week 6 discussion 2

Resistance to Change (graded)

When Jorge Maldonado became general manager of the local civic recreation center, he realized that many changes would be necessary to make the facility a true community resource. Having the benefit of a new bond issue, the center had the funds for new equipment and expanded programming. All he needed to do now was get the staff committed to the new initiatives. Unfortunately, his efforts have been met with considerable resistance to change. A typical staff comment is, “Why do we need all these extras? Everything is fine as it is.” How can Jorge deal with the employees’ resistance to change, to enable him to move the change process along? Hello Professor and Classmates: In organizations, resistance to change is an attitude that indicates unwillingness to support a desired modification.  Jorge Maldonado, the GM views this resistance as something he has to overcome with his staff at the local civic recreation center in order for change to be successful.  Leaders must recognize that the resistance is to recognize when people resist change, they are defending something that s improtant to them that appears to be threatened.  The staff might be threatened about having to put in more hours of work due to the expanded programming.  People resist change due to fear of the unknown, insecurity, lack of a felt need to change, threat to vested threats, contrasting interpretations, and lack of resources.  The staff might wonder whether the new equipment would get rid of them.  To minimize resistance in such cases, Jorge Maldonado, the leader should make sure that everyone who may be affected by a change knows how it satisfies the following critieria. Benefit - the change should have a clear advantage for the people being asked to change; it should be perceived as "a better way." Compatibility - the change should be as compatible as possible with the existing values and experiences of the people being asked to change. Complexity - the change should be no more complex than necessary; it must be as easy as possible for people to understand and use. Triability - the change should be something that people can try on a step-by-step basis and make adjustments as things progress. Jorge needs to communicate that as part of the funding use generated by the bonds, new equipment and expanded programming are to be introduced to make the facility a true community resource.  Through education and communication, the staff will feel committed on how fortunate they are to get funding for their company.  Jorge should hold a caucus for the staff to participate and get involved so that their commitment to public service would be renewed.

RE: What could SWA & Novo Learn from each other

Serendipity is an accidental discovery of something pleasant. Southwest's staff are not only congenial and service minded, but they are also taking the message about good atmosphere out into the cabin. Effort has been put into creating a good atmosphere within an environment that is normally highly standardized. The safety-instruction talk before take off is accompanied by music and presented by a steward or stewardess. There is no doubt that the passengers are actually astonished.

Novo Norkdisk, a Danish health-care company has shown a superior performance in the company’s stock price performance compared with competitors and NYSE Arca Phamaceutical Index. Long-term financial targets that it set for itself have been met or exceeded. Besides the traditional information – financial growth, profitability, return and cash generation (primarily in relation to its employees and patients) and environmental performance (including carbon emissions resulting from its energy usage and water consumption). The company reports both when it is and when it is not meeting targets in both areas.

SouthWest Airlines and Novo Nordisk can learn from each other that when the company's organizational behavior is directed towards the good of its employees and welfare of its consumers, the financial remuneration will follow, as evidenced by accolades by Fortune magazine, Public Stock Exchange high, positive performance rankings.

References:

http://www.people.hbs.edu/reccles/Insight_Article_2011.pdf

http://www.people.hbs.edu/reccles/Insight_Article_2011.pdf

Noodletools tip

Noodletools is an excellent tool available at http://library.devryu.net for Devry and Keller students so you can create References APA style.

I had a challenge last night exporting the References in an rtf/Word format.  I tried at least 5 times and though I see the references and enable editing, what will be pasted on the Word doc is the login page of the library page.  I was using my Dell inspiron laptop using Windows 7.  I tried the option of uploading to google docs, that did not work either saying it was an invalid page.  Come to think of it, I logged into my google docs at least 5 times that day because Gmail automatically went to that page first as they are launching a new look.  I tried using upload to webpage/ html.  I had to adjust the format.  When I got up this morning, an insight gave a bright insight that I never had a challenge exporting the rtf/ word References using my Mac OS.  If you are using one, make sure to check your Downloads folder because that's where it goes to.

Hope you learned the tip of the day.

GM591 Leadership and Organizational Behavior wk 1 Discussion

Rules for High Performance Organizations (graded)

This week our text discusses the definition of organizational behavior and in particular its applied focus, and our lecture focuses on high performance organizations (HPOs). Right at the intersection of those would be the “Ten Golden Rules of High Performance” found on page 9 of our text in the “Mastering Management“ callout box, and also listed below. What do you think should be added to the list? Is there anything on the list that you disagree with? Please support your opinion with evidence from our readings and also from your own work and life experience. Please also remember to respond to your classmates’ posts to stimulate further discussion. Ten Golden Rules of High Performance 1. Hire by committee – make sure recruits talk to their future colleagues. 2. Cater to every need – make it easy, not hard, for people to perform. 3. Pack them in – put people to work close to one another. 4. Make coordination easy – use technology to keep people talking together. 5. Eat your own dog food – make use of the company products. 6. Encourage creativity – allow freedom to come up with new ideas. 7. Strive for consensus – remember that “many are better than few.” 8. Don’t be evil – live tolerance and respect. 9. Data-driven decisions – do the analysis and stay on track. 10. Communicate effectively – hold many stay-in-touch meetings. what do you think should be added to the list of Ten Golden Rules of High Performance I think what should be added to the list of Ten Golden Rules of High Performance is "give added value." Focusing on providing excellent service, service with a smile not just to its customers but to co-employees as well would help make employees value their transformation of energy and intellect to customers and clients value.  I disagree with the 3rd golden rule of high performance "Pack them in - put people to work close to one another."  The way I envision this rule is like the call center I last worked.  The people were physically packed together and people were getting sick.   However, in Google, what they mean is  Almost every project: at Google is a team project, and teams have to communicate. The best way to make communication easy is to put team members within a few feet of each other. The result is that virtually everyone at Google shares an office. This way, when a programmer needs to confer with a colleague, there is immediate access: no telephone tag, no e-mail delay, no waiting for a reply. Of course, there are many conference rooms that people can use for detailed discussion so that they don't disturb their office mates. Even the CEO shared an office at Google for several months after he arrived. Sitting next to a knowledgeable employee was an incredibly effective educational experience. Citation: http://www.1000advices.com/guru/organization_cs_google_10rules.html