organizational behavior

Organizational Behavior Masters of Business Administration Page 4

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents ................................................................................................................... 4

1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 5

2.0 Literature Review........................................................................................................ 6

2.1 Stress .......................................................................................................................... 6

2.2 Personality.................................................................................................................. 6

2.3 Emotional Intelligence ............................................................................................... 7

2.4 Motivation .................................................................................................................. 8

2.5 SMART Objectives .................................................................................................... 9

3.0 Organization Profile .................................................................................................. 10

4.0 Hypothetical Situation (Case Study) ......................................................................... 11

4.1 Issue Identification ................................................................................................... 11

4.2 Issue Analysis .......................................................................................................... 11

4.3 Consequences (Analyzed) ....................................................................................... 11

4.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 13

5.0 Analysis (Case Study) ............................................................................................... 14

5.1 Stress ........................................................................................................................ 14

5.2 Motivation ................................................................................................................ 15

5.3 Emotional Intelligence ............................................................................................. 16

5.4 Personality................................................................................................................ 17

6.0 Action Plan................................................................................................................ 18

7.0 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 19

8.0 References .................................................................................................................... 20

9.0 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 21



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1.0 Introduction

Assignment Objectives

Understand the basic concepts of Stress, Emotional Intelligence, Motivation and

Personality

Select a particular organization and apply these concepts and study about its

organizational behavioral issues.

Develop a Case Study using the particular company and the issues occurred as

absenteeism and turnover of employees

Understand SMART objectives.

Background

This report intends to analyze a company and identify the main problems of a company like

absenteeism and employee turnover and identify the main reasons for the said problems.

All the problems are to be categorized in to four main characteristics of human behavior.

An Action Plan will be developed at the end of the report to overcome the issues and avoid

absenteeism and staff turnover.

The four main factors are shown below.

Figure 1: Main Concepts of Issues



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2.0 Literature Review

The main theories behind this documentation are Stress, Emotional Intelligence,

Motivation and Personality as shown in the figure above. And in this chapter a brief

description is given for each attribute.

2.1 Stress

Stress is a major factor that brings lot of affect to the work life. Therefore it can be

considered as one of the most important attribute that need to be concentrated on. And too

much work stress may lead to health care issues as well. Lot of research has been done on

the stress factor and it shows that stress interfere functions like intellectual, emotional and

also interpersonal functioning in an organization.

Risks can be occurred in an organization in many ways. In this documentation analysis

done on stress and reasons and consequences of stress is determined and solutions are

suggested.

2.2 Personality

Personality is another main factor that affects work life. Behavior of people in an

organization totally depends on the personality. There can be many different personalities

that are available in an organization. For a manager it is very important to understand the

personalities. It is mainly because dealing with each personality is totally different from the

other.

In an organization personality differences affect the work life in huge amount. A

motivation for a specific person could be a de-motivation for another employee with

different personality.

The Below diagram shows the main personalities that could be available in an organization.



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Figure 2: Personalities in an organization

[Source: Ezine Articles]

Dealing with above each personality is totally different from each other and their de-

motivational factors and motivational factors are different. Therefore most companies face

lot of absenteeism and turnover issues because of the personality factor.

2.3 Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence has become increasingly important to organizational development

and developing its people, because the Emotional intelligence philosophy present a fresh

approach to understand and assess the people's behaviors in an organization, management

styles, their attitudes, interpersonal skills, and of course their potential. Emotional

Intelligence has become a key consideration in human resources planning, job profiling,

recruitment interviewing and selection, management development, customer relations and

customer service, and many of the organizational functions.

Therefore Emotional Intelligence is another major factor for the occurrence of issues like

absenteeism and employee turnover.



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2.4 Motivation

Self actualization is the highest drive of an employee, however before a person can turn to

it, he or she must satisfy other, lower motivations like hunger, safety and belonging. The

hierarchy has five levels.

Physiological (hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, etc.)

Safety (security, protection from physical and emotional harm)

Social (affection, belonging, acceptance, friendship)

Esteem (also called ego). The internal ones are self respect, autonomy, achievement

and the external ones are status, recognition, and attention.

Self actualization (doing things)

In the work life Motivation is a major factor for the productivity of the employees. If the

organization does not concentrate on motivation of employees there could be massive issue

with labor turnover and absenteeism.

Maslow‟s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg‟s Motivation-Hygiene theory demonstrates the

human behavior and major components that affect the motivation as shown below.

Figure 3: Maslow‟s Hierarchy & Herzberg‟s Motivation Theory

[Source:www.Jayderagon.com]

Motivators

Hygiene factors



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2.5 SMART Objectives

SMART Objectives are used in this project report. SMART objectives are a set of criteria‟s

that are used in projects for better evaluation.

SMART objectives are as follow

Figure 3: SMART Objectives

Meanings of the above factors are as follows

Specific – Be clear and precise about the proposing or discussing factor

Measurable – enumerate the main objectives

Achievable – Are the proposing factors are too much to achieve

Realistic – Are the resources available is enough for the proposal/ultimate objective

to happen.

Timed – What is the time duration or the dead line.



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3.0 Organization Profile

MAS Linea Clothing is one of

the leading Apparel

manufacturers in Sri Lanka,

MAS Holdings, are supplying the

garment to leading apparel

Suppliers in the World apparel

market. Speedo, Victoria Secrete,

Mark & Spence, Calvin Klein,

Michal Korse, Tesco, and Lands End are one of the main

Customers of MAS holdings.

Most of the fabrics are supplied by foreign suppliers. Threads are supplied by Coast

Thread Lanka, and elastics are supplied by Stretch Line Sri Lanka, Other trims and

suppliers are Foreign Companies.

Company has started at 1996 with 300 employees and now company occupies 1350 total

employees per one shift. Total direct workers are 1400. Average production is 40000 pieces

per day and average efficiency of the production is 60%. Factory is facilitated with Product

development center, and they develop the sample that is to be sent to the customers.

Linea Clothing is in its 13th year of operations and, has expanded its client base including

Victoria‟s Secret, Marks & Spencer‟s, Lands End, Tesco, Hinds and Warnaco into its

impressive portfolio. Incorporating the most modern technology in the globe, together with

the some of the Islands most talented professionals,

The Above Logo is a property of MAS Holdings Pvt Ltd.

Figure 4: Logo of MAS Holding

[Source: (MAS Holdings, 2010)]



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4.0 Hypothetical Situation (Case Study)

In an organization Employee Turnover and absenteeism is a massive issue. This is a case

study of MAS Linea Aqua that labor turnover became a huge problem. In this chapter the

main discussion is done for the situation occurred.

As stated in previous chapter the factory has over 1500 employees on one shift and they are

operating on clothing. There are about 20 modules or lines in the factory.

4.1 Issue Identification

Since over 40,000 pieces are sewed everyday from the garment, consistency of labor forces

is highly necessary. But in last year (2009) labor turnover was more than 10% and showed

considerably high absenteeism rate as well.

Note: For more details refer Turnover reports in Appendices

4.2 Issue Analysis

The report showed over 10% turnover in year 2009 and very high absenteeism rate. Many

different reasons were given to resign from the company. Pregnant, sick, transport issues,

look after the baby, eyesight problems, to go abroad, personal problems, to do operations,

getting married, join army are some of the reasons which they have given to the company.

Note: For more details refer Turnover reports in Appendices

4.3 Consequences (Analyzed)

High labor turnover is a massive problem from any kind of company. For garment trade

existence of skilled and experienced labor is utmost important because it is highly sensitive

industry that exist in Sri Lanka.



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When the labor turnover is very high in garment trade it leads to a massive disaster in many

ways. All the consequences of resignation of skilled and experienced labor is identified and

discussed in below chapters.

4.3.1 Quality

Quality is extremely important in a garment industry. Since most of the sewing is done for

the international brands it is really necessary to keep the quality high to exist in the market.

Therefore special attention should be given to the quality aspect.

One of the major issues that need to be concentrated on is the decreasing the quality of the

products. As the employee turnover is high new employees are taken in to the company and

the new comers are not well trained and experienced in the line. Therefore the quality of

the products tends to decrease. And mainly since the sewing and stitching is done using

machines which are very fast accidents could happen in the factory as well.

4.3.2 Productivity

Productivity is another factor that is necessary for the garment trade because most of the

time bonus of a particular person is decided by the productivity of the line. Another reason

for productivity to be so important is most of the orders are given to the garment by

international companies with a deadline. Most of the time if the deadline is not met the

company reject the order. Therefore it is so important to finish everything on deadline

keeping the quality up to the standard.

When the labor turnover and absenteeism is very high the productivity tends to go down in

massive amount. When the absenteeism is high the number of labor goes down and without

the necessary amount of human force it becomes impossible to reach the target within the

specific time period.

When the turnover is very high the garment/organization tend to recruit new people to the

company. Since new people do not have enough skills and experience the outcome of the

employee is low during first month. That leads to huge trouble if productivity expected at

the end of the month is not met.



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4.3.3 Time

Time is very important factor for garment industry. Each employee has to finish each item

in a specific time. If the employee does not finish the item in recommended time the

expected productivity will not be met at the end of the day. And it will lead to a huge

trouble when it comes to the project deadlines.

When the labor turnover and absenteeism is high and when new recruits come to the

industry the timing cannot be done correctly because of the low productivity of new

recruits. The main reason for this is lack of experience and skills. Therefore it is necessary

for the organization to keep the skilled and experience labor in the workforce to reach the

ultimate goals.

4.3.4 Training

Training is necessary when there are lot of new recruits in the factory to keep up the

productivity and outcome. Therefore when the turnover is very high and new recruitments

are high, it is necessary for the company to use extra labor force and train the new recruits.

It is highly expensive for the company. And when workforce leaves the company after the

training period and joins another company, it makes another issue.

4.4 Conclusion

When the workforce turnover and absenteeism is very high, it makes massive problems.

And the main factor to understand is if the turnover is high and if people tend to resign

from the MAS Holdings and join another organization it is obvious that there is an internal

problem in the company that affects employees. Therefore the problems and reasons should

be analyzed and solutions must be performed.



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5.0 Analysis (Case Study)

The clothing industry is both a quintessential global industry and one that is inescapably

labor intensive. Due to this reason the labor turnover is relatively high in most of the

garment manufacturing plants in MAS holdings. The stats in appendix (1) shows how the

staff absenteeism and turnover of MAS Linea Intimo for the year 2009. In this discussion

it will be discussed the reasons for the relatively high staff absenteeism and the staff

turnover by taking the below given factors in to consideration.

It has been identified four main reasons for the labor turnover in the selected industry and

the discussion will be based on the following reasons

1. Stress

2. Motivation

3. Emotional Intelligence

4. Personality

5.1 Stress

Stress plays a major role in the event of the absenteeism and labor turnover in the apparel

industry. A high production quantity, Demand in production time, work routine, quality

control could affect the stress level of the labor force as an internal factor. However from

the records of the labor turnover and absenteeism report of MAS Linea Aqua shows that

apart from the internal stress factors that there are external factors that contribute majorly

on the stress level of the employees.

Transportation, sicknesses, restlessness, Relationship issues, marital conflicts, and all the

other continuous problems could be taken as external factors that could affect the labor

turnover in the organization.

If taken a closer look in to these issues one could determine that high intensity of female

laborers in these garment factories is one of the reasons for the said external factors and

which affect the stress level of them whilst affecting the labor turnover



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5.2 Motivation

Motivation factors can play a huge role in the apparel sector in Sri Lanka as the

competition among the main players in the industry is immense for the skilled labor. MAS

Holdings being one the leading apparel industries in Sri Lanka would provide more

motivational factors to their employees than most of its competitors. However a labor

turnover of 10% in year 2009 is a considerable percentage.

The factors that affect the motivation of an employee of an organization was discussed in

figure: 3

In MAS the organization provides most of the discussed factors of motivation. The

examples for the discussed factors are as follows.

Physiological

MAS provides lunch for its employees with a subsidized charge and tea twice a day

(Morning and evening)

The sewing plants are well designed that gives the labor force a clean and clear

work environment.

Safety

The safety policies of MAS are state of the art and practiced across its plants. These

practices are mandatory and monitored by the international buyers such as NEXT, VS, and

GAP etc…

Social

The belongingness, friendly atmosphere is maintained in the highest level in the

factory. Movements / projects such as “MAS Women Go Beyond” is an example for this

Figure 5: Women Go Beyond Logo



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Esteem

Working for the largest apparel manufacturer in the Island and the standards the

organization follows may give a higher esteem to its employees than the employees who

work for the competition.

Self Actualization

A fulfillment of all the above factors derives in self actualization. Staff motivation

could be in a high level among the staff if the above factors are met.

5.3 Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence refers to the process involved in recognition, use,

understanding and management of yourself and others emotional states to solve emotion

laden problems and to regulate behavior. One can categorize EI as a part of the cognitive

abilities alongside social, practical and personal intelligence that is in the „cold‟ side of the

cognitive processes. Unlike its other members EI could be categorized a „HOT‟ cognitive

emotional process that has a bigger importance to an individual and the surrounding

environment.

EI is more important to the management level staff at MAS as they need to understand the

mindset of an individual who may not have much of an intelligence capacity. These

individuals could be the machine operators, cutters, laborers who may possess a minimum

level of an intellectual capacity.

If one look at the absenteeism report, the reasons given by the staff will give a better idea

of the level of instability that the laborers has when considering the personal factors such as

„relationship issues & marital issues‟.

A management team with a higher EI capacity and introductory level training to the staff

on EI will help the organization and the staff to



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Understand the issues that their labor force face on day to day activities

Will enable to advance the thinking capacity of the lower level employees force

such as the machine operators, laborers etc…

Will help the labor force to have a better work – life balance

5.4 Personality

When understanding an individual‟s personality it could be identified that one‟s

personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

that make the person unique. Further to this, personality could arise from within the

individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life.

Employee personalities could obviously have an impact on many things that they

do, if not you could also say that it has an impact on everything. How deep the effect of

personality in a specific job performance depends on the unique aspects of an individual's

personality. Personality has a great impact on overall productivity in a social workplace. In

this case it could be said that an employee personality in MAS has an overall impact on his

/ her productivity. Cognitive ability, nevertheless, has been exposed to be more positively

correlated to actual performance.

If an employee is unwilling to perform the task and lacks conscientiousness, then

the job will not be done, regardless of potential ability. Social aspects of many traditional

work environments may overshadow some other unseen factors that affect overall

workplace productivity.

Ex: Reasons for labor absenteeism / turnover at MAS linea Aqua which relates to an

employee personality

Joining the Army

Marriage



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6.0 Action Plan

According to the absenteeism / turnover summery of MAS Linea Aqua the highest number

records due to health hazards of the employee.



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7.0 Conclusion

The need to understand organizational behavior is of utmost importance for an organization

to have a competitive edge over its competitors. Human capital is a extremely important

tool in an organization. Companies inject huge amounts of funds to identify the appropriate

talent required to carry out the demanding positions. The behavior of such human capital

will influence the company‟s performance a great deal.

It is known that many behaviorists have come to a conclusion that understanding &

managing one‟s stress, emotional intelligence, motivation & personality towards behavior

are necessary. This study & application of MAS holdings will highly benefit the company

from a human performance & financial perspective.



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8.0 References

1995. Dealing with poor performance. Available at:

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_80.htm [Accessed March 7, 2010].

SMART Objectives. Available at: http://www.learnmarketing.net/smart.htm [Accessed

July 10, 2010].

Stress at Work: How to Reduce and Manage Workplace and Job Stress. Available at:

http://helpguide.org/mental/work_stress_management.htm [Accessed July 10, 2010].

Amanda Griffiths, 2003. Work Organization and Stress. Available at:

http://www.who.int/occupational_health/publications/en/oehstress.pdf [Accessed June 7,

2010].

Antoinette Smith, 2006. What Are the Causes of Stress in an Organization? Available at:

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5612348_causes-stress-organization_.html [Accessed July 10,

2010].

Barbara Beccari, 2007. Personality and Work Relations. Available at:

http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Barbara_Beccari [Accessed February 7, 2010].

Ben Dattner, 2007. Executive Coaching. Available at:

http://www.dattnerconsulting.com/presentations/executivecoaching.pdf [Accessed March

7, 2010].

Benjamin Schneider, 2004. Personality and Organizations. Psychology Press. Available at:

[Accessed July 7, 2010].

Brent MsNutt, How Does Stress Affect Your Performance at Work? Available at:

http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/how-does-stress-affect-your-performance-at-

work-558364.html [Accessed August 7, 2010].



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9.0 Appendices

Figure: Performance

[Source: MAS Holdings Pvt Ltd]

Current performance, gaps, targets

Current : Actual 11 % Target 5% & Gap : 6%

Reflection on last year’s goals, activities, and results

Activity G/Y/R Key results / issues

Problem Solving Through JCC Y All problems not received to JCC

Problem Solving Through Grievance Box

R Not functioning frequently

Special function for employees G Employees were satisfied with

Functions

Provide Better food G Employees were satisfied with food



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Figure: Sample Turnover sheet 2009




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Figure: Absenteeism Report 2005, 2006




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Figure: Absenteeism Report 2007, 2008




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Figure: Absenteeism Report 2009




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Figure: Turnover Summery Report 2005








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