Modelling Human Activity Systems - Essay Example

Executive Summary This report corresponds to some problems in the problem situation given in the analysis of QES P/L and the case study provided. In order to resolve these problems the report has provided a human activity system (HAS) and an information system serving it (IS) to solve the problems that are caused by the cultural differences among different units of QES P/L. The report also includes how this system can help the organization and how it should be carried out. Introduction Knowledge in a competitive global system is a very important factor (Alavi and Leinder, 2001). This importance points out to the importance of Knowledge Management; a procedure to ensure that knowledge is properly acquired, well used and reused. Knowledge management is particularly important in the case of multinational corporations which have the additional task of communicating efficiently between its units and in order to communicate better, knowledge management is essential. Knowledge of aspects outside of the organization as well as knowledge within the organization are both very important aspects of knowledge (Senge, 1990 ; Nonaka and Takeushi, 1995). Multinational corporations usually face a problem of cultural differences among its different units, which might cause many problems in the overall performance of the organization. The problem resides in the fact that it is very difficult to unite all the different cultural backgrounds into one organizational culture. To put it in a different way, different cultures have different views and goals and the organization needs to have the staff as well as the senior management focusing on one goal. The suggested solution to this problem is the cultural adaptation human activity system and the information system that serves it which is expected to resolve the problems initiated by cultural differences. HAS and IS Systems created: Cultural adaptation system (Issue based): Problem: Cultural differences of different subsidiaries. The Culture adaptation Human Activity System (HAS): A system that (X) allows workers from different cultures to adapt to the needs of the organization by means of (Y) Informing them about the required adaptations and the methods of achieving them in order to (Z) overcome cultural difficulties of the organization and improve productivity of all different subsidiaries. The cultural adaptation Information System (IS): A system to (X) inform the workers of different cultures about the adaptations needed and the method of achieving them by means of (Y) gathering and sharing information about each culture and the adaptations needed to suite the needs of the organization (Z) Allow workers from different cultures to adapt to the needs of the organization. CATOWE: C: QES staff. A: QES management. T: Achieve the adaptations of staff with different cultural views to suite the needs of QES. O: QES senior management. W: A multinational organization usually faces many challenges as different cultures evoke contradictions in management. E: Staff coming from different cultural views. Root definition: A QES owned system (O) in a multinational organization functioning within different cultures (E) to achieve the adaptations of staff with different cultural views to suite the needs of QES (T) by means of informing workers from different cultures with the adaptations needed and methods of achieving it. This transformation will be carried out by QES management (A), and affects all the staff of QES (C). What makes this an important move is that a multinational organization usually faces many challenges as different cultures evoke contradictions in management (W). Conceptual Model: Measures of System Performance or MOP for the system: Efficacy: Addresses the question; to what extent is the system successful at adapting the staff from different views to the same goal and vision of the organization, and to answer this question staff from different countries can be interviewed to see to what extent they are adapting to suite the needs of the organization. Efficiency: Addresses the question of what can be expected from the system. If the system is successful there should be no more complaints about the organizational structure of QES and there should be observed more sense of belonging to the organization among the staff. Effectiveness: Addresses the question of whether or not the cultural adaptation can serve in the overall productivity of the organization, and this could be measured by observing if the overall productivity of the staff has increased. Report 1-Problem situation: As with most multinational corporations, managing QES is a very difficult task as staff coming from different backgrounds might find it hard to work with the same rules and regulations. For example, according to the case study the use of email is a problem in all national offices apart from Norway, it is clear that this is due to cultural differences as some cultures have not yet developed to realize the importance of technology use. The organizational culture needs to unite all the different cultures from national offices under one culture serving one goal. Cultural differences are one factor affecting the low use of intranet and portals which led to the improper storage of knowledge, because - as mentioned before - some cultures have not developed to realize the importance of using technology. Another problem caused by the same factor is the fact that the organizational structure is not welcomed by most of the staff except for the Norwegian staff, while the Australian and other parts of QES staff did not welcome this, perhaps this is due to the fact that cultural differences are not well understood and handled. There seems to be a need for understanding different cultures and a need for adaptations from both sides; that of the QES management and the staff working in different countries. In fact all the functions of QES as well as knowledge management can be served by resolving the problem of cultural differences as will be manifested in the next section. 2- How the cultural adaptation system will solve the problem: The system is defined as a system to allow staff from different cultures to adapt to one organizational culture in order to unite the staff of the organization under one view and goal. In order to apply this system and bring it to reality there are several steps that must be achieved. First the information about different cultures should be gathered, which culture has some aspects that cause problems to the functioning of QES Which cultures do not value the same values as the rest of the organization The next step should be to identify the adaptations and changes needed; both for the culture of the organization and that of each national office, for example the importance of the use of email, intranet and portals to communicate and store information should be emphasized, another thing is that the goals of the organization should be clarified and shared by all the staff. It should also be studied whether or not it is possible for the staff to achieve a certain adaptation, in some cases there must be compromises and the organization should adapt to the culture of the staff. 3- What the Senior Management should focus on: After defining the required changes, and in order for the system to function as expected, these changes and adaptations must be carried out, which means that the staff must start changing their views and goals to suite the needs of the multinational corporation QES. In order to carry out this task, it must be ensured that the staff of QES wherever a change is needed is highly motivated to accomplish it. Therefore the main focus of the Senior Management while carrying out this project should be to motivate the staff and convince them to start these changes. On the other hand it should also be ensured that where the change is needed on the organization's plan this should be done since it would be futile to ask the staff to change where it is not possible for them to do so. 4- Computerization of the system: There is no special necessity to computerize any aspect of the system, but the information on each culture should be stored on a computer and so should be the decisions on which changes should occur. Conclusion From this report, it is evident that such a system is very important to overcome the problems initiated by cultural differences, and it is also evident that such problems do exist and constitute a barrier to the management and therefore to the productivity of the organization. This report has also shown that this system is able to solve this problem if properly executed. Therefore it is highly recommended that this system is set to work. References: Alavi, M., and D.E. Leidner. 2001. Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: Conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS Quarterly 25(1): 107-136. Senge, P.M. 1990. The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday. Nonaka, I., and H. Takeushi. 1995. The knowledge creating company. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More