Principles of management - Week 8

Chapter 10 - Organizing in the 21st century.

On this chapter we have discussed the following : -The concept of contingency organization design. -Mechanistic and organic organizations. -The role that differentiation and integration play in organization structure. -Centralized organizations versus Decentralized ones. -Delegation and delegation barriers. -The changing shape of organizations.

Some personal thoughts............

This chapter has made me think about past employers.

I really liked the last place I worked for in Israel... my managers were so "people oriented"...

they treated employees with dignity and respect and rewarded employees for their good work.

I also have some unpleasant memories from other workplaces and various managers I - unfortunately - had to work with... but you know what ? maybe it was good to get a chance to work with ALL SORTS of people... because you can only learn from the school of hard knocks...

and you can only benefit and develop better human-relations skills, when you have to

work with people you can't stand ...

Here's an article I wrote , better said "analysis" of my former manager, Mr Ben David, who was

really one of my favorites. Though I did have one incident with him in which he made

me angry - I see it as a onetime-never to happend again - incident, and I think the reason it happened was related to the difficult situation of the tourism field in Israel after the "Intifada" (revolution in the occupied territories) has started.... I think he was at a difficult situation and the incident involved money issues, but was eventually solved.

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A Manager’s analysis

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I have chosen to write an analysis of my former manager in Israel, Mr Amnon Ben David, who is the co-owner and founder of Eshet Incoming – an incoming tourist services company in Tel Aviv. I have worked for Eshet Incoming for approximately 3 years (1999-2001). Mr Ben David’s managerial roles were very diverse, since he was not only one of the owners or the company but also its president and head of the marketing and public relations division. He was personally involved in various projects such as incentive groups, large international conferences that were held in Israel and handled by the company, E-travel websites that were operated by the company and many more. Mr Ben David had fulfilled many roles in the company and therefore had to delegate various tasks to different employees, starting with the vice president, and onto sales people, tour operators and administrative assistants. His managerial functions included the following: Planning – He used to plan the company’s future opportunities well a head, by meeting with travel agents all over the world, providing price-offers to major clients long in advance, negotiate rates with hotels and other tourist-services suppliers long in advance. Forecast future trends in the incoming tourism business and prepare for any crisis that may occur (mostly due to changing political situations). Setting financial goals was also part of the planning stage of his work. Organizing – He used to organize staff meetings and delegate various tasks to different employees. Employees at all levels were anknowledged about future plans, tasks, changes etc’. Leading – He provided a strong backup to employees and served as role model as far as social responsibilities were concerned. He used to put overtime and support the lower level employees, even sometimes assist in the lowest level tasks such as answering phones or emails and negotiating better rates with suppliers in order to gain more clients. Control – He followed up with his tour operators and lower level managers on various projects, and got personally involved in large projects, increasing quality of service and product by giving special personal attention to major clients and / or to problematic clients.When things got out of control due to a heavy mass of work – he hired additional employees and made plans to expand the various departments and nominate sub-managers to each department. Mr Ben David’s ethical and social responsibility approach was a positive one. He rewarded employees and provided positive feedback to those who deserved it. When financial situation allowed it – he knew how and where to give his feedbacks to employees, thus increasing their motivation and loyalty to the company. Although the tourism field usually does not pay overtime – He was fair enough to ignore what the rest did – and legally paid his employees for their overtime. The general atmosphere conducted in the office was very good. The employees were provided with a comfortable working zone and the company had a feel of an open system, allowing tour operators to make their own decisions about their clients, but still be able to consult with higher level managers. Due to the unstable and uncertain situation of the tourism field in Israel – contingency design was definitely a main character of the company. There was a lot of flexibility and freedom to make decisions without getting approvement from management first. The general feel was that lower level employees were trusted to do their job and there was no need to constantly monitor them. As far as Peter’s and Waterman’s *Eight attributes of Excellence* are concerned – My manager’s approach had a lot of them in his way of managing the company: He encouraged flexibility, risk taking, and productivity through people. People were treated with dignity and respect. Enthusiasm, trust and family feeling were fostered. Management stuck to business it knew best. Authority was decentralized as much as possible. Opportunity for creativity was generously allowed. Customer satisfaction was an important issue and as previously mentioned – managers stayed involved in all areas through active informal communication. Human relations were very good too. It sounds like the ideal place / person to work for, my only advice would be to increase personal organization and maybe delegate more in order to clear more time for project planning etc’. I admire his risk taking and think he’s probably the best manager I’ve ever worked for.

Spring break week

Chapter # 9 - Organizations.

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On this chapter we have dealt with the following issues:

- Common characteristics to all organizations : Coordination of effort, common goal or purpose,division of

labor, hierarchy of authority.

- Organization charts (vertical and horizontal hierarchy).

- Traditional and modern views of organizations.

- Business organization as an open system model.

- Learning organizations - what are they?

- Organizational effectiveness.

- Organizational cultures.

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Some personal thoughts....

What kind of an organization will be suitable for me ?

I have thought about it and it did not take me a long time to decide that an open system organization is the one I'd probably fit better into. I like dynamic organizations and jobs, I prefer a workplace that changes according to environmental changes.

I believe in freedom above all and I would have liked to have the freedom to be creative at work, it makes work more challenging and interesting.

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Discussion questions and answers:

1. Describe what factors constitute an "organization". An organization is a business unit that shares a common goal or purpose,maintains a division or labor, a hierarchy of authority and coordination of effort.

2. Discuss what you think is the key determinant of organizational effectiveness. Organizational effectiveness will be determined by the following key factors: Level of bureaucracy will be medium Quality of product / service and productivity of employees will be hight Existance of a functioning chain of command Coordintaion between managements and employess. I think the main determinant is the last one (coordination between management and employees) because it is the basis for the rest of the key determinants mentioned above.

3. Explain the "Open System" model of business. (see page 295). Give some examples of businesses that you think are "open" systems. Open system businesses maintain a more realistic view of the interaction between an organization and its environment. In other words the open system organization will keep changing as long as the world keeps changing. It will often have movement of people in and out of labor force, movement of capital (stocks, loans) and movement of goods and services since it is a dynamic organization. I think that EMC is a good example for an open system organization because Emc has started off as a hardware company, and when the demand for storage software has increased - Emc has changed its main product to be software and its main work today is software engineering and less and less hardware engineering. It also had alot of employees and capital movement over the years.

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Closing case # 5 - How Great Harvest Bread company cooked up a learning organization.

Summary: The article brings up the story of Great Harvest Bread company, a seemingly ordinary chain of franchised bakeries, that developed into a learning organization by nurturing a simple idea of donation to charity, an idea that brought great publicity and served as a marketing tool passed on from one branch manager to another.

Questions :

1. What role, if any, does enlightened self interest, as covered in chapter 5, play in this case?

Reply: The definition of an enlightened self interests a business ultimately helping itself by helping to solve social problems. In this closing case the Great Harvest Bread Company decided to open its branch on Sundays and put all profits earned on that day to charity. The small investment of six hundred dollars put into products and labor had achieved great publicity and served as a great marketing tool.

2. How has Garvin’s model of the learning organization, in figure 9.3, been brought to life at Great Harvest?

Reply: According to Garvin, a learning organization is one that is skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. Garvin’s model has three stages: Cognitions (learning new concepts), Behavior (developing new skills and abilities) and performance. At Great Harvest all the above had been brought to life as the company did something it had never done before – it opened its branches on Sunday, and donated profits to charity (cognition stage). It developed a new marketing and publicity tool (Behavior stage) and it has become a great success and encouraged all owners in its chain to be part of the company’s learning community.

3. What roles do Great Harvest’s organizational structure and culture play in this case? Explain.

Reply: Great Harvest has a unique structure and principles as far as franchising is concerned. The company encourages owners to be themselves and to run their stores in the old fashioned “mom and pop” manner, be unique and experiment. The company’s philosophical principle that states command and control are wrong – also encourages human creativity. All the above eventually set the basis and enables their branch owners to be creative and innovative, and encourages them to learn new concepts. The fact that freedom, including the freedom to fail, is set as top priority – supports this basis and allows a learning organization to exist. 4. What lessons can managers of today’s large organizations learn from this case?

Reply: Managers of today’s large organizations can learn from this case to be open minded about new ideas, new concepts, and things that had never been done in their company before. They can also learn the importance of learning from other organizations’ knowledge and also learn about the great importance of freedom at work as a way to support employees’ creativity.

5. Would you like to own and run a Great Harvest Bread franchise? Why or why not?

Reply: I would have liked to run a Great Harvest franchise or any other similar business that has the same ideology as Great Harvest because I think their marketing idea is brilliant and innovative, not only it helps society but it also does great things for business at a very small investment. I believe in freedom above all and I would have liked to have the freedom to be creative at work, it makes work more challenging and interesting.

Principles of Management - week # 7

Chapter 8 - Decision Making And Creative Problem Solving

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On this chapter we have discussed the following issues:

- Sources of decision complexity for modern managers

- Dealing with conditions of risk

- Decision traps - such as Framing, Escalation of commitment and Overconfidence

- Programmed and Non-Programmed decisions

- Creativity in decision making

- Creative problem solving process

- Fishbone diagrams as a tool for tracking down causes of problems

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Some personal thoughts....

It was interesting to find out that so many modern managers get trapped in all kinds of situations

while trying to make business decisions. "Getting into a loop" of commitment and fearing of

failing has caused so many managers to make the wrong decisions. It seems even embaressing to me that a smart manager will fall into such a trap because it looks a little bit like an Ego problem (the fear of failure problem).

I love being creative at work, and I loved having the ability to be creative during my 8 year tourism career

in Israel. I had many opportunities to solve problems in creative ways, and it was always more challenging and interesting to me than just pick out the most ordinary-simple solution.

When a problem occurs - a manager must always identify the source, the cause of problem and actually define what the problem really is. We have learned a surprising fact that so many managers fail to identify

the problem, and instead they quickly jump into the quickest solution available, which alot of times lead to a wrong decision making.

Hope I'll never be like that and always remember to spot the problem itself and only then consider alternative ways.

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Discussion Questions and answers :

1. What is a condition of "risk" and how can today's managers deal with it?

A Condition of risk exists when a decision must be made on a basis of incomplete but reliable factual information. In order to handle risk managers can calculate probability that a given event (that is considered as risky) will actually occur, and then select a decision alternative accordingly.

3. Which steps in the four step- problem solving process is the most common difficulty in managerial problem solving?

The most difficult step in the problem solving process is actually idetifying the source of problem because managers tend to rush into selecting alternative solutions before they even understand what the real problem is.

5. Optionally, explain how the Fishbone Diagram can help you define and solve problems.

The fishbone diagram mainly assists in identifying the problem source. It states the problem and then identifies all causes separately, thus allowing a manager to see where various causes may interact. Eventually it helps starting the problem solution process.

6. Again, optionally, describe your information processing style (see Figure 8.3 ,page 253 for definitions of the styles).

I would define my personal information processing style as intuitive more than thinking, although sometimes it's a combination of both. I am a spontaneous person who believes in changes and taking risks and therefore I tend to go with my gut feelings. I tend to choose nonroutine tasks and prefer to take new assignments upon myself because I get bored with repetitiveness very quickly.

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Principles of Management - week # 6

Chapter 7 - Strategic management

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On this chapter we have discussed Strategic management and its relationship to strategic planning, implementation and control.

We have dealt with the following issues:

- Synergy - definition and types.

-Porter's model of generic competitive strategies.

-Business ecosystem model.

-E-business and the internet revolution.

-Steps in strategic management process.

-Swot analysis.

-Forecasts - 3 types.

Strategy - is defined as an integrated and externally oriented perception of how the organization will achieve its mission.

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The Strategic management process involves four stages :

Formulation of grand strategy.

Formulation of strategic plans.

Implementation of strategic plans.

Strategic control.

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PORTER'S generic competitive strategies are :

Cost leadership

Differentiation

Cost focus

Focused differentiation

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Some personal thoughts.....

From this chapter I have learned that Strategic management is actually the bottom line of all managerial activity. It sets the basis for the whole thing. Without a strategy - a business will not be able to survive, even to exist, actually.

A person who does not have strategic thinking or cannot think strategically - will probably not make a successful manager.

Do I have what it takes to be a good manager ? I am trying to believe I do. When I was in the Israel army I served in the Israeli air-force. My commandor always told me to try to look

a head, try to look into the future and anticipate what's going to happen or what might go wrong... In the following years, after I had already left the army - I have tried to remember to always think a head... think strategically. I believe it helped me in successfully managing some big projects at work.

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Closing case # 4 – The Oracles of Oil. Summary: The oil industry is a very unstable business, affected by various factors such as world politics, environmental changes and many more. In order to maintain a stable position in this field, a company must do its outmost to just survive. The article brings Royal Dutch/ Shell as an example of an oil company that uses scenarios as its strategy. Shell’s way of coping with the unpredicted future – is to try to predict it, in other words: create scenarios, situations that may or may not occur – however – Shell will be ready for them.

Questions & Answers:

1. Which of Porter’s four generic competitive strategies would be most profitable for Royal Dutch/Shell? Why? Reply: I believe the most profitable strategy for Royal Dutch / Shell will be the Cost Leadership strategy. Since Shell is not providing a unique product but a product supplied by others as well – the only way it can stay in business is to keep costs low. As the article stated – new oil and gas demand is shifting to Asia, and competition grows bigger. The oil and gas industry is affected by many political and environmental factors – factors that no oil giant no matter how big it is - can control. Therefore the best thing and maybe the only thing to do in this case is to use Cost leadership strategy.

2. Using your imagination and making reasonable assumptions, what opportunities and threats can you envision for Shell? Reply: The Opportunities I can envision for Shell are: keeping costs low and thus maintaining a good stable position amongst oil suppliers. Signing a contract with Asian countries for cooperation and share of profits. The threats I can envision for Shell are: Asian companies lowering rates and eliminating Shell. Competitors signing contracts with new Asian oil suppliers and gaining more power thus eliminating Shell from the oil industry map. 3. Why is scenario analysis particularly useful for a global oil company such as Royal Dutch / Shell? Reply: As previously stated, the oil field is a very unstable one, effect by global trends that nobody can control. Political situation all over the world is an unpredicted one and situations may occur and have an immediate and drastic impact on the oil industry. Using Scenario analysis can assist management to be prepared for the unpredicted future. Scenarios allow you to prepare for situations that are the complete opposite than what you would normally expect, thus allowing you to be ready and on alert, and beat competitors with a faster reaction.

4. Which scenario do you think is more likely to come true: “Dynamics as usual” or Spirit of the coming age”? Why? Reply: believe the scenario of “Spirits of the coming age” is more likely to come true, because the global goal of protecting the environment is getting stronger and stronger, and oil resources become limited. Using hydrogen fuel is ecologically better. In addition – technology in the last twenty years has evolved so much comparing to 200 years a go that I think by 2050 it will develop even more and oil will be overtaken by other energy resources.

Principles of management - Week # 5

Chapter 6 - The Basics of Planning and project management.

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Planning is the first step of project management.

On this chapter we have learned about the various steps of project planning and management.

We have discussed the following issues:

- Stages of planning

- Planning tools such as Gantt charts, Pert networks and Break-even analysis.

- Dealing with uncertainty (State uncertainty, Effect uncertainty and Response uncertainty).

- Various responses to uncertainty: Defenders, Prospectors, Analyzers and Reactors.

- What is a plan (a specific, documented intention consisting of an objective and an action

statement).

- What is a well written mission statement.

- Types of planning (Strategic, Intermediate and Operational planning).

- The importance of objectives.

- Defining priorities.

- The planning/control cycle.

- MBO (management by objectives).

- The project life cycle.

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A Well written mission statement:

*Defines your organization for key stakeholders.

*Creates an inspiring vision of what the organization can be and can do.

*Outlines how the vision is to be accomplished.

*Establishes key priorities.

*States a common goal and fosters a sense of togetherness.

*Creates a philosophical anchor for all organizational activities.

*Generates enthusiasm and a "can do" attitude.

*Empowers present and future organization members to believe that every individual is the key to success.

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Just some personal thoughts....

When reading this chapter and answering the discussion questions, I was trying to see if my last workplace had what you would define as a "well written mission statement".

I think I can definitely say we had a "togetherness" feel to our work environment, and a general "can do" attitude around the office. Especially on crisis times (and god knows we had alot of those when working in the tourism field in Israel between the years of 1993 and 2001, ever since I left the army and until the day I quit my job to relocate to the United States).

We did have a philosophical anchor for our organizational activities - we were these to

make tourism bloom... and to stand out as a the best Incoming tour operator in Israel...

We had a plan to make money and get more clients. We got the feeling from our management that we were important for the business's success... and we were well rewarded for our work.

I think that our mission statement was a good one, and I still have some good memories from that place...

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Closing case # 3 - Healthy fast food? That’s the plan?

----------------------------------------------------- Summary: Gary Hirshberg is the chairman of O’Natural – chain of organic fast food restaurants. Hirshberg is also the president and CEO of Stonyfield Yogurt Company in New Hampshire. The article talks about the innovative idea and the management guidelines followed by Hirshberg and his colleague – that will probably drive them to success.

Questions & Answers:

1. On a scale of 1= a sure flop to 10 = a sure winner, how would you rate the probable success of O’Naturals? Explain. Reply: I would grade O’Naturals probable success a 9 on a scale of 1-10, leaving a small probable chance of failure only because I believe the American population is still mostly “hooked-up” on unhealthy fast foods. I think most of the population is still not aware of the importance of healthy nutrition and not even aware of the danger and possible damage that can be caused by consuming junk-food. However – I think O’Naturals has a great chance of succeeding because the principles followed by its management seem to be on the right track: careful planning, slow growth with lots of attention to quality of products and service, rewarding employees – all seem to be right and “on the ball” .

2. Is O’Naturals a defender, prospector, analyzer or reactor? Why? Is this a strategic advantage or disadvantage? Explain. Reply: I think O’Naturals is a prospector because the company makes things happen and market a product that hasn’t been out on the market before: family friendly, tasty, natural and organic fast food chain. I think this is an advantage on one hand because they have no competition and they provide a product that is being craved for by the public. However – the disadvantage is not being able to compare actions and products with competitors and not being able to avoid mistakes done by others.

3. How would you rate O’Naturals mission statement relative to the eight criteria for a well written mission statement presented in this chapter? Explain. Reply: O’Naturals mission statement as it appears on their website states that: At O’Naturals we believe: You are what you eat. Organic and natural foods are better for you and the planet too. We have a responsibility to prepare and serve food in the most environmentally responsible ways possible. We are borrowing the planet from our children. Food should be beautiful, delicious and fun. I think that O’Naturals has created a mission statement that is positive and correct. The statement defines the organization as an organic food chain that is better for people and for the planet. It outlines how the company’s vision should be accomplished. It establishes key priorities (to prepare and serve food in the most environmentally responsible ways possible). It creates a philosophical anchor (we are borrowing the planet from our children; food should be beautiful, delicious and fun). It states a common goal (organic foods are better for you, me and for the planet) and thus fosters a sense of togetherness. It generates enthusiasm and a “can do” attitude, and it empowers all to believe that every individual is the key to success. I would say O’Naturals mission statement is just perfect according to the standards brought in this chapter.

4. Will Hirshberg and McCabe need to engage in any project / planning management? Explain. Reply: I believe that the founders and presidents of the company will have to engage in project / planning management because they intend to expand their business. Growth requires conceptualization, careful planning, execution and termination - according to the project’s life cycle explained in this chapter. Therefore in order to drive the company to success – management will have to be involved in all future plans.

5. Making reasonable assumptions, what will be the major fixed and variable costs when O’Naturals’ managers attempt to calculate a break-even point? Reply: The major fixed costs will be: Managerial staff salaries, rent, utilities, taxes, insurance premiums. The major variable costs will be: food products and materials, employee salaries, delivery costs, commissions.

Principles of management - week # 4

Chapter 5 - Management's Social and Ethical responsibilities. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The issues we have dealt with on this chapter are: -Corporate social esponsibilities -The 4 Social responsibility strategies -The role of enlightened self-interest in social responsibility. -Business Ethics -Instrumental and Terminal values -Ethical principles - The things management can do to improbe business ethics. Some personal thoughts: ----------------------------- This chapter is very interesting to me... I recall all kinds of ethical issues that came up during my career in Israel as a travel consultant and tour operators... It brings some good memories and some bad ones too. I see my self as a person with good moral values and good ethics. I am proud of being loyal to my work ethics. During the course of my career I have faced some situations in which my ethics were put to a test, and I always did the right thing. However - I would rather not be put in such situations again. It's hard to understand how people, especially those in management positions - will be willing to put other people in such inconvenient situations. But I guess workplaces would have been very BORING if it wasn't for those who try to bend the rules... and those who try to keep it straight... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Will I ever be the whistle blower? I am hoping never to be in such a situation, but I think that If I ever find myself in a situation that requires whistle-blowing - I will probably do it. I am too honest to cooperate with misconducts. Especially when it concerns human life. Closing case # 2 - The whistle blowing nurse - talks about such a case, in which human lives were put in jeoperdy. The nurse did the right thing to do - she blew the whistle, but has she eventually become the victim ? in some way she did. But she also stayed loyal to her values and principles. She did the right things to do. I admire her for that.

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Subject: Closing case # 2 - The whistle blowing nurse. Summary: Cherlynn Mathias, who was a registered nurse, and worked as a research nurse at the University of Oklahoma had revealed severe series of safety violations at the college of medicine where she worked. After repetitive warnings from her side to the managers in top positions at the college – and a complete disregarding in response – she took the case forward and notified regulators who started an investigation and shut down the government-funded research facilities. Nurse Mathias is considered a whistle blower.

Questions & Answers:

1. What was the major ethical breach in this case?

The major ethical breach in this case was severe violations of safety rules conducted in a medical research facility and attempts to quiet-down the whistle blower (the nurse) and in addition attempts to cover up the mess.

2. What situational factors increased the likelihood of unethical behavior in this case?

The situational factors that increased the likelihood of unethical behavior in this case were that the violations of safety rules were conducted in a medical research facility, in which human beings were involved. Any harm done to human beings involved is considered unethical. The trial – in which patients with severe skin cancer participated – was not properly monitored and people lives were put in danger.

3. Would you attach primary blame for the unethical conduct to any single individual? Who? Why?

I would attach primary blame to the top officials in the medicine college like Plunket and McGee, as they were those in management positions who were suppose to monitor the research, and maintain ethical codes. Instead – they kept ignoring the warnings given to them by the whistle – blower and even tried to cover up the mess when it was already too late.

4. In terms of the constructive steps for reducing the need for whistle-blowing, discussed in this chapter, what would have been done at the university Oklahoma college of medicine to avoid this whistle blowing event?

In order to avoid this whistle blowing event, top officials in the University Of Oklahoma College of medicine should have provided its employees with a comfortable atmosphere allowing reporting violations, and then taking those violations seriously and not ignoring them. They should have trained their managers and employees to know how to deal with unethical behaviors and set ethical codes and fully support them.

5. Putting yourself in Cherlynn Mathias’s placer, would you, as a divorced mother of two, have had the courage to blow the whistle? Explain. Would you have handled the problem different than she did? Explain.

When it concerns human life and puts human beings in danger, I think the most humanitarian thing to do is to blow the whistle … If I stood in Cherlynn Mathias’s place, I probably would have done it with much anxiety and fear over loosing my job, but I’d still do it, and most likely in the same manner she did it. I think she did her outmost to avoid going public with this issue and causing a scandal. She stuck to her own values and I respect her courage and find her inspiring.

Principles of Management - week # 3

Chapter 4 - International management and Cross-Cultural competence.

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On this chapter we have discussed the following issues:

- The 6 steps of Internationalization process.

- Global companies versus Transnational companies.

- Ethnocentric, Polycentric, Geocentric attitudes.

- High context and low context cultures.

- Importance of cross-cultural training in International management.

- The position of women on foreign assignments.

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The six stages of the Internationalization process are :

1-Licensing.

2-Exporting.

3-Local warehousing and selling.

4-Local assembly and packaging.

5-Joint ventures - a company in one country pools resources with one or

more foreign companies in foreign countries.

6. Dierect foreign investments.

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My conclusions from this chapter:

- If a company wants to grow - it needs to go global.

- Managers are moving from country to country as never before.

- Air travel and modern info-technology have made the world a smaller place.

- Organizational culture is the social glue binding members of an organization

together.

- Cultural roots run deep, have profound impact on behavior and are not readily

altered.

- Leadership styles must be adapted to the local culture.

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Discussion questions for this chapter :

1. Describe some steps that management can take to eliminate anbiguous situations that fail to give employees a clear sense of right and wrong.

Reply: In order to elimintae ambiguous situations as described above , management should provide employees with guidelines how to deal with such situations, and ethical codes can help establish these necessary guidelines.

2. Explain what needs to be done before a company code of ethics can be effective.

Reply: Management should fully support the codes of ethics in order for them to be effective. There are specific ways to encourage ethical coduct within a company, such as: ethics training, ethical advocates, ethics codes and whistle blowing.

4. Optionally, provide some examples of ethical conduct-good and bad-you might have experienced or observed in the workplace.

Reply : I have worked in the tourism field in Israel for several years. During one of the many tourism-crisis (due to deteriorating political situation) - the company I then worked for had to lay off some people and send some on an unpaid vacation leave, during which the employees could collect unemployment fees. The management has asked few of the employees - including myself - to sign up at the unemployment beaureau as if we were sent on unpaid vacation leave, then collect unemployment fees, and still come to work with a small salary supplement - paid by the company. Since it was illeagal to do so - we refused. The management had no coice but to alternate their plan and pay full salaries to those employees.

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Interesting links and articles :

Women as entrepreneurs -

http://print2.jobfind.com/careerConnection/view.bg?articleid=3204

That's a very good article. After reading it - I think that single women who do not have children have more chances in succeeding in their own business. It's hard to admit it but without a full support from the spouse and an even distribution of all house & family chores between wife and husband - a woman just won't be able to fully commit to her career. It's no secret that more family responsibilities fall on the woman. A sick child will stay home with his mommy and not his daddy - and mommy will have to miss work. Don't mean to drag anyone into a feminist debate but this is what I think. It's a shame that this unjustified reason is the one that prevents women from scoring it big time !

Principles of Management - week # 2

Chapters discussed this week are :

Chaper 3 - The changing environment of management.

Points to remember :

Seven major changes in the 21st century workplace :

1. The virtual organization: computers and technology make virtual organization faster and more flexible. Employees need to develop skills accordingly.

2. Just in time workforce - temporary workers and outsourcing.

3. Computerized coaching and electronic monitoring trim cost and boost productivity.

4. Growth of worker diversity: growing minorities and immigrant population. Multilingual workforce.

5. Aging workforce - older workers viewed as a vital and reliable economic workforce.

6. Ascendancy of knowledge workers - moving from industrial economy to an information economy.

7. The birth of dynamic workforce - managers will be judged by their ability to encourage innovative thinking.

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Innovative ideas - what does it take ?

It takes more than just a good idea to be innovative because in order for it to become a success it needs to be technologically feasible, marketable and profitable. The combination of the above three is a necessity when talking about innovative ideas.Conceptualization alone is insufficient - development is a necessary second step and developing profitability is the third necessary element in making a good idea a success story.

Ethnocentric attitude - what does it mean ?

An Ethnocentric attitude is a style of management that is home-country oriented. It supports recruit and promotion of people of the same home/country base as the company's. It sees home country personnel, ideas and practices as superior to those from abroad.

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Interesting articles and links :

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My thoughts:

- The glass ceiling that stops women and other minorities from being promoted is just sad.

Women have proved they are able to do any executive job. What stops them from getting to the top is the so called "glass ceiling" - invisible yet it is definitely THERE.

- The world is definitely changing and so does the business world. The new social contract between employers and employees is a sharp evidence that things are changing, and not always for the benefit of the employee.

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