Managing in Organization - Coursework Example

Managing in Organization Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Literature review 4 Critical analysis 7 Conclusion 10 Recommendation for future 11 Introduction An organization in the current scenario is a complex place. It has several interdependent components and a perfect balance between the different components is required for the proper functioning of an organization. Managing the organization in such a scenario becomes a very challenging and complex task. The managing of an organization has several different components under its dimension such as learning and progress, organizational structure and design, power, culture, decision making, motivation, nature of management etc. These dimensions of managing an organization are not only important but are also interdependent on each other. For example if one starts talking about learning and progress in an organization perspective then automatically the concept of motivation comes into picture. However the following pages talks about two particular dimensions of organization management that is learning and progress and cross cultural dimension of management. The learning and progress becomes important in the context of employee motivation and employee retention. The most important resource of an organization is its human resource. The organization strives to improve the quality of its workforce by imparting training to them. This is for the reason that if employees become the good the organization becomes better. Training and development is also provided to motivate and retain employees. The next element that is discussed is the importance of building and sustaining a cross cultural workforce. The important aspect in this perspective is how a cross cultural workforce can be managed so that maximum productivity can be extracted from the workforce. In discussing these two dimensions a lot of literary works has been cited. The theories in this literature are then compared with practical experience that I have gained in my work at Bank Muscat. The analysis has been on the grounds that whether the theories are useful in explaining real life situation of an organization and if the theories can be used to explain why certain things happened in the organization in the way it actually did. Literature review As organizations compete with each other in the global economy in terms of differentiating themselves they strive to find the factor that creates that important component that differentiates them and creates a competitive advantage for them. The important factor that aids in creating this competitive advantage is the employees of the organization. The employee of the organization provides that much needed competitive advantage. So the companies employ a number of training methods for their employees to imbibe effective skills in them. It is well articled facts that different activities related to training do have an affirmative impact on the performance of individual employee as well as team. Satterfield and Hughes (2007) believe that different types of creative changes related to training activities leads to improved performance of the employees. It also creates many positive changes among the team members and it acts as antecedents in the improvement of job performance. Arthur (2003) did a study and found out that training had a good impact on the overall performance of team workers. A study highlighted that effectiveness of a training program depended on the way training was being imparted and the skills or tasks for which training was being given. Effective training programs can be classified as those encompassing both cognitive and interpersonal skills along with psychomotor skills or tasks. Barber (2004) executed a qualitative study involving mechanisms of training held at Northern India and outlined on- the- job training to exhibit greater tacit and innovation skills amongst workers. The skills of tacit refer to the skills gained from various informal practices. These practices have a positive influence on overall performance. Yi and David (2004) organized two experiments involving around 300 persons and found that behavior modeling training actually helped in improving computer skills of the trained individuals substantially. Taylor (2005) conducted a study of the behavior based training models and found that the greatest effect was on declarative and technical knowledge. The former is the knowledge about what a task wants and technical knowledge is the knowledge about how to do a task. However Kozlowski et al. (2001) found that the positive impacts of training are not only limited to declarative and technical knowledge but extends to strategic knowledge or the knowledge about when to apply a particular skill. Ford & Schmidt (2000) also subscribes to this vies and they call this knowledge as adaptive expertise. According to Driskell et al. (2001) training also aids in enabling consistency in performance across conditions. Armstrong and Foley (2003) focused their study on the definition about the concept of learning organization. This is all about path followed by organizations to learn different aspects. Four elements were identified that enables development of learning organization. They are: learning identification, learning environment, outlining areas for improvement and applying them on workplace. Kumpikaite (2008) did a study of 37 Lithuanian organizations to find out learning styles and human resource management within firms. It was found in the study that most of the organizations possess few aspects of learning organization and adopts a formal structure of this form of learning organization. Organization now days, are not limited to a particular region but are spread across the globe. Organizations in essence have become truly global. This globalization of organization results in a workforce that consists of peoples of different cultures. In this context managing this diverse workforce becomes a challenging task for the Human resource department of the organization. Managing of diversity is also important because if the diverse workplace is properly motivated then organization excellence can be achieved. Managers who are effective are aware about skills that are required to effectively manage and lead to the success of a diverse workforce. According to Koonce (2001) managers must identify their personal cultural prejudices and biases. Managers should also reflect on understanding the consequences of discrimination. However it should be understood and appreciated that there is no single recipe for success and most of the time it is closely associated with team head and his capability to analyze what is beneficial for an organization. Dessler (2011) stated that diversity in essence means various demographic elements categorizing workforce of a firm, which is related to religion, sex, national origin, race, culture, age, etc. George and Jones states that diversity means wide array of characteristics amongst people in context of ethnicity, gender, religion, age, etc. As per Kelly and Cole (2011) there are two ways of elaborating diversity at workplace. First aspect is focused view on workplace diversity defining diversity as equal employment opportunity. This narrow definition of diversity only looks at characteristics such as those related to human characteristics. Second aspect or the broader view of diversity encompasses all factors through which individuals can be stated as different personality. According to Wambui, Wangombe, Muthura, Kamau & Jackson (2013) the firms ignoring importance of inclusion and diversity would not be able to attract and retain business partners, employees or customers needed or a business. Management of diversity is intended to encompass cultural differences amongst team members in order to secure high profit margins. It even helps to sustain positive work environment by taking into consideration employee differences. Diversity management literature is focused on organizational culture and team member differences. This literature mainly highlights culture prevailing within an organization, human resource management practices, perceived practices, expectations, incentive system and management of employee diversity. Many researchers have confirmed that an organization is able to manage diversity successfully then it will create a highly productive workplace where team members shall be motivated to outperform in every assigned task. If employees of the organization are successfully motivated and are better satisfied then it leads to the better performance of the organization. A diverse workplace leads to better success for the organization as different classes of people who contribute to organization success by giving in their valuable ideas. A diverse workforce contributes diverse ideas relating to business development. A diverse workplace also enables the company to understand the diverse needs of its customer base. Critical analysis Training, learning and progress activities for the employees always have positive impact on the employee performance. Training and development aids in increasing employee performance and adds to the way in which they serve the customers of the organization. If the employees of the organization perform in a better way consequently the organization as a whole performs well and it leads to the better revenues and margin of the organization. I personally worked at Bank Muscat and during my work at Bank Muscat I experienced a work environment that supported work place diversity. The work place and the organization culture at the bank were built on a concept of providing a learning atmosphere to the employees. The Bank understood the importance of the human resources of the people. It knew that if it had to achieve its organizational objectives then it had to equip its human resources with the requisite capabilities and competencies. It knew that by imparting these competencies and engaging in the skill development of the employees it would enable them to achieve the bank’s objectives and build its reputation in serving its customers in a better way. All this effort would ultimately lead to better business and profitability for the bank. The learning programs are imparted to the employees so that they can match with the growing operational complexity and technological innovations of the banking industry. To start with the learning and development program the faculty that was chosen to impart training to the employees were highly competent experienced practical bankers who also had an academic background. The choice of faculty is done to reflect a perfect balance of theory and practice in the programs that are imparted. In addition to the core trainers an additional team of subject matter experts of about 70 majorly bank’s line managers so that they can provide the required variety and depth regarding wide range of learning presentations focusing on development of capabilities related to wide set of functions. Facilities of learning that were used to impart training to the employees were of the state of the art and amongst the best in the banking industry in the GCC nations. The learning facilities were spacious and were furnished so as to create an ambience that made learning a memorable experience. The learning facility comprised of 3 classrooms, 2 syndicate rooms, a lab for computer and English language respectively and a library at the Learning & development centre at the HO. The computer laboratory has been specially designed to replicate the real life scenario of dealings with the customers in order to impart role based training to the employees. This training may be called a type of on-the-job training and as can be seen from the literature on the subject such type of training actually helps in imparting innovation and tacit skills to the employees. The additional feature of the learning provided in the different learning centers is the recognition that the learning styles of different employees are different. So the learning programs of the organization are designed to provide blended learning delivery methods which appeal to different lifestyles of the employees of the organization. The different learning delivery methods are Development centers The development programs designed by the bank are aimed to provide learning on an ongoing basis for staffs that are high potential. Some example of these programs Educational assistance scheme Bank Muscat provides its employees with a very flexible and employee friendly sponsorship scheme. By this scheme it aids its employees in completing their further studies. College of banking and financial studies Bank Muscat sponsors the tuition fees of the eligible employees to various undergraduate programs at the college of banking and financial studies. Professional certification scheme Bank Muscat also encourages and supports their employees to pursue specialized professional programs on banking which adds to their professional qualification and their capabilities. The Bank Muscat has additionally formed partnership with Institute of Management Development (IMD), Switzerland to be included amongst the elite list of 23 partners from across the world’s leading organizations and the only one in the Gulf. This partnership gives the employees of the bank vast access to a wide array of learning resources. The bank has one of the largest and most comprehensive banking and management libraries in the country. It includes 1,401 titles, 311 CDs/DVDs, 387 business journals/ magazines and 110 audio/ video cassettes. The bank Muscat also provides internship opportunities in the country college and university graduates. This is part of the organization’s pledge to be the revolutionary socially responsible association in the country. The program is devised to help students to develop a professional outlook by exposure to the work environment and so that they may develop interest in the banking career. The Bank Muscat has been given several accolades over time proving that its learning and development practices falls among the best in the world. It has been recognized as the best employer in the State of Oman. It has been also awarded with best employer award in Asia, investor in people award and people credibility maturity model. Bank Muscat also cultivates a culturally diverse organization. It employs people from different cultures so that the workplace within the organization is comprised of people belonging to different cultures. It facilitates diversity in the workplace on grounds of religion, sex, language, age, sex etc. To facilitate diverse workforce and the proper intermingling between them, the organization encourages the people of one department to change departments so that there is a better chance of different peoples to mix with each other. This in part enables the organization workforce to work in collaboration with each other. The organization encourages the employment of female workforce in the organization and devices policies which helps the women to come and work for the organization. As per its commitment to the Oman it takes in most of its employees from Oman. However in special cases it takes in talented individuals from other countries as well. Within woman it encourages participation from different people without having a bias towards a particular community, sex, age, culture or religion etc. The organization takes pride in promoting a culturally diverse organization. To enable better interactions amongst the people of the organization it encourages them to interact with each other in a more proactive way. To facilitate communications amongst the employees so that they can work in a much better and cooperative way with each other, it encourages them to shift departments and work in other departments. Conclusion The concept of managing in organization is a complex subject and consists of several interdependent fields. The most important resource in an organization is its employees. If the employees of the company are properly managed then it creates a competitive and strategic advantage for the company. Managing the people in the organization is more important in the view of the present business scenario. Among different subparts in the concept of managing an organization the ones that are chosen to be analyzed in the above discussion are learning and development and the diversity in workplace. The organization chosen the analysis is Bank Muscat. As part of the analysis first of the literature on the subject is analyzed. After analysis of the available literature on the subject the conclusion arrived is that providing employees with opportunity to learn increases their talents and increases their capabilities in serving the customers in a much better way. Similarly the organization which supports a diverse workplace actually aids in employee motivation. Different people belonging to different backgrounds provide positive insights which help in the overall growth and development of the company. When the subject of learning and development and workplace diversity is analyzed with respect to Bank Muscat, it is found that the bank promotes an environment that promotes learning opportunity for its employees. The organization has been awarded several accolades for its distinguishing efforts in provision of learning and training opportunities for its employees. The bank also supports a diverse workplace and for facilitating diverse workplace and better engagement among its employees, it facilitates engagement of people from different departments in the organization and encourages its workforce to engage with each other. So by analyzing these two subdivisions for Bank Muscat it can be safely said that the bank is adept in providing good learning and development option to its employees and also provides good scope for encouraging diversity in the organization. Recommendation for future For any organization there is always a scope for future development. In the long run the company that stays in the business is the company which can adapt its practices according to the needs of the generation and time. In every department the company has to always strive for improvement and betterment in order to stay relevant. The company must not only strive to bring in improvements in the products but also the way it manages every human resource in the company. The ultimate point that the company has to remember is that the human resource is the best resource of the company and is the ultimate source of competitive advantage. So the better management of the human resource of the company should be the company’s goal and objective. From the analysis of Bank Muscat in the above pages it was found that the company manages its human resources quite well, especially in the field of providing them with training opportunities and promoting diversity at the workplace. Still there are lots of areas that still remains where the company can develop itself further. The company must in order to encourage diversity in the workplace based on sex provide the female employees with special facilities such as concession on leave in maternity periods. To encourage diversity on the basis of physical ability, the bank must create special posts for the disabled etc. The bank should also aim to promote further learning opportunities to employees. It can provide its employees with online learning resources. Additionally it can promote shifting of employees to branches in remote areas so that they can learn the business model of operation in that place. References Armstrong, A. and Foley, P., 2003. Foundations for a learning organization: organization learning mechanisms. The learning organization, 10(2), pp.74 – 82. Arthur, W.J., Bennett, W.J., Edens, P. and Bell, S.T., 2003. Effectiveness of training in organizations: a metaanalysis of design and evaluation features. Journal of applied psychology, 88(2), pp. 234–45 Barber J., 2004. Skill upgrading within informal training: Lessons from the Indian auto mechanic. International journal of training and development, 8(2), pp.128–39. Cole, G. and Kelly, P., 2011. Management: Theory and practice. Hampshire: Cengage Learning. Davis, F.D., and Yi, M.Y., 2004. Improving computer skill training: Behavior modeling, symbolic mental rehearsal and the role of knowledge structures. Journal of applied psychology, 89(3), pp. 509–523. Dessler, G., 2011. Human resource management. Harlow: Pearson Education. Driskell, J.E., Johnston, J.H., and Salas, E., 2001. Does stress training generalize to novel settings? Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 43(1), pp. 99-110. Flagg, A., 2002. Managing diverse workgroups successfully. [Online] Available at [Accessed 1 January 2015]. Ford, J. K. and Schmidt, A. M., 2000. Emergency response training: strategies for enhancing real-world performance. Journal of hazardous materials, 75(2), pp. 195-215. Jones G. and George J., 2011. Essentials of contemporary management. New York: McGraw – Hill. Kozlowski, S.W., Gully, S. M., Brown, K. G., Salas, E., Smith, E. M., and Nason, E. R. 2001. 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