The Effective Management of Human Resources-and-the-Application of Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

?The role of managers and leaders in maintaining a healthy organizational culture Introduction The presence of a healthy organizational culture is the most important requirement for the success of a business establishment. Pulte Homes, a reputed firm in the builders and developers industry possess employees of different grades and provide comfortable environments for them to work with in order to help them to contribute as much as they can towards the growth of the establishment. A healthy organizational culture is the one which support all the staff members including the supervisors and their subordinates to move along the same track. All of them are benefited and none of them will have a feeling of separation if the presence of a good organizational culture is ensured. A desirable work atmosphere would contribute much to develop the creativity of the employees and they will be exited to develop and implement new strategies for the success of Pulte Homes. It is true that a system where the superiors exert unnecessary pressure on their subordinate will struggle for success and the people occupying such position should not trouble their assistants and it is desirable for the managers to appreciate the productive efforts of their subordinates and they should ensure that a rivalry is not generated among their workers. An unhealthy environment may some times constitute a situation where an employee is embarrassed to mention the name of the firm which he is working for. A favorable environment facilitates better communication and provision for exchange of thoughts among the team members which would motivate them to work for their company’s improvement and the result would be entirely different from that of a pressurized work. Hard punishments for mistakes would destroy the creativity of an individual and staff members should be supported to learn from their mistakes because, even an average performer could become the best in the next season if he is provided with better support and motivation. All these factors indicate the necessity of a healthy organizational culture in order to develop an empire beyond the seas for Pulte Homes. Management and leadership One could find a number of definitions for these two concepts as a result of the attempts made by so many experts to distinguish between them. Leadership sets a new goal or a vision for a group of followers headed by the leader himself, while management directs workers according to the established policies of a firm. As Fayol (1916), Daft (2003) and Griffin (2005) state, “Management is a set of activities including planning, organizing, leading, controlling and decision making, directed at an organization’s resources like human, financial, physical, and information sources with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner” (Quoted in Vuskane, 2010. p.3). Managers therefore utilize the powers vested on them in order to arrive at the pre planned goals and the subordinates obey the instructions of their superiors to obtain the agreed remuneration. Studies have showed that managers generally possess stable families and lead a comfortable life and a resulting risk averting nature is observed among them. A leader, on the other hand, inspires others to follow him. Gardner (1986) had made an attempt to define leadership and according to him “leadership is the process of persuasion and example by which an individual (or team) induces a group to take action that is in accord with the leaders purposes or the shared purposes of all” (Rost, 1993, p.72). Leaders are always having consideration to others and most of them possess a charismatic style. Even though they give credits to others, leaders never turn to be friendly and often keep a distance with them. Gradual development of a firm could be observed if individuals occupying superior positions in business establishments possess both these qualities. Managers possess subordinates while the other has followers and in the present scenario managers are considered as administrators, assuming the responsibilities of strategy formation and development evaluation. Leadership is more of a stimulating connection for the advancement of an organization between the leader and the led whereas management is the necessary task for a business establishment. Arranging conferences, carrying out established technical tasks and trouble shooting could be treated as elements of the management function and these tasks could be divided among the members of a group in order to reduce the burden of the managerial task. It is essential to develop a trust among the followers for a leader by keeping their promises. But the possibility to keep the trustworthiness of leaders is doubtful in the current business scenario where uncertainty has become its identity. Even though the climate is against them they could enhance the faith of their followers by explaining why decisions have not been taken in favor of them and the causes such as market situations, trade outcomes and the planned compensatory policies. Leaders and managers – A comparison Pulte Homes possess both leaders and managers and it will not be a true statement if one considers all managers as good leaders and vice versa. The responsibilities of a manager are comparatively vast when compared with that of a leader in an organization. Preparation of plans, organization and supervision of staff, budget allocation and a number of other tasks which are essential for the smooth running of the business are done by the manager and on the other hand a leader gives a vision of what needs to be done for the successful attainment of the planned goals of an organization. Dr. David Kozak observes the necessity of the presence of both the leaders and managers for the success of an organization the managers deal with organizational tasks and the leaders deal with ideas and people. He also pointed out that it is not necessary for a staff member to be on top managerial positions to play the role of a leader but the presence of a good leader on the top of an organization is essential for its overall development. Another difference could be observed in measuring the efficiency of managers and leaders. Measuring the attainment of the goal or objectives of an organization would give a measure of the effectiveness of a leader and on the other hand measuring the profit margin would provide a measure of the success of a manager. Consider the case of an example in which an organization is putting a target of fifteen percent increase in their production. A manager would respond by developing a new plan and budget and even by resetting of the organizational structure, whereas a leader would communicate to his followers keeping a clear vision of the attainment of the goal in their mind and motivate them to contribute their best (Bertocci & Bertocci 9). The role of managers and leaders in Pulte Homes Effective organizational performance requires a successful management which starts from the apex of the organization which assumes the responsibility for attitudes and underlying idea of the organization, for providing and maintaining a healthy atmosphere and carrying out sufficient and helpful organizational activities. A positive and transformational action is essential from the part of managers and leaders to bring about desirable changes in the organizational culture and thereby lead the institution towards success. The development of an organization is related to its adaptability to change and to the managerial strength and performance (Mullins, p.922). To be more specific, the responsibilities of the managers of Pulte Homes could be observed as follows: (a) Developing a method of business assessment for the evaluation of the existing business model and for portfolio management. (b) Formation of a financial management package in order to provide information regarding the profit and loss of the organization. (c) Encouraging healthy competition and ensuring a resulting business performance by the introduction of balanced score cards and new incentive systems. (d) Ensuring the dynamic nature of the organizational model facilitating the latest technologies of information and communication throughout the enterprise (Mullins, p. 922-927). Negative emotions are generated among the members of a group as result of the changes carried out under inefficient management and this causes stress among the members of the organization, during the phase of change. These negative emotions are part of the organizational behavior and effective involvement of mangers in solving the emotional issues using better strategies is required and the employees of an organization could be supported by the managers with suitable approach to face the change and to work accordingly in order to produce better results (Hartel, Zerbe & Ashkanasy, 2006, p.356). An attempt was made by Anthony Pescosolido to study whether emotions are of important to leaders or not. According to him an individual could play the role of a leader by making an interpretation of the emotional responses which are beneficial for the group members and highlighting these responses as examples for other members to be followed. Such a modeling by the leader would provide a clear direction of the action of group members in an emotional situation and the shared emotions and actions would increase the unity among the group members. All these factors indicate the necessity of good managers and leaders in an organizational set up to generate and maintain a healthy organizational culture in order to lead the organization towards success (Hartel, Zerbe & Ashkanasy, 2006, p.356- 364). The effect of globalization and management across borders One of the most important developments of this century is the globalization of markets with its wide ranging impacts on institutions and their economic transactions and being a part of the global market, the mangers of Pulte Homes are expected to develop strategies in order to defend the international competition. The increasing inter dependency among the economies of the world is reflected by the globalization of markets. These circumstances necessitate the introduction and implementation of innovative and effective business strategies by the managers of an organization in order to make use of the opportunities available in the wide global market and to position a company for long term competitive advantage. Effective strategy planning and management are essential for the accomplishment of organizational objectives. Business tactics are developed on the basis of strategic plans which are concerned with activities for the present and future focusing on the effective allocation of resources. Managers are enforced to broaden their concern to the evaluation of wide organizational issues from focusing on comparatively miner issues by the development of strategic plans. Setting the goal and developing mission depending on the nature of the organization and the expected achievements is the first step of strategic planning. General goal direct the managers to make decisions on long term strategies which is essential for the organization focusing a global expansion. The strengths and weaknesses of an organizations plays a crucial role in the formation of their missions and goals which helps the managers to identify and the threats and opportunities which they are going to face while planning the organizations goals and strategies. Identification of strengths and weaknesses also helps the managers to determine the areas which need extra care and attention for improvement and an assessment of the features of an organization like financial resources, adaptability and the ability to innovate, technological capabilities, human resource skills and overall competitive position of the organization so as to implement strategies accordingly focusing a global advancement of the organization. According to Sampat Mukharjee a strategic plan with a global vision should include the following elements: “(a) a statement of organizational mission and goals, (b) strategies for obtaining and utilizing the necessary technological, marketing, financial and human resources to achieve those goals, (c) strategies for manufacturing process and conducting R&D and (d) strategies for developing and utilizing organizational and employees competencies” (Mukherjee, 2005, p.59- 60). The implementation of such an efficient strategy by the managers would result in the attainment of the long term goals of Pulte Homes with a global vision Recommended strategies for managers and leaders As we have already seen it is essential to have a healthy organizational culture for the success of a firm. Different strategies could be adopted by the managers in order to maintain a healthy organizational culture. In the case of Pulte Homes a strategy which focuses of the following areas seems to be suitable for the managers to follow. (a) Introduction of score cards in order to measure the competitive performance of the staff members, (b) introduction of revised incentive structure in order to motivate the employees to produce better out puts, (c) introduction of special bonus for extra ordinary performance so as to generate a healthy competitive spirit among the employees, (d) conducting staff meetings which provide opportunities for the expression of their views, ideas and complaints and the implementation of the acceptable ideas suggested by the employees, (e) conducting parties to ensure the mingling of managers and the subordinates so as to build a friendly relationship between them, (f) revision of salaries for the retention of employees, (g) conducting training programs for the improvement of their capabilities (h) introduction of insurance programs in order to safe guard their employees from unexpected contingencies. A Diagrammatic representation of this model is given below: It is evident that the unhappiness arose among the employees would harm the smooth running of a business firm and which would ultimately lead to the ruin of the organization. The leaders and managers possess the responsibility to save their organization from such damages by the implementation of better strategies. The strategy mentioned above hits all the major areas that require special attention and the adoption of such a strategy could help the managers of Pulte Homes to bring about a healthy organizational culture and to guide the establishment towards success. Conclusions Both the effective management of human resources and the application of organizational behavior depend on the nature of organizational culture. Even though the concept of culture is a tough topic to be explained, an analysis of the organizational culture would provide a clear cut idea regarding the performance and the future of Pulte Homes. The perception of members towards the organization and the nature of understanding between the members are the deciding factor of the organizational climate and this could be ensured by the effective interaction of leaders and mangers with their subordinates which would result in generating a positive attitude towards the work and personal relationships. Even though conflicts are the characteristic of a managerial structure, wise intervention from the part of managers could solve this problem to a large extend by adopting appropriate strategies. Efficient functioning of a business is ensured by good managers and leaders and all these factors prove the necessity of sensible managers and leaders who are ready to offer any advice or help to their subordinates whenever it is required in order to maintain a healthy organizational culture so that the success of Pulte Homes is ensured. References Bertocci, D.I & Bertocci, D.L. (2009). Leadership in Organizations: There Is a Difference Between Leaders and Managers. University Press of America. Hartel, C., Zerbe, W & Ashkanasy, N.M. (2006). Emotions in Organizational Behavior. Illustrated ed: Routledge. Mukherjee, Sampat. (2005). Organisation & Management and Business Communication. New Age International. Mullins. Management and Organizational Behaviour, 7/e. Pearson Education India. Rost, J.C. (1993). Leadership for the twenty-first century. Greenwood Publishing Group. Vuskane, Linda. (2010). Management and Leadership in Manufacturing Industry. GRIN Verlag. Read More