MGT603 GDB no 2 Solution




Semester “Fall 2011”

“Strategic Management (MGT603)”
This is to inform you that Graded Discussion Board (GDB)
has been opened according to the following schedule

Schedule

Opening Date and Time
12th January 2012 At 12:01 A.M. (Mid-Night)

Closing Date and Time
16th January 2012 At 11:59 P.M. (Mid-Night)

Note: No extra or bonus/grace period is available for attempting GBD.

Discussion Question
A strong culture is a big obstacle in new strategy implementation. Comment on this statement with solid reasoning.
Important Instructions:

1.   Your discussion must be based on logical facts.
2.   Your comments on the topic should not exceed 500 words.
3.   The GDB will remain open for 3 working days/ 72 hours.
4.   Do not copy or exchange your answer with other students.  Two identical / copied comments will be marked Zero (0) and may damage your grade in the course.
5.   Obnoxious or ignoble answer should be strictly avoided.
6.   Questions / queries related to the content of the GDB, which may be posted by the students on MDB or via e-mail, will not be replied till the due date of GDB is over.
Ø     For Detailed Instructions please see the GDB Announcement





Solution


GDB MGT603 #2 IDEA SOLUTION 


Organizational culture refers to the compilation of the set of values and norms which are shared by the people and groups in a particular organization. It is also defined as the communication process which creates, sends, stores and process information which is observed or examined through words, behaviors and material things. Additionally, it being a set of shared mental assumptions and guide interpretation, it defines the appropriate behavior at any given instance. 


The Pros of an Organizational Culture are:


● There is recognition of diversity among employees and managers
● There is a just and reasonable treatment for each employees
● Due credit is given to an employee's contribution
● There is equal opportunity for all employees
● Employees can accomplish and achieve their full potential
● There is a stronger communication and information dissemination among the employees regarding the company's policies and issues. 
● It produces dedicated leaders with a vision and purpose. 
● It will enable the company to compete with similar organization
● Increase in efficiency of the employees owe to the company's investment in employees' trainings.
● There company will have a sustainable and consistent programs as well as understandable guidelines for the employees. 


The Cons of Organizational Culture

● It is criticized as a futile endeavor to "pigeonhole" or categorize the organizational culture itself. 

● It is disadvantageous to the organization if the employees focus on the company's rules and regulations rather than the real and concrete goals of the company.
● It is also unfavorable to new employees joining the team because of the presented culture, which makes improvement and advancement impracticable. 
● Employees will be slow to react and reply to varying and shifting demographics. 
● Difficulty for outsider working with the company to figure out what's going on. An example of which is job descriptions are automatically understood by the insiders without having the necessity of explaining it to co-workers from the outside.




A precise idea solution is also here:

Culture in an organization is mainly developed due to working environment over decades. Such cultures become almost unwritten laws in such organizations, being followed by all very strictly and rigidly, thus in such conditions these also act as barriers for implementation of new strategies, ideas, unfreezing the situations, changing the existing rules or changing the employees from their places etc. However, one needs to carefully workout and diplomatically handle such issues / situations in order to bring result oriented changes in organizations.

Remember! This is an idea for all to generate their own answers. Similar answers may score ZERO marks due to copy / paste etc.
      



People or business that is founded on a solid culture is not susceptible to change. They have a firm believes and practices that are deep rooted over a period of time and even generations. This makes it impossible or even hard to subject these people to change in terms of new strategies.


Culture is formed by screening and selecting new employees who share the same values as your organization. However, culture evolves, it is not static. Both internal (hiring, staff turnover, etc) and external (technology, competition, etc.) factors shape your culture. Your beliefs, vision, objectives and business practices may be compatible with culture. If this is the case, your culture becomes a valuable ally in strategy implementation. On the other hand, if there is conflict then you do not have a strategy-culture fit and you need to do something about it quickly. 


Strong cultures promote successful strategy implementation while weak cultures do not. By strong culture, I mean there is a shared belief in practices, norms and other practices within the organization that helps energize everyone to do their jobs to promote successful strategy implementation. 


Logical Reason and Example 


For example, if your culture is built around listening to customers and empowering employees (both authority and responsibility), it promotes the execution of a strategy that supports superior customer service. In weak cultures, employees have no pride in ownership of work, work is sloppy, there are very few values and people form political groups within the organization. Such cultures provide little or no assistance to implement strategy.


Hence Changing a culture is the toughest of all management tasks. It takes time to change unhealthy culture and you may have to weed out obstacles to a healthy culture. This experience was a valuable lesson for me. In weak cultures, people do not take risks that is needed to succeed. They believe in moving cautiously, preferring to follow than lead.


Some time ago, I was working with a small business that in the software industry. They had been in business for a number of years before I was brought in. One of the things I noticed initially was that there was constant re-work; i.e. bulk of the developers’ time was spent in fixing bugs instead of new development work. Deliverables were always late. Customers who did receive the product found the software buggy. The organization’s reputation suffered as a result. To combat this we initiated a number of measures; from letting unprofitable customers go to introducing time tracking, etc. But we forgot the most fundamental aspect; to initiate a change in the culture.


Culture in an organization is mainly developed due to working environment over decades. Such cultures become almost unwritten laws in such organizations, being followed by all very strictly and rigidly, thus in such conditions these also act as barriers for implementation of new strategies, ideas, unfreezing the situations, changing the existing rules or changing the employees from their places etc. However, one needs to carefully workout and diplomatically handle such issues / situations in order to bring result oriented changes in organizations.


“A strong culture is a big obstacle in new strategy implementation. Comment on this statement with solid reasoning.”


Solution





Organizational Culture
Many definitions of culture give primacy to the cognitive components, such as assumptions, beliefs, and values. Others expand the concept to include behaviors and artifacts, leading to a common distinction between the visible and the hidden levels of organizational culture.
Strong culture
Strong culture means a shared belief in practices, norms and other practices within the organization that helps energize everyone to do their jobs to promote better work environment.
Strategy Implementation
 Strategic Implementation is a process of activating the strategy. It is the sum total of all the activities and choices required for execution of a strategic plan.·
 It is the process by which strategies· & policies are put into action through the development of programs, budgets and procedures
 Strategy implementation may be said to consist of securing resources, organizing these resources and directing the use of these resources within and outside the organization.·
“A strong culture is a big obstacle in new strategy implementation”.
Reasons:
Though the Strong Culture in an organization is the strength of it but it may bounce back a fool proof strategy and its implementation as:
In large companies, those who implement the strategy likely will be different people from those who formulated it. Thus it is sometimes contradict the current culture hence provoking uneasiness amoung the employees that straightly affects the implementation process.
In lower level position, managers resist its implementation because they don’t understand why the particular strategy was selected
Strong culture increases the commitment of employees hence creates uncertainty amoung the staff when they feel any upcoming change in their culture. They start resisting against the implementation process of the strategy.
Strong Culture endeavors confidence and cohesion amoung the work environment and employees. Working out of your comfort zone is mesmeric as per human nature and this generates obstacles in implementation of strategy.



Organizational culture refers to common behavior patterns within the group of people make up the organization. A strong organizational culture means that people within the organization tend to have similar beliefs and behavior patterns. A strong organization culture also means that there is less tolerance for behavior that move away from the accepted patterns. Strength of organizational culture is an important factor in determining the organizational performance. But much more important is the level to which the pattern of behavior supported by it is in line with the requirements of an organization. The impact of strength of organizational culture itself is mixed. A strong organization culture tends to bind together the people of the organization and contributes to smoother functioning. However, a strong culture also tends to build in inflexibility in the organization. It discourages change, and slow down creativity. Therefore, a very strong organization culture may not be very suitable for organization operating in dynamic environment, requiring frequent changes in its working style. 



         

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