Perception, Motivation & Leadership
Organisational management is a widely developed process which includes activities such as planning, leading, controlling and coordinating. Plenty psychological concepts are involved in analyzing the organisational behaviour and the relationship between the members of one. However, the purpose of this essay is to discuss the role of perception, motivation and leadership in relation to the given case study. We begin by identifying the main problems in the case study and describe them according to the three concepts mentioned above.
The case study “The abrasive consultant” presents the problem between Cathy, a manager for a consulting firm, and Julia, one of the consultants. Cathy receives two complaints about Julia’s inappropriate behaviour towards different clients, but every time she accepts Julia’s explanations. One of the most important client complains and this convinces Cathy to replace Julia. After receiving a call to pack her things and return to head office, Julia becomes angry and much stressed. She sustains that the call reminded her of the manner of finding out about her father’s death. Impressed by Julia’s level of distress Cathy avoids the conversation with her about her inadequate behaviour and she gives up the official warning. This situation deserves to be analyzed according to the main concepts which are involved in the organizational management: perception, motivation and leadership. Perception is the psychological process which implies receiving stimulus from the environment or from the inner insides in order to be able to draw a conclusion about a certain thing. There are a lot of factors which can influence perception and the way we perceive them is not always right or accurate. In the organisational environment perception can influence any situation or relationship. There is a very wide range of factors which can affect perception: psychological, sensory limits, each ones’ needs, cultural differences, closure and grouping. (Mullins, 2010)
The case study “The abrasive consultant” presents the problem between Cathy, a manager for a consulting firm, and Julia, one of the consultants. Cathy receives two complaints about Julia’s inappropriate behaviour towards different clients, but every time she accepts Julia’s explanations. One of the most important client complains and this convinces Cathy to replace Julia. After receiving a call to pack her things and return to head office, Julia becomes angry and much stressed. She sustains that the call reminded her of the manner of finding out about her father’s death. Impressed by Julia’s level of distress Cathy avoids the conversation with her about her inadequate behaviour and she gives up the official warning. This situation deserves to be analyzed according to the main concepts which are involved in the organizational management: perception, motivation and leadership. Perception is the psychological process which implies receiving stimulus from the environment or from the inner insides in order to be able to draw a conclusion about a certain thing. There are a lot of factors which can influence perception and the way we perceive them is not always right or accurate. In the organisational environment perception can influence any situation or relationship. There is a very wide range of factors which can affect perception: psychological, sensory limits, each ones’ needs, cultural differences, closure and grouping. (Mullins, 2010)
References: Mullins, L. J., Management and organisational behaviour, ninth edition, Prentince Hall (2010) Fiedler, F. E., A theory of leadership effectiveness, New York: McGraw-Hill (1967) Torrington, D., Weightman, J., Effective management, second edition, Prentice Hall (1994) Chell, E., The psychology of behaviour in organizations, Macmillan Press (1987) http://managementhelp.org/mgmnt/skills.htm#anchor165831 http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/motivation.html#ixzz13kcA2NBF