Explain the trait theory of leadership. Leadership is defined as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Leadership is a very important behavioral aspect that affects organizations and employee relations.
The nature and style of leadership plays an important role in employee relations, motivation, conflict resolution, and creation of overall organizational vision and direction.In formal organizations, advancements are based on merit and seniority. The power held by an Individual corresponds to the position the Individual occupies In the hierarchy. But In Informal organizations, leaders emerge from within the organizational structure. The leader is able to attract followers due to a combination of circumstances and the qualities the leader possesses.
Leadership Theories: The Trait Theory: This theory uses traits (characteristics) to distinguish between leaders and non-leaders. The traits associated with leadership according to this theory are shown in figure 4. 1 .The traits that Indicate strong leadership are as follows: Intelligence: This refers to the mental ability of a person and Is only a moderate predictor of leadership. The Intelligence Quotient of a person can be used as a qualifier for high management jobs, but once the high position is attained, an effective leader also displays good levels of Emotional Quotient (CEQ). CEQ helps a leader to empathic with the motivation and emotions of others.
Many people feel that Carry Farina, the ousted leader of Hewlett-Packard, had a high IQ but a low empathy for the people around her and ignored the human aspects of her decisions.Extroversion: Extravert's have higher social and interpersonal skills. They are more energetic, assertive and self-confident. As extravert's are more dominant, they emerge as natural leaders. For example, Steve Babbler, the CEO of Microsoft, Is an extroverted leader. Figure depicts traits associated with leadership.
Punctual, and achievement oriented. They take initiative and are persistent in all they do. Openness: People who are open to new ideas and try new things become effective leaders. Self-Esteem: People with good self-esteem assess their worth and capabilities in a more positive manner.Leaders with high self-esteem are more supportive to their subordinates.
People with higher self-esteem are more self-confident and have greater charisma. Integrity: Effective leaders display honesty and integrity. Such leaders are more trustworthy. Behavioral Theory: Behavioral theory of leadership does not deal with the traits or capabilities of a leader. They focus more on what the leaders actually do.
According to this theory, leadership capabilities are not inherent and can be learned. It correlates the successes of leaders with their actions. Managerial Grid Model: This is a behavioral leadership model proposed by RobertBlake and Jane Mouton. This model identifies the different leadership styles based on the concern for people and the concern for production.
Figure shows the graphical representation of the managerial grid model. In this model, the concern for production is represented on the X-axis and the concern for people on the Y-axis. Each axis is marked from 1 (low) to 9 (high). The different leadership styles that are identified are as follows: The Indifferent or Impoverished Style (1, 1): Managers adopting this style have low concerns for both people and production.Managers are more concerned about reserving their Jobs and avoiding getting into trouble.
The managers do not want to be held responsible for any mistakes and are therefore, less innovative. The Accommodating or Country Club Style (1 , 9): Managers using this style are more concerned about the people than the production. Managers try to ensure security and comfort of the employees hoping that it will enhance performance. The workplace atmosphere is pleasant but not necessarily productive. The Dictatorial Style (9, 1): Managers using this style are more concerned about production than the people.
Managers do not consider the needs of their imposing rules and threatening them with punishment. The Status-Quo or Middle of the Road Style (5, 5): Managers adopting this style try to balance employee needs and company goals. But in trying to compromise, the managers do not meet the needs of the company or that of the employee. The Sound or Team Style (9, 9): Managers using this style are concerned about the people and the production.
Managers encourage teamwork and employee commitment. Managers make employees feel that they are contributing constructively to the company.The Opportunistic Style: Managers using this style exploit and manipulate their braininess. This style does not have a fixed location on the grid.
Managers adopt the behavior which offers them the greatest personal benefit. The Paternalistic Style: Managers using this style praise and support their subordinates but discourage their being innovative. This style alternates between the (1, 9) and (9, 1) locations on the grid. Strengths/Advantages of Trait Theory: It is naturally pleasing theory.
It is valid as lot of research has validated the foundation and basis of the theory.It serves as a yardstick against which the leadership traits of an individual can be assessed. It gives a detailed knowledge and understanding of the leader element in the leadership process. Limitations of Trait Theory: There is bound to be some subjective Judgment in determining who is regarded as a 'good' or 'successful' leader The list of possible traits tends to be very long. More than 100 different traits of successful leaders in various leadership positions have been identified.
These descriptions are simply generalities.There is also a disagreement over which traits are the most important for an effective leader The model attempts to relate physical traits such as, height and weight, to effective leadership. Most of these factors relate to situational factors. For example, a minimum weight and height might be necessary to perform the tasks efficiently in a military leadership position. In business organizations, these are not the requirements to be an effective leader. The theory is very complex Implications of Trait Theory: The trait theory gives constructive information about leadership.
It can be applied by people at all levels in all types of organizations. Managers can utilize the information from the theory to evaluate their position in the organization and to assess how their position can be made stronger in the organization. They can get an in-depth understanding of their identity and the way they will affect others in the weaknesses and thus they get an understanding of how they can develop their leadership qualities. Conclusion: The traits approach gives rise to questions: whether leaders are born or made; and whether leadership is an art or science.However, these are not mutually exclusive alternatives. Leadership may be something of an art; it still requires the application of special skills and techniques.
Even if there are certain inborn qualities that make one a good leader, these natural talents need encouragement and development. A person is not born with self-confidence. Self-confidence is developed, honesty and integrity are a matter of personal choice, motivation to lead comes from within the individual, and the knowledge of business can be acquired.While cognitive ability has its origin partly in genes, it still needs to be developed. None of these ingredients are acquired overnight. Q.
2) what is Employee participation? Give examples. [10 Marks] Employee participation is the process by which workers take part in the decision making processes, and do not Just blindly follow the instructions of their supervisors. Employee participation is essential for empowerment of employees in an organization. Empowerment implies decentralization authority in an organization.
Team participation is very essential for empowerment.Team members are motivated to make decisions by themselves according to the guiding principles and structures that are set up for self management. Quality initiatives within an organization require employee participation. Each and every employee is encouraged to take incorporate quality measures in all activities in order to satisfy the needs of the customers. Employee participation is also essential for the efficient management of unman resources in organizations. Employees feel motivated when organizations empower employees to take decisions.
Employee participation is also known as Employee Involvement (E'). Examples of schemes which encourage employee participation include the following: Project Management Teams or Quality Teams: Workers perform tasks that assign significant responsibilities to the team. Suggestion Schemes: Workers are provided with channels through which they can convey new ideas to their supervisors. Frequently, deserving suggestions are suitably rewarded. Consultation Exercises and Meetings: Workers share their ideas and experiences which help to achieve the common tasks and goals. Delegation of Responsibilities Within the Organization: Employees who deal with customers often have to be empowered to make their own decisions and assigned more responsibilities.
Multi-channel Decision Making Techniques: Decisions are not only taken in a descending flow, they also result from communications upwards, sideways, and in various other ways within the organization. By now you must be familiar with Collective Bargaining. It is also a form of employee participation. Collective bargaining represents a process of negotiation about irking conditions and terms of employment whereby two or more parties reaching an agreement.
Thus collective bargaining enables employees to take part in the decision making process through the employee representatives of the trade unions. Adoption of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESP.) makes employees stakeholders in the company and hence increases employee participation and feelings of ownership. For example, United Airlines of the U. S. A.
Gave 55% of its equity stake to its employees in exchange of pay cuts and was able to secure employee participation. The Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems of U. S. A. Also recommends employee participation at all levels in decisions that affect the health and safety of employees. It suggests the use of safety representatives, Joint labor- management committees, work groups and teams to support employee participation in implementing health and safety schemes.
Employees can conduct workplace inspections, analyses safety hazards, develop and revise safety rules, and train new employees. Q. 3 Write note on organizational Justice. [ 10 marks] Organizational Justice is the main factor of citizenship behavior and its related outcomes are satisfaction, and commitment towards work.
It also focuses on employee's equality in outcomes such as payment and the procedures to determine those outcomes. Organizational Justice builds trust in employee, which in turn gets displayed in citizenship behavior. The concept of Justice differs based on the people's cultural values. The people with collectivist cultures differ from the people with individualistic cultures, in terms of equity and equality. With good organizational Justice, you can have more positive outcomes from an employee in the workplace.
If employees are treated with full Justice, they follow all he rules and regulations of an organization.They will be more committed towards work, have more trust in organization, and feel more satisfied with the Justice they receive. Type of Organizational Justice Organizations focus on three specific forms of Justice. They are: Procedural Justice - Procedural Justice is identified by the equality of processes that helps to determine the type of outcomes used, the way they are distributed, and to whom the outcomes are given. Some of the organizational procedural Justice includes freedom from bias, accuracy, consistency, and correction of errors.
Distributive Justice - Distributive Justice is identified by the reasonable employees in an organization that recognize the actual outcomes they obtain. Issues may arise if the employee experiences something negative in the workplace that cannot be prevented. Issues may also arise if they do not get the same outcome they expected to have or when the outcomes are inadequate. International Justice - International Justice is identified by the awareness of equality in the procedural treatment of others. Issues may arise if the employees are Judged wrongly and denied of respect or privacy.
A low level of international Justice can be related to possibility of sexual harassment. Recent study shown that differences in personality and aggressive behavior of an individual of procedural Justice is determined by re-organizing their performance rating. With this rating system, employees' view of organizational Justice increases. Q. 4 Vizier is a trade union leader with fifteen years of experience in a motor parts manufacturing factory. One of the laborer's in the factory met with an accident while on duty.
What will be the different means by which he will ensure that the laborer is well compensated for the work-related injury? NAS: Trade unions represent laborers when they have crises at work. If employees feel they are being unduly treated, they can ask their union representative to help in solving their issues with the manager or employer. Unions also offer their members legal representation. This is normally to help people get monetary reimbursement for work-related injuries or to assist people who have to take their employer to court.
To many people, their Job is a key part of the person they think they are.It's not Just a means to an end, it's a crucial part of their identity. That's why injury or illness caused by negligence in the workplace can have an impact and ramifications far beyond the immediate physical suffering. In the event of being injured in a work related incident which has been caused by the negligence of others, you have every right to feel let down, either by your employer, or your workmates. While compensation can never fully make up for the distress of a work accident, it can help reimburse you for any wages lost and provide a sense of Justice being done on your behalf.What You Need To Make a Work Injury Claim: In order to make a claim for an accident at work, you will need evidence which proves hat your injuries have been caused by negligence or working practice in the workplace.
This evidence could take the following forms: Witnesses Employers logs Previous similar work accidents Ambulance attendance at the scene An accident book Doctors notes There are many others forms the evidence could take, often dependent upon the nature of your workplace.It will then be up to yourself and the expert injury solicitor working on your behalf to prove that the injuries were the result of negligence on the part of your employer. It has to be borne in mind when making a claim such as this that you will be giving evidence against your employer. Many people will feel uncomfortable doing this but always remember the following: You are not alone.
An expert solicitor will be on hand to guide you every step of the won't be taking any money direct from your boss.Employers may actually welcome one or two cases which help them to strengthen health and safety standards, thus avoiding larger lawsuits in the future. Strictly enforced laws mean that employers unwilling to compensate for workplace injuries or to adapt their practices will face far stiffer penalties. You may still feel worried about making a claim against your boss, despite the isolation in place to protect employees who do so, in which case it will be valuable and reassuring to discuss the details of your case and any possible ramifications with a solicitor before embarking upon any action.There are some injuries which crop up on a regular basis as a result of workplace accidents.
These include back injuries, hernias and hand injuries. In the case of common injuries such as these, the claim may be easier to settle as the levels of compensation are already well known. Work injury claims are often complicated by the nature of the workplace itself, and for more detail on the issues involved see our tie dedicated to employer liability and work injury claims in detail.It should be borne in mind that the prohibitive cost to employers of workplace injuries means that they often go to great lengths in order to prevent accidents.
The Workman's Compensation Act 1923 is one of the earliest pieces of labor legislation. It covers all cases of 'accident arising out of and in the course of employment' and the rate of compensation to be paid in a lump sum, is determined by a schedule proportionate to the extent of injury and the loss of earning capacity. The younger the worker and the higher the wage, the greater is the compensation object to a limit.The injured person, or in case of death the dependent, can claim the compensation. This law applies to the unrecognized sectors and to those in the organizes sectors who are not covered by the Employees State Insurance Scheme, which is conceptually considered to be superior to the Workman's Compensation Act. SQ.
List the advantages of collective bargaining. NAS: Collective Bargaining: International Labor Organization (ILL) defines collective bargaining as negotiating regarding various terms and conditions of employment between employer and employees to arrive at an agreement.Collective bargaining serves a dual purpose, that is, it provides an approach of determining the wages and conditions of work for a group of workers covered by the agreement through free and voluntary negotiations between the two independent parties concerned in the organization. It also facilitates the employers and workers to define by agreement the rules governing their relationship. According to Boone and Kurt[l], collective bargaining is a process of negotiation mutually acceptable wages and working conditions for employees. Collective bargaining can be beneficial to both the workers and the employers.
For workers, collective bargaining ensures that employees are provided with adequate wages and good working conditions. It helps employers stabilize industrial relations by maintaining industrial peace that otherwise may be disrupted by unrest of the labor. Collective bargaining is a discussion process between employers and employees. It is termed collective because both the employer as well as the employees behaves as a group rather than individuals. It is known as bargaining because it involves methods of arriving at an agreement that involves various proposals and offers.
Collective Bargaining Advantages:You now know that collective bargaining is a process of bargaining in groups as opposed to individual bargaining. The bargaining could relate to many factors such as the payment of the employees, holiday, overtime, bonus, shift arrangements and so on. There are many benefits of collective bargaining. Some of them are the following: It facilitates settlement of any disputes without any conflict It ensures that there is peace between both the parties through dialogues It facilitates participation from both the parties. It ensures mutual trust and understanding between both the trade union and the management of the organization.
It facilitates stabilized union membership in societies that have multiple unions. It ensures healthy industrial relations. It makes the employees feel more involved and wanted in the organization It ensures that individual stress and employee insecurities are discussed It establishes the employee and the management rights in the organization. It develops a sense of responsibility among the employees It ensures that the strength of workforce is increased. It in turn increases the overall bargaining capacity of the workforce It ensures that the morale and productivity of he employees is increased.Effective collective bargaining ensures that the trade unions movement is efficient It facilitates in securing a prompt and fair settlement of grievances.
It provides a flexible means for the adjustment of the wages and employment conditions It facilitates the management to resolve issues at the bargaining level rather than taking up complaints of the individual workers. It ensures a sense of Job security among the employees It ensures that a channel of communication is open between the workers and the management. This further increases worker participation in decision making.It plays an essential role in settling and preventing industrial disputes It ensures that a harmonious industrial climate is established.
This helps the pace of nations efforts towards economic and social development. It encompasses fluidity and ample scope for a compromise, for a mutual give-and-take before the final agreement is arrived at. It becomes easier for the management to resolve issues at the bargaining level rather than taking up complaints of individual workers. Collective bargaining tends to promote a sense of Job security among employees and thereby tends to reduce the cost of labor turnover to management.Collective bargaining opens up the channel of communication between the workers and the management and increases worker participation in decision making. Collective bargaining plays a vital role in settling and preventing industrial disputes.
Importance to society: Collective bargaining leads to industrial peace in the country It results in establishment of a harmonious industrial climate which supports which helps the pace of a nation's efforts towards economic and social development since the obstacles to such a development can be reduced considerably.The discrimination and exploitation of workers is constantly being checked. It provides a method or the regulation of the conditions of employment of those who are directly concerned about them. Q. 6 Write a note on common applications of Human Resource Information System (HRS)? NAS: Human Resource Information Systems: Human Resource Information Systems (HRS) is a software application that caters to the human resource information needs of the organization like monitoring employee attendance, payroll and benefits administration, career development, employee information, performance management, and training.
HRS is a collection of components which work together to gather, process and store information that the HRS department can use to make decisions, to coordinate and to plan its activities. HRS facilitates easy access and management of employee related information. For example, Threaten Pipelines, a Canadian company was using a manual system to maintain its records. But when its workforce increased, it began to use an HRS to maintain accurate employee records. Initially, mainframe computers were used by organizations to manage human source management functions.
A large amount of capital was needed to operate these systems.The advent of client-server architectures and Software as a Service (AAAS) models has lowered the maintenance costs of HRS. Common Applications of Human Resource Information Systems: An HRS is an integrated approach to acquiring, storing, analyzing and controlling the flow of information throughout an organization. A well-developed HRS is useful in many HRS applications and can enhance the efficiency and time-of-response of many Planning: The HRS activities implemented by this application are personnel and succession planning, labor relation planning, target analysis and organizational charting.Staffing and Employment: This application handles recruitment activities.
It ensures compliance with employment equity. Training and Career Development: This application deals with analyzing training needs, training administration, and career planning. Performance Management: This application deals with performance appraisals, and monitoring time and attendance of employees. Compensation and Benefits: This application deals with employee compensation and benefits administration. Let us now discuss each of these common applications in details.
1.Planning: Planning is a very important activity of HRS management. Planning identifies and implements the activities that ensure that the organization is moving in the right direction. Planning is concerned with implementing the business strategy of the organization. The components of planning are as follows: Environmental Scanning: It identifies the business opportunities and threats after reviewing the external factors that affect an organization.
Business Plan Analysis: It reviews the business plans and strategies. Manpower Planning: It reconciles any imbalance between HRS supply and demand.Program and Policy Review: It ensures that the HRS policies and programmer are aligned with the organizational needs. The components of HRS which assists in planning are: Work Force Profile Review: It assesses the demand and supply of workforce by analysis of employee data elements like age, wage, performance rating, position and organizational data elements like employee turnover. Work Force Dynamic Analysis: It examines the employee movement in the organization by analyzing historical data like service, promotions, performance dating, and salary.
Various reports which provide information on lateral transfers, promotions, new recruits and turnover are generated. Succession Planning: It identifies potential successors for critical positions. Employees are scored and assessed for suitability of pre-defined Job profiles. The staff details bib history, competencies, assessments) is analyses to find which position the individual can fit into. Employee databases are searched to retrieve profiles of employees who fit certain criteria.
