Organizational Analysis on Railroads of Pittsburgh - Term Paper Example

?Joseph Rosenberry Organizational Communication September 24 Introduction Corporate culture, in theory, is one of the most critical treadles that could boost or bust the progress of a business. Unfortunately, its real value is almost impossible to quantify. The Railroad of Pittsburgh is one of the many businesses whose success is largely measured by its net revenue and measuring the financial contribution of cultural values and beliefs is and was never an exact science. This difficulty is compounded as culture changes, influences come in, and new communication technology is demonstrating new forms and intensity of power to the point of forcing changes to the internal organizational communication processes. The challenge for Railroads, as in any organization, is to develop an organizational communication process that is stable and strong enough to protect the company’s internal and external cultural identity. All the while being adaptable enough to adjust with the evolving customer and employee needs that dictate the level of cultural diversity within and outside of the business. Railroad’s organizational communication set up largely follows Henry Fayol’s Theory of Classical Management. The communication culture is highly structured with each employee expected to produce outputs that are measured and defined and fuelled by nothing else but salaries and quantifiable benefits (Miller 20). There have been many studies that mention how difficult it is for traditional or old companies like Railroads to adjust and adapt to new communication trends or accept the changes that are slowly reshaping their employees. One of the fundamental reasons companies like Railroads is often struggling to keep traditional communication process is the threat new technologies and its corresponding constructs post to changing the corporate identity altogether. Miller mentioned this concept in the Pervasiveness of Power (p. 101). Miller showed 14 sources of power as identified by Morgan (p. 103) and on top position is formal authority followed by other factors present in Railroads such as control of resources, boundaries and control of technology. Railroads believe that traditional organizational set-up secure the company’s cultural identity. This organizational barrier was also explored by Ronald Arnett in Communication and Community: Implication of Martin Buber’s Dialogue. Arnett summarized this situation in the concept of Polarized Communication or the process of someone’s inability to bend or adjust their belief including their own concept of power and authority (p. 15). Perhaps Railroad’s apprehension to change comes from the nature of its business. It provides a basic need, one that does not, at least to the management’s opinion, require any stimulant to be purchased. Unlike other companies whose products are forced to evolve in order to keep up with competition, Railroad’s winning selling point is as natural as the geography of Pittsburgh. It feels no need to change or progress. That framework is carried within the organization. Managers feel no need to adapt any new form of internal communication. It is also a part of a bigger organization which is the government and it is assumed that any changes in identity and process is bound by a larger ideology. The result is a classic example of the Max Webber’s Bureaucratic Theory of Management as discussed by Miller (p. 23). It has exhaustive spheres of obligation and ultimate power is bestowed upon authorities. Statement of the Problem Arnett (p. 94) believes that companies who are able to adapt to the changes and still maintain their strong cultural identity often result to company growth in branding and revenue which makes studying the company’s strategy critical and government is not an exception. In fact, the fact that it is owned and backed by the government that makes it even more critical for Railroad to examine how its organizational communication is affecting productivity and internal and external identity. It is largely financed by government money which is paid for by Americans through its taxes. Yet, it is still expected to turn in profit, the way private companies are. Miller (p. 25) discussed Frederick Taylor’s four principles that will improve the productivity of the employees which includes a more equal division of responsibilities between workers and managers. However, there are still a lot of questions on how this division actually applies in an organization. This study can identify those specifics which include: Factors that affect employee performance Ways on how to maximize existing systems and processes Ways to improve systems and processes Existing social and psychological tenets that affect the efficiency of daily operations Significance of the Study Johnson and Johnson (J&J) has consciously adjusted their company’s communication process in order to protect their internal and external cultural identity. J&J’s HR management system has made a conscious effort to stimulate adaptation because they feel that adapting to changes will only inspire productivity of the personnel. Through the years, this continuous organizational communication has resulted to J&J favourable external company identity sustained through an efficient organizational communication process. Miller expressed doubts whether Classical Management Theories may still be applied to organizations that exist today arguing that concepts of rewards in Fayol’s, Webber’s and Taylor’s era are different from the expected rewards of modern day employees (pp. 32-33). Examining Railroad’s communication process could, therefore, serve as a model on how other organizations affiliated or directly under the government could structure theirs towards maximizing manpower productivity. Organizational Communication Challenges That Affect Productivity Fritz Roethlisberger’s basis for Hawthorne studies might well be the best explanation when studying and planning organizational communication structure. Miller explained (p. 37) Roethlisberger stated that the “person” and the “organization” could not be compartmentalized. Organizational charts may define formal accountabilities but does not explain or remotely describe the chaos that happens on a daily basis within an organization. Discorded Organizational and Individual Goals Currently, there are #,### employees in Railroads. Each employee comes in to the company with their own goals and expectations. These different goals and expectations serve as the motivation for an employee’s performance and daily decision. These different goals and expectations also interact with each other and were previously mentioned by Hawthorne emphasizing that an employee’s vision of his life is a major motivator on his job performance. Miller (p. 39) used Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to supports how personal needs of employees can affect job performance. Based on the model, the physiological needs may form the base but it only serves a higher need defined by self-actualization and recognition. Individual affirmation is something that is not often given away in Railroad. As in classical theories, each employee is expected to function with the organization’s goal in mind. The organization levels the playing field by setting up rules and a common organizational goal that everyone must work for. This is very consistent with Douglas McGregor’s theory X (Miller 41). The management uses daily common devices such as deadlines and reports to serve as milestones towards the bigger goal. Unfortunately, these impositions sometimes come in conflict with individual goals. Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid (Miller 47) demonstrates how responsibilities between employees and management are clearly divided and how it overlaps. Based on their model, resistance arise, most often, because there is inconsistency between the individual structure of motivations and oppositional but interdependent framework of communication within the organization. Each employee may not always see how pushing forward the company goal will also support their individual motivations outside of the financial aspect which are often deemed short of what they think they should get anyway. This often breeds indifference. Employees in Railroads perform with the intention of giving the minimum expected output seeing no value in delivering more when the organization does not return the same effort. Ideally, an efficient minimum production of output would still resort to a productive organization. This is under the assumption that an organization’s framework is designed with specific expectations from each department. With minimum outputs, there is, of course, a white space or an unexplored or untapped possibility. When employees don’t maximize their potential and ability, there is opportunity loss for the organization. Many ideas are talked about outside of company or department meetings and even more ideas are used outside of the company because employees feel that their goals are better supported outside even when they would have to make financial sacrifices in the beginning. Such developments affirm that employees stay in Railroad for no other reason but financial gains but do not see how it affirms their worth. Fluidity of Daily Discourse Resistance or rebellion in Railroad is either openly or discreetly expressed. Some employees openly disagree with superiors or management decision. Arnett believes that this is a healthier expression and even a necessary component in the success of an organization because it signals a more open communication flow as discussed in Part 3 of his book under Freedom: Unity of the Contraries (p. 209). However, Fayol believes that there is a grave disconnect between the employee’s motivation for airing grievances and the organization’s perception of the motivation (Miller 22). Railroad often take such grievances as an outward display of self-interest or utmost expression of concern for the company. Both can harbour a feedback or response that will never satisfy the employee or favour the welfare of the organization. If analysis is to be based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it can be argued that when an employee feels a decision will have no direct impact, rarely are responses even warranted. However, there are still other dependencies on an employee’s decision to express or hide their opinions. Employees with a supervisor that is more open to suggestions tend talk more and are also show willingness to understand the discourse beyond personal interests. When there is an apparent open line between the manager and employee, employees develop a higher level of efficacy and responsibility to contribute critical but constructive inputs. This may be perceived as a selfless act, a pure concern for the company but Maslow (Miller 39) believes that regardless of the discourse process or the framework by which employees are expected to work on, employee response is still dependent on the consistency of the organization’s goals and the employee’s dissent. There is little doubt, however, that such an exchange stimulates the growth of productivity within the department. Railroad was built upon traditional business principles which put utmost importance to the organizations’ success. It is also a part of a bigger organization where communication processes are even more conservative and even more traditional. Employees’ are assumed to serve the organization without question. That has changed. Social liberation and the change in the power society has bestowed to employees have influenced how employees perceive and use their rights. Many of the older managers have primarily run their departments with a traditional set up and lead by traditional principles. Younger managers, on the other hand, have been more open and willing to compromise with employees. They are, at the very least, consultative in their daily decisions and even more so in their major decisions. This has created an unequal culture and disintegrated communication process within Railroads. As other departments operate with a more open leader-subordinate set-up, others find themselves still stuck with the traditional ones. As these systems interact, it creates a greater friction among the employees who crave for rhetorical freedom in the workplace and their leader. Workplace Relationships Interaction among employees is inevitable and even when employees are supposed to limit interaction on professional matters during office hours, the sheer number of hours spent with each other render it inevitable for relationships to form beyond the professional. These relationships are critical factors because it can influence the productivity of an employee. It is, in fact, one of the most important aspects of an organization that must be examined, guided and nurtured as supported by Arnett. Arnett supports that the belief that relationships foster open dialogue should, in fact, be invited by an organization (p. 215). Arnett argued that relationship can actually be the main motivator of many employees to stay on the job and perform efficiently. This argument is based on the assumption that this can happen when employees find validation with their interpersonal relationships. This is a prevailing theme in Railroads. Many of the employees have formed bonds that seem to cross the boundary of personal relationships and have been the motivation of many, at least verbally, to be the main influence in their work since the landscape of the relationship dictates the productivity of the employee and not the job. The challenge lies on the part of the management. There is an apparent need to identify what relationships are formed and even more of a challenge to come up with a program that will nurture these productive relationships. Relationships are formed even among leaders and employees or leaders and other leaders. Many managers in Railroads consider such relationships a threat to productivity. The inconsistency of relationship make it virtually impossible to measure is significance. That evolution doesn’t only entail the natural changes in proximity when someone gets promoted or moved to other department. It also involves the natural tendency of people to move on, mature and change. Such personal psychological changes could also influence the nature of the relationships. Currently, Railroads makes no recognition of workplace relationships. Resignations prevented or inspired by colleagues leaving go unnoticed. Team effort, often unrequired, goes unrecognized. The entire social support provided by these relationships is not utilized. Deal and Kennedy (Miller 81) spent several years studying how workplace relationship can alter messages that are passed on within the organizations. They said that the nature of interaction between employees can manipulate how certain messages are received by the employees. When an organization nurtures these relationships, no matter how informal it may seem, the communication becomes more efficient and coordinated. Cultural Influence Workplace relationship and cultural influence are two closely related concepts in the context of Railroad. Unlike the formal academic denotation of culture, it is defined in this paper as the social system within the organization. Railroad, therefore, has a prevailing culture and along with this are certain influences that penetrate the organization. The subjects of the influences are varied. It could be a new idea about an organizational set up or a new technology that could potentially make jobs easier. These suggestions and ideas could spark questions and, eventually, instability when others realize the validity of the suggestion and the lack of action taken towards achieving it. Miller discussed how Deal and Kennedy’s study on culture proved how powerful culture is as a stimulant in the changes that may occur in an organization. Cultural influence can preserve or change social behaviour, maintain or change social tenets, and change individual psyche. Railroad, being a transport business, is not in the situation that puts the company in the crossroad of many other businesses. However, employees are not exempted or immune from the technological influence. Even without guidance, employees can stumble upon new references, processes or products from other cultures and bring it to within the organization. This is the most common situation found in Railroad. Employees are often concerned about insufficient technology. This concern prompts many employees to look outside for solutions or find companies offering better conditions. This is then brought into Railroad to be introduced to other employees. They said that influences that concern facilities and internal policies are hardly reliable because if its natural volatility. Such influences are no more than an act of expressing a frustration and such inputs are rarely, if not never, taken seriously. Be that as it may, Railroad employees often find such rants as an entry point to develop relationship beyond work. Emotions in the workplace, as a concept, explain this phenomenon. Human emotions are rarely compartmentalized and isolated from personal life and vice versa. Emotions don’t choose when and where it will affect an employee. Thus, the relationships, borne from sharing of these emotions, also extend beyond the workplace. This means that Railroad should examine and be aware of the different ways cultural influences are exchange, it could be an exchange of emotion or ideas. Interestingly enough, such influences are downplayed by Peters and Waterman (Miller 81). They believe that cultural influences are a small part of an organization’s road towards productivity and can be manipulated. This is strongly opposed by Schein. Schein’s model asserts that culture is the most difficult thing to manipulate. Railroad management seems to follow Peters and Waterman. The cultural influence within Railroads is actually underestimated. Many of the suggestions or introduction made by other employees on new technologies, new processes, and even the most mundane things catch on. For several weeks now, more and more new technologies are being introduced such as free software, integration of free APIs, and others. Such suggestions are creeping all over Railroad and some are using it without proper management approval. This is another aspect of Railroad that must be explored extensively. Having a clear understanding with Workspace Relationship, Cultural Influence is a big factor in painting the communication landscape within an organization and eventually, the prevailing culture. Leaving it go unnoticed might only result to an organization with an uncontrolled organizational communication culture. Eventually, an organization might form their own rules and social constructs without the executives recognizing the new culture. In the end, policies might render everything irrelevant. Recommendations The value of studying theories and frameworks are better appreciated when faced with a situation like that of Railroads. The need for the organizational communication evolution is apparent but there are too many internal and external variables that must be considered. Using discourses, concepts and previous studies, several cohesive solutions may be explored. Alignment of Organizational and Individual Goals The difficult part is the expression that will be used for the employees to appreciate how the organization can help in achieving individual goals. A move towards systems approach (Miller 59) should be studied. A systems approach promotes that a larger perspective should be used in examining organizational life. The goals may be divided into two categories, one is personal and the other professional. It is more common for older employees to have personal goals as their motivation such as security for their retirement and paying off their houses. For younger employees, their ambitions are focused on career growth and personal experiences. Influenced by technology, younger employees have greater concern for finding opportunities that will allow them to advance professionally. They view their current employments as mere means to finance their daily life and fund ideas that could give them better returns in the future. Fayol views this as an external motivation and has contradicted its ability to innately solve the company’s productivity problems. However, Maslow promotes the understanding human’s natural needs as a tool to maximize the potentials of employees. Viximo, an IT company, has implemented such a program. It is naturally tricky for a government owned company to support external endeavours but not impossible. Railroad’s IT department could, for example, encourage and allow employees to develop systems and processes that would automate certain workflows that may be free but also be allowed for portfolio use. Promotion of Open Discourse There is value in the aristocratic tradition as it creates order in an organization such as Railroad. The precise demarcation of responsibilities and rights has helped create a stable internal organization process. However, systems approach is also worth looking into as it encourages how employees interact with each other within an organization and how this eventually affects the organization. Now, there is a compounding impression of how employees hold as much power as the superiors in growing an organization and growing utilities that allow employees to display their influence that makes them completely safe from sanctions. Blogs, websites, and word of mouth can all serve as channels by which employees express their dissent. It ultimately affects the image of the organization and perception. The theory of concertive control (Miller 107) actually supports this. It states that control actually shifts from management to employees and that workers are the ones that create norms and actual processes that are not necessarily consistent with what is written on paper. Railroads employees must be provided with a platform where internal issues are opened discussed and resolved internally. More importantly, employees must feel that they part of the decision making process of the organization. This validates their worth and motivates them to participate even more. There might be some value in forming small groups within Railroads and allowing these groups to discuss issues that need decisions and giving their recommendations to management. It boosts the employees’ morale but it could also provide the management insights they are unable to think of themselves. There are different types of organization communication technologies that could be utilized. Employees and managers must be required to use media that allow a rich exchanged as supported by the Media Rich Theory (Miller 235). On the other hand, Social Information Processing (SIP) Theory (Miller 237), believes that the use technology for communication could render the development of relationships slower. This is not anymore the case with the strong assimilation of technology to the daily life. Messages exchanged through Social Networking Sites (SNS), for example, are valid and accepted information as good as personal conversations. SNS, websites, and other venues of conversation are so accepted that newspapers and other traditional media are either on their way down or experienced some decline in audience share because of the new technologies. Railroads must learn how to adapt and use these technologies to its advantage. Support Relationships The hierarchical order encourages the creation of different levels of relationships within an organization with considerations on how each level will affect the organization in general. Railroads must allow these relationships to outputs that will help the organization. This could mean allowing circles or groups, even when members don’t belong to the same department. This is also a concept supported by Karl Weick’s Theory of Organizing (Miller p. 67). Similar to what interdependence approach promotes, it is not necessary that these groups be formal. This could be spontaneous and an informal group of people that works for specific tasks. It is the essence of Holism (Miller p. 62), the value of realizing the importance of a group outside of the value of individual members. In fact, these relationships must be nurtured even before the entry of an employee in the organization. As Miller discussed in the chapter of Socialization Processes (p. 11), the development of relationships has different stages and it starts before the entry of employee, nurtured in the early days of an employee within an organization, and solidified when an employee reaches its turning point or when employees start feeling comfortable. Miller further discussed the importance of the using application interview in gauging whether the applicant will fit in the company culture. Many of the new companies have been open about choosing employees with consideration to how the employee will generally fit in the company culture. Most of the time, it means having to let go of the most talented people simply because their personalities will not fit in the whole company culture. It would also be favourable to use technology to Railroad’s advantage. This concept is also explored in Chapter 7 of Miller’s book (p. 131). There is value in how technology makes communication and socialization more convenient within an organization. Utilities like instant messaging and even social networking allows a development of a more expanded information and knowledge exchange. When employees start looking at their colleagues beyond work, people feel it easier to share and transfer knowledge. The product of that knowledge should benefit the company. Nurturing relationship could also help employees avoid stress and burnout by providing social support traditional sought outside of work. In an organization like Railroads, burnout is more common than other industries. The monotony and routine of work could cause the decline of productivity and eventually affect other employees. It is the same situation often found on E.R., as discussed in Miller’s book (p. 199). Doctors and nurses are always on a rush to save patient’s lives and deal with distraught relatives. All these emotions pile up which leads to hospital staff performing the technical side of their work but no more than that. Leaders as Followers The last recommendation might be the most important of all. Railroads, as previously mentioned, is very traditional in set up which includes the powers, functions and daily discourse of leaders in the organization. There are many leadership theories have been floated around and some of the most newly celebrated are the most unconventional concepts such as the Leaderless Theory. This may not applicable to Railroads but there are newer models that could be more appropriate, one that knows and understand the faster evolution of the needs of employees and how it affects organizational communication processes. Age may not be a factor as much as the understanding of the effects of diversity within the workplace. Through the years, Railroads has become home to many races and genders. Each is treated equally but each brings in a unique contribution to the culture of the company. When there is no proper understanding of how this diversity affects the organization, it results to a bog down rather than productivity. Reflections Railroads of Pittsburgh is a company of contradictions. Its primary customers are immersed in a world highly influenced by technology. These are the very same people that go on facebook and twitter just to mention that they are riding a train and share what they see during their ride or what they think of. As the generation that grew up in surrounded by technology enters the workforce, the opportunities it presents are also becoming more and more visible, powerful and accessible. Yet, the product or service it sells is as old fashion as American transportation can be. It inevitably affects the mindset and therefore the culture the company. Railroads of Pittsburgh is traditional in set up, offering a traditional product, filled with a mix of traditional and non-traditional employees, catering to a not-so traditional market, operating in a modern country. As odd as it may seem, it is a model of complex organization in terms of its communication culture. It is this same complexity that makes it almost impossible for any one theory to explain. It also makes it impossible to design a communication process hinged on a single school of thought. Designing a communication process will have to be an evolving and continuous effort that will be best designed by people who are work within the organization and are fully immersed with the dynamics of modernity and tradition and how Railroads of Pittsburgh combines the two. Miller’s and Arnett’s books, however, remain valuable in several levels. One, it has the ability to provide a perspective on how even the academic world through theorists and critics are being forced to evolve. Next, it does explain the most important organizational communication processes with insights that may be used. Lastly, the case studies presented allow actual discourses that are accomplishes many of the critical analysis required in a complex organization such as Railroads. However, what Railroads of Pittsburgh need may be something that requires the same level of unconventional thinking that new companies such as Google and Facebook are known for. It has to be a practice that taps potentials and explores possibilities never would have been conceived without the possibilities offered by new technologies and wisdom of hundreds of years of operation. Read More