ASSIGNMENT 3: POWER, POLITICS, AND CULTURE Due Week 9 and worth 190 points 

In Assignment 2, you created a professional development plan using EI building blocks and motivation.  In this last assignment, you will examine how politics and power influence an organization and its culture. 

In business, power and politics greatly influence an organizational culture and may hinder organizational productivity.  In your role as consultant you observed power and politics influence on the corporate culture. 

INSTRUCTIONS  Following SWS standards, write a 5 to 7 page report that addresses the following: 

1. Influence of Politics and Power ○ Explain how politics and power-play may have influenced the organization’s culture. 

2. Sources of Power ○ Explore the sources of power and describe how management could use this influence to benefit the department and improve organizational performance. 

3. Leadership Behavior and Culture ○ Make recommendations that support how the study of power and politics could influence leadership behavior and improve the organization’s culture. 

4. Leadership Influence ○ Discuss the importance and complexity of leadership behavior in solving the issue you identified. How does it influence organizational structure and performance? 

5. References and Citations ○ Go to https://research.strayer.edu to locate at least two resources. ○ In-text citations are required when paraphrasing or quoting another source. 

6. Formatting and Writing Standards ○ Formatting and writing standards are part of your grade. Align your formatting to the Strayer Writing Standards. 

*Grading for this assignment will be based on the following criteria and evaluation standards:   

POINTS: 190 ASSIGNMENT 3: POWER, POLITICS, AND CULTURE 

Criteria Exemplary 100% – A 

Proficient 85% – B 

Fair 75% – C 

Unacceptable 0% – F 

1. Influence of Politics and Power 

Weight: 20%  

Completely explains how politics and power-play may have influenced the organization’s culture. Accurately identifies the core issues and strongly connects them to the impact on culture. The explanation is wellsupported by research.  

Satisfactorily explains how politics and powerplay may have influenced the organization’s culture. Identifies some core issues and connects them to the impact on the culture. The explanation uses research support. 

Partially explains how politics and power-play may have influenced the organization’s culture. Identifies some issues but does not fully explore them or make a strong connection to their impact. Uses little research support.  

Does not explain how politics and power-play may have influenced the organization’s culture. 

2. Sources of Power 

Weight: 20%  

Completely identifies the sources of power and describes how management could use this influence to enhance organizational performance. Uses relevant key concepts and makes valid connections to enhanced performance that are well-supported by research.  

Satisfactorily identifies the sources of power and describes how management could use this influence to enhance organizational performance. Most key concepts are accurately identified and there is a connection to enhanced performance with research support.  

Partially identifies the sources of power and describes how management could use this influence to enhance organizational performance. Not all key concepts are identified and there is a loose connection to performance. There is little research support.  

Does not identify the sources of power or describe how management could use this influence to enhance organizational performance. There is no reference to research. 

3. Leadership Behavior and Culture 

Weight 25%  

Provides excellent recommendations as to how the study of power and politics could influence leadership behavior and impact the organization’s culture. Recommendations are credible and relevant with a strong connection to the impact on culture backed by wellsupported research. 

Satisfactorily recommends how the study of power and politics could influence leadership behavior and impact the organization’s culture. Recommendations are clear and mostly realistic; there is a connection to the impact on culture. Research support is evident.  

Partially recommends how the study of power and politics could influence leadership behavior and impact the organization’s culture, but the recommendations are unclear or unrealistic. There is no clear connection to the impact on culture. There is little or no research support.  

Does not recommend how the study of power and politics could influence leadership behavior and impact the organization’s culture. There is no reference to research. 

POINTS: 190 ASSIGNMENT 3: POWER, POLITICS, AND CULTURE 
Criteria Exemplary 100% – A 
Proficient 85% – B 
Fair 75% – C 
Unacceptable 0% – F 

4. Leadership Influence  

Weight 20%  

Thoroughly discusses how the importance and complexity of leadership behavior influences organizational structure and performance. Relevant key concepts are presented with strong research support.  

Satisfactorily discusses how the importance and complexity of leadership behavior influences organizational structure and performance. Most key concepts are presented with research support.  

Partially discusses how the importance and complexity of leadership behavior influences organizational structure and performance. Some key concepts are missing and there is little or no research support. 

Does not discuss how the importance and complexity of leadership behavior influences organizational structure and performance. There is no reference to research. 

5. Reference minimums; Reference quality  

Weight 5%  

Meets or exceeds required number of references; all references high-quality choices. 

Meets required number of references; some references may be poor-quality choices. 

Does not meet the required number of references; some references may be poor-quality choices 

No references provided or all references poorquality choices.  

6. Follows writing standards; Meets page minimums  

Weight 10% 

Followed all writing standards. Met page minimums.  

Followed most writing standards. Met page minimums.  

Followed few writing standards. May not have met page minimums.  

Followed few to no writing standards. Did not meet page minimums.  

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

7

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Asianna Johnson

Dr. Wanda Tillman

Leadership and Organizational Behavior

02/17/2020

Introduction

Professional development is primarily used to document career goals and set effective strategies on how to meet them. Writing and implementing a professional development plan would help M.C. Donald’s identify and develop the professional skills required to realize its vision and goals. The program will, therefore, keep the company on track to success. Developing the plan is an essential process that helps organizations in taking charge of professional development and achieves full potential (Thomas, 2018). However, before forming the program, an organization must determine where they want to be in the future. The employees must take their careers in their hands. While an employer might be required to supports employees in developing the plan, professional development is the responsibility of the employees. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a crucial requirement for active professional development. Individuals can identify their emotions and those of others.

EI and Motivation

Emotional intelligence is comprised of various building blocks. Some of these include self-awareness, self-regard, self-perception, and self-actualization; accept one’s strengths and weaknesses and the ability to improve as an individual and among others. The building block that will have the most significant impact on management goals is the ability to accept weaknesses and strengths. In a perfect world, employees would be good at everything they need for a successful life and business (Neçare & Şehitoğlu, 2018). However, we live in an imperfect world, and we all have to face the fact that we are downright lousy to some things and good at others. This is similar to M.C. Donald’s management. For the management to turn a weakness into strengths and enhance employees’ satisfaction and performance, it has to identify and accept the weakness. This will ensure the administration creates a suitable environment for effective teamwork. It will also enhance communication skills, which is a crucial element for increasing efficiency and eliminate public complaint about slowness observed in M.C. Donald’s customers’ service.

Motivational Theory

I would utilize the McClelland’s Need Theory to influence the members in M.C. Donald’s and help in solving the issue of the ineffective corporate culture. This is a well-known theory of motivation. McClelland developed this theory based on Henry Murray’s long list of manifests and motives needs from his early personality study. The McClelland’s is closely associated with the learning theory since it argues that needs are learned and acquired from the events experienced by individuals in their environment (Shane & Heckhausen, 2019). He found that people who acquired specific need behaves differently from the others who do not have the tat need. The need for achievement is the primary drive to excel and achieve according to the set standards. This motivates individuals to prosper. Hence, it is the behavior detected toward competitions with conventional superiority. For example, the management can utilize this theory to motivate employees to acquire the need to prosper concerning the set standard and strive to succeed. Employees with a high need for achievement will definitely perform better than those with a low or moderate need for performance.

EI and Social Skills and Decision Making

According to Daniel Goleman, there are five core concepts in emotional intelligence. These concepts are self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, social skills, and empathy. Self-efficacy is a crucial element in the decision-making process. It enables individuals to make judgments regarding their capabilities to organize and execute actions required to achieve designated performance according to the set standards. Self-awareness assists managers in making intuitive decisions (Neçare & Şehitoğlu, 2018). It is also essential for employees to motivate each other as well as effective stress management within the workplace. Self-awareness also helps the managers in identifying gaps in their managerial skills that could be adversely impacting the decision making and performance in the organization. Self-regulation is also an essential core EI element that helps managers in the decision-making process. The self-regulation model (SRM) directly impacts the process of decision-making. SRM has two sub-models, which include the formation of a mental model (FMM) and the formation of the level of motivation (FLM). The FMM is executed by the divide and rule approach while the FMM is executed by the feed-forward and feedback controls. The two factors of significance and difficulty are the leading role in the decision-making process. This shows the rule of self-regulation in decision making.

Motivation is the other core concept of EI that enhances decision making efficacy in individuals. Motivation establishes the primary purpose of the whole decision-making process, even though it is not the actual cause of choice. Motivation is the primary objective of a decision. It explains what an individual is seeking to accomplish by the will. In the decision-making process, managers or employees find the most efficient way of carrying out the motivation. It also encourages effective teamwork within an organization. Social skills enhance decision making efficacy both for managers and employees. They are the skills required to deal with others’ emotions effectively. For example, managers in M.C. Donald’s need social skills to handle emotions from their employees. On the other hand, employees must have social skills to handle their customers’ emotions effectively. Empathy is the last core concept in EI that enhances the efficacy in the decision-making process. It offers the argument that in the absence of empathy, individuals are bound to make inconsiderate decisions since we become unfeeling or cold toward others, especially when they need our help. Empathy helps managers put themselves in employees’ shoes when making a decision. This, for example, ensures M.C. Donald’s managers make thoughtful decisions that foster teamwork and increase job performance.

Attributes of Effective Teams

A reliable and competent team is the foundation of higher job performance in business. A smooth running and successful organization requires and side with good ethics. Problems such as missed deadlines, poor organization performance, and conflicts within the workplace may arise when employees don’t work together. A successful team must show the core attributes, such as communicating well with others. Members of a capable team communicate freely and openly with each other (Li, 2020). They share ideas, opinions, and thoughts as well as listening and taking into consideration the opinions, ideas, and feelings of others. Participating teams also focus on similar goals and results according to the set standards. The team members agree and set team goals based on expected outcomes. A clear plan is then set on how to achieve these goals practically. This plan includes the individual member’s contributions toward the overall outcome hence giving a clear direction and what to aim for.

A capable team ensures that everyone in the group contributes to their fair share. Each team member understands their specific responsibility and the place they fit in the running of the company. This gives each team member the sense of belonging in the group hence becoming committed to the objectives of the organization (Li, 2020). Offering support to each other is the other attribute in a capable team. The team members are always delighted to support collogues whenever they need a helping hand in their workplace. An organized team is an effective team. Organizing the team is essential for the efficient running of the business. Without the proper organization of the group, the workplace becomes chaotic. All these attributes are necessary for the team members in M.C. Donald have to foster teamwork, enhance communication as well as increasing overall job performance.

Strategies for Developing Team Dynamic

Weak group dynamic undermines its performance, achievement of its primary objectives as well as the team member’s engagement and morale. Individuals in a group take distinct behaviors and roles. The group dynamic adequately explains these behaviors and the roles of other members. Various strategies help in improving team dynamics. Knowing the team is one of such effective strategies (Thomas, 2018). The group leader needs to guide the development process. Learning the group will help me in forecasting and preventing problems that may arise, including the negative issues with the weak group dynamic. I will tackle problems quickly as they arise and encourage the M.C. Donald’s team to reflect on how they can change behaviors that impact the team unhelpfully. Defining the roles and responsibilities of each team member and their fair share contribution is essential in improving group dynamics. Focusing on communication is also necessary for positive team dynamics. Ensuring that every team member communicate openly and clearly through all forms such as emails, and shared documents eliminates ambiguity.

Effective Reward Systems

Rewards are positive outcomes that an employee may earn and a result of higher performance. Effective reward systems should be aligned with organizational goals. When employees help the organization in achieving one or all of their goals, recompense often follows. With this in mind, I will develop a combination of the monetary and non-monetary compensation plan for performance improvement. Paying cash bonuses and incentives for the customer with positive customer reviews is one of the strategies I can use to solve the challenge of poor customer services in M.C. Donald’s. Cash bonuses and incentives in a lump sum will significantly motivate employees to change their behaviors and improve their social skills (Matthew, 2010). This will ensure employees efficiently serve the customers. The impact will be directly felt by all the stakeholders in the business, including the customers, employees, managers, and the entire M.C. Donald’s. Non-monitory compensation will include promotions and recognition of the employees with the highest number of positive customer reviews.

Strategies to Motivate Employees and Influence Behavior

There are various motivational techniques used by entrepreneurs, and I will recommend them to be implemented by the M.C. Donald’s managers. Gamifying and incentivizing is a useful technique for influencing behaviors and motivating employees. The rewarding performance, which is based on meeting particular goals is a proven employee’s motivator (Matthew, 2010). Letting the employees know that the company trusts and depends on them is effective in influencing the behaviors and motivation. Setting smaller and practical weekly goals is the other strategy I will use in motivating and changing employees’ behaviors. Instead, the yearly objective of making a billion dollars, I will focus on making the employees develop smaller goals, such as targeting a hundred customers in a week. Rewarding employees on the achievement of this goal will influence their behavior and increase motivation. The overall result will be achieving the weekly targets as well as the annual goals.

References

Li, F. (2020). Team to Market (T2M): Creating High-Performance Teams in the Digital Age.

Matthew, R. E. I. S. (2010). A Manager’s Guide to Human Behavior: EBook Edition. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.

Neçare, E., & Şehitoğlu, Y. (2018). The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Ethical Decision Making: A Study on Human Resources Specialists. Turkish Journal of Business Ethics, 11(1), 38–41.

https://doi.org/10.12711/tjbe.2018.11.1.0012

Shane, J., & Heckhausen, J. (2019). A motivational theory of lifespan development. In Work across the lifespan (pp. 111-134). Academic Press.

Thomas, J. C. (2018). organizational dynamics within a team – roles, engagement, and expectations. Supervision, 79(8), 9–12.