Introduction
Since nothing in this world is self-made, even the Globe came into existence after the Big Bang Theory. Thus, it is not purely coincidental that the fastest bowler in the world Brett Lee became what he was! It is neither all natural that the worst psychotic people in the world listed on Wikipedia became who they were. A clap cannot be achieved without both the hands acting simultaneously.
Body
The society plays its major chunk in the beginning of a human being’s moulding. And from then onwards, we ourselves shape us as per our wills and perceptions of good and bad. The school we learn from, including our teachers and mainly the favourite ones; the sports or hobbies we are indulged in our earlier age, and the games we dive into; the environment of our homes, plus the activities carried out from our parents towards us including their behaviour; and the heavy influence of media on our minds which cannot be ignored, all of it is part of the shaping system that in-total Creates Us!
Our Society and the rules and regulations followed within it, are also part of the moulding mechanism that we receive from since we initiate ‘understanding’ (maturity) till our last breaths (Englund et al., 2011, pp. 494-513).
Socialisation has an important role to play in shaping us into who we are today compared to what we were yesterday and what we were when we were born. It decides how we will behave in a given environment. It might just sound like a mere word but in actual it is everything around us. An individual, his society, his culture, his norms and his values are all interlinked and socialisation includes them all.
Socialisation is of different types; namely: Natural Socialisation, Planned Socialisation, Positive Socialisation and Negative Socialisation, having varied effects on an individual.
In order to understand them, we first need to know the social timeline!
What is Socialisation?
Socialisation, basically is a process by which an individual gets to know of what is expected of him/her by his/her surrounding society and culture. It is a process by which an individual learns about the social expectations and how to behave according to the society he lives in. However how we behave and whatever we do today is because of socialisation, from the way we talk, walk, sit, and eat to the way we interact with others, all of it is the result of socialisation. The process of socialisation starts from a very tender age, from ever since he/she is a new born baby. Ever since a baby starts learning, the process starts (Bauman and Tim, 2001, pp. 19-41). A baby girl, for instance, who was brought up in a religious family will most likely also be a religious girl when she grows up. A doctor will keep his family in the same scenario as well. Sociology however does agree to the fact that factors outside of society also have an impact on an individual being but majorly, who a person is and how a person is, depends more than 50% on the kind of society he/she is brought up in, lives in, the kind of friends he/she hangs out with and the media (which, today, includes social networks as well) he/she is made to interact with.
Now that we know what socialisation is, let’s come to the types of Socialisation:
Socialisation is of four basic types.
- Natural socialisation
- Planned socialisation
- Positive socialisation
- Negative socialisation
- Natural socialisation is when you learn things from your surroundings involuntarily. That is while you are watching television, playing, being fed and while exploring.
- Planned socialisation is when others practice an action in order to teach us a lesson or train us.
- Positive socialisation is when an individual learns through fun, appreciation and pleasant experiences.
- Negative socialisation is when an individual learns through a bitter experience, punishment, or tough criticism.
While they all have their own respective affects on the life of an individual, having been through more of positive socialisation than negative socialisation makes you a much happier person.
Business and management studies have made good use of planned socialisation. Today an organisation cannot run effectively without efficacious recruitment of the managers, their immediate subordinates and the overall organisations’ employees (Berger, 1963, pp. 143-162). Each one of them is carefully trained and recruited to suit their respective positions and be able to carry out their respective tasks in the organisation’s effective performance.
Most of the business students when asked about, “What job would they wishfully proceed with in future?” answered “the job of a Manager”, without any hesitance. When they were further asked “why?” their unhesitant reply was “they are respected not just within the organisation but are also honoured by the society. Also they get handsome salaries to suit their lifestyles much better and with ease!”
Who is a Manager and how is he affected by the Society?
A manager is a person working in an organisation, who is responsible for planning, organising, choosing alternatives, leading and controlling. He directs and monitors the work of a group of subordinates working under his supervision and takes corrective measures whenever necessary.
A manager has the power to hire or fire employees whenever he finds it important. He guides and trains his subordinates whenever he finds it compulsory. But whether he will help and guide his subordinates during their time of need depends on the kind of society he comes from.
As we saw earlier, what kind of a person we become as we grow up into adults, depends on our early brought-up, our education, our values, the kind of family we belong to, the socialisation agents (indirect third-party) we are exposed to and the society we come from. Whether we will help a person asking us for help or not depends on what we were taught as a child. If we grow up to become a good person, most of the credit goes to the society we belong to. The level of credit dependent upon the level of exposure though (Macionis and Plummer, 2011). A good and helpful person will make a good and helpful manager as well, and since a good person is a result of a good rearing and the society he comes from, a good and helpful manager also is the result of a good rearing and a good society.
Every single person who is part of the society is either directly or indirectly affected by it. Manager, being a person is also affected by the kind of society he lives in. He being a normal person also has to live up to the societal norms and expectations. The society tells us that in order to live happily, we need to earn sufficient amount of money. So if a manager is not paid sufficiently well, he will be worried about his family and himself. He will be worried about how to earn enough to enjoy his desirable lifestyle and therefore his performance will be affected; which indirectly will affect the smooth running of the organisation he works in. Therefore managers always need internal motivation to keep their performance level high and unhindered.
What kind of a person we are and what our social expectations will be depends solely on the kind of society we come from.
Importance of a Manager for an organisation to run smoothly
Management is a major department in every major corporation. Even smaller organisations need managers to run their organisation smoothly or else everything will be unorganised and there will be confusion and haphazardness in the fulfilment of their given tasks.
Managers give a direction to the workers and supervisors. Without them, the organisation will be like a car that is being run without knowing what direction to go to and what is their exact destination and just like that car, after some time it will run out of fuel (capital). With thousands and millions of students graduating and completing their internships every year, there are more and more workers to accommodate. The numbers of companies to employ those students-cum-workers are obviously much lesser, comparatively. Therefore the need for reliable managers who will supervise them rises with time
Significance of Managerial Behaviour
Subordinate’s performance depends remarkably on his/her manager’s behaviour. Whether the employees will show increased dedication and participation in the organisation or not depends on how the manager portrays himself in front of them. In order to perform their tasks efficiently they need better understanding of what is expected from them and what goals they are supposed to reach, for which they need a manager’s guidance and support.
Behavioural management theory also called human relations movement suggests that the more a manager understands his/her employees, the more productive he can train them to be; with respect to Maslow’s intrinsic and extrinsic factors. According to Maslow, their productivity also depends on their interaction with their colleagues and other superiors (Whittington, 1992, pp. 693-712).
A good manager is expected to carry out effective leadership for which he needs to understand the needs of his employees really well. There are several leadership approaches; Autocratic Leaders who make their decisions without consultation from anyone else, Democratic Leaders who keep in consideration their own team’s efficacy and input and Laissez-Faire leaders who give others, working in their team, a chance to make decisions of their own. Being a flexible leader who makes his decisions according to the circumstances is what makes you an ideal leader. Such a leading manager will have a clear set of objectives, be able to communicate effectively, motivate and encourage, reward good work and help his subordinates’ put organisational interest prior to his/her own interest.
Conclusion
Management studies by introducing true-management, has given approval of the fact that society has a major role to play in the development of a social being. We are what our society expects us to be. We are what our society demands us to be. If it wants us to be religious, for instance, it must give religion enough importance to make us feel like “Yes! Religion is important for us to be followed.” Everyone around us should be following it to make us feel that religion is important and we must be made aware of the benefits. Also, it should bring into effect positive socialisation in order to help us grow up into a happy and optimistic person rather than a narrow minded pessimist who habitually stay depressed.
Society does not just have a role to play in who we are but it also has a role to play in how we behave and how we feel. Whether we will help a person in need or not, is decided by the kind of upbringing we are given, what socialisation agents and factors we are exposed to, what model we have been given to idolise and how are we identified.
List of References
Vallas, S. P. (2006). Empowerment Redux: Structure, Agency, and the Remaking of Managerial
Authority1. American Journal of Sociology, 111(6), 1677-1717.
Bauman, Z and Tim May (2001) Thinking Sociologically. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Berger, J. (1963) An Invitation to Sociology. New York: Anchor (Doubleday Books).
Englund, H., Gerdin, J., & Burns, J. (2011). 25 years of Giddens in accounting research:
achievements, limitations and the future. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 36(8), 494-513
Giddens, A. (2010) ‘The Scope of Sociology’ in Sociology: Introductory Readings eds. A Giddens and P Sutton.
Macionis, J and Plummer, K. (2011) Sociology: A Global Introduction. London: Prentice Hall
Wright-Mills, C (1961) The Sociological Imagination. New York: Grove Press.
