Organizational Design

Organizational Design as it Relates to Organizational Theory

Annotated Bibliography

Abstract

Organizational design is an important aspect in organizational theory, given the role played by organizational design in providing direction for the firm. Organizational design refers to systematic methodologies that organizations utilize in identifying organizational aspects that are dysfunctional, before realigning them to ensure that they are in tandem business goals and developing plans to make the necessary changes.

Organizational theory, on the other hand, involves the study of organizations with an objective of identifying structures and strategies for efficiency and productivity maximization. Organizational design is related to organizational theory because organizational theory seeks to study strategies undertaken by firms to enhance productivity, which essentially represents what organizational design aims to achieve.

In studying research design as it relates to research theory, a number of themes are explored in this paper. These include the impact of organizational design in promoting firm productivity and efficiency, the impact of organizational design on change management, the role of organizational design in enhancing employee performance and motivation, how organizations can ensure that they have the right fit when it comes to organizational strategy, and how the effectiveness of organizational design can be enhanced.

Outline

Organizational design
Organizational theory
Organizational design as it relates to organizational theory
Impact of organizational design in enhancing productivity and firm efficiency
Organizational design and its role in change management
Organizational design and its role in employee motivation and engagement
Organizational design and the concept of FIT
Promoting the effectiveness of organizational design

Annotated Bibliography

Tarek, S., Wilberg, J., Tommelein, I. D., & Lindemann, U. (2016). Supporting the design of competitive organizations. Journal of Modern Project Management, 4(2), 96-103. doi:10.19255/JMPM01109

This paper addresses organizational competitiveness by illustrating the importance of adapting effectively to market changes. According to Tarek et al. (2016), external environment trends are a constant disruption to companies and the need to adopt strategies that enhance competitiveness is of great significance. In this paper, they make use of the Viable Systems Model (VSM), which is used in promoting organizational design and avoiding deficiencies. Technology adoption and external environment monitoring come out as important themes in strategic design in a bid to improve competitiveness. This paper effectively demonstrates the importance of organizational design in enhancing competitiveness and is therefore applicable to my topic.

Capelle, R. G. (2017). Improving Organization Performance by Optimizing Organization Design. People & Strategy, 40(2), 26-31.

This article dwells on explaining the relevance of organizational design on organizational performance. In this article, Capelle (2017) notes that a clear understanding of current strategy is important in organization design optimization, such that the organization can be transformed into a high-performing unit. The role of organizational design in relation to the human resource is discussed, with the conclusion that the design of the organization determines its overall performance.

This includes the development of optimal organizational structures and clear lines of accountability and deliverables. People alignment is also considered an imperative factor in optimizing organizational design as it ensures efficient performance. This paper addresses a critical aspect of organizational theory which is the impact of human resource management and will be useful in addressing the employee engagement section in my paper.

Donaldson, L., & Joffe, G. (2014). FIT – the key to organizational design. Journal of Organization Design, 3(3), 38-45. doi:10.7146/jod.18424

The ability to develop an organizational design that meets a company’s objectives and aligns with its strategy is considered an important factor in determining its efficiency. In this paper, Donaldson & Joffe (2014) discuss the concept ‘fit’, noting that an organizational design needs to fit the situation in order to successfully influence the performance of the organization.

Situational factors may include organizational size, competitive strategy, and task uncertainty. Donaldson & Joffe (2014) also use the contingency theory to explain how fits may be developed and misfits identified. The paper aligns well with my paper because it provides valuable details on how to promote the effectiveness of strategic design through ensuring that it fits the organization’s situation.

Stea, D., Foss, K., & Foss, N. J. (2015). A Neglected Role for Organizational Design. Journal of Organization Design, 4(3), 3-17. doi:10.7146/jod.20434

In this paper, the authors focus on the relevance of delegation in enhancing an effective organizational design. According to Stea, Foss & Foss (2015), organizations must respond to environmental changes that currently call on organizations to foster knowledge and motivation among employees. This is effectively achieved through delegation and can be realized through the development of the organizational design to create value for organizations.

The paper also discusses the question of credibility in delegation and motivation, which may affect the outcome of the exercise. This paper is a great addition to my literature review as it addresses issues affecting organizational design.

Nissen, M. (2014). Organization Design for Dynamic Fit. Journal of Organization Design, 3(2), 30-42. doi:10.7146/jod.8196

Nissen (2014) discusses the concept of ‘fit’, which is considered an important aspect of organizational design. Given the constant change in the business world, organizations must adjust in order to be competitive and strategic design must seek to address these dynamics in ensuring that it works effectively for the organization.

Nissen studies various theoretical perspectives affecting fit including design orientation, manager roles, organizational systems and measurement and validation. This paper provides valuable insight into my topic and will be beneficial in explaining how organizational design success can be enhanced.

Felin, T., & Powell, T. C. (2016). Designing Organizations for Dynamic Capabilities. California Management Review, 58(4), 78-96. doi:10.1525/cmr.2016.58.4.78

Enhancing competitiveness is subject to an organization’s ability to adapt to different environmental changes. Felin & Powell (2016) examine the development of dynamic capabilities through organizational design and note that this could be impactful in enhancing innovation. The article makes reference to Valve Corporation as an example, an organization that has been highly successful in market adaptation and strategic innovation in a fast-moving environment.

The research by Felin & Powell notes that dynamic capabilities ensure that organizations can survive in competitive landscapes and constant market changes including technology change and market demand volatility. This research will contribute to my paper through providing insights on how organizations can harness their strategic positions through organizational design.

Connor, A. (2015). Organizational Design that Really Works. Design Management Review, 26(3), 23-29. doi:10.1111/drev.10329

This paper addresses organizational change and its related impact on organizational design. According to Connor (2015), change and reorganization require the application of innovative strategies to ensure that the change is beneficial to the organization. In this regard, organizational design is considered imperative in ensuring that change is set up in a way that it aligns with and supports the organizational objectives. Connor notes that integrating design into an existing system requires adjustments to ensure a strategic fit and also the need to observe, analyze and modify to allow effective implementation.

Mendoza-Walters, A., & Ivanov, S. (2016). Combining passion with planning: applying organizational theory to improve business operations in non-profit organizations. International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 9(2), 46-51.

This research is unique in that while a majority of articles focus on for-profit organizations, it addresses the challenges faced by non-profit organizations. Through focusing on a Washington DC non-profit, the paper demonstrates how organization theory could improve its performance, by ensuring effective planning. Mendoza-Walters & Ivanov (2016) make various recommendations for more effective performance including the implementation of more strategic division of labor, restructuring the organization, and the inclusion of technology in enhancing planning. The paper demonstrates that business efficiency can be improved through organizational theory and therefore forms a basis for understanding my topic of study.

Aubry, M., & Brunet, M. (2016). Organizational Design in Public Administration: Categorization of Project Management Offices. Project Management Journal, 47(5), 107-129.

Aubry & Brunet (2016) focus on public administration organizational design with the aim of determining how government offices can utilize organizational design to improve their performance. The public administration offices are required to implement multiple projects with each requiring careful consideration to ensure that it meets the needs of the public. Effective project management requires organizational design to ensure that the projects are successfully implemented.

In this relation, Aubry & Brunet (2016) suggest categorization of projects based on types and this is considered effective in enhancing project outcomes. The research concludes that organizational design is important in enhancing project outcomes and therefore effective in promoting public organizations’ performance. This paper contributes to my research by providing important aspects of organizational design and how they influence performance.

Daft, R. L. (2015). Organization Theory and Design. Cengage Learning.

This book offers valuable information on organizational theory and design by discussing the two concepts in detail, culminating in a comprehensive understanding of how organizational design is related to organizational theory. The author addresses various factors influencing organizational design’s effectiveness.

This includes a discussion of the internal and external factors that influence organizational design as well as internal design elements that are useful in enhancing the organizational performance. These include technology organization size and life cycle. It also covers innovative ways of managing dynamic processes such as innovation, change, ethical values, conflict and power among others. This is a rich information source that will be of great significance in my research.

Burton, R. M., Obel, B. & Håkonsson, D. D. (2015). Organizational Design: A Step-by-Step Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

This book discusses the multi-contingency organizational design besides other aspects of organizational design and theory. In doing so, the authors identify two complementary problems involved in organizational design namely the partitioning of tasks and coordination of sub-unit tasks to enhance effective fit with the organizational goals.

In explaining the concept of organizational design, they approach it from a multi-contingency aspect and discuss five components namely the scope/goal, structure, strategy, processes, and people. This information provides a great understanding of organizational design and it can be established that by aligning these organizational design components, efficiency may be achieved. This book is highly valuable and will provide high-level information for reference in my research.

Hunter, S. D. (2015). Combining Theoretical Perspectives on the Organizational Structure-Performance Relationship. Journal of Organization Design, 4, 2, 24-37.

In this paper, Hunter (2015) focuses on the organizational structure by noting that it plays an important role in promoting organizational performance. The paper discusses theoretical aspects on the link between organizational structure and performance. Organization design elements are influenced by various factors including environmental conditions, task characteristics, strategic orientation, and relationships. This insinuates that organizational design determines how effective an organization is in creating an organizational performance. This research will add to my literature review by demonstrating the interrelationship between organizational design and performance.

McDonnell, J. M. (2015). The Role of Organizational Design in 21st Century Organizations: George Jetson and the Star Model. Journal of Transformative Innovation, 1 (1), 1-6.

As technological advancements continue to be witnessed in today’s world, business is likely to change significantly and it is this kind of changes that this article addresses through a discussion on the role played by organizational design in modern organizations. McDonnel points out that organizations must have a futuristic approach and this entails an inclusion of organizational designs that reflect strategic thinking. Organizational design is considered a way of achieving this by combining different strategies to meet today’s business environment challenges including management of people, processes, structure, and rewards. The research will add value to my research by providing valuable information on organizational design and how it impacts performance.

Junqueira, E. et al. (2016). The Effect of Strategic Choices and Management Control Systems on Organizational Performance. DOI: 10.1590/1808-057×201601890

In this research, Junqueira, et al. (2016) investigate generic strategic choices and how they affect the performance of organizations. In doing so, the concepts of organizational design and organizational theory emerge and it can be established that the strategic choice taken determine the outcome in reference to organizational performance. According to the research, the strategy adopted by the organization is influenced by the competitive forces and that the organizational design is highly instrumental in influencing performance. This source provides information about strategic design and will be useful in developing an understanding of how it influences performance in the development of my paper.

Chouikha, M. B. (2016). Organizational Design for Knowledge Management. New York: Wiley & Sons

Knowledge management is imperative in organizational design as it ensures that set strategies can be effectively implemented. This is articulately discussed by Choiuikha (2016) in his book on organizational design for knowledge management. The book addresses the relevance of knowledge by illustrating how organizations can anchor knowledge through individual skills, data and information, and how this can be elevated from individual to organizational learning. In this relation, knowledge transfer, knowledge acquisition and knowledge storage are considered key in enhancing organizational strategy and consequently the organizational performance. The impact of culture on knowledge management is also discussed. This book contains valuable information that will be instrumental in ensuring that my research is based on good foundations on organizational design and theory.

References

Aubry, M., & Brunet, M. (2016). Organizational Design in Public Administration: Categorization of Project Management Offices. Project Management Journal, 47(5), 107-129.

Burton, R. M., Obel, B. & Håkonsson, D. D. (2015). Organizational Design: A Step-by-Step Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Capelle, R. G. (2017). Improving Organization Performance by Optimizing Organization Design. People & Strategy, 40(2), 26-31.

Chouikha, M. B. (2016). Organizational Design for Knowledge Management. New York: Wiley & Sons

Connor, A. (2015). Organizational Design that Really Works. Design Management Review, 26(3), 23-29. doi:10.1111/drev.10329

Daft, R. L. (2015). Organization Theory and Design. Cengage Learning.

Donaldson, L., & Joffe, G. (2014). FIT – the key to organizational design. Journal of Organization Design, 3(3), 38-45. doi:10.7146/jod.18424

Felin, T., & Powell, T. C. (2016). Designing Organizations for Dynamic Capabilities. California Management Review, 58(4), 78-96. doi:10.1525/cmr.2016.58.4.78

Hunter, S. D. (2015). Combining Theoretical Perspectives on the Organizational Structure-Performance Relationship. Journal of Organization Design, 4, 2, 24-37.

Junqueira, E. et al. (2016). The Effect of Strategic Choices and Management Control Systems on Organizational Performance. DOI: 10.1590/1808-057×201601890

McDonnell, J. M. (2015). The Role of Organizational Design in 21st Century Organizations: George Jetson and the Star Model. Journal of Transformative Innovation, 1 (1), 1-6.

Mendoza-Walters, A., & Ivanov, S. (2016). Combining passion with planning: applying organizational theory to improve business operations in non-profit organizations. International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 9(2), 46-51.

Nissen, M. (2014). Organization Design for Dynamic Fit. Journal of Organization Design, 3(2), 30-42. doi:10.7146/jod.8196

Stea, D., Foss, K., & Foss, N. J. (2015). A Neglected Role for Organizational Design. Journal of Organization Design, 4(3), 3-17. doi:10.7146/jod.20434

Tarek, S., Wilberg, J., Tommelein, I. D., & Lindemann, U. (2016). Supporting the Design of competitive organizations. Journal of Modern Project Management, 4(2), 96-103. doi:10.19255/JMPM01109

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Managing Innovation

Explain the five factors that influence the adoption and diffusion of an innovation

According to Karakaya, Hidalgo, & Nuur, (2014), the adoption and diffusion of innovation is impacted by the cultural, socioeconomic, legal and technological factors. Individual variables also come into play like the demographics, and psychological. The term diffusion from a marketers’ perspective refers to the possibility that the identified customer segment will be able to accept a new or modified product and service that is being delivered to them.

Contrariwise, the term adoption focuses on the rate that the customers will accept the product and service. The process of diffusion and adoption of innovation is dynamic as it alters from one product and service to another (p. 393).

There are five factors that influence the process of adoption and diffusion of innovation; they are relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability. Relative advantage refers to the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be better than a similar existing product or service by the users. The greater the level of perceived value, the higher the rate of adoption.

The relative advantage of a product can result from a lower price, accessibility and enhancement of the features of the product or services. The 4P’s of marketing play an important part in the relative advantage when it comes to innovation adoption price, place, promotion, but most customers concentrate on the productive-based advantages (Oldenburg & Glanz, 2008, p. 314).

An example of relative advantage that has managed to penetrate different parts of the globe is the ATM teller machines that are slowly replacing the bank teller counters. The introduction of the ATM teller machines reduced the long queues in the banking halls in different places of the globe.

Compatibility of the innovation

The second aspect is the compatibility that focuses on how closely the product and service does relate to the past experiences, values, culture and the needs of the potential adopters. The greater the compatibility to factors that the customer can relate to the higher the rate of adoption and vice versa. Incessant and dynamic innovations have a higher compatibility level than the discontinuous innovations when it comes to the diffusion and adoption as more customers can relate with them (Robinson, 2009, p. 2).

A good example is the introduction of fast food restaurants in Asia and Africa took a longer period to record higher returns when compared to the Europeans. The reason being that most of the people grew up eating traditional foods and the culture in the two continents encouraged home cooked meals shared by the entire family.

The third factor is a complexity that focuses on the ease of comprehension, purchase and use of the product and service. When customers understand the importance of the innovation and ways to use it, the level of adoption increases than in areas where they need to acquire new skills and knowledge to operate it. In the adoption of innovation, the complexity of technology often does act as a hurdle to its diffusion.

The notion of complexity when it comes to technology is based on the age group, the youths are more tech savvy when compared to the older generations, hence have a higher adoption rate (Ballard, 2015). A good example is the mobile phone industry, there are two models the complex one and the simpler one for texting, calling and sending SMS.

The fourth factor is trialability, which focuses on the rate at which the innovation is experimented with on a limited basis, increases its rate of diffusion. The notion of tried and tested in various products does appeal to the end customer and endear the innovation to them. Providing the customers with free samples, test-runs, and demos increases their confidence in the product, hence increasing the adoption rate. When it comes to electronic products the introduction of warranty and guaranty does increase the diffusion rate of the customers. An innovation that is trialable has minimal risk and has a high rate of diffusion among the customers (Karakaya et al., 2014, p. 395).

The final aspect is observability, the easier it is for people to see the result of the innovation the greater the likelihood for them to adopt it. Individuals are more attuned to accept things that they can see. It does reduce their rate of uncertainty instilling confidence in the innovation. New innovations that are likely to be diffused at a greater rate have the following properties in them they are tangible, social visible; benefits can easily be viewed within a short period of time. Observability does stimulate peer discussion, which in the end does propagate the diffusion of the innovation to target market (Robinson, 2009, p.2).

Question 4

What are the differences between organizational climate and culture?

Based on Schneider, Ehrhart, & Macey, (2013), organizational climate refers to the perceptions that are shared by the employees with respect to the practices, procedures and policies that guide their daily routines. On the other hand, organizational culture does refer to the shared orientations that glue the organization together based on beliefs, norms, values, and assumptions. They tend to shape the behaviour of the employees when they are working within their operations (p.381).

Secondly, organizational climate is centred on the micro image of the organization while organizational culture concerned with the macro vision of the organization. The macro aspect of culture is centred on the fact that the behaviour is ingrained in employees and is quite difficult to alter unlike organizational climate. Culture refers to the personality of the organization and does unite the members. The micro organizational aspect is centred on the way that the individuals within experience the culture of the organization and it does change quite frequently (Agafonovas & Alonderiene, 2013).

Thirdly, there are four types of organizational culture and climate. In organizational culture we have clan, market oriented, adhocracy and hierarchical culture while in the organizational climate, we have rule, goal, innovation, and people oriented. Fourthly, the management and external forces on the other hand the organizational culture is rarely altered can easily alter organizational climate and it is influenced by all the employees within the organization (Differencebetween.com, 2014).

Organizational culture is more static as it takes a longer time for it to be altered while organizational climate is dynamic and changes more rapidly. Lastly, organizational climate can easily be measured unlike the organization culture that is more based on peoples’ behaviour and perceptions making it difficult to quantify. Organizational culture has its roots in the fields of sociology and anthropology while organizational climate focuses on the psychology sector. On the culture perspective, it does focus on stories, rituals, and physical artefacts while climate focuses on the factors that influence behaviour (Differencebetween.com, 2014).

Discuss five climate factors that influence innovation.

The five climate factors that influence innovations are risk-taking, freedom and autonomy, ideal time and support, challenge and involvement and trust and openness. Risk taking refers to engaging in activities that have a lot of uncertainties with respect to the expected outcome. Innovation and risk are synonymous in the organizational climate. Organizations that are risk takers have a higher chance of investing in progressive unlike risk averse organizations. Risk averse climate often does stall innovation and turns organizations into followers of organizations that have adopted the climate of risk (Bolton, Mehran, & Shapiro, 2011, p.456).

Risk is influenced by a number of factors that are conscious, affective and subconscious. The conscious factors are based on manageability, proximity, severity of the impact to the organization and the society. On the other hand, subconscious factors are heuristics in nature and involve availability, representatives, lure of choice et cetera. Lastly, affective factors focus on the intelligence, fatalism and optimism bias (Crenshaw & Yoder-Wise, 2013, p. 26).

The second aspect is freedom and autonomy, which does focus on the creating a climate that gives the employees in the organization the independence to come up with innovations. The employees have the creative freedom to exploit the resources that are within the organization to come up with new driven products and services. In the spirit of freedom, the management often does create policies that make the innovative process flexible as long as it is in line with the goals and objectives of the organization (Acemoglu, Akcigit, & Celik, 2014).

The third factor focuses on ideal time and support from the organization. An innovative climate often does begin from top management where the employees are given full control of the resources that they need to come up with creative products and services. The organizational structure is often decentralized, hence creating a seamless flow of communication, policies and procedures (Acemoglu et al., 2014).

On the time perspective, most of the procedures are integrated to ensure that there is an easy coordination within the organization that is channelled to facilitate the research and development department. The support also does come from external partners like suppliers, investors, and higher institutions of learning among others. The entrance of partners does provide the organization with financial and academic knowledge that plays an integral role in shaping the innovations that will lead to the creation of new products and services (Zennouche, Zhang, & Wang, 2014).

The fourth factor focuses on challenge and involvement, innovation process does face a large number of hurdles that arise from both the internal and external climate. The internal challenges often deal with limited finances that often do incapacitate the progress of innovation. Innovative climate does require a continuous flow of innovation to ensure that the employees in an organization can formulate products and services.

The second challenge is constant failures in the innovative process that does demoralize the employees in the creation of innovative products and services. Another perspective is that the challenges that individuals face can easily create an innovative climate. Challenges trigger human beings to think analytically in ways they can resolve them resulting in the creation of creative and innovative products (Zennouche et al., 2014). The laptops for example were created to enable human beings to deal with the portability challenges posed by the computers.

On the other hand, the involvement factor does focus on the interpersonal exchange between the employees in the organization. The employees work together to foster an amicable and creative climate that does foster innovation. The employees are willing to share their knowledge and skills in different departments to foster the creation of innovative products that will enhance the competitive advantage of the organization (Axelsson & Sardari, 2011, p. 31).

A good example is the Apple Incorporation; the company has created a climate that enables the employees to willingly share their ideas, hence the increase in the number of innovative technological products coming from the organization.

The last aspect deals with trust and openness that refers to the environment where the employees know each other and have developed a deep relationship. A trust environment goes further to inspire the employees to willingly share their intellectual property with their fellow employees. Additionally, the environment enables the employees to formulate clear, distinctive strategies that are vital in chartering the innovative process (Henry, 2001, p. 35).

Moreover, it does enable the formulation of a common long-term goal that inspires the creation of innovative products and services within the organization. An open climate enables the members in the organization, especially top management to accept the failures that arise in the creation of innovative products and services. The acceptance encourages the employees to overcome their failures and create progressive products (Henry, 2001, p.35).

REFERENCE

Acemoglu, D., Akcigit, U. and Celik, M.A. (2014). Young, restles and creative: Openness to disruption and creative innovations (No. w19894). National Bureau of Economic Research

Agafonovas, A. and Alonderiene, R., 2013. Value creation in innovations crowdsourcing: example of creative agencies.

Axelsson, P., and Sardari, N. (2011). A framework to assess organizational creative climate. Division of management of organizational Renewal and entrepreneurship.

Ballard, J. A. 2015. Decoding the workplace: 50 keys to understanding people in organizations. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Bolton, P., Mehran, H., and Shapiro, J. 2011. Executive compensation and risk taking. FRB of New York Staff Report, (456).

Crenshaw, J. T., and Yoder-Wise, P.S. 2013. Creating an Environment for innovation: <i> The Risk- Taking Leadership Competency<i>. Nurse Leader, 11(1), pp. 24-27.

Differencebetween.com. (2014). Difference Between Organizational Culture and Climate/ Organizational Culture vs. Climate. [Online] Available at: http://www.differencebetween.com/differenc….between-organizational-culture-and-vs-climate/ [Accessed 11 August, 2017].

Henry, J., 2001. Creativity and perception in management. Sage.

Karakaya, E., Hidalago A. and Nuur, C., 2014. Diffusion of eco-innovations: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 33, pp. 392-399

Oldenburg, B., and Glanz, K. 2008. Diffusion of innovation. Health behaviour and health education, 4, pp. 313-333.

Robinson, L., (2009). Changeology. A summary of Diffusion of Innovations. Creative Commons Attrribution- Noncommercial. Australia.

Scheider, B., Erhart, M.G., and Macey, W. H. 2013. Organizational climate and culture. Annual review of psychology, 64, pp. 361-388.

Zennouche, M., Zhang, J., and Wang, B. (2014). Factors influencing innovation at individual, group and organisational levels: a content analysis. International Journal of Information System and Change Management, 7(1), pp.23-42.

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Leadership Approaches

Introduction

In this present era with various leadership approaches available, Leadership is an important individual trait that helps the people to become successful, personally and professionally. Development of the effective leadership abilities and skills assist the individuals in enhancing positive individual growth in the personal life as well as professional life. Effective adoption of justified and appropriate leadership style can build effective decision-making capabilities within an individual, which will help to become a successful leader shortly.

This is a vital fact to state that the consideration of the leadership capabilities can add effective value in the personal life of an individual. It will enhance an effective life experience, which can assist the particular individual to implement the experience and skills in near future in the decision making process. It is a process of development of successful and skilled leaders.

Most importantly, every individual needs to adopt adequate leadership skills to become successful in the professional career as adequate leadership approaches can help to get effective social recognition. Moreover, the implication of the appropriate leadership styles can also assist an individual to attract the followers within the society. This essay will provide an in-detailed discussion on how the course in leadership can add value to the life experience of the individuals as preparation for leadership.

Discussion

Leadership and ethics are directly related to each other. All the future professionals and present job seekers want to become a successful professional in the individual life. In this particular process, all the individuals need to adopt some particular leadership styles and approaches. It is acceptable that the adoption and application of the leadership approach always depend upon the behavioral traits and personality of the individuals.

It is true that the behavioral traits and personality of people used to differ from an individual to another individual (Long, 2016). However, the individuals can adopt different types of leadership styles, such as transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style, autocratic leadership style, laissez-faire leadership style, visionary leadership style, charismatic leadership style, democratic leadership style, etc.

This usually depends upon the personality traits of people. Every positive behavioral study indicates that the appropriate application of these leadership approaches actually can enhance positive organizational ethics and strong business ethics (Sekerka et al., 2014). Strong business ethics is important for the companies in this contemporary era to grow profitability and the leaders need to follow the ethical pathway to enhance sustainable career growth. Therefore, ethics is important for all the leaders and future job seekers.

Leadership Approaches: Case Study

The completion of course in leadership acts as a value added skill development process, which helps in the enhancement of adequate leadership approaches and outcome. An example of the leadership approach adopted by PepsiCo can be considered. The management of PepsiCo has adopted the transformational leadership approach in which the company management has maintained strong ethics across all the organizational departments (Ubah, 2016).

The coursework in leadership will help the future professionals to understand the value of the transformational leadership approach in maintaining ethics and will also help to become a successful professional. Overall, it is acceptable that the development of effective knowledge about leadership styles will assist in maintaining strong business and corporate ethics shortly.

Job Satisfaction and motivation of the employees also can be regarded as an important responsibility of the organizational leaders. A professional leadership course can assist the future professionals and job seekers to add value to the personal life experience. Hence, the development of knowledge regarding the characteristics and implications of the leadership approaches can assist the organizational management of the company to ensure positive sales growth of the organizations.

For example, the employees are the vital growth drivers of any company and the high-performance level of the employees helps the firms to improve the profitability and business growth. Therefore, the leaders of the organizational departments need to take care of the job satisfaction and motivation level, which will encourage the employees to do well within the organizational set-up.

Transformational leadership approach is an employee friendly approach, and the leaders of the contemporary era should try to implicate this particular leadership approach for the better workplace environment (Bayram & Dinc, 2015).

This transformational leadership style has a strong impact on the business growth and performance of a company. Hence, the professional course in the leadership management process can assist in the establishment of the effective knowledge level regarding leadership, which will help the individuals to become a successful leader (Oehlrich, 2016).

Knowledge management is also considered to be the vital element for the individuals to get success in the professional life. There are five important traits of an effective knowledge management process, such as seniority, enthusiasm, understanding, expertise, and approachability. These five important traits of the knowledge management process need to be developed by the individuals in this present era to become a successful professional. On the other hand, strategic leadership and knowledge management processes are strongly related to each other.

The effective leadership style application process can enhance the adequate knowledge management process (Snell, 2010). Value and respect for seniority helps in the development of the strong knowledge level. On the other hand, the level of understanding always enhances adequate knowledge management process. Moreover, the consideration of the enthusiasm regarding learning and development process enhances the knowledge management process.

The leaders in this contemporary era should also go for the approachability trait to present some strategies and ideas to important stakeholders of a company. This particular approach is also regarded as an essential part of the knowledge management approaches (Beaumont, 2010). Lastly, development of expertise and competency always assist an individual in enhancing the strong knowledge level.

Overall, the above mentioned five traits can be acquired by a future professional through the application of the appropriate leadership style. Also, this is also important to accept that the professional course in the leadership management activities will always help an individual to become a professional and successful leader shortly (Lussier, 2014).

It is also important to accept that leadership is an evolutionary approach. It has been identified since the old ages that the consideration of the different leadership approaches assists the individuals to deal with the challenges basis on the demand of the situations. This is an important aspect to state that the organizational leader in this contemporary era focuses on the application of the structural leadership approaches or the situational leadership approaches (Ardichvii & Yoon, 2014).

The consideration of the structural leadership approach is a traditional leadership approach, which helps the bureaucratic organizations to adopt the classical approach to follow a particular developed system. On the other hand, some of the companies in this contemporary era are also focused on the implementation of the situational leadership approaches. This situational leadership approach application process depends upon the demand of the specific situations.

Moreover, the organizational management used to adopt this leadership style in the crisis to overcome some particular challenges faced by the companies (Beugelsdijk, 2010). However, the application of all of these leadership styles, such as structural leadership and situational leadership approaches require practical knowledge and skills. Therefore, the future professionals need to go through the professional leadership course works to strengthen the value-added leadership skills and capabilities (Vugt et al., 2008).

However, the environmental factors are constantly changing for the leaders throughout the historical ages. In this contemporary era, the definition, characteristics, and traits of the leadership approaches have evolved significantly. This is an important aspect to state that the contemporary leaders are facing different types of the changes in the development process.

The current professionals are finding it highly difficult to develop the appropriate description, definition and theoretical approaches in the establishment of the leader development theory (O’Connell, 2014). Practicing and learning of the leadership approaches in this modern era should focus on the integration of increasing capacity for the behavioral and cognitive approaches.

This specific aspect needs to be learned and practiced by the contemporary and future professionals. Hence, the professional leadership course works can assist the future professionals to identify and overcome the dilemmas in the leader development theory (Rowley, 2010).

The application of the management and organizational theory can be considered here. According to the theoretical aspects of the management theory, the contemporary organizations are responsible for the maintenance of the effective workplace environment. Besides, the organizational leaders are also responsible for the meeting or achievement of the management objectives, which can enhance strong business ethics and sustainability (Keely, 2011).

Also, the contemporary leaders are also responsible for the implication of the organizational theory as it helps the organizational leaders to identify and assess the organizational culture as well as structure. The organizational leaders assess these aspects for a better implication of the strategies shortly.

It is acceptable that the contemporary job seekers should join the professional leadership management course to acquire the knowledge regarding the management and organizational theory, which will assist in the development of the high quality and conflict free workplace environment. Also, this is also essential for the modern day teachers to develop effective leadership approaches in the education service providing approaches (Morton, 2012).

It is acceptable that the modern day teachers need to adopt some important styles of leadership approaches, which will be different from each other concerning nature and characteristics. The educators need to adopt four important types of leadership styles, such as delegating, selling, telling and participating (Oyetunji, 2011).

The implication of these specific leadership styles will significantly depend upon the demand of the situation and behavioral as well as personality traits of the individuals. Overall, it is acceptable that the future professionals within the education industry need to adopt these types of leadership capabilities to become a successful professional.

Also, effective training and knowledge acquirement process regarding these leadership approaches is also important for the future professionals (Harzing, 2014). It is important to acknowledge that the motivational traits are changing within the society from a particular generation to another generation (Chen & Huang, 2011). Most importantly, the employees of professionals of the younger generation can believe in some specific traits.

On the other hand, the people of the elder generations within a particular society or an organizational institution used to believe in some other motivational traits. These traits can be different, and orientation of gender can be the major reason behind the differentiation (Harris, 2010).

Overall, this will be important to accept that the organizational leaders in this contemporary era should understand the gender gap and possible implemented traits to overcome the workplace conflicts to maintain a strong collaboration between the employees of different age group. Hence, the leaders need to go through professional leadership courses for the better value addition to personal experience to become a successful leader shortly (Murray, 2011).

Conclusion

It is identified from the discussion that the future professionals and the job seekers in this contemporary era needs to develop strong competency and knowledge level regarding the application of different types of leadership styles. There are different types of leadership styles, which can be applied by the leaders based on the demand of the situation and personality traits of leaders.

Overall, this is acceptable that the application of the justified leadership approaches can help a leader to strengthen organization ethics, improve workplace performance, ensure good knowledge management and enhance profitability. The professionals need to understand the value of the leadership, as leadership is responsible for the mentioned organizational benefits.

References

Ardichvii, A., & Yoon, W. S. (2014). “Designing Integrative Knowledge Management Systems: Theoretical Considerations and Practical Applications.” Advances in Developing Human Resources, 11(3), 307-320.

Bayram, H., & Dinc, S. (2015). Role of Transformational Leadership on Employee’s Job Satisfaction: the Case of Private Universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. European Researchers, 93(4), 270-281.

Beaumont, J. (2010). Knowledge management in a regional law firm: A worthwhile investment or time wasted? Business Information Review, 27(4), 227-232.

Beugelsdijk, S. (2010). “Strategic Human Resource Practices and Product Innovation.” Organization Studies, 29(8), 820-847.

Chen, C., & Huang, J. (2011). “Strategic human resource practices and innovation performance-The mediating role of knowledge management capacity.” 62(1), 104-114.

Harris, H. (2010). International HRM: Contemporary Issues. Stamford: Cengage Learning.

Harzing, A. Q. (2014). International HRM. London: Cambridge University Press.

Keely, T. (2011). HRM Practices. London: Kogan Page.

Long, J. (2016). Process Modelling Style. New York: Springer.

Lussier, N. R. (2014). Management Fundamentals. New York: Springer.

Morton, B. (2012). The Global HR Manager. London: Routledge.

Murray, A. (2011). Mind the gap: technology, millennial leadership, and the cross-generational workforce. The Australian Library Journal, 60(1), 54-64.

O’Connell, K. P. (2013). A simplified framework for 21st-century leader development. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 183-203.

Oehlrich, M. (2016). Organisation and Restructuring. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Oyetunji, O. C. (2011). Reorienting leadership styles for sustainable education. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 13(2), 59-69.

Rowley, C. (2010). Human Resource and Operation Management. New York: Springer.

Sekerka, E. L., Comer, R. D., and Godwin, N. L. (2014). Positive Organizational Ethics: Cultivating and Sustaining Moral Performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(1), 435-444.

Snell, S. (2010). Managing Human Resources. New Jersey: Pearson.

Ubah, M. (2016). The Alphabet of Leadership. New Jersey: Pearson.

Vugt, V. M., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, B. R. (2008). Leadership, Followership, and Evolution: Some Lessons from the Past. American Psychologist, 63(3), 182-196.

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Organizations and Management in the 21st Century

To what extent is our understanding of organizations and management over the last 100 years applicable to the 21^st century?

The understanding of organizations and management over the last 100 years applies to the 21^st Century. The organization is a group of people who have a structured management system that directs them to pursue a common objective (Scott, and Davis, 2015, p. 45).

Notably, within that period of 100 years, many people attempted to provide relevant knowledge that could improve efficiency in organizations and management process.

In conclusion, the knowledge acquired concerning organizations and management over the last 100 years has a great impact on the 21^st century. In the past, the team was not complex like today where the firm has many department and activities.

Organizations and management Case Anlysis

The management adapted new methods to comply with new changes in a firm. Therefore, that understanding of organizations and management has helped the teams in the current century (Bohari, Hin, and Fuad, 2017, p. 56). Managers to allocate enough resources depending on the nature of goals set. Also, the use of new technological methods can help the firm to perform and compete effectively in the market.

Total Quality management is a plan that makes the management to be focused on customers and improvement of processes. SWOT analysis should be completed to provide enough knowledge concerning internal and external factors of a firm. The understanding of organizations and management should be the base of bringing change in the firm. Management needs such understanding to develop effective strategies that may improve the performance of a team.

References

Bohari, A.M., Hin, C.W. and Fuad, N., 2017. The competitiveness of halal food industry in Malaysia: A SWOT-ICT analysis. Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 9(1).

Ozguner, Z. and Ozguner, M., 2014. A managerial point of view on the relationship between of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg’s dual factor theory. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(7).

Sallis, E., 2014. Total quality management in education. Routledge.

Sargeant, A. and Jay, E., 2014. Fundraising management: analysis, planning and practice. Routledge.

Scott, W.R. and Davis, G.F., 2015. Organizations and organizing: Rational, natural and open systems perspectives. Routledge.

Waring, S.P., 2016. Taylorism transformed: Scientific management theory since 1945. UNC Press Books.

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Management of the Media and Creative Industries

In the current century, the industries of media and creative industries have experienced a threat to their capitalism whereby they have responded by ensuring expansion making the management of the media and creative industries a task. The expansion is normally achieved through the invention of new inventory according to the potential needs of customers resulting in the expansion of their market. The growth in technology has been the main contributor of the innovations happening in the industries, for example, the introduction of electricity in the early twenty centuries (Huws 2014).

The industry, however, pays attention to ensuring there is no market saturation, which in turn reduces profitability . The management of the media and creative industries is crucial in it’s success. They achieve this by researching on the new life orientations where new goods and services demand is portrayed and take the advantage by offering the brand new services and goods. In the sector of labor, the invention of domestic labor machines such as refrigerators, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners seemed to ease the laborers work duties but on the contrary, brought along some inconveniences (Staiger 1979).

The main consequence was low wages to the laborers. The low wage workers and interns represent the greatest percentage in the workforce whereby the licensed and trained workers are very few and are designated to small tasks around the premises (Chan, Pun, and Selden 2015).

The deployment is done in line with the kind of paid work they are designated to. The workers sell their labor, which is paid depending on the time spent during work and the performance. However, the payment is usually unfairly small due to the expenses incurred by the industries for the maintenance of the labor machines being used. In the sector of entertainment, the low wage workers are the ones in charge of filming, photographing, radio management and doing the recording (Geraldine 2016).

Their work is normally diverted to the capitalists responsible, and hence they become subject to whatever decision made concerning their duties and how they should be paid. This is made worse especially by the expanding market in response to the invention of new commodities, which commercializes the new ways of life. The interns are considered as the major labor providers after undergoing thorough inductions into the industrial activities, and their job is normally defined by their areas of interest with the promise of being employed if their internship period performance is remarkable (Dan and ShinJoung 2016).

Management of the Media and Creative Industries: Labor compensation

Their wages are usually lower than all other workers, but in contrary, they are usually the most productive regarding service delivery. The low wage laborers are normally recruited by merit after a short probation to test their abilities. Despite their hard work, they end up being the second lowly paid employees after the interns with their job descriptions almost similar to that of the interns. There are normally two kinds of capitalism, which are physical capitalism, and capitalism by the purchase of labor.

The physical capitalist has been practiced since the ancient centuries and was based mainly maximizing the use of labor depending on its availability in line with the potential production of goods and services (Nathan 2003). However, this kind of capitalism brought about massive loses because the produced good quality was difficult to predict, there was no uniformity in production services, the manufacturing process being delayed and loss of materials.

The industry is able to maintain consistency in business growth through capitalism of purchasing labor under the rates of time. This is because the workers and interns’ work faster within the restricted timing so as to avoid penalties due to delayed duties. Moreover, the restriction gives them an opportunity to have extra duties assigned to them for additional payments.

This is to ensure that there are order and accountability. Other extra duties are normally attached to ensure maximum utilization of the labor and payment is normally done according to the duration of work and performance. It is therefore ironic that these workers still experience injustice concerning the low wage acquisition. This is because the management always looks for small opportunities of making malicious profits not minding on the burden enforced on their employees.

The employment is normally centralized with different workers being directed to specific managers for reporting. Centralization enhances strictness in case of any failure of work or irregularities from the workers. In some media and creative arts, interns are not entitled to any payment until the end of the probation period. This is considered as training season, which is also mandatory (Vicki and Jocelyn 2015).

The development of technology in the media and creative industry has become poverty in disguise whereby the main people affected are the interns and low-wage workers. Technology has triggered invention of new ways of producing commodities resolution to the creation of new markets. This has resulted in the laborers shifting their duties from internal to external whereby they deal directly with the market to ensure profitability.

Their sources of income are determined by the market and increase with the increase in market and also decrease with the decrease in the market. The market expansion has been beneficial to the capitalist who tends to make a good profit out of the sales but has become a nightmare to the low wage laborers whose fate is subject to the market fluctuation (Vicki and Jocelyn 2015).

The new market has resulted in the incorporation of the consideration of other aspects of life into the media and creative industry. This is because the rate of commodity production has reached maturity and some of the aspects of life, which were initially not considered as economic, can now be commercialized. Examples of these aspects include sociality, public services, art and culture, and biology.

The capitalist has enacted more regulations concerning the fulfillment of the markets need. The lives of the customers including health and body genetic composition are also held with significance. Whereby new drugs are produced for different health management purposes and also the food sector is upgraded by the application of gene modification technology. This, therefore, demands more domestic laborers to be in charge of handling the machines under the supervision of a few highly paid employees.

The capitalists have however increased the scales along with the art and cultural labor, as well as the commodities, has been incorporated into the production relations. This has, in turn; increase the profit acquired in that field increasing the rates of the wages for the interns and low wage workers. The income for the workers in charge of filming, writing, and music composition are directly dependent on the profits made in the market on the sales made on Compact Discs, films, magazines, books, and records. The amount of profit is, in turn, dependent on the size of distribution made and this requires them to link with general distributors such as Amazon Kindle (Vicki and Jocelyn 2015).

References

Amodio LF. Informing and engaging citizens on climate change issues. Paper presented at 6th World Science Centre Congress, Cape Town, South Africa, 7–9 September 2011.

Banet-Weiser, Sarah. “What’s your flava.” Interrogating postfeminism: Gender and the politics of popular culture (2007): 201-226

Blee, K.M., 2016. Manufacturing Fear: Muslim Americans and the Politics of Terrorism.

Bobo, L. (2001). Racial attitudes and relations at the close of the twentieth century. In N. J. Smelser, W. J. Wilson, & F. Mitchell, Racial Trends and Their Consequences.Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Brooks, D., & Hebert, L. P. (2006). Gender, Race and Media Representation. In B. J. Dow, & J. T. Wood, The Sage Handbook of Gender and Communication.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Carragee, K. M., & Roefs, W. (2004). The Neglect of Power in Recent Framing Research. Journal of Communication, 54(2), 214-233.

Chan, J., Pun, N. and Selden, M., 2015. Interns or workers? China’s student labor regime. Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan focus.

Dan Schiller & ShinJoung Yeo (2016), “Low-Wage Workers & the Internet Industry,” Information Observatory http://informationobservatory.info/2016/01/04/low-wageworkers-the-internet-industry/

Dines, G. (2003). King Kong and the white woman: Hustler magazine and the demonization of masculinity. In G. Dines & J. M. Humez (Eds.), Gender, race, and class in media: A text-reader

Dines, G., & Humez, J. M. (2003). Gender, race, and class in media: A text-reader (2nded.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Ferguson, Robert (1998) Representing Race: Ideology, Identity, and the Media. Oxford: Oxford University Press

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Management Individual Reflection

Management Individual Reflection

Introduction

Throughout this module, I have been able to experience learning in different dimensions and acquired new knowledge on research writing, management, and academic analysis. Reflection helps in the development of structured thoughts, which are essential in facilitating developments in studies and one’s profession in the future. The experiences have taught me the importance of setting objectives and ensuring that they are constantly reviewed to ensure no loss of focus.

Furthermore, I have realized that learning is achieved best through experience. The Management Individual Reflection project done in this module enabled me to learn more skills in project management in media and communication system. The project enabled me to discover my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for future development that surfaced and threats (Husebø, Regan and Nestel 2015).

My self-awareness was significantly developed. I was able to understand my core values, desires, beliefs, unique talents, emotions, and attitudes. The success of my project in this module started from my personal growth (Duval, Silvia and Lalwani 2012). The transformation of my perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes enabled me to work on the work more objectively.

My cognitive- behavioral processes such as self-regulation, self-esteem, self-evaluation, emotions, sense of agency and the theory of mind helped me to analyse of my observation findings. The experience was accompanied by frustrations from which some were totally unpredictable (Demetriou and Kazi 2013). However, my emotional intelligence helps me stay motivated and remain persistent so that the distress would not distract me from thinking.

The mentality assisted me in holding up the zeal to keep on learning and grasping new ideas. Through the application of all these skills, my expectation in achieving the objectives was met (Voss, Holzmann, Hobson, Paulus, Gossel, Klimke and Nitsche 2014).

Management Individual Reflection Experiential Learning Theory

There are different theories, which helped me to analyze my project experience and to carry out a comprehensive reflection of the same. The Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory consists of a cycle of four consecutive phases, which are associated with comprehensive reflection. These include concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. The experience acquired immediately acts as the basis on which observations can be made. After the observations are recorded the student will then need to reflect on them.

Assimilating the reflections and ensuring that proper clarifications are done to come up with the proper actions, which are in line with the objectives and set goals of the project, achieve the abstract conceptualization. This theory also indicates that learning is a continuous process. That once the learner reaches the active experimental phase, another topic of study within the same orientation emerges (Kolb and Kolb 2012)

The theory applied to my project such that, the experiences gained during the process of deciding on my objectives, collecting data and analyzing was used in my reflection. On reflecting on the information, I was able to conceptualize it into the suitable areas of research. For example, the research of how museums were used as sites for activism promotion, I was able to search for all museums in the UK then narrowed down to those created for specific purposes and finally those used for activism.

This way I was able to retain the concept without losing focus. Finally, on active experimentation, I included the activities that happen on the ground by the activists to ensure that their goals are achieved (Timmins and Neill 2013).

Gibb’s Reflective Cycle

The other model of reflection used is Gibb’s Reflective Cycle, which consists of 6 stages. These stages include; description, feelings, evaluation, conclusion and action plan. Description involves precise explanation on the topic of the project and ensuring that the main point is not lost between many words. Here the background information on the issue, which the student is to reflect on, is needed to get the scope.

The information should remain relevant. Feelings are essential because they are used to bring out the expression of how the experience was like. The writer needs to discuss their emotions honestly but stick to academic writing and avoid informality. During the evaluation, the writer needs to discuss how things happened and what reactions were expressed in response to the specific incidences.

This should include both positive and negative incidences, and in case any of them were resolved in the future. The conclusion includes a review of the mistakes done and what would have been done instead. Also, the writer should consider some different ways of responding to a situation better than they have done in the current project. They should also identify the positive responses, which they should consider being repeated in the future.

The action plan includes the knowledge acquired out of the whole experience and how to improve on it in the future. The specific actions needed to achieve the improvement should be considered such as attending training or reading widely on a topic (Husebø, Regan and Nestel 2015).

Reflection of Positive Experiences

During my research, I was able to encounter several positive experiences. On researching about the low-wage workers and intern deployment, I found out that the two categories of workers comprise of the main workforce in the media and creative industry. This helped me therefore to read more about the specific duties entitled to them. I was able two also learn more about the two types of capitalism. Initially, when I chose the topic, I did not know which databases to use and went blank for a few hours before starting the project.

Another positive experience was that I was able to understand how to analyze a piece of media by separately identifying the representation used to pass information to the audience (Csikszentmihalyi 2014). This was so exciting because on studying the pieces of media, I found out that a lot could be traced out such as the culture of the people, their race, language, and age.

Additionally, I had initially assumed that museums are only meant for recreational activities. This project enabled me to discover that most of the currently constructed museums have themes defining their purposes. In fact, most of them speak a lot on behalf of organizations and activists. Furthermore, many of them are not eco-friendly (Paterson and Chapman 2013).

This knowledge enabled me to learn on areas of study with more emphasis on the activists’ actions concerning the pollution of the environment. My receiver objectives outweighed those that were not achieved, and this gave me a feeling of satisfaction. 97% of the total objectives were achieved whereby only 3% were not and which were marked for future improvement (Wald, Borkan, Taylor, Anthony and Reis 2012).

Reflection on Negative Experiences

The experiences I encountered on this module were not all smooth because I also had to face some frustrations. The study was fascinating but I felt it would be more inductive of I got to visit the studied sites personally for visual learning. This was not possible because of the tight program and inadequate funds (Bourke 2014). The budget of this project was quite expensive hence this could not be achieved.

Nevertheless, some of the academic sources available in the library were so outdated and not resent version could be found. This caused my project partially not to match with the current situations in the world (Cowan 2014). I felt disappointed and incompetent because I had not met the objective of using all the relevant sources. The time frame for the project was short, and I felt that much would have been researched on if the period had extended. In fact, the rest of the work done during the last days was not done with much keenness because I was working against time, which seemed to move so fast (Hartley 2012).

Conclusion

The application of reflection was essential because by marking all the incidences in my experience, I was able to find out what I need to involve for my projects to be successful. I understood that my motivation contributes a significant portion towards my competence. On identifying the positive outcomes, I was enabled to emphasize on them in my future projects.

The negative outcomes were discouraging, but I chose not to be discouraged but to remain focused and find a way of avoiding any activities resulting in similar outcomes in the future. Moreover, reflection helped me to retrospectively think out on how things would have been better if some activities were done differently. This also served as a good lesson for my future improvement.

References

Bourke, B., 2014. Positionality: Reflecting on the research process. The Qualitative Report, 19(33), pp.1-9.

Cowan, J., 2014. Noteworthy matters for attention in reflective journal writing. Active Learning in Higher Education, 15(1), pp.53-64.

Csikszentmihalyi, M., 2014. Toward a psychology of optimal experience. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 209-226). Springer Netherlands.

Demetriou, A. and Kazi, S., 2013. Unity and modularity in the mind and self: Studies on the relationships between self-awareness, personality, and intellectual development from childhood to adolescence. Routledge.

Duval, T.S., Silvia, P.J. and Lalwani, N., 2012. Self-awareness & causal attribution: A dual systems theory. Springer Science & Business Media.

Hartley, J., 2012. Communication, cultural and media studies: The key concepts. Routledge.

Husebø, S.E., O’Regan, S. and Nestel, D., 2015. Reflective practice and its role in simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(8), pp.368-375.

Kolb, A.Y. and Kolb, D.A., 2012. Experiential learning theory. In Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning (pp. 1215-1219). Springer US.

Paterson, C. and Chapman, J., 2013. Enhancing skills of critical reflection to evidence learning in professional practice. Physical Therapy in Sport, 14(3), pp.133-138.

Timmins, F. and Neill, M.F., 2013. Reflections on Reflection: An Audit of Students’ use of Structured Models within Specific Assessments. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 93, pp.1368-1370.

Voss, U., Holzmann, R., Hobson, A., Paulus, W., Koppehele-Gossel, J., Klimke, A. and Nitsche, M.A., 2014. Induction of self awareness in dreams through frontal low current stimulation of gamma activity. Nature neuroscience, 17(6), pp.810-812.

Wald, H.S., Borkan, J.M., Taylor, J.S., Anthony, D. and Reis, S.P., 2012. Fostering and evaluating reflective capacity in medical education: developing the REFLECT rubric for assessing reflective writing. Academic Medicine, 87(1), pp.41-50.

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Project Manager Roles in an Organization

What is a “single-line-of-command” organization? Why would employees used to such an organizational structure find it difficult to work with more than one boss at a time, as they would if they were reporting to both a project manager and a line manager at the same time?

Jim is a project manager for a project that requires twelve months to be completed. During the 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th months, he needs two team members with special qualifications. The functional manager associated with these team members has promised that these people will be available two months before they are needed on the project. If Jim doesn’t assign them to his project at that time, they will be assigned elsewhere and Jim will have to make do with whoever is available later on. What should Jim do? Make any assumptions necessary to support your answer.

Imagine that you are a project engineer on a high-technology project. As your project begins to wind down, the project manager asks you to write a paper about the project so he can present it at a technical meeting. His name goes first on the paper credits. Should this be a part of your job? How do you feel about this situation?

As a project nears completion, the project manager may find that the functional people on the project are more interested in finding a new role for themselves than in giving their best effort to the current task. How does this relate to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and what should the project manager do?

Your company just hired a senior manager with two masters degrees in engineering. This engineer is quite competent, and has worked well as a loner for the past twenty years. He has just been assigned to the Research and Development phase of your project. You, as project manager, must insure that he works well as a team member with other functional employees, and not as a loner. How will you accomplish this? If this engineer persists in wanting to be a loner, should you fire him?

Last month, Alice completed an assignment as chief project engineer on Project X. It was a great assignment; Alice and all other project personnel were kept fully informed by the project manager about all project activities. Alice is now working for a new project manager who tells his staff only what they have to know in order to get their job done. What can Alice do about this situation? Can this be a good situation? Why or why not? Which management style would you prefer?

Is it possible for a project manager to improve his time management skills by understanding what motivates his team? Why or why not?

Project Manager Roles in an Organization Sample Answer

Question one

A single-line-of-command organization is whereby individual report addresses their concerns by addressing them to a senior manager of a particular section or department. The manager in such organization does as directed by the supervisor. Employees used to such structures find it difficult to work with more bosses at a time because; decisions are delayed, as it requires more time and negotiations.

Question two

In this situation, Jim should negotiate with the functional team manager to make the two-team members available at the right time and if the negotiation fails, then he will have to work with the available members later. This is because, hurrying the project to solicit the service of the team members will be a risk to the project as it may not be handled well. Therefore, I would rather he use other members who will also be having skills in the areas to handle the tasks in the 7^th or 8^th or 9^th month.

Question three

I do believe that the name of the project manager should not be the first on the paper credit and as well; the project engineer should not be the one to write the paper but rather should help him with a draft. It is the responsibility of the project manager to write a final paper that should be presented to the technical committee.

Question four

This relates to Maslow’s hierarchy of need because, they are worried about their physiological needs such as food and clothing. They must therefore look for another alternative that will enable them achieve this. They are also insecure as the job is ending. The project manager should therefore, assures them that they are secure and that there will be another project to do. They should also be well paid o be able to cater for their needs even if they are not going to have another immediate project.

Question five

To ensure that the engineer works well with other members, as a project manager, I will make him through negotiation to understand the policy of an organization at his time of employment. He will also be told the importance of working as teamwork. In case the engineer persists in working as a loner, I will not fire him immediately but will try to talk to him and as well assess his performance. If he performs well without affecting the functions and operations of the team and the organization, he will not be fired, but given more time to learn to work with others.

Question six

In this situation, Alice should just comply with this situation. To me, it is not a bad situation because, the most important thing is to handle the project and finish it as required. Other things concerning the project do not hold water. I would therefore, prefer this style of management because, it is straight to the point and will ensure that projects are finished in the right time.

Question seven

It is possible for a project manager to improve his time management skills. Time is a valuable resources and it requires proper planning. A good manager must have these skills to be able to handle his or her responsibilities well (Pothukuchi, 2008). A project manager that has time management skills will have time for his employees or team members and this will allow him o understand their needs and therefore be in a position to devise various strategies to motivate them. Therefore, it is good skill and managers ought to have it.

Reference

Pothukuchi, B. (2008). Personality-Time Management Skills Relationship. ICFAI Journal of Organizational Behavior, 7(1): 57-61.

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Operation Anaconda Command Structure

Thesis: In the eyes of the public Operation Anaconda was a success but some challenges in the aspects of joint command structure, the unity of command, and joint operations.

Supporting Topic 1: Joint Command Structure on Operation Anaconda

Supporting Idea 1: The command structure is made up of a team which execute orders based on the instruction from the authority. The forward support structure in the Anaconda operation was essential to ensure proper allocation of the resources and the tactical conductivity of the process. Being a military operation, it comprises of several troops which create multiple levels of complexity. Interactions between the troops are highly complicated creating a challenge in the organization flow of information.

Supporting Idea 2: The need for forwarding command structure is essential especially when the scope of the operation is expanding. However, the command structure experienced some communication breakdown between commanders and the component units. Thus, conflicting the proper integration of upholding the directives according to the plan. In a join operation, all the commandants must coordinate closely in a joint decision-making process. The operation provided an opportunity to eliminate the enemy in a large group. However, in an operation point of view, the command structure on the ground squared the activity, and hence the operation was never executed according to the plan.

Supporting Idea 3: Having overthrown the Taliban government, the command structure felt that it had achieved success. As a consequence, they felt no need to focus on the operation as much of their emphasis was on the Iraq operation. On that account, there was an inadequate allocation of the resources to the operation. The commanding generals assumed a minimal number of the enemies existed. However, that was an assumption as there were many Al-Qaeda fighters in the valley. The assumption led to an inadequate allocation of troops for the operation contrary to what the commandants on the ground required.

Supporting Topic 2: Unity of Command in Operation Anaconda

Supporting Idea 1: A distinguished Unity of command requires placing of all the troops in a unique theatre to achieve the objective under one brain. Unity of command was essential in the success of the Anaconda Operation. It required unification of the local forces, the Special Forces and the airpower. Unity of command facilitated communication between the ground commanders and the Central command unit. The hierarchy facilitates efficient allocation of resources and mobilization of troops to the operation.

Supporting Idea 2: Conflict of unity of command was also evident from the operation. For example, as the troops carried on with the operation, a contingent of navy seals was brought into the process. The decision was in contrast to what the Army special operators thought. They did not understand the basics of inclusion of the Navy seals by the Central Command unit. The scenario depicts a breakdown in the structure of unity of command which requires the involvement of critical parties in a decision-making process. The structure of unity of authority requires that before an issue gets to the top executives, it should follow all the steps depicted by the structure.

Supporting Idea 3: Failure to adhere to the operational protocol lead to a series of mistakes by the team. The theory is enhanced by the fact that the fighting theatres came from different troops which had a separate command structure. During the early phases of the operation, instruction protocols were clear as per the plan. However, as the operation proceeded, different communication issues erupted. For instance, the splitting of the air support theatre led to confusions in the action as there were different requests from the controllers.

Supporting Topic 3: Joint Operations

Supporting Idea 1: Joint operations brings together wars troops to a broader national scale in which forces from the Army, Navy and Air are brought together in a joint operation. Operation Anaconda included the Navy, Air force and the military working together. The operation was different as it did not conform to the information battles. At the time of its occurrence, the joint military presence was not mature for the service. It also coupled up with the harsh terrain of the valley which contributed to lapse of operation at the initial stages. Coordinating the logistics in a large force increases the chances of friction within the operation.

Supporting Idea 2: Communication barrier was another challenge experienced during the Operation Anaconda. The troops were inclusive of local soldiers who were not very conversant with the communication language of the United States troops. Therefore, it was challenging for the army commanders to give instructions during the course. More importantly, the lack of similar political culture between the U.S and the Afghanistan soldiers manifested itself as a practical barrier which hindered operational efficiency.

The critical lesson from the joint operation includes regular pieces of training at the lower levels. It will enhance the level of corporation as well as the adhesiveness of the troops. Having a joint operation was beneficial to the procedure as it brought together different knowledge and experience required to fight a common enemy.

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Haier Management Control on a Tactical Level

Haier Management: Lower prices. Haier should improve on expanding its market share in the industry of home appliances in the US. To achieve this, Haier should reduce the prices of its products.

Areas to improve in Haier management system, how it can be done and its benefit to the organization.

Haier Management: Lower prices

Haier management should improve on expanding its market share in the industry of home appliances in the US. To achieve this, Haier should reduce the prices of its products. Though most US customers expect products from China to be cheaper, Haier maintains its US price level as it has done in China. Haier maintained its price level in the US because it was riding on the notion of high-quality products. Nevertheless, Haier’s ambiguity of its pricing and quality was a problem (Lau & Han, 2012).

Haier can reduce its prices by mitigating its costs by focusing only on profitable products and trim down redundant niche product lines. The company diversification has led to the high cost, and focusing on manufacturing one product line can lower manufacturing costs. The organization can benefit from this move by attracting sophisticated customers who will boost the company’s revenue.

Haeir Management: Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) of renowned brands

Since Haier is stuck in the middle, it can redeem itself through M&A of renowned brands. Currently, Haier has failed in its acquisition initiatives. For instance, Haier withdrew from its acquisition of Maytag, which Whirpool acquired to become one of the renowned appliances makers. Haier also tried to acquire General Electric (GE) but failed (Lau & Han, 2012). General Electric is currently a very successful company and is among the top 20 most profitable US companies. If Haier succeeds in acquiring GE, Haier will save effort and time in increasing its market share in the US and reduce its operation process. M&A will have various benefits to Haier.

For instance, Haier will take over an existing customer base and income cash flow. It will be possible to make sales projections with the already available sales records. Haier will acquire knowledgeable and skillful managers, brand image, and operational know-how. Haier will also offset the massive brand images associated with Chinese firms in the US market. In general, Haier will have increased profits due to the expanded market share.

Shifting from CSR to CSV

Companies have increasingly focused on producing green products due to the elevated issue of global warming and climate change. Green products refer to energy-efficient production and eco-friendly materials that do not have pollutant elements. Haier focuses on public charities in its CSR as is the mission of the Haeir management and undertakes Green Sail, sports, and education (Lau & Han, 2012). However, Haier management should be involved in protecting and sustaining the Earth in what is referred to as creating shared value (CSV) through eco-innovation.

The firm should concentrate on sustainable environmental products and investing in research and development to develop more eco-friendly technologies. The technology will save energy and differentiate products to suit local consumers. Hence, Haier will attract sophisticated consumers in the US and form a global eco-friendly brand image. In the Haier management system, if you want to build confidence in others, you yourself must be confident. Why did I have faith that the factory would prosper? The straightforward answer is that I knew it was just about to install a new production line that would improve quality and efficiency.

Differentiation to consider price-sensitive customers

Haier should introduce a new product in the US market with distinct features to a wide range of consumers sensitive to prices (Lau & Han, 2012). These products will match well with Middle-aged consumers. The company should also consider the old customers who prefer well-known brands and care about the services and warrants of the company’s products but are also price-sensitive, and hence they may try new products. This strategy will be beneficial to Haier because it will increase its brand loyalty.

References

Lau, A., & Han, J. (2012). Haier: Management Control on a Tactical LeveL. Asia Case Research Centre

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