Binge Drinking Health Problems. Briefly Summarize 4

¶ … Binge drinking health problems." Briefly summarize 4 journal articles, government reports, databases topic -- identify sources statistical data • Summarize statistical data • Present important information sources

Organizational culture: Whole Foods, Gore-Tex, and Google

Whole Foods Market is intent upon stimulating the initiatives of workers to do their best and does so by fostering an intense sense of competition and teamwork between small units of employees. Whole Foods understands that it is very difficult for workers to feel motivated 'day in and day out' by a large organization and its vision statement. By breaking down the company into teams to oversee specific departments, a great deal of autonomy is invested in each team. As an organic grocery store, Whole Foods might be presumed to attract independent spirits. Allowing team members to vote on who can join the team creates a reinforcing mechanism to encourage harmony and a personal investment in the company (Hamel 2007). An upbeat workforce that gets along is essential in the service-based grocery industry, particularly at a store which markets itself not upon price but by quality. Stores are decentralized enough to respond to individual market needs but institutional structures reinforce compliance with overall expectations of quality.

Another decentralized organization is Gore-Tex, the chemical manufacturer of the athletic performance fabric (amongst other products). In contrast to Whole Foods, which is decentralized yet has a relatively defined system of titles and teams, at Gore-Tex the management structure is fluid, without layers, titles, and official bosses. This organization also makes use of self-managing teams like Whole Foods and anyone can call a meeting (Hamel 2007. As peer voting is required at Whole Foods to admit employees to teams, likewise it is the case at Gore-Tex. Leaders are judged by the followers they have acquired in a relatively spontaneous fashion; leaders are not appointed by the management to take control. As a company that makes products to be used and enjoyed by the general public, this creates a service-oriented mentality. The company must be forward-thinking and tap into customer needs. Having a relatively fluid and nonhierarchical approach to its organizational design suits this company's product-based orientation.

The search engine company Google is another example of a company that has benefited from throwing away the rulebook in regards to team leadership. Google is reliant upon engineers, but as a forward-thinking technology company that must be flexible in a rapidly changing marketplace, it opted instead to have small teams with a very specific orientation and rotating rather than fixed leadership.