Learning Objectives
Organizational Behavior
- is the field of study that draws on theory, methods, and principles from various disciplines to learn about individuals' perceptions, values, learning capacities, and actions while working in groups and within the organization and to analyze the external environment's effect on the organization and its human resources, missions, objectives, and strategies.
Contingency Approach
- there's no one best way to manage in every situation and managers must find different ways that fit different situations.
Managing Workplace Behavior
- here in the Philippines, the managing workplace behavior is different from the other countries, like in Germany, they offer wireless onboard computers that use global positioning satellites to give vocal directions to any destination. Some other countries use technological inventions that affects any profession, company and business practice, while here in the Philippines, we seldom use such high technological gadgets and equipments in our work.
Approaches to Effectiveness
Goal approach is the oldest and most widely used evaluation approach. According to this approach, an organization exists to accomplish goals. It reflects purposefulness, rationality, and achievement. On the other hand, systems theory enables us to describe organizations' internal and external behavior. Internally we can see how and why people inside organizations perform their individual and group tasks. Externally we can assess organizations' transactions with other organizations and institutions. The multiple-constituency approach, compared to goal and systems approach, it means that achieving balance among the various parts of the system by satisfying the interests of the organization's constituency.
Environmental forces that initiates changes to Organizations
Successful change is associated with a multistep process that creates power and motivation to continue. The change process is driven by top-quality leaders who exert a lasting influence on the changes being made. These leaders establish direction; align people with their vision; and inspire people to overcome political, personal, and bureaucratic barriers to change. As changes occur in workforce technology, the economy, competition, social trends, and world politics, it is inevitable that leaders will have to initiate organizational development interventions. Because competition is becoming stronger each day, organizations have no choice- they must change. In all industries, a standard of continuous improvement and learning is becoming the norm around the world.
Organizational Culture
- is what the employees perceive and how this perception creates a pattern of beliefs, values, and expectations.
Difference in how some employees talk about positive culture and negative culture
Management at Alberto-Culver believes that a positive culture can result in positive performance. Culture and performance are linked. The culture of Alberto-Culver is based on honesty, trust, commitment, customer orientation, fun, innovative risk, speed, teamwork, and ownership. Bruce Pfau, a vice president of the Hay Group of Philadelphia, states that firms such as Pfizers have unique organizational cultures. He states, "The corporate cultures of high-performing companies are dramatically different from those of average companies."
The impact of an organization's culture on individual and team behavior
Because organizational culture involves shared expectations, values, and attitudes, it exerts influence on individuals, groups, and organizational process. It had studied the impact of culture on employees indicate that it provides and encourages a form of stability. There is a feeling of stability, as well as a sense of organizational identity, provided by an organization's culture.
In addition to stability and identity, a culture can generate a sense of loyalty and commitment. Individuals by joining an organization and working hard to perform and compete create a sense of "we" and "me". This involves loyalty and remaining committed to the goals of an organization.
Spirituality
The term spirituality has found its way into the organizational literature. It is a state or experience that can provide individuals with direction or meaning, or provide feelings of understanding, support, inner wholeness, or connectedness. Connectedness can be to themselves, other people, nature, the universe, a god, or some other supernatural power. This definition involves inner feelings, being connected to the work and to colleagues. Because work is such a major part of the lives of employees, organizational culture and practices can contribute to a person's spiritual development and growth. Research results suggests that the encouragement and support of spirituality in the work setting can contribute to creativity, honesty, trust, commitment, personal need satisfaction, and improved organizational effectiveness.
The spirituality benefits in addition to improved effectiveness include attaining a broader worldview; concern with working with integrity; acquiring a strong sense of community; and a willingness to work to make a positive difference by making contributions to colleagues, stakeholders, and society. In addition to these benefits there is also the individual benefit of creating a more reasonable work/life balance, attitude, and set of behaviors.
Socialization
- is the process by which organizations bring new employees into the culture. In terms of culture, socialization involves a transmittal of values, assumptions, and attitudes from older to newer employees.
There are three stages of socialization, namely Anticipatory socialization, Accommodation, and Role Management. Anticipatory Socialization, the first stage that involves all those activities the individual undertakes prior to entering the organization or to taking a different job in the same organization.The primary purpose of these activities is to acquire information about the new organization and/or new job. Accommodation, the second stage of socialization occurs after the individual becomes a member of the organization, after he or she takes the job. During this stage, the individual sees the organization and the job for what they actually are. Role management, in contrast to accommodation stage, which requires the individual to adjust to demands and expectations of the immediate work group, this stage takes on a broader set of issues and problems.
Practices and Programs used by Organizations to facilitate socialization
Anticipatory Socialization
1. Recruitment using realistic job previews.
2. Selection and placement using realistic career paths. Recruitment and selection and placement programs. Recruitment programs are directed toward new employees, those not know in the organization.
Accommodation Socialization
1. Tailor-made and individualized orientation programs. These are seldom given attention they deserve. The first few days on a new job can have very strong negative or positive impacts on the new employee.
2. Social as well as technical skills training. These are in invaluable in the breaking-in stage.Training programs are necessary to instruct new employees in proper techniques and to help them develop requisite skills.
3. Supportive and accurate feedback. In the context of socialization, provides important feedback about how well the individual is getting along in the organization.
4. Challenging work assignments. Assigning challenging work to new employees is a principal feature of effective socialization programs.
5. Demanding but fair supervisors. Assigning demanding bosses is a practice that seems to have considerable promise for increasing the retention rate of employees.
Role Management
1. Provision of professional counseling.
2. Adaptive and flexible work assignments.
3. Sincere person-oriented managers.
Globalization
-it is the interdependency of transportation distribution , communication and economic networks accross international boarders.
Importance of cross-cultural Management
-it involves the study of the behavior of individuals in organizations around the world. It attempts to understand and improve the interaction and behavior of co-workers, clients, supplies, and alliance partners from different countries and cultures.
The global skills managers must learn, practice, and refine to deal with a changing world. -the global skills that the managers must learn and practice are the following:
1. Global Strategic Skills- Wherein the global managers operating in a globally shifting work environment will need a working knowledge of international relationships and foreign affairs, including global financial markets, international law, and exchange rate movements.
2. Team-building Skills- the increased complexity of global operations will require more use of work teams, including culturally diversed group. The need for global teamwork is obvious when considering how accounting and auditing are conducted in various parts of the world. Teams should not ignore or minimize either cultural differences or the difficulty faced in trying to develop and manage multicultural teams.
3. Organization Skills- In addition to multicultural diversity, managers must consider individual differences when organizing firms, units and jobs. Minimum requirements for managers operating in loiobally shifting world would include:
- Creativity and inventiveness in designing organizations and jobs.
- High tolerance for ambiguity and cultural differences.
- Ability to coordinate finance, marketing, operations managements, and human resources interdependencies.
5. Transfer of Knowledge Skills- The increased competitiveness troughout the world has placed special emphasis on technological advances for prosducts and process innovations. This emphasis has increased the need to transfer knowledge. Learning about the practice, technique, or approach in one country that can be transferred elsewhere is a skill that managers can apply on a regular basis.
Characteristics of culture that can influence the behavior and attitudes of employees. -a culture is a set of values, attitudes, norms and beliefs shared by majority of inhabitants of a country. These become embodied in the laws and regulations of the society as well as in the generally accepted norms of the country’s social system.People in the society learn what to notice and what not to notice, how to behave with each other and how to handle responsibility, success and failure.
Hofstede's original cultural dimensions.
-Geert Hofstede, a dutch researcher who studied how cultures in countries are similar and different. His research has resulted into four dimensions explaining differences and similarities in cultures these are the:
1. Uncertainty Avoidance- Concerns the degree to which the people are comfortable with ambigous situations and with the inability to predict future events with accuracy.
2. Masculinity- Feminity- High masculinity in a culture designates assertiveness,dominance and independence. High feminity in a culture designates interdependence, compassion, and emotional opinions.
3. Individualism- Collectivism-Individualism emphasizes pursuits of individual goals, needs and success. Collectivism emphasizes group needs, satisfaction and performance.
Taking it to the Net
1. How much of each company's revenue and profit is generated outside its country of origin?
Gulfmark Offshore, Inc.
GulfMark reported net income of $21.5 million, or 84 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $14.2 million, or 56 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2009. The figure for the past quarter includes a $15 million, or 59 cents per diluted share, benefit from accrued taxes and repayments from the Norwegian government after a revision to the tonnage tax system in 2007 was declared unconstitutional in February this year. Revenue for the period was $84.7 million, down from $108.8 million a year ago. The company said the fall in revenue was due low utilisation of its vessels as a result of the slowdown in offshore activity amid the worldwide recession. Effective average dayrates for its vessel also fell in Europe and the US. In Europe this was due to dollar strengthening against local currencies, while in the US it was due to the return of several lower-dayrate vessels to the operating fleet in the region. However, GulfMark said its operating income rose to $8.9 million in the period from just $1.6 million in the year ago period.
SMART Communications, Inc.
SMART Communications, Inc. increased operating revenues in this period by 40% to P31 billion, compared to P22 billion this same period. Operating income increased to 91%, to 15.27 billion, and net income by 90% to 11.64 billion.
2. What does the code of ethics statement for each company say?
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics- Gulfmark Offshore, Inc.
The Board adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to all of our employees and agents as well as a Code of Ethics for our Principal Executive Officer and Senior Financial Officers, which are posted on our website at www.gulfmark.com. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirement regarding any changes to our code of ethics we adopt and/or any waiver from our code of ethics that we grant by posting such information on our website, www.gulfmark.com, or by filing a Form 8-K for such event.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics- SMART Communications, Inc.
Our company, directors, officers and employees strive to promote a culture of corporate governance by observing and maintaining our core business principles of accountability, integrity, fairness and transparency in our relationships among ourselves and with our customers, suppliers, competitors, business partners, regulators, and the public.
3. What changes have they had to cope with in their people policies and product/service mix in the past decade?
Gulfmark Offshore, Inc.
The Company defines the North Sea market as offshore Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland. The North Sea market is divided into three service segments: exploration support, production platform support and field development and construction (which include subsea services). Its North Sea-based fleet provides support vessels that work in the markets, including production platform support and field development and construction. The Company’s vessels based in the North Sea but operating temporarily out of the region are included in its North Sea operating segment statistics, and all vessels based out of the region are supported, through its onshore bases in Aberdeen, Scotland and Sandnes, Norway.
The Southeast Asia market is defined as offshore Asia bounded roughly on the west by the Indian subcontinent and on the north by China, then south to Australia and east to the Pacific Islands. This market includes offshore Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. All vessels based out of the region are supported, through its onshore bases in Singapore and Malaysia.
SMART Communications,Inc.
By applying rapid, relentless, and relevant innovation, they are making technology work to fit the needs of our subscribers. In the past years, SMART has refocused, over¬hauled and expanded its business by "thinking out of the box" while sticking to the basics. By applying rapid, relentless, and relevant innovation, we are making technology work to fit the needs of our subscribers. “
4. How effective are the firms? (Describe what basis you use to determine effectiveness.)
For me, Gulfmark Offshore, Inc. is very effective because of the profit that is gaining and it is one of the Top 100 transportation companies in the world. Even the SMART Communications, Inc., it is also effective because of the number of people who use their services.
5. Would you want to work for either of these firms? Why?
If I will have a chance to work in SMART Communications, Inc., maybe I will grab that opportunity because we all know that it is one of the companies that is best performing today.
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