Case Study Reflective

Case Study Reflective

Introduction

The assigned case-study concerning the HG Company presented various challenges pertinent to organizational culture and effective performance. For the selected case study, there were various challenges, including national culture and poor operations coordination, organizational culture, ethics and CSR, and human resources management. The issue could hinder the ultimate performance of the company. Even so, the group podcast was effective, especially if looked at from the Gibbs theory, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict mode, leadership aspects, and team roles as defined by Belbin.

Case Study Reflective

A series of topics were selected for the cross-cultural management case study. Issues with national culture and poor operations coordination, organizational culture, ethics and CSR, and human resources management were the most pertinent to the operational challenges faced by the HG Company. The topics were chosen because they were well related to management culture within an organization. The organizational culture associated with the HG Company had glitches in its values as well as communication and negotiation methods. Nepotism and corruption were also some of the challenges experienced with Ethics and CSR. The human resources management was also inefficient, deeming the general organizational structure of the company incompetent.

There were various identifiable issues with the HG Company related to the topics chosen. For instance, the company operated in a foreign environment, which made it face operational challenges just like any other multinational corporation. For instance, official bureaucracies slowed the productivity of its operations as there were great processes required to approve and execute various operations. Besides, the relaxed Tanzanian culture influenced company operations within the environment. The cultural indifferences with a foreign American company make it difficult to realize effective company operations. Another issue from the case study comprises the religious indifferences as exhibited between Brett Jones and the company CEO, who is a devout Christian. As a result of neglect, Jones conducts his duties in an unprofessional and unethical way, complicating the business values and the general culture..

Another pertinent issue concerns the company’s overlooking into its values instead of focusing on an ideological corporate culture as the priority. Additionally, there are cultural barriers caused by cultural differences between the top management and subordinate levels of the organization. Besides, the company does not monitor employee actions within the company. For instance, even though employees are included in the decision-making process, they still are not guided by policies that limit their discussions with other members of the organization. Poor communication strategies, as well as too much dependence on Brett Jones, who proves to be incompetent, fail the business greatly. For instance, her negotiation tactics are not efficient for a foreign company. Besides, she hires based on her individual demands rather than the company’s requirements and ends up extorting the company without intending to. The company also dishes financial rewards to meet the various company objectives. Ethics and CSR policies also exhibit a poor approach to the company’s management. The lack of good leadership and the implementation of foreign terms to employees also affect business productivity.

Various theories were pertinent to the organizational issues with the HG Company. Firstly, Karl Edward’s Organizational Information Theory was suggested as one of the key theories aimed at improving communication strategies within the organization. The employees at HG were too lenient to interpret messages, yet they ought to focus only on the necessary information for enhanced sustainability. Understanding and implementing the Organizational Information Theory would let the organization understand the objectives and realize its goals promptly. Additionally, Aristotle’s theory of Virtue ethics was also pertinent to the organization as it would be relied upon to develop a code of ethics that would discourage more risk-taking by the company.  Edgar Schein’s model of organizational culture was also suggested to guide employees towards working within the line of the existing organizational culture.

The HG Company has various options to improve its productivity and performance. Aspects such as addressing the differences in culture would improve company operations. For proper ethical business conduct, the company would look into developing a good policy that guides the operations within it, such as employee communication. Besides, the values would be well communicated across the entire organization. A strong ideological corporate culture would also be effective for the company. Adjusting the existing flat structure to a local organizational structure would also enhance productivity through employees as the key stakeholders in the organization.

Reflection of the Group Performance

The Gibbs reflective cycle is important in encouraging one to think systematically after the experiences during a situation such as a podcast. According to Graham Gibbs, the reflective cycle can be structured into phases that would make people think of the podcast in more detail and make them aware of their actions. Besides, the phases can consistently be followed to influence good behavior after the podcast event. In the context of HG Company, an overview of the negative implications of poor culture and organization would make people learn from the mistakes. The description phase offers an evaluation of the occurrences at the HG Company. The feelings phase encompasses the ways that individual thought could be triggered in the process. The evaluation process would leave it to the audience to check on the approaches that worked well to solve the problems at the company. The analysis state would let one gain insight on what to do in similar situations in the future. The conclusion stage would let everyone individually assess their actions in such situations, whereas the action plan phase would encourage the development of actions for future situations in the future.

Assessment through the Thomas Kilmann model reveals various conflicts that could influence other people’s behaviors. The primary conflict in the discussion was different perception as related to the HG’s cultural differences. The conflict deemed people’s concerns as incomparable. It is through the conflict that people can debate, question, and challenge the status quo at that moment. Everyone has a natural way of conflict management. However, the concepts of assertiveness and cooperativeness realized by Thomas Kilmann lead to a common conclusion. While one would be interested in satisfying their needs through the conflict, they would also be encouraged to satisfy the concerns of other people. Conflict management would be made possible through methods such as avoidance, accommodation, compromise, competition, and collaboration, making the performance a success.

There were various characteristic behaviors pertinent during group performance. While the group members presented the case study individually, there were different methods through which the audience was directed, motivated, and guided through the process. Even so, the democratic leadership process was the most common during the performance. Most decisions were made based on the demands of the rest of the team members. Even though a final conclusion would be made, everyone would be participative of the group actions. Autocratic leadership was also pertinent to some areas in group performance. Multiple clear expectations were made for what was required of the group during the presentation. It is through the leadership style that there was a command by the group leader and the control of the followers. There was also less decision-making as the leader had the most authority over the actions of the group.

According to Belbin, nine team roles were pertinent to the group. Almost everyone worked at being a team worker, plant, monitor evaluator, and shaper. However, individual roles were assigned for being a resource investigator where one would bring ideas back to the team, the coordinator who would ensure that the team is focused on the objectives and the specialist who would bring in-depth knowledge of aspects back to the team, the implementer, and the completer finisher. With the well-defined roles for every team member, the team was high performing. Everyone was most comfortable with their roles, especially considering the strengths and weaknesses presented by the team roles. The proper designation of team roles was important in enhancing self-understanding and encouraging communication among the group members.

Conclusion

The HG Company presented multiple challenges that could be addressed in the aspects of national culture and poor operations coordination, organizational culture, ethics and CSR, and human resources management. The challenge with the company’s operations started from the management led by Graham Steinberg. Running a foreign company in a local area such as Tanzania could have called for the implementation of better tactics of operation. Besides, the most common challenge could have been brought as the result of using foreign policy to employees and trusting Brett Jones, who would lead the company to an unforeseen downfall. In resolving the pertinent issues, the various recommendations, as made by Organizational Information Theory, Aristotle’s theory of Virtue ethics, and Edgar Schein’s model of organizational culture, would encourage better productivity.