Managing oganisational relationships Essay

IntroductionNo Organisation can hope to give up with the fast pace of change of the world today without enthusiastically embracing change within itself.www.thecommonwealth.org 2005The above statement is very powerful, but star I strongly agree with, because changes are victorious place everyday and if managers assumet respond to these changes past the business is most likely to suffer.Managers may engage little ability to prevent change, but awareness that change is coming can make it easier to deal with. If an arrangement is prepared to handle an event, hence legion(predicate) problems can be prevented or solved without difficulty.Management versus LeadershipThere is a continuing controversy about the differences between prudence and leadership. I think its obvious that a person can be a leader without being a manager and vice-versa.According to the management theorist Mary FollettManagement is the art of getting things done through passelM.Follett 1989However, the ide a that a Manager only manages people I think is over-simplified. This is because managers remove many responsibilities. I bring in outlined below the role of a manger Decision Maker Are held responsible for results Have conflicting goals to touch Need to Plan and Budget Work with and through people organise staff.Whereas, leadership isthe ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and emolument of the organisation.House et al., 1999From the above statement I can gather that the role of a leader is to mainly to Communicate Motivate and, Encourage employeesLeadership is a managerial activity where employees work together towards achieving company goals.The difference between managers and leadership is that managers are elected to supervise the work of other people in the organisation and carry out formal duties. While, leaders influence the behaviour or actions of others. Managers value stability, order and efficienc y. Meanwhile, leaders value flexibility, innovation and adaptation.Managers are concerned more than about how things get done and try to get people to perform better. Whereas, leaders are concerned with what things mean to people and try to get people to agree about the most important things to be done.As you can see there are many differences between management and leadership. I consider leaders are more effective than managers, as they influence workers to pass company targets and their leadership set about is usually very effective.At Morrisons the leadership flare is very effective as the leader has many good characteristics. I spend a penny outlined these below* Good communication skills* Is decisive* Good at delegationThese characteristics help employees feel more treasured as they know what is going on in the company and so try harder for the company to achieve targets.There are many approaches leaders can emphasise on Trait approach doings approach Power-Influence a pproach Situational approach Integrative approachThere are strengths and weaknesses to each of these approaches and the approach used highly depends on the nature of the organisation and the situation they are in.I would say that at Laurens streak factory, the managers implements a behavioural approach. They are very authoritarian where they focus on power, decision making and hold authority with the leader.The management style they hold is labor movement Management. This is when they* Focus on production* Expect schedules to be met* Problems arise from other peoples mistakesI dont believe, that this approach is very effective because employers dont involve employees in decision-making and dont provide opportunity for training and development. I think this would make staff feel less valued and not part of a team so, will not motivate them to perform better to achieve targets.Performance Managementperformance management includes activities to match that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner.www.managementhelp.org 2005Performance management can focus on performance of an organisation, a department, processes to build a product or service, employees etc.Performance management reminds us that training, strong commitment and working hard alone are not results. The major parcel of performance management is its focus on achieving results.Performance management redirects our efforts away from business and gets managers to think towards effectiveness.Recently, organisations draw been faced with challenges of change magnitude competition from businesses across the world. This actor that all businesses must choose effective strategies to remain competitive. Employees must commit to these to ensure strategies are implemented effectively.This situation has put more focus on effectiveness, to achieve results. All of the results across the organisation must continue to be aligned to achieve the overall result for the organisation to survive and thrive. It is only then that organisations can really tell if they are performing. elaboration of an OrganisationEvery organisation has its own unique subtlety, based on values of the top management who direct the organisation. However, over time individuals attempt to change the floriculture of their organisations to fit their own preferences or changing marketplace conditions. This culture then influences the decision-making processes and effects styles of management.Mullins defines the culture of an organisation asa collection of traditions, values, policies, beliefs and attitudes that constitute a pervasive context for everything we do and think in an organisation.Mullins 2002A key role for culture is to differentiate the organisation from others and provide sense of identity for its members.At Accordia the culture is very democratic as the manager delegates responsibilities on others. It is as well creative and sophisticated because they are always open to ne w ideas. They build their culture around bore based upon commitment to the company as a whole.Cross CultureAs a business becomes more global the need to understand heathen differences is critical to success.M. BERGER 1996Berger highlights the importance of cultures. I think it is essential to understand the basic principle of good cross-cultural relationships, because when people do things differently, they are not necessarily wrong they just dont follow this in their culture.I have drawn out a table below giving an example of how UK and France have different styles of conducting clashingsUKFrancePurpose of meetings is to agree actions and make decisionsAcceptable to astray from agendum in discussionsStick to agenda, deviate only if new priorities emergePurpose of meetings is to give input to decisions, not necessarily to make decisionsTime conscious dresst challenge the Big BossDefined follow-up actions are generally agreedThe key decision-maker may not be at meetingPeople a re expected to attend on time and stay through out the entire meetingNot time-conscious people come and go during meetings, there can be side discussions.Figure 1M. Berger 1996As you can see there are many cultural differences. The UK and France have totally opposite managing styles. From look upon and understanding people can find ways to work together based on mutual strengths.I think cultural values affect attitudes and behaviours around the world and we need to examine how one can adapt their skills to the cultural approach in which they find themselves in.Flexible workingsFlexible working is the term used to describe the ability to employ people when and where ask in the interests of everybody.R. Pettinger 2002There has been a huge movement towards elastic working over the years and Neatly & Hurstfield found thatEmployers were making increasing demands on all employees to become more flexible, both in working hours and in functional flexibility.Hurstfield 1995Flexible w orking involves the creation of work patterns and arrangements which are based on the need to maximise organisational output, customer and client satisfaction and staff expertise and effectiveness.I found out that there are many approaches to flexible workforce Atkinson was one of them, where he produced the flexible firm model in 1984. plot flexible firmI believe that this model has more relevance today because when we look at the retail sectors every employee is flexible.For example At Woolworths they have their core managers who work contracted hours. And then all the other employees are part time workers with high flexibility hours. I think they take advantage of the functional flexibility, where they recruit more staff and create short-term contracts when sales are likely to be high, eg) Christmas. This maximises flexibility as they are getting workers in only when needed.I think the flexible firm model shows that the environment is more competitive and the need for co st effectiveness is important. I think Atkinson was soundly ahead of his time and predicted accurately. I consider the greatest emphasis was based on the flexibility in part time working as many retailers implement this model.Psychological ContractThe term Psychological contract isthe perceptions of the two parties, employee and employer, of what their mutual obligations are towards each other.www.adelphi-associates.co.ukIt is the psychological contract that effectively tells employees what they are required to do in order to meet their side of the agreement, and what they can expect from their job. There has been conflict in employees not commiting to their contract, but collectable to the changes occuring recently, employees have been persuaded to taking the contract more seriously.I have listed the changes below The nature of jobs more employees are on part time and temporary contracts, so, functional flexibility is more popular Organisations have downsized and delayered so individual employees are carrying out more tasks. Markets, technology and products are constantly changing customers are becoming more demanding. So, quality and service standards need to be of high standards Traditional organisational structures are becoming more inflexible so, new methods of managing are required.The effect of these changes is that the ability of the business to minimal brain dysfunction value, rests on employees, where they are seen as the key business drivers. Organisations that wish to succeed have to get the most out of their resources. In order to do this, employers have to know what employees expect from their work. This is where the psychological contract is used as a framework for monitoring employee attitudes.Since 1990s employees have low job security due to the impact of globalisation. This has completely changed the traditional contracts where there is no job for life. The new contract mainly focusses on fair pay and treatment and also opportuni ties for training and development notion of continuous learning. On this analysis, employers can no longer offer job security and this has underminded the basis of employee commitment.ConclusionTo conclude, I have found out that change within an organisation is inevitable and managers need to respond to these changes for their business to remain successful.The trend towards globalisation is accelerating as outside(prenominal) competition intensifies. This leads to a change in managerial responsibilities where managers must be able to understand and communicate with people from different cultures.Cultural diversity is increasing within the workforce where managers require the understanding of values, beliefs and attitudes of people from different cultures. I believe it is necessary for managers to have the understanding of building mutual relationships and have respect for diversity so they can work together without difficulties.Flexible working has also become very popular, wh ere employers are constantly seeking flexible staff. This is so they can fully utilise their resources effectively. Organisations are familiar with the notion of high-quality staff willing to work when required. This is due to the fact that the staff, expertise and resources have to be engaged when customers and clients demand.The psychological contract enables employers to look at the welfare of employees. eg) what employees want fair pay, continuous learning, opportunity for training and development etc.Overall, I have found out that the nature of organisations are changing with the times and both employees and employers are benefiting from these particular changes. Also, these changes have a huge impact on managerial theories today.ReferencesBooksSTREDWICK. J. (2005). An Introduction to Human Resource Management. Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann Oxford.PETTINGER. R. (2002). Managing the Flexible Workforce. Capstone Publishing Oxford.BERGER. M. (1996). Cross-Cultural Team Buildi ng, McGraw-Hill London.BJERKE. B. (2001). Business Leadership and Culture. Edward Elgar Cheltenham.MARTIN. G, KEATING. M. (2004). Managing Cross-Cultural Business Relations. Blackwell London.MILES. R. (1975). Theories of Management Implications for Organisation Behaviour and Development. McGraw-Hill Oxford.WATERS. M. (1995).Globalization. Routledge London.STREDWICK. J, ELLIS. S. (1998). Flexible Working Practices. Institue of Personnel Development Wiltshire.YULK. G. (2002). Leadership In Organisations. Prentice Hall New Jersey.ATCHINSON. T. (1978). Management Today. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich New Harcourt Brace Jovanovich New York. sack Sites(2005). Culture of Organisations. online. Available at URLhttp//www.cardiff.ac.uk/learn/business/aim/culture Accessed on 20/1/2006.(2003). Employee Peformance Management. online. Available at URLhttp//www.managementhelp.org Accessed on 20/1/2006.(2005). Psychological Contract. online. Available at URLhttp//www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/psycnt rct/ Accessed on 21/1/2006.(2005). Academic leadership Online Journal. online. Available at URLhttp//www.academicleadership.org/ Accessed on 27/1/2006.