Importance of Negotiation in Daily Life

Conflict has never benefitted anyone, instead it adds to one’s tensions and anxiety. It is better to discuss things and reach to an alternative benefitting all. Issues must not be dragged unnecessarily and efforts must be made to come to a conclusion involving the interests of all. No point in being adamant and rigid. One should strive hard to negotiate with each other and consider the needs, interests and expectations of all.

Negotiation is essential everywhere. It is not only the corporates where negotiation is important but also in our daily life. We all must try our level best to adopt negotiation skills to avoid misunderstandings and lead a peaceful and a stress free life.

Let us understand how negotiation is important in daily life:

Negotiation is essential in everyone’s family to maintain peace at home. We all need to compromise with each other to some extent to avoid disagreements at home.

Terren’s mother baked one of his favourite cakes but he had to share it with his brother Peter as well.

§  Situation 1

Terren negotiated with Peter that if Peter gives him the larger share, he would probably finish all his marketing assignments to which Peter gladly agreed as now he could enjoy his weekend with his friends. It was also a win win situation for Terren as now he could relish his favourite cake.

§  Situation 2

Terren fought terribly with Peter over the cake and neither Terren nor Peter could enjoy the cake. They spoiled the evening and got a good scolding from their parents as well.

Situation 1 is anyday a better option as both Terren as well as Peter could get whatever they wanted. The negotiation benefitted both of them and reduced the chances of disputes between the two brothers.

Negotiation also helps in effective buying. Every individual needs to save money for the rainy days. You just can’t spend money like anything. One must try his level best to negotiate with the second party to reduce the costs to the best extent possible. If you do not negotiate well you will end up spending more than required. Always remember the shop owner keeps a profit margin on almost all selected products. Don’t go and just pay whatever he asks for. Quote a price little less than what he quotes but do not forget to calculate the shop owner’s profits as well. If you intend buying some expensive brand, it is better to check out the prices of its competitors as well.

Negotiation is important but do not forget to be polite and dignified. Convince the shopkeeper as to why the price of a particular item should be a little less than what he has quoted. Discuss with the store owner. He will feel happy after all he needs to sell his products and even he looks forward to a loyal customer. It is better if both the parties negotiate with each other and come to a price which would satisfy both of them. (The customer as well as the store owner).The customer would afford to buy his product at a reasonable price and the store owner would also manage to earn his profits. Ask for discounts when you go out for shopping.

Negotiation reduces conflicts and improves the relation among individuals. We are human beings and unlike animals we live in societies and need people around. How would you feel if your next door neighbours don’t talk to you? People can’t stay all alone. They need the company of others to share happiness, sorrows and take each other’s help whenever required. Don’t always find fault in others. It is okay if your next door neighbour has parked his car in front of your house. Don’t go and fight with him. You might even need him some day. Don’t get hyper or over react. Try to understand the other person as well.

An individual must learn the skills to an effective negotiation to lead a happy and a peaceful life. Life is short and one must enjoy each and every moment of it.Why to unnecessarily fight with each other and complicate issues? Negotiation is essential for better bonding among individuals, lesser conflicts and a happy life.

Importance of Negotiation in Corporate

Negotiation is nothing but a discussion among individuals to find out an alternative which takes into account the interest of all and nobody is at loss. In a win- win negotiation people try their level best to come to a solution where everyone is benefited and nobody is at loss. Negotiation is essential in corporates to avoid conflicts and improve the relations among the employees. Don’t be too rigid and adamant in the office.

Let us understand how negotiation is important at the work place:

The process of negotiation starts the moment an employee gets a selection call from an organization. It is essential that the individual responsible for hiring employees negotiates well with the candidate and offers him the best salary. Every organization runs for earning profits and thus the HR Professional must try to make the person join at the lowest possible salary but make sure you do not offer him anything less than his previous salary. He will never be interested to join. Even if he joins, he will not take his work seriously and the results would be zero. Discussions are important. Make him realize that money is not the only criteria for selecting a job. Other things like one’s job responsibilities, job security as well as the brand name should also be considered.

The negotiation style plays an important role in corporates. Do not offer anything exceptionally high as it would again create a problem among the existing employees. Ensure that you are little tactful and do flash your trillion dollar smile. It helps. No way can you annoy the individual.

Negotiation is also important when you are dealing with vendors. An organization needs money to survive and take care of the employees as well. It can’t afford to spend money as it is. A single penny saved will help you and the organization later. The person dealing with the external parties must be a good negotiator else he will end up paying more amount than required. Always sit with the vendor and quote a price little lower than you intend to pay. He will definitely ask you to increase it and probably then you will reach to a figure well within your organization’s budget. Don’t be rude with your vendor but be very confident and convincing. Remember you are not dealing with him just once; you need to maintain a healthy relationship with him for future business as well. Try to convince the vendor at such a rate which would benefit your organization and save money. Quote realistic figures and do take care of the vendor’s profits as well. Try your level best to close the deal.

One should never accept terms and conditions verbally, it’s always better to have something in black and white probably a contract as it is more reliable. The terms and conditions must be discussed on an open forum and should be signed in presence of both the parties so that no body backs out later.

One should also learn to negotiate with one’s superiors. Remember negotiation does not mean you have to shout on others, you need to be polite. Don’t accept responsibilities just because your boss wants it. If you are not comfortable with any role, its better to decline it, rather than accepting something you are not familiar with and losing interest later. After all there are other employees as well, they can accept the same and you can do something else which suits your profile. If you know you will not be able to submit the project within the stipulated time frame, tell your boss. Never hide things from him. Be straightforward. If you want to go for a leave, try to negotiate with him that probably you will attend office the coming weekend or sit for some more time in the coming days to compensate for the loss. Be a little patient.

Conflict must be avoided at the work place as it only leads to negativity all around. Negotiations help to reduce conflicts at the work place. Conflicts arise when individuals are too rigid and are just not willing to compromise with each other. Negotiations help in finding an alternative which benefits all.

Let us understand the importance of negotiation in corporate with the help of a simple example:

Ted was working with a leading organization. He was a smart negotiator. He always negotiated well with his superiors as well as his fellow workers and thus a enjoyed his work. He only accepted those responsibilities he knew he was capable of doing. No doubts his work was error free, and he was his boss’s favorite. He was always well informed before going for any negotiation with vendors, never lost his temper and always closed the deal in favor of the organization. Good negotiation skills helped Ted be the most appreciated employee among all.

Types of Negotiation in Corporates

The dialogue between individuals to come to a common conclusion benefiting all is called as negotiation. Negotiation refers to the discussions among individuals evaluating the pros and cons of a situation and coming to an alternative best suited to all. In negotiation, individuals try their level best to come to a conclusion which would satisfy all. In simpler words, it is also called as Bargaining.

Negotiation takes place in various ways in corporates for increased output and better relations among employees.

Let us go through the various types of negotiation in detail:

• Day to Day Negotiation at work place– Every day we negotiate something or the other at the workplace either with our superiors or with our fellow workers for the smooth flow of work. These are called day to day negotiations.
• Negotiation between employee and superior– At the work place, an employee has to negotiate with his superiors so that he is assigned the responsibilities as per his interests and specialization. Don’t accept anything you are not comfortable with. Sit with your boss and discuss things with him. Let’s suppose your boss wants you to prepare a report on branding and marketing strategies of the organization and marketing was never your specialization. Do not accept it just because your boss has told you to do so. Negotiate with him, probably you can cover some other subject and somebody else can be asked to prepare the report on marketing and branding. It is better to negotiate at the first place to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings later. An individual before accepting any offer should negotiate his salary with the concerned person to avoid tensions later. If you are not getting what you deserve, you will never enjoy your work. Don’t just accept any offer just because you need a job, its always advisable to negotiate well before joining any organization.
• Negotiation between colleagues– Negotiation is essential among team members to reduce the chances of disputes and conflicts. Any particular team member should not be over burdened while the other member is relaxing. One should negotiate with his fellow workers and accept only those responsibilities he feels he is best capable of doing. The responsibility of achieving the targets should not rest on only one shoulder, but equally divided among all. Negotiate with your team members and accept the responsibilities willingly. If you want to go for a leave for some days, negotiate with your team member to take care of your work in your absence. When he takes a leave, you can help him in the same way.

Negotiation helps to increase the output of the team and eventually the productivity of the organization. People achieve what they expect and hence misunderstandings and conflicts are reduced to a large extent and the office becomes a better place to work.

• Commercial negotiations- Commercial negotiations are generally done in the form of contract. Two parties sit face to face across the table, discuss issues between them and come to conditions acceptable to both the parties. In such cases; everything should be in black and white. A contract is signed by both the parties and they both have to adhere to its terms and conditions.

Cherry was representing the administration department of a reputed organization. He was assigned the responsibility of buying bulk laptops for the office employees from a vendor. He asked the vendor to quote a price for him. Cherry found the price was beyond the company’s budget and thus sat with the vendor, negotiated the price with him and finally both of them agreed to a price suitable to both. A contract was signed between Cherry and the vendor mentioning the payment details, mode of payment, date of delivery, warranty details and other important terms and conditions. Commercial negotiation generally involves an external party and thus a contract is essential so that no party backs out later.

• Legal Negotiation– Legal negotiation takes place between individual and the law where the individual has to abide by the rules and regulations laid by the legal system and the legal system also takes into account the needs and interest of the individual.

Negotiations are essential at workplace so that everyone is satisfied and nobody feels left out or neglected. It also reduces conflicts and misunderstandings among fellow workers.

Models of Negotiation

Negotiation is defined as a discussion among individuals to reach to a conclusion acceptable to one and all. It is a process where people rather than fighting among themselves sit together, evaluate the pros and cons and then come out with an alternative which would be a win win situation for all.

Sam wanted to purchase a mobile handset, he tried his level best to buy it at the lowest possible rate and the shopkeeper also ensured that he could earn his profits as well. Thus the negotiation benefited Sam who didn’t have to shell out loads of money and the shopkeeper was also satisfied because even he earned his profits.

Negotiation helps in reducing conflicts and disputes among each other. Negotiation is essential in every walk of life for a peaceful and stress free living.

Let us go through various models of negotiation:

1.     Win Win Model - In this model, each and every individual involved in negotiation wins. No body is at loss in this model and every one is benefited out of the negotiation. This is the most accepted model of negotiation.

Let us understand it with the help of an example:

Daniel wanted to buy a laptop but it was an expensive model. He went to the outlet and negotiated with the shopkeeper to lower the price. Initially the shopkeeper was reluctant but after several rounds of discussions and persuasion, he quoted a price best suited to him as well as Daniel. Daniel was extremely satisfied as he could now purchase the laptop without burning a hole in his pocket. The negotiation also benefited the store owner as he could earn his profits and also gained a loyal customer who would come again in future.

2.     Win Lose Model - In this model one party wins and the other party loses. In such a model, after several rounds of discussions and negotiations, one party benefits while the party remains dissatisfied.

Please refer to the above example once again where Daniel wanted to buy a laptop. In this example, both Daniel and the store owner were benefited out of the deal. Let us suppose Daniel could not even afford the price quoted by the storeowner and requests him to further lower the price. If the store owner further lowers the price, he would not be able to earn his profits but Daniel would be very happy. Thus after the negotiation, Daniel would be satisfied but the shopkeeper wouldn’t. In a win lose model, both the two parties are not satisfied, only one of the two walks away with the benefit.

3.     Lose Lose Model - As the name suggests, in this model, the outcome of negotiation is zero. No party is benefited out of this model.

Had Daniel not purchased the laptop after several rounds of negotiation, neither he nor the store owner would have got anything out of the deal. Daniel would return empty handed and the store owner would obviously not earn anything.

In this model, generally the two parties are not willing to accept each other’s views and are reluctant to compromise. No discussions help.

Let us understand the above three models with an example from the corporate world.

Mike got selected with a multinational firm of repute. He was called to negotiate his salary with Sara- the HR Head of the organization.

Case 1 - Sara quoted a salary to Mike, but Mike was not too pleased with the figure. He insisted Sara to raise his salary to the best extent possible. After discussions Sara came out with a figure acceptable to Mike and she immediately released his offer letter. Mike got his dream job and Sara could manage to offer Mike a salary well within the company’s budgets - A Win win Situation (Both the parties gained)

Case 2 - Sara with her excellent negotiation skills managed to convince Mike at a little lower salary than he quoted. Mike also wanted to grab the opportunity as it was his dream job and he was eyeing it for quite some time now. He had to accept the offer at a little lower salary than expected. Thus in this negotiation, Mike was not completely satisfied but Sara was - A win lose negotiation

Case 3 - Mike declined the offer as the salary quoted by Sara did not meet his expectations. Sara tried her level best to negotiate with Mike, but of no use.-A lose lose model of negotiation. No body neither Mike nor Sara gained anything out of this negotiation.

4.     RADPAC Model of Negotiation

RADPAC Model of Negotiation is a widely used model of negotiation in corporates.

Let us understand it in detail

Every alphabet in this model signifies something:

R - Rapport

A - Analysis

D - Debate

P - Propose

A - Agreement

C - Close

R - Rapport: As the name suggests, it signifies the relation between parties involved in negotiation. The parties involved in negotiation ideally should be comfortable with each other and share a good rapport with each other.

A - Analysis: One party must understand the second party well. It is important that the individual understand each other’s needs and interest. The shopkeeper must understand the customer’s needs and pocket, in the same way the customer mustn’t ignore the shopkeeper’s profits as well. People must listen to each other attentively.

D - Debate: Nothing can be achieved without discussions. This round includes discussing issues among the parties involved in negotiation. The pros and cons of an idea are evaluated in this round. People debate with each other and each one tries to convince the other. One must not lose his temper in this round but remain calm and composed.

P - Propose: Each individual proposes his best idea in this round. Each one tries his level best to come up with the best possible idea and reach to a conclusion acceptable by all.

A - Agreement: Individuals come to a conclusion at this stage and agree to the best possible alternative.

C - Close: The negotiation is complete and individuals return back satisfied.

Let us again consider Mike and Sara’s example to understand RADPAC Model

R - Rapport between Mike and Sara. They must be comfortable with each other and should not start the negotiation right away. They must first break the ice. The discussions must start with a warm smile and greetings.

A - Both Mike and Sara would try their level best to understand each other’s needs. Mike’s need is to grab the opportunity while Sara wants to hire an employee for the organization.

D - The various rounds of discussions between Mike and Sara. Mike and Sara would debate with each other trying to get what they want.

P - Mike would propose the best possible salary he can work on while Sara would also discuss the maximum salary her company can offer.

A - Both Mike and Sara would agree to each other, where both of them would compromise to their best possible extent.

C - The negotiation is complete and probably the next course of action is decided, like in this case the next step would be generation of the offer letter and its acceptance.

An Overview on Negotiation

Let us first go through a real life situation to understand negotiation better.

Your friends want you to come for a late night movie with them. However you very well know that your parents will never appreciate your staying away from house at late nights and you don’t even want to miss the movie as well as the company of your friends.

What would you do? Will you fight with every one?

Another situation

Tom went to a nearby mall and after a day of extensive shopping came across a CD player which he instantly liked. The cost of the CD player was around $30, but unfortunately he was not left with much cash. There was no way he could leave the CD player as it was an exclusive model and Tom was eyeing the product for quite some time.

What would Tom do in such a situation?

The answer to all the above questions lies in a simple word “Negotiation”. You negotiate so that you achieve whatever you want without the fear of conflicts or misunderstandings. It is a peaceful way of accomplishing things without making anyone angry.

We all will agree that nobody has ever gained anything out of conflicts and disagreements. Disputes in turn increase our stress and we feel restless always. One loses focus and eventually his interest in the organization goes down. It is always wise to discuss among yourselves and reach to an alternative best suited to all through negotiations.

What is negotiation?

Negotiation is a technique of discussing issues among one selves and reaching to a conclusion benefiting all involved in the discussion. It is one of the most effective ways to avoid conflicts and tensions. When individuals do not agree with each other, they sit together, discuss issues on an open forum, negotiate with each other and come to an alternative which satisfies all. In a layman’s language it is also termed as bargaining.

Please go through the above two real life situations once again.

You want to go for a movie but you know that your parents will never agree to your decision. Will you fight with your parents? Obviously NO, instead you will sit with them and try your level best to convince them and negotiate with them without fighting and spoiling everyone’s mood. Probably you will spend the coming weekend with your parents if they allow you today for the movie else you will negotiate with your friends so that they agree for a noon show. Negotiation helps you to achieve your goal without hurting anyone. Your goal in this case is to go for a movie and you negotiate either with your parents or friends to achieve the same.

In the second situation, Tom could not afford to lose the CD player as it was an exclusive one, thus he tries to negotiate with the store owner to lower the price so that it suits his pocket and even the store owner earns his profit as well.

Negotiation is essential in corporates as well as personal lives to ensure peace and happiness.

Your boss asks you to submit a report within two working days and you know that the report is a little critical one and needs more time. Will you say a yes to your boss just to please him? Your yes might make the boss happy then but later you will land yourself in big trouble if you fail to submit it within the desired time frame. It’s always better to negotiate with your boss rather than accepting something which you know is difficult. Ask for some more time from your boss or probably don’t make an exhaustive report. Negotiation is better as it would prevent spoiling your relation with your superiors later.

Negotiator

An individual representing an organization or a position who listens to all the parties carefully and comes to a conclusion which is willingly acceptable to all is called the negotiator.

Skills of a negotiator

A negotiator ideally should be impartial and neutral and should not favour any one.

He needs to understand the situation and the parties well and decide something which will benefit all.

It is not always that people will easily accept the negotiator’s decision; they may counter it if they feel their personal interests are not satisfied. In such a situation, where the negotiator is left with no choice, he must use his power to impose his ideas on all, after all one can’t please everyone.

A negotiator has to be a little tactful and smart enough to handle all situations and reach to a conclusion.

Elements of Negotiation

Negotiation

↓

Process + Behaviour + Substance (Agenda)

• Process- The way individuals negotiate with each other is called the process of negotiation. The process includes the various techniques and strategies employed to negotiate and reach to a solution.
• Behaviour- How two parties behave with each other during the process of negotiation is referred to as behaviour. The way they interact with each other, the way they communicate with each other to make their points clear all come under behaviour.
• Substance- There has to be an agenda on which individuals negotiate. A topic is important for negotiation. In the first situation, going for the late night movie was the agenda on which you wanted to negotiate with your parents as well as your friends.

To conclude, negotiation is simply a technique, a discussion among individuals to reach to a mutual agreement where everyone gains something or the other and conflicts are avoided.

Framing & Charismatic Leadership

Framing
A way to use language to manage meaning.
Leaders use framing (selectively including or excluding facts) to influence how others see and interpret reality.
Example: The recent house eviction of Khaleda Zia.


 Charismatic Leadership
Max weber, w sociologist, was the first scholar to discuss charismatic leadership more than a century ago. He said, Charisma is certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he or she is set apart from ordinary people and treated as superhuman.


 Key Characteristics of Charismatic Leaders
1. Vision and articulation
Has a vision—expressed as an idealized goal—that proposes a future better than the status quo; and is able to clarify the importance of the vision in terms that are understandable to others
.
2. Personal risk
Willing to take on high personal risk, incur high costs and engage in self-sacrifice to achieve the vision.


3. Environmental sensitivity
Able to make realistic assessments of the environmental constraints and resources needed to bring about change.


4. Sensitivity to follower needs
Perceptive of others’ abilities and responsive to their needs and feelings.


5. Unconventional behavior
Engages in behaviors that are perceived as novel and counter to norms.

Dimensions of trust

1. Integrity
Honesty and truthfulness. At first he will have to honesty.


2. Competence
An individual’s technical and interpersonal knowledge and skills. The person has to got the ability to do something.


3. Consistency
An individual’s reliability, predictability, and good judgment in handling situations.


4. Loyalty
The willingness to protect and save face for another person. The person has to trust someone who can protect his life of his partner.


5. Openness
Reliance on the person to give you the full truth. The person who trust someone can get the confidence that his secret information will not be liked out.
 (i)Transactional leader
Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements.
1. Contingent Reward
Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises rewards for good performance, recognize accomplishment.
2. Management exception (active)
Watches and searches for deviations from rules standards, takes corrects action.
3. Management by exception (passive)
Intervenes only if standard are not met
4. Laissez-fair
Abdicates responsibilities, avoid making decision.


 (ii)Transformational leader
Leaders who provide the four “I’s” (individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, idealized influence, and intellectual stimulation.


1. Idealized influence
Provides vision and sense of mission, instills pride, gains respect and trust.


2. Inspirational motivation
Communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts express important purposes in simple ways.


3. Intellectual stimulation
Promotes intelligence, rationality and careful problem solving.


4. Individualized consideration
Gives personal attention, treats each employee individually, coaches, advises.

Impression management and Technique Impression Management:

Impression Management:
The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them.
Technique


1. Conformity
Agreeing with someone else’s opinion in order to gain his or her approval.
Example: A manager tells his boss, “You are absolutely on your organization plan. I could not agree with you.”


2. Excuses
Explanation of a predicament-creating event aimed at minimizing the apparent severity of the predicament.
Example: Sales manager to boss “we failed to get the ad in paper on time, but no one respond to those ads anyway.”


3. Apologies
Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously seeking to get a pardon for the action.
Example: Employee to boss, “I am sorry I made a mistake on the report. Please forgive me.”


4. Self-promotion
Highlighting one’s best qualities, downplaying one’s deficits, and calling attention to one’s achievement
Example: A salesperson tells his boss ,” Rafiq worked successfully for three years to try to get that account. I sewed it up in six weeks. I am the best closer this company has.”


5. Flattery
Complimenting others about their virtues in an effort to make oneself appear perceptive and likeable.
Example: New sales trainee to peer, “you handled that client’s complaint so tactfully! I could never have handled that as well as you did.”


6. Favors
Doing something nice for someone to gain that person’s approval.
Example: Sales person to prospective client, “I have got two tickets to the theater tonight that I can’t use. Take them. Consider it a thank you for taking the time to talk with me.”


7. Association
Enhancing or protecting one’s image by managing information about people and things with which one is associated.
Example: A job applicant says to an interviewer, “What a coincidence. Your boss and I were roommates in college.”

Trust

A positive expectation that another will not—through words, actions, or decisions—act opportunistically.
Trust is a history-dependent process (familiarity) based on relevant but limited samples of experience (risk).


Three types of test
1. Deterrence based trust
Trust based on fear of reprisal if the trust is violated


2. Knowledge based trust
Trust based on behavioral predictability that comes from a history of interaction.


3. Identification
Trust based on a mutual understanding of each other’s intentions and appreciation of the other’s wants and desires.

Key roles of team

1. Creator
The person who only initiates idea is creator.

2. Promoter
The person who takes the best idea from creator.

3. Assessor
The person who only analysis idea which is chosen by promoter.

4. Organizer
The person who shapes the idea is organizer.

5. Producer
The person who implement the idea from organizer.

6. Controller
The person who control all internal rules and regulation.

7. Maintainer
The person who will face all external influence.

8. Adviser
The person who deliver necessary advise for the benefit for the team.

9. Linker
The person who coordinate overall activities of the team is linker. He is the captain of the team.

Stages of group development

1. Forming Stage
The first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty.
Example: When student admitted in university, then he or she will be confused in which student group he or she will join.


2. Storming stage
The second stage in group development, characterized by intragroup conflict.
Example: Student group of university will fight each other orally to influence student.


3. Norming stage
The third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness.
Example: The student will finally decide in which group he or she will join due to close relationship of group leader .


4. Performing stage
The fourth stage in group development, when the group is fully functional.
Example: In this stage student joins the union he is fully functional .


5. Adjoining stage
The final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than performance.
Example: In this stage student will not get interest of being member of the group and resign from the group.

Job Characteristic model

1. Skill Variety
The degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities (how may different skills are used in a given day, week, month?).
Example: car garage owner, he deals with customer, repair engines.


2. Task Identity
The degree to which the job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work (from beginning to end).
Example: carpenter.


3. Task significance
The degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people.
Example: Faculty, nurse, doctor.


4. Autonomy
The degree to which the job provides substantial freedom and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.
Example: Dean, Director.


5. Feedback
The degree to which carrying out the work activities required by a job results in the individual obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance.
Example: Assembling mobile phone

Short Note

1. Job Rotation
The periodic shifting of a worker from one task to another.
If employees suffer from overroutinization of their work, one alternative is to use job rotation. This is a practice as the periodic sifting of an employee from one task to another.


2. Job Enlargement
The horizontal expansion of jobs. Increasing the number and variety of tasks that an individual performs results in jobs with more diversity.


3. Quality Circle
A work group of employees who meet regularly to discuss their quality problems, investigate causes, recommend solutions, and take corrective actions.


4. Felt Emotions
An individual’s actual emotions.


5. Displayed Emotions
Emotions that are organizationally required and considered appropriate in a given job.


6. Social-Loafing The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.


7. Work team
A group whose individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs.


8. Illegitimate-
Political-Behavior Extreme political behavior that violates the implied rules of the game.


9. Perceived Conflict
Awareness by one or more parties of the existence of conditions that create opportunities for conflict to arise.


10. Felt conflict
Emotional involvement in a conflict creating anxiety, tenseness, frustration, or hostility.


11. Integrative Bargaining
Negotiation that seeks one or more settlements that can create a win-win solution.


12. Distributive Bargaining
Negotiation that seeks to divide up a fixed amount of resources; a win-lose situation.

Genetics And Heredity

Why do children so often resemble their parents? Why do some brothers and sisters share similar traits, while others are very different? To a large degree, it's a function of the genes. A gene is a portion of DNA that determines characteristics. Through meiosis and reproduction these genes can be transmitted from one generation to another. Genes are the basic units of heredity — they have in common. How does this happen?

Our body is made up of trillions of cells. In some ways, these cells can be very different from each other. For example, they can specialize in a particular function, such as carrying oxygen (red blood cells), absorbing food (intestinal cells), or sensing light (cells in your eyes).

In other ways, these cells have a lot in common. For instance, at the center of almost all of your cells is a ball-shaped structure called the nucleus, inside of which are 46 thread-like structures called chromosomes. These chromosomes contain the estimated 35,000 genes that, in many ways, make us who we are.

To understand how we end up with a given set of genes, we need to learn more about chromosomes.

Chromosomes

A chromosome is a long strand of DNA, packaged together with proteins and other kinds of molecules. Each chromosome has a centromere, which plays an important role during cell division and also divides each chromosome into a short arm and a long arm. Scientists can tell different chromosomes apart based on their size, the relative lengths of their arms, distinctive staining patterns, and other characteristics.

Humans have two types of chromosomes: sex chromosomes and autosomes. Two sex chromosomes determine the sex of an individual, and they are called the X chromosome and the Y chromosome.

If you are female, you have two Xs, and if you are male, you have one X and one Y (although there are genetic conditions in which this varies). The autosomes comprise the other 22 chromosomes. The longest of the autosomes is referred to as chromosome 1, the next largest as chromosome 2, and so on, down to the smallest autosomes, chromosomes 21 and 22.

Each cell nucleus contains two copies of each autosome (44 chromosomes), plus two sex chromosomes (either two Xs or an X and a Y) for a total of 46. With few exceptions, the chromosomes and genes found within any two cells of your body will be identical.

The mystery as to why you resemble your family members is solved by discovering how you inherited your chromosomes from your parents.

You resemble your parents because half of the instructions — genes — for making you came from your father and half from your mother. Similarly, your brother or sister also received half of their genetic instructions from each parent, but the set they received is somewhat different from the set you received. That's why they may resemble you, but they are not identical to you. Identical twins receive exactly the same combination of genes and chromosomes.

Heredity

Heredity is the passing of traits to offspring (from its parent or ancestors). This is the process by which an offspring cell or organism acquires or becomes predisposed to the characteristics of its parent cell or organism. Through heredity, variations exhibited by individuals can accumulate and cause a species to evolve. The study of heredity in biology is called genetics, which includes the field of epigenetics.

If you studied several family trees and traced the inheritance of a given trait in the families, you would find that unique patterns exist. Several factors are involved in determining patterns of inheritance, including where the trait-causing gene is located (on the autosomes or sex chromosomes) and whether one or two copies are necessary for a given trait to be expressed.

Genes may exist in more than one form, each of which is called an allele; the most common form of a gene is called its "wild type." No matter how many forms (or alleles) a gene has, each person inherits only two of them — one from the mother and one from the father.

Genotype (the pair of alleles a person has at a specific location in the genome) affects phenotype (the observable effect of the allele, such as eye color; in the case of medication, how the person reacts to a drug).

Gene variants (alleles) may change the gene so that it codes for a protein that works just as well or better than the protein coded for by the wild type. However, variant alleles can also change a protein so that it no longer works as well or does not work at all.

  

Ecology-Ecosystem

What is Ecology?

origin of word: oikos = the family household, logy = the study of

interesting parallel to economy = management of the household many principles in common – resources allocation, cost-benefit ratios

definitions: Haeckel (German zoologist) 1870: “By ecology we mean the body of knowledge concerning the economy of Nature - the investigation of the total relations of the animal to its inorganic and organic environment.”

Burdon-Sanderson (1890s): Elevated Ecology to one of the three natural divisions of Biology: Physiology - Morphology – Ecology

Andrewartha (1961): “The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms.”

Odum (1963): “The structure and function of Nature.”

Definition we will use (Krebs 1972):

“Ecology is the scientific study of the processes regulating the distribution and abundance of organisms and the interactions among them, and the study of how these organisms in turn mediate the transport and transformation of energy and matter in the biosphere (i.e., the study of the design of ecosystem structure and function).”

The goal of ecology is to understand the principles of operation of natural systems and to predict their responses to change.

Ecology and Environment

Ecology is a branch of biology that  involves the scientific studies of how living things (organisms) interact with each other and their environment. Anything that impacts on an organism during its lifetime in known as environment. Environmental influences can be divided into two different categories- biotic factors (the living influences) and abiotic factors (the nonliving influences)

What is an Ecosystem?

An ecosystem is an interacting collection of organisms and the abiotic factors that affect them. Ecosystems encompass all the parts of a certain environment, including the living (biotic) plants and animals, and the nonliving (abiotic) components, such as soil, water, air and the sun’s energy.

Organization of an ecosystem

All living things require a continuous supply of energy to maintain life. Within an ecosystem, several different kinds of organisms can be identified. Organisms that trap sunlight for photosynthesis, resulting in the production of organic material from inorganic material, are called produers. There is a flow of energy from the sun into the living matter of plants.

The energy that plants trap can be transferred through a number of other organisms in the ecosystem, these organisms are called consumers.

If an organism dies, the energy contained within the organic compounds of its body is finally released to the environment as heat by organisms that decompose the dead body into carbon dioxide, water, ammonia and other simple inorganic molecules. These organisms of decay are called decomposers. Decomposers are things such as bacteria, fungi and other organisms that use the dead organism as a source of energy.

Every ecosystem contains species of plants and animals. Each species occupies its own ecological niche or functional role that it fulfills in the environment.

Table: Roles in an Ecosystem

Classification	Description	Examples
Producers	Plants that convert simple inorganic compounds into complex organic compounds by photosynthesis.	Trees, flowers, grasses, ferns, mosses, algae
Consumers             Herbivore             Carnivore             Omnivore             Scavenger             Parasites	Organism that rely on other organisms as food. Animal that eat plants and other animals. Eat plants directly. Eats meat. Eats plants and meat. Eats food left by others. Lives in or on another organism, using it for food	Deer, duck, cricket, vegeterian human Wolf, pike, dragonfly Rats, most humans Coyotes, skunks, vultures, crayfish Tick, tapeworm, many insects
Decomposer	Organism that returns organic compounds to inorganic compounds. Important component in recycling.	Bacteria, fungi