Management by Culture Is a Way of Exercising Control in Organization - Essay Example

Management by culture is another way of exercising control in orgranization Introduction Managing an organization is a crucial factor in order to address the work condition of a work area. One of the most distinctive factors in addressing the work condition of the group of people is to learn to compromise with each other in the condition of the work environment. Managing an organization is also a challenging role for a senior supervisor or any one given the task. He/she should be able to provide balance and system in the following areas: work ethics, social and environmental development, operation system, personnel and other internal management system. In the process of understanding the management system and function in a work place, the culture should also be given a priority in exercising management system in a work place. Usually, work place often times have a lot of unresolved issues primary because each citizen who works together in a small unit of an office acquired ideas, concepts and values because they have different cultures. This is about the values, the upbringing that each individual possess or holds on to, and these concepts have a significant part on how an individual handles a business or any decision that they make in a working environment. Briefly, there are systems by which we can control and have a conducive working environment fit for all cultures and that will be discussed in the process of the paper. Each particular segment will provide a brief review of literature that have been stipulated and used by some corporation, which in the process provided a total shift and change of working relationship with fellow co-workers. Also, through the process of reorganization of working conditions, the collegues themselves found out that through management by culture, their work environment become much better and their work progress accordingly because they are able to connect and communicate with one another. Managing Organizations by Culture One of the greatest mentors in Management was Alasdair MacIntyre. He once said that, "the manipulation of human beings into compliant patterns of behaviour" (1981: 71). It has always been a notion and probably we can say a "wrong concept" that to be able to get a person to do everything that you asked them is to be manipulative, aggressive, in control at all times. Probably, this method of making things done applied in the beginning, such that during the time of industrial evolution wherein the best place to earn and become productive is if a person is working in a factory or office or wherever. But the times have changed and people have developed a sense of pride and understand that force is not the way to make things work in an office set up. There had been a lot of rules and laws that have been passed on to addressed these unrighteous working condition. Now most companies are geared to a globalise community. Each organization has at least 10 different nationalities working together and need to co-exist accordingly beside the fact that they are also trying to understand the working ethics that is trying to unify their common goal and perspective to make certain and progress in the work place or community. To begin with we shall understand the important of management prior to proceeding with the cultural relationship that holds a crucial part in any management organization. According to one the Motivation book by W. Taylor, he said, "In dealing with the employees under this type of management, it is an inflexible rule to talk to and deal with only one person or staff at a time. Since each employee has their own special abilities and limitations, and also since we are not dealing with men in masses, but are trying to develop each individual person to his highest state of efficiency and prosperity. Our first step was to find the proper workman to begin with. We therefore carefully watched and studied these 75 men for three or four days, at the end of which time we had picked out four men who appeared to be physically able to handle pig iron at the rate of 47 tons per day. A careful study was then made of each of these men. We looked up their history as far back as practicable and thorough inquiries were made as to the character, habits, and the ambition of each of them. Finally we selected one from among the four as the most likely man to start with. He was a little Pennsylvania Dutchman who had been observed to trot back home for a mile or so after his work in the evening about as fresh as he was when he came trotting to down to work in the morning. (F. W. Taylor, 1911) With this management perspective, culture is also an addition on how management can control the system in an organization. Culture is defined to be a general concerned with beliefs and values which people interpret experiences and behavior, of an individual or of a group. This also follows the identity of a corporate culture, which means that it refers to an organization's having its own values, beliefs, and behaviors. It is merely concerned with beliefs and values on the basis of which people interpret experiences and behavior. Thus the cultural statements can become operational when executives strongly articulate and strictly implement their values in their own respective firm, which provide patterns for how employees should behave. According to Vadim Kotelnikov, there are Four Cultural Dimensions, which can be associated to define the problems faced management in terms of controlling its organization, particularly its personnel. 1. Directness (understanding the point vs. imply the messages) 2. Hierarchy (following orders vs. engage in debate) 3. Consensus (dissent is accepted vs. unanimity is needed) 4. Individualism (individual winners vs. team effectiveness) (Kotelnikov, 2007) The Problem of Management We all know that there are a lot of problems that are being faced by a manager or by a management. They try their best in order to address the condition of every body in the work place. Whatever it is that may happen or arise, there is always the management that would create a unified and unbiased decision in order to solve the disparities that happens in the work place. Management would always have a problem on the following aspects: ethics (social behavior), drugs, work bias relationships, work politics and other interrelationship problems that are usually caused primarily because each individual has their own identity and basis of ethics. First of all, the ethics in a work place is a crucial factor in getting all the people in the work place to work together. It is said that it is impossible to program the people to deploy the objective of their rational decisions from moment and another. Further more it is said that it is even impossible to cultivate virtues in people so that the right decisions become a better factor to make it a form of a habit. There is what we call virtue ethics, than it contrasts a duty ethics, and also it highlights the character of the decision maker. On the other hand, the ethics of having and valuing a duty and ethic by doing. A lot of work place tries to find the means and ways of creating a universal environment in their work place. There are a lot of cases that have been stipulated and debated in some of the best and successful organization at present. For instance, Dell Company have about 20 different nationalities carrying different cultures and ethic values with them. In order to have a control over them, the company created a policy of non-interracial discrimination and also with the help and assistance of the management, each division and people inside their organization followed their system accordingly. This however, was not an overnight success, a company who wants to gain the full control of each and every personnel in the workforce should be given the time and the patience to make them understand that everything inside the work environment are all accounted for their performance and quality of service as part of their duty and responsibility inside the work organization. From here actually, other problems evolve, like drugs or health inside the work environment, internal and unspoken political disputes that normally happens because since there are really moments inside the workforce that can always be mistaken because it is a common notion inside the workforce to be competitive at all times. A lot of working areas or organization have "unnoticeably" mold their employees to be competitive with each other; whereas, they should be working together for the company. This problem is a common problem by most people inside the working area. Organization and Biology Good and successful organization has their own manner of executing laws and stipulating policies. In certain occasion wherein the employees are having troubles following the regulation of a work environment, these employees are subject for either suspension or other sanction that may seem to be in accordance with what should be done with them. Some of the common problems that are being faced with organizations and management today that may seem to be a crucial factor the control of management, these are moral issues, drug testing and political rivalry (competitiveness vs. work obligation). Drug testing. One of the factors that was present before was based with the ideas of Gilliom (1994) argues that drug testing reproduces a 'blame the worker' politics that systematically shifts scrutiny and accountability for safety from the organization to the individual for managerial benefit. Through providing the attention to the malfeasance of individual employees, the drug testing will be de-emphasise and iould call for a state regulation of conditions of work provided by the organization. This will allow the managers to evade the responsibility for improving the health and safety, thus maximizing the surplus that is returnable as profit. Also, the strict managerial-medical hierarchical administration of drug testing will be undermine genuinely with improvements in workplace safety - this improvements will rely upon the genuine empowerment of the employee and enabling employees to have 'ownership' of safety in their workplace. Power, Politics, Conflict and Resistance at Work (How can it be resolved) It is said that the cultural disparity creates the division in the work force. The cultural ethics are sometime brought to a wrong perspective and given a wrong interpretation of another person having to learn and grow in a different cultural set-up. What are the factors that make the work place become intensely unmanageable Olga Belova, gave a list of process on how to management can handle this situation, below are the following points: 1. Examine the bases of power: interpersonal, organizational and societal bases of power 2. Ask how pervasive power can be (4 faces of power) 3. Analyse ways in which power is resisted 4. And how resistance can be dealt with Once the management understands what its staff, its division is undergoing, the management would be able to know that most of the time, the condition in the work area becomes unmanageable because people think most of the times, their other colleagues are more powerful and influential than them; they feel the company's side are more in favor of their others because they are simply more powerful than them. This indeed creates the internal competition and conflict in between staff and in between the management. The power simply means that those who gains more attention, gains the control of a group of people; the person who can be more persuasive and thus, they are able to get what they want is generally termed as the powerful person inside the organization. Thus, conflict simply arises because, we all know that in every 100% of the workforce, about 10% of it is contradictory at all times. When this happens and they themselves can gather more people to their side, resistance can become more damaging in the workplace. Conflicts arise when interests of one party clash with interests of the other party (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2004: 791) There are a lot of conflicts that happens inside the work place, and the position of the management is indeed very crucial in this matter. The manner he solve the condition is simply by means of first, understanding that each person has their own ideology and concept of proper work ethics. There are uniting factors in the process, but once the management is able to make everybody listens to them, then he/she is in control of the system, of the organization. He/she can decide and can make the next step in exercising the power that they possess as the head of the organization. Recommendation As part of the crucial factor that should be provided to any organization and also in support on how to address the conditions of the cultural management, below are some of the recommendations that can help in building thrust, unified culture in an organization and also to address the concern of the management towards exercising its authority from the foundation of the culture in an organization. First of all, become self-motivated and self-driven. For a management o be able to take control of one's internal states, impulses, and resources is crucial factor for its subordinates to see that all the management does is for the betterment of the company. There are no biases, no politics, and no judgment. Second everyone inside the staff should be provided by a clear and open line communication, especially when we talk about power. It was said that power is inevitable: the resources are often scarce; the organisation can be divided into sub-units, and the organisational life is ambiguous and may turn uncertain. When one does not perceive clearly what one needs to say, then the idea of "power game" will arise. Everyone needs to exercise an open communication line, otherwise, the little conflicts and unnoticed gaps will become one big dilemma of the company which will create far more conflict. Third, the management should also realize that conflict is a result of "different readings of the organisational text" (Jackson and Carter, 2000: 25). Some successful companies who have become an institution and a corporation can always shock us one day because they closed down or they have so much internal baggage that the management can no longer hold the company together. To keep away from these, management needs to exercise proper authority and clear concept of management. 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