Three key points of the learning.  Influence of the learning on you.

Three key points learnt from this seminar are, the concept and meaning of organizational behavior, the perspectives related to the same and the different approaches of the same.

If, in recent future, I am to join an organization, this learning will help me to understand the organization and behave accordingly.

Specific skills and knowledge gained from the module. Value of the same in the studies and in future.

This learning module described the meaning of the organizational behavior and certain concepts, like motivation, team management and the like, that are related to it.

The module gave me a sound idea of how the organization and its people work which will help me to get through my exams and also will work as theoretical gain in the future.

 

Week – 4

Three key points of motivation and employee engagement.

From the reading it is found the concepts of mutuality and exchange, adhering to the promises and obligations made and trust and mutual respect on the part of the passengers influence the drivers in employee engagement. However, it is found that payment and fringe benefits work as a great motivational factor.

Texts to recommend.

Among the provided books, the Social Exchange theory by Peter Blau and the Motivation- Hygiene theory by Frederick Herzberg, are two important books that proved to be very helpful. Both the books contain sound and compact explanation of the concepts and factors of employee engagement and motivation.

Week – 5

From the case study ‘Through the Keyhole’ and from discussion with other students, identify five of the principal issues and three areas of theory that could be applied to analyze these issues.

The case study, ‘Through the Keyhole’, reflects upon the five principle issues being, Timescale, Controlled and Formal Structure, Quasi- Militaristic Hierarchy, Authoritarian Leadership and Power Hierarchy. The theories, that could be used to analyze the piece are, McDonaldization, the Smile Theory and the theory of Structural Hierarchy.

Four main pieces of advice to a first-year student.

To analyze the piece the student must-

Look and think critically.

Figure out the concepts used.

Find definitions and meanings if the concepts used and

Apply the required theory to understand the same.

Week – 6

Explanations of organizational citizenship, emotional labor, tacit knowledge.

Organizational citizenship: This is, a form of behavior, where the individuals behave is a discretionary manner, going beyond the requirements of the organizations, which benefits the latter.

Emotional Labor: Emotional Labor, is another form of behavior where the individuals are seen to co-ordinate their emotions to fulfil the customer needs.

Tacit Knowledge: Tacit Knowledge, can be defined as certain skills or ideas that are known but cannot be articulated or made understood verbally.

Principal characteristics of ‘neo-villainy’ in the contemporary workplace

The principle characteristics of ‘Neo- Villainy’ as propounded by Harvey et al., (2017), are, bondage to the organization, no guarantee of income, speculative work and payment of rent to the organization.  

Week – 7

Key points to remember regarding citations and referencing.

The important points to remember while citing and referencing are-

• The references should be authentic.
• The citation should be made properly.
• Fake referencing and citing must be avoided.
• The formations of various forms of references must be proper and the citations must be done accordingly.

Harvey et al (2017) approach to SEPTs and ‘villainy’.

According to Harvey et al. (2017), the concepts of SEPT and ‘neo-villainy’ are intertwined. From the idea of SEPT, the concept of neo-villainy has grown. While the former talks about zero hours contract or hyper flexible working and the like, the characteristics of Villainy, also deal with the same.

Week – 8

Challenging areas.

While completing the essay, I think the role of stake holder in the field of Corporate social Responsibility, will be a difficult to find out, in the case of the Uber, since it is comparatively quite a new company and is majorly driven by the consumers. Also, the business conducts of the company are different than the rest.

Three points that will help to address the challenges involved in writing essay.

• Critical assessment of the essays that are dealt with.
• Having a relational approach while looking at the concepts.
• A proper structure of the essay.

These are the areas that must be noted while writing an essay.

Week – 9

Jot down four issues from the article by Parkinson.

Four issues as propounded by Parkinson, (2017), are, the issues related to “gig economy”, the issues related to “crowd work”, the issues related to the concept of “piecemeal existence” and issues related to the increasing trust among the civilians up on the online platforms rather than the print media.

Differences between newspaper articles and academic journal articles.

Differences between newspaper articles and academic journals are-

• Newspaper articles are often anonymous but the academic journals are authentic.
• Newspaper articles lack authenticity related to the provided news, but the journals provide in depth analysis regarding the concepts and issues.
• The newspaper articles do not have a proper structure, but the journals are well structured and has a formal approach.

Week – 10

Article of Moyer Lee and relation to gig economy.

Moyer Lee, a 30-year-old student, who worked as a bicycle courier while his time in college, was the first to talk about the employment rights and gig economy, that is increasingly expanding across the globe then soon, the developed country. The three key areas that he pointed out were, low wages, holiday rights and pension rights (Bawden. 2019).

He was the key driving force in the IWGB movement, and was the first person to talk about the ‘gig economy’ and the detriments of the same.

Three learning materials that were helpful and their references.

The three sources that I found to be very useful in this learning session were, the motivation and hygiene theory, the social exchange theory and the article by Margaret Collinson.

Herzberg, F., 1971. The motivation-hygiene theory. Work and the nature of man, 4.

Blau, P., 2017. Exchange and power in social life. Routledge.

Collinson, M., 1994. Through the Keyhole?. Organization, 1(1), pp.44-46.

Week – 11

Key issues you intend to critically analyze in your chosen assessed coursework essay.

In my coursework I would like to evaluate and work on the concepts of employee engagement, motivation of the employees and the recent concept and trends of gig economy.

Theories and concepts to draw upon.

To analyze the meaning, concept and trends of gig economy, I would like to understand, evaluate and critically review the Labor Process Theory by Knights and Willmott.

Knights, D. and Willmott, H. eds., 2016. Labour process theory. Springer.

References:

Bawden, A. (2019). Jason Moyer-Lee: Why the gig economy is a threat to us all. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/19/jason-moyer-lee-gig-economy-threat-independent-workers-union [Accessed 30 Apr. 2019].

Collinson, M., 1994. Through the Keyhole?. Organization, 1(1), pp.44-46.