Culture Assessment Essay Example for Free

Culture Assessment Essay A widely accepted definition of organizational culture is it is the shared meanings, artifacts, values, beliefs, norms, and assumptions that dictate how an organization works and its existence (Cameron Quinn, 2006). Organization culture is shaped by more than one element; say individuals’ life experiences, background, education levels and so fourth. Undoubtedly, leadership also plays a critical role in defining what culture prevails in the organization and their actions have a major influence on how the rest of the organization follows suit. (Robbins et al, 2000) Additionally organization culture defines the strategies that a firm uses in handling things like competition, growth, resource management and the like. (Goffee Jones, 1996) A good assessment of the cultural orientation of a firm makes it likelier to promote interorganisational network and also implement changes that encourage member participation and productivity. The key indicators of organizational culture include organization structure, power and managerial styles, ways in which members of the organization interact and do their jobs among others. This paper takes a look at FedEx Corporation and gives a summary of the type of organization culture at FedEx, its benefits, hindrances as well as the recommendations of the company. Company overview FedEx Corporation is a large company headquartered in the US that deals in printing, courier services and logistics as well as cargo airline services. This company has been named one of the top 10 most admirable companies by Fortune magazine two years in a row. Since its founding in 1971 it has grown from humble beginnings a leader in air courier industry. Its brands include the FedEx home delivery, FedEx smart post and FedEx freight east and west, FedEx services among others. Its chief competitors are DHL, TNT, UPS, BAX Global and USPS. The company employs over 250,000 workers and has a net income of approximately 1. 8 billion dollars in 2006. Culture assessment The organization culture at FedEx blends various kinds of organization culture but perhaps the most predominant culture is flexibility discretion and dynamism. This has been its major strategy of staying ahead. To support this, FedEx takes pride in their ability to adapt to change so as to enhance effectiveness and competitiveness. (Cameron Quinn, 2006, p. 34) This it achieves by combining innovation, knowledge sharing, high experience and team work in its key strategies to attaining competitive advantage. A good illustration of FedEx external focus is evident in the numerous deliveries of relief supplies that FedEx made to hurricane Katrina victims for free in 2005, earning it more customers and goodwill. Adhocracy orientation at FedEx is fostered at top level management down to the junior staff. The CEO of FedEx encourages employees to be trend setters and nonconformist and dare to take calculated risk. The management encourages employees to be all ears on current events and look for opportunities. The guiding philosophy is that an innovation failed is better than a thousand years lost in risk averse dealings. Innovation at FedEx is held with high regard and employees are rewarded handsomely for developing fresh ideas. The management supports viable projects from employees financially or otherwise. This is one reason why FedEx distinguishes itself as an evergreen company in the air courier industry. This culture is underscored when creative attempts that fail are rewarded as well as the successful innovations. The familiar slogan ‘absolutely, positively gets it there overnight’ is made real by the culture ingrained in the employees towards importance of customer service, efficiency at work, speed and accurate scheduling. This culture leverages FedEx for competitive advantage. Basically, the FedEx corporate culture emphasizes urgency, speed and teamwork, exceeding customers’ expectations, initiative, flexibility and active listening (O’Reilly, Tushman Michael, 1997) Aside from the flexible nature at FedEx, it also adopts an outwardly and sensitive approach to the environment that it operates. Competitiveness fosters the company to always look for opportunities to expand and grow. While the opposite of this culture is to foster integration and unity within the organization as well as knowledge some elements of this culture are also present at FedEx. This is because FedEx emphasizes high skills among employees. Employees at FedEx are highly learned individuals as the company only picks the best of the best. Working ones way up the corporate ladder requires that ones knowledge base also increases. In addition, the internal focus of FedEx organizational culture provides an appropriate environment that enables employees to grow and exercise their skills as seen in the various training and task assignments delegated to employees. In order for knowledge sharing to be maximized then division of labor, job enrichment, team building and so forth have to be conducted regularly (Murray, Poole Jones, 2005) some aspects of these are present at FedEx. FedEx corporate culture values hard work and rewards such appropriately. It also disregards discriminations and fosters equal opportunities for its employees in areas of promotion, transfer and recruitment. The hands off team oriented management style promote progressive and diversified work culture. Communication is a key strength for FedEx organization culture and regular surveys on employees’ views on the job are taken to monitor and modify areas of universal discontent. Notably, the employees at FedEx are highly experienced and skilled individuals. The culture therefore is based on letting employees be free agents who direct their jobs in their own direction. The management ensures that employees are proactive and take initiative to learn from mistakes of others. The employees are not reprimanded or penalized for slip-ups rather management takes the blunder as an opportunity to teach the rest. Most of the tasks done at FedEx are assigned to teams which are given sufficient power and authority to fulfill their responsibilities and be accountable for the results. Seemingly this is the reason behind the great success of FedEx. The benefit of the cultures present at FedEx is that the company is maintains its competitiveness amid intense competition from the competitors. Additionally, it deals with fewer conflicts, fewer staff turnover and enjoys increase in employees’ job satisfaction, higher performance less resistance to change, higher productivity and better customer service and so forth. The hindrances of this kind of organization culture are that it requires major investment in time and money. The management needs to be patient with employee mistakes which are most times costly. Additionally it is difficult to monitor this practice in the FedEx Company because of the large workforce and the busy schedules that the employees have. Conclusion The organizational culture at FedEx has both benefits and detrimental aspects although many are the benefits. In the competitive faced paced industry that FedEx operates their culture seem most fitting. Perhaps the only thing that I would improve is the hierarchal structure and the communication channels for free flow of information and faster decision making throughout the organization.

Compare and contrast the poems Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Essay

Compare and contrast the poems Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen and The Soldier by Rupert Brooke. What are the poets' attitudes towards war and how do they convey these attitudes? Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier" express opposing views towards war and matters related to it. Owen condemns war as the cause of immense and painful loss of youths, killed like animals. He also attacks the church, generally held to preserve human life and dignity, implying it is powerless and irrelevant in a war situation. Brooke expresses ready acceptance (his view is meant to be the general view) of possible death on his country's behalf in grateful return to her for having "bore, shaped and made aware" him and enriching him spiritually. There is no reference to the horrors and pain of war. Apart from the poets' different attitudes towards war, there are many other differences such as tone, imagery and language. In 'The Soldier', Brooke's sense of indebtedness to his country completely blots out any sense of loss or regret over possible death on her behalf. Brooke doesn't even mention war in his poem. He is ready to give "back the thoughts by England given". He accepts death in war as a suitable repayment to his country for what England has done for him. England has given him birth, her "flowers", "ways to roam", "air", "rivers" and "suns" and made him like every other English person: special, privileged and worthy. In the line "In that rich earth, a richer dust concealed," his is the "richer dust", made by England. Here his physical being created and nurtured by England is gratefully returned to her. His appreciation and gratitude to England ring sincerity as reflected by h... ...f rounding up the sonnet as well as emphasising complete grief over the loss of Youth. The contrast with the first stanza's violence makes the reader see the different aspects of war - what happens on the battlefield, and what happens at home. Owen's poem, 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' is more appealing to me because it deals with two contrasting realities of war. His first stanza highlights the wastefulness of war (deaths of young soldiers) while the second stanza, the mourning for the dead. His sarcastic and later quiet tone reinforce the stark contrast between the different aspects of war. He uses powerful imagery and onomatopoeia to achieve the desired effects that make the poem more realistic. All this combined together produces effective thought provoking ideas and with each read, I gradually get an improved understanding and appreciation of the poem.

Executive Derailment: The “Dark Side” of Management Essay

According to Lambardo & McCauley (1988), the term derail is when a manager who has the ability and is expected to go higher in an organization is instead fired, demoted, or plateaued below the expected levels of achievement. Derailment is a metaphor for a train coming off its tracks. Shockingly, between 30-50% of high-potential managers and executives derail during their business career. There are shocking similarities between a successful individual’s career and that of one headed towards derailment, so this paper will help us have a better understanding of the derailment process, the signs that it is hitting an individual, and how it can be prevented. There are clear indicators and patterns in a person’s career that point towards this downward spiral called derailment; however, their career starts our very similar to that of a successful person. The individual is usually very bright, holds and outstanding track record, identified early as a â€Å"high potential employee,† personable, ambitious, sacrificial for the organization, has been moved up in authority, and excellent at motivating and organizing. The differences between a successful individual and one headed towards derailment will show up in areas such as track record, interpersonal style, composure, handling of mistakes, and solving problems. For instance, an individual who is intelligent but headed towards derailment may be intellectually arrogant, putting down others whose opinions and ideas may not seem as helpful. Also, they may be a committed and focused person, but they are â€Å"workaholics† and close-minded. Another characteristic is ambition, but the individual may use manipulation to reach their goals. Sometimes, when an individual seems to have so much potential for the company, it is easy to overlook their potential faults. â€Å"These derailers are often noted in advance, but frequently overlooked or forgiven because of the individual’s high potential or because their strengths were highly value.† Denton et. al. (2006). So what does the process of derailment look like in an individual’s career? First, we see an early strength in that individual’s career become a weakness. For example, someone who is driven, focused and experienced may begin to become rigid, narrow-minded and a workaholic. Secondly, often times a deficiency is overlooked during the individual’s time in lower levels of hierarchy eventually begins to become a problem. These flaws may be discovered through different factors. The individual may suddenly have a clash with someone in authority above them, or there may be a boss covering for the individual’s faults who is replaced. Usually problems arise and people are offended, causing an unwanted tension in the workplace, and giving light to the individual’s issue. Third, the individual may suddenly be exposed to extreme and unexpected challenges that they cannot handle. Finally, the success of the individual’s career and potentially a promotion may go to their head, causing an arrogant, disconnected attitude. Around 42% of executive derailment is a result of unethical or fraudulent behavior, 17% is caused by excessive aggression, 14% is caused by poor decision-making skills, 11% by error in judgment , another 11% caused by unreliable and deceptive communications, and a random 5% is caused by other miscellaneous reasons. How do these derailment situations affect the company? First of all, business goals are not met, affecting company morale and decreasing productivity. There are also many expenses put on the company, from recruitment costs, wasted salary, relocation expenses, and replacement costs, derailment not only affects the individual, but also the company. At a lower level of employment, an individual’s derailing characteristics will only affect their immediate organization of function; however, in upper leadership levels, they affect the entire organization and almost everyone involved. It is important to fix a derailment problem in an organization, before it affects the entire company in a negative way. An organization must not be willing to tolerate derailing behaviors, and the executive has to believe that this is the case presently taking place in the company. Most often, there are two options for preventing a derailing situation. First, a company can try to prevent derailment in its early stages. This involves being aware of the characteristics and causes and implementing an early warning system. This system should include feedback, coaching, developmental assignments, exposure to role models and mentors, coursework, and leadership challenges. Another key prevention method is to provide support during major changes in a company and an individual’s part in the organization. A rigorous interview and hiring process should help employers understand individuals and if they have the potential to derail. Also, a company should promote accountability throughout the entire organization in order keep people in constant communication and available to talk. Executive derailment can be seen throughout the business world, in many stories of individuals and executives in companies. Many of these individuals started out extremely successful, but soon found themselves completely self-destructing. This past spring, the chief financial officer of my hometown was arrested and found to have stolen over 53 million dollars from our city over the course of 15-20 years. The city was enraged. This woman was in total power and authority, but she had no one holding her accountable or checking in on her. It was an expensive mistake for our city. Executive derailment affects everyone in a negative way, so it is important to take the necessary steps to prevent derailment in early stages, or completely avoid it in the first place.

Human Resource Management And An Organization - 1929 Words

Human Resource Management is the group inside an association that spotlights on the enrollment of, administration of, and giving direction to the general population who work in an association. As you can envision, the majority of the procedures and projects that are touched by individuals are a piece of the HR kingdom. The HRM office individuals give the learning, important apparatuses, preparing, authoritative administrations, drilling, lawful and administration counsel, and ability administration oversight that whatever remains of the association requirements for effective operation. HRM capacities are likewise performed by line directors who are straightforwardly in charge of the engagement, commitment, and profitability of their reporting staff individuals. In a completely incorporated ability administration framework, the chiefs assume a noteworthy part in and assume possession liability for the enrollment procedure. They are likewise in charge of the progressing improvement of and maintenance of unrivaled representatives. Associations additionally perform HRM capacities and assignments by outsourcing different segments to outside suppliers and sellers. The assignments that are most much of the time outsourced are those that remove HR time and vitality from the HR exercises that give the most key worth to the organization. This outsourcing most much of the time includes finance capacities, yet sellers and outer advisors can help an association with HRM from multipleShow MoreRelatedHuman Resource Management : The Management Of An Organization1250 Words   |  5 PagesHuman resource management is the management of an organization to build and maintain the relation between the employee and the organization in order to meet business objectives and employee expectations. The process of hiring and developing employees so that they become more valuable to the organization. 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