Organizational performance Essay Example for Free

Organizational performance Essay Todays society is diverse and rapidly changing and it is the organisations ability to adapt or be in fit with the external environment that will determine its overall performance. Ethical issues arise throughout all organisations daily activities but it is the continual debate about what is right or wrong that will shape ethical decision making now and for generations to come. This essay aims to investigate culture within the internal environment and how culture plays a role in an organisations ability to fit in with the environment. According to (Samson and Daft, 2003:80) the internal environment is composed of present employees, management and business culture. This essay will investigate how culture plays a role in the organisations overall success. In addressing the issue it will be shown how the external environment has changed in terms of how organisations are evaluated. How changing an organisations culture can help the organisation be in fit with the external environment and how the success of changing culture may depend on the level of employee moral development. It is argued that the organisations performance depends on a fit between the organisation and its external environment. Body Key point 1: How the external environment has changed in terms of how organisations are evaluated. The external environment has changed with respect to how organisations are evaluated today. According to ( Samson and Daft, 2003:79) the external environment is all elements existing outside the organisations limitations that have the possibility to affect the organisation. Companies around the world have started to realise that investors are not concerned exclusively with financial performance (Tschopp, 2003). The days of companies being  evaluated on their financial performance are gone and companies are now finding that they are being evaluated on a more overall perspective. Increasing the ethical obligations can help an organisation when adapting to the external environment. According to ( Samson and Daft, 2003:147) ethics is the code of honourable principles and standards that governs the behaviours of an individual or group with respect to what is correct or incorrect. If ethics is incorporated as part of the organisation this can lead to improvements in the workplace and towards society. The triple bottom line approach has been introduced as a way of achieving overall success both internally and externally throughout the organisation. Triple bottom line entails reporting on economic, social, and environmental issues. Corporate success should be considered not just by the traditional financial bottom line, but also by its social/ethical and environmental performance ( Samson and Daft, 2003). Triple bottom line has not only put the emphasis on managers to not only make a profit but to also consider the surrounding external environment that they could be affecting. Businesses now report annually on social and environmental performance as well as their financial performance because they know it provides a more complete measure of long-term value creation and strategic opportunity (Tuchman. J, 2004). Key Point 2: Organisations need to change to fit. They can do this by changing an organisations culture to fit in with the external environment. The external environment has altered and its the organisations ability to change to keep in touch with the external environment that determines its performance. One way an organisation can change to keep in contact with the environment is by altering its culture. According to (Samson and Daft. 2003: 94) culture is the knowledge, beliefs, values, behaviours and ways of viewing shared among members of a society. Organisational culture has been defined, in very simple but intuitive words, as the way we do things around here (Domenec, 2003). The notion that we can make others do what we want them to do by persuading them to want to do  it is one that has a long pedigree. This notion became formalised as an integrative view of organisation culture and became more ingrained after the publishing of the book In Search of Excellence in 1982 (Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., 1982) Moving towards greater corporate responsibility may require culture change or at least cultural re-enforcement. The fundamental values that exemplify cultures at these and other organisations can be understood through the noticeable manifestations of symbols, stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies. Any organisations culture can be interpreted by observing these factors (Samson and Daft, 2003:95). By incorporating symbols, stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies into an organisations culture they will be able to adapt to the changing external environment. According to (Samson and Daft, 2003:97) slogan is a phrase or sentence that succinctly expresses a key corporate value. Hungry Jacks for example has the slogan The burgers are better at Hungry Jacks. They have incorporated this slogan as part of their culture to try and separate them from the other competitors. By incorporating the different types of culture into and organisation, may change the way managers and employees think to incorporate social and natural environmental responsibilities into the workforce. Key Point 3: The success of changing culture may depend on the level of employee ethical development. The success of changing culture can depend on numerous factors but the level of employee ethical development plays a role. The three levels of personal moral development could pose a problem for employee ethical development. The theory developed by Kohlberg goes through the different stages of employee development from pre-conventional to post conventional. Starting at the pre-conventional level which focuses on right vs. wrong and the behaviour is on ones self to the conventional level which focuses on the  group rather then ones self. Then lastly Kohlbergs post-conventional level of individual development which focuses on abstract and self-chosen principles (Arnold and Lampe, 1999). Kohlbergs theory brings attention to the fact that if employees are going in different directions it can hinder the success of an organisation. If there are employees who are focusing on what is right vs. wrong and other employees who are following self chosen principles even though they know people hold different views. In this sense, the greatest danger to modern organisations is the betrayal of ambitious, selfish, untrustworthy people who care more for their own progression than the mission of the organisation (Domenec, 2003). Since each person is unique, each one can focus on personal accomplishment in very different ways (Domenec, 2003). Conclusion This essay investigated culture within the internal environment and how culture plays a role in an organisations ability to fit in with the environment. In support of this argument there has been evidence supported to show how organisations incorporate culture to be in fit with the changes of external environment. Organisations are finding that they are being evaluated not only on their financial status but also their social and environmental performance. This has meant that organisations have had to change their culture to compensate in the change in evaluation. An organisation culture can be observed through such factors as slogans and symbols which now have to coincide with the external environment. The success of the changing culture can depend on the level of employee ethical development and at what stage everyone is at. If an organisation is united and following the same path or views they may find greater overall success. Views that link an organisations culture with its performance seek to shape managers and employees understandings in a common and coherent direction (Kolter and Keskett, 1992). Bibliography: 1. Samson, D., Daft, R.L. (2003) Management: Pacific rim edition. Victoria: Thomson. 2. Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., In Search of Excellence: Lessons from Americas Best-Run Companies (New York: Warner Books, 1982), 3. Tuchman, J. 2004, Big Owners Balance Triple Bottom Line [online], Available from URL: http://www.enr.com/news/bizlabor/archives/040809-1.asp 4.

Dead Asleep :: Essays Papers

Dead Asleep I am walking through a damp forest that only allows light through the breakage in the vast tree limbs. It is rather hard for me to find a path to follow when there is such little light but I am compelled to go in this certain direction. I am not scared, however, I am being very cautious of my surroundings. I think of leaving the window cracked, but I know this section of the brain is still in reality because I am walking right now and there is no window to be seen. It seems like I have been walking for miles when I here a slight crackle in the brush behind me. This is not a heavy crackle; it is like the sound of a toddler wearing feeted pajamas tip-toeing through a flower garden. I swing around to see what is there, but all that I can see is blank space: no forest anymore, just a blank reel of film that is still playing in the projector of my mind. I hastily turn back toward the direction I was compelled to go in before but it is also blank space now. I hear the cushiony crac kling noise again and wonder how blank space can crackle. A droplet of sweat trickles down my left cheek and my heart rate is starting to quicken so I know I am getting nervous. I feel the need to take a deep breath and close my eyes to try and relax myself. I kept my eyes closed for probably about a minute waiting to hear the noise again. Not hearing anything, I opened my eyes with a little difficulty. Expecting to see blankness again, my eyes were forced closed again when I saw all the bright colors. It seems as though a rainbow has thrown-up on my blank canvas of a dream. When my eyes finally adjusted to the brightness, the colors were swaying and swirling very rapidly, yet also in rhythm to the song â€Å"The Wheel†. I spin around and around in circles trying to assess my newfound surroundings and begin to realize the bright swirling colors are forming figures. Each color: red, blue, yellow, green, and orange turn into fuzzy bears with bib-like things around their necks. The green bear approaches me as if he had something important to tell me; he began to talk, but his mouth only moves- there is no sound.

Best Buy Case Study Essay

After acquiring a stake in Five Star, a retailer of appliances and electronics in China, Best Buy’s VP John Noble is responsible for launching a dual brand strategy to China as he did in Canada back in 2002. The plan was to open three stores in less than two years in China while Five Star was planning on opening 25 additional stores. Entering China would prove to be much more difficult than neighboring Canada as a country with 1. 3 billion consumers which is a lot of people to please. China was chosen as the second international expansion market primarily due to the overall market opportunity, consumer fundamentals and macro-economic factors (Ivey, 2006). † In addition to the Chinese being very frugal, there was also the issue of the concept of credit, or lack there of in China. About four percent of households in China used credit cards, compared to 75 percent in the United States (Ivey, 2006). Best Buy quickly realized that branding in China was not what really attracted the consumers (Ivey, 2006). Best Buy Inc Best Buy had been interested in entering China since the 1990’s. By that time, China had been hosting many of the United States and Europe as far as different manufacturing products. The option of dual branding was what Best Buy was thinking in order to essentially join forces with Chinas retailer of electronics and appliances, Five Star. By coming together, Best Buy in United States thought that the two companies would be even stronger as one. This sort of dual branding worked very well in Canada and presumably would have the same success in China. Competitors Some of the main competitors of Best Buy are Wal-mart and Costco. The competitors were constantly increasing their CE retail market and in particular they increased the products that were less complex therefore easier to sell. Internet shopping and distributors such as Amazon or sites like that are another example of a competitor in the CE market. Also, home improvement stores such as Home Depot and Lowe’s were also venturing into unknown territory which was competition for Best Buy. â€Å"Lines were blurring as retailers of all kinds were widening their product assortments in pursuit of revenues and margins (Ivey, 2006). † Dual branding in Canada seemed like logical step in that Best Buy and Canada’s Future Shop, the main CE retailer there could join together and become stronger with all of the competition coming about (Ivey, 2006). Dual Branding Canada Canada was paid $363. 95 million dollars to acquire Future Shop. Among several reason why the dual branding took place, the number one reason and most important was that Future Shop was an established brand â€Å"with over 95 percent unaided brand awareness among Canadians (Ivey, 2006). † Though dual branding seemed like a great idea there were also some downsides. Cannibalization was the main problem of course due to the products of Future Store eating the profits of Best Buy and vice versa. There was also the immanent issue that the consumer would not know which brand was which. Despite these issues, by the first year of operations the dual branding strategy seemed to be working and cannibalization seemed minimal. It seemed only natural to give it a try in China (Ivey, 2006). Dual Branding China â€Å"China was chosen as the second international expansion market primarily due to the overall market opportunity, consumer fundamentals and macro-economic factors (Ivey, 2006). However the Chinese consumer was different than that of the United States or Canada. Also, consumers were not really concerned with branding as much as they were messages relating to functional features. Therefore, the preference of brand did not really translate into revenue. There was also the issue of land acquisition as there were often delays which would force a store to take up to 6 months to even open its doors. The Chinese also preferred to deal with people they knew and had previous relationships with so pricing had to be up to par due to the consumer not providing much slack for it. With all of these problems, a dual branding in China did not seem as seamless as it was in Canada (Ivey, 2006). Conclusion It is understandable why Best Buy would want to go global to maximize its profit and consumer base all over. Though things seemed to work out in Canada, it would prove to be a much tougher hill to climb in China just based off the consumers alone and the way things are done there and simply the way of life. It will be interesting to see if the places like Turkey and Mexico, other potential targets will have the same success rate as Canada, and not resemble China’s issues.

A Streetcar Named Desire - 934 Words

A Streetcar Named Desire is a book that occurs in the 1960s, New Orleans where an agrarian southern culture meets the new industrialized southern culture. Different people have different view on slavery. They begin to grow and divide into two separate cultures: Old Agrarian South and New Industrialized South. The attitudes of many white southerners didn’t change regarding African-Americans. Before the Civil War, many southerners supported things like slavery, segregation, states’ rights, and state secession. After the Civil War, many of them tried to make the Congress to continue believe and remain these concepts. Thus, negatives attitudes toward African-Americans and changing policies still existed in the South after the end of the American Civil War. Another attitude was to try to keep African-Americans from making progress. After the Civil War, many white southerners opposed giving the Freedmen’s Bureau to help the former slaves. White southerners also tried to restrict African-Americans from using the rights like poll taxes and literacy tests. Jim Crow laws were also passed to segregate the races. Sharecropping was a system of farming that kept the former slaves in a condition similar to slavery. Two differences from pre-Civil War days to post-Civil War days were the change in the economy and the expansion of transportation. The South was mainly an agricultural-based economy prior to the Civil War. There were few industries only. 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