San Jose State University Revising Discipline Investigation Homework This is my big last essay. Turnitin is still enabled. I really appreciate your help. 1

San Jose State University Revising Discipline Investigation Homework This is my big last essay. Turnitin is still enabled. I really appreciate your help. 1
Anh Lam
Professor Rajan
English 100A
4/12/2020
DISCIPLINE INVESTIGATION ASSIGNMENT
INTRODUCTION
I chose business administration with a specialization in operations management since I
want to become an operations director of a company in the future. A degree in operations
management will give me the required skills to work in, and outside the U.S. The degree will
also acquaint me with expertise in management, planning, activity organization and reporting.
My degree program will entail learning how to develop strategies to create and enhance
processes in a company. I will also learn various disciplines of operations management like
quality assurance, planning, policy formulation, accounting, activity coordination and theories in
economics. The knowledge that I will get in my major disciplines will give me a systematic
framework to enable me to achieve my future goal and career path. The main reason for my
choice of this degree program is that I would like to be different and unique. Currently, I can
read and write Chinese, Vietnamese and English. My knowledge of these languages will give me
an advantage during communication with different people. I am aware that the positions of a
company operations manager are a special but a stressful job role. Managers often have
numerous chances to travel abroad for business meetings and project reviews. Company
managers are paid handsomely and have more opportunities to acquire new ideas and meet new
faces from various cultural backgrounds. My degree programs will also sharpen my skills on
how to handle customers, business owners, managers and other entrepreneurs in my career path.
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My interviewee is Mr. A and is the operations director at Company Z. The company is in
the manufacturing industry. Mr. A has worked in the manufacturing industry for 12 years. In my
Discipline Investigation Assignment, I will include information about the career path of Mr. A. I
will also cover his duties, roles and responsibilities as the operations director at company Z. The
assignment will also include my personal thought about my findings during the interview and
research.
INTERVIEW REPORT
Background and career path
Mr. A is Japanese who can speak various languages like English, Japanese, and Chinese.
Mr. A migrated to the United States when he was pursuing a master’s degree in manufacturing
management at Pennsylvania State University, The Behrend College. Mr. A took the education,
and after completion, he got a job as a production assistant within the U.S. Mr. A wanted to
further the training at the country, so he took the citizenship of America. When I asked Mr. A
why he wanted to continue with studying while he had a job; then, he told me that having a
master’s degree was not enough. He tried to achieve higher levels by becoming an operations
director, and this motivated him to further the studies for self-actualization. According to Kaur
(2013), a person has some needs which have to be achieved in life before moving forward, and
this makes people move step by step in life thus reaching the highest rank in their requirements
of self-actualization. The author further indicates that Abraham Maslow argued that if human
beings had grown in an atmosphere where needs were not met, they would not be in a position to
function well as human beings.
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Mr. A explained to me that operations sector is a growing area and which carries a large
part of the manufacturing and production industry in the companies, and this was one of the
perfect spaces to dwell in life for a person to become successful. Mr. A told me that he had
worked for various companies in Japan dealing with production and manufacturing. For instance,
when he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Global Business at Hosei Univesity, he worked in a
Japanese private company as a risk manager. After realizing there was a need to gain more
experience on the operations side, he decided to look for a scholarship at the U.S. where he went
to take his master’s degree. Mr. A told me that mixing the skills of risk management and
manufacturing management would help in stimulating his dream and hence achieving his goal
fast. Carvalho (2015), in his article, indicated that there is a connection between risk
management and the success of an operation.
When Mr. A obtained his PhD in operations management, from the University of Q, he
was employed as the Operation Director at Company Z. Mr. A told me that for a person to
become successful at the operations line was not easy because it required a lot of technical skills
and sacrifice. Mr. A has been in this position for the last twelve years.
Roles and responsibilities
The responsibilities of Mr. A include the direction and coordination of company Z’s
operations. Some other duties also include company expense control, department supervision,
organization, staff management, overseeing processes and also interacting with various business
personnel. Mr. A also assists the company manager, whose aim is to promote company growth,
in setting company policies. As the operation director of the company, Mr. A also inspects the
day to day activities of employees at company Z. He also manages other junior staffs to ensure
that they meet stipulated deadlines and set goals. Mr. A prepares timely office budgets, time
4
schedules and business reports for the company. Other roles of Mr. A include supervision of
senior managers and reporting to the managing director of company Z. Mr. A also has the
mandate to define, revise operational policies and rules and implement the set strategies of the
company. As the operations director, Mr. A plays a lead role in the creation and overseeing of
customer service initiatives of company Z. Mr. A is also the chief advisor of the firm on matters
that concern the operational sector. Generally, Mr. A holds the whole duty for the control of the
operations and administrative division of the company.
Mr. A said that his biggest challenge is the need to improve process quality in company
Z. Employees often make mistakes that cause extra expenses in the company budget. Consistent
errors from employees can lower the quality of processes in the company. Mr. A also said that he
ensures that the method have no mistakes is that they comply with the set standards of the
industry. Mr. A said that he uses the performance support technology to control the occurrence
of employee errors. The tech set up a safety net around any possible chance of a failure occurs in
a process. The performance support system also quickly identifies errors and validates a system
error correction. The system automatically alerts an employee of a mistake in a process and
makes automatic corrections. Mr. A also added that it is challenging to have an entirely accurate
and quality process. Mr. A told me that he has some minor office duties that he carries out as the
operations director.
Communication skills
I asked Mr. A the types of readings and writings which takes place in the job, and he told
me that most of the papers contain calculations on expenses incurred in the production process.
The readings entail risks steps and ways of mitigating hazards in the production process to
ensure effective production. The main aim is to ensure productivity which maximizes the profits
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of the company, so he has to ensure that operations are efficient. Furthermore, Mr. A added that
since the production process is carried out by employees, he has to ensure that there is the
satisfaction of employees which will increase their motivation to work well in the company. The
motivation is achievable by excellent communication in the company, which may be either
formal or informal. Mr. A says that he prefers using written communication when passing an
official message to the employees concerning the workplace. Because there are other managers
under the position of Operations Director, Mr. A communicates with them face to face most of
the time. He ensures that their projects concerning the operations are individual.
Writing skills are essential in the operations management as indicated by Mr. A.
Operations management deals with writings like calculations of costs of production, risk
controlling steps, dealing with customer orders and others. Reading production journals is also
essential in the production sector because it helps in gaining knowledge on how a person can
improve the processes associated with the operations department. Mr. A informed me that a
person’s authority in this job is obtained from the responsibilities allocated to him of improving
the quality. The bodies come with policies which are applicable in the company for the benefit of
the business.
CONCLUSION
The interview with Mr. A and conducting of the Discipline Investigation Assignment has
helped me learn new ideas and useful information in my life. Mr. A is a hardworking and a
person who can make a good role model because he is a dream chaser who has persevered
different challenges to meet his goals. Mr. A made me learn the benefit of excellent
communication in an organization. Thus, this has caused me to put a conversation as my priority
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in life when dealing with other people. My target always has to be an operation director, and
from the experience of Mr. A, I have learned that good reading and writing skills are essential.
Lastly, I learned that the more you study, the more you acquire the skills needed to achieve your
dreams.
References
Carvalho, M. M. D., & Rabechini Junior, R. (2015). Impact of risk management on project
performance: the importance of soft skills. International Journal of Production
Research, 53(2), 321-340.
Kaur, A. (2013). Maslow’s need hierarchy theory: Applications and criticisms. Global Journal of
Management and Business Studies, 3(10), 1061-1064.
Global Journal of Management and Business Studies.
ISSN 2248-9878 Volume 3, Number 10 (2013), pp. 1061-1064
© Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com/gjmbs.htm
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory:
Applications and Criticisms
Avneet Kaur
Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi.
Abstract
Motivational factors play an important role in increasing employee job
satisfaction. This will result in improving organizational performance.
High productivity is a long term benefits of employee motivation.
Motivated employee is a valuable asset who creates value for an
organization in strengthening the business and revenue growth.
Motivation is going to work if the right person with suitable skills is
made responsible for the job or otherwise it will be the wastage of
resources and time, and will lead to job dissatisfaction. The paper is
aimed to study the effect of employee motivation on job satisfaction
and organizational performance. This paper attempts to define the
motivational theory propounded by maslow known as need hierarchy
theory.In this the theory is well defined with literature reviews. It also
explains the managerial applications of this theory in organizations and
the criticism faced by it.
Keywords: Motivation, Need Hierarchy Theory, Organisations.
1. History and Explaination
The “motivation to work” published by Maslow probably provided the field of
organisational behaviour and management with a new way of looking at employees job
altitudes or behaviours in understanding how humans are motivated. Probably the bestknown conceptualisation of human needs in organisations has been proposed by this
theory. Abraham Maslow was a clinical psychologist who introduced his theory based
on personal judgement, which was generally known as the need hierarchy theory.
According to him if people grew in an environment in which their needs are not met,
they will be unlikely to function as healthy individuals or well-adjusted individuals.
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Avneet Kaur
Specifically Maslow theorised that people have five types of needs and that these
are activated in a hierarchical manner. This means that these needs are aroused in a
specific order from lowest to highest, such that the lowest-order need must be fulfilled
before the next order need is triggered and the process continues. If you look at this in
a motivational point of view Maslow’s theory says that a need can never be fully met,
but a need that is almost fulfilled does not longer motivate. According to Maslow you
need to know where a person is on the hierarchical pyramid in order to motivate
him/her. Then you need to focus on meeting that person’s needs at that level (Robbins
2001)
Below is a summary of these needs that in this thesis are divided into Deficiency
needs (psychological, safety, social needs) and Growth needs (esteem, selfactualisation needs).
2. Factors Explanation
Physiological needs are the need at the bottom of the triangle and include the lowest
order need and most basic. This includes the need to satisfy the fundamental biological
drives such as food, air, water and shelter. According to Maslow organisations must
provide employees with a salary that enable them to afford adequate living conditions.
The rationale here is that any hungry employee will hardly be able to make much of
any contribution to his organisation.
Safety needs this occupies the second level of needs. Safety needs are activated
after physiological needs are met. They refer to the need for a secure working
environment free from any threats or harms. The rationale is that employees working
in an environment free of harm do their jobs without fear of harm.
Social needs: This represents the third level of needs. They are activated after
safety needs are met. Social needs refer to the need to be affiliated that is (the needed
to be loved and accepted by other people). To meet these needs organisations
encourage employees participation in social events such as picnics, organisations
bowling etc
Esteem needs this represents the fourth level of needs. It includes the need for selfrespect and approval of others. Organisations introduce awards banquets to recognise
distinguished achievements.
Self-actualisation: This occupies the last level at the top of the triangle. This refers
to the need to become all that one is capable of being to develop ones fullest potential.
The rationale here holds to the point that self-actualised employees represent valuable
assets to the organisation human resource.
3. Organisational/ Managerial Applications
The greatest value of Maslows need theory lies in the practical implications it has for
every management of organisations (Greenberg & Baron 2003 p.195). The rationale
behind the theory lies on the fact that it’s able to suggest to managers how they can
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory: Applications and Criticisms
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make their employees or subordinates become self-actualised. This is because selfactualised employees are likely to work at their maximum creative potentials.
Therefore it is important to make employees meet this stage by helping meet their need
organisations can take the following strategies to attain this stage
Recognise
employee’s
accomplishments:
Recognising
employee’s
accomplishments is an important way to make them satisfy their esteem needs. This
could take the form of awards, plagues etc.. According to (Greenberg & Baron 2003,
p197) research carried out in GTE Data services in Temple Terrace, Florida shows that
awards are given to employees who develop ways of improving customer’s satisfaction
or business performance. But it should be noted that according to Greenberg &Baron
awards are effective at enhancing esteem only when they are clearly linked to desired
behaviours. Awards that are too general fail to meet this specification.
Provide financial security: Financial security is an important type of safety need.
So organisations to motivate their employees need to make them financially secured by
involving them in profit sharing of the organisation. In a research carried out with
AT&T and Wang showed that 50% of their employees received financial outplacement
services to assist laid-off employees in securing new jobs.
Provide opportunities to socialise: Socialisation is one of the factors that keep
employees feel the spirit of working as a team. When employees work as a team they
tend to increase their performance. Research conducted on IBM shows that it holds a
“family day” picnic each spring near its Armonk, New York headquarters.
Promote a healthy work force: Companies can help in keeping their Employees
physiological needs by providing incentives to keep them healthy both in health and
mentally. In a research carried out at the Hershey Foods Corporation and Southern
California Edison Company showed that Employees are provided with insurance
rebates with health lifestyles while extra premiums were given to those with risk habits
like smoking.
4. Criticisms
Maslow proposed that if people grew up in an environment in which their needs are
not meet, they would be unlikely to function healthy, well-adjusted individuals.
Research testing Maslow’s theory has supported the distinction between the
deficiencies and growth needs but showed that not all people are able to satisfy their
higher-order needs on the job. According the results of the research managers from
higher echelons of organisations are able to satisfy both their growth and deficiency
needs lower level managers are able to satisfy only their deficiency needs on the job.
Maslow’s theory has not received a great deal of support with respect to specific
notion it proposes (Greenberg &Baron 2003, p195). To them this model is theorised to
be especially effective in describing the behaviour of individuals who are high in
growth need strength because employees who are different to the idea of increasing
their growth will not realise any physiological reaction to their jobs.
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Avneet Kaur
Centers & Bgental (1966, .193) in their survey carried out among a cross-section
of the working population in Los Angeles, posited “background factors, altitudes and
aspirations affects workers needs, expectations and situation assessment”. According
to Graham & Messner (1998, p.196) there are generally three major criticisms directed
to the need theory and other content theories of motivation. (A) There is scant
empirical data to support their conclusions, (b) they assume employees are basically
alike, and (c) they are not theories of motivation at all, but rather theories of job
satisfaction. This was supported by the views of Nadler & Lawler (1979) in Graham
&Messner (2000, p 188).
Nadler & Lawler (1979) cited in Graham & Messner (2000,p.198) where also
critical of the need theory of motivation. They argue that the theory makes the
following unrealistic assumptions about employees in general that: (a) all employees
are alike (b) all situations are alike and that (c) there is only one best way to meet
needs. Another critic to this view was Basset-Jones & Lloyd (2004, p 961).
Basset-Jones & Lloyd (2004, p 961) presents that in general, critics of the need
theory argue that it is as a result of the natural feeling of employees to take credit for
needs met and dissatisfaction on needs not met.
5. Conclusion
Nonetheless and regardless of the heavy criticism levied at the hierarchy of need
theory, I believe that this theory has a made a significant contribution in the field of
organisational behaviour and management especially in the area of employee
motivation and remains attractive to both researchers and managers alike. The
incorporation of the need theory into the work environment today could be as a result
of the contributions made so far by Maslows Hierarchy of need theory.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
Antomioni, D. (1999), “What motivates middle managers”? Industrial
Management, Nov,-Dec, Vol. 41, No 6, pp. 27-30.
Basset-Jones, N. & Lloyd, G.C. (2005), “Does Herzbergs Motivational Theory
have staying power”? Journal of Management Development, Vol.24, No.10,
pp. 57-56
Friedlander, F. (1964), …
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