Pygmalion in Management free essay sample

Pygmalion effect allows employees to succeed in reaction to the manager’s message that they have the potential to succeed or are expected to succeed (Sterling, 2003). Impact on Productivity One of the key inclusive illustrations of the influence of managerial expectations on the aspect of productivity is well documented in research studies of organizational experiment carried out in 1961 by Alfred Orberlander, who was the manager of the Rockway District Office of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. He was able to understand that excellent insurance firms grew faster as compared to poor firms in insurance industry. Furthermore, he found that new insurance firms do better in excellent insurance firms than in poor or average firms, despite of their sales ability. Though the productivity of the â€Å"super-staff† was enhanced significantly, it must be pointed out that the productivity of male employees in the lowest unit â€Å"who were not considered to have any chance of attaining the half-million to dollar mark†, actually declined and that abrasion among these men was high (Sterling, 2003). We will write a custom essay sample on Pygmalion in Management or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The performance of superior male increased to meet the manager’s expectations at the same time as that of the weaker men decreased as anticipated. In Metropolitan Insurance Company, the combination of best agents and group of best managers resulted in best performance by far. The combination of average employees and average managers astoundingly led to high performance since the manager refused to accept that she cannot match the best group’s performance. In addition, integrating poor agents with group of poor managers resulted in low performance hence increased attrition (Tierney Farmer, 2004). Self-fulfilling Prophecies In the article by Livingston, the â€Å"average† unit provided anomalous results. Even though the district manager anticipated only â€Å"average† performance from the study group, its productivity rose appreciatively. This is for the reason that the manager assigned the group refused to accept that he was less able than his counterpart managers in â€Å"super-staff† level or that the agents in the top group has any special ability than the agents of his group. He persisted that agents and managers in the middle position had higher chances of producing better results than the men in the â€Å"super-staff†, having inadequate experience in selling insurance. He motivated his group members, which included managers and agents to out-perform the â€Å"super-staff†. Therefore, because of this, the middle groups increased their productivity. This means that self-fulfilling prophecies are basically prevalent in offices, which are the same in classroom situations (Sterling, 2003). If the manager is satisfied and persuaded that the individuals in his group are first-rate, the will unfailingly do better than groups whose mangers believes the opposite, although the inborn capabilities of the two groups are equal. Pattern of Failure When a salesman is taken by their managers as super salesmen, as the â€Å"super-staff† was treated in Rockway District Office, and then they strive to cope with that image and perform what befits super-salesmen. However, when salesmen having poor productivity records are interpreted by managers as having minimal chances of success, the same low producers at Rockway behaved, then it means this negative anticipation or expectation by managers emerges to be managerial self-fulfilling prophecy (Tierney Farmer, 2004). Power of Expectations Managers cannot evade the disheartening cycle of activities that shift from low expectations basically by concealing their feeling from their juniors. If a manager considers that a junior employee will perform poorly, it is practically impossible for the manager to hide his/her expectations, since the message is normally communicated inadvertently, without action on his part. Certainly, the manager communicates the most when he/she considers he/she is communicating the least (Sterling, 2003). The Critical Years The article emphasizes that Managerial anticipations have their most mystical impacts on the youth. As subordinates mature and become experienced, their self-image progressively become cemented, and they start to perceive themselves as their career records mean. Their own dreams, and expectations of their superiors, become ever more influenced and controlled by â€Å"reality† of their precedent performance. This becomes complex for them, and the managers, to produce reciprocally high expectations provided they have excellent records. Therefore, the managerial expectations lead to astute selection whereby the managers will only select only young people who they believe will succeed (Tierney Farmer, 2004). Conclusion In my view, the article Pygmalion in Management by J. Sterling Livingston plays a key role in equipping managers with strategies and lessons that will allow them to deliver to the expectation of the organization. From the article, it can be inferred that managerial expectations are significant for both group performance and individual since they provide the needed insights of producing goods results, such as positive expectation. Managers should also understand that negative expectations kill the morale of subordinate’s hence poor results (Sterling, 2003). Therefore, an extraordinary feature of higher managers is the capability to spur high performance expectations that subordinates need to attain. Subordinates in most cases perform what they think they are expected of. In my opinion, what managers expect their subordinates and the manner they treat them greatly determine their career development and performance. Consequently, the article becomes relevant to managers from all levels as well managers of schools and other institutions. References Sterling Livingston, J. (2003). Pygmalion in Management. Harvard Review Business, January 2003. Tierney, P. , Farmer, S. M. (2004). The Pygmalion process and employee creativity. Journal of Management, 30, 413-432.