance on a daily basis is the solution to a successful business. In order to have a success business it is important that an individual or a team has a set goal to achieve also make sure that they are aware of their task, which should be explained well and cleared their doubts. Providing them with up to date feedback is also encouraging the staffs, which makes them clear about what exactly they are working towards and how to archive a set goal. It all depends on the Manager how he handles his staff to improve their performance.

Content theory

A content theory describes the motivation, which explains the need of satisfaction, individual’s goals and also their strengths. There are motivation theorists and main theorists of them are (Isaac Ferguson, 2005):

§   Abraham Maslow- Hierarchy

§   Frederick Herzberg- Two factor theory

§   Clayton Alderfer

§   David McClelland

Process theory

The process theory is there to describe an individual’s motivation. There are four divisions in the process theory. The main headings of process theories are as follows (Isaac Ferguson, 2005):

§         Expectancy theory- People would behave regards to what they expect as a result in their behaviour, which means that they would work toward an aimed goal.

§         Equity theory­- This is when people gain job satisfaction and motivation by comparing their effort and income with those of the other people in same or other organisation.

§   Goal theory- This theory works in a way by setting goals to themselves or team and working toward achieving their goals.

§   Attribution theory- It is a social physiological theory, which allows the person to explain how people link actions and emotions to certain causes.

Tesco

One of the most leading supermarkets in the United Kingdom as well as worldwide is Tesco. The reasons for Tesco’s success are the motivated staff working for Tesco as they play a big role. They have provided their staff with motivation and commitment as it is the important key for the growth of the company and also succeeding in market. Tesco requires staffs that are motivated, flexible, well-trained and those who are able to identify customers requirements.

As an employee there are expectations too, because they would want to be treated well and fair and also would like to join a business which is able to meet their expectations.

The business should be able to treat their employees with trust and respect their employee in order to motivate them to work well and result in a more productive workforce. They also make their employees work with their interest in each individuals role, as they have provide staff parties such as Christmas dinner, Staff discount, Flexible working hours, promotions, bonuses, company cars if required for certain roles and also providing them with training (“why join Tesco”, 2009)

They are all main factors of motivating their employees as it allows the employees be part of the business, since they obtain training and also get the opportunity to work in other areas of the business to expand their skills and knowledge. Flexible working hours and being able to swap shifts with their colleague also allows their staff to socialise outside their work life as well as within their work too. The colleagues get to know more each other and also would be able to help each other in certain situation. This again motivates Tesco staff to work in order to achieve their ambitions.  

Tesco using Process theory

From my point of view I believe that the process theory they have used for their business to be success is the goal theory. As for every individual employee, there is a set goal for them to accomplish, whereas they are being motivated with many different types of support from their business. As far as I know and researched, there is a leader for every individual to set a certain goal to gain by a set amount, which leads the employee work towards it. Therefore it shows clearly that they have used the goal theory in their business. Expectancy theory is also being used by Tesco to motivate their staff. The employees have the chances to be promoted if they work dedicated, therefore it is up to them and how they behave towards it if they wanted to obtain such a role. As a result you can see that expectancy theory is also being used within their business.

Conclusion

In conclusion of this report, I can now identify clearly the difference between content and process theory and would be able to apply them on a business that uses it. Motivation is important within a business or Organisation in order to be successful and also have employees who enjoy their role at their work place. There are many organisations which still haven’t taken into account that motivation is important and failing to meet their standard.

Reference:

Anon. (2009). Why join Tesco. Available: http://www.tesco-careers.com/home/working/why-join-tesco. Last accessed 2nd Jan 2011.

Anon. (No Date). Tesco. Available: http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-study--motivational-theory-in-practice-at-tesco--132-396-1.php. Last accessed 2nd Jan 2011.

Isaac Ferguson. (2000). Content Theories of Motivation: McGregor, ERG, Herzberg, and McClelland. Available: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/foundations_of_psychology/43811. Last accessed 2nd Jan 2011.

Isaac Ferguson. (2000). Content Theories of Motivation: McGregor, ERG, Herzberg, and McClelland. Available: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/foundations_of_psychology/41616. Last accessed 2nd Jan 2011.

Motivation

Definition

Motivation is a decision making process what makes an individual want to work, through which the individual chooses the desired outcomes and sets the behaviour appropriate to them. This is because motivation provides an individual the encouragement and drive to accomplish their set tasks. Motivation can have both positive aspects as well as negative aspects, which could mean that an individual is motivated to do a certain task as well as motivated to avoid a task.

There are number of different types of plan to motivate an individual or a team to achieve their certain goal, such as rewards, bonus, pay rise, holiday’s or staff discount.

Abraham Maslow

Alternatively there are many motivational theories, who have established the common needs that everyone has, which businesses and organisations need or can use to improve on their employee performance. The well known motivational theories are Clayton Alderfer, Frederick Herzberg and Abraham Harold Maslow. Personally I believe Abraham Harold Maslow’s theory plays an impact in my life as he defines human’s survival needs. He believed that five main stages on his hierarchy were the main stages that motivated people. The five stages of Maslow’s hierarchy that are needed in order to be motivated are as follows:

§  Physiological needs- This is the basic need in an individual’s working life as without the need of physiological need being there, it would be difficult for a business to motivate their employees to perform well. This stage makes sure that the condition of an individual is fine such as clean air, water, food, shelter, warmth, sex and sleep.

§   Safety needs- The safety needs are important for an individual to survive, but they can’t meet this stage without being fully met by the previous stage. The safety needs includes the need for safety and security, protection, order, law, limits and ability.

§   Social needs- This need should be important within an organisation to build up a good relationship within the staff in the organisation. The business or organisation should organise social activities for the staff for a night out or even a dinner, which gives the staffs a chance to get to know each other, understand and respect each other’s, also a relaxing time for the staff.

§   Esteem needs- Is when the employee or staff is being recognised for the work they do, to encourage the others as well as the person who has achieved their goal. This is how an individual’s talents, ability, and skills will be reviewed

§   Self- Actualizing needs- This is the highest motivation on Maslow’s hierarchy. When someone reaches that level on the hierarchy it means that the individual is self aware and able to work under their own condition without being told by anyone what they need to achieve or complete. (Kendra Cherry, 2005)

Each stages of the hierarchy can only be accomplished once the lower level of need has been met fully.  Therefore it is important that they start from the basic need to be motivated and follow on to the next stages in order to complete their set task successful.

Motivation to start a Degree Course

My motivation to start a degree in Accounting and Finance has many reasons. Since I was in primary school in Germany, I enjoyed Mathematics and my teacher used to encourage me, therefore always wanted to do something within that field. When I moved onto Secondary school, I still enjoyed mathematics and had some sort of ideas about my future and was looking towards engineering. After I have done my GCSE’s and started my A-levels, I chose Business studies, Accounting, ICT, Maths and German. I enjoyed my subject although it was difficult.

I like working with numbers, problem solving and again IT has inspired me in choosing this degree. That’s not about it, because my family and friends play a big role as well. My granddad was an accountant that is what made my decision even stronger and was also encouraged by family members as I have the ambitions which my granddad had. Also my A-level teacher was very supportive with choosing my degree course, which has made me confident in my future plans. My future ambition being a educated, qualified, experienced and an independent accountancy woman has also motivated towards my decision. Being a degree holder and working in a well qualified job is my objective in future, also earning a good amount of money to be happy with family, friend and also enjoy our life.

As you can see Maslow’s hierarchy relates towards my motivation as physiological, safety, and social plays a huge role.

De-motivation

There have been many ups and downs throughout my school and college life, when at some point I get de-motivated and drop my ambition of achieving a goal. This has happened due to how I was treated in school or the grades I achieved for what I was expecting much better.  Whilst I was doing A-level ICT which was coursework based subject, I used to work hard and always made sure I handed in my work on time and also hand it in with full satisfaction, but my teacher never appreciated me for it or encouraged me. He would give the work back marked and wouldn’t find the time for me to explain doubts I had, whereas he stayed behind for those who fall behind and hardly attend the lesson. I was in a class with few other friends I knew from my school in AS class, which was a motivation for us in working as a group and meeting the deadlines. In my A2 ICT class he has moved me into another class, whereas everyone else got to stay together and also in my A2 class we were not allowed to sit next to anyone. The whole year I was isolated which has caused problem as I couldn’t discuss the work with anyone else and he couldn’t find the time to give me feedback. This de-motivated me as I worked harder than anybody else and still didn’t get the help I wanted and wasn’t appreciated for what I done. This then made me fall behind and also didn’t archive the grade I was expecting.

This cause of de-motivation is related to Maslow’s Hierarchy as I was aiming for Social and Esteem needs. I couldn’t reach those levels as from beginning I was treated well and encouraged to do well.

Conclusion

Motivation is very important in our life’s not just in work or school life, this is important in our family life’s too. Without having a goal or ambition we wouldn’t be able to move on to another stage. Everyone has their different ways of being motivated in order to meet their goals.  From what I have learned and researched I believe that Maslow’s theory and hierarchy applies in my life, as I believe that I wouldn’t be able to move on to the next stage without being fully satisfied on the first stage of the hierarchy. 

Reference:

Kendra Cherry. (2010). Hierarchy of Needs. Available: http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm. Last accessed 27th Dec 2010.

Tutor2u Website. Motivation Theories [online] Available from:http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/people_motivation_theories.htm.Last Accessed on 28th December 2010]

ATHERTON J S (2010) Learning and Teaching; Motivation [On-line] UK: Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/motivation.htm Accessed: 28th December 2010