Organizational Behavior Case: "Drinking up the Paycheck" (325)
1. James Behavior using the Frustration Model
As the text states "Frustration occurs when a motivated drive is blocked before a person reaches a desired goal. . .The barrier may be either overt (outward, or physical) or covert (inward, or mental-sociopsychological) (299). The model has two parts. First to determine at what level an individual is within the scale from inner to outer directedness, and, second, what can be done to alleviate the frustration.
In James' case, he is described as "raised in a hardworking immigrant family. His needs for power and achievement were developed while he was growing up. Now he finds himself in a low-paying, dead-end job with a large manufacturing firm" (325).
This is a perfect example of what the text calls "intra-individual" frustration. James is a man lost in his hopes and his dreams, and he feels he will be going nowhere, so he has turned to drink. The case tells us "...he really doesn't understand himself well enough, and he certainly doesn't know or trust his boss enough to discuss his problems openly with him" (325).
As a way of breaking out of this pattern, however, he turns to the union steward, who confirms his frustrations.
One of the clearest role conflict situations is the fact that James has the primary role of provider for his family of six (five, excluding him) and is the primary consumer of the wages needed by the family. In this he is the "giver" of subsistence to his family, and at the same time he is the "taker" of that very same subsistence. The "giver/taker" role duality is tragic, and is much like an addict who must take drugs to continue to have the energy to steal enough to take more drugs.
3. The Johari styles applied to James
In relation to the behavioral relationship between James and his boss, it can best be described as fitting within
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