Organizational Alignment of Kohl and Hofstede - Essay Example

Kohl and Hofstede Value Dimensions from Hofstede (2001) Cultural values from Kohls (1984). Organizational Alignment In contemporary workplaces, diversity in composition of staff has become a commonalty as the number of people from various backgrounds seeking employment continues to rise. Therefore, this essay is based on how Mantle Institute deals with the challenges posed by intercultural interactions based on the Kohl’s Values Americans Live By and Hofstede’s Value Dimensions theories. Based on the theories provided by Kohl and Hofstede, Mantle Institute faces various challenges in dealing with employees from different backgrounds. On gender issues, there are a number of issues that arise based on the cultural orientation of employees from junior level to those in management. Evidently, challenges due to gender issues in the workplace have female employees at a disadvantage compared to their male counterparts. The situation at Mantle Institute is supported by Welle and Heilman (2007) who notes contemporary society continues reveal various gender discrimination practices which are perceived as posing a great challenge to career progression of women. As Hofstede, indicates it on masculinity versus femininity, the workplace has to deal with the presence of both male and female employees. Given that the US has been identified as a masculine country, Mantle Institute has over the years implemented employee recruitment policies that support the hiring of both male and female employees based on the competitiveness of every individual. However, this does not imply that equality as observed by Kohl has been achieved as gaps between male and female employees still exists especially in areas of rank. Most of the high-ranking officials in management are male employees. Existence of occupational differences between female and male employees is supported by Welle and Heilman (2007) noting discrimination based on gender can be attributed to the existing conflicting perceptions between the necessary qualities essential for one to be successful at the workplace and the qualities that women are presumed to possess. Along with the qualities that male or female workers are presumed to possess is the perceptions about a particular work being suitable for a particular gender due to the difference in numerical figures of those employed in this positions (Lips, 2003). Individualism as noted by Hofstede and self-help by Kohl is another area that the organization has to deal with. Although the society emphasizes individualism and self-help for people to achieve their goals, Mantle Institute insists on collaborative efforts for the success of the organization. In this case, the success of the organization and therefore that of every employee depends on working on working together. Reliance on cooperation instead of competition is an important aspect of Mantle Institute as it increases output levels for the group. In this case, employees learn to appreciate the different talents and strengths that come with diversity thorough the experiences that they generate while working together. This understanding among employees improves their performance in the organizational teams. Consequently, employees whose aim is to have an organization that works smoothly as a unit for higher levels of performance should encourage formation of teams made up of employees from diverse backgrounds so that they can improve their interpersonal relationships (Glicken and Robinson, 2013). Consequently, the management strives to suppress the tendency of employees to exhibit individualism but work through a collectivism approach. In terms of power distance, there have been efforts to ensure this is as low as possible for the organization to work as a unit. In Mantle Institute, there is clear outline of key roles, responsibilities and processes which plays an important role in the establishment of organizational hierarchy. Reduced power distance between management and the rest of the staff creates convenience, accessibility and managers that would translate into an improvement in decision making while also contributing to improved flexibility in organizational processes (Jones, 2010). This system ensures managers and employees establish mechanisms for consultation while also making it possible for the staff to share information frequently. At the same time, communication at Mantle Institute has been made informal, direct and participative while also maintaining professionalism in the interaction processes. The reduced layer ensured a more direct reporting of matters affecting employees therefore improving their performance. According to Wood et al (2010), organizational size impacts the level of communication in a manner that increased size leads to more interconnections and therefore less direct communication between employees. Additionally, it is important to mention the importance of merit in the organization especially since recognition is always made based on the output of employees. There are efforts to award people who have recorded better results compared to the rest of the staff in particular department. This improves workplace output as employees to do wait to gain promotions through favoritism or perceptions that one deserves certain posts though by virtue of knowing someone in the management. Therefore, everyone has a chance for improvement based on their own capabilities and not due to fate or through birthright inheritance. Change management is also an important aspect of the organization, which is related to cultural interaction. The organization has over time introduced adjustments in various areas to ensure operations are matched to the current global condition. The management at Mantle Institute has a number of challenges to meet in order to create a working environment that supports new and innovative ideas. Given that the staff was used to the previous systems, the changes conducted might result in loss of direction for most of the employees, as they were not accustomed to the new reporting channels, processes and goals, which leads to increased levels of uncertainty. Such situations might lead to loss other qualified employees who may not feel comfortable with the new organizational atmosphere resigned due to the levels of upset and confusion about the ongoing situation at the workplace (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2000). Consequently, the organization has to invest significant recourses in terms of consultancy and finance to ensure impact analysis is conducted to get accurate assessment reports on the change management. Change management is also related to uncertainty avoidance, as employees do not know what the outcome of the process means in terms of their career prospects. Employee resistance to change in Mantle Institute can be attributed to the fact that they do not fully understand what the future holds for them. Consequently, the situation results in anxiety which employees have to deal with based on their level of preparedness and acceptance of the change process. These perceptions about change processes results in the need to identify the best suited approach that will ensure all employees are comfortable with the adjustments. Evaluation has an important role in creating efficiency in organization functioning especially it helps identify areas of waste, even in programs that seem to run successfully. When evaluation meets resistance of staff, this indicates there is a problem that needs to be addressed through either the evaluation itself or prior to conducting staff evaluation. Fear of evaluation is as a result of the unknown effect it will have on the staff especially as many of the employees wonder if they are going lose their jobs, have increased workload or be held accountable for negative results. Additionally, employees should be invited to contribute the process by being given a chance to ask questions and provide suggestions on evaluation in order to increase comfort levels and fully engage the staff. This can be achieved through introduction of processes that supports anonymity in presenting contributions especially in issues that might raise controversies (Hansen-Turton and Mortell, 2014). From the foregoing analysis of how Mantle Institute deals with different areas of cultural interactions, it is evident that the organization must create an effective and efficient mechanism to ensure it meets set goals and objectivities. Working in an environment that models employees to have certain preconceived ideas and worldviews, the organization must rationalize these perspectives to be aligned with organizational goals. References Bartlett, C. A., & Ghoshal, S., 2000. Transnational management (Vol. 4). New York: McGraw Hill. Glicken, M. D. & Robinson, B. (2013) Treating worker dissatisfaction during economic change. Massachusetts: Academic Press. Hansen-Turton, T., & Mortell, M. (2014). Making Strategy Count in the Health and Human Services Sectors. New York: Springer Publishing Company. Hofstede, G. H. (2001). Cultures consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. Jones, G. R., 2010. Organizational theory, design, and change. London: Pearson. Kohls, L. R. (1984). The values Americans live by. Washington, DC: Meridian House International. Lips, H. M. (2003) The gender pay gap: Concrete indicator of womens progress toward equality, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 3(1), 87-109. Welle, B. & Heilman, M. E. (2007) Formal and informal discrimination against women at work, Research in social issues in management: Managing social and ethical issues in organizations, 229-252. Wood, J, Zeffane, R., Fromholtz M., Wiesner R., Creed A., Schermerhorn J., Hunt J., & Osborn R., (2010). Organisational Behaviour, Core concepts & applications. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Read More