Introducation to organisation and management Assignment

Introducation to organisation and management - Assignment Example The two firms that are the subject of these case studies are really night and day as far as culture and leadership goes. The first case study is Watson’s. Watson’s has a hierarchy that is authoritative, which means that employees have little input in decision-making and are really not respected. Management and unions have a toxic history due to a lack of trust. The managing director, Gordon Watson, is man who is stuck, in that he is not proactive, but prefers to keep things the status quo. He is also older and ready to retire, and does not interact with the workers. His underling, Ahmed Khan, however, does seem to have more vision, and he has excellent ideas that would be very beneficial to the company’s productivity. However, he is not being heard by the people higher up in the hierarchy. The same situation is present with the staff, in that they, too, have good ideas, but these ideas are not heard of given respect. The people in the organization do not have flu idity, in that they do not move between different positions, therefore there is little flexibility in fulfilling orders, so part of the staff is overburdened, while others are underburdened. The different departments do not communicate with one another. The staff is having high absenteeism, and there is also high turnover. The Human Resource Manager, instead of trying to find solutions to the high absenteeism and retention, makes excuses and does not take sexual harassment seriously. Consequently, the firm appears to be falling apart. On the other hand, H&M Consulting seems to have it together. Where Watson’s is a dinosaur, in that it refuses to go forward with new technology and ideas, H& M is the opposite, as they use new technology and ideas as their focus. H&M is not hierarchical, and centralized leadership is not strong, as it is composed of groups that have team leaders, and uses technology to coordinate what the different teams are doing. The teams are constantly chang ing, and constantly going to different projects. All this is not to say that there is not leadership, because there is. Theo Wolf, who is the CEO, is a visionary, his staff respects him, and has been called inspirational. He is communicative with his staff, and is very motivational. He encourages his staff to try new approaches and be proactive with company issues. Its staff is valuable, and learning and development are encouraged. The employees are given autonomy, so that they are responsible for their own development. In short, this organization values their employees, has trusted leadership who creates a shared vision, encourages its employees to be proactive with solutions, and does not have tyrannical leadership. Discussion Examining these two different companies is a study of a difference in organizational culture. The culture is â€Å"the coding of values and deeply-held beliefs that mold an organization's decision patterns, guide its actions, and drive individual behaviorâ €  (Dauphinais & Price, 1998, p. 190). Culture is also belief patterns that come from group norms, informal activities and values (Ivancevich et al., 2008, p. 503). The culture of an organization is visible to the members and to outsiders as the way things are done(Dauphinais & Price, 1998, p. 190). It is also subtle and invisible, in that it makes up the values, beliefs and attitudes that go throughout the organization. Culture can be an asset, if it is in line with company's vision, thus catalyzing the vision. Or it can be a drawback, hindering the vision if the culture is not so in line and the fit between the culture and the vision is flawed, as the beliefs that permeate the organization propel it to mediocrity, not to greatness. According to Dauphinais & Price, culture and culture change are not triggered from the top down, but from the bottom up and is created by â€Å"practical tools such as measures, rewards, and carefully structured people practices† (Dauphinais & Price, 1998, p. 191). The two companies cultures are night and day –