MGT Question-Answer

7/30/2019 MGT Question-Answer

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Question 2: Elucidate the Need Want-Satisfaction Chain theory.

Answer: The Need Want-Satisfaction Chain theory:

Human motives are based on needs, weather consciously or subconsciously felt. Someare primary needs, such as the physiological requirements for water, air, food, sleep, and

shelter. Other needs may be regarded as secondary, such as self, esteem, status, affiliation

with others, affection, giving, accomplishment, and self assertion. Naturally, these needs

vary in intensity and over time among different individual.

Motivation is a general term applying to the entire class of drivers,, desires, needs,

wishes, and similar forces, To say that managers motivate their subordinates is to say that

they do those things which they hope will satisfy these drivers and desires and induce the

subordinates to act in a desired manner.

Managers are responsible for providing an environment conductive to performance. But

individuals themselves are responsible for self-motivation. One approach is through

strategic career management. George Odiorne, a management professor, scholar, and

experienced consultant, made specific recommendations. Here are some:

1. Set a goal for yourself, and do not lose sight of it. Lee Iacocca (the president of

Crysler) set the goal of becoming vice president at the Ford Motor Company by age 35,

and for 15 years this aim motivated him and guided his behavior.

2. Supplement your long-term objectives with short term goals and specific

action. It has been said that to get something done is to being.

3. Learn a challenging new task each year. Learning to becoming a manager does

not stop with a bachelors or masters degree in business. A degrees the real beginning,

not the end, of learning. Learning and applying the new micro-computer technology

might be such a challenging task.

4. Make your job a different one. Set improvement objectives for your position.

With some imagination, you probably can considerably increase your productivity.

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5. Development an area of expertise. Build on your strengths, or develop one of

your weaknesses into strength. You might want to be known known as the best

accountant or the best engineer in your specific area of competence

6. Give yourself feedback and reward yourself. Setting verifiable goals provides

you with a standard against which you can measure your performance.

Its possible, then to look at motivation as involving a chain reaction. Felt needs give rise

to want or goals sought, which causes tensions (thats unfulfilled desires), which give rise

to actions toward achieving goals, which finally results in satisfaction. The chain is

shown following figure:

Figure: Need Want-Satisfaction Chain theory

The chain explanations complex. In the first place, except for physiological needs, such

as food, needs are not independent of a persons environment. Many physiological needs,

however, are stimulated by environmental factors. The smell of food may cause hunger, a

lower thermometer reading may cause chills, or the sight of a cold drink may cause an

overwhelming thirst.

Environment has a major influence on our perception of secondary needs. The promotion

of a colleague may kindle ones for a higher position. A challenging problem may whet

ones desire to accomplish something by solving it. A congenial social group may

increase ones need for affiliation; and , of course, being alone more than one wants to

be give a strong motivation for wanting to be with people.

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In the second place, the need-want-satisfaction chain does not always operate as simply

as portrayed. Need do cause behavior, but needs also may result from behavior.

Satisfying one need may leads to a desire to satisfy more needs. For example, a persons

need for accomplishment may be made keener by the satisfaction gained from achieving

a desire d goals, or it may be dulled by failure. The one-way nature of the chain has also

been challenged by the work of some biological scientists who have found that needs are

not always the cause of human behavior but may be result of it. In other words, behavior

is often what people do and not why they do it.

From a management point of view, then a person might have high job satisfaction but a

low level of motivation for the job, or the reveres might be true. Understandably, the

probability exists that highly motivated person with low job satisfaction will look for

other positions. Likewise people who find their positions rewarding but are being paid

concededly less than they desire or think they deservedly probably search for other jobs.

Satisfaction refers to the contentment experienced when a want is satisfied. In order

words, motivation implies a drive towards an outcome and satisfaction is the outcome

already experienced.

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Question 3:Define and explain Theory X and Theory Y.

Answer: Douglas McGregor (1906 - 1964) is one of the forefathers of management

theory and one of the top business thinkers of all time. He was a social psychologist who

became the President of Antioch College. He later became a professor of management atMassachusetts Institute of Technology (he was succeeded by Warren Bennis). His book

The Human Side of Enterprise (1960) had a profound influence on the management field,

largely due to his Theory X and Theory Y.

McGregor developed a philosophical view of humankind with his Theory X and Theory

Y in 1960. His work is based upon Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs,in that he grouped the

hierarchy into lower-order needs (Theory X) and higher-order needs (Theory Y). He

suggested that management could use either set of needs to motivate employees, but

better results would be gained by the use of Theory Y, rather than Theory X. These two

opposing perceptions theorized how people view human behavior at work and

organizational life.

Theory X

In this theory, which has been proven counter-effective in most modern practice,management assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can and

that they inherently dislike work. As a result of this, management believes that workers

need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed. A

hierarchical structure is needed with narrow span of control at each and every level.

According to this theory, employees will show little ambition without an enticing

incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they can. According to Michael

J. Papa, if the organizational goals are to be met, theory X managers rely heavily on

threat and coercion to gain their employees' compliance. Beliefs of this theory lead to

mistrust, highly restrictive supervision, and a punitive atmosphere. The Theory X

manager tends to believe that everything must end in blaming someone. He or she thinks

all prospective employees are only out for themselves. Usually these managers feel the

sole purpose of the employee's interest in the job is money. They will blame the person

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first in most situations, without questioning whether it may be the system, policy, or lack

of training that deserves the blame. A Theory X manager believes that his or her

employees do not really want to work, that they would rather avoid responsibility and

that it is the manager's job to structure the work and energize the employee. One major

flaw of this management style is it is much more likely to cause diseconomies of scale in

large businesses.

With Theory X assumptions, management's role is to coerce and control employees.

People have an inherent dislike for work and will avoid it whenever possible.

People must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened with punishment in

order to get them to achieve the organizational objectives.

People prefer to be directed, do not want responsibility, and have little or no

ambition.

People seek security above all else.

Theory Y

In this theory, management assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivatedand

exerciseself-control. It is believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work

duties. According to them work is as natural as play. They possess the ability for creative

problem solving, but their talents are underused in most organizations. Given the proper

conditions, theory Y managers believe that employees will learn to seek out and accept

responsibility and to exercise self-control and self-direction in accomplishing objectives

to which they are committed. A Theory Y manager believes that, given the right

conditions, most people will want to do well at work. They believe that the satisfaction of

doing a good job is a strong motivation. Many people interpret Theory Y as a positive set

of beliefs about workers. A close reading of The Human Side of Enterprise reveals that

McGregor simply argues for managers to be open to a more positive view of workers and

the possibilities that this creates. He thinks that Theory Y managers are more likely than

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Theory X managers to develop the climate of trust with employees that are required for

human resource development. It's human resource development that is a crucial aspect of

any organization. This would include managers communicating openly with

subordinates, minimizing the difference between superior-subordinate relationships,

creating a comfortable environment in which subordinates can develop and use their

abilities. This climate would include the sharing of decision making so that subordinates

have say in decisions that influence them.

With Theory Y assumptions, management's role is to develop the potential in employees

and help them to release that potential towards common goals.

Work is as natural as play and rest.

People will exercise self-direction if they are committed to the objectives (they

are not lazy).

Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their

achievement.

People learn to accept and seek responsibility.

Creativity, ingenuity, and imagination are widely distributed among the

population. People are capable of using these abilities to solve an organizational

problem.

People have potential.

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Question 3: Maslows need hierarchy theory.

Answer: Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham

Maslow in his 1943 paperA Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow subsequently

extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity. His theoriesparallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, all of which focus on

describing the stages of growth in humans. Maslow use the terms Physiological, Safety,

Belongingness and Love, Esteem, and Self-Actualization needs to describe the pattern

that human motivations generally move through.

Figure: Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow studied what he called exemplary people such as Albert Einstein, Jane

Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglass rather than mentally

ill or neurotic people, writing that "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and

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unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy."

Maslow studied the healthiest 1% of the college student population.

Maslow's theory was fully expressed in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality. Note

that Maslow never personally used a pyramid to describe these levels in any of his

writings on the subject.

Hierarchy

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest

and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom, and the need forself-actualization at

the top.

The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called

"deficiency needs" or "d-needs": esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical

needs. With the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) needs, if these

"deficiency needs" are not met, the body gives no physical indication but the individual

feels anxious and tense. Maslow's theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must

be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the

secondary or higher level needs. Maslow also coined the term Metamotivation to describe

the motivation of people who go beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for

constant betterment. Metamotivated people are driven by B-needs (Being Needs), instead

of deficiency needs (D-Needs).

The human mind and brain are complex and have parallel processes running at the same

time, so many different motivations from different levels of Maslow's pyramid usually

occur at the same time. Maslow was clear about speaking of these levels and their

satisfaction in terms such as "relative" and "general" and "primarily", and says that the

human organism is "dominated" by a certain need, rather than saying that the individual

is "only" focused on a certain need at any given time. So Maslow acknowledges that

many different levels of motivation are likely to be going on in a human all at once. His

focus in discussing the hierarchy was to identify the basic types of motivations, and the

order that they generally progress as lower needs are reasonably well met.

Physiological needs

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For the most part, physiological needs are obvious they are the literal requirements for

human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body simply cannot

continue to function.

Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including

humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements. The

intensity of the human sexual instinct is shaped more by sexual competition than

maintaining a birth rate adequate to survival of the species.

Safety needs

With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take

precedence and dominate behavior. In the absence of physical safety due to war, natural

disaster, or, in cases offamily violence,childhood abuse, etc. people

(re-)experiencepost-traumatic stress disorderand trans-generational trauma transfer. In

the absence of economic safety due to economic crisis and lack of work opportunities

these safety needs manifest themselves in such things as a preference forjob security,

grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings

accounts, insurance policies, reasonable disability accommodations, and the like.

Safety and Security needs include:

Personal security

Financial security

Health and well-being

Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts

Love and belonging

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs are

interpersonal and involve feelings ofbelongingness. The need is especially strong in

childhood and can over-ride the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling to

abusive parents. Deficiencies with respect to this aspect of Maslow's hierarchy due

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tohospitalism, neglect,shunning,ostracism etc. can impact individual's ability to form

and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as:

Friendship

Intimacy

Family

Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large

social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations,

sports teams, gangs, or small social connections (family members, intimate partners,

mentors, close colleagues, confidants). They need to love and be loved (sexually and non-

sexually) by others. In the absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to

loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression. This need for belonging can often

overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer

pressure; an anorexic, for example, may ignore the need to eat and the security of health

for a feeling of control and belonging.

Esteem

All humans have a need to be respected and to haveself-esteemand self-respect. Esteem

presents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to

engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the

person a sense of contribution, to feel self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby.

Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or aninferiority complex. People

with low self-esteem need respect from others. They may seek fame or glory, which

again depends on others. Note, however, that many people with low self-esteem will not

be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory

externally, but must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances such

as depressioncan also prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.

Most people have a need for a stable self-respect and self-esteem. Maslow noted two

versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the

respect of others, the need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The

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higher one is the need for self-respect, the need for strength, competence, mastery, self-

confidence, independence and freedom. The latter one ranks higher because it rests more

on inner competence won through experience. Deprivation of these needs can lead to an

inferiority complex, weakness and helplessness.

Maslow also states that even though these are examples of how the quest for knowledge

is separate from basic needs he warns that these two hierarchies are interrelated rather

than sharply separated (Maslow 97). This means that this level of need, as well as the

next and highest level, are not strict, separate levels but closely related to others, and this

is possibly the reason that these two levels of need are left out of most textbooks.

Self-actualization

What a man can be, he must be. This forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need pertains to what a person's full potential is and realizing

that potential. Maslow describes this desire as the desire to become more and more what

one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming. This is a broad definition

of the need for self-actualization, but when applied to individuals the need is specific. For

example one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent, in another

it may be expressed athletically, and in another it may be expressed in painting, pictures,

or inventions. As mentioned before, in order to reach a clear understanding of this level

of need one must first not only achieve the previous needs, physiological, safety, love,

and esteem, but master these needs.

Research

Recent research appears to validate the existence of universal human needs, although the

hierarchy proposed by Maslow is called into question.

Other research indicates that Maslow's explanations of the hierarchy of human motivation

reflects a binary pattern of growth as seen in math. The individual's awareness of first,second, and third person perspectives, and of each one's input needs and output needs,

moves through a general pattern that is basically the same as Maslow's described pattern.

Criticisms

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In their extensive review of research based on Maslow's theory, Wahba and Brudwell

found little evidence for the ranking of needs Maslow described, or even for the existence

of a definite hierarchy at all. Chilean economist and philosopherManfred Max-Neefhas

also argued fundamental human needs are non-hierarchical, and

are ontologically universal and invariant in naturepart of the condition of being

human;poverty, he argues, may result from any one of these needs being frustrated,

denied or unfulfilled.

The order in which the hierarchy is arranged (with self-actualization as the highest order

need) has been criticised as being ethnocentric by Geert Hofstede. Hofstede's criticism of

Maslow's pyramid as ethnocentric may stem from the fact that Maslows hierarchy of

needs neglects to illustrate and expand upon the difference between the social and

intellectual needs of those raised in individualistic societies and those raised

incollectivist societies. Maslow created his hierarchy of needs from an individualistic

perspective, being that he was from the United States, a highly individualistic nation. The

needs and drives of those in individualistic societies tend to be more self-centered than

those in collectivist societies, focusing on improvement of the self, with self actualization

being the apex of self improvement. Since the hierarchy was written from the perspective

of an individualist, the order of needs in the hierarchy with self actualization at the top is

not representative of the needs of those in collectivist cultures. In collectivist societies,

the needs of acceptance and community will outweigh the needs for freedom and

individuality.

Some of these criticisms may be really about Maslow's choice of terminology, especially

with the term "self-actualization". "Self-actualization" might not effectively convey his

observations that this higher level of motivation is really about focusing on becoming the

best person one can possibly become, in the service of both the self and others: "A

musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to beultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. He must be true to his

own nature. This need we may call self-actualization." At these higher levels of

motivation, what we do generally benefits everyone, but Maslow's term might not be as

good at clarifying that as it could have been.

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Maslow's hierarchy has also been criticized as being individualistic because of the

position and value of sex on the pyramid. Maslows pyramid puts sex on the bottom rung

of physiological needs, along with breathing and food. It views sex from an

individualistic and not collectivist perspective: i.e., as an individualistic physiological

need that must be satisfied before one moves on to higher pursuits. This view of sex

neglects the emotional, familial and evolutionary implications of sex within the

community.

Implication of Maslows Hierarchy in Business

Courses in marketing teach Maslow's hierarchy as one of the first theories as a basis for

understanding consumers' motives for action. Marketers have historically looked towards

consumers' needs to define their actions in the market. If producers design products

meeting consumer needs, consumers will more often choose those products over those of

competitors. Whichever product better fills the void created by the need will be chosen

more frequently, thus increasing sales. This makes the model relevant to transpersonal

business studies.

International business

Understanding the strengths and weakness of Maslows hierarchy of needs is important inthe field of international business. Evaluating the different needs, values, drives and

priorities of people from different countries individualistic or collectivist is incredibly

valuable in cross-cultural communications, and especially within the workplace. It also

illustrates how differences in values can greatly affect work atmosphere and work ethic

between cultures: For example, societal cultures in many individualistic countries, such

as the United States, may lead to an advantage in technological research and

development. Many collectivistic societal cultures, such as that in Japan, may result in an

advantage in workforce organization, quality control of products and service, and

establishment of good relationships among contractees, suppliers and customers.

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Question no. 5: State the fundamental concept of stuffing as a managerial function.

As a manager how could you select people within and from outside of the

organization (selection process).

Answer: The word stuff refers to the people working in the organization. And stuffing

refers to the filling gaps or positions in the organizational structure. That includes

selection of people for the particular position, training to the individual for meeting the

requirement of that position, promotion of the individual to achieve the individual

objective as well as the organizational achievement. Staffing also includes the transfer of

the employees from one place to another place for the betterment of the organization.

Staffing is the managerial function to select and recruit the individuals to fill and keeping

filled the position in the organizational hierarchy. So, management dealing with the

human resources is the managerial activities is staffing. So, staffing is the selection for

the organization only to fill the gap. The gap is the basic requirement of the organization.

Gap is the deficiency in the skills of human in the organization. Skill is the ability to

perform the task effectively and efficiently to increase the productivity that a farm

requires. So, the necessity of skilled people is the gap of the organizational position. The

function of management is to fill such kind of gaps in the organizational hierarchy.

The scope of staffing:

Staffing refers to the managerial function of employing and developing human resources

for carrying out the various managerial and non-managerial activities in an organization.

This involves determining the manpower requirement, and the methods of recruiting,

selecting, training and developing the people for various positions created in the

organization. This, in fact happens to be a continuous process because the organizations

need to retain and update its personnel is a never ending exercise. The managers have to

keep a regular watch on the number and composition of the personnel needed by the

organization, because, and additions of new departments and work units. Not only that, at

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any point of time, some people will be leaving, retiring, getting promotion or transferred.

The vacancies thus created the requirement of manpower keeps on changing and

expanding with the expansion of activities has to be filled up. It may be noted that

staffing function is an integral part of human resource management and, in its wider

sense, also includes the activities of determining the remuneration of workers, appraising

their performance, and deciding on their promotion, transfers, etc.

Importance of staffing:

All of us know that it is the people in every organization who run the show successfully.

For example, if you do not have good salesman you cannot sell well even if your product

is good. Similarly, you may have the best quality raw materials, machines etc. but the

quality of the product is not assured unless you have good workers engaged in the

production process. Staffing thus, as a function, is very important as it is through this

process that we get right persons for the organization and ensure that they stick to the

organization. The benefits of good staffing are as follows.

(a) It helps in getting right people for the right job at the right time. The function of

staffing enables the manager to find out as to how many workers are required and with

what qualifications and experience.

(b) Staffing contributes to improved organizational productivity. Through proper

selection the organization gets quality workers, and through proper training the

performances level of the workers can be improved.

(c) It helps in providing job satisfaction to the employees keeping their morale high. With

proper training and development programs their efficiency improves and they feel

assured of their career advancements.

(d) Staffing maintains harmony in the organization. Through proper staffing, individuals

are not just recruited and selected but their performance is regularly appraised and

promotions made on merit. For all these, certain rules are made and are duly

communicated to all concerned. This fosters harmony and peace in the organization.

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If a manager wants to select people from and outside the organization he have to maintain

the staffing process that we are going to discuss in the following as well as we can see the

system approach of stuffing in the following figure-

PROCESS OF STAFFING

The process of staffing starts with ascertaining the required number of various categories

of employees for the organization. This is known as manpower planning. It decides the

kinds of staff and the number of staff required for the organization. This is done through

several methods like job analysis, workload analysis, etc. The next thing to be done in thestaffing process is the recruitment exercise, i.e., finding out the available manpower from

internal and external sources. The next step is to select the right person from the available

manpower through tests and interviews and make appointments. This is followed by their

placement on the jobs and necessary introduction of the work environment and the rules

of compensation, promotion, transfer etc. Thus, the various steps involved in the process

of staffing are as follows.

(a) Identification of workforce requirement

(b) Inventorying the people for the organization

(c) Recruitment

(d) Selection

(e) Placement

(f) Induction

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(g) Training and Development

(h) Performance Appraisal

(i) Compensation

(J) Promotion and Transfer

Let us now discuss these aspects briefly to gain more clarity.

(a) Identification of workforce requirement:

Identification of workforce requirement refers to the process of estimating the manpower

requirement of an organization. While estimating the manpower requirement, the

management generally keeps in mind the available infrastructure including the

technology, production schedule, market fluctuation, demand forecasts, governments

policies and so on. It tentatively decides the kinds of staff as well as the number of staff

needed for the organization. The focus of the manpower planning is to get right number

of qualified people at the right time.

(b) Inventorying the people for the organization:

In the context of recruitment, one must be conversant with another important aspect of

manpower planning, and inventorying the people for the organization, which is a pre-

requisite for any recruitment exercise. The job analysis helps in determining the

qualifications, skills and experience required for various categories of employees. It

involves:

(i) Identification of each job in terms of duties and responsibilities, (called job

description) and

(ii) Determining the abilities and skills that are required for performing the job (called job

specification).

These two aspects of inventorying the people for the organization and job analysis (job

description and job specification) are useful in recruitment and selection of employees so

as to find the right person for the job.

(c) Recruitment:

After planning and organizing you are aware of the various job positions that are required

to be filled up. Let us say, you have assessed your requirement for a general manager, a

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chef, an accountant, and many other staff for home delivery of foods. Possibly, you have

a list of persons interested to join your restaurant. For example, your uncle has promised

you to provide an experienced general manager. The manager of the bank from where

you have taken loan has referred an accountant to you. One of the chief cooks of a

reputed hotel has already approached/talked to you to join your restaurant as a chef. In

addition to all these, you know that there is an office that can provide you people of your

requirement by charging a fee, whenever you ask for it. You also know that an

advertisement in the newspaper can help you in getting applications from many people.

While engaging yourself into all these activities you are basically trying to make a pool

of suitable/interested applicants for the job. In other words you are recruiting the staff for

your business. The term recruitment is often used to signify employment. It is true that

normally when we say we have recruited such and such persons, it signifies that we have

employed them. But as a part of staffing function, the term recruitment has limited scope.

It just refers to one of the initial steps in employment of people i.e., searching for suitable

candidates for the various job positions to be filled up from time to time in the

organization. Thus, recruitment is the process of finding and attracting suitable applicants

for employment.

Sources of requirement:

Having determined the qualification and experience required for various jobs involved,

one has to search for the suitable persons and receive their application. For this purpose

one has to have an idea as to where such persons are available. In other words, one must

be aware of the sources of recruitment before publicizing the specific staffing needs and

induce the suitable persons to apply for the job positions involved. These sources can be

internal and external.

(i) Internal Sources: In any business, existing employees expect that they will have

chances of promotion and will be considered for higher positions before outsiders are

considered. Managers therefore may promote and transfer some of the existing

employees to fill the vacant positions. The advantage of internal recruitment is that it is

easier for managers to fill vacancies as they are conversant with the abilities and skills of

their subordinates and have records of their performances. Employees also feel happy as

their work performance is recognized by management through promotion. However,

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there is one major drawback of recruitment through internal sources i.e., the organization

is deprived of the benefit of inducting fresh blood into its system.

(ii) External Sources: All vacancies cannot be filled up from within the organization.

Existing employees may lack the required skill, initiative and qualification needed for the

jobs involved. Hence managers have to recruit some persons from outside the

organization. Not only that the external recruitment provides a wide choice from among a

large number of external candidates from which employees may be recruited. The

workers and office employees at the lower level are often recruited from outside the

organization. The various external sources of recruitment are as follows:

Media Advertisements: You must have seen advertisements in newspapers about

vacancies in organizations. The advertisement contains details about the job, its

nature, the qualification required to do the job, how to apply, etc. This is a very

popular medium of advertising. The job advertisements are also given in

magazines, specialized employment magazines like Employment News, Rozgar

Samachar, etc. Now-a-days we also commonly find such advertisements in

various electronic media like television and Internet. Such advertisements

normally get a very good response from the prospective candidates.

Employment Exchanges: In India, employment exchanges have been set up by

the government for bringing together job-seekers and employers who are lookingfor employees. Those who are in search of employment get themselves registered

with the local Employment Exchanges which keep a record of all such persons in

detail who require help in finding jobs. The employer informs about the vacancies

to the nearest Employment Exchange. The Employment Exchange, in turn,

identifies the names of the qualified employment seekers already registered with

it, and forwards them to the employer for consideration. Thus, if you are seeking a

job after passing the senior secondary examination, it would be better if you get

yourself registered with an Employment Exchange. It may forward your name to

the prospective employers keeping in view the suitability of the job as per your

qualifications.

Educational Institutions:Now-a-days, companies/big organizations maintain a

close liaison with the universities, vocational institutes and management institute

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for recruitment of their staff. As and when the need arises, the companies send

one or more of their senior executives to the institutions of repute imparting such

professional/technical education to students. These executives take the interview

of the interested candidates and select the suitable candidates as per their

requirement. This process is popularly known as campus interview and is found to

be an effective source of recruitment of managers, engineers, technicians etc. for

many companies on a regular basis.

Unsolicited Application: Those looking for jobs often apply on their own

initiative. They assume that certain vacancies are likely to arise, and apply

without references to any job advertisement. Managers keep a record of such

applications and contact the suitable candidates when they need them.

Recruitment at the Factory gate: This is found mainly in case of factory

workers to be recruited on daily wages. Such workers gather in the morning at the

factory gate to serve as casual workers. Very often existing regular employees go

on leave, and their vacancies are filled up by recruitment at the factory gate.

These casual workers having served in the factory for some time may be

considered for regular employment at some stage.

Referrals: Quite often the management gets references about interested workers

from different sources like workers unions, previous employees, existing

employees, clients of the organization etc. These sources are important because

their recommendations are made by people who are associated with the

organization and are fully conversant with its requirements. Sometimes we also

receive recommendations from our friends and relatives to employ persons known

to them. But one should be very much cautious while considering such

recommendations.

Private Employment Agencies: In urban areas, a number of private

organizations have started functioning as employment agencies. These agencies

register with them the names of the individuals who are seeking employment and

try to arrange job interviews for such candidates. Companies often get in touch

with such agencies to provide them the details of suitable candidates for various

jobs.

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(d) Selection:

When an adequate number of applications/names of interested candidates have been

collected through the recruitment exercises the selection process starts. Selection refers to

the process of choosing the most suitable person from among the list of interested

candidates. It involves going through the qualification and experience of all candidates

and matching them with the expectation for the job so as to decide on the most suitable

ones for the job. The entire process goes through a number of steps which may be called

as selection procedure.

Selection Process:

As stated above, the selection procedure consists of a number of steps in logical order to

identify the candidates who are to be finally appointed. These steps are :

Screening the applications

Holding tests

Selection interview

Checking references

Medical examination of the candidates

Issue of appointment letter

Let us discuss all the steps in brief.

Screening the Applications: After receiving the applications from the candidates

through recruitment process, thesame must be examined to decide which ones

deserve to be considered and followedup. Normally, the candidates are asked to

apply in their own handwriting on a plainpaper. Sometimes the job advertisement

mentions the particulars to be given in theapplication. In many cases the candidates

are required to apply in the prescribed formof the company, containing particulars of

name, address, nationality, religion, mothertongue, date and place of birth, marital

status, education and training, employmenthistory, references etc. Screening exercise

involves checking the contents of theapplications so as the ascertain whether or not

the minimum eligibility conditions inrespect of age, experience, qualifications and

skills are fulfilled by the candidates whohave applied for the job. Screening is

usually done by a senior officer of the companyor by a screening committee. The

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purpose of screening is to prepare a list of eligiblecandidates who are to be evaluated

further. Candidates not eligible are thereby excludedfrom further consideration.

Holding Tests: After screening the applications, eligible candidates are asked to

appear for selectiontests. These tests are made to discover and measure the skill and

abilities of thecandidates in terms of the requirements of the job. For instance, if the

job of a typistrequires a minimum typing speed of 40 words per minute, a test is

given to see whetherthe candidates applying for the job have the required typing

speed. Passing the test bya candidate does not mean that he will be employed. It

implies that all those who havepassed the test are qualified for further processing and

those who have failed are notto be considered.The nature of test depends upon the

nature of the job involved. For clerical jobs, forexamples, an intelligence and

aptitude test may be arranged which may include test ofgeneral knowledge, test on

quantitative problem, and test of reasoning power andvocabulary. For industrial

workers and technical hands performance tests may beorganized. For example, to

judge the speed and accuracy of typing, candidates maybe given a standard

paragraph to type. Similarly, candidates for an auto mechanic jobmay be asked to

replace a piston. This is known as Skill or Trade test. For supervisory and managerial

jobs, tests are given to find out the candidates personality, decision makingabilities,

etc. Selection Interview: Interview is the most important part of the selection procedure.

It serves as a meansof checking the information given in the application form and

making an overallassessment of the candidates suitability for the job. In an

interview, the candidate hasa face-to-face interaction with the employer or

representatives of the employer, wherethey try to judge the ability of the candidate.

They also get an opportunity to go intothe details of the candidates background

which helps a lot in assessing the candidatessuitability.

Checking of References: In addition to the requisite educational qualification, skill

and experience, it is expectedthat the candidates who are to be considered for

employment must have other qualitieslike balanced temperament, honesty, loyalty,

etc. These qualities cannot be judged onthe basis of any test. Therefore, information

is obtained and verified from the heads ofeducational institutions where the

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candidates have studied, or from the persons whosenames are given by the

candidates as referee, or from their previous employers. Forcertain jobs, like the job

of a cashier or a security guard, reliability is a very importantjob requirement.

Therefore, references are required to be contacted to ensure that persons can be relied

upon. In case of experienced employees their previous employerscan also be

contacted for this purpose.

Medical Examination: Candidates finally selected for the job are asked to undergo

medical examination tosee whether the selected candidates are physically fit for the

job. A proper medicalexamination ensures higher standard of health of the

employees and their physicalfitness which, in turn, reduces the labor turnover,

absenteeism and accidents.The medical examination would also reveal whether

he/she suffers from any illnesswhich can be cured e.g., poor eyesight etc. Medical

test is essential for certain typesof jobs as in the case of police and army, where

physical fitness is very important. Forcertain categories of jobs like the job of driver,

proper eyesight is very much essential.

Issue of Appointment Letter: Candidates finally selected are offered to join the

organization for which a formalappointment letter is issued containing the nature of

job, the remuneration, pay scale,and other terms and conditions relating to

employment. Usually a reasonable time isgiven to the candidates to join theorganization.

Probation period: In most of the organizations the candidates arenot initially

appointed on permanent basis because it is consideredbetter to try them for a few

months on the job itself. This period ofservice is known as the period of probation. It

is necessary becauseno procedure of selection can fully establish the qualities of a

selectedcandidate. It is only by observing a person at work that one can findout how

he performs and also how he behaves with his superior and fellow employees. If

during the probation period, his performancesnot found satisfactory, his period of

probation may be extended. Themanagement may also transfer him to some other job

at which hemay be expected to do better.

Though a number of steps in the selection procedure have been listed, all the steps need

not be followed in all cases. For example, for employing casual workers on daily wages,

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simply an interview by a companys officer is sufficient. For the job of a typist or clerk,

screening of applications, holding tests and interview will be essential. Similarly, for the

job of a cashier, checking of references may also be needed.

Difference between Selection and Recruitment

We have noted recruitment and selection are the two essential components of the staffing

process. While the recruitment helps in attracting suitable candidates, selection helps in

finding out the candidates who meet the requirements of the job. These are closely inter-

connected activities. However, recruitment and selection differ in certain respects. While

the recruitment refers to the process of attracting good applicants for jobs, selection

identifies the most suitable amongst the applicants. In the recruitment process, the effort

is to attract the candidates as many as possible and it is regarded as a positive process.

But, selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of many candidates.

Recruitment involves decisions as regard to the sources of potential candidates. Selection

is made through different steps in the procedure adopted. Recruitment helps the manager

to attract good candidates, the selection leads to making the right choice.

(e) Placement:

If the selected candidate decides to join the organization, he/she has to report to theconcerned authority and formally joins the organization by giving his consent in writing.

Then he/she is placed to perform specific job. Thus, placement refers to selected

candidates joining the positions in the organization for which they have been selected.

The appointment of every candidate is followed by a record of particulars of

employment. Such records is properly maintained and described as employment record. It

serves a useful purpose on many occasions like selection of employees for training,

promotion, increments etc.

(f) Induction:

Induction is the process of introducing new employees to the organization. The new

employees should know under whom and with whom he/she is to work, get acquainted

and adjusted to the work environment, get a general idea about the rules and regulations,

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working conditions etc. Usually the immediate supervisor of the new employee

introduces him to his work environment. A proper induction program is likely to reduce

his anxiety on how to cope with the work and how to become part of the organization and

helps in development of a favorable attitude towards the organization and the job.

(g) Training and Development:

Helping the employees to improve their knowledge and skill so as to be able to perform

their tasks more efficiently is known as training. It is an organised activity for increasing

the knowledge and skills of people for a specific purpose. The term development refers

to the process of not only building up the skill and abilities for specific purpose but also

the overall competence of employees to undertake more difficult and challenging tasks. It

is generally used with reference to the training of managers and executives. Training is

necessary for new employees as well as the existing employees for improving their

performance at work. For new employees, training is necessary to help them get

acquainted with the method of operation and skill requirement of the job. For existing

employees, training at periodical intervals is helpful for learning better ways of doing the

work, and also as and when they have to undertake new jobs. Thus, training helps

employees to improve their knowledge and skill and make them perform their tasks more

efficiently. It also helps them in promotion and improves their attitudes and confidence

levels.Methods of training:

There are different methods of giving training to the employees which can be divided into

two broad categories.

(1) On-the-Job methods, and

(2) Off-the-Job methods.

1. On-the-Job methods: In these methods, the employees learn about their jobs

while doing the work duly assisted by their supervisors or seniors. These methods

encourage self-learning through practice. Job instruction or coaching, and job

rotation, learning while working as an assistant to a senior, understudy positions,

temporary promotions are some of the common methods of on-the-job training.

2. Off-the-Job methods: These methods involve training employees away from

the work place so that experts may conduct the training and employees are free

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from immediate pressure of completing the jobs at hand. Lectures with

demonstration, conferences, case discussions, video shows and films are some of

the common methods used as off-the-job training methods. Then, there is another

off the job method of training called vestibule training. The vestibule training

refers to the training in specially designed workshops in which an attempt is made

to duplicate as closely as possible the actual condition of the work place. In such

workshops a large number of employees can be trained in a relatively short period

of time.

(h) Performance Appraisal:

In simple words, performance appraisal means judging the performance of employees.

Specifically, it means judging the relative abilities of employees at work in a systematic

manner. This enables managers to identify employees who are performing the assigned

work satisfactorily, and those who are not able to do so, and why. To be fair, performance

appraisal needs to be carried out using the same methods and keeping in view uniform

standards of work. Generally it is the responsibility of supervisors to carry out

performance appraisal of their subordinates, and report it to their own superiors. He may

also have to identify the causes of the performance especially if it has fallen short of the

expected performance. The standard of performance or the expected level of performance

of an employee on a job forms the basis of judging how well the employee hasperformed, and whether one employee is more efficient than the other in doing a similar

job. The yardstick placed may be the desired quantity of output, the quality of work done,

minimization of wastage of materials caused in the process of work etc. The choice

depends upon the type of job involved. However, where quantity or number of units

produced or wastage of materials form the basis of appraisal, it is likely to be more

accurate. On the other hand, quality of work done may be difficult to measure and hence

performance appraisal may not be very accurate.

(i) Compensation:

Compensation is one of the most important factors influencing relations between

management and the workers. No organization can attract and retain qualified employees

without offering them a fair compensation. The term compensation refers to a wide

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range of financial and non financial rewards to the employees for services rendered to the

organisation. It includes wages, salaries, allowances and other benefits which an

employer pays to his employees in consideration for their services. Compensation may be

divided into two categories:

(a) Base/primary compensation.

(b) Supplementary compensation.

Base or primary compensation is a fixed amount paid every month to an employee. It

includes wages, salary and allowances paid to an employee irrespective of his

performance. Supplementary compensation refers to the compensation paid to the

employees to motivate them to work more efficiently. It is also known as incentive

compensation. The incentives may be monetary or non-monetary. The monetary

incentives include bonus, commission sales, or profit sharing plans. The non-monetary

incentives, on the other hand, include cordial relations with the supervisor, assignment of

challenging jobs, recognition etc. Such incentives help the employees to sustain interest

in the job and motivate them to work hard. They also provide job satisfaction.

(J) Promotion and Transfer:

When an employee is assigned a job involving greater responsibilities, more pay, higher

status and prestige than his/her present job, it is known as promotion. Thus, promotionrefers to the advancement of an employee to a higher level or position. The main purpose

of promotion is to make fuller use of the abilities of a person and also increase his job

satisfaction. The basis of promotion may be seniority in service or merit, that is, superior

abilities of the employees, or it may be seniority and merit, that is, merits being the same,

one who is senior, is considered for promotion. When the performance of an employee is

not satisfactory and it cannot be improved, he may be assigned a job of lower rank

carrying lower status and pay. This is known as demotion. Transfer refers to a type of

job change where any employee is assigned a different job of the same rank and pay, or

when an employee is assigned a similar job in another unit of the firm. Thus, transfer

does not usually involve any increase in pay or a superior status. It may be done simply to

enable the employee to gain wider experience, or to give him greater job satisfaction, or

to balance the requirements of staff in different units.

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So these are the fundamental aspects of staffing process which are discussed thoroughly.

Q.6. Give an overview of the fundamental task of the manager to control the

organization. State the system of input for cash feed forward and control.

Answer: A managers primary challenge is to solve problems creatively. While drawing

from a variety of academic disciplines, and to help managers respond to the challenge of

creative problem solving, principles of management have long been categorized into the

four major functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (the P-O-L-C

framework).

A control system is necessary in any organization in which the activities of different

divisions, departments, sections, and so on need to be coordinated and controlled. Most

control systems are past-action-oriented and consequently are inefficient or fail. For

example, there is little an employee can do today to correct the results of actions

completed two weeks ago.

Steering controls, on the other hand, are future-oriented and allow adjustments to be

made to get back on course before the control period ends. They therefore establish a

more motivating climate for the employee.What's more, although many standards or

controls are simply estimates of what should occur if certain assumptions are correct,

they take on a precision in today's control systems that leaves little or no margin for error.

Managers would be better off establishing a range rather than a precise number and

changing standards as time passes and assumptions prove erroneous. This would be fairer

and would positively motivate employees. There are three fundamental beliefs underlying

most successful control systems.

First, planning and control are the two most closely interrelated management

functions.

Second, the human side of the control process needs to be stressed as much as, if

not more than, the tasks or 'numbers crunching' side.

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Finally, evaluating, coaching, and rewarding are more effective in the long term

than measuring, comparing, and pressuring or penalizing

Controlling involves ensuring that performance does not deviate from standards.

Controlling consists of three steps, which include (1) establishing performance standards,

(2) comparing actual performance against standards, and (3) taking corrective action

when necessary. Performance standards are often stated in monetary terms such as

revenue, costs, or profits but may also be stated in other terms, such as units produced,

number of defective products, or levels of quality or customer service. The measurement

of performance can be done in several ways, depending on the performance standards,

including financial statements, sales reports, production results, customer satisfaction,

and formal performance appraisals. Managers at all levels engage in the managerial

function of controlling to some degree. The managerial function

of controlling should not be confused with control in the behavioral or manipulative

sense. This function does not imply that managers should attempt to control or to

manipulate the personalities, values, attitudes, or emotions of their subordinates. Instead,

this function of management concerns the managers role in taking necessary actions to

ensure that the work-related activities of subordinates are consistent with and contributing

toward the accomplishment of organizational and departmental objectives. Effective

controlling requires the existence of plans, since planning provides the necessary

performance standards or objectives. Controlling also requires a clear understanding of

where responsibility for deviations from standards lies. Two traditional control techniques

are budget and performance audits. An audit involves an examination and verification of

records and supporting documents. A budget audit provides information about where the

organization is with respect to what was planned or budgeted for, whereas a performance

audit might try to determine whether the figures reported are a reflection of actual

performance. Although controlling is often thought of in terms of financial criteria, managersmust also control production and operations processes, procedures for delivery of services,

compliance with company policies, and many other activities within the organization. The

management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are widely

considered to be the best means of describing the managers job, as well as the best way to

classify accumulated knowledge about the study of management. Although there have been

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tremendous changes in the environment faced by managers and the tools used by managers

to perform their roles, managers still perform these essential functions. Control serves two

ends: support for understanding what is taking place in the enterprise and in the market and

support for influence the actions of participants, both inside and outside the enterprise..

Understanding refers to the awareness and appreciation of what has taken place, is taking

place, or could take place in the environment. Influence refers to the ability to

communicate, command, persuade, or otherwise induce a particular behavior. It is the

author's hypothesis that these two, non-orthogonal, measures can be used to examine the

purpose and value of a set of controls, and information technology investment. The key

questions then are as follows: To what extent do the controls contribute to managerial, or

organizational, understanding? To what extent does the control, or system of controls, create

the proper level of influence that will lead to the desired behaviors?

Now it can be said that the word control has BOTH a noun and verb aspect.

The verb (process dimension) relates to checking, testing, or verifying; exercising

restraint or directing influence; reducing the incidence or severity of adverse situations

[dictionary uses].

The noun sense (authority, ability dimension) relates to a state, condition, authority,

ability, or measure of power and influence. This is a tougher dimension to understand. It

relates to the possession of the skills needed to use the tools, instruments and technique of

control.

Feed-forward is a term describing a kind of system which reacts to changes in its

environment, usually to maintain some desired state of the system. A system which

exhibits feed-forward behavior responds to a measured disturbance in a pre-defined way -

in contrast with a feedback system. This is a control technique lier part of the control loop

so that corrective action can be initiated in advance of the disthat can be measured but not

controlled. The disturbance is measured and fed forward to an earturbance having an

adverse effect on the system response. Feed Forward control is mechanism within some

control systems in which information is sent ahead in time to prepare a part of a control

system.

The mechanism of feedback has a very simple definition: "the return to the input of a part

of the output".

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Figure: Feed-forward

This simplicity should however not undermine the importance of feedback mechanisms

and theirubiquitousness in our life, both on macro- and micro-scales. In order to

further present the concept of feedback mechanisms I introduce a simplifying division

between the systemic view of feedback and the decision making view of feedback.

1. Systemic view

From the point of view of a system (understood as "a regularly interacting or

interdependent group of items forming a unified whole" , feedback mechanisms have a

very important role toplay. Through "feeding back" a part of output again into the

system, we obtain a perfect regulatory mechanism. This regulation is based on two basic

kinds of feedback, namely: positive and negative feedback.

Positive feedback mechanisms

We call a feedback mechanism positive if the resulting action goes in the same direction

as the condition that triggers it. A good example of positive feedback is a turbo-charger

fitted to the engines of vehicles. As we accelerate, increasing revolutions of the engine

(after crossing some threshold), set the turbo-charger on, that in fact increases the speed

even further. Summarizing, apart of output (acceleration) was "fed back" to the process

again, causing action going in the same direction (further acceleration).

Negative feedback mechanisms

A feedback mechanism is called negative if the resulting action opposes the condition

that triggers it. To name an example, one might think of the heating systems we use at

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homes. Very often we set our heaters to maintain constant temperature while we are at

home. So the heaters turn on and off as a function of the interior temperature. If the

temperature drops below some threshold, the heating system is being switched on,

compensating and increasing the temperature again. In other words, a part of output

(falling temperature) was "fed back" to the system again, causing action going in the

opposite direction (increasing temperature). These two above mentioned mechanisms

of positive and negative feedback constitute a basis for system controlling.

Furthermore they can be put together in different configurations composing

"feedback loops".

Feedback loops

We may divide feedback loops into negative and positive. If positive and negative

feedbackmechanisms are alternating in one system, we talk about the negative feedback

loop. This kind offeedback loop has stabilizing properties. As an example one might

think of some biological (food-chain) mechanisms. Increasing population of storks causes

a decrease in the population of frogs, which in turn causes the decreasein the number of

storks until the moment that the number of frogs is up again. In this sense, negative feedback

loops are (ceteris paribus) auto-regulating.

Figure: Feedback loops

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Positive feedback loops can go into two directions: they can be either "exploding"

or "imploding". If only positive feedback mechanisms are governing a system, this kind of

positive loop is called "exploding".

Figure: Feedback loops

As an example we might mention a positive feedback loopbetween income and

consumption. The bigger the income per capita in an economy, the more people consume,

therefore further increasing their income per capita, and so on. Ceteris paribus, this

mechanism will continue infinitely. In many industries, success feeds success, i.e. a

successful firm makes money (output) which is partly used to improve the same reasons

of its success (input factors). Costly innovation,if successful, give rise toprofits which

allows for further Research and Development, as you can experience with this

business game. In consumption, positive feedbacks can be linked toimitation

phenomena. External funding (e.g. from banks) is positively linked to own capital

commitment, so that loans are given only to healthy firms, boosting them to even higher

levels. For the system effects of financial fragility see this paper.Similarly, rich families

are usually able to assure to their children a good level of education (e.g. by buying more

books, by travelling, by additional education resources), which in turn positively affectthe employability and family income. If only negative feedback mechanisms are

governing a system, we call this loop "imploding". For a rather exaggerated example,

think of a person wholoses appetite when preoccupied. Once she starts to worry, she loses

weight, therefore being even more preoccupied seeing her state and losing even more

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weight, and so on. If nothing else stops this vicious circle (e.g. a societal help),

implodingpositive feedback loop leads to the self-destruction of the system.

Figure: Feedback loopsThis is the dramatic case of denutrition and low individualproductivity (thus, income)

in many areas of the Thirld World. From the stance of a system, feedback mechanisms

are very important for mutual interaction of the system's elements. However this point

of view is in a sense very "endogenous", i.e. treating the parts of the system as being

inert and not able to vary their behavior depending on the state of the environment.

In order to further analyze the complexity of feedback we have to allow for the decision

making feature of the system's parts.

2. Decision Making view

From the decision making stance, feedback is specifically defined as "the

transmission ofevaluative or corrective information to the original or controlling source

about an action, event, or process". From now on, I will focus more in detail on the

processes controlled by humans (as opposed to the processes controlled by the artificial

intelligence, i.e. computers). Human decision making is largely based on the concept of

feedback. To mention an example on the individual dimension, managers try to estimate

the correctness of their past actions by observing the output of these decisions or managerial

indicators (like Balanced Score Cards) and introduce necessary corrections. On the group

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decision making dimension, democratic government is also an example of a controlling

body trying to incorporate information from the past into the process of decision-making in

the future. Having said that, we have to notice the qualitative change in the weight of the

positive and negative feedback. From now on, feedback is not only a piece of

information "fed back" to the system again. Critical consequences of feedback must be

now included into the system: its role in motivation, consistency and learning. The most

important consequence of feedback information is its influence on the motivationand

consistency of decision makers. It is generally agreed that a decision maker receiving

positive feedback tends to be motivated and to continue with the previously chosen course

of action only slightly modifying it. If provided with the negative feedback she has a

tendency to feel demotivated and search forother alternatives of solving the problem.

For instance, the consumer's behaviour could be interpreted as a trial-and-error

process: to buy a good - say because of a hint of possible use - to try it, to judge the

experience and to renew the purchase in case it is pleasant or search for new brands in the

opposite case. Brand loyalty is often explained in these terms. It should be however noted

that this simplified and generally accepted view of interactions between feedback,

motivation and consistency in decision making has been lately seriously challenged

on the academic grounds. Explore by your own this issue by playingthis business game.

The second, equally important, consequence of feedback is its relation with learning.

Generally experts (but also simple examples from everyone's life) indicate that no

learning would occur ifsome kind of feedback was not available. One can easily

imagine that a driving lesson with driver's eyes closed and ears plugged would almost

certainly result in an accident. In our life, feedback seems to be an inseparable part of

learning. However, recently some researchers stated that people may learn rules without

any feedback whatsoever; they only need more time to do so.

3. Further dimensions of feedbackThere are many ways to divide feedback. Below I propose just a few, basing on the:

1. Simplicity of the feedback; simple feedback is generally based only on one cue and

complex feedback on multiple cues.

2. timing when feedback is given; generally, feedback can be obtained either

immediately after the decision making or be delayed (shortly after the decision), or be

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postponed (delivered much time after the decision making action), or not be delivered at

all; for a discussion see thispaper.

3. source of the feedback; feedback might either be extrinsic, i.e. coming from an external

source (e.g. tennis coach giving you instructions) or intrinsic, i.e. coming from the

inside (e.g. continuous feedback to your brain from muscular proprioceptors while

practicing your backhand).

4. "explanatory power" of the feedback; if feedback mirrors only the dynamic development

of a problem (e.g. providing only the result of your previous decision), it is called output

feedback. If feedback describes why the problem develops in particular way, it is called

cognitive feedback.

5. trustworthiness of the learning environment; some sources of information are

more trustworthy for the decision maker, therefore the feedback from them are going to

be considered to a bigger extent and some sources of feedback might be totally

disregarded.

6. Time horizon and situational awareness: feedback and feed forward

From the systemic stance as well as from the decision making point of view, feedback

has a crucial disadvantage: it refers to the past, or at best, to the present. Feedback control

allows the selection of actions on the basis of past or current information about the

system. A control system referring to the future is called feedforward. It requires higher

situational awareness, in order to choose an action on the basis of the predictions of the

future state of the system.

So, Feed forward control is superior to feedback control because of its focus on

avoidingproblems rather than fixing them, but requires more adequate knowledge and

cognitive effort.Neoclassical theory has based much of its interpretation of human

choice process in terms offeed forward mechanisms, also in the form of inter-personal

game theoretic interaction. Now, a fully new strand of empirical experiments is shedding

light on the complexity of this issue

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