THE CORPORATION

A Documentary is a work, such as a film or television program, presenting political, social, or historical subject matter in a factual and informative manner. Documentary texts are supposedly those which aim to document reality, attempting veracity in their description of people, places and events.

Difference between corporation and company:

A Corporation is a legal entity that is separate and distinct from its owners. Corporations enjoy most of the rights and responsibilities that an individual possesses that is, a corporation has the right to enter into contracts, loan and borrow money, sue and be sued, hire employees, own assets and pay taxes.
The most important aspect of a corporation is limited liability. That is, shareholders have the right to participate in the profits, through dividends.

A Company on the other hand could be a partnership, proprietorship or other form of enterprise that engages in business with a sole proprietor (just some person that opened a business). A company could also be a corporation. For example Walmart is an incorporated company. Joe's Taco Shack is just a company that isn't incorporated.

In the documentary “The Corporation” there are some terms that we need to have clear:

·         Capitalism: Is an economic system characterized by: private property, indiviuduals and companies are allowed to compete for their own economic gain; and free market forces determine the prices of goods and services. Capitalists believe that markets are efficient and they should function without interference, and the role of the state is to regulate and protect.

·         Psychopath: A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse. This personality disorder is characterized by an abnormal lack of empathy combined with strongly amoral conduct but masked by an ability to appear outwardly normal. Psychopaths have deficits or deviance in several areas:interpersonal relationships, emotion, and self-control.

·         Legal Institution: Set of premises in a permanent structure or structures designed to house usually large groups of individuals who are subject to a common authority or regime. Systems of legal rules which allow to change the regulative and constitutive rules of an organization.

·         Externalities: The quality or state of being outside or directed toward or relating to the outside or exterior that has an effect on an individual or entity due to the actions of another individual or entity.

·         Limited Liability:Legal protection available to the shareholders (stockholders) of privately and publicly owned corporations in which a partner or investor cannot lose more than the amount invested. The investor is not personally responsible for the debts and obligations of the company in the event that these are not fulfilled. The firm itself, as a legal entity, is liable for the rest.

As a legal organizational model, how does the rise of corporations influence the aspects of culture in pursuing profit?

Corporations influence culture in many ways, they can act as a person does because they are legal persons and they have the same rights and duties that human persons have. People tend to look at corporations as persons without conscience and soul because they only want to obtain profit, many often we classify brands and corporations and we give them personality characteristics, in that way we are creating an image of a person that sometimes is seen as a psychopath because it has all the characteristics of that type of person such as exploitation to workers, incapacity to keep lasting relationships, indifference to other`s security, and harm to animals; but in the other hand, corporations are seen as positive organizations because of their social responsibility, although many people disagree in this point. Most of the people look at them as externalization machines because corporations don’t really care about well-being of societies and they compete for power without being aware of the damage they are doing to societies and the environment in their search for the highest profit.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

·         http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/limited-liability.html

·         http://www.cs.unipr.it/CILC04/DownloadArea/BoellavdT-CILC04.pdf

·         http://www.investorwords.com/713/capitalism.html#ixzz1FDTbj94V

·         http://www.thefreedictionary.com/documentary

·         http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/Documentary/docu_index.php

·         www.nscb.gov.ph/glossary/housing.asp 
        Image: http://conciencianoosfera.wordpress.com/d-o-c-u-m-e-n-t-a-l-e-s/

ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR; NATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

To understand the organizations behavior we must have clear what an organization is and it is a structured social system consisting of groups and individuals working together to meet some agreed-upon objectives.

Now we can say that organizational behavior is the study of individual behavior and group dynamics in organizations. There are some interdisciplinary influences on Organizational Behavior such as psychology, sociology, engineering and medicine.

There three different levels of analysis in Organizational Behavior: group, individual and organizational processes.

Another important aspect about Organizational Behavior is its context in which we can have opportunities, change and challenges.

Nowadays there is a competition in business and there are driving forces creating and shaping change at work: globalization, technology, diversity and ethics.

Customers are focused in products of High Quality and for that reason Organizations are taking strategies to obtain an advantage in the international competition and to save money, two examples of that strategies are: Total Quality Management (TQM), and Six Sigma (6σ).

To learn about Organizational Behavior requires a mastery of basic objective knowledge, development of specific skills and abilities, and the application of those skills and knowledge.

NATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

National Culture is an important factor that influences the internal management systems of the organizations, for that reason managers should face some questions like: when in culture important and when not?; How much weight should be given to culture as against other factors?.

The factors that influence decision making are: internal (organizational strategy, resources, policies and systems, etc.); and external factors (technology, trade unions, labor markets, etc.).

Now we have to define the concept of culture for a better understanding of National Culture.

Hofstede (1984) define culture as: …the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another…

National Culture is an environmental factor. It characterizes the national group and influences the behavior of its individual members.

The organizational culture is a set of values or beliefs that is unique to any one organization, some positive aspects of this concept are that it guides decision making, provides identity for members and amplifies commitment.

There are different types of culture such as: The Clan Culture, The Hierarchy Culture, The Adhocracy Culture, and The Market Culture.

In different circumstances, managers perform a range of different roles and for that reason they have to develop the cross cultural manager skill to manage cultural diversity.

Why is managing organizational behavior in changing times challenging?

Managing organizational behavior in changing times is challenging because of the diversity of driving forces that are creating and shaping the organizational context, such as technology, globalization and ethics.

Nowadays, managers should develop different skills in order to be successful in the business competition and also they need to take into account the political, legal and cultural environment they are handling with.

Organizational change strategies, behavioral control systems and leadership must be developed because many traditional strategies are not adequate or don’t fit with the actual requirements and needs of organizations and they have to be implemented into the business.

Managers in the actual world need to be global managers because of the many challenges they have to face in the organizational context.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

·         Nelson, Debra L. and Quick, James Campbell. 2010. Organizational Behavior –Science, the Real World, and You. South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, USA. Chapter 1 and 2.

·         Cameron, K., & Quinn, R., (1999). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. New York: Addison-Wesley.

·         Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions.London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.

·      Schermerhorn, John R; Hunts, James and Osborn, Richard N. "Managing Organizational Behavior," 2nd edition.

·         Tosi, Henry L., Rizzo, John R. and Carroll, Stephen J. Managing Organizational Behavior. Marshfield, MA: Pitman Publishing, 1986.

Image: http://natyrpo.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html, September 2010

PERSONALITY, PERCEPTION AND ATTRIBUTION; ATTITUDES AND VALUES

To understand each person behavior we need to have clear some concepts such as:

·         Individual Differences: The way in which factors such as skills, abilities differ from one individual to another.

·         Personality: A relatively stable set of characteristics that influence an individual’s behavior.

The Trait Theory gives us the “Big Five” personality traits: Extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience.

The Integrative Approach describes personality as a composite of an individual’s psychological processes; personality dispositions include: Emotions, cognitions, attitudes, expectancies and fantasies.

When talking about organizations there are also some characteristics of personality

·         Core self-evaluation (CSE): Personality traits that refers to self-concept. It is comprised of:

Ø  Locus of control: Internal control Vs. External control

Ø  Self-esteem: Feeling of self-worth

Ø  Generalized self-efficacy: Believe in owns capabilities

Ø  Emotional stability

·         Self-monitoring: The extent to which people base their behavior on cues from other people and situations

·         Affect (positive, negative): Tendency to accentuate the positive or negative aspects.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Instrument: An instrument developed to measure Carl Jung’s theory of individual differences.

Social Perception:

The process of interpreting information about another person. There are three categories of factors that influence our perception about another person: Perceivers, target person and the situation.

There are five barriers to social perception: Selective perception; stereotyping; first-impression error; projection: “the false-consensus effect”; and self-fulfilling prophecies: Pygmalion effect.

Impression Management Techniques:

·         Self-enhancing: Name dropping, managing ones appearance, self-descriptions

·         Other-enhancing: Flattery, favors, agreement

·         Social identity-based impression management

Attribution Theory:

A theory that explains how individuals pinpoint the causes of their own behavior and that of others, it can be internal or external.

Attribution Biases: Fundamental Attribution Error, self-serving bias.

ATTITUDES

A psychological tendency expressed by evaluating an entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.

·         ABC Model of an attitude: Affect, behavioral intentions, cognition

·         Cognitive Dissonance: A state of tension that is produced when an individual experiences conflict between attitudes and behavior.

·         Work attitudes:

Ø  Job satisfaction: A pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences. Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), Workplace Deviance Behavior (WDB).

Ø  Organizational commitment: The strength of an individual’s identification with an organization. It consists of: Affective commitment, continuance commitment, normative commitment.

VALUES

Enduring beliefs that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence.

·         Work Values: Achievement, concern for others, honesty, fairness.

To what do you attribute the success of JICA?

After having heard about JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and the testimony of Yasuko, I can attribute the success of this company to the help and contributions that it has given to other countries and to the help of voluntary workers. JICA is an Agency that is owned by the Japanese government and its mission is divided into four categories: Addressing the global agenda, reducing poverty through equitable growth, improving governance and achieving human security. For the achievement of those missions, JICA has developed four main strategies: Integrated assistance, seamless assistance, promoting development partnerships and enhancing research and knowledge-sharing. These characteristics have given success to JICA because with this metodology the Japanese government can create a reciprocity relationship with other countries and can implement its Foreign Policy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

·         Harrison, D.A., Newman, D.A., Roth, P.L. 2006. How important are job attitudes?

·         Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Science, The Real World and You. South-Western College Publication, 7th. Ed.

·         http://www.jica.go.jp/english/

·         Yasuko. Aid worker of JICA in Colombia.

 Image: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/39407152/Organizational-Behavior-Values-Attitudes-Personality-and

ORGANIZATIONAL MOTIVATION

Motivation is one the most important factors that determine work performance. There many definitions of motivation, one of them is: the process of arousing and sustaining goal-directed behavior.

Here we are going to analyze some motivation theories:

·         Internal: Within the individual

·         Process: Interaction

·         External: Environment

A need is a state or condition within an individual that generates movement towards some outcome or reward:

·         Intrinsic motivation: Internal needs

·         Extrinsic motivation: External incentives

Here we are going to analyze some of the most influent motivational theories:

ü  Maslow`s Need Hierarchy: This theory classifies people needs into five categories: Physiological needs, needs of security and safety, social needs, needs of self-esteem and the needs of self-actualization. Maslow mentions that people always want to satisfy the higher rank need which is self-actualization.

ü  Douglas McGregor developed the “Theory X and Theory Y”: This theory separates employees in two categories, those who are in the X theory are predisposed to negligence, they avoid work and responsibilities. Those who are part of the Y theory consider normal to make efforts at work, and they are motivated by the rewards because they are in the two higher levels of the hierarchy of needs.

ü  ERG Theory (Existence, Relatedness, Growth): In this theory workers pursue multiple needs simultaneously.

ü  Mc Clelland´s Needs Theory: There are three acquired needs: Achievement, Power and Affiliation.

ü  Frederick Herzberg Two Factors Theory: This theory analyzes the sources of professional satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Satisfaction depends on the content of the work and dissatisfaction is determined by deficiencies in the work environment.

ü  My Two Cents Worth: You have the right to be dissatisfied about your work conditions and as employee or manager you have responsibilities aimed at improving the work conditions.

ü  Social Exchange and Equity Theory: There are three categories of exchange between individuals and organizations which are: Committed, Calculated and Alienated.

ü  Inequity Theory made by Stacy Adam: People are motivated when they see themselves in risk, or in a position they believe is unfair.

ü  Expectancy Theory also named VIE (Valence, Expectancy, Instrumentality): This theory establishes a connection between the employees` motivation and the certitude of their expectances, the results of the performance are means to satisfy a need. Key elements: effort, performance and reward.

Managers must understand that all motivation theories are not equally good or useful and that there are differences among nations.

In multicultural organizational contexts what could be a good strategy to keep people motivated towards a common task?

In a Multicultural Organization managers cannot assume they understand all employees’ needs. They should recognize the variety of needs that motivate employee behavior and ask employees for input to better understand their needs. Also it is important to have in mind that there is not just one useful or correct motivation theory that is applicable to all organizations.

In this specific case I would recommend Social Exchange and Equity theory because Social exchange theory is a perspective that explains social change and stability as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties and Equity Theory attempts to explain relational satisfaction in terms of perceptions of fair or unfair distributions of resources within interpersonal relationships. Under this Theory “employees seek to maintain equity between the inputs that they bring to a job and the outcomes that they receive from it against the perceived inputs and outcomes of others” (John Stacey Adams, 1965). The belief is that people value fair treatment which causes them to be motivated to keep the fairness maintained within the relationships of their co-workers and the organization.

For all the concepts given above I can conclude that with the use of these Motivation Theories employees in a Multicultural Organization would be motivated towards a common task because all of them want to have an equal treatment and they are willing to have stability and motivation by negotiated exchanges.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

·         Nelson, Debra L. and Quick, James Campbell. 2010. OrganisationalBehavior –Science, the Real World, and You. South-Western CengageLearning, Mason, USA. Chapter5

·         Viorel, Lefter, ManolescuAurel, Marinas CristianVirgil, and PuiaRamona Stefania. 2009. "Employees Motivation Theories Developed at an International Level”. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series18, no. 4: 324-328.

·         Business Dictionary (2010). Definition of motivation. Retrieved on January the 5th2011 from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/motivation.html

·         Chesler, Mark. Confronting the Myths and Dealing with the Realities of Diversity and Multiculturalism on Campus. Diversity Factor; Summer2004, Vol. 12 Issue 3, p5-12, 8p.

·         Zhang, Zhe^; Jia, Ming. Using social exchange theory to predict the effects of high-performance human resource practices on corporate entrepreneurship: Evidence from China. Human Resource Management; Jul/Aug2010, Vol. 49 Issue 4, p743-765, 23p, 1 Diagram, 3 Charts, 4 Graphs.

·         Yaqub, Muhammad Zafar; Yaqub, Rana Muhammad Shahid; Nazar, Muhammad Suhail. Dynamics of Motivation in Strategic Networks. European Journal of Economics, Finance & Administrative Sciences; Apr2010, Issue 19, p28-33, 6p

Image: http://mandeleefbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/09/employee-motivation-in-private.html