Key Takeaways

After writing the previous posts, this one serves as a summary of everything that I as both a manager and an organization deem extremely valuable. Combining the ideas of environment, culture, ethics, and social responsibility, it is important to consider that each manager will have varying stances on each of these topics, and so the points from each of these that I value are unique. With the environment, I know that I need to take into account what is going on in the world, and not just within my organization's base country. With a globalized world, I must stay up to date with everything going on from the economies to these nations, to political actions and affairs being taken. Along with the note on globalization, the culture of the organization will also play a key part of how the overall organization succeeds. With varying people from diverse backgrounds, it is important to listen to the ideas of everyone. Along with listening to others, I need to set an example as an ethically moral manager. This will be important when it comes to making decisions that may have choices in the gray area. With social responsibility, I believe it is great for the organization to support the community through both charitable actions and volunteering with different groups. With all of these blog postings, I have attempted to share what my learnings from my Fundamentals of Management class mean to me and how they can apply in my life.

- Sayuz

Social Responsibility

Social responsibility in the workforce and organization refers to me as a manager making decisions that will contribute to the welfare and interests of society and the organization. This act has a lot to do with the ethics of certain decisions, which was covered in my last blog post. Similar to that post, this topic deals a lot with the gray area of what we deem as something being socially responsible. As a manager, we must ask ourselves to whom is it that we are being responsible to? Because of this, different people view social responsibility as a different definition. I believe that as a manager of this organization I am socially responsible in not only offering a service to the general population through what my company has to offer, but also with giving back to the community through community service and charitable donations. While other managers might think these two facets are not necessary and will only lose profits of the company, Daft and Marcic state that studies have "generally found a positive relationship between social responsibility and financial performance." (Daft & Marcic, p.147) With this being said, I as a manager have nothing to worry about when it comes to losing profits by being charitable as an organization. When I think about this relationship and this trend that was found, it makes perfect sense. When an organization is seen to give back to the community more often and better the overall community, of course people would have a good view on that company and want to deal in business with that organization. On the lines of volunteering, Susan T. Schuster of the Star Tribune said "Volunteerism breaks down barriers and brings people together. Teams who volunteer together become more cohesive." (Schuster) This is why as an organization and as a manager, I will dedicate excess profits to bettering the community and building stronger relations through philanthropy and volunteering events.

- Sayuz



Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.

Schuster, Susan T. “Volunteerism: Doing Good Is Good for Bottom Line.” Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 24 Apr. 2017, www.startribune.com/eedition/login?From=http://e.startribune.com/Olive/ODN/StarTribune/AfterLogin.ashx.

Framework for Ethical Decision Making

Making decisions is at the forefront of the role of a manager. When most people think of decisions, much like when choosing an answer for a test, they think of which choice is right and which one is wrong. But in the case of me being a manager for my organization, how can I clearly define what right and wrong means? In the case of wrong decisions, there are the obvious answers such as when one option is illegal. In other cases, however, it can be difficult to decide on something. The difference between right and wrong is especially evident when choices lie in the gray area. In these situations, instead of making the choice for the organization as the manager, I believe it is best to bring up these decisions with the whole of the company and spur up a discussion. As stated by James Ryan in his Harvard Business Review, "We listen just long enough to form a quick opinion, and then we either endorse or oppose what has been said." (Ryan). Through discussions with numerous employers, points that might previously not have been thought of have the possibility of being made. I believe that as an organization, having a discussion like this is the only way to critically and thoroughly think through these types of decisions. This is especially helpful in finding what could be the most ethical answer, since everyone has different moral standards when it comes to moral ethics.

As a manager, it is easy to talk about going about these decisions in this manner, however it is important that I must stay ethically in-bounds as well. As a manager I must act as an example for this organization. How will others be willing to employ the most ethical means if I myself do not practice these very things? In the view of Daft and Marcic, "Managers and first-line supervisors are important role models for ethical behavior, and they strongly influence the ethical climate in the organization by adhering to high ethical standards in their own behavior and decisions." (Daft & Marcic, p.144) I fully agree with this idea so as the manager I must have good behaviors myself so employers will follow suit, otherwise hypocrisy in the management level will exist in the organization. Along with this, as a manager, I must take accountability for all of the decisions that do not end up going well for the organization. For example, some decisions that lie in the gray area will have outcomes that cannot be fully predicted. I believe having to deal with this gray area is the biggest weakness of this framework. However, I think that as a manager if I take accountability for these actions, this will show to be the best solution for this weakness. Instead of shifting the blame or hiding from these decisions, I will have to step up and fix any damage that results. Although the discussion based method of going about ethical decisions can still result in some losses for the company, this is the best way to incorporate thorough and critical thinking in the process of making these types of decisions.

- Sayuz


Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.

Ryan, James E. “5 Questions Leaders Should Be Asking All the Time.” Harvard Business Review, 29 Aug. 2017, hbr.org/2017/04/5-questions-leaders-should-be-asking-all-the-time?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social.

Managing in a Global Environment

While managing in a global environment, it is extremely critical to be wary of the different circumstances of other nations. As I've stated in previous posts, every country is becoming more interconnected with one another to the point that we live in a "borderless world." As stated by Daft & Marcic, we have seen implications such as "trade barriers fall, communication becomes faster and cheaper, and consumer tastes in everything from clothing to cellular phone converge." (Daft & Marcic, p. 96) This means that businesses have to decide what aspects of the business will be more efficient in what countries. As both a manager and an organization, I will need to decide where to open up new locations based on the consumer base, and the cost of employment in these places. As a manager, it is also important to note that with a more global environment comes a more diverse workforce. Said by Tsedal Neely in his Harvard Business Review article, "the number of people in the global labor force will reach 3.5 billion by 2030." (Neeley) Employees from all different backgrounds will be interacting with one another and it is my job as the manager to make sure that everyone is being heard. With people from all types of backgrounds, innovation has the potential to reach an all time high because everyone will have different ideas. I will have to step outside of my comfort levels by interacting with people I would rarely have with before, but this is good for the organization as a whole because everyone will feel included and proposals that would not be envisioned previously will be out on the table.

- Sayuz

Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.

Neeley, Tsedal. “How to Successfully Work Across Countries, Languages, and Cultures.” Harvard Business Review, 29 Aug. 2017, hbr.org/2017/08/how-to-successfully-work-across-countries-languages-and-cultures.

Organizational Culture

Culture is a huge part in who a person is. In this sense, an organization's culture makes up a lot about that organization and how it goes about its business. As my own organization, my culture first and foremost has to do with my experience of growing up as an immigrant here after being born in Nepal. Looking at my personal qualities as a culture, I would state it as an innovative sense with a vision for improving the quality of life of many others. I believe that an organization thrives better when it has a positive environment in the workplace and what it stands for. According to Richard  Perrin, “Organizational culture is the sum of values and rituals which serve as ‘glue’ to integrate the members of the organization.” (Watkins) As a manager, I would like to build an organization with a culture that values inclusivity by getting everyone involved and having employers feel like their work is not menial or useless. I would like everyone to feel as though they are directly involved in the organization and the way we go about business. 

- Sayuz




Sources:
Watkins, Michael D. “What Is Organizational Culture? And Why Should We Care?” Harvard Business Review, 7 Aug. 2014, hbr.org/2013/05/what-is-organizational-culture.

External Environmental Factors

Environmental factors play a big role in an organization and for the manager of that organizations, and so I will have to take note of these important ones and how they could affect me. These external factors are essential for an organization to survive in today's world:

International:

The international environment is all about how today's world and organizations are intertwined with one another. This is seen with how there are increasing amounts of global organizations in recent years. Globalization means that something happening in one country can affect what happens in an organization in another country. According to Daft and Marcic, "the international environment provides new competitors, customers, and suppliers and shapes social, technological, and economic trends as well." (Daft & Marcic, p. 65) as both an organization and a manager, this is important for me to understand because it means I need to be informed of everything that is going on in the world, and not just national news.

Technological:

Technology without a doubt is one of the most important advancements in the world today. In the past few years, there has been an exponential growth in technology. Growing up in this time of growth has been really beneficial for me as both an organization and a manager because it has helped me understand this change and why it is so important. For example, the smart phone in my pocket today is more powerful than most computers 10 years ago, and so I know how important it is to stay up to date with the newest technological advancements. This is why my organization would implement only the most cutting-edge technology and I would incorporate the ease of these new technologies as a manager.

Sociocultural:

Each company will have a different sociocultural feel as each one will have different demographics. Along with the demographic characteristics, the sociocultural dimension represents the norms, customs, and values of the population. (Daft & Marcic, p. 66) Since these customs and values are developed within people in their formative years from ages 4 to 12, people in the workplace will value different traits based on how they grew up. This is why it is important for the manager me to understand how not everyone values the same things and how I can work in a way to make everyone comfortable. This will help the organization have a more connected feel to it and will improve the overall attitude of the people.

Economical:

The economical environmental factor is essential to an organization and a manager to understand because factors such as unemployment, interest rates, and consumer purchasing power in the location of the organization have a large effect on the strategies that organization should employ. Since economies are so globalized today, this factor is closely related with the international factor because an event that happens to the economy of one country can have an impact in factors of another country. An example provided by Daft and Marcic talks about how "the economic recession and the decline of consumer confidence in the United States in the early 2000s affected economies and organizations around the world." (Daft & Marcic, p. 68) As an organization and a manager, I will need to be aware of how global economies are doing so I can be prepared for changes in the market of my home state.

These external environmental factors are those that I deem the most important to grow as an organization and a manager.

- Sayuz

Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.

YouConnect Overview

An organization's success relies heavily on understanding management and the manager's role in the company. Along with reading a textbook about management skills and tactics, using this blog to provide reflections on the concepts of the textbook will make my Fundamentals of Management course more meaningful when it comes to reflecting on ideas from the text with personal connections. Throughout this blog, I will be both an "organization" and a "manager" of this organization. These blog posts will relate to the course material I learn with my own personal connections and how they apply to each other. For any readers of this blog, leaving comments or discussion questions are welcome so that we may grow together.

Thanks for reading!
- Sayuz