Management of Professionals - Assignment Example

Critical Thinking Questions What would you do as a recent college graduate entering a new job to maximize your power and accelerate your career progress? As a recent college graduate, I would endeavor to be a part of an organization so that my learning curve does not come to a halt and it continues to blossom in much the same manner as it would have in the college ranks. This means that I will pursue an internship or look for a job that is on the beginner’s level. I would look to assist the manager level positions so that my understanding of the pertinent career gets diverse on a consistent basis and the career growth expands in an exponential manner. I would also like to acquaint myself with the growing technologies of the time and the ones which are in close semblance with my area of expertise. I would look to gain knowledge through hands-on experience as well as diversify my talent by working pro-bono (for free) even. This would expand my repertoire of work ethics as well as give a positive indication to my future employers whilst I have a college degree in my hands. 2. "Politics is not inherently bad. Its merely a way to get things accomplished within organizations." Do you agree or disagree? Defend your position. I disagree with this statement. I believe politics is bad in any form and shape. There must be a formal way to conduct the business operations of the organization and politics should not make the round of the said regimes. This is because I opine that politics mars the whole fabric of discipline and status quo within the organization and the things start getting accomplished with the acceptance of favors. This means that the persons who are not in favor cannot get their works done which is against the basic philosophy of any organization and hence there develops a sense of distrust and animosity within the workplace which cannot be considered acceptable at any level whatsoever. Lastly politics thwarts the management routines in a drastic manner, so much so that the bosses stop getting the respect that they deserve at the hands of their junior employees. Also there is more informality between peers in a negative way which is simply unacceptable from the organizational standpoint. 3. You are a sales representative for an international software company. After 4 excellent years, sales in your territory are off 30 percent this year. Describe three defensive responses you might use to reduce the potential negative consequences of this decline in sales. As a sales representative, I would find defensive responses so that the relevant stakeholders do not lose trust in our sales regimes. First response would be to present facts and figures to the people who matter because it is their money on which our business is running. These people will appreciate our truthfulness and would look to build a solid long standing rapport with us in the future. Second response could be to follow up on the negativities that we will be presenting on them. We will keep them in the loop as well as tell them where the company can stand up again and how it is devising ways and means to do the very same. Third and last defensive response is to offer short term gains to channel members at different levels so that they remain in our hold as well as firmly attached with our business and do not leave us high and dry when the going gets tough at our end. We can repay them at a later stage when profits are coming from left, right and center for us, hopefully in the near future. 4. "Sexual harassment should not be tolerated at the workplace." Workplace romances are a natural occurrence in organizations." Are both of these statements true? Can they be reconciled? Sexual harassment is also one of the few significant topics that come under discussion here. This menace has been on the rise ever since women started to get jobs and work in an environment that was so very unique and different from their cozy ones at home, where they were not subjected to indifferent attitudes and dispositions. In present times, this form of harassment has been entirely changed and distorted, giving way to more newer ones like putting more workload on females than their male counterparts as well as giving the former less salaries as compared to the men in the offices, having more for doing less. The top one of these aspects is the indiscriminate attitude of the staff towards the women working in the offices which has given birth to gender issues like the sexual harassment and racial vilification ones. In the present day workplace situation, white men have encouraged the selection of white women as well as minority group members but there is a totally different posture when the selection of black community staffing within these companies starts making waves. This must be discouraged within the companies if a fair and impartial selection policy has to be devised – one that is evenhanded for both the sexes and bears no prejudices for a particular black or white community or nationality, for that matter. This all goes to show the problems that a particular society and more so an individual has within him or her which eventually gives birth to domestic ones and thereafter he or she transfers the same into his or her workplace environment. It should be kept in mind that office is not a part of home and its environment must be, in all cases, totally different from what is going through at home, no matter how hard and tough the times might be for a person. (Shrier, 1996) 5. Which impression management techniques have you used? What ethical implications are there, if any, in using impression management? Impression management is defined as deliberate changing of truth so that a favorable image could be formed. I have used the impression management techniques including dress, make-up, hairstyle and general behavior facets. I believe these only help in giving a clear enough picture of the potential that an employee has within the realms of the organization. The ethical implications of impression management are manifolds since creating a false impression might not be truthful towards the working domains of the organization and hence people could be fooled into believing individuals based on their impressions rather than reality which is opposite to what has been presented. The notion of effective impression management techniques is more significant than doing it in an ethical consideration since if the results are in the form of striking deals and positive negotiations than one could think of this discussion as being a good one for the organization. 6. How is the typical large corporation of today organized in contrast to how that same organization was probably organized in the 1960s? Compared to 1960s, today’s large corporation has changed for the better. There is more accountability within the related ranks and employees are answerable for their pertinent actions more than ever before. There is a more organized mannerism to the whole process of business actions and decisions that are made. More so, the role of middle management has come out clean and clear. They have taken the significance of knowledge management in the current times and specialists are given higher and more quintessential roles than ever before. The activities are handled in a formal manner and each and every employee knows his/her task very clearly which was not the case in the 1960s. Hence the corporate world of today has changed for the better and this has only happened because man has learned more, technological advancements have happened at the right time and man has known to exploit the resources available at his disposal in a better, effective and efficient manner all the same. 7. Do you think most employees prefer high formalization? Support your position. Most of the employees like that their workflows and activities are formalized and there are no apprehensions in this regard. This means that they want processes and undertakings to come within an automated control and sequence must be manifested to the very same. This is a very similar situation to the one which human resources department likes to have within its ranks on a consistent basis. High formalization can only be attained when the employees what they can actually deliver to the organization, both from the short term perspective as well as in the longer scheme of things. Hence most employees prefer formalization in different cadres of their individual undertakings as well as the relationship that they have in accordance with the organizational activities, processes, benefits and even losses that are incurred on its part. High formalization must be appreciated by the top management so that employees feel the need to have the same within their individual capacities. (Shell, 2003) 8. If you were an employee in a matrix structure, what pluses do you think the structure would provide? What about minuses. The pluses of the matrix structure include the executive development and community service which facilitate the MBA in more ways than one. The academic departments help greatly in the field of research to Master’s level students, which in my case is of sheer significance. Also executive development helps us to gain a clear cut understanding of the way our degree will shape up within the future as well as find us jobs in the coming times. Community service is a pertinent aspect of any business and more so with the advent of green and socially responsive environmental programs, the need has become all the more quintessential than was the case in the past. The minuses of the matrix structure include the time that a student could give towards executive development and community service as he is pre-occupied with course work and examinations from time to time. He hardly gets time from his busy schedule to indulge in executive development and community service works, which surely is a point of concern. 9. What behavioral predictions would you make about people who worked in a "pure” boundary-less organization (if such a structure were ever to exist)? If such a boundary-less organization existed in reality, workers would have either been purely committed towards their job undertakings or would have strayed into informal activities all the time. This really concerns the manner in which people take up the matter of a boundary-less organization in the first place. Certain individuals would not have reacted any different to a normal, realistic organization but others would have felt the pinch and tried to be more creative than the rest and thus experiment to be a little more ‘different’ than the rest. A pure boundary-less organization is not exactly the solution for getting the best out of employees but then again it could be deemed as a success if the employees know what they are accountable for, which in other words means that there is a proper check and balance mechanism in place. This would indeed solve the quandary related with a pure boundary-less organization all said and done. 10. Pfizer buys Warner-Lambert, Alcoa purchases Reynolds Metals. Nestles S.A. mergers with Ralston Purina. Each of these is a recent example of large companies combining with other large companies. Does this imply that small is not necessarily beautiful? Are mechanistic forms winning the "survival-of-the-fittest" battle? What are the implications of this consolidation trend for organizational behavior? Small is definitely beautiful but there is a different perspective when it comes to mergers. These bring with them a sense of largeness which is attached with the already established names within the pertinent business. The implications of these mergers are magnanimous since the organizational behavior regimes also change. The changing patterns see that some employees are removed off the active roster while others are transferred to different branches or territories. There is a complete shift in the way the new merger thinks and acts. The philosophy changes in more ways than one and hence the organizational understanding starts to alter as a result of these endeavors. (Abbasi, 1991) In the present times, “Survival of the Fittest” holds a lot of meaning and value for the individuals who are working within the domains of such an organization. All said and done, “Survival of the Fittest” will continue to be remarked as a term/phrase which will decide the winner as the one having more power and control and the loser having none within his grasp, speaking from a truly organizational standpoint. Bibliography ABBASI, Sami M. (1991). Merger Mania: Human and Economic Effects. Review of Business, Vol. 13 SHELL, Richard L. (2003). Management of Professionals. Marcel Dekker SHRIER, Diane K. (1996). Sexual Harassment in the Workplace and Academia: Psychiatric Issues. American Psychiatric Press Word Count: 2,095 Read More