MBA 704 Exam 2; Chapter 3

generative learning vs adaptive learning

Peter senge portrayed this type of organization from a systems theory perspective and made the important distinction between adaptive and generative learning. adaptive learning is simple and is the first stage of the learning organization, adapting to environmental changes to adapt to changing customer expectations for quality and service, organizations have still struggled with their basic assumptions, cultural values, and structure. they haven't gone beyond mere adaptive learning. the more important generative learning was needed generative learning involves creativity and innovation, going beyond just adapting to change to being ahead of and anticipating change. the gnerative process leads to a total reframing of an organization's experiences and learning from that process

barnard stress the cooperative aspects of organizations. how?

it reflects the importance he attached to the human element in organization structure and analysis. the existence of a cooperative system is contingent on the human participants' ability to communicate and their willingness to serve and strive toward a common purpose. the human plays the most important role in the creation and perpetuation of formal organizations

virtual organization

it represents the new environment and partnering alliances and outsourcing arrangements found in an increasing number of global companies: collaboration or joint ventures with competitors usually takes the form of a virtual organization - a company outside a company created to specifically respond to an exceptional market opportunity that is often temporary

guidelines to follow in making a horizontal org

make teams, not individuals, the cornerstone of the organizational design and performance decrease hierarchy by eliminating non-value aded work and by giving team members the authority to make decisions directly related to their activities within process flow emphasize multiple competencies and train people to handle issues and work in cross-functional areas measure for end-of-process performance objectives, as well as customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and financial contribution build a corporate culture of openness, cooperation, and collaboration, a culture that focuses on continuous performance improvement and values employee empowerment, responsibility, and well-being

once a an org culture is started and begins to develop, there are a number of practices that can help solidify the acceptance of core values and ensure that the culture maintains itself

selection of entry-level personnel the first step is the careful selection of entry-level candidates. using standardized procedures and seeking specific traits that tie to effective performance, trained recruiters interview candidates and attempt to screen out the whose personal styles and values do not make a fit with the organization's culture placement on the job after the person is hired, they are subjected to a carefully orchestrated series of different experiences whose purpose is to cause them to question the org's norms and values and to decide whether or not they can accept them. you must be treated like a kindergartener because you do not know the org yet job mastery once the initial cultural shock is over, you master your job by extensive and carefully reinforced field experience - a step by step approach to the career plan, which helps reduce efforts by the personnel to use political power or to take shortcuts in order to get ahead at a faster pace. measuring and rewarding performance the next step of the socialization process consists of meticulous attention to measuring operational results and to rewarding individual performance. these systems are comprehensive and consistent, and they focus on aspects of the business that are most crucial to competitive success and to corporate values. in companies w strong culture, those who violate cultural norms ( overzealousness against the competition or harsh handling of a subordinate) are subject to the penalty box which involves a lateral move to a less-desirous location adherence to important values identifying oneself with the firm's values helps employees reconcile personal sacrifices brought about by their membership in the organization. they learn to accept these values and to trust the org not to do anything that would hurt them. placing oneself at the mercy of the org imposes costs; however, the org attempts to overcome these costs by connecting the sacrifices to higher human values such as serving society with better products and or services. reinforcing the stories and folklore this means keeping alive stories that validate the org's culture and way of doing things. the folklore helps explain why the org does things in a particular way. one of the most common forms of folklore is stories with morals the enterprise wants to reinforce. Barnes & Noble CEO tells stories of his childhood experiences in Brooklyn with his father as a boxer recognition and promotion the final step. by pointing out these people as winners, the org encourages others to follow their example. tole models in strong-culture firms are regarded as the most powerful ongoing training program of all. Recognition can serve as a powerful reinforcer, thus, those exhibiting cultural values that are given either formal recognition or one on one social attention or recognition from relevant others can build and sustain the organizational culture

why are M&As still widespread?

wide divergence in stock market values between firms, globalization, and continuous financial/economic problems have left a climate for friendly buyouts and hostile takeovers

what is the most important attribute of a company

attraction and retention of top talent

on-shoring

bringing back jobs to the US

what was Chester's problem with the OG traditional organizational theory

it was too descriptive and superficial. he was dissatisfied with the classical bureaucratic view that authority should come from the top down; authority should come from the bottom up

what is the more modern natural selection/ecological view of organizations?

challenges the contingency approach. whereas the contingency approach suggests that organizations change through internal transformation and adaptation, the eco approach says that it is more a process of the survival of the fittest; there is a process of organizational selection and replacement

learning organization - presence of tension - systems thinking - cultural facilitating learning

presence of tension - gap between vision and reality - questioning/inquiry - challenging status quo - critical reflection systems thinking - shared vision - holistic thinking - openness cultural facilitating learning teamwork - teamwork - suggestions - empathy - empowerment

what can clash during a M&A

structure size, age, history of the two firms; the industry in which the partners come from and now reside, geographic locations, and whether products/services are involved politics where does the power and managerial decision making really reside? corporate cultures range from autocratic extremes to total employee empowerment and how this plays out among the partners will be important to cultural compatibility emotions the personal feelings, the cultural contract that individuals have bought into guide their day to day thoughts habits, attitudes, commitment, and patterns of daily behavior. these emotions will be a major input into the clash or compatibility of the two cultures the potential cultural clash during an M&A is increased when the firms are from different countries

key attributes of the virtual organization

technology opportunism no borders trust excellence

what was the first major development in organization theory?

viewing the organization as a system made up of interacting parts. the open systems concept, which stresses the input of the external environment, has had a tremendous impact on modern organization theory. this development was followed by an analysis of organizations in terms of their ability to process information in organization theory is the contingency approach. the premise of the contingency approach is that there is no single best way to organize. the organizational design must be fitted to the existing environmental conditions

what are the three types of radical redesign or organizations

1. Greenfield design this means starting from scratch, breaking completely from the classical structure and establishing different design - google and southwest - people should not be doing other people's job but they should understand what other people are doing and understand how their job fits into the grand scheme of things 2. rediscovery redesign established companies such as general electric return to a previously successful design by eliminating unproductive structural additions and modifications 3. network design these firms are not just redesigning in the Greenfield sense, they are undergoing efforts to disaggregate and partner. in the network approach, the firm concentrates on where it can add the greatest value in the supply chain, and it outsources to upstream and or downstream partners who can do a better job. this network of the firm and its upstream and downstream partners can be optimally effective and flexible. another network approach is to require internal units of the firm to interact at market prices - buy and sell to each other at prices equal to those that can be obtained by outsourcing partners. this "insourcing" approach to the internal network organization can be found in global firms. in addition, globalization challenges these multinational corporations to make sure they account for cultural differences

organizational culture according to Edgar schein

a pattern of basic assumptions - invented, discovered, pr developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration - that has worked well enough to be considered valuable and to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive thinks nd feel in relation to those problems

how does an organizational culture begin?

a single person has an idea for a new enterprise the founder brings in one or more people and creates a core group that shares a common vision with the founder. everyone in this core groups believes in the founder's idea the founding core group begins to act in concert to create an organization by raising funds, obtaining patents, incorporating, locating space, building and so on at this point others are brought into the organization, and a common history begins to be built

what are the guidelines for change

assess the current culture set realistic goals that impact the bottom line recruit outside personnel with industry experience, so that they are able to interact well with the organizational personnel make changes from the top down, so that a consistent message is delivered from all management team members include employees in the culture change process when making changes in rules and processing take out all trappings that remind the personnel of the previous culture expect to have some problems and find people who would rather move than change with the culture, and take these losses early move quickly and decisively to build momentum and to defuse resistance to the new culture stay the course by being persistent

virtual orgs help what

competitiveness in the global economy. the alliances and partnerships with other orgs can extend worldwide, the spatial and temporal interdependence easily transcend boundaries, and the flexibility allows easy reassignment and reallocation to take a quick advantage of shifting opportunities in global markets. to avoid disintegration and attain effectives needed focus, the lead virtual organization must have a shared vision, a strong brand and a high-trust culture

modular designs

consist of decomposable product chunks provided by internal and external subcontractors common industries are auto bikes consumer electronics appliances power tools and computing products and software advantages of these are cost, speed of response to market changes, and innovation thru recombination of modules in Dif ways. this flexibility is counterbalanced by problems with interfacing the modules and laggards in the supply chain affecting the whole system

how do learning orgs develop creativity among personnel?

creativity is the ability to formulate unique approaches to problem solving decision making. in generative learning organizations, creativity is most widely acknowledged as a requisite skill and ability. two critical dimensions of creativity are personal flexibility and a willingness to take risks. as a result, many learning orgs now teach their people how to review their current work habits and change behaviors that limit their thinking creativity also includes the willingness to accept failure. managers encourage risk-taking, creative behavior by providing a supportive environment. a cultural value or slogan depicts an environment

dominant culture vs subculture

dominant culture is a set of core values shared by a majority of the org's members a subculture is a set of values shared by a minority of the organization's members. subcultures typically are a result of problems or experiences that are shared by members of a department or unit subcultures can weaken an org if they are in conflict with the dominant culture. successful firms find that this is not the case. most subcultures are formed to help the members of a particular group deal with the specific day to day problems with which they are confronted. the members also support many of the core values of the dominant culture

what obstacles make changing a company culture difficult?

entrenched skills, staffs, relationships, roles, and structures that work together to reinforce traditional cultural patterns in addition to the importance of frontline workers in cultural change, powerful stakeholders such as unions, management, or even customers may support the existing culture and impede the change. the problems are compounded by cultural clash that is the rule rather than the exception in mergers and acquisitions (M&As), emerging relationship enterprises, and the recent economic crisis

what are the characteristics of learning organizations?

everyone can be a source of useful ideas, so personnel should be given access to any information that can be of value to them the people closest to the problem usually have the best ideas regarding how to solve it, so empowerment should be promoted throughout the structure learning flows up and down, so managers as well as employees can benefit from it new ideas are important and should encouraged and rewarded mistakes should be viewed as learning opportunities

what is the hollow organization

horizontal designs broke down the former bur hierarchical and functional specialization boundaries within an organization, the 21st century designs have extended and broken the boundaries of the organization itself. in order to compete globally, organizations have recognized that they need to outsource their stuff. this movement of entire processes outside of the organization is called hollow org or modular organization design hollow orgs tend to be labor intensive like manufacturing shoes or toys. the advantages of this are cost savings, tapping into the best sources of specialization and technology, supplier competition and technology, and flexibility, but also disadvantages of loss of in-house skills and innovation, reduced control over supply and quality, and even the threat of being entirely supplanted by suppliers

how does the learning organization develop systemic thinking among managers?

it involves the ability to see connections among issues, events, and data as a whole rather than a series of unconnected parts. learning organizations teach their people too identify the source of conflict they may have with personnel, units, and departments and to negotiate and make trade-offs skillfully and quickly. managers must also learn, especially how to encourage their people to redirect their energies toward the substance of disagreements rather than toward personality clashes or political infighting

how did Chester barnard define the formal organization?

it is a system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more persons. there is an emphasis on system and persons. people make up a formal organization.

characteristics of an organizational culture

observed behavior regularities. when organizational participants interact with one another, they use common language, terminology, and rituals related to deference and demeanor norms. standards of behavior exist, including guidelines on how muck work to do dominant values. there are major values that the organization advocates and expects the participants to share philosophy. there are policies that set forth the organization's beliefs about how employees and/or customers are to be tretaed rules. there are strict guidelines related to getting along in the organization. newcomers must learn the ropes organizational climate. the overall feeling that is conveyed by the physical layout

how do Frank ostroff, a McKinsey & company fine horizontal organizations

orgs revolves around the process, not the task: instead of creating a structure around the traditional functions, the org is built around its three to five core processes . each process has an owner and specific performance goals the hierarchy is flattened: to reduce levels of supervision, fragmented tasks are combined, work that fails to add value is eliminated, and activities within each process are cut to the minimum teams are used to manage everything: self-managed teams are the building blocks of the org. the teams have a common purpose and are held accountable for measuring performance goals customers drive performance: team performance is rewarded supplier and customer contact is maximized: employees are brought into direct regular contact with suppliers and customers. all employees need to be fully informed and trained: employees should be provided all data

what is a relationship enterprise?

relationships that consist of a global network of independent companies that act as a single company with a common mission aeorospace industry has 100s of partners around the world

creative tension - according to Senge

serves as a catalyst or motivational need to learn. this tension stems from the gap between the organization's vision and reality and suggests the learning organization's continually questioning and challenging the status quo the systems characteristic of learning organizations recognizes the shared vision of employees throughout the whole organization and the openness to new ideas and the external environment the culture of the organization places a high value on the process of learning and goes beyond mere lip service by setting mechanisms in place for suggestions, teams, empowerment and empathy. this empathy is reflected by the genuine concern for and interest in employee suggestions and innovations that can be operationalized through reward systems

Chris Argyris x learning organization: what is the single-loop and double-loop?

single-loop learning involves improving the organization's capacity to achieve known objectives. it is associated with routine and behavioral learning. the organization is learning without significant change in its basic assumptions double-loop learning reevaluates the nature of the organization's objectives and the values and beliefs surrounding them. this type of learning involves changing the organizations culture. it consists of the organization's learning how to learn

adaptive learning organization vs. generative learning example?

the adaptive learning organization would be associated with employees reacting to environmental changes with routine, standard responses that often result in short-runs= solutions. in contrast, generative learning, with its emphasis on continuous experimentation and feedback, would directly affect the way personnel go about defining and solving problems. employees in generative learning organizations are taught how to examine the effect of their decisions and to change their behaviors as needed in the children's hospital, they changed errors and investigations to accidents and analysis. the result was that people started to collaborate throughout the organization to talk about and change behaviors, policies, and systems that put patients at risk.

describe a firm that adapts to change

the current environmental context has undergone drastic change and either the organization must adapt to these new conditions or it may not thrive or survive. organizations must have a culture that learns and anticipates change. If the appropriate org culture is in place, then rapid change can be welcomed and accommodated with as little disruption as possible

what are the roots of the organizational theory foundation?

the hierarchical bureaucracy from the beginning emphasized the need to adapt environmental change. Until recently, modern organizations were largely self-contained and a vertical chain of command with high degrees of control.

describe a horizontal organization

the horizontal organization advocates the dispensing of internal boundaries that are an impediment to effective business performance. if the traditional structure can be likened to a pyramid, the metaphor that best applies to the horizontal organizations is pizza - flat, packed with all the necessary ingredients

companies tend to rely on precedent; how do learning organizations change this?

the move toward a learning organization entails breaking out of the highly controlled, layered hierarchy that is characteristic of bureaucratic structures. managers must recognize the problems w bureaucracies and how to think outside the box and bust out of them. recognize that bureaucracies have too often become an end to themselves instead of supporting the vision and goals that require adapting to the changing environment and learning how to do that

how are managers becoming disenchanted with traditional ways of designing their orgs?

the needs for flexibility, adaptability to change, creativity, innovation, knowledge, as well as the ability to overcome environmental uncertainty, are among the biggest challenges facing a growing number of orgs. the response was first to move away from the self-contained control-oriented vertical hierarchical bureaucratic structures to horizontal designs

what lessons can be learned from the recent economic downturn?

the org culture can affect not only the ethical =right thing to do, but also survival in the long term. Goldman Sachs ha s team oriented culture and they survived the 2008 economic crisis a culture of continual questioning is a good starting point in cultural change, but there is also a need to go beyond such specific guidelines and focus on a more comprehensive approach that will be able to adapt to changing conditions

in the future, relationship enterprises will become more common among industries like chemicals, textiles, and food. why?

the reason this alliance has more tract than M&As has to do with legal has to do with legal terms, but mainly with political nationalism and org cultural values. pride and pragmatic needs are driving this new form of global alliance, but the perspective and management of the org cultures in this new relationship is a challenge. issues such as trust, communication, and negotiation skills become ver relevant and important to success. the orgs and managers in the global relations must learn to communicate across the cultural divide; each must understand that the other perceives and interacts in a fundamentally different way. 3/4 of companies believe their alliances failed because of an incompariblility of country and corporate values

what are the information processing and organizational learning?

these approaches to organization theory are based largely on systems theory and emphasize the importance of generative over adaptive learning in fast-changing external environments

what is the commonality between horizontal hollow and modular designs

they all provide an alternative to the traditional bur model in terms of both perspective and actual structure. all three of these contemporary designs are sometimes subsumed under the single term "network designs" because of the boundary less conditions created by advanced information trechnology and globalization

what do people bring when they join an org

they bring their values and beliefs. these values and beliefs are insufficient for helping the individual succeed in the organization. the person needs to learn how the particular enterprise does things

Miles and Snow's dynamic network

this involves a unique combination of strategy, structure, and management processes delayered highly flexible and controlled by market mechanisms rather than administrative procedures firms with this new structure arrayed themselves on an industry value chain according to their core competencies, obtaining complementary resources thru strategic alliances and outsourcing with the advent of teams, outsourcing, and alliances, network disinges are being increasingly used by practicing orgs. such networked orgs are based on cooperative multidisciplinary teams and businesses networked together across the enterprise. rather than a rigid structure, it is a modular organizational architecture in which business teams operate as a network of what we call client and server functions