Systematic Study of Organizational Behavior
Systematic Study of Organizational Behavior
There are many factors that have an influence on the manager’s role in an organization. Three of the most important factors affecting the manager’s role are Globalization, Intuition, and Diversity.
In today’s business environment, more and more companies are conducting business on a global basis. With the power of the Internet moving information at the speed of sound, business can be conducted without national boundaries. As a part of the emerging globalization in commerce, managers in organizations of all kinds are dealing with a new set of concerns.
In today’s workplace of diverse cultures and values, managers must be able to adapt their work styles and behaviors to the differences of the individuals in their workforce. There is a temptation for managers in many American companies to believe that, although institutions are different, managers in other countries make the same assumptions that they do (Likierman, 2006). This is a temptation American managers must resist as the global workplace is very different based on the country where the company conducts business.
To build a truly global organization, the management team of an organization must create a global corporate mindset. The term corporate mindset refers to how the company sees the world and how this affects its actions (Paul, 2000). Developing a global corporate mindset is one of the most difficult practices a manager can undertake. A global corporate mindset determines to what extent a management team encourages and values cultural diversity, while simultaneously maintaining a degree of strategic cohesion (Paul, 2000). Management must first create a market strategy that is global in nature and then create an environment that supports the organization’s efforts to conduct business globally. The organization must consider business issues such as communication tools, operating procedures, employee staffing, and corporate structure to build and foster a global business environment. The proper development and execution of these issues can help the organization develop globally while incorporating a local feel to marketplaces where the firm conducts business.
Creating a global organization starts with the top management of that organization. The top management team of a global organization should reflect the diversity of markets in which it wants to compete. A great example of an organization with a global top management team is Adidas, the German-based sportswear company (Paul, 2000). Adidas’ top management team consists of Americans, Frenchmen, Germans, one Swiss, one Swede and one Australian. Adidas is the exception of organizations that have developed a top management team that reflects the diversity of its worldwide operations (Paul, 2000). Many organizations still have a long way to go in establishing a global mindset in their business practices.
Intuition is one of those things that the average person can’t quite put their finger on. It is a combination of gut feeling, wisdom and common sense. Many managers don’t utilize intuition as it is far from the norm for business decision-making. Many managers like to manage by fact and make decisions based on the available tangible information. However, there will be many instances where a manager will need to make a business decision with either little or no information to make that decision. For this reason, utilizing intuition to make decisions is a risky proposition to some. To others, not using intuition is also risky because intuitive insights are at the root of holistic thinking and innovation (Murray, 2004). Utilizing intuition can get managers to think “out of the box” with fresh thinking, and to move away from traditional decision-making processes where they make decisions the same way every time.
Intuition calls upon the wisdom and experiences managers have gained over their lifetimes. This wisdom consists of a cocktail of intellectual, emotional, physical and instinctive knowledge that is lodged in the individual (Murray, 2004). Without a lot of experience, it is harder for newer managers to utilize intuition in their decision-making processes. Newer managers tend to make decisions with less guesswork as they don’t want to “rock the boat” while assimilating in the organization. Because intuitive managers set no standards or limits on processing their thoughts in this fashion, they will eventually come up with an intuitive idea because it wasn’t arrived at using a logical sequence (Simpson, 2003).
Intuition can be extremely helpful if used as a complement to logical, rational knowledge (Simpson, 2003). If a manager