HR Assignment Writing Help Case Study Online:: Organizational culture & change of SPC&D
The report analyzes the case study of SPC & D and makes recommendations on how the executive management can implement cultural and other changes for achieving business goals.
Organizational culture & change of SPC&D
Case Study Topic??
1. The manner in which executive management of SPC & D has gone about communicating the need for change. What does it tell about the style of leadership at SPC & D? How will this support/ hinder achievement of their stated goals?
Solution the Question topic frames is::
On their return from the executive retreat, the executive management of SPC&D called a meeting of the senior management and communicated the need for change. They didn’t take the feedback of the senior management. The leadership style at SPC & D is more authoritarian rather than transformational one. The leadership style doesn’t take into consideration the role of organizational culture for achieving the company’s goals for the next three to five years. It also explains the existing problems at SPC & D. The management has invested heavily in technology like databases but employees are not using them adequately because the culture of using databases and recording everything that happens during a project is absent.
Organization culture can be defined as a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. Organization culture plays a very significant role as it shapes the values and beliefs of the individual employees of the organization. In this way organizational culture has a very significant impact on organization performance (Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A Judge, Seema Sanghi 2012).
One of the key drivers of organizational performance is innovation. In this age of patents, innovation lends the most sustainable competitive advantage to any organization. Innovation thrives in an organization whose culture supports out-of –the-box creative thinking.
When an organization undertakes a change in strategy or structure, one of the first things that it needs to do is to implement a cultural change which can support the required strategic or structural change. Take the instance of Lend Lease Corporation. Lend Lease is an Australian global property organization. It wanted to implement a structural change so that it can become recession proof. It intended to achieve this by diversifying its presence across different national markets. In order to achieve this new vision Land Lease embarked on changing the existing organizational culture. The intended changes that Land Lease aimed to achieve included a culture that encourages innovation through increased knowledge sharing.
Knowledge sharing across the organization fosters and nurtures innovation. Such knowledge sharing effectively takes place in an organization which has a culture of collaboration. Lend Lease in not alone in implementing cultural change for achieving business objectives in a dynamic external environment.
Many other organizations in Australia and across the world are changing their cultures so that they can stay ahead of competition by creating sustainable competitive advantages.
Organizational culture can also be defined as the pattern of beliefs and expectations which shape the behavior of individuals and teams in organizations. Organization culture is concerned with the basic assumptions, values and norms shared by the employees of the organization. It is these values and norms which drive organizational performance to a large extent.
The executive management of SPC &D can take a lesson on how organizational culture determines performance from the case of McDonald’s. The organizational culture at the fast food giant lays emphasis on efficiency, speed and consistency. This culture drives the customer service at McDonald’s restaurants around the world. The customer service in these restaurants is marked by efficiency, speed and consistency. This customer service has become one of the biggest competitive advantages for the restaurant chain.
Transformation style of leadership is needed by the executive management of SPC & D. The authoritarian style of leadership and the lack of emphasis towards cultural change will hinder the company’s move towards achievement of its future goals.
2. Recommendations on new performance review and rewards practices that will support the achievement of SPC &D’s stated goals
SPC & D needs to make its performance review process more transparent. Currently, project managers simply assess the performance of the team members and put their assessment in a file. They do not share their assessment with the team members. In order to achieve the desired goals, performance review needs to be shared with the team members and their feedback should also be recorded. This will go a long way in improving the performance of the employees.
The rewards practices currently at SPC & D are ineffective in motivating employees and rewarding the employees who excel in their performance. The top management should take the advice of the human resources management for tailoring an effective rewards management for the organization.
The role of human resources department is critical in shaping and determining organizational culture. The human resources department often acts as the interface between the senior management and employees. It is responsible for explaining to newly inducted employees the values of the organization. From time to time human resources department communicates the changes in organizational values and beliefs to the employees.
When any organizational change is implemented, some employees resist it. It is the responsibility of human resources management to listen to the grievances of the employees and communicate the same to the top management. The human resources department tries to resolve the issues of resistance to cultural change.
In his Human Resources Champion David Ulrich highlights the role that human resources management plays in cultural change. Since culture has a direct impact on business performance, human resources management’s role in cultural change is more strategic than tactical ( David Ulrich 1997).
The five aspects of the model of change given by J.R. Galbraith interlinks strategy, structure, processes, rewards and people. In both rewards and people aspects of this model of change the human resources management plays a critical role. It advises the top management in determining of rewards and incentives and communicates the expectations of the employees to the top management regarding the same (J.R.Galbraith 2002).
What other changes would I recommend for SPC & D if they are to achieve their new goals?
The goals set by the executive management of SPC & D are:
i) Establishing one industry specific relationship so that SPC & D becomes preferred providers of all facilities worldwide.
ii) Identifying two other industry groups where SPC & D’s expertise could be transferred and negotiate at least one major project in that industry by January 2009.
iii) Increase the profit made on projects from the current average of 1 % to 1.5 % by 2006, and to 2 % in 2012.
iv) To establish a record of on-time, on-cost, and to-agreed-quality standard projects by the year 2010.
v) Reducing the turnover of project management and related engineering staff from the current 18 % to 15 % by the year 2010 and to 12 % by the year 2012, while ensuring that highly competent staff is retained.
The above goals can be achieved if SPC & D has the right strategy and the right organizational culture to support those strategies. One of the first changes that SPC&D should make is to change its staffing and hiring strategy. This will bring down the high turnover rate. It will also help in achieving the goal of retaining competent employees.
Effective knowledge management is required for giving a thrust to innovation in processes so that SPC& D can achieve the goal of delivering projects at the minimum possible costs. This will enable it to achieve its financial goals too.
Knowledge can be defined as a mix of experience, values, contextual information and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information.
Management doyen Peter F Drucker has defined knowledge management as the coordination and exploitation of an organization’s knowledge resources in such a way so as to create benefit and competitive advantage.
One of the defining characteristics of knowledge management is that it requires institutionalization of organizational knowledge. This institutionalization of organizational knowledge makes it possible for the members of the organization to access organization’s collective knowledge.
Knowledge management has been the backbone of innovation in many contemporary organizations. Organizations like Apple and Google are successful in creating so much innovation because of their effective knowledge management. The culture in these companies reinforces knowledge management continuously by encouraging the employees to share knowledge with their peers. In this way individual knowledge and learning is continuously transformed into organization learning and knowledge. The culture in such companies encourages learning and knowledge sharing. Google in Australia bears part of the educational expenditure of the employees who take up new courses to upgrade their learning and knowledge (Fiona Smith 2006).
Culture in an organization usually flows from top to bottom. The top management sets the cultural tone. The right approach is to let the business strategy determine the kind of organizational culture to be pursued. Many organizations in the past failed in spite of being right in strategy because they lacked the culture which could support the needs of the strategy. A company in technology sector is bound to fail in the medium and long term if its culture doesn’t support creative thinking and knowledge management.
Culture, strategy, knowledge and innovation form the virtuous cycle which defines all successful organizations. The strategy is supported by the right culture. The culture supports creation and sharing of knowledge. The effective knowledge management translates into higher rate of innovation. The greater innovation creates competitive advantage for the organization. This competitive advantage is then leveraged for enhancing performance of the business.
Even in businesses which do not have innovation as part of their business strategy, organizational culture plays a critical role. Without the right organizational culture an organization will find it hard to serve its customers efficiently and effectively. Disgruntled customers go away to competitors and give a bad name to the brand image of the organization.
Strategy, process and culture form the troika which ultimately gives an organization its core competency and competitive advantage. Core competency is that product or service which the organization can deliver most efficiently and effectively. Right strategy, right processes and right organizational culture are the hallmarks of a winning organization. And culture should change in line with strategy and processes. Successful organizations turn management of cultural change into a core competency (Thomas Cummings, Christopher Worley 1993).
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