Gender Equity and Organizational Effectiveness - Essay Example

Business 503 Organizational Change and Transformation Mod Case Assignment Analysis of CGIAR Gender Equity and Organizational Effectiveness Case Study Burke-Litwin Model Burke-Litwin Model Case Study Introduction The Burke-Litwin Model is a model that was developed in the 1980s (Jones & George, 2007). It often goes above and beyond when compared to some of the other models, there are twelve organizational variables that are included in the model. Those variables include such things as external environment, mission and strategy, leadership, organizational culture, structure, management practices, systems, work unit climate, task requirements and individual skills, motivation, individual needs and values, and individual and organizational performance (Leadersphere, 2005). This paper will analyze the change that was determined at CGIAR using the Burke-Letwin Model. Case Analysis The CGIAR case study represents an agricultural research institute that was concerned about the history of gender inequality and the belief that this process continued. They believed that gender equity is important in organizational effectiveness. There had been some approach to the subject prior to the present work. When looking at statistics they noted that in 1997 when they decided to recruit more women that women were only 24% of the staff. 16% of those were scientific staff. They had no women at the senior management level. 70% of men who were recruited scientists were senior while on 30% of women were. They realized that these numbers meant that women in the corporation were vulnerable tokenism and performance pressure. The initial approach to this change was done with the needs of the employee creating an organization of better production (Climate, skills, individual needs). The goal was to "stimulate their fullest productivity and satisfaction in their professional and personal lives, harness diverse skills, perspectives, and knowledge, value different contributions and ways of working, and engage both women and men in the decision making that shapes the work and the environment." The organization felt that they had poor gender equity and this as affecting the overall effectiveness of the organization (Culture). When the company began to tackle the issue, they used a diverse committee that included culturally different people throughout the organization that would have different viewpoints (Leadership, Culture). This in itself speaks to the change, considering that these decisions would have been made by the senior people prior to this and those were men (Warner & Litwin, 1992) The collaborative workers were in the US and exerted external knowledge in action and implementation (External environment). Many of the issues that were discussed in the beginning of this process was the fact that how the employees felt generally about their work and the reality check of what was really happening and how they really felt was confusing. For example, they felt a great deal of pride in their company and they were glad that they worked there but when probing continued they also felt disjointed and disorganized and felt that management practices included constantly adding to the job but never taking anything away from the job which consistently prevented them from being successful (Leadership, culture, management practice). Change began to show and this confused the staff that had worked for this company for some time. They were excited yet they were fearful (Climate). There were new skill sets which meant a greater diversity in their work environment. This kind of issue is always confusing and fearful for people (Skillmatch, job match) Overall, all of the variables that are mentioned in the B-L Model affected some part of the scenario in the change in this organization. The external environment was changing and the new Director for the organization realized that and determined that their efficiency was not as good as it needed to be and set about finding out why. This, as part of his new agenda, turned out to partly be a gender related issue. This led to the effectiveness of his leadership style as he organized the change agents needed both internal and external to make the best collaborative effort at making the change that was needed and to achieve buy-in along the way. The culture of the system (Kotter, 1997) had been one of "it has always been this way" and science general, "prove to me there is a problem." This alone had to change. The culture could not remain like this if the new process was to work. Changing the culture came with much trial and effort which was a learning experience for all and quite a lot of room for argument along the way. The old management practices were ones that actually encouraged gender related problems with giving men senior status on hiring and not women. There was reason to believe that the prior lead ship of the organization was actually the reason why this problem existed. As the systems of the organization are looked at, it becomes clear that they did not meet the individual needs of all but only those of men. Women were really seen s token hires to show that there were women working for the organization. This began to change when competency in all were tested and there were many women who moved to senior positions based on their knowledge. This began to show a different perspective of which the new management style could use to move the organization forward. This effort made it not about gender but about knowledge and ability which is what must happen if the old ways are to change. As each of these things changed, so did the climate of the organization. This did not happen overnight and even after the change was made, there were disgruntled employees that thought that the change was inappropriate. When this kind of change occurs though, it is up to those that do not agree to the change to find a way to make the change or move to an organization that meets their needs. The most difficult part of these kinds of decisions fall when skills matches are done. In the part positions were held based on gender so when skills and ability are matched to the job, many changes are made. This is a large part, according to the methodology of the B-L Model of what improves motivation and performance throughout the organization. This plus the fact that individual needs and values have been met which also drives that motivation and performance. Conclusion The B-L Model is excellent in looking at the change needs of an organization and how the variables in the model can improve the way the change makes. There are many things that most of us would like to continue to ignore as they are too hard to change but for the sake of the organizations these changes must be make. The B-L Model helps to explain why those changes are important and what the outcomes of those changes might be. References Kotter, J. (1996) Leading Change: Harvard Business School Press:Boston Leadershpere Inc Jones, G & George J.(2007) Contemporary Management.:McGraw Hill: Boston Warner, B., Litwin, G. (1992). A causal model of organizational performance and change. Journal of Management. 18(3). 523. Read More