Organizational Behavior Essay Example for Free

Organizational Behavior Essay Organizational behavior is the topic and title for many MBA classes and students may not realize the contributing disciplines to OB. An organization can range from the micro to macro level; from youth sports teams, to corporations, and up to state actors(government). Behavior in an organization may be viewed as an individual’s response to his or her environment (internal locus of control), which such disciplines as psychology and anthropology might examine. As well, the type of group culture may be studied by sociologists and the feedback loop of person and group by social psychologists. Out into the external locus of control completely in terms of OB is political science, which may deal with the economy and/or government structure of different institutions and bureaucracies. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is studied extensively in organizations as a compliment to what could be considered â€Å"academic intelligence†. Psychology takes the lead on the subject of EI and understanding EI in the workplace could help to enhance employee performance and decipher the best fit for an individual within an organization. Emotional intelligence (EI) is still a relatively young developmental topic, is gaining in popularity and being marketed to human resource professionals, counseling clinicians, and organizational behavior and development consultants† (Gale Group, August 2003, p. 28). Intelligence, whether it be emotional or â€Å"actual† is as important to understand as the socio-cultural roots of employees within organizations. With such a diverse global workplace, anthropologists need to understand the cultures represented in corporations and ways to best understand the dynamics with other cultures for the benefit of each employee and work group. We are currently experiencing a resurgence of racial antipathy in the U. S. This is clear in various forms of racial oppression and overt acts of racial hostility in communities, in schools and universities, and in the workplace. We can expect these hateful episodes to escalate further if the economy continues to worsen (Eitzen, April 1992, p. 587). This article, anthropological in scope, points to the fact that with problems with the economy, will come problems with power and conflict. Problems with loyalty and trust can, also, ensue in situations were conflict is abundant. Social Psychology deals with, such things as appraisal of self in organizations as well as â€Å"moral development, the group serving bias, and the effect of inducing feelings of hypocrisy on subsequent behavior change† (Seijts Latham, August 2003, p. 233). Social Psychologists, also have a unique way of blending with what is deemed industrial/organizational psychology. Putting all these subfields of psychology and internal process testing at that locus of control is all beneficial to organizational behavior. Trust is a key element of the work of Sociologist Georg Simmel, and his symbolic interactionism approach to relationships. Trust is argued in the article cited below as a sociological, but not psychological phenomenon. Without trust there would be no loyalty to organizations and is most important to understand in organizational behavior. Students of sociological trust’s main motivation is to present trust as a sociological, rather than psychological phenomenon†¦Trust is a functional alternative to rational prediction for the reduction of complexity. Indeed, trust succeeds where rational prediction alone would fail, because to trust is to live as if certain rationally possible futures would not occur. Thus, trust reduces complexity far more quickly, economically, and thoroughly than does prediction (Mollering, 2001, p. 410). Although conflict theory and structural functionalist schools do deal with competition and bureaucracy in organizational behavior, this symbolic interactionist school view is of great importance. Of what greater importance is trust? Finally, political science deals with the most external factors in an organization and with organizational behavior. Although sociological conflict theory overlaps with political science. Economics and political stability are an actor outside of the organization and should be treated as such. Competitive advantage is a part of the political landscape and can be viewed on an individual level with competition with co-workers, as well. Competitive advantage was vested in the mass production process, with factories able to produce large numbers of goods at the lowest price using human labour to undertake repetitive operations that could not be done mechanically† (Business and Management Practices, January 2004, p. 85). All disciplines have something to contribute to organizational behavior studies. The previously mentioned, as well as biology, economics, theology, philosophy, and more. It is one of the rare areas of study that can boast this possibility and should be further explored to continue into a successful 21st global century.

Culture Conflicts: Native Americans versus the White Man :: Racial Relations, Cultural Differences

People had already been living in the America long before the white man ever â€Å"discovered† it. These people were known as the Native Americans. They had lived peacefully on the land, for hundred of years till the early 1800s when white settlers began their move towards the West. As these white settler came upon the Native Americans they brought with them unwavering beliefs that would end up causing great conflicts with the Native people, who had their own way set of values. It was clear that the white man and the Native Americans could not live among each other peacefully for their values and culture were much too different. The Native Americans who occupied America before any white settlers ever reached the shores â€Å"covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell paved floor† (1). These Native people were one with nature and the Great Spirit was all around them. They were accustom to their way of life and lived peacefully. All they wish was to live on their land and continue the traditions of their people. When the white settler came upon their land the values of the Native people were challenged, for the white settlers had nothing in common and believe that it was their duty to assimilate the Native Americans to the white way of life. However the Native Americans strongly regarded their way of live. In their culture the order of nature, was vastly important. It was understood that there was an order to which nature worked and because of this they were tied to the land. They could not comprehend how the whites could â€Å"wander far from the graves of [their] ancestors and seemingly without regret† (Chief Joseph 2). The white settlers came to America and immediately started to conquer the land, without feeling any shame. To the Native Americans that was shocking, for they believed that â€Å"even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead...[had] memories of stirring events connected with the lives of [their] people† (Chief Joseph 3). They did not understand how someone could forget their ancestors, and fight nature in such a way that there is room for nobody but themselves. All the same though the white settlers could not see that what they were doing as wrong. They had come to the West to begin a n ew chapter in life, and if the Native Americans could not accept this, then they had to be dealt with.

Manufacturing and Packaging Line

CASE ANALYSIS MEMO – SESSION 06 Keurig 2012. 11. 07 Entrepreneurial Management Dr. Sean M. Hackett Waseda Business School, MBA Fall, 2012 Panjapol wariratanaroj (pe)– #35112329-5 JOanna chen (joanna)– #35112318-7 li wei– #35122327-5 kemal SADULLAYEV (kemal)– #35129403-1 Gaetano d’imprima (tano)– #35129755-8 I. Identify/Define the Key Issues/Situation Analysis A. Key issues that will impact Keurig to survive, thrive and grow †¢ Strong bargaining power from a supplier: MTS, being the only supplier for the K-Cup packaging line, has a control over the machine.Having no substitution plan in place, Keurig is forced to follow MTS’s request to fulfill the K-Cup manufacturing capacity. †¢ Difficult to ‘reverse engineer’ the manufacturing technology: despite the alternatives of having new K-Cup suppliers, there is no assurance that the new suppliers could complete the project on-time and on-budget as the learning cu rve is hard to be built at an initial stage. †¢ Delays in the full roll-out of the new coffee brewing system: delays in manufacturing lines (both K-Cup’s production and brewing machines) caused a subsequent delay in distributing goods to consumers.Thus, it created risk of losing market opportunity to other competitors. B. Critical Success Factors †¢ Quality of the final product: despite marketing efforts and distribution channels, if either the final product (coffee) tastes bad or the brewer does not perform well, it can’t be sold. †¢ Consistent and sufficient funding prior to the product launch: in order to create an impact to the coffee market, the large amount of funding is required to support the operations. Ability to bring a brewer’s price down in a consumer segment while keeping the good quality product: considering the high quality coffees, people are more likely to purchase a less expensive household version especially at a supermarket or grocery, which has the highest percentage for buying locations. II. Mobilize Strategic Choices A. Choice 1 – Work with multiple packaging line manufacturers at the same time and take advantage of the brewer that would take Keurig more seriously – Pilla. 1. Significance of choice 1 †¢ The supplier in less favorable financial situations is more likely to pay attention to Keurig’s needs.In this case, Pilla also possesses the capability to support the brewer production. †¢ Keurig can prepare Pilgrim and Quantum for future production while MTS is currently manufacturing the K-Cup packaging lines. This will cover the delay time needed by Pilgrim and Quantum to deliver future productions. †¢ More risk averse, multiple suppliers will decrease Keurig’s dependency on suppliers. Delivery time and costs can be more efficiently managed. Also, Keurig can observe suppliers’ efficiencies before deciding the major supplier. †¢ Multiple packagin g lines can provide larger supply of K-cups for future expansion. . Reasons why choice 1 may not be optimal †¢ More price negotiations and work in progress varied by suppliers. Also, the working procedures may be different and buyers-suppliers relationship may be more complexed.†¢ The standard of the final products can be varied by suppliers due to a slight difference in manufacturing capability and technology. †¢ The financially unstable suppliers can be unreliable. For example, they may be in risk of facing bankruptcy, or they may lower SG&A expenses and it will affect the operations. B. Choice 2 – Continue cooperation with MTS and change brewer to Pilla . Significance of choice 2 †¢ Does not waste time on searching for alternative packaging line manufacturers. Hence, avoid the time to be consumed by ‘reverse engineering’ process. †¢ MTS already has experience in making the first packaging line. Moreover, the product quality delivered b y MTS is already known and acceptable. †¢ Good communication with MTS would ensure on-time delivery of future packaging lines. †¢ Enjoy cost-benefits from possibility of lower price from Pilla. 2. Reasons why choice 2 may not be optimal †¢ MTS still have very large bargaining power for future productions.Thus, the cost for K-Cup packaging line activities could be driven up significantly. †¢ Pilla, being financially insecure, can be a risk for the roll-out schedule in case there is a problem in the manufacturing processes as it links to the packaging line. †¢ Single packaging line supplier and brewer means lower production capacity compared with Choice 1, this would limit Keurig’s future expansion plans to go into the consumer market. C. Choice 3 Internalize brewer production and work with multiple packaging line suppliers 1. Significance of choice 3 Keurig will gain more control over the production because it’ll be easier to forecast production capacity and there’ll be more inventory control. †¢ Kuerig already have the people and the capabilities that it needs.†¢ Finally gaining the learning curve: product brewers will help Keurig to reduce its production costs and thanks to this reduction it’ll be easier to sell more brewers to distributors at less price and less defected products. †¢ Working with multiple suppliers on the packaging line side will give them less bargaining power making us more â€Å"independent†. 2. Reasons why choice 3 may not be optimal A big amount of investment required in terms of money to internalize the production †¢ Keurig need to buy new assets and it will need time to set-up the production in the new factory. †¢ Keurig will face the risks concerning the manufacturing activity. III. Recommend a Specific Strategic Choice Recommendation: . Choice 1 – Work with multiple packaging line manufacturers at the same time and take advantage of the brewe r that would take Keurig more seriously – Pilla. 1. Keurig will be much more independent and it’ll not face again another situation as those encountered with Vandelay and MTS.This choice, even if could be risky at the beginning due to possible delays in the delivery of the complete brewer system (K-cup+Brewer), will ensure Keurig not to rely too much to only one supplier with a lot of bargaining power. 2. Relying on many suppliers will give Keurig much more control over their suppliers’ prices, unleashing a competition between them to gain more and more orders. It’ll also help Keurig to draw up more precise budgets and business plans that will not be affected by suppliers’ whims. 3. Thinking on a future expansion, Keurig need to find new suppliers who can easily support the capacity it needs. Risks/Limitations: . Even if it is a good time to find new suppliers, the moment is very risky because we have a schedule that we need to respect to start bui lding the company reputation.Delays and other on-the-road problem with the new suppliers could be fatal for Keurig. 2. Some of the new suppliers suffer financial problems that, if not solved, can surely affect Keurig. A. Recapitulation of why this choice is the right recommendation We have a marketing plan that can be fulfilled only if everything on the supply side goes as it was supposed to. In order to penetrate the market K-cups will be sold to the Office Manager at a price of 0. 0$, with no charge to the coffee machine. The price of a cup of coffee is higher than our direct competitors but compared to other premium coffee (as Starbucks) the quality is very high and the people who tried our coffee â€Å"loved† it. The wholesale price to the OCS distributors and to the Food Service suppliers will be at 0. 25$ per cup and initially we will give them the machine for free if they buy a certain amount of cups. That’s the real marketing strategy, because distributors play a central role in this industry, so we need to be able to offer (actually fill them up with) machines so they’ll push hard to introduce it inside the market.The free machine plus high margin (100%) per K-Cup will help us penetrate the market. However to do so we need an efficient supply chain that could grow with us and not take advantage of us. We need to take the risk and diversify our suppliers so we will be able to give our machines for free to distributor. We also need to get ready with our capacity for when the demand will grow. We can’t manage such changes in our business plan if we are to haggle with insolent suppliers.

6 Study Tips for Visual Learners

Visual Learning is one of the  three different learning styles  made famous by Neil D. Fleming in his VAK model of learning. He states that people who are visual learners need to  see  new information in order to truly learn it, hence the need for study tips for visual learners. Visual Learner Tips People who have this trait are often very spatially aware and respond to things like color, tone, brightness, contrast, and other visual info when they read, study, and learn. Some also have photographic memories in various degrees and can not only visualize information after reading it or seeing it but can recreate it. Most people utilize this learning method at least partly throughout their lives, especially since traditional school is geared toward those visual learners, but some people would classify themselves as predominantly visual learners where others would not.  If youre one of them,  you may find these things helpful when studying for a test, quiz, midterm, or final exam. Since sight is key, visual learners need materials in front of them to help get  the information fully committed to memory. Capitalize on this learning style with simple tips. Color Code Assign colors to common themes in your notes, textbook, and handouts. For instance, if youre studying vocabulary words for a test, highlight all of the nouns in yellow, all of the verbs in blue and all of the adjectives in pink. Youll associate that particular color with the part of speech, which will help you remember it on the test.   In a history textbook, highlight all the major actions of a particular general, for instance, in one color and all the consequences of his actions in another. When researching for an essay, color code the info you find by topic.   Your brain remembers color really well, so use it to your advantage! Organize Your Notes Because youre so visual, disorganized notes will be largely unsettling to you. Put all of your handouts in one place in your notebook or binder. Design clear, neat tabs or another type of system to keep things straight. Rewrite your notes. Use outlines to keep things succinct and clear. Not only will you be looking at the ideas from the lecture again, which capitalizes on your visual learning, but you can also add new information or edit as you move along. This will help you learn the material. Study the Graphics This is a fabulous study tip for those of you who can absorb new information with your eyes. Use the charts and graphics in your textbook for your chapter test  to your advantage. It is much easier to learn the periodic table of the elements on the chart than it is to learn a list of the elements. Bonus? Charts that are color-coded! Draw Pictures or Figures Even if you are not the most creative person, get out your pencil and draw pictures, figures, and diagrams to accompany the information you are trying to learn. The phrase, A picture is worth a thousand words definitely applies to you. Your brain will store a set of drawings of the five biggest cities in Canada in your head much longer than it will a list of those cities. Help yourself out when the textbook doesnt and create your own visuals. Watch Documentaries or Videos Dont be afraid to step outside of your classroom in order to glean knowledge about whatever it is you are studying as long as you use a reliable source and not some hack on YouTube. Getting a well-rounded, big picture of your topic can really expand your knowledge! And when you are this type of learner, it helps to secure that knowledge through media like documentaries or videos rather than just through textbooks.   Draw Concept Maps A concept map is a method of visually brainstorming, where you get all of the ideas from your head onto paper and draw connections where you see fit. Youll start with a central idea — weather, for example. That will go in the center of your sheet of paper. Then, from the weather, youll branch off into main categories. Add things like precipitation, climate, air, clouds, and so on. From each of those categories, youll branch off further. Clouds could be divided further down into cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and so on. Precipitation could be divided down into rain, sleet, snow, etc. If you look at the topic you are learning from this angle, its easy to spot gaps in your knowledge base. If, for instance, youre studying weather and you realize you have no idea how climate can affect weather or what to put under that category, perhaps you missed something in class.