Management Practices Outline How You Would Manage

¶ … Management Practices

Outline how you would manage the risk of change when planning a strategic change management process.

Whenever any kind of change is taking place in an organization, there more than likely will be resistance to the new ideas that are being introduced. Part of the reason for this, is because these changes are often challenging the status quo. Where, everyone will face new standards and greater scrutiny over a number of activities. This will cause many people, to become concerned about what is occurring. At which point, they will begin to resist these changes, out fear of the unknown and the threat to the status quo. When introducing a new management system, this can be particularly challenging, as many executives will often engage in turf wars (over areas of influence) and finger pointing (in an effort to gain favor). (Stevens 2005, pp. 19 -- 27) In either case, this kind of behavior can often contribute to undermining the atmosphere in the work environment. Where, these negative attitudes will eat away at organizational unity. To mitigate these risks, it is imperative to create a strategy that will address these challenges when implementing a new management system.

To effectively address any kind of possible risk requires utilizing a system that will provide: effective communication and flexibility. These two elements are important, because for any kind of change to take place, means that you must reach out to executives and managers. To do this, you must have strong communication with all of different levels inside an organization. Where, you will sit and listen to what managers / executives think about the changes that are occurring. At which point, you can begin asking for ideas, as to how the situation could be improved and what specific issues they would like to see dealt with. Once this takes place, you are eliminating any kind of possible barriers, by actively listening to the different viewpoints of managers / executives. (Effective Communication in the Workplace 2009)

At the same time, you must be able to utilize flexibility and incorporate some of their ideas into the strategy. This will help address the issues of concern that managers and executives could have about what is taking place. Over the course of time, this strategy could be used to help reduce any kind of barriers that executives may have. At which point, you can bring these different these people on board as allies, who will support the changes that are taking place. This is significant, because utilizing this approach will help to reduce any kind of possible barriers (allowing for a smooth transition).

When you put these two elements together, it is clear that they will provide a way for an organization to effectively implement a new management system. As they are improving communication and addressing any kind of concerns. This is important, because one of the biggest reasons why these kinds of risks take on a life of their own is from: a lack of communication. At which point, negative attitudes of resistance will begin to take shape. If left unaddressed, this will poison the atmosphere inside an organization (increasing the risks when implementing the new strategy). That being said, the above approach will reduce risk by: forcing the negative thoughts and ideas out into to the open (in a non-confrontational way). Once this takes place, it means that you can begin to address these concerns, helping to reduce risk and make certain that everyone believes that the new strategy will work. This will ensure that any kind of possible barriers and risks to implementation are reduced as much as possible.

'Strategic congruence is the most effective way HR can support an organization's strategic priorities'. Provide details of how this can be achieved successfully.

Strategic congruence is when a business is utilizing different strategies that are consistent in supporting the objectives of the firm. Where, each of the various departments and divisions will function together to achieve their organizational goals. HR plays a role in working as a go between for the different departments and teams of the organization. As they play a part in helping to support everyone in achieving the larger objectives of the business. To understand this role, we will examine how this can be achieved successfully through the HR department in any organization. (Nillson 2005)

The biggest mistake that most organizations will make is: they assume HR is an important part of administration, not planning. This is problematic, because ignoring this aspect of the human resources is not understanding how the needs of employees and staff can be met. Where, most organizations will establish various objectives. Yet, they will not account for how these could impact employees, as they assume that everyone will do as they are told. Over the course of time, this kind of strategy can lead to lower levels of productivity (as it is not addressing issues that could affect employees). To achieve strategic congruence within an organization, the HR department must play a central role in supporting all the different divisions and teams. Where, you want to change the role that HR is having in the process. As they will shift from various administrative to duties, to helping play a critical role in planning. (Righiemer 2006)

Under this kind of strategy, you would first have the HR department survey the various staff members and executives, about possible resistance issues that could be surrounding a strategy the company is considering. This will help to ensure that the various ideas and possible challenges from an HR perspective are encompassed in the any kind of plan. Then, you would have the HR department play a role in following up, on the effectiveness of the strategy. Where, they are monitoring, to see if it is achieving the organizational objectives and any possible issues that could be affecting the success of the strategy. This will provide an effective tool for evaluating and monitoring the strategy, in comparison with the overall objectives of the company. A good example of this can be seen with an organization using the HR department, to understand employee thoughts through anonymous surveys. Where, human resources would play a vital role during the planning process of a new strategy. To determine the possible issues they could be facing, an organization could have HR conduct an anonymous survey of employees' views about these changes. At which point, these different concerns can be addressed (during the planning stages). Once the plan has be implemented, HR can follow up (through the use of anonymous surveys) to see the effectiveness of strategy and any kind of issues that could be affecting performance. This will help to support strategic congruence, by monitoring the views of the staff: before and once a strategy has been implemented. (Righiemer 2006)

This approach will help any organization to be able to realize strategic congruence, by utilizing the HR department to address and understand employee concerns. Once this takes place, it can help to support the organizational goals, by telling everyone the possible issues that could be affecting the staff. At which point, the challenges can be addressed, so that everyone can move forward. In this aspect, the HR department would play a vital role in: helping to support the company and different departmental objectives, by understanding how they are affecting staff perceptions. This will allow managers and executive to be able to plan for these different variables, when they are discussing possible strategies. At the same time, the constant follow up will ensure that they have real time information, as to what possible challenges could be affecting the success of the plan.

Outline the key differences between the stakeholder view of the organization and the shareholder view. What are the ethical implications of these points-of-view?

A corporation is divided, based upon areas of influence and ownership. This is important, because it will determines the basic relationship that a business will have with the general public. As its objectives of maximizing profits could have a direct or indirect effect upon: stakeholders and shareholders. With both are playing an interconnected role in the future successes and failures of an entity. This will have an impact on the different ethical implications, as these points-of-view will influence the actions that will be taken.

In an organization, a stakeholder is anyone who would have a direct or indirect impact from the activities of a corporation. This would include: creditors, employees, directors, government entities, unions and whole sellers / suppliers. (Stakeholder 2010) A shareholder is someone who is who owns stock in the corporation. This makes them owners of the company, who can influence its activities, based upon the election of the board of directors. The board will hire various executives / managers to run the company and will establish numerous policies / procedures. (Shareholder 2010) The differences between the two are the how the actions of the corporation will affect each sub-group. Where, the company could be maximizing their profits at the expense of certain stakeholders. The key differences occur, when you look at how a particular action could be benefiting the various groups of stakeholders. As a conflict could take place with the business seeking to achieve its objectives, which will have ripple effects on the various groups. This can create win -- lose situations, with the company achieving its objectives, but at the expense of another group of stakeholders. For example, an organization that is seeking to maximize their profits could push employees to take short cuts in producing the various products and services. Over the course of time, this will cause their earnings to increase. However, the fact that they are pushing their employees to engage in these actions could have an effect on customer relationships. As the inferior products / services could have an impact upon the perceptions of the company itself. Where, these actions from the company could create a conflict among the different stakeholders. In this case, the shareholders and owners would benefit from the increased profits. While, the actions (of the business), would have a negative impact on customers. This is because executives placed one set of stakeholder interests above the other. As a result, one could argue that this will create an ethical conflict.

The ethical implications are that the business could be facing a conflict within itself. Where, everyone knows that there is a need for change to take place. Yet, no one wants to address the oblivious issues because of: personal reasons, greed or a lack of gumption. In any case, this will slowly eat away at the organization like a cancer. With it creating a lack of ethics in the business which will be reflected to various stakeholders. This can cause an organization to lose their competitive edge and they could possibly face a host of regulatory issues. A good example of this can be seen with Enron, where the company would encourage employees to engage in various projects that were not economically viable. Then, to hide the losses from the large risks they took, they would establish off the books limited partnerships. This was designed to hide these losses from shareholders, so that the company appeared to be making more money that it was. In this case, the imbalance between the different stakeholder views would encourage unethical activity. Where, it would help to establish a tradition of engaging in these actions as part of business as usual. (Roy 2002)

In any organization, the way it looks at stakeholder and shareholder views will determine the various implications that its activities will have on everyone. As the way the company's behavior will decide the effects on the various stakeholders. In those organizations where there is more of an emphasis on shareholder views, this will create an ethical dilemma. Where, these views and the subsequent actions will have an impact upon the ethics of the organization.

What have been the key changes, which have impacted an organization that have been brought about by legislative changes in the employment relations area?

The biggest change that has taken place in the workplace has been surrounding the issue of equality. Where, employers have often given employees less time off for: select activities and they have been known to show favoritism (to a particular group of individuals). This is problematic, because it would create income gaps between: different groups of employees and sexes. As the issues of: pregnancy leave and diversification in the workplace would be continually brought to the forefront.