HI6005 Management and Organisations in a Global Environment

This is an individual assignment. Each week, based on the hour of e-learning activity that has been prescribed, you are required actively to engage with the material by writing a short discussion of how the material that was prescribed relates to the topic(s) of this subject and how it relates to your own personal experience.

You create a blog each week where you provide evidence that you have engaged in this way with the prescribed e-learning activity. In the blog, you mention any extra material relevant to the activity that you have researched on the net.

Week 1

In your blog, you should address the following two sections: 

1)        Section 1: list the key ideas you have extracted from the prescribed e-learning activity. 

2)        Section 2: apply those ideas to your own experience, to an organisation you know and to the topic(s) of this subject.  

Visit the following URLs, and use 'Questions to consider' to guide your thinking.

Activity 1: Structure and strategy

URL: BCG’s Yves Morieux view on Organisation Designx http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm7d1dzOKmw 

Questions to consider:

1. Yves Morieux claims that structure follows strategy. Is this always the case?

Activity 2: Holacracy

URL: Zappos just abolished bosses. Inside tech's latest management craze. http://www.vox.com/2014/7/11/5876235/silicon-valleys-latest-management-craze-holacracy-explained

Questions to consider:

1. What’s your understanding of holacracy? How would you describe it compared to bureaucracy and team-based structure?
2. Discuss howContingency Factors of Organisational Design are at work in the case of Zappos?
3. In what ways do you think innovative culture is related to (agile) organisational structure?

Week 2

In your blog, you should address the following two sections: 

1)        Section 1: list the key ideas you have extracted from the prescribed e-learning activity. 

2)        Section 2: apply those ideas to your own experience, to an organisation you know and to the topic(s) of this subject.  

Visit the following URLs, and use 'Questions to consider' to guide your thinking.

Activity 1: The Milgram Experiment

URL:

(1)   Milgram Experiment -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcvSNg0HZwk

(2)   Milgram Experiment replicated in Australia (Psychology study by La Trobe University in the 1970s) - http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3489852.htm

Questions to consider:

1. To what extent would you be capable of inflicting real pain (physical, mental and/or emotional) on another human being? 

Activity 2: Solomon Asch and Group Conformity

URL:

(1)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyDDyT1lDhA;

(2)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuvGh_n3I_M

Questions to consider:

1. Does your own personal decision-making always reflect an objective process?
2. Does the desire to be accepted as a part of a group leave one susceptible to conforming to the group’s norms?
3. Identify and discuss situational factors that can enable a group to exert pressure strong enough to change a member’s attitude and behaviour.

Week 1: Activity 1

Section 1 

According to Yves Morieux, Organization design of any company helps in gaining competitive advantage of an organization. Strategy of an organization is determined by the behavior of its people. The ability of an organization to leverage its capabilities helps in gaining competitive advantage.  The main problem with the organization design is that how can the strategies be translated into structure, systems and procedures. Strategies followed by an organization if not organized well strategies cannot be made successful. If there are too many layers in the structure and design of the organization then the decisions made will not be made rightly (Morieux & Tollman, 2014). 

Section 2

In my personal experience I have seen that those organization who do not have complex design are very easily managed and decisions can be taken in more efficient manner. On the contrary that organization where the design is complex managing becomes a very hectic procedure. I have seen it in my organization which does not have many layers towards the vertical direction of the organizational design and so in my organization decision making is easier and effective.

Activity 2

Section 1 

1. Holacracy is a method of decentralized management and governance. In this method, authority and decision-making are distributed among the teams that are self-governed. This method has been adopted by both  profit and nonprofit organizations. According to the CEO of Zappos Tony Hsigh centralization of power is harmful as well as acts as hindrance in the innovation (Robertson, 2015). Today, in order to gain competitive advantage companies are required to be adaptive and flexible.  Still Adoption of holacracy in organizational design would help Zappos to gain competitive design. Innovative culture helps the employees of the organization to be creative it emphasizes on creativity and innovation, which leads to an agile organizational design because the focus of each staff is on innovation so they give their best efforts (Robertson, 2015). 
2. Contingent factors of an organization are size, age, technology used, strategies and environment of the organization. Zappos is an old company it needs to identify its weakness and strengths to make effective strategies. In such case Holacracy is an effective method because it is used by other old companies as well.
3. Innovative culture affects the organization structure and design. A multidimensional organization requires an innovative culture. General strategies would not be effective. It might be profitable for a short span but it would not be beneficial for sustainability and therefore innovation is required and innovative culture is required to be adopted by the organization (Robertson, 2015).

Section 2

In my opinion, holacracy is an effective method for any organization though decentralization can be a bit risky and result in poor decision-making but still it is very effective. Innovative ways have is the only way an organization can gain competitive advantage. My organization always takes new and innovative measures because they feel that it is the only way to gain competitive advantage within an organization.

Week 2: Activity 1 

Section 1 

As per the results of the experiment done by Stanley Milgram of Yale University it was found that the normal people can go to any extent of obedience to their authorities even it demanded hurting others.  It is inherent in all the human beings to be obedient, it is how human beings are brought up, people accept order from the ones whom they think they are answerable. Obedience comes after the recognition of the authority as morally or legally right (Greenfield, 2015). In various situations the legitimate response to the authority can be learned. Milgram “The Perils of Obedience” bases this concept on the article.

Section 2

Yes, I can endure emotional and mental pain whenever it is required for me to be obedient. The extent of taking the pain though depends on my capability to breakdown in crisis. I am patient and strong enough to endure emotional pain. Enduring physical pain is very difficult for me and I think I can endure mental and emotional pain if necessary but physical pain might be a hindrance for me becoming obedient (Hodges, 2017).

Activity 2

Section 1

1. Yes own personal decision making reflects the objective process of an individual, individual decision making is often based on certain goals and objectives, objectives are the motive behind decision making and hence the objective process is also been reflected.
2. Yes desire to be part of group leaves an individual susceptible. The affiliation need of any individual can be fulfilled when they think they are part of a group or association. If they do not feel that they are part of the group they will never be able to accept the group norms (Bègue et al., 2015).
3. In any team, individuals are bound to have different opinions because no two individuals are same. Difference in opinion is one of the major reasons for conflict in an organization. It may also happen that a particular individual is forced to accept the decisions of the majority even if do not agree (Brandstetter et al., 2014). In that case, his attitude might change towards his group members. Other factor can be efficiency of other employees if any team member thinks that the other people in the team are not efficient then his or her attitude might change, as he would try to suppress other because of their sense of inferiority. If any individual does not think that, they are part of a particular group he or she will not behave as a member of the group. This would result in not following the norms and change in attitude. Ethical issues are one of the strong reasons when individuals might change their attitude towards other group members if they think that something unethical is going on within the team (Haslam,  Reicher & Birney, 2014).

Section 2

I am very delighted when my group members involve me in the decision making process. I feel that I belong to that group. I think all other team members feel the same. I have observed that whenever someone wants to be a part of a group they start following the group norms. Conflicts often change my attitude as well the attitude of other team members within a group.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that management in a global environment requires making strategies. For making strategies an organization needs to have a clear knowledge of their own capabilities which would help them gaining competitive advantage over the other companies. Holacracy is harmful for innovation but still it is being suggested for effective decision-making. Other things discussed were about Miligram experiment and Solomon Asch group conformity experiment. According to Stanley Miligram individuals in order to be obedient go to any extent to be loyal. While Solomon Asch has proved that individuals when want be part of a group follow the norms of the group.

References

Bègue, L., Beauvois, J. L., Courbet, D., Oberlé, D., Lepage, J., & Duke, A. A. (2015). Personality predicts obedience in a Milgram paradigm. Journal of Personality, 83(3), 299-306.

Brandstetter, J., Rácz, P., Beckner, C., Sandoval, E. B., Hay, J., & Bartneck, C. (2014, September). A peer pressure experiment: Recreation of the Asch conformity experiment with robots. In Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014), 2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on (pp. 1335-1340). IEEE.

Greenfield, R. (2015). Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy or Leave. Fast Company.

Haslam, S. A., Reicher, S. D., & Birney, M. E. (2014). Nothing by mere authority: Evidence that in an experimental analogue of the Milgram paradigm participants are motivated not by orders but by appeals to science. Journal of Social Issues, 70(3), 473-488.

Hodges, B. H. (2017). 6 CHAPTER Conformity and Divergence in Interactions, Groups, and Culture. The Oxford handbook of social influence, 87.

Morieux, Y., & Tollman, P. (2014). Six simple rules: how to manage complexity without getting complicated. Harvard Business Review Press.

Robertson, B. J. (2015). Holacracy: The new management system for a rapidly changing world. Macmillan.