Chapter 2Organizations 2001 &Managerial Challenges

Nelson & Quick

Remaining Competitive: Four Major Challenges to Managers

• Globalizing the firm’s operations

• Managing a diverse workforce

• Keeping up with technological change and implementing technology in the workplace

• Managing ethical behavior

Changing Business Perspectives

InternationalInternational implies an individual’s or organization’s nationality

is held strongly in consciousness

GlobalizationGlobalization implies the world is free from national boundaries and

that it is really a borderless world

Moveto

In Multinational organizationsMultinational organizations, the organization was recognized as doing business with other countries

Changing Business Perspectives

In Transnational organizationsTransnational organizations, the global viewpoint supersedes

national issues.

Moveto

Changes in the Global Marketplace

• Collapse of Eastern Europe

• Union of East and West Berlin

• Expansion of business with China

• Creation of the European Union

• Establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement

Understanding Cultural Differences

Individualism/Collectivism

High power distance/Low power distance

High uncertainty Low uncertainty

avoidance avoidance

Masculinity/Femininity

Long-term orientation/ Short-term orientationJune

1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19

Reprinted with permission of Academy of Management, PO Box 3020, Briar Cliff Manor, NY 10510-8020. CulturalConstraints in Management Theories (Figure), G. Hofstede, Academy of Management Executive 7, (1993). Reproducedby permission of the publisher via Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

Where the U.S. Stands

Individualism

Low power distance

Low uncertainty Avoidance

Masculinity

Short-term orientation

Developing Cross-Cultural Sensitivity

• Cultural sensitivity training• Cross-cultural task forces/teams• Global view of human resource

functions• Planning• Recruitment and Selection• Compensation• Training and Development

Diversity

All forms of individual differences, including culture, gender, age, ability, personality, religious affiliation, economic class, social status, military attachment, and sexual orientation

Diversity Statistics for the Workplace

Cultural 2020 Workforce: 68% white non-Hispanic 14% Hispanic

11% African-American

Gender 2020 Workforce: 50% male 50% female

Diversity Statistics Affecting the Workplace

Age By 2000, median U.S. age will be 36resulting in a job crunch among middle-aged workers and greater intergenerationalcontact in the workplace.

Ability An estimated 43 million disabled live in theU.S.; their unemployment rate exceeds 60%

DiversityBenefitsEnhance

OrganizationalFlexibility

Result inBetter

ProblemSolving

Attract &RetainTalent

PromoteCreativity &Innovation

EnhanceMarketing

Efforts

DiversityProblemsPossibility of

Conflicts

SlowerDecision-Making

Resistanceto Change

CommunicationProblems

Time toAchieve

Cohesiveness

Technological Innovation

Technology

The intellectual and mechanical processes used by an organization to transform inputs into products or services that meet organizational goals

Examples Expert system - computer

based application using representation of human expertise in a specialized field of knowledge to solve problems

Robotics - use of robots in

organizations

Alternative Work Arrangements

Telecommuting - transmitting work from a home computer to the office using a modem– reduces company cost– increases productivity– allows access to key workers anywhere– helps retain employees attracted by the

flexibility

Additional Alternative Work Arrangements

Hoteling - employees have mobile file cabinets/lockers for personal storage; work spaces are reserved, not assigned

Satellite offices - large facilities broken into smaller workplaces near employees’ homes

Virtual Office: people workanytime, anywhere, with anyone.

Technological Change Requires Managers to

• Focus on helping workers manage the stress of their work

• Take advantage of the wealth of information available to motivate, coach, and counsel--not to control

• Develop technical competence to gain workers’ respect

Help Employees Adjust by

• Involving them in decision-making regarding technological change

• Selecting technology that increases workers’ skill requirements

• Providing effective training

• Establishing support groups

• Encouraging reinvention (creative application of new technology)

Ethical Theories Consequential TheoryConsequential Theory An ethical theory that

emphasizes theconsequences or results

of behavior

Rule-based TheoryRule-based Theory An ethical theory that

emphasizes thecharacter of the act

itself rather than its effects Cultural TheoryCultural Theory An ethical theory thatemphasizes respectfor different cultural

values

Employee Rights Issues

Computerized monitoring

Drug testing

Free speech

Downsizing

Layoffs

AIDS in the workplace

Sexual Harassment = Unwanted Sexual Attention

• Gender Harassment - crude comments; behaviors that convey hostility toward a particular gender

• Unwanted Sexual Attention - unwanted touching, unwanted pressure for dates

• Sexual Coercion - demands for sexual favors through job-related threats or promises

Harassment orPotential Romance?

Organizational Justice Distributive Justice fairness of

the outcomes that individuals receive in an organization

Procedural Justice fairness by which the outcomes are allocated in an organization

Companies in Danger

CEOsalaries

Competenceand Skill

Race andGender

Individual & Organizational Responsibility

Whistle-blower - an employee who informs authorities of the wrongdoing of his or her company or coworkers

– Hero

– “Vile Wretch”

Social Responsibility - the obligation of an organization to behave ethically

Rotary Four-Way TestOF WHAT WE THINK, SAY, OR DO

1. Is it the TRUTH?

2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3. Will it build GOODWILL and better friendships?

4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Four Challenges to Organizations in the New Millennium

Globalization

Diversity

Technology

Ethics