REFLECTIVE ESSAY

SURNAME: VAIDOKAVICIUTE
FIRST NAME: GRETA
REGISTRATION NUMBER: W1604573(21)
COURSE: BUSINESS MANAGMENT
MODULE TITLE : PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
MODULE CODE: 4HURM005
ASSIGNMENT TITLE: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
MODULE TUTOR: LUCY SHIMIDZU
DEADLINE: 03/11/2016 13:00
WORDCOUNT: 1058
 A famous psychologist, Rensis Likert developed the idea that organizations should be
managed as groups rather than in individuals. He also stated that co-ordination is achieved by
individuals who carry out linking functions (Likert, 1961). This suggests that even if a group does not
have an assigned leader there should be someone, emotionally intelligent individual, to shape and
direct the groups work towards better productivity. Even earlier in the twentieth century a social
psychologist Elton Mayo (Mayo, 1945) was studying informal groups as the most important element
of Organisational Behaviour discipline and encouraged managers to use their skills, intelligence and
experience, to deliberately integrate individuals within groups. Consequently, it is not surprising that
employers list the ability to work in a team structure higher than ability to make decisions and solve
problems or technical knowledge related to the job (Adams, 2014). During recent and long term
research studies explicit evidence has been collected supporting the view that individuals ability to
work in teams within an organisation are more beneficial to businesses than individualistic approach.

During the first month at the university us, first academic year students, have been put
into groups and given certain topics to present on. Considering different learning styles (Honey and
Mumford, 1986) I would suggest that the best performing group would consist of four members which
belong to different categories of this theory. Test results often state two dominant styles. The test
results of my group were Activist/Reflector, Activist/Reflector, Activist/Reflector and Activist/Theorist.
Proportionally Activist quality was extensively dominant in my group which most likely lead to the fact
that theory part of our presentation turned out to be rather weak and incomplete. Referring to the
definition of an Activist type, they can play a leading role, however our group did not have a leader
or a co-ordinator. Probably this was due to the fact that we all had similar levels of confidence and
knowledge of the, no one was more dominant than the others. Researchers have found that one of
three key characteristics of high-performing teams (Malone, 2010) was that members gave roughly
enough time to each other, therefore, no dominance was involved. Regarding this aspect, my group
performed well, there was no tension and we were supportive to each other because every one of
was slightly lacking confidence, not very much experienced in how the group work is made most
efficient. Member participation war rather dissatisfactory: three out of five members only have
remained in the group. It is very likely this loss of team members had a subconscious negative impact
on our motivation and determination.

However, other two aspects such as more women in a group (in fact, I was the only one)
and higher levels of social sensitivity were not fulfilled as I felt therefore there was a cultural barrier
between me and other two members, which were originally from Sri Lanka and India the countries
that fit in family model (Hofstede, 1980). I am from Eastern Europe and would fit into category of
pyramid model, this could be one of the reasons why our group have stayed at the forming stage
(Tuckman 1977). It is important to mention that during the second meeting which was organized at
week three, we have not changed any content of the presentation despite my suggestion to do so. We
have been close to the storming phase (Tuckman, 1977), however, due to my conforming and
inefficient influencing skills (Woodcock, date unknown) we have not used the conflict as an
opportunity to grow as a group. Soon after viewing other groups presentations I have realised that
much more work could have been done to make the presentation more extensive and effective.
Because we have fulfilled only minimum requirements of the task and did not include enough theory
this resulted in a poor performance and a negative feedback which I am sure, will be taken into
account when preparing the next presentations during this course.

We have produced the file of presentation collectively in a relatively short period of time
and have allocated the tasks for members of the group effectively during the third week. I suppose we
were successful at two issues that groups are generally facing: 1. Division of labour and 2. Goal
understanding and acceptance (Cohen, 1995), however, we were struggling with certain aspects that
make successful teams such as when People have solid and deep trust in each other and in the teams
purpose (Ricci, 2012) because we have known each other for just over a month this condition could
not have been achieved. Individually I have completed a test for Impression management check
(Buchannan, 2010) and scored a relatively low result. Naturally at this stage the question follows: Are
managerial skills inborn in individuals and are rather personal characteristics rather than skills that
could be developed through education? The study that was carried out in 2007 reveals that only 32%
of the variance in leadership role occupancy was associated with heritability <> work experience
factor was significantly related to leadership role occupancy. Results are discussed in terms of prior
life events and experiences that may trigger leadership development and the limitations of this study
(Arvey, 2007). According to this study, other 68% of leadership and managerial skills can be learned
which is a very positive and inspiring finding.

Overall, working in groups practice have been very beneficial to explore the group
dynamics in practice. Many people cringe and groan when told that they will need to work in a group
(Burke, 2011). The integrated way of presenting SWOT analysis of a fictional Junction Hotel actually
had a purpose of students working in group to increase the level of deep learning through
participation and real-life experience which is considered to be significantly more effective than
surface learning (eg. reading textbooks designed for University Course). Kolbs Learning Cycle Theory
(Kolb, 1984) suggests that a deep learning can be achieved by passing all four stages of the cycle which
are the following: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active
experimentation. A task provided by university tutors has been very innovative, aiming to develop
students skills of working in groups while analysing aspects of underperforming of a fictional hotel.
This way of teaching through integrating group work and learning via actual experience has
significantly increased the levels of deeper understanding of a subject of Organizational Behaviour.
 LIST OF REFERENCES
Buchannan, D. A., Huczynski, A. A. (1985) Organizational Behaviour. 7th Edition, Pearson
Education Ltd 2010

Burke, A. (2011) The Journal of Effective Teaching, Vol.11, No.2, p. 85-87

Cohen, A. R., Fink, S. L., Gadon, H. & Willits, R. D. (1995) Effective Behaviour in
Organizations

Hofstede, G. (1980) Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work Related

Values
Honey, P. & Mumford, A. (1982) Manual of Learning Styles. London

Kolb, D. (1984) Experimental Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and

Development. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall; 1st Edition.

Likert, R. (1961) New Patterns of Management. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Malone, T. W, Wooley, A. W., Chabris, C. F., Pentland, A., Hashimi, N. Evidence for a
Collective Intelligence factor in the Performance Groups. Science, 29 October, 2010.

Mayo, E. (1945) The Social Problems of an Industrial Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
niversity Press.

Ricci, R., Wiese, C. (2011) Collaboration Imperative: Executive Strategies for unlocking
your Organisations true Potential.

Tuckman, B. & Jensen, M. A. (1977) Stages in small Group Development revisited. Group
and Organizational Studies 2; 419-427

LINKS OF INTERNET RESOURCES

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/11/12/the-10-skills-employers-most-want-in-2015-
graduates/#1400687219f6 Posted on 12/11/2014, 11:43 AM by Adams, S., 2014 and accessed on
02/11/2016, 05:08 PM.

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/apl/92/3/693/ Accessed on 02/11/2016, 04:15 PM. Authors: Arvey,

Richard. D., Zhang, Z., Avolio, Bruce J., Krueger, Robert F. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 92 (3),
May 2007, 693-706. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved). Accessed on
02/11/2016, 22:16 PM

https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/persuading.htm Author: Woodcock, Bruce. University of Kent

Careers Service. Accessed on 02/11/2016, 21:48 PM