Bio0226 Management Consulting Professionals Contingency Assessment Answer

Answer:

Introduction

Management of any kind of organization depends on the structure of that organization (Management, 2017). There are five types of organizational structures. The five organizational structures are:

1. Functional organization
2. Divisional organization

• Matrix organization

Team-based organization
Virtual network organization

First, functional organizations need functional management for successful operation. In this case, a functional organization is grouped according to its areas of specialty areas and functionality. The areas of functionality and specialty include finance, marketing, and IT departments (Shah, 2017). Regarding divisional organizations, all activities are segregated into product and regional segments. In matrix organizational structure, reporting relationships are allocated in a grid like setup within a traditional hierarchy. Workers also have a dual reporting relationship. Within a team-based organization, decision-making processes are filtered in all the management levels. Unlike the traditional management structures, team-based organizations rely on top management-made decisions. Last but not least is the virtual network organizational structure. In such a structure, the organization has its workers geographically apart. The workers interact through computer e-mails and groupware. After discussing organizational structures, it is important to mention the forms of leadership in business management (Shah, 2017).  

Leadership

According to the theory of leadership legacy, any individual in a leading position within an organization should undergo assessment. The assessment is a way of determining their leadership traits. Leadership Legacy Theory denotes that there are six vital leadership traits. These traits are:</p>

1. Ambassadorship
2. Advocacy

• People mover

1. Truth seeker
2. Creative builder
3. Experienced guide

A good ambassador is a leader that knows and understands situations and how to handle them with grace. In the same accord, an ambassador is supposed to take up conflicts not for his or her own benefit, but on behalf of several constituencies. Such leaders are also required to be persistent but in a gentler way. Ambassadors are also required to be respectful and persuasive leaders. Regarding advocacy, a leader is supposed to be the spokesperson of his or her subjects. An advocate needs to be logical, more articulate, persuasive, and rational. Such leaders have a logical obligation to be positively relentless and champion for strategies and ideas (Management, 2017). When making decisions, advocates use linear or nonlinear approaches for basing their arguments. Leaders or managers that are natural advocates are comfortable with going through tough moments. Apart from that, a manager who is a people mover has the ability to spot talents. He or she is also a career-builder and a motivator. Such leaders also have nurturing and parental qualities. People movers are also instinctive mentors and mostly advocate for team building. To be a good people mover, a manager is supposed to be more mindful of the workers (Harvard Business Review, 2017). Worker performance issues should be viewed in a broader perspective (Tamang, 2013). On the contrary, managers who are trust seekers are recognized through their good judgments, being level-headed, practicing a lot of equality and also being process-oriented. Trust seekers always require a lot of hard work from their subjects because they are associated with high competence standards in their areas of operation. Such managers also help workers understand new rules and policies within an organization. Under their watch, integrity is preserved. Most of trust seeker managers are in Human Resources departments. Managers that are creative builders are visionaries and entrepreneurs. They are also happy and self-driven in their work environments. Creative builders find opportunities for new products and grasp niche markets. Such is the reason as to why creative builders are called “serial entrepreneurs.” Managers of this kind are not innovative but instead they are able to make innovative processes real. Workers managed by creative builders are equipped with new ideas. Finally yet importantly, experienced guides put themselves in workers’ position and are good listeners as well. These managers are very helpful because they think through their problems as a means of helping others. Managers of this kind are also bottomless in information and possess a diverse range of knowledge on many topics (Tamang, 2013).

1. Management and Leadership Roles

In business management, leaders have ultimate control over their subjects. Such control is referred to as known as “power” (Hockett, 2017). There are three main types of power. Such powers include:

1. Legitimate power
2. Expert power

• Coercive power

Managers with legitimate power are entirely in charge of their project teams. This type of power is associated with making compensation decisions, controlling project budgets, and performance appraisals. Legitimate power relates to the power of rewarding because the effectiveness of a project team depends on rewards (Shenoy, 2017). When employees are rewarded for their good work, their level of motivation increases and thus increase work efficiency. On the contrary, managers with expert powers lead by example. Such a leader administers expertise and knowledge to the team. Managers formulate strategies by allowing and respecting the decisions made by team members. Lastly, managers with coercive powers convey their management skills by instilling fear within the work environment. Employees, thus perform their work in fear of possibly losing their job, through poor reviews on performance and other related issues (Shenoy, 2017).

Organizational Performance

Many people are considering the idea of starting their own jobs instead of seeking employment. According to Randstad’s work monitor research, 37% of workers the UK consider dumping their current jobs to venture into their own businesses. The value is higher than the global percentage of 28. From the same study, it is disclosed that 32% of English workers are least motivated in their areas of work and consider starting entrepreneurial jobs of their own (Flite & Harman, 2013). However, the same work monitor research disclosed that several employees prefer working for multinational organizations that are well established. According to the Mobility Index of work monitor research, organizations are able to track their employees’ level of confidence. The index also gives expectations surrounding chances of an organization changing employers in a captured timeframe (Flite & Harman, 2013). From the index, a comprehensive understanding on job market is provided. The shift to entrepreneurial jobs results from a list of managerial factors such as:

1. Employee motivation
2. Communication strategies

• Personal value contributions

1. Work environment
2. Employee engagement and disengagement
3. Employee motivation

Motivation of workers is crucial for any business organization. When workers are positively motivated, goals and objectives are met with ease. However, if workers are not motivated, the organization is at risk of failure. If the level of employee motivation is high, then the productivity of an organization will also be high.

1. Communication strategies

Good communication strategies within an organization will increase employee motivation in a workplace. Proper channels of communication are important in an organizational setup. A good setup also ensures that board meetings and workshops are allocated to improve the level of communication in an organization. By doing so, workers will feel like they are part of the organizational team. It is, therefore, important for business organizations form frameworks through which the complaints and suggestions of employees are heard.

• Personal Value Contributions

Every organization is aware that employee involvement is vital for the success of such organizations. Employees will go about their work with diligence and commitment if they are aware that the efforts they make will influence the success of their organizations. The management can recognize such efforts in several ways including compliments for good work and gifting of exemplary work. By recognizing personal value contribution of employees, loyalty is built between workers and their superiors. In the end, organizational success is inevitable.

1. Work Environment

There are a times when employees’ level of motivation is low because the work place is not conducive. However, such an issue is fixed through mechanisms that ensure employee feedback is received. The mechanism include offering employee work surveys.

1. Employee Disengagement

Many research activities on employee engagement argue that many workers perform their work well enough to ensure that they are not fired as long as the salary they are given sustain them and they do not quit their jobs. The scenario is a blend of human nature and corporate finance and is the deadliest impediment to optimum employee engagement. For organizations to grow, values need to be created from the workforce and company default positions.

1. Dealing with disengagement of workers

To manage the issue of employee disengagement, there are two things that need focus. The first issue is commitment of employees while the other is salary adequacy. On the contrary, other research activities have established that alternative factors leading to employee disengagement exist and need to be solved as well. The factors include employee and employer relationship. According to research, a cordial relationship needs to exist between employees and the management of an organization.  

Sustainability

According to several research activities on sustainability, business organizations do not actively manage sustainability. However, executives argue that the practice of sustainability is one of the most vital corporate activities. Sustainability involves the management of organizational issues that relate to governance, environmental concerns, and social impacts. Others include reputation building, new-product development, and corporate strategy. Studies show that only 30% of business organizations in the UK invest in sustainability. In this case, we will be interested in identifying how companies define sustainability, why such business organizations engage in sustainability related activities, how they manage it, and how they communicate and assess sustainability (CIRT, 2017).

Business organizations that are most engaged in sustainability are those that have the same as their top priority agenda. These organizations have sustainability embedded in their business practices and the workforce is effective in managing sustainability. Such organizations will therefore, reap value through cost savings, reputation building, and opportunities of growth. In as much as there is a lot of attention paid on sustainability, there are many organizations that are unable to address the matter. The reason for being unable to address sustainability by such organizations is unavailability of a clear definition of the same. In the UK, approximately 20% of business organizations lack the definition. For those organizations that are able to define sustainability, the definitions vary. About 55% of that number defines sustainability as the management of environment related issues. However, 48% of the organizations say that sustainability includes the management of governance issues. Forty one percent of business organizations include management of social issues in their definitions. Overall, about fifty-six percent of business organizations define sustainability in two ways or more.

According to the same studies on sustainability, about 20% of business-to-business organizations seek new growth opportunities through sustainability activities. However, only 14% of consumer-facing business organizations would seek new opportunities of growth through sustainability. On the contrary, as much as the definition of sustainability varies from one organization to another, many organizations perceive sustainability as the creation of real value. About 76% of business organizations attach sustainability to the long-term positive contribution of shareholder value while only 50% associates sustainability to short-term value creation. The discrepancy concerning long-term and short-term value creation views can be explained partially. For the same reason, executives say that reputation building is in its own class when compared to crucial financial reasons for engagement like improvement of operational efficiency and alignment with organizational goals. On the same, a 72% respondent acknowledges sustainability to be “very important” for managing brands and corporate reputation. However, 55% of the respondents acknowledge investment in sustainability to be an appropriate method of helping an organization build reputation. On the same, 36% of respondents acknowledge building reputation as a good reason for addressing issues associated with sustainability.

Conclusion

Conclusively, it is evident that with the diversification of organizations, issues that lead to problems within the workplace intensify. Business managers for both small and large organizations continue to face management issues such as workplace conflicts. In several instances, these issues arise because of improper channels of communication or even the use of improper organizational structures. Several business organizations compound the already existing problems by avoiding the use of a clear command path for communication. Managers are thus required to have a concise channel of communication within the organization and possess the highlighted leadership traits (CMOE, 2017). Issues pertaining to employee disengagement are sensitive and should be handled with care. To manage the issue of employee disengagement, two things need focus. The first issue is commitment of employees while the other is salary adequacy (Kampung, 2017).

Reference

CIRT. (2017). Components of a Research Paper - Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching. Cirt.gcu.edu. Retrieved 3 September 2017, from https://cirt.gcu.edu/research/developmentresources/tutorials/researchpaper

CMOE. (2017). 10 Traits of Strategic Leaders. CMOE. Retrieved 17 June 2017, from https://cmoe.com/10-traits-of-strategic-leaders/

Flite, C. A., & Harman, L. B. (2013). Code of Ethics: Principles for ethical leadership. , 10(Winter),. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3544144/

Graciousness Survey. (2017). Graciousness Survey 2017 - Singapore Kindness Movement. Singapore Kindness Movement. Retrieved 13 September 2017, from https://kindness.sg/blog/2017/06/27/graciousness-survey-2017/

Hamel, G (2017). Example of a Business Contingency Plan. Smallbusiness.chron.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017, from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/example-business-contingency-plan-12292.html  

Harvard Business Review. (2017). Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 17 June 2017, from https://hbr.org/2013/01/strategic-leadership-the-esssential-skills

Hockett, K (2017), 5 Tips for Making Group Work Manageable. Edutopia. Retrieved 13 June 2017, from: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/tips-making-group-work-manageable-kristina-doubet-jessica-hockett  

Kamboj, P. & Singh, S. K. (2015). Effectiveness of Selected Teaching Strategies in Relation to the Learning Styles of Secondary School Students in India. Interchange, 46(3), 289-312. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/article/10.1007%2Fs10780-015-9253-7

Kampung, W. (2017). The Science of the 5Gs. WOW Kampung. Retrieved 13 September 2017, from https://wowkampung.com/5gs/science/

Kaur, L (2015). Future classroom with ICT tools. Educational Quest: An International Journal of Education and Applied Social Sciences, 6(2), 133-136. Retrieved from https://search.informit.com.au.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=842121265964419

Learning, I. of L. (2009, November 12). 3. Methods of collecting qualitative data.. Retrieved 13 June 2017, from: https://libweb.surrey.ac.uk/library/skills/Introduction%20to%20Research%20and%20Managing%20Information%20Leicester/page_54.html 

Levine, B. (2017). The Positive Power of Graciousness | SmartMouth Communications. Smartmouthcommunications.com. Retrieved 13 September 2017, from https://www.smartmouthcommunications.com/the-positive-power-of-graciousness/

Lombardo, J. (2017). Walmart: Organizational Structure & Organizational Culture - Panmore Institute. Panmore Institute. Retrieved 3 September 2017, from https://panmore.com/walmart-organizational-structure-organizational-culture

Management. (2017). Organizational Structure & Control. Albany.edu. Retrieved 3 September 2017, from https://www.albany.edu/faculty/es8949/bmgt481/lecture7.html

Shah, M. (2017). 3 Different Ways to Structure Quality In Your Company. Blog.lnsresearch.com. Retrieved 3 September 2017, from https://blog.lnsresearch.com/bid/172874/3-different-ways-to-structure-quality-in-your-company

Shenoy, S. (2017). 5 Types of Power You Can Use As a Project Manager! -. Pmexamsmartnotes.com. Retrieved 9 July 2017, from https://www.pmexamsmartnotes.com/5-types-of-power-to-a-project-manager/

Smithson, N. (2017). Google’s Organizational Structure & Organizational Culture - Panmore Institute. Panmore Institute. Retrieved 3 September 2017, from https://panmore.com/google-organizational-structure-organizational-culture

Tamang, b. (2013). What do you mean by Moral Leadership?. Globalethicsnetwork.org. Retrieved 4 May 2017, from https://www.globalethicsnetwork.org/profiles/blogs/what-do-you-mean-by-moral-leadership