Assessment item 3 - Critical Reflective BlogsValue 45 Length

Assessment item 3 - Critical Reflective Blogs
Value: 45%
Length: 700 words per blog (maximum)
Total: 2800 words
TASK
The purpose of this assignment is to complete critical reflective
blogs for four OB topics covered in the subject. The aim of this
assignment is to enable you to highlight thoughts on each topic
as well as demonstrate your understanding of the topics covered
in this subject.
In this assessment, you have to reflect on four OB topics of
your choice. You can choose from the following topics:
• Topic 4: Getting the right people
• Topic 5: Work and job performance and conditions
• Topic 6: Assessing, influencing and rewarding performance
• Topic 7: Grouping individuals and behaviour; Organisational
change; Organisational
culture
• Topic 8: Organisational processes and behaviour
• Topic 9: Leadership
• Topic 10: Organisational justice and employee wellbeing
A starting question for your reflection should be: What is the
applicability and relevance of OB theory/model/concepts
covered in the specific OB topic for me as a practitioner in my
workplace? Discrepancies between the theory and practice
should be explored, and implications for your workplace
identified.
For students who may not have work experience, you may use
newspapers or academic journal articles that discuss an OB
trend/issue in an existing Australian or international
organisation. Alternatively, you can do your own research on an

organisation of your choice, and focus your reflection on the
imagined influence this organisational context (in relation to the
specific OB topic) would have on you.
The structure of the reflection blogs should follow the following
four steps in order to enhance the analytical aspect of the
reflection process and to ensure the benefits of this assignment
for you and your development in the organisation:
1. Reflect on a workplace experience that is meaningful and
important to you and your growth in the organisation (reflection
should draw on your personal observations, experiences,
assumptions and emotions).
2. Analyse the chosen situation by applying relevant OB
concepts/theories/models from the relevant Topic.
3. Develop a strategy for managing own or other employee(s)
behaviour with the purpose of addressing the workplace
situation.
4. Explain what you have learned about the relevant OB
topic/yourself/others in the workplace as a result of this
reflection exercise.
Each reflection needs to be based on three recent scholarly
articles. As this is a reflection where you are using your own
experiences and views, your blogs should be written in first
person.
A quality reflection shows deep critical analysis of workplace
experiences through the application of OB theories/models/
concepts. It provides deep insights into the practitioner’s own
practice. This is an opportunity to express your voice on
workplace trends that are important to you.
RATIONALE
This assessment task will assess the following learning
outcome/s:
· be able to critically examine assumptions and propositions of
theorising about

· organisational behaviour in general.
be able to evaluate current organisation practice and to develop
strategies that may assist in the understanding and management
of employee behaviour.
The purpose of this assignment is to complete a critical
reflective journal for four OB topics covered in the subject. The
aim of this assignment is to enable you to highlight thoughts on
each topic as well as demonstrate your understanding of the
topics covered in this subject.
PRESENTATION
• Clearly identify the four topics that you are reflecting on.
Each reflection should include the four steps suggested above.
• Include a title page that shows the subject code and title, the
assessment item numbers, your name and student number, and
the word count for each blog. The word count includes
everything other than the cover page and the reference list. It
includes in-text citations and text included in any images.
• Use 12 point, a minimum of 1.5 line spacing, and page
numbers.
• Do not use footnotes, endnotes or appendices.
• The APA6 referencing system must be used to show in-text
citations and the reference list.
• Your assignment should be free of colloquial language and
spelling, grammatical and typographical errors.
• Use academic language and writing style in order to
communicate your ideas clearly.
REQUIREMENTS
• Upload a Word document via Turnitin. Do not upload pdf.
• Each reflection needs to be based on at least three scholarly
references (a minimum of 12 references for the whole
assessment).

• Your complete assignment (four blogs) will be graded at the
end of the session.
• As this is a reflection where you are using your own
experiences and views, your blogs should be written in the first
person.
• As per the CSU Referencing Policy, proper referencing is
required for each task. Please use the APA referencing format,
which can be found at https://www.csu.edu.au/ current-
students/learning-resources/build-your-skills/academic-skills-
help/ referencing
• You must keep to the stipulated word count. A reduction of up
to 2 marks may be applied for exceeding the stipulated word
count, and excess words may not be marked.
Assessment 3
Critical Reflective Blogs
Value: 45%
Due Date: 03-Jun-2020
Topics: 4 - 10
Topics
Topic 4: Getting the right people
Topic 5: Work and job performance and conditions
Topic 6: Assessing, influencing and rewarding performance
Topic 7: Grouping individuals and behaviour; Organisational

change; Organisational culture
Topic 8: Organisational processes and behaviour
Topic 9: Leadership
Topic 10: Organisational justice and employee wellbeing
structure of the reflection blogs
1. Reflect on a workplace experience that is meaningful and
important to you and your growth in the organisation (reflection
should draw on your personal observations, experiences,
assumptions and emotions).
1
2. Analyse the chosen situation by applying relevant OB
concepts/theories/models from the relevant Topic.
2
3. Develop a strategy for managing own or other employee(s)

behaviour with the purpose of addressing the workplace
situation.
3
4. Explain what you have learned about the relevant OB
topic/yourself/others in the workplace as a result of this
reflection exercise.
4
Tips
Write in first person
Clearly point out the concepts that you are focusing
Concisely describe the experience you are reflecting on
May add examples to highlight to make a point

Theory versus practice
Applicability of concepts
Relevance of the theory/concept
Presentation
Title page (Name, ID, subject code, number of words)
12 point, a minimum of 1.5 line spacing, and page numbers
Edit and proofread
Paraphrasing

Name, ID#, & Assignment # on the footer
Clearly write the four topics
REFERENCE LIST: ONE VERSUS FOUR
Requirements
Submit via EASTS
Submit a word file (Do not upload pdf)
APA6 referencing system
http://student.csu.edu.au/library/integrity/referencing-at-csu
12 current scholarly resources (min. 3 per blog)
Word limit: 700 (max. per blog)

Marking criteria
Analysis of the key aspects of workplace situation based on
application of relevant OB concepts/theories/ models.
Develop a strategy for managing own or others behaviour (4 x
10 marks)
Organisation or structure and presentation (2 marks)
Evidence of reading and referencing (3 marks)
Academic Referencing Tool (ART)
https://apps.csu.edu.au/reftool/apa-6

Turnitin (Suggested not compulsory)
Class ID: 23205680 (School of Management and Marketing)
Enrollment key: csu1
Extension?
Questions?
Thank you
Example from Topic 6
Reflection Assessing, influencing and Rewarding Performance
(word count 701).
Workplace Experience
At my previous employer, I had the opportunity to step into a
higher role, I went from being a
Graduate to an Advisor. I remember that this time was both an
exciting and anxiety driven
time but I wanted to succeed in this placement. The promotion

was a significant jump in
salary and for the first time, from a remuneration perspective,
my years of study were paying
off. I was anxious about the opportunity as I had never worked
at that level before and the
opportunity was not only short term but meant that essentially
my graduate contract was torn
up. The job itself had an enormous scope and whilst I could be
responsive, I felt it was at the
cost of quality work. I’d placed myself in a vulnerable situation
for the experience however,
my manager needed the resource in the team.
I recall, on numerous occasions, requesting that I have one-on-
one supervision with my
manager. This request was always denied. My manager would
say that I have the opportunity
to speak with her at our fortnightly portfolio meetings. I felt
anxious, I’d never worked at this
level before. Despite this distance, I always had to tell her
where I was and submit a worked
hours forms that was monitored, weekly. I felt insecure and
unmotivated, found another
opportunity and resigned.

Organisational Behaviour Concept/Theory
Two factor theory also known as hygiene-motivator theory is a
1950s theory developed by
Fredrick Hertzberg, an Organisational Behaviour Scholar. The
theory proposes that the
characteristics of a job motivate employees and that hygiene
factors such as salary, job
security and supervision merely prevent dissatisfaction, if
adequate, rather than create
motivation (McShane, Olekalns, Newman and Martin, 2019). I
feel that in my situation, the
hygiene factors of no supervision and job security were
inadequate which made me
dissatisfied with my work.
In the context of assessing, influencing and rewarding
performance, there must first be good
performance. Cairns (2013) states that there simple formula to
performance and it is
motivation plus ability plus environment equals performance. I
didn’t know if I was
exhibiting good performance.
Whilst critics have rejected motivator-hygiene theory a
proposed that job characteristics

model in its place (McShane et al, 2019) In my view, two factor
theory is a simplistic and
practical model that managers can use to assess, influence and
reward performance as the
model focusses examines the relations of both extrinsic and
intrinsic factors for achievement
motivation (Story, Hart, Stasson and Mahoney, 2009) If my
manager was able to influence
hygiene factors and ensure that they are adequate then the
model would have given her
structure to her most complex resource, humans. My manager
missed out on understanding
and capitalising on my skills, abilities and knowledge
(Vancouver, 2008).
Whilst I had self-determination to do well, I ultimately did not
feel empowered as I didn’t
understand my competence, meaning or the impact of my work
(McShane et al, 2019)
When managers manage hygiene factors and understand
individual’s motivators then they
can use two factor theory as a base to assess, influence and
reward performance.
Management Strategy

The strategy I propose for managing others in the workplace to
assess and influence
performance is to manage the hygie ne factors to ensure that
there is no dissatisfaction and
capitalise on motivators to ensure good performance.
If I were to manage this situation, I would;
• Assess the duties of the role to ensure that match the
remuneration of the role and that the
tasks are not too diversified to allow for some generalist and
some specialisation;
• If the vacancy could not be filled permanently, I would then
ensure that the occupant felt
some other form of security in the job;
• Provide regular supervision so that the occupant feels
supported even if it isn’t company
policy to do so.
Once I have managed these hygiene factors then I would focus
on understanding the
individual’s motivator factors and ensure that the employee
feels empowered by
communicating meaning, impact, feedback (competence) and
capitalise on their self-

determination.
Learnings
I have learnt that when assessing, influencing and rewarding
performance that the first step,
using two-factor theory, is to ensure that hygiene factors which
can cause dissatisfaction are
effectively managed to ensure that they are adequate. It is only
then that managers can
effectively starting assessing motivator factors, influencing
motivator factors and start
capitalising and rewarding performance.
References:
Cairns, T. D. (2013). What Will Tip the Scales for Flexible
Work Arrangements-Motivation
or Collaboration? Employment Relations Today, 40(2), 29-33.
doi:10.1002/ert.21408
McShane, S., Olekalns, M., Newman, A., & Martin, A. (2019).
Organisational Behaviour,
Sixth Edition: Emerging Knowledge. Global Insights. North
Ryde, Australia:
McGraw-Hill Education Australia.
Story, P. A., Hart, J. W., Stasson, M. F., & Mahoney, J. M.

(2009). Using a two-factor
theory of achievement motivation to examine performance-
based outcomes and self-
regulatory processes. Personality and Individual Differences,
46(4), 391-395.
doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.10.023
Vancouver, J. B. (2008). Integrating self-regulation theories of
work motivation into a
dynamic process theory. Human Resource Management Review,
18(1), 1-18.
doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2008.02.001
Example from Topic 10
Reflection
During my three years with an organisation, I witnessed
organisational injustice, a toxic
environment and disengaged employees . The organisation had
been through immense
change and under the new owner, did not have a human resource

representative or employee
assistance program.
Managers and Team Leaders were expected to manage any
employee behaviour without any
training or knowledge of best practice. I witnessed a situation
where the Manager promoted
her daughter above the other Team Leaders, with no notice or
process . This exacerbated an
already stressed Team Leader group and led to three of them
resigning. The Team Leaders
had no avenue for assistance as their Manager was the cause and
undermined their self-
esteem and confidence with remarks made during meetings.
Analysis
In the job demand-resources model, Bakker and Demerouti
(2007) suggest a balance is
required between job demands and job resources. If one of these
is not enough to meet the
needs of the other, then a strain or lack of motivation is created
resulting in a negative
outcome for the organisation. In this situation I could see there
was a high demand of mental
and emotional ability required by the Team Leaders to deal with

the situation and high
physical demand to compensate for the work of the Manager’s
daughter who was assigned to
other projects. They also described an environment where low
resources in the form of
support, positive feedback and autonomy existed. This was on
top of an already stressed
environment with pressure from Clients and the Executive. Any
attempt to discuss the Team
Leaders’ concerns with the Manager were met with patronising,
degrading comments aimed
at undermining the Team Leaders’ self-confidence and reducing
any threat to her
daughter.
Goldman (2008) suggests that management’s lack of
identification and mismanagement of
conflict is a form of toxic leadership which can spread
throughout an organisation. In this
situation a number of toxic forms were present (Frost, 2004).
Initially the Manager acted
with intent, both promotion of her daughter and undermining the
other Team Leaders’
confidence and self-esteem. In my view she was incompetent in
how she handled the

concerns of the Team leaders and their perception of unfair
treatment by suggesting they
were immature and not ready for promotion. I was also in a
meeting where the Manager
discussed the Team Leaders’ behaviour in a derogatory manner
to the Managing Director
who had little patience for emotional reactions in the
workplace.
Singh and Choudhary (2018) suggests interpersonal conflict
relate to lower employee
engagement. This was the case where the Team leaders and
eventually their staff became
disengaged, having higher absences, lower staff retention and
we also saw an impact on
Client retention. I eventually stepped in as a “toxic handler” in
order to reduce the impact on
the organisation. However, although the Team leaders and staff
appreciated having an
independent person to talk to, I found myself unable to assist as
the Manager stopped access,
suggesting I was undermining her management of the situation.
This left me feeling helpless.

Proposed Strategy
Singh and Choudhary (2018) states that a strong level of
organisational justice leads to a high
level of interpersonal trust and a high level of engagement. If
employees feel that decision
making procedures are fair they are more likely to be forgiving
of the outcome (Lawson,
Noblet, & Rodwell, 2009). Negative emotions can become toxic
and affect an employees
engagement and wellbeing (Kiefer & Barclay, 2012), and
Managers should address toxic
behaviour proactively (Goldman, 2008).
Goldman (2008) suggests strategic planning, informal protocols
and the introduction of
designated toxic handlers to proactively manage any negativity.
However for a toxic handler
to succeed they require acknowledgment and support from the
organisation (Frost, 2004).
My proposal would be to introduce a Human Resource Manager
who works with a contracted
Employee Assistance Program. Compton and McManus (2015)
suggest such programs

provide benefits such as reduced absenteeism and reduced
workers compensation. Murphy
(1995) suggest collaboration between Human Resource
Management and Employee
Assistance Programs are cost efficient and provide the range of
expertise required to manage
job related stress and improve mental and physical health of
employees.
(Learning missing)
Reference
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands-
Resources model: state of the art.(Author
abstract). Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309-328.
doi:10.1108/02683940710733115
Compton, R.-L., & McManus, J. G. (2015). Employee
Assistance Programs in Australia: Evaluating
Success. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 30(1-2), 32-
45.
doi:10.1080/15555240.2015.998971
Frost, P. J. (2004). Handling toxic emotions: new challenges for
leaders and their
organization. Organizational Dynamics, 33(2), 111.

Goldman, A. (2008). Company on the Couch: Unveiling Toxic
Behavior in Dysfunctional
Organizations. Journal of Manageme nt Inquiry, 17(3), 226-238.
doi:10.1177/1056492608318157
Kiefer, T., & Barclay, L. J. (2012). Understanding the
mediating role of toxic emotional experiences
in the relationship between negative emotions and adverse
outcomes.(Report). Journal of
Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 85(4), 600.
Lawson, K. J., Noblet, A. J., & Rodwell, J. J. (2009). Promoting
employee wellbeing: the relevance
of work characteristics and organizational justice. Health
Promotion International, 24(3),
223-233. doi:10.1093/heapro/dap025
McShane, S., Olekalns, M., & Newman, A. (2018).
Organisational Behaviour : Emerging
Knowledge. Global Insights. Sydney, AUSTRALIA: McGraw-
Hill Australia.
Murphy, L. R. (1995). Managing job stress: an employee
assistance human resource management
partnership. Personnel Review, 24(1), 41.
doi:10.1108/00483489510079075

Singh, T., & Choudhary, S. (2018). Organisational Justice,
Experiencing Interpersonal Conflict and
Employee Engagement: A Moderated Mediation Analysis.
Journal of Organisation and
Human Behaviour, 7(1), 1-10.

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