Mcshane Organizational Behavior: Case Study

Mcshane Organizational Behavior: Case Study The scenario described by the police captain is a tricky one where motivation is concerned. Indeed, this is a performance problem of motivation for officers who feel an internal imperative to enforce the law through direct contact on the streets but who apply a significantly lesser degree of intensity or efficiency to filing paperwork.

The captain stresses that there are no apparent forces in place to encourage his officers to approach paperwork with the level of dedication that inherently applies to their more traditional police work. This constitutes a significant obstacle to the logical ends of the police work however, as faulty paperwork, in the captain's report, undermines the ability of courts to gain rightful convictions. Therefore, the imperative for improvement in this area should be very strong.

And yet, the captain has listed a lengthy array of obstacles to providing motivation for his men. These include a shortfall of financial resources, an incapacity to drive any sort of competitive interest in improvement in this area and general cultural tendency to view this part of the job dismissively. Of primary concern to the captain is that there does not appear to be any immediately self apparent or rational way to alter this situation, particularly considering the resistance which officers have already shown to such demands.

As we examine the case study further, however, the motivation problem will also prove itself to be a problem of training and education. The captain's own report reveals to some extent the absence of any sort of equality in education in this area as compared to training in street and enforcement work.

One of the key aspects of this motivational dilemma which the captain acknowledges but appears to have overlooked in his search for a solution is the failure of training and education of officers to instill a sense of personal investment in the composition of paperwork. Namely, using the MARS model of individual behavior and performance, it becomes apparent that all aspects of a job must accord with the intercession between internal and external drivers.

Accordingly, we consider the captain's failure to note these failures as instrumental in performance areas might be rectified by this diagnostic tool. The MARS acronym breaks down analysis of internal problems to the categories of Motivation, Abilities, Role Perception and Situational Factors. These areas provide the key to understanding the police departments internal problem. Where motivation is concerned, it is clear that officers have not been provided with a full and functional appreciation for the direct correlation between their street work and their paperwork in terms of conviction.

Abilities are also a primary area of concern given the captain's indication that officers lacked the relative familiarity or education in this area as opposed to the aspects of street-level enforcement which constituted the larger part of their training. This may even mean that many officers do not know how to adequately compose written reports. Role Perception would also seem to be a product of training, as the failure to address paperwork properly implicates a disinterest in the centrality played by officer reports in the process of conviction.

Situational Factors are a real problem, as the captain has stated. The shortcoming in financial resources will tend to prove itself a significant obstacle if the department is incapable of generating the necessary funds and facilities to improve these areas of training. Indeed, this will be a crucial part of the plan for improvement in motivation. It seems clear that this is the primary aspect of the problem which the captain has not considered. Training for the address of paperwork will be instrumental to improving the orientation of officers.

The MARS model is especially informative to us as it promotes several practical areas of training that could considerably alter the current situation. Most specifically, the abilities area of discussion strikes as one avenue down which the captain has not pursued improvement. It is likely that most officers, particularly those who balk.