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Expert System

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Value of Development

Definition

A leader's behavior, including the form and degree to which the group is involved in decision making, can have substantial effect on the group's growth and development both as individuals and as a team. There are three distinguishable outcomes which can follow from appropriate uses of participation. They are:
  1. Increases in individual knowledge and skill — while it may not always be true that "practice makes perfect," practice such as that provided in participation is an essential ingredient of skill development
  2. Team building — when people interact with others, they tend to bond with them and experience them as colleagues
  3. Identification with organizational goals — participation tends to increase the degree to which people experience themselves as a part of the organization and identify with its goals
We have lumped all three outcomes together under the general heading of development. Since they all increase the potential value of the group to the organization, this question refers to the value that you personally place on such growth and development.

Your judgment of its importance will depend understandably on your personal philosophy of management. Pragmatically it should also depend on tangible aspects of the situation. For example, the benefits of team building depend on the anticipated length of time that the team will stay together. Similarly the benefits of individual knowledge, skill, and of greater identification with the organization are of less importance if the person is a temporary employee than if it is expected that the person will become a "permanent part of the organization."

Examples

High Importance
    You work in Japan for a firm that has a tradition of lifetime employment for its employees. Accordingly, every effort possible is made to develop the capabilities of its work force individually and collectively.
Low Importance
    You are the owner of a fast food restaurant which is part of a national chain. Your employees are all paid minimum wages, and people seldom stay more than three or four months before going back to school or moving on to a different job.