Unit 2 - Peacewick potential questions Flashcards
- Outline 2 types of leadership styles
Autocratic leadership style is when a single individual holds the most power and decision-making authority. Typically, this means that employees and those working for the business other than the leader do not have a say in business decisions. This type of leadership style is most common with a tall organisational structure. While PU is not entirely autocratic, Jim is turning into an autocratic leader due to his controlling behaviour and since he “rarely consults anyone”.
○ A democratic leadership style is when employees are involved in the decision making process but the leader still has the final say. This is beneficial because it motivates employees and creates a sense of team-building. These are usually associated with project-based organisations. In regards to PU, it is likely that a democratic leadership style is adopted in the research and development departments like medicine research as these have projects where employees participate in.
- Outline 2 types of training
On-the-job training and off-the-job are the two most common types of training. The former allows the employees to obtain applied knowledge and integrate more swiftly into the daily working habits at their specific post.
On the other hand, off-the-job training is done externally by a professional trainer, which can provide more innovative training, but be less applicable to the workplace of their specific company. When looking at PU, it is evident that the training was effective especially when it came to the IT department as it improved the IT skills for many lecturers.
- Explain two advantages of part-time employees.
Being an efficient way to keep costs down in areas where you don’t yet need full-time cover. increasing recruitment and retention of staff by offering family-friendly working practices. When linking this with the case study it is evident that PU were trying to solve their cash flow issue by letting 20% of their staff work part time (could also link to Shamrock Organization: outsource/part-time job every secondary function)
- Outline 2 ways the University could remove anxiety from the staff.
Recently PU’s staff has been stressed due to reasons such as struggles with the new system as well as job redundancy and unfair dismissals. In order to decrease staff anxiety and increase employee productivity and motivation, PU can apply motivation theories such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as well as Herzberg’s theory of motivation.
○ Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a hierarchy made up of 5 main components that should be met in order for the employee to be motivated. It starts with the basic human needs in this order: physiological needs, safety needs, and love and belonging. Then there are self esteem, and self actualization needs. If PU applies the following components to their employees then they should become motivated and less stressed.
○ On the other hand, Herzberg’s theory is made up of motivators and hygiene factors. Motivators help increase job satisfaction. For example, recognition and personal growth. Hygiene factors are factors that dissatisfy the employees, thus it is important to improve them in order to decrease job dissatisfaction.
○ Overall, using motivational theories could help improve employee motivation and morale and reduce stress and anxiety from staff.
○ One notable area of conflict is between the head of the faculty of History, Jim Summerfield, and the other faculty members. More specifically, Jim is lowering morale and allegedly bullying staff in his faculty with autocratic behavior among many other problems. Jim is adopting an autocratic style of leadership, which he likely prefers. However, this creates a conflict because employees are not compatible with this leadership style as shown by the aforementioned reactions.
○ There is a conflict between the teaching staff who became redundant and Adriana, the president of PU. Adriana has made 10% of teaching staff and support staff redundant, while 20% of staff were moved to part-time employment. Considering the economic recession, it will be hard for these employees to get jobs. While the laid off employees may not be able to control becoming redundant, Adriana would have faced backlash from the redundant employees.
○ Another area of conflict is between Adriana and the research staff. In the case study, it states that certain research staff had anxiety because they were not involved in front-line research. This creates conflict because Adriana does not want to have anxious staff as this reduces motivation and productivity of PU. On the other hand, the research staff do not feel that they are achieving mastery or doing purposeful work, which is the cause of their conflict against Adriana.
- Outline the process of dismissal
○ Inform the employee of the issues in writing. Conduct a disciplinary hearing or meeting with the employee. Inform the employee of the decision in writing. Give the employee a right of appeal. The Manager dismissing the employee must have a valid reason for this dismissal or else the employee could take legal action. Such as Patricia Hughes in PU’s case
- Explain how lack of motivation was responsible for high staff turnover at PU. (Lines 88-94)
○ Lack of motivation led to several faculty resigning in the Faculty of history department at PU. This lack of motivation stems from the emotions of the employees such as low morale and anger towards Patricias’s redundancies. Additionally, there is a lack of motivation because employees lack autonomy and purpose, both components of Daniel Pink’s theory. This means that employees are not intrinsically motivated because Jim’s leadership style does not allow them to fulfill their autonomy and purpose goals since he acts like an autocrat. Consequently, “Despite few job vacancies in the domestic economy”, the lack of motivation outweighs this and causes the high staff turnover for PU.
- What is the effect of staff redundancy on PU’s brand image?
○ In the case study it is stated that “10% of teaching staff and support staff were made redundant”. This shows that PU did dismiss employees due to redundancy. This ruins PU’s brand image as part
- List at least three attributes that PU’s mission statement is based on.
Inclusivity
● Resilience
● Commitment
- Outline one advantage and one disadvantage of making the history and international languages faculty redundant.
Redundancy involves the termination of an employee contract due to their job no longer existing or the employer not being able to afford the employee.
○ One advantage of PU making these faculties redundant is that it could decrease costs. The number of students choosing these subjects has been continuously decreasing and is predicted to continue decreasing (146-148). This could imply how the revenue would be much lower than the costs, meaning that the costs involved with the department aren’t being compensated or aiding in the overall revenue of PU. Hence, removing these faculties could be better for PU’s cash flow and could possibly resolve the cash flow problems they’ve been suffering since 2021/2022 (line 57 and line 69). The fact that a redundancy is occurring means that cutting costs can increase the probability of PU’s survival.
○ However, seeing that a recession is currently undergoing (line 17), making two faculties redundant could impact the morale of the remaining employees. Recessions are uncertain times where employees will be worrying about their job security, this will be further encouraged once PU removed the history and international language faculties. Following Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (safety needs) and Herzberg’s two-factor theory (hygiene factors) - job security is essential for employees motivation. Demotivated employees will be less efficient, productive and may even choose to leave PU, which had been the case within the history department (line 87-88).
- Outline two impacts of online learning for PU (30-35 / 70-80) [4]
The impacts of this were mostly negative, leading to both student and teacher dissatisfaction - decrease in quality of teaching and limited access to lessons.
○ Many lecturers found it difficult to teach without face to face interactions and had inadequate IT skills to deliver high quality online courses, these did not meet their expectations and they demanded compensation. There was anxiety among the teaching staff and some of the research staff who were not involved in front-line research.
○ In addition to this, many students were dissatisfied with the online lessons as they lacked the appropriate equipment to follow online lessons. Despite the fact that the government and several computer manufacturers aided in the provision of IT equipment for students and employees, there were still substantial shortages, particularly among economically disadvantaged pupils.
- Outline two disadvantages of online-learning for PU (30 - 39) [4]
One disadvantage of online-learning for PU is that their staff’s low level of technology skills may lead to communication problems with students, decreasing the quality of PU’s lessons.
Another disadvantage of online-learning is that it may have an effect on teachers’ mental health, evidenced by the anxiety experienced by staff while teaching online. This could contribute to a decrease in motivation and in the quality of teaching.
- With reference to PU, describe one advantage and one disadvantage of Jim’s leadership style [4] (could also refer to a power culture - HL)
○ Jim’s leadership style would appear to be autocratic. An advantage of this would be that Jim is able to make decisions quickly as he does not consult with other employees. This may mean that Jim can decide upon suitable resources and examination content that lecturers should use, quickly, increasing efficiency and allowing time to be devoted to other areas of the faculty.
On the other hand, a disadvantage would be that, as Jim does not consult employees on decisions, this has already led to lower morale and accusations of bullying made against him. This can lead to damaging the reputation of the university, which already has controversy with ethical issues and can increase labour turnover, as shown in the case of Patricia. This will be costly for PU in both legal fees for a court case and future recruitment costs to replace employees.
- With reference to PU, explain the differences between leadership and management [4]
○ Jim would be an example of a manager in the history faculty. Jim’s role would involve setting objectives and planning and organizing resources to meet these objectives e.g. improving student satisfaction rates in the faculty. He would also be responsible for directing and motivating employees, however this appears to be not as successful due to low morale and dismissals.
Leadership is about taking responsibility for strategic decisions and setting the long-term vision. In PU´s case, Adriana would demonstrate leadership as she would be considering strategic options such as opening a new campus and how to reduce cash outflows. Adriana must make these decisions while considering the impact on stakeholders and alongside the board of trustees.
- With reference to PU, describe an advantage and disadvantage of the previously planned improved pay structure [4]
○ An improved pay structure could have been potentially motivational for lecturers who are extrinsically motivated. This can help meet their psychological needs outlined by Maslow by improving their access to basic needs as well as satisfying Herzberg’s hygiene factors. This may increase the quality of teaching as lecturers feel appreciated and reduce labour turnover. However, a disadvantage of an improved pay structure could be the costs involved in doing so, as well as possible issues with equity. It is unclear what an improved structure may look like, this could mean some lecturers get paid more than others depending on performance, in such a case, employees may feel undervalued and that their input does not match the output, as outlined in Adams Equity theory. This could cause conflict within PU.
- With reference to PU, explain why Jim should be dismissed instead of made redundant[4]
Jim should be dismissed as his behavioural conduct is basically bullying other employees. Unsafe behaviour that threatens lives or equipment would be regarded as serious misconduct, as would confidentiality breaches and therefore be a well-grounded case for dismissal. On the other hand, redundancy would not apply to him as redundancy is another lawful reason for dismissing employees. Redundancy is different from other reasons for dismissal as it is perfectly likely that the employee has done nothing wrong and that their work is up to standard. The company simply needs to lose some roles as a result of a recession or reduced demand.
