Australian Public Service Commission - Coursework Example

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITY REFLECTIVE JOURNAL Ruzhou Zhang U3106052 In the process of studying this unit, I have learnt a lot about organizational capability. Organizational capability can be defined as the capacity of an organization to use its human resources, material resources and financial resources to get a competitive advantage over its competitors. Organizational capability, therefore, is the ability or capacity of an organization to deploy its assets in order to improve its performance (Ticha 2017, 159). Capabilities are different from resources in that although organizations may have access to the same resources, it is their capabilities that enable them to configure as well as deploy these resources in a way that gives the organization an edge over the others. Organizational capabilities, therefore, drive the growth and performance of a firm. They make the firm stand out from its competitors. These capabilities may be the presence of team-based structures that enable workers or employees to take part in decision-making, reward systems that motivate the employees towards innovation or the availability of resources to promote employee learning and development. In the course of the unit, we had the opportunity to study a research report highlighting the organizational capabilities of Australia’s Department of Employment. Through the study of the report, I learnt that the three main focus points when assessing an organization’s capability are leadership, strategy and delivery. Through the unit, I learnt that the senior leaders such as managers and directors need to provide strong leadership that can shape the entire organization based on the objectives and goals of the firm. I learnt that the leaders in a firm need to set a clear direction for the firm and the employees such as through coming up with a strategic plan. This can also be achieved by setting out a clear vision for the organization. The strength and effectiveness of the strategic plan depends on the presence of an outcome-focused leadership (Australian Public Service Commission 2015, 13). The foundation of such a plan is communication where the entire staff understands the importance of effective communication from the senior leadership to the staff and vice versa. The leadership needs to communicate the strategic plan to the staff in an effective way to ensure that every team member is driven towards achieving the organizational goals. I have also learnt that one other important aspect of effective leadership is the ability of the senior managers and other leaders to motivate the staff. In this aspect of leadership as a capability, I understood the need for a leadership that creates and sustains a unifying culture in the organization (Hase 2016, 4). The leadership needs to set values to guide employee behavior which in the end promotes the development and maintenance of a culture that is based on unity and cooperation. Through the unit, I was able to understand that motivation also arises where the leadership becomes role models inspiring the loyalty, respect and confidence of the staff and other stakeholders (Australian Public Service Commission 2015, 14). Another important aspect of an organization’s capabilities is the strategy. A firm’s strategy refers to the future direction set for the organization. I was able to understand that a firm’s strategy determines its performance and competitiveness. Other than having a well laid out plan for the future direction of the company, the firm needs to ensure that the qualities possessed by the workforce promote the realization of the strategy. This means that they need to have the right skills and knowledge to implement the strategy (Ticha 2017, 161). There is need for an environment that promotes learning and development for the employees to keep them up to date with any changes in the field or industry that may affect the strategy. I also learnt that having the right resources needed in the implementation of the strategy also determines whether the strategy is achievable. There is also the need to enact the right policies which promote the achievement of the strategy. This means that policies enacted in the firm need to be coherent and in support of the strategy. Where the policies are inconsistent with the strategy, then it becomes unachievable. The last aspect of the organizational capabilities is delivery. The firm must have the people, systems and structures that support the vision, strategy or the plan of the organization. In the course of the unit, I was able to understand that one of the main factors that determine the success or failure of an organization is the kind of services offered to customers. When it comes to service delivery to customers, then the staff must be well equipped to provide quality services that keep the customers coming. However, for this to happen, there must be a proper structure, people capacity and appropriate systems. People capacity means that the employees must have the right skills and knowledge required for the work that they are supposed to do. This calls for proper recruitment and selection processes (Australian Public Service Commission 2015, 25). A proper structure for an organization means that the leadership should create a hierarchical structure where every employee knows their work. Where there is duplicity of the work being done by the employees, then the service delivery is hampered negatively. This structure also puts the employees into teams or departments that enable them to work together to achieve the goals set for their teams. A proper structure, therefore, promotes innovation. The presence of systems that allow learning and development among the employees can help boost the innovation drive in the organization. Innovation leads to the quality service delivery to customers hence creating a competitive advantage for the firm (Australian Public Service Commission 2015, 25). I was also able to learn that other than the three aspects of organizational capabilities there are other factors that influence these capabilities such as organizational change, dynamic capability, strategic management and strategic human resource management. The success of an organization in the current competitive environment depends on the ability to gracefully go through change. Such change can arise from restructuring, mergers and process enhancements. Organizational change is a response to the ever-changing business environment. An organization must make changes as the market is changing to ensure that such a firm remains competitive and successful (Mourfield 2014, 6). Such change depends on the leaders and their ability to understand the markets. Organizational change is closely linked to dynamic capabilities of an organization. Dynamic capabilities means a firm’s ability to purposefully modify or extend its internal and external competencies as a response to the changing environment (Teece 2013, 1). Through the study of the unit, I have been able to understand that the dynamic capabilities of a firm determine how well and successful the organizational change will be to the firm. One of the important dynamic capabilities is learning. Firms, as well as the employees in these firms, need to learn quickly in order to adjust to the changes in the business environment. Changes in the markers may occur without any clear warning. This means that the organization, as well as the employee, will not have prepared for the changes. There is a need to ensure that the employees can learn fast to enable them to understand the changes in the market and proceed to make the necessary changes in the firm’s processes (Teece 2013, 1). Another dynamic capability that I learnt from the unit is the ability to create strategic assets. Change in the market may need the use of effective means to drive change such as through the use of technology. The organization must, therefore, be capable of adjusting by introducing assets which can help the firm cope with the changes in the business environment. Another important lesson for me in the course of studying the unit is the importance of strategic management and strategic human resource management in a firm. Strategic management involves formulating decisions to enable a firm to achieve its objectives. Strategic human resource management relates to the managerial activities and tasks aimed at developing and maintaining a qualified and effective workforce (David 2011, 7). The two concepts help in formulating the right decisions in pursuit of achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. In conclusion, I have so far learnt that organizational capabilities determine the success of failure of an organization. A company or business needs the right leadership to ensure that the decisions made promote the achievement of the overall objectives of the firm. There is also the need for proper strategies that can ensure the prosperity of the organizational. The delivery system is also essential to the success of a firm because it ensures that qualified employees are hired and proper structures put in place to ensure the success of the firm. References Australian Public Service Commission 2015, Capability review: Department of employment, Commonwealth of Australia. David, F 2011, Strategic management: Concepts and cases, Pearson Education. Hase, S 2016, Measuring organizational capability: Beyond competence, Southern Cross Business School. Mourfield, R 2014, Organizational change: A guide to bringing everyone on board, Indiana University. Teece, D 2013, Dynamic capabilities, The Scholar Entrepreneur. Ticha, I 2017, Organizational capabilities as a source of competitive advantage: A conceptual framework, Department of Management, Czech University of Life Sciences. Read More