Leadership and Organizational Behavior in Action - Essay Example

? LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN ACTION Table of Content Introduction 4 Objectives 5 Literature review 5 a.Destroyer: 7 b.Equalizer: 7 c.Creators: 8 What is workforce diversity and what are its effects? 9 Recommendations: 10 Mapping: 13 Bridging: 13 Integrating: 14 Reference 16 Introduction General Electric (GE) is a multifarious company, setup by Thomas Alva Edison in the year 1890 by the name Edison General Electric. The company is currently headquartered at Fairfield, Connecticut in the United States and has made several breakthroughs in segments of Energy, Capital Finance, technology, power generation to name a few. Some of the benchmark innovations of GE include the mars observer, launching of CNBC news channel for business reporting in real time, GE Money which provides customers with facilities of a general credit card and at the same time the facilities of a store card with discounts and promotional offers. Such innovations have helped GE scale the position that it holds today. GE has been continuously emerging as a champion when it comes to innovation. Its businesses related to infrastructure have proven to be another step towards building a better future. GE is currently operating across many regions of all the inhabited continents of the world. GE has been a pioneer for the past 130 years and strived hard towards innovation. Since the invention of first light bulb to the present jet engines the company has come a long way in making the world a better place to live. The company which is an equal opportunity employer has a strong presence in many countries and proudly supports a diverse workforce. The company believes in fair treatment policy and has formed various forums to nurture people with differences in age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation etc (GE, “Our Company”). This project report deals with organizational challenge of workforce diversity. Maintaining a large workforce brings along challenges and people from different background may not be able to adjust well with each other. Objectives As GE supports a diverse workforce, managers will be faced with the challenges of combating discrimination within the workforce and at the same time promoting alliances and inclusiveness in the group. Negative attitudes and behaviors may influence decision making and might also result in a loss of productivity as well as personnel. If negative behavior or prejudices creeps up within the workplace it will affect the company’s image and may also lead to litigation. The same is the case with multiculturalism. Multiculturalism may be defined as the process whereby people from different cultural background are motivated to work as a unit and also motivated to achieve the common goals of the organisation. The objectives of this report are to make careful assessment of the situation. The report will identify the desired course of action for GE which will help them to overcome the situation. This would require the involvement of all the groups. Managers will have to work on removing personal bias and should also create ways for engaging in personal dialogues with teammates. Managers need to clearly understand that the recipe for success is teamwork and the approach should be unique to the organization for resolving the dispute. Secondary resources have been used for doing the analysis and collecting evidences. Literature review Multiculturalism is the apprehension which epitomizes a new way of acclimatizing to the future world. It is the process of recognizing and respecting different diversified groups with different cultural background in an organization. The people with divergent socio-cultural class are addressed and motivated and are eventually accredited for bringing stability within the organization (Rosado 1-4). Multiculturalism has long been a sensitive issue, a never ending debate, measure of its efficacy in an organization or in the society has come under scanner. These questions or issues have been creeping over time and again to understand the need of multiculturalism, its importance in a society or in an organization. Why has multiculturalism become a topic of much concern for the organizations around the globe? Can multiculturalism bring a change in the working behavior of organizations? Such questions need to be dealt as top priority for the better work culture in an organization. The system named multiculturalism has a deeper and broader meaning which can be used in context to the society where people with different cultural backgrounds signify an association. This association comprising of different cultures around the globe, difference in ethnicity, rituals and beliefs possess a great challenge for the organizations and also a great deal of opportunity. In today’s scenario every organization has to deal with the issues of multiculturalism. The old notion of organizations preferring a certain cultured group has become a passe. Organizations have realized the reality, the significance, the necessity behind a diverse work culture. Globalization of organizations have led to the understanding that multiculturalism not only cements the base of the organization but creativity factors excels to an upper limit, giving organizations an edge over their counterparts. Organization may get upbeat with burgeoning flows of creative ideas, but, at the same time it is at risk of getting knocked out if mismanagement prevails over multiculturalism. An organization appoints members from different cultural background and then is assembled together in a team. Every organization emphasizes on team player and team work. But, things can differ in this context as there is no guarantee that a team will perform to its potential or a balance and stability will be maintained between different employees. A team in an organization is more than a bunch of people coming together and forming a group. Team for an organization is like an asset which gives maximum returns through continuous innovation and creativeness in their work. Multiculturalism can give rise to three basic models of team culture in an organization, and these are: a. Destroyer: Organizations form a team to handle specific and important assignments. These teams can be referred to as global teams, the reason being conglomeration of different cultured people. But, these different cultured members of a team can emerge as destroyers of ideas and creativeness by putting themselves ahead of the work and organization. If members of diverse cultures are not adaptive in nature, a bigger problem arises for the organization and largely for the managers handling these teams. Instead of being a pool of talented people, the team succumbs to the cultural pressure and finally breaks down. The ideas, creativity, innovativeness all becomes a part of history rather creating a bright future. b. Equalizer: Equalizers are different from destroyers but the results are more or less same. In this case the team members pretend to be close and well adaptive. The real reason is somewhat different, a mirage, where members work together, but, only for the completion of an assignment. No extra input is given, no modified version is produced, and it’s more like spoon feeding. The team members may falsify to be happy and comfortable, may fake things, but work tells the story of the team. Though the team completes a specified work but there is no self proclaimed innovation in the work which otherwise unearths the cultural differences well disguised behind the pressure of work. c. Creators: Every global team is bound to have people from different cultures, ethnicity, religion, etc, but, what makes these groups of people a team player is a thing to be reckoned. Creators are such group of people who knows each other’s cultural backgrounds, nationalities, and still prefer being a team player. These members of the team are true fighters; they try to overcome the differences created by the different cultural backgrounds for the betterment of the team, organization and as individual. Creators are the ones who strive for innovation and create a pool of contemporary products (Distefano, Maznevski 47-49). An organization like GE, which is home to multiculturalism and diverse work force, can become more prone to its effects if not handled with utmost care. Since 1890 GE has been a pioneer in the field of energy with numerous inventions changing the world and image of the company. GE has grown from an unknown company to a market leader. Its foot prints have been imprinted across the globe in several countries and still expanding. GE has always believed in leading from front and when it comes to multiculturalism it cannot step back. Globally the demand of GE’s products has been surging and to cater to the needs of the customers it has been exploring new territories. New territories bring in new opportunities accompanied with some serious problems, problems such as multiculturalism. This problem can be boon or a bane for the company depending on its leadership attribute to handle the problem. Globalization has opened the door for borderless business entity and people from different countries form a pool of company’s employee strength. Multiculturalism undoubtedly is the need of the hour, but its effects can be devastating for the company. A company like GE should know certain parameters on which multiculturalism is based. What happens if these parameters are not followed? Different people have different religious beliefs, come from different ethnic groups, and belong to different countries and most important cultural difference. To form a team of different cultured people can be a matter of concern for the company. Its productivity can go down; it can face criticism for not handling the problem through effective measures. What is workforce diversity and what are its effects? The days of monopoly are over. A single cultured company can no more survive the world of globalization. The advent of globalization has diminished the concept of border between the countries. The world has turned into one single habitat in context to the business world. This has given rise to borderless entities and also diversified workforce. Workforce diversity is no more a contemplation, but has become an important aspect in today’s business scenario. Organizations have scraped the old notion of not being a multicultural organization, but are slowly embracing the diversity in the workforce to achieve better results (Shrm 5). The scenario of workforce diversity is still in its infant stage for many organizations and many countries. The concept is changing, countries and organizations have begun understanding the importance of diversified work culture. Diversity, though an important aspect is still not being implemented by many. Reasons may be cultural differences where certain people or community has an edge over others and thereby preventing the implementation of workforce diversity. Diversity in workforce can be described as the assortment of various elements such as gender, age factor, capability, sexual orientation, country of origin, ethnicity, etc. GE as company has been lucky to be bestowed with a diversified workforce, thanks to its global presence. Apart from multiculturalism, workforce diversity has also been a part of GE’s work culture. It has constantly recruited talents across the globe and built teams around these talents. There is no doubt that GE has been on the path of success because of these very talented pool of employees, but the scenario can be different, the situation can turn out to be ugly if differences occurs, to be more precise the problems related to work diversity. Workforce diversity is a critical issue no matter how much it has become a part of an organization like GE. The chances are umpteen when GE can come under the attack of mismanagement in terms of workforce diversity and suddenly find itself lagging behind in terms of productivity, innovation, creativity, ambience, etc. Workforce diversity if not handled with utmost care can lead to employee retention problem for the company. This may further halt the progress of GE as it is bound to lose many talented and committed employees due to cultural or other workforce differences. To build an inclusive work culture GE has to strive for good managerial skills which can map the workforce diversity on regular basis and create a friendly and problem free working environment. Recommendations: The workforce diversity and multiculturalism problem is not new to the world of business, but, what is important is the appropriate management and handling of these issues which may otherwise affect organizations like GE. GE can introduce policy with respect to diversity. GE’s policy of diversity can be illustrated as its strategy or plan to overcome the problem of workforce diversity and multiculturalism. For any organization its strategy or plan provides a holistic view of the company’s goal which is crafted on the line of developing an inclusive working ambience or environment keeping in mind the various workforce diversity factors. Another very important or valuable course in overcoming the diversity problem is by initiating an awareness building agenda. This awareness building agenda adopted by GE can help the company build an inclusive working environment. By doing this the company can motivate and encourage the employees from diversified cultural background to yield maximum productivity and attain full confidence and potential. A company like GE should have certain aims or goals in defining its awareness agenda or program regarding the workforce diversity. The conventional aim or goals for awareness agenda are as follows: i. Different cultural beliefs, attributes and approach should be evaluated. ii. Emphasize on bridging gap by improving communication. iii. Members should be informed about workforce diversity. iv. Factors like discrimination must be eradicated from the work environment. v. Every member should be treated equally and given equal opportunities to showcase their talent. vi. Diversity differences should be used towards achieving company objectives. GE while defining its awareness program goals needs to decide on the components of diversity awareness program. These components of diversity are very crucial in designing an awareness program and are discussed below: i. Employees in a multicultural company like GE come from different backgrounds. To accommodate these members the company needs to organize certain training programs to benefit these members. ii. Regular mapping of the members is a must. iii. Senior management group should be held accountable for attaining diversity aim of the company. iv. Availability of guide to advice employees on certain issues. Elements are an integral part of the company’s design of awareness program, but it can be effective only if equally supported by the management group which includes managers, team leaders and the administrator. Their roles play an important part in creating an effective awareness program for the company. The roles of these people are described below: i. Eradicate discrimination and any form of aggravation. ii. Every employee should be treated and respected free of any biasness. iii. Employees should be informed about their responsibilities in the company. There should be clarity of thoughts when assigning responsibilities to the employees. iv. Employees should be awarded equal opportunity irrespective of cultural background. GE being an equal opportunity employer should see to the fact that opportunities be given to every employee based on their merit. Team leaders or other members of the management always plays an important role in shaping the image and business structure of a company. In GE’s context also it is no different and if the managers can adhere to their role of imparting knowledge and right information to the workforce and help improve the work culture, the company can become more sought after by the people around the world. Apart from these solutions the company can also seek the help of certain other components to have a further improved work environment with effective management of workforce diversity and multiculturalism. These tools are as follows: Mapping: The organization in this scenario needs to assess the competence of the employees which affects the team performance. In a multicultural organization like GE different team members will have different outlook and the organizations leadership attribute will be tested. The organization here can map the employees and their comportment and accordingly motivate them to overcome the cultural differences and work towards the development of organization and the individuals. Bridging: Communicating or bridging can be another solution for GE. This solution emphasizes on bridging the gap between the employees which is caused because of cultural differences. To overcome the differences, team members should be encouraged to communicate with each other, switch to each other’s mode of cultural attributes and effectively build confidence to overcome the problem. Every member of GE working in a team will have different level of motivational factor along with confidence. The company here can implement a good leadership strategy and help employees to bridge the gap and use the motivation and confidence attributes towards higher productivity and higher degree of innovation. Integrating: Integrating or the amalgamation factor is another important aspect of GE as a company to overcome its problem of multiculturalism and diversity. Integration comes into play when the company wants to think in terms of productivity. The employees’ systematic understanding and communicating variables can alone do no good but if combined or integrated together can raise the bar for the company. GE as company can expect to see a rise in productivity and innovative products. It can as well help the company to bridge the multiculturalism and workforce diversity problem. These three aspects of solution have their own pros and cons apart from being healthy alternatives to overpower the multiculturalism and diversity problem in the company. Mapping can be an advantageous factor in systematically understanding the behavioral pattern of the employees, but, otherwise it can do no better in providing a full proof solution. Bridging can be a better solution since it emphasizes on the communication factor and encourages bridging the cultural gap through effective communication. But, again there is no guarantee that bridging will help GE in a better way as it can be compared to equalizers where a team suppresses their differences but fails to improve productivity. Last but not the least integrating aspect can be a solution which GE is looking for, as it not only maps the employees and bridges the communication gap but also converts these two factors into improved productivity factor. Integrating factor may be assumed to be a winner in solving the problem of multiculturalism and diversity but it also has its cons, and the important one being that if any of the two i.e. mapping and bridging is not handled carefully than the results may alter for the company and the problem will remain a problem. The company should look forward to a better planning and execution of awareness programs based on the various discussed elements to prosper smoothly across different territories and be a trendsetter in managing workforce diversity and multiculturalism. Reference Distefano, Joseph. J, Maznevski, Martha. L. “Creating Value with Diverse Teams in Global Management.” Organizational Dynamics. 29. 1. (2000): 45-63. Gender Diversity. Web. 15 March 2012. . “Our Company.” ge. General Electric Company, 2012. Web. 16 March 2012. . Rosado, Caleb. “What Do You Mean By Managing Diversity?” EdChange and the Multicultural Pavilion. Jan, 2006. Web. 15 March 2012. . Shrm. “Global Diversity and Inclusion: Perception, Practices and Attitudes.” Shrm: Economist Intelligence Unit. (2009): 5-7. Web. 16 March 2012. . Read More