CL4 Listening Exam 1 – Level B1 May 2007
Prof. Peter Cullen
Text
Listen to the following text about motivation and management.
People perform better when they feel rewarded by what they are doing. It is human nature to seek pleasurable situations and try to avoid painful situations. Psychologists call this the pleasure/pain principle. The same is true in business, and it is particularly important to understand this principle in management. An appropriate balance between reward and punishment is fundamental to good management strategy.
This raises a few questions, however. The first problem regards authority. In a company, who may legitimately reward and punish an employee? The second problem concerns the appropriateness of the reward and the punishment. What kinds rewards or punishment are acceptable, and under which circumstances? Another major question concerns the problem of internal and external factors that influence the effectiveness of the reward.
Who has the authority to reward and punish employees in a company? This is a problem of hierarchy. Obviously, department managers have the responsibility to maintain and increase the productivity of their departments. This means, of course, motivating and disciplining the people who work with and under them. At the department level, managers must emphasise factors that will motivate employees. A coaching approach, like on a football team, helps people internalise the goals and values of their work, minimising the need for negative reinforcement, or, rather, punishment.
As well, the coaching approach creates a team environment in the office. This motivates employees to feel responsibility towards their work, their co-workers, and their supervisors and directors. This encourages a collective sense of reward and punishment that gives legitimacy to the decisions made by the department manager. Managers, therefore, should help employees understand how their decisions will benefit the team.
With a coaching approach to management, it becomes easier for managers to communicate the rules of the game. Most companies give their employees a job description, and although day-to-day activity may require an employee to perform many different tasks, the basic requirements of their job are outlined in the job description. At the same time, the job description also places the employee’s work in the context of the goals of the department. A clear job description gives employees a clear sense of their individual responsibilities in the office. Therefore, it also gives the individual employee a clear sense of his or her role in the team. This prevents most conflict, and creates an environment in which conflict can be discussed openly – giving legitimacy to rewards and punishment.
The Shaw Business and Management School in Edinburgh offers a Master’s degree in management communication that focuses on goal definition and conflict resolution. The programme director, Mike Wallace , may be contacted for information at 00 44 859 4456, ext. 201, or by e-mail at .
Listening Exam 1 – Level B1 Spring 2007 ______/30
Prof. Peter Cullen
______
Name, Date, and Registration Number
Questions: You do not have to use complete sentences! This is a listening exam. SIMPLE AND CORRECT IS BETTER THAN COMPLICATED AND WRONG.
1. What do psychologists call the “pleasure/pain principle”?
2. What are the three questions raised by the pleasure/pain principle regarding management?
3. What does a coaching approach motivate employees to feel responsibility towards?
4. What does a clear job description give employees?
5. How can you contact Mike Wallace?
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True or False: Write “True” or “False” in the space next to each statement
1. It is not human nature to seek pleasurable situations and try to avoid painful situations. ______
2. Internal and external factors are important to management’s use of the pleasure/pain principle. ______
3. Department managers have the responsibility to push and increase the productivity of their departments.______
4. A coaching approach to management encourages a collective sense of reward and punishment that gives legitimacy to the decisions made by the manager.______
5. The Shaw Business and Management School is in Glasgow. ______
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Listening Exam 1 – Level B1 Spring 2007
Prof. Peter Cullen
Answer Sheet
1. What do psychologists call the “pleasure/pain principle”?
That it is human nature to seek pleasurable situations and try to avoid painful situations.
2. What are the three questions raised by the pleasure/pain principle regarding management?
Authority, appropriateness of the reward and the punishment, internal and external factors that influence the effectiveness of the reward.
3. What does a coaching approach motivate employees to feel responsibility towards?
responsibility towards their work, their co-workers, and their supervisors and directors.
4. What does a clear job description do?
A clear job description gives employees a clear sense of their individual responsibilities in the office.
5. How can you contact Mike Wallace?
Mike Wallace may be contacted at 00 44 859 4456, ext. 201, or by e-mail at .
True or False: Write “True” or “False” in the space next to each statement
6. F
7. T
8. F
9. T
10. F
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