Human Resources Management Questions
QUESTION 2
A) Property deviance and counter-productive work behaviors
Property deviance at the place of work is a common thing in many organizations all over the
world and it involves direct stealing or outright misuse of an organization’s property for the
personal benefit of the culprit. For instance, if Joe’s case is considered, it is evidently clear that
the work supplies he was caught stealing were only meant for his own personal use hence
depriving the company of its resources. In most cases, employees who are directly culpable of
property deviance are not only involved in stealing but also in other counter-productive
behaviors at their workplaces, which synergizes the overall effect of company sabotage (Pulich
& Tourigny, 2004). There are numerous counter-productive behaviors commonly observed in
places of work and a particular employee may not be involved in all of them but a number of
them. In the context of Joe’s case, it is clear that he does not really prioritize the productivity of
his company and that may be the reason he can go to an extent of directly stealing work supplies.
HRM QUESTIONS ANSWERS 2
One of the other counter-productive behaviors Joe may be most likely engaged in is portrayal of
outright aggressive behavior against his colleagues in form of showing open hostility or
intimidation especially to co-workers who may be suspicious of the property deviance he is
engaged in at workplace (Pulich & Tourigny, 2004). This may be a common especially when the
work environment is diverse thereby leading to counter-productivity. Other counter-productive
behaviors may include wasting time by spending more time doing thing which are unnecessary
for the overall productivity of the company e.g. taking extended breaks during coffee or lunch
hours in addition to taking too long to accomplish an assigned task (Chiu & Peng, 2008).
B) Tactics to stop Joe from stealing again
Since the company does not consider firing Joe yet, it is imperative to ensure that he is
discouraged from attempting to steal again from the company and there are various tactics that
can be used by Joe’s supervisor to achieve this. First, Joe’s duties need to be segregated from
those that are directly associated with procurement and storage of work supplies. By doing so,
the supervisor will ensure that Joe does not get access to where work supplies are kept (Pulich &
Tourigny, 2004). Second, the supervisor should make sure that Joe accounts for any supplies
allocated to him if his job directly involve utilization of the supplies. Third, the supervisor should
make sure that a code of ethics and conduct is established for Joe in order to clearly outline the
things he should never engage in at his workplace failure to which appropriate disciplinary
measures will be meted on him (Mitchell & Ambrose, 2007). Finally, the supervisor should
ensure that he establish good work relationship with Joe and try to counsel him on why the
HRM QUESTIONS ANSWERS 3
behaviors he is engaging in are counter-productive to the company, and if he continues the
company will no longer be able to have him around (Schultz & Schultz, 2010).
C) Appropriate Leadership style(s) to use with Joe
Considering that Joe’s behavior needs to reform, there are several leadership style (s) that the
supervisor can adopt while dealing with him. First, transformational leadership is the most
appropriate because it would inspire Joe to change by stressing on the fact that, the best is
expected from him and he should be accountable for his actions (Pulich & Tourigny, 2004). This
is highly helpful because it would help the supervisor to communicate well to Joe so that he can
change and also help them achieve their set goals. Second, servant leadership would also be
imperative because it would help the supervisor to ensure that Joe’s need to change is met by
working closely with him regardless of him being his senior (Mitchell & Ambrose, 2007). Third,
transactional leadership would also be appropriate because it would help the supervisor make Joe
understand that he must avoid repeating his work supplies’ stealing behaviors and strive for the
overall good of the company and that is why is paid by the company (Martindale, 2011).
QUESTION 3
A) Personality characteristics to look for in hiring employees
Creative jobs are undoubtedly demanding especially when they have to be performed in startup
businesses. Hence, when hiring the entrepreneur should be very careful to ensure that the
recruited candidate has the desired personal characteristics to effectively carry out his/her duties.
Considering that the creative jobs will involve design work, one of the most important
personality characteristics for employees is to be observative (Robbins & Judge, 2007). This is
because the surrounding are creative oyster for an individual and by critical observation the
HRM QUESTIONS ANSWERS 4
employees will be able to get new as well as innovative ideas and also see possibilities (Luthans
& Doh, 2015). The hired employees should also be able to turn obstacles into opportunities since
creative jobs often involve beginning tasks from a scratch. They should also be resilience
because in accomplishing creative jobs, one has fail and fail again without fearing to dare for
another attempt. Also when hiring the best candidate should be curious to inquire and ask big
questions in order to be succinctly conversant with their assignments (Luthans & Doh, 2015).
Finally, risk taking is undoubtedly one of useful personality characteristics for employees
undertaking creative jobs, and the employer must look at it because the higher the risk their
employees will be able to take, then the higher the returns in case their ideas or projects succeed
(Robbins & Judge, 2007).
B) Appropriate organizational structure design for the business
Organizational structure is an important aspect for any company whether a start-up or an
established business (Lim et al., 2010). This is mainly because it is attributable to the definition
of company activities such as task allocation, supervision and coordination in order to achieve
organizational goals. Since the business is a start-up a less bureaucratic organizational would be
highly appropriate (Luthans & Doh, 2015). Thus, “circle: moving back to flat” organizational
structure would be the best option because it is highly applicable to entrepreneurial start-ups,
especially those operating in the field of technology (Lim et al., 2010). Also this organizational
structure is highly preferred for companies with highly skilled professionals like website
designers or software developers. Hence, since the start-up business will involve creative jobs
such as designing, there is no other organizational structure which could befit it that this (Lim et
al., 2010).
HRM QUESTIONS ANSWERS 5
C) Appropriate organizational culture for the business
It is without doubt that organizational culture is one of the important determinants of business
success because it encompasses behaviors and values attributable to an organization’s unique
psychological and social environment (Luthans & Doh, 2015). Thus, it represents the collective
principles, beliefs and values of organizational members and it is determined by factors such as
technology, market, product, type of employees, strategy as well as management style (Ravasi &
Schultz, 2006). Since the business would involve highly engaging creative jobs such as
designing, organizational constructive culture would be the most appropriate to adopt because it
encourages people frequently communicate with their co-workers and strive to carry out
assignments as teams, rather than individually. This is very applicable to this business because
apart from being a start-up, it is also involving complex jobs including creatively or innovatively
designing new products (Ravasi & Schultz, 2006). In addition, constructive organizational
culture is characterized by achievement, self actualization, humanistic encouragement as well as
affiliation. All these aspects of constructive organizational culture are centered at the employees
rather than the business because it is entrenched in believe that, when employees are motivated
to effectively accomplish their duties, the businesses will the ultimate beneficiary (Luthans &
Doh, 2015). As a result, in organizations where constructive cultures are embraced there is
encouragement of employees working to their full potential leading to high motivation levels,
service quality, teamwork, satisfaction as well as sales growth (Ravasi & Schultz, 2006).
HRM QUESTIONS ANSWERS 6
References
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