Leadership Strategies of the Organization - Assignment Example

ASSESSMENT Assessment Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade/Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 16, 06, 2011 1). “Effective organizational management centers on understanding, appreciating and managing key independent OB variables moderating individual, group and organizational behaviors”. The organization arises when individuals come together in order to achieve a common goal, the management need to plan, organize, control and lead the employees effectively so that their goals can be realized. It is therefore, true to say that by understanding, appreciating and managing key independent OB variables will we have an effective organizational management (Bobbins 1997). Managers ought to understand clearly on the key independent variables of organizational behavior so that they can manage their organizations effectively, for example, the decisions made should be well analyzed before they are implemented since the consequences could affect the company negatively. It is crucial that managers appreciate the opinion of the employees and put into considerations when making important decisions, which will affect their employees. This will ensure that they do not face resistance when it comes to implementing the rules as the employees will feel that their thoughts were considered and that they participated in the exercise. Management should manage the variables in the most appropriate manner which will lead to full attainment of the organizational set goals and objectives. The management should ensure that they plan, control, direct and lead the variables in line with achieving the mission of the company by moderating individual, group and organizational behavior. There is a huge challenge when it comes to balancing the levels of independent variables which will work effectively in the organization it is problematic to establish a clear line which reflects the optimum point where an independent variable should be applied in the company to attain. The independent variables are those that the management can alter, and so it poses a challenge when it comes to the magnitude of change that will be needed in order to get to the most effective organization. There are several independent organizational behavior variables, which include organizational and management policies, different organizations have different policies when it comes to the way they operate their activities. Organizations are in a position to alter their policies in regard to how their managers will perform their duties and also how the company should be run. The management will change the policies so that the company is propelled to achieve the objectives which are set and this variable is linked directly to organizational effectiveness in that management will change its polices with the aim of being effective in the day to day operations of the organization. Decision making is another independent variable. The decisions made in the organizations are particularly important as it will determine whether or not the company achieves all it is intended to achieve. The organization is bale to review its mode of decision making and may decide to alter it, for example, where decisions take long to be made and causing the company to lose out on many opportunities the management may decide to decentralize decision making so that decisions are made immediately, this will ensure that the organization remain competitive and thus becoming effective. Leadership strategies of the organization are the other independent variable. Organizations use the leadership of their managers to influence the other employees such as by leading through example where top managers may set some standards that need to be maintained. The company could also select those leaders who have the objectives of the company at heart to lead in pursuit of the objectives which at the end of the day will push the organization to becoming effective. Skill is the final independent variable. Organizations use the skills of the workforce to achieve the day to day operations and ensure that tasks are done in the most appropriate way. The organizations can train their employees in accordance with the tasks that they are expected to perform. Employees can be trained in order to get experience in operating, for example, with new technology in place and this is another way of managing the organization effectively. 2). The central issue in the Skanska case is the Skanska Exchange. Petter had thought of the idea of standardizing the processes in Skanka’s Nordic residential construction business. His idea was going to help the Skanska to double its profits and widen the profit margin. There seems to be a problem with the other managers who are not ready to accept change because they fear to lose the status quo, for them if they accept the proposal they will have to share what they will be doing with others but for them they would prefer to be doing different things from others. Project managers of Skanska were the most difficult to deal with because they held themselves highly in the company, and it was much more difficult to convince them to accept the change. Petter is well prepared in the handling of the situation especial given his idea of increasing the profits of the company through standardization of the processes. The track record of Petter also speaks for itself as we can see he was able to turn around Selmer the company which was making losses to a profit making company. He is also a team player who can work well with others for the benefit of the company and this shows that given the chance he can bring the Skanska Exchange program into operation without any problem. He is a person who values performance and he will be able to encourage people to work hard on the project, the fact that he gathered in formations by using an external consultant gives him an edge because he has some facts and opinions which are independent. Petter is a person who motivates his fellow workers, and he can make his subordinates work with less resistance. His humor is an advantage as he can relate with the other people who will help in implementing the change in the company. Petter has some weakness in that he sometimes makes quick decisions without looking into the consequences of the decisions he is making. This could be his down fall since if the idea fails he will take the full responsibility for his decisions. It is clear from the above that Petter is well prepared to handle the delicate situation which is facing him. 3). I think creating best practices based on the identifiable market commonalities was a great Idea, if the company is able to do a thorough market research o its customers so that they really understand the needs of their customers they could improve on their products. The very best products could be produced so long as it is what the consumer of the products says it meets his taste. The market has similar taste and preferences, and I think if we get the best products for a sample of consumers we will cover all the customers’ needs. The market will be used to direct the company on what to produce in order to satisfy the customer’s needs, what the company ought to do is to look into the Nordic market to establish what is common and then proceed and produce what the market demands of them as the market potential is very high. Creating the best practices in the common market makes people improve on the quality of the products, and therefore, the customers will be attracted towards the products, this will also lead to specialization, which enhances organizational effectiveness. The exchange of experience will also be realized since people who have great skills can train those who do not have enough experience as they will be producing the same products in all the Nordic markets. This idea will also save the company extra costs that would have been encountered in operating differently in different markets such as training to managers who are transferred to other companies. The fact that different markets have different tastes and preferences will make it difficult to establish a common market. It will be wrong to try and produce common products to all markets since some markets may not purchase the products simply because it is not their type, I think it will be unfair to produce products without putting into consideration the need of the consumer whom we want to supply the products. It is a bad idea to place all the eggs in one basket. It is important to diversify the operations in different markets because it will reduce the risks that may arise in the business. It is now clear that the idea of creating best practices based on the identifiable market commonalities was a great idea from Petter and should be put in to practice for the good of the company. 4). Cooperation and standardization during acquisition would have saved a lot of money which the company needed, since the customers from these markets had almost the same characteristics we expect the requirements to be similar and so the company was going to produce standard products. With acquisition the company was expanding its operations and more customers were coming in the company, the cooperation of the different subsidiaries would have been made easy as the products would be similar. The challenges facing the different subsidiaries was the same and the means of dealing with these challenges would be common and this would be a competitive advantage to the company as it carries out its operations. Cooperation with other companies would have allowed the company to get some service at a reasonable cost instead of having to obtain the same at much expense, the cooperation would allow the company to concentrate more on what they can do best by using the expertise that they have in their possession and this would translate in specialized production which would result in quality products. The acquisitions meant the organization was increasing its market share and more income was expected and consequently more employees in the organization, standardization would help reduce time in training the new employees and the cost incurred. Standardization will ensure that products are produced in the quality in all the subsidiaries so we expect that the quality would be controlled effectively in the company, the customers will enjoy equal quality products at every subsidiary. The cooperation of some companies may not be beneficial because it may mean giving out some crucial information which may reach to the hands of competitors who may use the same to harm the company. Standardization may be expensive to the company and the company could make losses in its operations. I think there is synergy when it comes to standardization and cooperation, when companies cooperate they are able to reach a compromise price which will be reasonable and also with standardization the products will be produced at a given minimal qualities and the costs of production will be lower. The companies are able to concentrate on their products and some inventions may come up which will be an advantage to the company. Reference List Bobbins, PS 1997, Ogarnizational behavior, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Read More