Assignment #3 : Blending Ideas About Change

Hello Everyone here is the link to my third and final assignment for this course. I hope everyone had a good and enlightening experience these past months. Best of luck with the exam!

http://derrickmngt255.weebly.com/

REFLECTIVE BLOG ASSESSMENT 9-2: MODELS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

In this weeks blog assessment we examine two models of organizational change. The first being the Lewin’s Three Stage Model which is made up of three steps: Unfreeze, Move, and Refreeze. The second model our textbook looks at is the Complexity Theory, this implicates that organizations react best to change when it is not in the norm of their environment. More information can be found on pages 228 & 229 of our textbook.

I  will now give examples of how the Lewin's Three-Stage Model of Change and Complexity Theory can be used in a retail workplace setting.

Step 1 : Unfreeze

Retail stores are constantly getting in new products, with these products comes promotions. Employees must learn new techniques to approach customers with these promotions every time. So there is always a need to step outside their comfort zones. This may not be so easy for some to do, so there is three methods that can help:

·       Whole System Planning – The store has a staff meeting where they discuss the plans for upcoming promotions and the steps that need to be taken to accomplish a successful quarter. In the meeting staff members can resolve or confront any issues or concerns about changes being made.

·       Setting Goals – Each employee set a goal or objective for that motivates them to change, this is done at the beginning of every shift.

·       Visioning – Make sure your store has a motivating mission or vision statement widely available to view, so that employees can come to work every shift and know what they have to work towards.

Step 2 : Transition

Moving away from the status quo may not be such an easy process for the employees so there are methods to help make transition process smoother. Here are the best three methods when working with retail.

·       First Steps – Let the employees get  “the feel” of things before moving into more complicated sales. This means no pressure to meet a certain goal until they are confident in themselves.

·       Challenge – Once employees are confident that they can hold their own encourage them to push themselves to meet those goals. Managers should set records so employees can compete with one another.

·       Involvement – Managers have a duty to get involved in the transition process by motivating their employees through inviting them to discussions and assigning meaning roles, this way the employees really feel they are a part of the change.

Step 3: Refreeze

The final stage of the Lewin’s Model of Change has to do with ensuring that all the changes that have taken place so far are in permanently put into place and reinforcing any new changes that may occur. There are also three methods management can use at this stage to maximize success.

·       Evidence Stream – The employees will want to see results of all their hard work and to see if they have made any progress with all this change. This is why management should prepare statistics for each month to show how well the store is doing. This will prove to the employees that the change is real.

·       New Challenges – This method has to with letting the employees know that change never ends. With more promotions in the future they must be prepared to face new challenges and not be allowed to go back to how things were in the beginning. Managers must make sure there is always something keeping them interested in the change; this might mean competing with other retail stores.

·       Reward Alignment – Motivating your employees through challenges will only take them so far, they will need more incentive to continue with the change. Managers will need to find ways to reward their employees. One way would be to give them first pick of choosing their shifts for the month. Another would be to give them a gift card to the store. These rewards will go a long way in motivating the employees to always do their best.

I hope this weeks blog assessment was beneficial to anyone who will face similar situations in the future, whether it be from the employees or the managers view.

REFLECTIVE BLOG ASSESSMENT 8-2: CRITICAL INCIDENT ANALYSIS

      In this week's blog assessment I will be discussing a recent discouraging experience I had while working with a group. I will going through the questions asked in our textbook section 10, Pg 332 Management for You: Diagnosing Group Failures

1.       What type of group was this?

An incident where I was face with a problematic group was in a second year business management course at SAIT. This group was made up of five randomly selected students by the professor. This was his way of giving the students a real world work force environment. The problem was that once in a group it was either you stayed with them the whole semester or you would have to do all the assignments individually, a difficult task to do since the majority of the course material was meant to be done in a group. There was an assignment every week of the semester, which was to be presented each week in front of the classroom. Each assignment was meant to be completed evenly as a team.

2.       We’re group members motivated to achieve group goals? Why, or why not?

The issue within this group was that three of members including myself were seen as the hard working students aiming for a good grade. Meanwhile the other two members were looking for an easy grade without having to do as much work. The central problem was that our group leader was one of the members who did not one to pull their weight. The two group members defended their loafing with the excuse that their workload was too overwhelming even though all of members were in the same class with the same workload and being able to manage alright.

3.       What were the group’s norms? How much conformity and deviance existed in the group?

The norms of the group were to try to meet at least once a week to work on the assignments for that week by booking a meeting room in the library and splitting the workload amongst each member. The conformity within the group was good because we completed each assignment on time and received good grades for each.

4.       How cohesive was the group? Why do you think the group’s cohesiveness was at this level? What consequences did this level of cohesiveness have for the group and its members?

The group’s cohesiveness was fairly poor as I stated early, this was mainly because our group leader was motivated to stay on top of their own priorities in the class and this left three of the group members to take initiative and complete the assignments ourselves without their guidance. The consequence of this was that the other two members were unprepared when presenting and in turn made the rest of the group look bad. Our group leader was also very defensive when we tried to give them feedback or any sort of criticism and would just ignored the problem.

5.       Was social loafing a problem in this group? Why, or why not?

Social loafing was an issue with two members in the group who did not have their priorities in order. This was especially evident during the group meetings where there was always someone absent because there was something that came up. This was frustrating for all group members who attended these meeting because they would have to catch them up on what they missed on a time convenient to them. During class time there were few lectures but relevant and helpful information was provided each class. Half the group shows up and paid attention by taking notes for the group, while the other half was either absent or playing with their cell phones.

6.       What could the group’s leader or manager have done differently to increase group effectiveness?

For the group leader to increase group effectiveness they could have made a better example to follow by being open to what the other members had to say and take the criticism as a way to improve instead of becoming defensive and not making any changes at all. The leader should be the one taking initiative on what the next step for the group and encourage members to voice their opinion on any issues or concerns within the group and try to resolve them.

7.       What could group members have done differently to increase group effectiveness?

A way the group members could have increased group effectiveness was to be more strict on members that were consistently absent from meetings by giving them deadlines and warnings.

REFLECTIVE BLOG ASSESSMENT 6-2 : CONTROLLING FOR SUCCESS

In this week’s module we are analyzing how good organizational control during the great recession of 2008 allowed certain companies to come out on top. The textbook lists 10 big and small companies that have managed to do this. I have chosen to evaluate CEO Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. on why they deserved to be labeled as a “recession winner”. 

One of the main reasons Steve Jobs & Apple Inc. were able to survive the recession was that they knew the importance of organizational control.

This means being able have these six guidelines to correspond with the organization’s goals.

1.       Adapt to change and uncertainty – Apple has always been ahead of the curve with their products. Steve Jobs was known for being prolific when it came to coming up with innovative new products for the consumers. This along the side of a world renowned  design team, Apple Inc. is a force to be reckoned with.

2.       Discover irregularities and errors – Apple has been able to monitor and control irregularities and issues with its operating system OS X which they developed themselves to support all their equipment and machinery.

3.       Reduce costs, increase productivity, or add value. – Apple has maintained a relatively low labor cost because their manufacturing is done in China. But has control over product quality as most of the designing and testing is done in California. The Apple brand is known around the world and is instantly recognizable with their signature white ear buds.

4.       Detect opportunities – Steve Jobs has stated he created many products at the same time but released them separately based on the market trend or until he thought they were ready.

5.       Deal with complexity - Apple Inc. employees are specialists who are not exposed to functions outside their area of expertise. Steve Jobs saw this as a means of having best-in-class employees in every role.

6.       Decentralize decision making, and facilitate teamwork - Apple is known for promoting individuality and excellence that consistently attracts talented people into their employ.

Here is the outline of the steps in the control process shown in our textbook:

1.       Establishing standards against which performance is evaluated

2.       Measure actual performance

3.       Compare actual performance against chosen standards

4.       Evaluate results, and take corrective action when the standard is not being achieved.

5.       Repeat the process

Now I will relate it to how Apple Inc. goes through the process:

1.       Establishing standards against which performance is evaluated

-          Measures of standards: efficiency, quality, ethics, responsiveness to customer service, and innovations in technology.

-          Measure of costs: operating costs, employee training costs, labor costs, machinery maintenance costs, and marketing costs.

2.       Measure actual performance

-          Monitoring Output : Financial performance, Organizational Goals, Operating budgets

-          Monitoring Behavior: Direct supervision, (MBO) Management by objectives, and Bureaucratic control

3.       Compare actual performance against chosen standards:  

-           Measuring the performance of customer and employee satisfaction equally. Apple has made great strides to ensure that their low wage employees in China have suitable conditions unlike many large companies operating in China.

4.       Evaluate results, and take corrective action when the standard is not being achieved:

-           Confirming the use of appropriate standards, matched with appropriate rewards. Encourage employee input and address any concerns or issues that need corrective action.

5.       Repeat the process

Even though Steve Jobs sadly passed away on October 2011, his vision and beliefs live on with Apple Inc. Where they continue to value and follow the steps in organization control which has helped them remain successful all these years. They have surpassed the pioneers in the industry such as Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung, because they were smart and learned to adapt to the ever changing world around them. This is why I believe that Apple Inc. deserve to be labeled as a "recession winner".


Resources:

http://www.yoyow.com/marye/mtstories/kawasaki.html

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/25/how-apple-works-inside-the-worlds-biggest-startup/

REFLECTIVE BLOG ASSESSMENT 4-2: SUSTAINABLE POLICIES

          What are sustainability policies in place for?  the good answer to this question would be in our textbook Essentials of Contemporary Management: They are decisions that protect the environment, promote social responsibility, respect cultural differences, and provide an economic benefit. (Jones, George, Rock, Haddad)  The outcome of these decisions will likely affect one of 3 categories of the company; the community, environment, or company's operations. This is why it is important for the company to have these policies in place to ensure all the employees are prepared and familiar with the company's long term plans.

          We will now go into detail through each category and analyze how a company should deal with each.

Firstly, the policies must show a responsibility towards the company's surrounding community. This means the company must have a positive effect on the community; this can be done by hosting charity events or fundraisers for the less fortunate. Doing these type of activities will benefit both the community and company's image. This is a big part of what it means to be socially responsible and have corporate citizenship.

Secondly, the policies in place must have a focus on how the company is impacting the environment. This is an important issue which has been around for the past decade and is growing more and more significant to customers of any company. This part of the policy can potentially save the company thousands of dollars through implementation of recycling programs, minimizing energy consumption, and efficient waste management, all this while maintaining true to company ethics and responsibilities. 

Thirdly, the policies in effect should be monitored consistently to ensure all employees have a firm understanding of the specific ethical standards and conduct of the company. This includes giving the proper training to make sure both sides have what’s best in mind for the company's interests. To maintain control of employees actions there must also be disciplinary action outlined in case of violations that go against the company's policy. In which the employees will be punished according to the severity of the violation. This will minimize any poor business practices the company may run into. 

REFLECTIVE BLOG ASSESSMENT 2-2: FORCES AND COMPETITION - AN ANALYSIS OF MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT CO-OP / REFLECTIVE BLOG ASSESSMENT 3-3: ETHICAL CORPORATE CITIZEN

Hello everyone, please excuse my lack of posts there were some unforeseen circumstances that delayed me from posting them last week. So I will go over both assessments 2-2 and 3-3 in this week's reflective blog post. Also please excuse the font coloring I am having technical difficulties with this blog and this was the best I could do. Hope everyone is getting use to this course!

REFLECTIVE BLOG ASSESSMENT 2-2:

In this week’s assessment we will be analyzing Canada’s leading supplier of quality outdoor gear, clothing, and services aimed at helping people enjoy the benefits of self-propelled wilderness-oriented recreation, Mountain Equipment Co-op. They are best known for their principles and values towards environmental protection and other causes.  The company's organizational environment is supported by the principles and values of a co-operation. Which the company defines on their website as "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise." (MEC, 1995)

The company also has in place 7 strict principles that affect MEC's customers and suppliers. They are as follows:

1. Voluntary and Open Membership - allows anyone the opportunity to use their services without discrimination.

2.  Democratic Member Control - all MEC members can actively participate in the setting of company policies and decision making process to ensure a democratic organization that is controlled by its members.

3.  Member Economic Participation - MEC members each contribute equitably to the capital of their co-operatives. Their allocation of surpluses go towards; developments within the co-operatives, setting up possible reserves, overall benefits for MEC members, and other activities which are supported by the membership.

4.   Autonomy And Independence - before agreeing to any agreements with other organizations, which could include the government, or capital from external sources, MEC must do so on terms that ensures democratic control by their members and maintaining their co-operative autonomy.

5.   Education, Training and Information - MEC contributes to the development of their member by providing effective education and training.

The natures of these benefits are made available to the general public.

6.   Co-Operation Among Co-Operatives - MEC is able to effectively strengthen their co-operative structure by working autonomously with local to international members.

7.   Concern For Community - MEC prides itself on not only meeting their members' needs but the world they live in as well. They accomplish this through the sustainable development of their communities supported by the policies accepted by their members. (MEC, 1995)

As with any company, MEC faces opportunities and challenges from environmental forces. A perfect example of such a force being back in 2009 when the company decided to boycott all products made in Israel due to that country's handling of the Palestinian issue through Apartheid. (MEC, http://blog.mec.ca, 2009)This concern came to MEC's attention through a major response by members demand to take the right moral position on this issue.  The move went through and was community supported the company's decision which aligned with MEC's ethical sourcing policy.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

REFLECTIVE BLOG ASSESSMENT 3-3: SHORT ESSAY

In this assessment we will be looking at how the “New Generation” or “Generation Y” students are changing the face of the nonprofit organizations.  As discussed in the case in chapter 3, there has been an increased interest in volunteering and starting up for nonprofit organizations, especially among students aged twenty and up. 

The example the book focuses on is student named Jesse Harmonic who decided to set up a charity called Student Harvest to help people in need in his city. The ethical motivation behind this endeavor came from walking past the homeless on his way to and from school every day and realizing how fortunate he was to be able to afford to go to school while these people do not have enough for food that day. Also he found that many of the charities in his area made it very inconvenient for any to even want to volunteer to help the homeless. So this motivated him to start his own charity for other students to volunteer and give back to those in their community who need it the most.

The interest in nonprofit organizations from the new generation is also affecting the older generation before them who have worked hard to gain their place in the nonprofit sector, now anyone can startup their own nonprofit charity if you have an internet connection and some a couple press releases.  The older charities see this speed process as amateurish because what took the students a couple of months it took them years to setup.  But some of the older generation are not so sour towards the students and see it as a good thing that they are rising up to the occasion and see them even as “natural leaders”. All the Jesse Hamonics out there have impacted how the traditional management practices were ran, now to accommodate the mass amounts of volunteers they have had to revamp their recruiting strategies. Personally I see this as just another stepping stone in human history, as I believe the next generation after Generation Y will be even more surprising!

In this next part I will be evaluating the ethical principles and social responsibilities of the famous company Google. The company was on Forbes Magazines Top 100 Most Ethical Companies in 2010.  Google first started out as a privately held company in 1998 with its initial public offering in 2004.  They began with just a simple search engine but as they got vastly more known in the past decade they have to expanded their products and service to include; advertising, productivity tools, and enterprise products. 

Comparing Google to the ethics model illustrated in our text book; Google aims to be a company that does things differently. They realize it’s impossible for them to foresee all possible ethical scenarios that they might face. So instead, they rely on one another’s good judgment to uphold a high standard of integrity for themselves and the company. They expect all employees to be guided by both the values and principles of their code. Sometimes, identifying the right thing to do is a difficult decision. If an employee is uncertain, they encourage them to ask questions of their manager, especially if it has to do with legal, ethics and compliance.

Google has 7 principles in their code of ethics; I will be going over 4 of them.
The first code being to Serve Our Users, this is broken into five sub-categories; Integrity, Usefulness, Privacy, Security and Freedom of Expression, Responsiveness, and Take Action.

The second code: Respect Each Other; this is separated into Equal Opportunity Employment, Positive Environment, Drugs and Alcohol,Safe Workplace, and Dog Policy.

The third code: Preserve Confidentiality; this includes Confidential Information, Google Partners, Competitors/Former Employers, andOutside Communications and Research.

The fourth code: Protect Google’s Assets; this is made up of;Intellectual Property, Company Equipment, The Network, Physical Security, Use of Google’s Equipment and Facilities, and Employee Data.

Google’s code of ethic in full detail can be accessed here http://investor.google.com/corporate/code-of-conduct.html

The company realizes that along with their ethical principles they must also be socially responsible. Here is the description of what Corporate Social Responsibility is all about “Since its founding, Google has been firmly committed to active philanthropy and to addressing the global challenges of climate change, education and poverty alleviation. Since 2007, Google also jump-started a series of social initiatives in China. We hope that by leveraging our own strengths and resources in-country, we will raise awareness of the importance of corporate philanthropy, and encourage society to participate in and contribute to the development of social responsibility” (Google, 2011)  Some examples of social responsibility from Google are supporting earthquake relief efforts, Google Grants, and Google China Social Innovation Cup for College Students.

As an individual part of Generation Y, I consider myself to be very fortunate to have been able to grow up in the age of change, where we have unlimited access to communication and information. We can use these tools to change millions of lives in a day thanks to popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  These tools are efficient and easy to learn. All these things have affected my outlook of the world around me. It has affected how I am able to learn things and how I can apply them. But I also personally believe that it is important note to forget how we got to where we are, this means to never forget the generation before us and how their mistakes and accomplishments have brought us to where we are today.

REFLECTIVE BLOG ASSESSMENT 1-1 : EVOLVING MANAGEMENT POSITIONS

In the first chapter of "Essential of Contemporary Management" (Jones, George, Rock, Haddad) we are introduced to Roger Martin, the Dean of the Rotman School of Management, in Toronto, Ontario. Who has developed and analyzed the theory of opposable thinking in his book "The Opposable Mind". The analysis compares and contrasts traits of opposable and oppositional thinking. The oppositional thinking style follows how managers in s business traditionally take an "either-or" approach to decision making. Whereas, opposable thinking follows a "both-and" approach.

A situation I experienced in the past where I used an opposable thinking approach for my decision making approach would be when I was paired in a group of two to work on an assignment in my Business Computers class. Each of the members was from different generations. One member was from Generation X and the other was from the Baby boomer generation. Immediately there was conflict between them. I was caught in the middle of this argument and I took a step back and realized the generation gap and how the tension was affecting the group. I told the member from Generation X to go on ahead with the next exercise because I knew they were confident enough with the computer program as he was taught how to use it through most of his academic life. Then I sat down with the member from the Baby boomer generation and walk them through how to use the program, eventually this student was able to go through the program as if it was second nature to them.

In 2005, I began working to gain some work experience and to pay for food mostly. Most of my work experience comes from the retail industry. This means I had to deal with mainly customer service, to do this I had to develop a lot interpersonal skills to deal with customers and coworkers if I wanted to be successful. I have noticed many changes in the management roles over the 7 years I've employed. I found the communication channel between employer and employee became smaller and smaller. In the beginning, my managers would just give me the instructions on the assignments and goals for the day in face-to-face meeting.  Eventually the managers gave more empowerment to his subordinates which turned into self-managed teams.  So now the employees do not need to ask their managers what needs to be done, the only reasons someone talks to their managers now is if they have issues or concerns. This is not beneficial to employees who are looking for some sort of guidance or direction from their leaders. I personally can adapt to mostly any situation, so I have handle the transition well. 

In my opinion the changing of management roles has to do with the demand for freedom from employees and the demand for solid results from managers. There has been a need for change on both sides. Aside from internal changes there are also external changes in the world we are living in, especially a cultural diversity movement. This affects the workplace ethics towards the gay and lesbian community that make up a large portion of employees and customers who deserve the respect to be treated as equals. 

According to Henry Mintzberg, a McGill University management professor, what businesses today need are "heroic" managers who have the skills that demand solid results. To do this, they must first have formal education, training, and experience which will help them acquire three principal types of skills: conceptual, human, and technical. ["Essential of Contemporary Management" (Jones, George, Rock, Haddad)]  Each of these skills will be needed more so than the others depending on your level of management in the management hierarchy. The top management managers tend to need to have conceptual skills, the middle management managers require each three skills equally, and the first-line managers will need to have the majority of his expertise in technical skills. Overall, it is important to understand which level of management you belong to and then to be prepared to craft your skills to meet the needs of the employees and customers. This is the difference it takes in becoming not just a good manager but a great one.

Welcome

Hello fellow MNGT 255 classmates,

welcome to my reflective blog, this is where I will be sharing my thoughts in response to specific module topics from our textbook "Essentials of Contemporary Management"
I encourage and look forward to any comments or criticisms on any of the posts I make.

best regards,
-Derrick