Organizational learning + Managing change

Nowadays, organizations face the constant and growing changes in the whole environment surrounding them. High product quality, customer expectation and good services, aggressive competition, technologies, cheaper production; that is why organizations can not get stuck in the past, they need to be in constant updating to fight or diminish the impacts of their environment.

Each organization has its own rites and communication approaches, that is why a particular culture within the organization drives and leads the actions, thoughts, feelings and working styles of the members of that organizations and also the members of that particular culture. And this is the concept of organizational culture.

By trying to link the two concepts above, it is clear that organizations must merge both concepts into one. As it was mentioned, organizations have to be aware of the changing environment, but also they need to improve and learn from what things they handle everyday. This is the proper answer of why organizations require a culture that supports and facilitates learning, if not; they organization is not concern about the changing environment.

Regarding the changes, there two There two main kind of them. Planned change is when you decide to make some alteration inside your organization, different to the unplanned change when you can not have control over it; it just comes up by the imposition of the unpredicted environment.

However, as changes provoke negative consequences, they also provoke positive consequences. In order to organizations struggle against changes, their culture builds new ideas and strategies, enhance the union of the organization, establish identities, and show the capacity to struggle against problems. In the end, it demonstrates if the organizational learning is unified with the organizational culture

Questions

What is the relationship between organizational learning and individual satisfaction?

If inside of organization, the people are improving their shelves and having increasing learning from every single situation, this would influence the people’s work satisfaction and therefore personal or individual satisfaction. When you are doing really well in your job or your study, it is reflected in your achievements and satisfaction.

Is it possible to change corporate culture? If so, how?

For sure, when they relations and dynamics inside of organizations are not generating value for the company, it can be due to corporate culture. Maybe, there is not a single or important approach that the staff can follow. Maybe they are trying to pursue their own interest and seeking their own achievements rather than work in the same way; together to reach a single goal for the organization. In such a case, organizations leaders must focus on developing a new and ownership organizational cultures and procedures, which is concentrated on well being of the organization. 

1) Images Retrieved from google images

2) video source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0eP5yza5gI

3) Singh. Kavita. 2010. “An Analysis of Relationship Between the Learning Organization and Orgaizational culture in Indian Business Organizations”. Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies. Vol 1. 142-165 

4) Mangaliso. Mzamo. 2003. Building competitive advantage from Ubuntu. In Thomas, David Clinton, editor, Readings and cases in International Management: A cross-cultural perspective. 

5) Von Glinow, Mary Ann, Debra L. Shapiro, and Jeanne M Brett. 2004. CAN WE TALK, AND SHOULD WE? MANAGING EMOTIONAL CONFLICT IN MULTICULTURAL TEAMS. Academy of Management Review 29 n.4: 578-592

Leadership and Management

German’s management style: In Germany, trade unions have and arbitration role to play through its representatives.

German companies requires great consensus within the companies decision making, the largest number of shares belong to a private shareholder, bank, county or town. But there is the trade unions that unify workers and as well have power in the decision making of the company. Gaining a consensus is facilitated by trade unions representatives not allowing the problems that company management may have with employees.

Trade unions are very powerful, in some sectors a works director elected by the workers and with trade union background can be part of the board of directors, which is the body in charge of the management, but this can only be replaced by the union. Also, workers can easily contribute with the strike, because the union provides them with 2/3 of their salaries as long as the strike takes.

Management and leadership

Scholars have been discussing differences in management style depending on of culture of each country, according to this, it appears to two theories:

The first one, it is known as Convergence, which Assumes that as countries develop, management systems will converge to a model found in developed countries.

The other one is named comparative cultural Approach, which is based on the assumption that a wider set of cultural norms in each society is a powerful force for differentiation across borders.

To point this out into examples we have the Japanese style, for them Market share always has been important, so that Japanese firm is often modeled as optimizing more that simple stockholder value, while still remaining the calculating economic actor. Meanwhile Koreans are deeply influenced by Japanese, so they seem to be a replica, and this represents the power of Japanese management.

However, Koreans lifetime employment is flexible and Korean workers change jobs more often, also managers tend to be authoritarian and the important decision is made by the top manager and there are many family companies

It is clear that Culture influences organizations through several paths such as legal, economic, and political systems as well as values, attitudes, behaviors goals and preferences of the participants.

While globalization does expose the firms a broader menu of cultural options, the firms can still use their cultural embeddedness for bringing fresh perspective and differentiated advantage to the established international strategic business models.

Besides, the culture and the technology cannot be called opposing forces, due to they both can work together and facilitate discovery and creation of new organizational foundations for competitive advantage.

Question

Discuss transformational, charismatic, and authentic leadership. Would you expect these styles of leadership to exist in all cultures? Differ across cultures? Explain.

I think that of course, there are these types of leaders in all cultures, because through time it have been appeared several totalitarian, charismatic leaders worldwide and also those transformational ones that are able to cover or to adapt depending the dynamics of certain moments.

I guess that authentic leadership is applied or owned by the person who is really concern and committed with the social stability and well being, and I guess also they are called authentic, due to leaders in politics tend to practice pragmatism rather than idealism.

On the other hand, charismatic leadership is more related to people who are able gather or “hypnotize” the masses easier with abilities. 

1) Image retrieved from google images

2) Lee, Jangho, Thomas W. Roehl & Soonkyoo Cho. 2000. What Makes Management Style Similar and Distinct Across Borders?. Growth, Experience and Culture in Korean and Japanese Firms. 631-52. 

3) Gupta, V , Wang, J (2003) Globalization and Convergence-Divergence Debate: Strategic Perspectives for Emerging Markets. Journal of business and economics research. Volumen 1, number 2

4) Imagw retrieved from google images

5) Piette, Jean-Jacques. 2004. "Understanding Management German style". Les amis de L'ecole de Paris