Free Motivation AND Work Behavior Case Analysis Term Paper Sample

How attitudes and beliefs of the managers and workers relate to satisfaction and organizational commitment.

It is evident from the happenings at J. K. Roberts that there is a deep disconnect between the workers and the management. The management is unable to control the workers’ activities. The latter are reluctant to adhere to new regulations meant to increase production and efficiency.
Employees feel that their working conditions are not friendly, remuneration is poor and the firm cannot do without them. While these workers enjoy cordial relations with the owner (Mr. Roberts) and, to some extent, his assistant (Bob), their perceptions of the owner’s son (Peter) are negative. They resent Peter and the changes he has instituted for increasing production and cutting down on wastage and consider his appointment a case of nepotism. Employees are no longer loyal to the firm because of stringent working conditions. This is evidenced by employee turnover, absenteeism and larceny.
The management, on the other hand, is committed to the firm but dissatisfied with organizational performance. For Mr. Robert, his company risks losing its customers to aggressive competitors, and he believes austerity measures are the solution. Peter believes in pleasing his father by curtailing wastage even if that means sacking workers or forcing them to work. He tells Bob that workers are ignorant of how productivity can be boosted. Bob believes that he will be blamed by the owner for the Peter’s mistakes, but he has learned to handle workers with less severity. Lastly, although foremen are part of management, they identify with the needs of their subordinates and often find themselves in trouble with their juniors while enforcing ‘unreasonable’ demands of the top management.

Application of Theories of Needs for J K. Roberts Stakeholders

The varying needs of employees of different genders, supervisors, managers and owners can be understood in the context of McClelland’s Human Motivation Theory, which identifies three drivers of motivation: achievement, affiliation and power (Saxena 160). The female workers at J. K Roberts are in a close-knit affiliation in which they fight together for better working conditions, fair remuneration and flexible working hours. Conversely, most male workers are young and unmarried and leave for other jobs more often because they seek individual achievement and see no need of a labor union.
Foremen, like other workers, need better salaries and working conditions while simultaneously seeking for power and privilege. From playing cards with employees during working hours, they now face sacking threats from Peter and aggression from workers who have been dismissed. Peter and his father are motivated by achievement and power through controlling workers. Bob appears to be motivated by affiliation, considering his efforts to have Ms. King reinstated and to appease workers in light of the acrimony caused by Peter’s policies.
Further, all the players in this case can be understood in the context of Maslow’s Theory of Needs. Most of the women appear to be operating on the physiological level because they want to retain their jobs for the sake of basic needs like food. Employees who have left their jobs are on the second tier of Maslow’s hierarchy where they need job security. Belonging needs are evident when women protest the disciplinary action taken against Ms. King. Bob, Peter and Roberts can be said to be at the esteem level of needs as their greatest desire is to increase the profitability of the firm.

Forms of organizational justice.

Robbins and Judge opine that organizational justice is the employee’s perception of fairness in the organization (223). Distributive justice requires that resources be shared equally among workers, and that they all are treated equally. In this case, employees in the Door-jamb department work overtime and earn some money unfairly because they sometimes sleep or idle. Peter is, therefore, justified to institute supervised overtime. In addition, there is no fair remuneration at J. K. Roberts and the repetitive jobs in the assembly department contravene distributive justice.
Procedural justice means that workers are in agreement with the procedures used to make decisions that affect them in the workplace. For example, they should have been informed on the rationale for the decision to change overtime operations. Similarly, Lela Pims should have been more humane before sacking 60 year-old Ms. Kings and withdrawing her wages at a time when the latter was required to work ten hours a day. Employees also feel that Peter does not merit his current position, which implies the position should have been filled competitively.
Interactional justice implies that workers have the right to be treated with dignity and that information should be communicated in a timely and adequate manner. The management had practiced laissez-faire leadership until Peter became the production manager. Unfortunately, no consultations were made before the changes were instituted and the production manager (Peter) wants to change the situation abruptly. He does not consult workers and his apparent disdain for them has resulted in a failed endeavor. Sacking employees and threatening others is contrary to the dictates of interactional justice.

Strategies of motivation in handling this case

The J. K. Roberts case is common when workers lack motivation and the management fails to listen to them. Uncertainty among workers is especially high when unexplained changes are introduced (Harsh 104). For these employees to begin working optimally, the management of this firm must institute a number of motivational changes.
Additionally, concomitant rewards and punishment should be introduced. For example, exemplary workers should be acknowledged and awarded financial incentives, promoted or simply praised before their peers. Conversely, those who contravene company policy should be punished, including being dismissed.
This firm must also introduce job-rotation, especially where no technical skills are required. A roster should be developed to ensure workers move to different tasks after some time to eliminate monotony and boredom. This will motivate them to come to work and to remain working for the required hours.
Lastly, open communication between employee and management (while simultaneously monitoring tasks) should be encouraged. The firm should create functional teams which discuss pertinent tasks and synergize with other groups. Managers should spend more time in the workplaces to understand what workers go through instead of judging them unfairly as was the case with Peter.

Works Cited

Harsh, Pathak. Organizational Change. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd, 2011.
Print.
Robbins, Stephen P. and Timothy A. Judge. Organizational Behavior. 15th ed. New Jersey:
Pearson Education Inc., 2013. Print.
Saxena, Rajan. Marketing Management. 3rd ed. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.