Elements Essential for the Success or Failure of an Organization - Coursework Example

Elements Essential for the Success or Failure of an Organization Name Course Institution Due Date Elements Essential for the Success or Failure of an Organization Introduction There are several elements that are significant in determining the success or failure of an organization. Leadership is the common and known factor. However, other issues such as integrity, knowledge, environment, employee engagement and strategy are crucial too. This paper discusses these factors and how they influence organizations towards success or failure. Integrity Integrity is a basic challenge that most organizations face in the effort of standing out in the dynamic world market. Companies need to adjust in their behaviour both internally and externally in order to be successful in the economic arena (Nash, 2006). It is believed that without integrity as a value within an organization, the latter’s business is bound to be short-lived. If a company embraces integrity value at the lowest and the superficial levels, integrity becomes its centrality of life that defines its identity and culture, hence making the difference between the organization’s failure and success. When it comes to management, integrity is intricate to define. Scholars have tried to focus on what it entails, but in varying perspectives. Some scholars associate integrity with a characteristic of personality which results in various levels of unethical or ethical behaviour. All in all, this paper focuses on the significant attributes of integrity. There are five various ways that integrity is used in the literature of organizations: under adversity as consistent, being truthful to oneself, wholeness, consistency between actions and words and as an overall manner of being ethical or moral (Amann and Stachowicz-Stanusch, 2012) Amann and Stachowicz (2012) argue that integrity as a value is one the most crucial humanistic management’s assets, since one cannot consider a business as ‘an organization of capital goods’ but ‘an organization of persons’ in the first place. Many contemporary organizations base their strategies of integrity on initiatives with common structural characteristics like code of conduct, controls for adherence of the company’s standards and laws, among others. Firms express their integrity in forms of statements including the value statements and mission of the company. Through adoption of integrity at the core of an organization, is roadway to survival in the world’s marketplace. Even though integrity is seen as a personal virtue, its understanding is solid within an organization and between and among people’s relationships. This implies that a firm can only succeed by employing the principles of humanistic management since these principles are critical in managing human resources, that is in line with considering human beings as a the core of a firm (Havard Business School, 2011). Knowledge According to Amar (2002), it is nearly impossible to compete in the global contemporary markets without efficient knowledge use in the operations of an organization. Myriads of firms employ knowledge in forms such as computing, scientific innovations, information technology as well as the internet. The strategy is adopting new and creative ways of knowledge to get a leap in the competitive business world as well as to stay effective and efficient when it comes to production. Such organizations utilize contemporary specialized and scientific knowledge, information technology and computers as elementary inputs of their general operations. Amar (2002) calls such companies ‘Knowledge Organizations’. For instance, a management information system (MIS) entails organized procedures, databases, software, people as well as devices which are essential in delivering information to decision-makers and managers on a routine basis. This MIS is focused on the efficiency of a Knowledge organization’s operations. It supports marketing, manufacturing, finance, production as well as other active actors of an organization through linkage of a common database. A vivid case study is the Dell Company whereby its computer utilized the software of manufacturing MIS to create various reports on its costs and processes of manufacturing. Dell Company’s product variety doubled and at the same time saved approximately $1 million in the costs of manufacturing every year (Reynolds and Stair, 2011). In as much as knowledge in technology plays a critical role in ensuring the success or failure of an organization in the contemporary world, there will come a time when many if not all organizations will be entirely dependent on innovation that the concept ‘knowledge organization’ by itself and in itself will be obsolete (Reynolds and Stair, 2011). Besides, as argued by Ashurst and Doherty (2011), education lays a framework for people to learn and employ new practices in an effective manner in order to gain the benefits of the projects of an organization. Moreover, when it comes to the management of risk within an organization a plan is required and the way to this is through training the members of the firm and have their ideas included in the formation of a comprehensive and effective risk management plan (Entrepreneur’s Toolkit, 2012). Environment The organization’s context affect the decision making process and ultimately the success or failure of that particular company. In any case, it is crucial to know how the environment of an organization can be measured and described as well. Also, this paper describes how the environment is known by the organization and how it influence decision-making in it. it is also known that the environment of a firm can influence the results of that firm without affecting its behaviour in any way. Some environmental elements may be ideal to the firm’s decision makers and hence may not determine the actions of the firm. In any case these very elements are critical in influencing the failure or the success of that firm. There are three environmental levels when it comes to organizations. System of interconnected organizations and individuals, who are connected to one another and to one focal firm via the transactions of an organization; a group of firms and individuals whereby the firm interacts directly with them and in which the firm is able to experience its environment; and the level in which entails the representation and perception of the organization- enacted arena. These three levels are automatically linked. The bigger system of the environment can impact the transactions set between its firm set and the focal firm and these transactions are actually the raw material that lay the ground for the formation of enacted environment. The environment that is enacted affects the actions of the firm and at the same time events in the rest of the levels of environment influence results. A case study is when organizations in that purchased coal mines in early 1960s had the Arab world in mind when they were purchasing. However, the government of Arab hiked their prices of oil and investors in the coal sector benefited. The results were influenced despite the earlier decisions (Pfeffer and Salancik, 2003). Engagement of Employees Employee engagement is another important element in determining the failure or the success of a firm. Myriads of employees with the minds as well as the hearts coincide with the tasks they are involved with can affect the performance of an organization positively. This could happen only when the workers are contended with the jobs they are undertaking and having that organization as their employer. Their commitment is essential for the firm’s success. Besides, the pride of working with a certain firm can propel that particular firm to a higher level. Conversely, uncommitted employees who are ashamed of working with a certain company are a threat to the organization and failure is bound (Right Management, 2010). Strategy According to Right Management (2010) the strategy that an organization employs is critical in determining the success or failure of that particular organization. For instance, when an organization employs training of how to enforce and maintain productivity, its performance on the same is likely to improve. Critical and analytical skills are essential for looking at opportunities and processes. Training enables in ability to quantify and measure. Similarly, interpretive skills obtained through training can be useful in analyzing the information collected and putting the same in good utility. Managers and supervisors should train in feedback and coaching skills. Supervisors who find their subordinates working in the right manner will establish behaviour that is right in return. Preliminary as well as continuous feedback that is positive can create the difference between failure and success of a firm (Vallabhaneni, 2013). Nieto-Rodriguez (2012) posits that most strategic initiative that companies employ focus on either productivity of growth. These strategic initiatives have the following components among others: continued growth, retention of customers, improvement of performance, service, product and technological innovation, as well as control of costs. The challenge then lies in selecting the appropriate strategic initiative. This is vital because these initiatives influence many if not all of the elements necessary for the success of an organization. An appropriate initiative would propel an organization towards execution of strategy successfully, thus success of a firm. A process like this needs decisions from the top management on the right projects to invest the firm’s resources. In such cases, the management needs to prioritize its projects and decide on the appropriate projects to invest in, otherwise the firm is bound to failure (Elementary Partners, 2014). Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear that leadership is not the only element that can affect an organization toward its success or failure. Instead factors like integrity of a firm, strategy employed, organizational environment and employee involvement can singularly or collectively affect the success or failure of a firm. Besides, some of these factors are linked in such a way that failure in one of them, may affect the other. They may be enclosed in a dynamic system as explained. List of References Amann, W and Stachowicz-Stanusch, A., 2012, Integrity in Organization: Building Foundations for Humanistic Management. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Amar, A., 2002, Managing Knowledge Workers: Unleashing Innovation and Productivity. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. Ashurst, C and Doherty, N., 2011, Benefits Realization from Information Technology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Elementary Partners, 2014, The Five Elements of Organizational Success. Retrieved 11th September 2014 from http://www.elementalpartners.net/5-elements-of-organizational-success Entrepreneur’s Toolkit, 2012, Critical Success Factors- 8 Elements for a Successful Venture. Retrieved 11th September 2014 from http://www.entrepreneurstoolkit.org/index.php?title=Critical_success_factors_-_8_key_elements_for_a_successful_venture Havard Business School, 2011, Working Knowledge: Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back. Retrieved 11th September 2014 from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6591.html Nash, S (2006). Leadership and the E-Learning Organization. New York: Texture Press. Nieto-Rodriguez, A., 2012, The Focused Organization: How Concentrating on a Few Key Initiatives Can Dramatically Improve Strategy Execution. Burlington: Gower Publishing. Pfeffer, J and Salancik, G., 2003, The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Reynolds, G and Stair, R., 2011, Fundamentals of Information Systems, Edition 6. Boston: Cengage Learning. Right Management, 2010, Organizational Effectiveness: Discovering How to Make It Happen. Retrieved 11th September 2014 from http://www.right.com/thought-leadership/research/organizational-effectiveness-discovering-how-to-make-it-happen.pdf Vallabhaneni, S., 2013, WWiley CIA Exam Review 2013, Internal Audit Knowledge Elements, Edition 4. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Read More