The effect of participative management style management essay

applied management 636Final Report”The effect of participative management style on motivation and job satisfaction in china-nz CULTURAL EXCHANGE CENTRE”

Group Members

Randhika, Ranjila, Frank

Tutor: Ms Seema Singh

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to analyze and determine the need of the effectiveness of various methods of motivation on the employee and suggesting a model that creates a practical application for the methods and the determinants of the application.The problems found due to lack of motivation were:Low team morale.Lack of initiative.Lack of energy.High Error rate through carelessness.High staff turnover rate of new employees.The report recommends that for the motivation problem at NZ China Exchange Centre:Managers should set attainable goals for the employees.Management should create motivating environment.Managers should use rewards and recognition for the employees’ efforts and good work.Need for empower employees.Need for job enrichment.Need for job enlargement.Need for job rotation.Management should provide company benefits to employees such as mobile phones and transportation.Need for management to provide on job training for new employees.

Table of contents

Executive SummaryiiTable of Contentsiii1.Introduction12.Methodology33.Findings 43.1 High Staff Turnover Rate of New Employees43.2 Location63.3 Low Productivity63.4 High Error Rate through Carelessness73.5 Low Team Morale74.Conclusions85.Recommendations96. Bibliography 117.Appendix- Questionnaire for Employee Motivation12

1.0 Introduction

Small-to-medium sized businesses constitute is an important part of New Zealand economy. With simpler organizational structure and smaller size of the organization, it is by no means management in a small-to-medium sized business is an easier task. This report is to further investigate the topic of the effect of participative management style on motivation and job satisfaction in China-NZ Cultural Exchange Centre (China-NZ). As the results from the research study indicates, due to the lack of participative management, China-NZ is facing a series of problems which have negative impact on the organization. Combining the research result and the literature review done by the previous report, feasible solutions are provided in the recommendation part.The critical employee’s management challenges of the instant outlook driven by company re-engineering and reformation efforts, reliability concerns, and fierce competition for explanation talents are closely associated to the rising issues of employee commitment and efficiency. This report focuses upon the problem of motivation, and job satisfaction on organization selected by the research team is NZ China Exchange Centre.In any known circumstances, the role of managers become more significant because they play a significant and distinctive role compared to others in the organization. Motivation of productivity at NZ China is a problem as the employees need to be motivated to have productivity at the business and to have a healthy work environment for the employees whereby they do job with interest and enjoy it at the same time.The definition worked well for our group as often an employee are familiar with how to perform correctly, the procedure is good, and all possessions are available, but for one reason or another, chooses not to do so, which usually means it is a motivational problem, which was a case at NZ China. While many jobs have troubles that are inbuilt to the situation, it is the problems that are inherent to the person that usually cause us to mislay focus from our major task of receiving results.The researches started by accumulating and filing what the employee has been not doing or should be doing – tasks, special projects, reports, etc. one of the team member did observation on how the employee performing the task and observe and record what the employee was doing was up to the standards. The team member also checked past performance appraisals, previous managers, or other leaders the employee might have worked with trying to find out if it is a pattern or something new.The researchers found the problem in the internal environment. This motivational matter is not the responsibility of the employee. By providing feedback and ensuring the feedback is consistent, providing the means for employees to motivate themselves to the desired behavior. Not consistent feedback from management was provided to the employees who want good precautions practices, then glare on workers who slow down by complying with regulations. Criticism was not provided on a continuous basis by the management. It was only provided during an employee’s performance rating period. Also, ensure that there is not a difference in priorities. Employees with several tasks and projects on their plates must be clearly communicated as to what comes first when pressed for time. With the ever growing concept to do more with less, management must appreciate that not everything can get done at once.

Objectives of Research

This research investigated the problem and explained and described how the effect of participative management style on motivation and job satisfaction in China-NZ Cultural Exchange Centre affected their performance.Based on the problems identified for China-NZ and previous literature reviews on participative management, motivation and job satisfaction, research objectives of this study are：To investigate the relationship between participative management style, motivation and job satisfaction at China-NZ.To test the effect of participative management style on motivation and job satisfaction at China-NZ.To identify and develop effective participative management programs to improve motivation and job satisfaction for China-NZ.To access the knowledge and competence of staff for China-NZ.

2.0 Methodology

This research employed an exploratory research design. Although exploratory research tends to use qualitative approach, this study combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Research instruments used for this study include face-to-face interviews with China-NZ’s full time staff members, observations of the operation of the company and questionnaire survey conducted among both full time and part time employees. China-NZ currently has three full time staff members and three part timers. Almost all of its employees have participated in the study, excluding the manager of the company. Questionnaires have been given to China-NZ’s two full times and three of its part time employees to investigate their motivation and job satisfaction. By observing the company’s daily operation, the researcher takes notes about the company when the researcher goes to work at China-NZ. A face-to-face interview has been given to each of the two full-time staff members excluding the director of the company.The questionnaire mainly contains three parts. The first three questions are demographic questions regarding participants’ working history in China-NZ, their full-time or part-time position and their age group. This is to see that whether demographic is an important factor that influences employees’ job satisfaction and motivation. Twenty of these questions are designed for testing China-NZ’s employees’ degree of job satisfaction. These questions are borrowed from Salisbury University (2011). Questions regarding participants’ attitudes towards their pay rate and benefits, management and organization of their company, relationships with coworkers and supervisors and their particular responsibilities are included. Eleven questions of the whole questionnaire relate to employee’s motivation. These questions are borrowed from Sample Questionnaire (2011). This part of the questionnaire includes testing whether participants understand what motivation is, whether they are motivated, and how they can be motivated.A pilot test of the survey questionnaire has been conducted with one full time and one part time employee of China-NZ. Minor changes were made according to the feedback from the pilot test. Both of the participants taking part in the pilot test feel the questionnaire is too long. After carefully reconsidering the questionnaire, some of the questions that were repetitive were deleted. Although all of China-NZ’s employees speak Chinese as their first language and English as their second language, the questionnaire was designed in English. Therefore, one of the main purposes of conducting a pilot test is to make sure that questions created for the survey can be interpreted in the correct way by participants.The study was conducted smoothly. Participants were quite supportive about this research. Questionnaires were completed in the office, which enabled the researcher to help participants who have questions or problems when filling out the questionnaire. The whole process proceeded smoothly and no major difficulties or problems were encountered.The research was conducted combining both qualitative and quantitative research methods. For testing employees’ job satisfaction and motivation, the result of the questionnaire was mainly analyzed through means and frequencies. The data collected has been coded.An in-depth face to face interview was given to each of the two full time staff members to further investigate their insights and attitudes toward their current work, because they understood the company’s situation best and interacted with the company most frequently. In addition, a dairy of observation of the operation of the company has been kept. The dairy recorded the company’s opening time of every morning for one-week’s duration.Moreover, the information received was not sufficient and less reliable as the employees would not disclose true and enough information about the problems employees faced at workplace and they were suspicious about their career and did not want to get themselves in trouble by disclosing information and to save the reputation of their company.Several management theories were used in conjunction with the results. Furthermore, the secondary data was based upon the literature review and it was a great help as it made the research more easy and compatible with the received feedback.

2.1 Strength and limitation of the research

Strengths

There are several strengths that this research has. First, one of the research team member himself is a friend of a staff in China-NZ, which facilitates the process of the research. From getting permission from the management of China-NZ to conducting the questionnaire survey, face-to-face interview and observation of the company’s operation hours, the whole process goes smoothly. Second, the research study was conducted with three instruments including questionnaire, face-to-face interviews and a dairy recording result of observations. Three types of research instruments rather than one could help the researcher to further investigate the research topic. Third, although the ample size is quite small, the researcher was able to take care of each participant to provide as much assistance as possible. This ensures that each participant understands the real meaning that each question represents.

Limitations

The research study also has some limitations. The biggest limitation is that the sample size for the questionnaire survey is too small, which is not large enough for a quantitative research study. Another limitation is that only one researcher conducted the research because the employees in China-NZ spoke Chinese language as their mother language and English as the second so he was the only one to communicate with them and analyze the result which will have a narrow view especially for the part of recommendations.

3.0 Results and analysis

3.1 Results and analysis of questionnaire survey.

The result survey indicates that employees at China-NZ have a slightly low degree of job satisfaction. However, results from the face-to-face interview with China-NZ’s two full-time employees show a relatively low degree of job satisfaction. Combining the results of face-to-face interview and survey questionnaire, it can be seen that employees are satisfied with the job itself but not satisfied with the management and reward system. Most of the means of question 4 to question 25 are below 4, which means that most of the answers chosen by participants are between somewhat agree and somewhat disagree. Specifically speaking, question 5 has a mean of 3.5. Half of the participants disagree or somewhat disagree with the statement that “I feel that I am valued by this company”. Regarding the knowledge and training related to the job, participants’ answers to question 6 and 22 indicate that half of the participants strongly agree or agree with that they have received adequate training to do the job well, whereas, three out of the four participants somewhat disagree of disagree with the statement that “I understood very little about my current position prior to being hired”. Only one participant somewhat agree with the statement of question 22. Therefore, it can be seen that, employees are with a certain agree of understanding of the job prior to work. This might because of the reason that most of the employees of China-NZ used to be or currently are international students who have experience of contacting with student agency. As a result, they are not totally unfamiliar with this field. Question 23 and 17 reveal that whether employees get enough support from the management. Half of the participants somewhat disagree or disagree with the saying that they are provided with extra training when needed. Half of the participants agree or strongly agree with that they receive adequate support from their supervisor.Question 13 and 16 related to employee’s satisfaction with their income, which shows a low satisfaction. Three out of the four employees somewhat disagree with the statement “for the work I do, the pay is good”, whereas three out of four of the employees somewhat disagree with the statement “I make pretty good money compared to others in this field”. It can be seen that participants are not quite satisfied with their current income. Question 24 shows the overall job satisfaction of employees and how they perceive their colleague’s overall job satisfaction. The mean of employee’s self-rated job satisfaction is 5 and their colleagues’ is rated as 5.5, which is a moderately low score.As the result indicates, half of the participants have been working for China-NZ for one to two years. Only one person has been working for China-NZ for two to three years and one person for less than one year. 75 percent of the participants belong to the age group of 25 to 29 and only one person is in the age group of 20 to 25.From question 25 to question 33, participants need to select “yes” or “no” to answer the questions. The answer “yes” or “no” has been coded as 1 or 2. Frequency has been used as the main method for analyzing the result. The result indicates that all of the participants understand what motivation is and believe in teamwork. 75 percent of the participants would like to receive more motivation, need to be motivated from others and believe that their goals in life have been clearly formulated. Half of the participants are determined to build beneficial relationships with the people they interact with, willing to take time to consult with others and consider themselves as creative and always eager to try new things.

3.2 Results and analysis of face-to-face interview

The results from face-to-face interview reveal that both of the full-time employees of China-NZ actually like the job itself, but they are not satisfied with the company’s management. They are not given clear instruction when facing a new task, which results in their low job satisfaction as well as low customer satisfaction. They call for more support from their management. The result also indicates that their reward system and policies are not clearly known. Employees are not well motivated. In addition, employees of China-NZ want their opinions to be considered by the management and they want to be more participative in the decision-making process of the company.

3.3 Results and analysis of observation

The normal daily business hours for China-NZ start from 9:30am to 5:30pm everyday. However, as the researcher observed from 01/03/13 to 03/03/13, on none of the three days of this period China-NZ started its business from the normal operation time.

3.4 Solutions & consequences

Rewards & Benefits

Managers or supervisor of China-NZ should reward their employees on their performance. Rewards in the form of increasing wage rate, giving meal allowance if there are working overtime, giving bonuses, and paid leaves.

Recognition

Managers or supervisors of China-NZ should verbally recognize employee’s efforts and good work. Because it improves quality of work as employees will be encouraged by the recognition, and the staff will be likely to display this in an improvement in their work.

Create motivating environment

Management of China-NZ should install hot and cold water system, coffee & tea making machine in the staff cafeteria. They should also provide safety materials to employees to ensure that workplace meets requirement of Occupational Health & Safety.

Setting Attainable Goals

Managers or supervisors of China-NZ should set attainable goal for their employees as it will motivate each individual to assess their role in the firm.

Job Enlargement

Managers of China-NZ should enlarge the job of an employee for those who are doing additional work of a similar nature to what they already do. This may be allow them to complete the entire task instead of just part of it, for example, customer service as well as packing paper work. This process preferably removes the boredom out of the job by eliminating the sameness out of tasks and allowing them to complete the entire process, further raising their responsibility.

Job Rotation

Managers of China-NZ should allow employees to alter the nature of their job occasionally. For example, you may give the employee administration duties one week, marketing the week after, and then back to their original job of customer service the following week. This cycle will then be on going. The reason of this is that the employee, again, is pleased by reduced boredom and also motivated by the accomplishment of greater than before skills. The business owner gains from cross-training and the possible for feed-back and enhancement ideas.

Job Enrichment

Similar to job enlargement, managers should develop an employee’s job by increasing their tasks to give a superior level of accountability in the nature of work they do. For example, they can be given the responsibility of ordering materials and making delivery provision instead of just working in customer service. This will not only enlarge their skills, but also give them an improved challenge (responsibility).Keeping employees aware of the opportunities that exist for them within the organization (i.e., leadership positions).

Management Theories

6.0 Conclusions

Motivating employees is a channel that can be influenced in a good judgment because it is helpful for the employer and the employee. Good motivational strategies are the establishment for employee efficiency, employee happiness, and employee intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Managers or supervisors prosper on enhancing the work environment so that employees do not lose energy or frustrate under pressure. Management should consider for their employees and provide employees with a sense of achievement along with self-importance in knowing their work. Glasser’s Control Theory begs the question on how and why employees suffer; they must manage their work/life environment. This theory may be practical in some circumstances but if one is looking for a lifetime of control this theory just will not happen. This report reveals problems existing at China-NZ including loose management, low level of employees’ participation and low motivation. Based on these results revealed, recommendations are provided for China-NZ, including adopting participative management style, establishing well-structured reward system and policy, enhance the supervision quality of the management, establish more training programs and build up teamwork.

5.0 Recommendations

5.1 Adopt participative management style

Participative management style is suggested for China-NZ’s management. It is believed that participative management brings many benefits to an organization. These benefits include creating a sense of ownership in the company, a sense of pride and motivating employees to increase productivity in order to achieve their goals and objectives (McMillan, n.d.). Employees who are invited to participate in the decision-making process of the company are more likely to feel themselves as a part of a team whose members have a common goal. Their sense of self-esteem and creative fulfillment will be heightened.To adopt a participative management style, the management of China-NZ could establish and implement some feasible programs. First, the company could set up a suggestion box. Any employees who have suggestions for the work environment improvement of the company or organization could drop a letter included their opinions in the box. Second, as employees feel isolated from the management, co-partnership could be established between employees and their manager. In this way, employees are paid in the form of shares and not in the form of cash. Becoming shareholders of the company will require employees to participate in every activity of the management (Krutza & Wiff, 2011). Third, holding some casual parties or functions to bring employees and the management closer. Talking and communicating with each other under casual context will make employees and the management to know each other from other aspects which can not be known in the working environment. This will tighten the relationship between them.

5.2 Establish and inform employees’ a well-structured reward system and policy.

China-NZ should establish a well-structured reward system and policy. This system and policy need to clearly inform to their employees. As a result, employees will be better motivated and feel that they are genuinely valued by the organization.

5.3 Enhance the supervision quality of the management.

The management needs to make more effort and spent more time in supervising the company. As a result of low motivation and loose management, the company’s normal business hours are affected. The management should set an example with their own conduct, for example, arriving at workplace early everyday. Gradually, the employees will go to work at normal business hours.

5.4 Establish more training programs

Providing more training programs will help China-NZ to improve its productivity. Several ways of training employees could be preparing useful documents or materials for employees to learn, such as employee handbooks. Another way might be to provide real world cases for employees to analyze and learn. In addition, internal tests could be set up for employees to evaluate, and further help them to understand and absorb their work-related knowledge.

5.5 Build up teamwork

Employees and management should be encouraged to participate in activities to build up and practice teamwork. For example, tasks need to be completed individually could be assigned to more than one employee to work on together. Also, both employees and the management of China-NZ should be encouraged to participate in casual activities which are helpful for building up and practicing teamwork. For example, making ceramic artwork together after work could be a method of establishing and developing the awareness of importance of teamwork.