Effects of culture on teamwork

Employees play a major role in the success and growth of a business.  Other than being the direct link between the company and it's customers,  they also ensure that gials and objectives are met and this greatly facilitates growth.  In the case of companies operating in international markets, communication is an inyegral part of a business success especially because different regions have different modes of communication.  Often times,  lack of proper communication channels and lack of understanding roles assigned to employees greatly challenges the success of a business.  As VP of the service department,  the goal will therefore be to establish proper channels of communication and train employees on how to adapt to advancement in technology as a way of creating a good work environment and promote teamwork. 

To make teams more cohesive,  the management should focus on improving the communication within the organization especially in relation to the differences in opinions among the employees.  To achieve this,  the company should establish a uniform style of communication within all it's organization.  Using one language for instant when addressing employees will ensure that everyone gets the same message and nothing is lost in interpretation (McKenney & Roebuck, 2005).  Secondly,  the company should focus on solidifying it's corporate culture.  While businesses need to adapt to the culture of the people in the region it operates in,  businesses must use their corporate culture as a tool to ensure that employees have similar opinions and beliefs when it comes to fulfilling duties.  Employees will no longer disagree on what is right or wrong but rather follow the corporate culture to determine what is acceptable and what is not.

To create a high performing team,  the company must place corporate culture as a priority as it will help settle the differences that exist amongst employees.  At present,  employees mostly rely on their personal cultures and beliefs when making decisions.  Since the company is global,  employees have different cultural beliefs and therefore tend to differ in opinion (Cameron &Queen, 2006).  To remedy the problem,  management should have one corporate culture that governs employee decisions and conduct. Instead of basing decisions on personal beliefs,  employees will be expected to observe the corporate culture and engage in conduct outlined in the corporate culture.  Doing so will ensure that employees are on the same page and that decisions are aimed at meeting the company objectives and not influenced by personal bias.

The business internal environment will greatly affect the success of the teams.  In relation to culture,  challenges will occur in relation to things like time keeping,  respecting authority and attitude towards work. Some regions may have a culture of taking time when performing tasks while others prefer things to be done with urgency (Cameron & Queen, 2006).  In relation to language,  different languages will cause communication barriers and information may be misunderstood or misinterpreted and this will greatly affect the success of teams.  While there are international languages to use,  they may not be understood by everyone and there is also the likelihood that team members will communicate in local languages as this is what they are used to in their regions. 

The internal environment is also influenced by the political nature of the region the business is located in.  Since different regions have different political views,  laws are also likely to be different and some things may be acceptable in one region but not in others.  Such differences are likely to disruo the effectiveness of teams and this could create problems for the business (Storti, 2017).  Lastly is the level of technology in the regions.  Some countries are more developed than others and therefore have better technology.  Communication could be hindered especially when one region cannot access or fully utilize the technology used to communicate with other teams.  It is therefore crucial that the company focus on creating an ideal internal business environment that will resolve all issues related to culture,  language,  politics and technology within the regions it operates in.

To overcome the communication barriers and other challenges related to culture,  the company should solidify it's corporate culture such that employees follow a uniform code of conduct regardless of the region they work from.  This will ensure that all employees are on the same page,  have similar objectives and are working towards the same goals. Going forward,  the company should focus on training employees on how to operate modern forms of technology. It should also ensure that all it's business premises have similar technology regardless of what region.  Lastly,  the company should create a platform where employees can meet and interact to facilitate better relationships.

References

Storti, C. (2017). The art of doing business across cultures: 10 countries, 50 mistakes, and 5 steps to cultural competence

Roebuck, D. B., & McKenney, M. A. (2005). Improving business communication skills. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall

Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2006). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Leadership is not just a combination of charismatic qualities but the ability to solve issues at a critical moment. The makeup of leader should emphasize emergency management. It is common and customary of society to paint a leader as a person who balances resources and data in order to give out positive results. This essay seeks to evaluate the ability of leader to make sound decisions under pressure, manage dire disasters, prioritize the order of needs, and utilize resources effectively to cover up the disaster.

Decision Making During Disasters

 A leader should have both technical and teamwork capabilities. First, the leader coordinates various factors relevant to the situation. More so, he or she can make many workers achieve a single objective (Johnston, & Marshall, 2013). In other words, creating cohesion among people enables a quick way of countering the emergency hence cohesion makes decision making of a leader effective.

Prioritizing needs

Needs vary depending on the disaster at hand. The objective of any leader is reduction of an emergency from graduating into something more catastrophic and unmanageable. The leader can control an emergency by defining the problems and identify the needs in line with the context of the incident (Johnston, & Marshall, 2013). For example, in case of a fire, the immediate need is evacuating the building using the emergency exit. The second requirement is containing the fire from spreading.

Resource management

In most crisis, a leader has to deploy resources, in terms of finances or human labor. Resources indirectly provide the support needed to manage a disaster (Johnston, & Marshall, 2013). Some researchers are of the opinion that strategies without resources are not workable. Thus, strategies go hand in hand with resources.

E-activity

During Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi governor Barbour received praise for his quick but effective decision making skills(Johnston, & Marshall, 2013). He was able to mobilize people and raise $24million for relief. In addition, he used the media as to inform the public on the impending danger if they failed to evacuate their residents. In summary, a leader must focus on the main priorities during a crisis. Secondly, they should raises awareness, mobilize resources, and coordinate activities.

References

Johnston, M. W., & Marshall, G. W. (2013). Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology. Routledge.

Introduction

 Management of competition is the core principle of any strategic plan. Rigorous competition within any sector drives change and creativity. In fact, while struggling for a market share, competition is not just in the form of other players in the industry but also in the underlying economics and other forces. Consequently, firms need to link strategic planning to efficient human resource practices. The efficient management of human work force determines the performance of the strategic plan. Hence, a competent skilled work force gives a firm an edge above the rest of the competition. This paper will carry out an in-depth assessment of strategic planning within Microsoft Corporation then propose human resource activities that will motivate workers.

Microsoft Company

Microsoft Corporation is an international organization with a global footprint. The corporation creates and upgrades computer software and applications. In addition, the Microsoft publishes books and manufactures smartphones, gaming devices, tablets and other computer hardware items (Pearlson et.al, 2016). Like any other international corporation, the ability to remain above the rest of the competition requires smart strategic plans able to push sales a notch higher. Microsoft workers increased to 117,354 in 2015 June. The firm utilizes Lync server designs for exterior communication. Other business firms can communicate with it via the Lync server. For safeguarded internal communication, the organization utilizes SharePoint. The firm believes in achieving the impossible and strategically shaping its vision. Hence, it has set standards to help it achieve its dreams.

Components of Microsoft’s Strategic Plan

 As stated earlier, communication is one of central component of Microsoft Corporation strategic management (Pearlson et.al, 2016). Internal and external communication clarifies the goals of the corporation strategic plan and confirms the execution of the plan in line with both short and long-term purposes. Secondly, the strategy encompasses core principles of the firm.

Evaluation of Microsoft’s Strategic plan

Microsoft Corporation operates under a dynamic competitive environment. Hence, it needs to evaluate its strategy based on basic components other than emerging trends. The scenario evaluation assists huge corporation make effective decisions and figure out a wide variety of uncertainties they may face in the future while strategizing outside the box. Similarly, the scenario analysis can assess the external activities of the corporation (Vecchiato, 2015). Challenges such as deregulation and emerging technologies are some of the issues the scenario analysis can counter and stem before they spiral any further. In addition, it exposes assumptions of the entire organization and any market gaps not yet applied by the corporation.

Most of the times, a corporation’s point of view about the future is short term or not inclusive enough (Vecchiato, 2015). Hence, the scenario evaluation facilitates and necessitates creative thinking and pushes the limits of the corporation’s workers into solving future problems ad anticipating threats.

 The scenario analysis hinges on the defining trends and unknown threats (Vecchiato, 2015). Then, the corporation uses the information to formulate new horizons rather than deal with immediate threats detected by the scenario analysis.

Time and scope

The first phase is identification of time and context of the analysis. For example, if A Microsoft manager wants to implement the scenario strategy, he or she has to factor in time context in terms of technological alterations, competition, and the degree of investment (Vecchiato, 2015). After defining the period to be a five-year period, Microsoft will manufacture operating systems whose life cycle lasts for five years. Therefore, if the operating system lasted for ten years, five will the maximum time.

Scope

 After defining the time limit of the scenario strategy, the scope of the strategy should easily materialize. It is vital to note that the scope of a strategy can always change depending on the factors present. For Microsoft Corporation, the scope is normally in terms of items, technological opportunity, and the location’s scope (Vecchiato, 2015). Picturing the possibility of choosing a scope that covers faulty personal laptops, all client affected will receive repair services. Over the years, software developers became pivotal in the production of computers and loyal consumers dictate the standard the technological sector adopts for the development and upgrading of software. In summary, software developers have to meet the demands of loyal consumers.

Trends and Threats

The third phase of the strategy is defining current trends and contexts likely to affect Microsoft especially in the near future. Graphs and diagram are vital tools when analyzing market trends and interconnections (Vecchiato, 2015). More so, trends and perceptions of the industry must interrelate and work within the timeframe provided for the strategy to be fruitful. It is vital to take note of the fact that trends impact economic, political, and social policies. An example of a trend that affected economic policies is the shift of computers from high-end commodities to easily affordable technological items. Such trends are likely to affect the strategic planning of a Microsoft and managers take trends seriously.

Nonconsensual trends increase chances of uncertainty and failure concluding the third phase of scenario analysis (Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014). To recognize major threats, which is the core function of scenario strategy; managers need to monitor any trend likely to cause an absolute change in the technological world. Other ways of isolating threats is assessing issues pertaining new policies or anything likely to change the course of the Corporation’s decisions.

Human resource Practices

Human resource department plays a major role in motivating workers and creating job fulfillment while at the same time increasing their commitment towards Microsoft Corporation. Motivating workers lifts their spirits and encourages them to achieve more for an organization. One of the ways of motivating workers is offering solid valuable packages (Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014). Compensating employees keeps workers on their fit and loyal to the Microsoft organization. For example if company x offers better salary with medical insurance that covers dental and vision impairment, it is likely to have better output than companies with only basic medical cover. Therefore, employees are essential people that dictate the ability of the organization to function and achieve vital goals in an organization. Just to make things clear benefits are financial bonuses that a worker gets apart from salary.

 The second human resource practice is awarding outstanding performance from employers in an attempt to motivate other to put in more effort. Appreciation is the simplest form way of establishing morale and fulfillment in the workplace (Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014). With a growing urge to sustain quality performance, employers need to appreciate extra effort put in by workers. In fact, appreciating workers who outperform others increases work skills and enhances the level of competence among employees.

 In summary, the scenario strategic evaluation is able to secure Microsoft future and protect the giant tech firm from falling off the global map. Strategic management builds up concepts and understandings on the dynamic ever-changing world surrounding an organization. Consequently, the information helps an organization amend its internal and external structure to suite the surrounding trends.

References

Pearlson, K. E., Saunders, C. S., & Galletta, D. F. (2016). Managing and Using Information Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Vecchiato, R. (2015). Strategic planning and organizational flexibility in turbulent environments. Foresight, 17(3), 257-273.

Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., & Schilling, M. A. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning.

My Favourite Management Book ‘The New One Minute Manager’

Abstract

Management is an important course that helps one understand what true leadership is and the best effective leadership techniques. This paper analyses my most favourite management book ‘The New One Minute Management’ that was written by two legends Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. The paper begins by explaining the reason for my interest in the book and the reason I selected it. A continued elaboration of the book with a focus on the story that is within the book and how it helps bring out the main theme of the book that is, using both human resource and result focus in a balanced manner for effective business experience is then given. A further analysis is made to help explain the lessons that I have learnt from the book in relation to the course book ‘management a practical introduction’; and the ways that I can apply these lessons today in my academic life, at home and even in future citing some real examples. The three lessons learnt from the book are; the importance of setting goals, the importance of appraisal and the importance of reprimand. ‘The New One Minute Management’ is a great management book that everyone should read.

My Favourite Management Book ‘The New One Minute Manager’

My most favourite management book is ‘The New One Minute Manager’ by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. I selected this book mainly because it focuses on two important factors that affect the business world; human resource and results. The book guides teams in management on balancing their focus between the success of the employee and that of the business results in an efficient compassionate way. This book also interests me because its message is very similar with that of Kinicki & Williams, (2013) when it comes to exceptional management. Good communication is an important element in management, good communication helps to motivate and engage the rest of the team at the work place and this leads to better results for the business Kinicki & Williams, (2013). A manager should be able to engage with people within and also outside the work premises which will help them understand their employees better.

I find this book motivating because it is not complex, it does not have those complicated management terminologies common in other books. It is easy to read because it is brought out more like a narrative, it is short and does not really give one the chance to rule it out of their books to read list. The story is woven around a young man that is trying to find the most effective manager and his search leads him to meet many types of managers that are categorized into two; autocratic and democratic. The autocratic managers are those ones that are profit minded, realistic and those who always like to be at the top in every situation happening around the business (Blanchard & Johnson, 2015). The democratic managers are those ones that can be described to be participative, considerate, humanistic and supportive (Blanchard & Johnson, 2015). All these types of managers are filled with pride because of their result minded and people oriented focus which is not all that management is about. Yes the autocratic managers have prosperous companies, but they also tend to have a higher turnover. The same thing happens with the democratic managers, they have happy employees but at the end of the day the business suffers meaning that most managers today are either focused on the people or on the results meaning that the two cannot work hand in hand (Blanchard & Johnson, 2015).

Managers as explained by Kinicki & Williams, (2013) should always pay attention to the environment outside of the organization. This means being alert for long run opportunities as well as problems and trying to get the right strategies to deal with them. The One minute manager that was selected by the young man was an example of an effective manager because he was able to combine both results and the people in a balanced manner for effective business.  The views of Kinicki & Williams, (2013) and this book are very similar when it comes to the characteristics of an exceptional manager. They both illustrate that a manager who is exceptional should have technical, conceptual and human skills. Through this book I have learnt that effective managers are those that manage themselves, as well as the other people they work with such that both the organization and the people benefit from their existence (Blanchard & Johnson, 2015). I now understand the need to ensure that people and the results are in balance as a manager. The book also helped me understand the different managerial systems that are there in the business world something that inspires me to continue studying management so that I learn more about effective management.

There are three secrets to effective management that I have learnt from this book; one is that as a leader, one should always ensure that there are always some set goals by each of the team members for every meeting that is held (Blanchard & Johnson, 2015). This allows for effective communication because it creates an opportunity for people to speak openly and honestly. Creating these goals by the employees helps them understand what is expected of them and also the manager to gage their understanding of their roles (Blanchard & Johnson, 2015). As a manager in future, I will ensure that my employees always come with their written goals in any of the weekly meetings that we hold. This will give me the chance as the manager to understand what my employers understand about the business objective and it will also give me the chance to guide them into the right direction and enhance business results as well communication between them and I.

The second important lesson that I have learnt from this book is the importance of appraisal. Every individual feels good when their work is appreciated. It motivates one to work harder and even do much better next time.  A great manager should ensure that they appreciate their employees even for the small accomplishments, it is something that takes less than a minute to do and its impacts are massive (Blanchard & Johnson, 2015). Appraisals help in providing a clear feedback on whether an individual is on the right track. As a manager in the future, I will ensure that I appreciate any job well done by my employees even if it is just a simple pat on their back to show them that I appreciate what they have done. I understand that this will improve their work morale and also motivate them to continue working hard which will be for the good of the business.

The last important lesson that I learnt from this book is the need for reprimand, just like it is important to appreciate good work, it is also important to note when something wrong has been done by an employee. A manager should ensure that they explain what the mistake is and the way that it can be fixed; this greatly helps in striking a feedback balance (Blanchard & Johnson, 2015). After a reprimand it is important that an effort is made by the manager to reaffirm that you do not think any less of them because of their mistakes, but they need to do better and improve on their performance. When I become a manager in the future, I will ensure that I do not let mistakes be downplayed, I now understand the need to correct employees and led them on the right path in order to ensure that the everything goes well in the business and at the same time allow the employees to understand that I am keen on their roles.

The good thing about all the lessons learnt in the course of reading this book is that I can apply them in any point of life. Whether it is correcting my friends in school or congratulating them on their good academic performances to encourage them to always do their best. Or even at home with my brothers and sisters especially with the fact that I am the first born, I now understand the techniques that I can use to motivate them to work hard in their lives and be well mannered all thanks to ‘The New One Minute Manager’.  I encourage any person to take their time and read this book; it is the most interesting and motivating management book of all times and you can read it as many times as you like because you learn something new with every reading session.

Reference

Blanchard, K. Johnson, S. (2015). The new one minute manager: Revised edition. Recorded

            Books, LLC., OneClick Digital (Firm). New York: Morrow.

Kinicki, A., & Williams, B. K. (2013). Management: A practical introduction.

Motivating employees

            The success of an organization greatly relies on how employees perform their duties in producing goods and offering services aimed at meeting the company objectives. In order to enhance the success of a business, the organization must find ways to motivate its employees and encourage them to not only perform their duties but do so in a way that is best suited to promote the growth and success of the business. Motivational theories are therefore helpful as they help a business to determine ways in which it can motivate its employees to work as a team and maintain high quality work not only in groups but also when tackling individual responsibilities.

            A good example of motivational theories is Maslow’a theory of hierarchy of needs which argues that; when trying to motivate employees, employers must start by understanding the current needs that employees have and come up with ways to satisfy them accordingly. The theory is best situated for situations where an organization is trying to grow from its current position (Jeanty, 2018). In a situation where a business is trying to expand its reach in the market, satisfying employee needs will encourage them to be more positive and even market the business to other customers and bring about the desired growth. An advantage of this theory is that it brings employees together and makes them feel as part of a team. A disadvantage is that focusing on employee needs could draw attention away from the business and end up neglecting the business objectives.

            The carrot and stick theory on the other hand argues that fear and incentives are an ideal way to motivate employees. Incentives can be used to appeal to employees that work well when their efforts are recognized and rewarded. Fear on the other hand can be used to motivate employees who are afraid of losing their job or being reprimanded (Joseph, 2018). The carrot stick approach is ideal for situations where a business is under new management. Since the employer does not know all employees well, the approach can be used to encourage or scare employees to do well and is therefore a good motivational tool (Joseph, 2018). An advantage of this approach is that it allows employers to motivate employees even when the employer is not fully acquainted with them especially in new businesses. The downside however is that it is difficult to identify which employees need to be inspired and which need to be scared and the approach could backfire. 

            Lastly is the two factory theory that suggests that various factors in the business could either satisfy or dissatisfy employees and therefore influence their level of motivation. The theory is best suited for a situation where a business’ performance keeps rising and falling despite the motivation practices in play (Joseph, 2018). Employers could identify factors that demoralize employees and resolve them in order to ensure that the business environment is ideal. The theory has an advantage in that it not only identifies ways to motivate employees but also helps to resolve factors that create a non conducive business environment. The downside to the theory is that it requires a lot of research and analysis as the entire business process has to be examined in order to identify which areas cause dissatisfaction for employees as well as coming up with ways to resolve them.

References

Jeanty J, (2018) “What is motivational theory in an organization?” retrieved from,             https://smallbusiness.chron.com/motivational-theory-organization-15946.html

Joseph C, (2018) “Three main theories of motivation” retrieved from,             https://smallbusiness.chron.com/three-main-theories-motivation-1888.html

Introduction

South Africa is the most developed country on the African continent. However, its economy is on a declining trend due to increasing competition especially among other African nations, unpredictable political atmosphere, and corruption, which gives an unfair advantage to foreign investors. According to global reports, South Africa is no longer an ideal place for long-term investments or even short-term business enterprises. In addition, the failure by its government officials in maintaining major factors that direct macro-economic made entrepreneurs lose confidence in the South African economy. In fact, the judicial system is susceptible to bribery and other scandals indicating the failure of the government to cement its authority on the market sector. This paper will carry out an in-depth discussion on the relationship between unemployment and the economic status of South Africa and also remedial interventions for the predicament.

Reasons for Unemployment in South Africa

 Poverty in South Africa is on an increase due to a stagnating economy, which is unable to expand and create more job for its citizens. Mostly, the youth do not have jobs to meet their daily needs (Anand, Kothari, & Kumar, 2016). Thus, the main indicator of the labor sector is unemployment. The rate at which local work force participates in building the economy is 56%, which is a lower figure compared to other countries. On the other hand, labor absorption in the formal sector is negative and on a downward trend since early 2000s.

 Industrial and social framework policies during the apartheid regime were the root of the problem seen on the surface presently. Although it is not an excuse, the apartheid regime dug the pit for South Africa’s unemployment crisis. For instance, importation of cheap industrial substitutes instead of locally establishing firms that would easily make the items. Unnecessary importation led to uncompetitive market, which in turn affected the expansion of the economy. Not only that, the capital-intensive nature of the market discouraged expansion and development of other sectors of the economy (Anand, Kothari, & Kumar, 2016). In fact, during the apartheid era, African never participated in industrial development. Thus, they could not acquire essentials skills relevant for revival and running of the economy in times of trouble.

 South African economy only thrives in skill intensive sectors while informal sectors drag behind (Butler, A. (2017). For any economy is to grow extensively, low skilled individuals should be play their part and satisfy the market needs on found in  the informal part rather than lean only labor intensive sector.

The correlation between unemployment and a poor economy

A poor economy is vulnerable in case of a recession or inflation, an increase in the rate of unemployment leads to decrease in circulation of money. Consequently, businesses do not thrive and while industries retrench people due to continuous losses. For instance, the South African recession occurred when the gross domestic product was negative on both quarters. In other word when a recession can slow down an economy development. Moreover, South African economy has all the signals of an economy under recession. Fall in sales, unemployment are some of the recessive features that indicate a residing economy. However, in South African’s case, unemployment is the main factor that hinders the growth of the economy.

It is vital to note that state of an economy relies on job creation and development. The absence of the two signifies a declining or stagnant economy. There cannot be any growth without creation of jobs. Therefore, high unemployment rates indicate or points directly to a poor gross domestic product. A domestic product that is below the required threshold will also serve as an indicator of high levels of joblessness. Researchers proved that increase in the size labor force and productivity increment are a necessary balance if a country wants to keep the unemployment rate from going overboard.

Remedial measures against unemployment

 Currently, the rate of joblessness stands at 26.7%, in two financial year. It remained constant and refused to move (Ardington, Bärnighausen, Case, & Menendez, 2016). The country’s development plan has an aim of cutting unemployment by a 6% rate per year until 2030. The current government initiated steps to ensure the reduction. However, the vital part is not reduction but specific measures that would ensure a sustainable reduction in joblessness rate.

 The government and the private sector joined hands to create a program that would assist South Africans get employment opportunities fairly across all sectors (Ardington, Bärnighausen, Case, & Menendez, 2016). The Youth Employment service assisted corporates train and educate youths in readiness for employment opportunities. Such programs are credible as they increase the employability chances of jobseekers while at the same time empowering them to take courage.

 Secondly, the government wants to influence the demand and supply side of the job market (Ardington, Bärnighausen, Case, & Menendez, 2016). More so, the government introduced new courses relevant to the job market and credited businesses that required those skills so that the demand and supply can match and reduce unemployment in the market.

 In short, the unemployment in South Africa is an indicator of slow economic growth. The apartheid regime laid a foundation for the current crisis and propagated a never-ending crisis. However, with growth in the labor sector and increase in productivity, unemployment rate can be slowed down.

References

Anand, R., Kothari, S., & Kumar, N. (2016). South Africa: labor market dynamics and inequality. International Monetary Fund.

Ardington, C., Bärnighausen, T., Case, A., & Menendez, A. (2016). Social protection and labor market outcomes of youth in South Africa. ILR Review, 69(2), 455-470.

Butler, A. (2017). Contemporary South Africa. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Introduction

            As the saying goes, constant is the only change in life. The same principle applies as one switches from one career to another. From an organization’s career model, individuals aim at discovering fresh opportunities and gain new grounds in their career paths. More often than not, people seek greener pastures and fulfillment as they alter careers. This essay will explore clarity on the underlying reasons, which influence career change and even look further into motives behind some individuals staying in one field for the rest of their lives.

Elements that influence career change

As funnies as it seems, childhood hopes and dreams can play a role in a person’s career change. Failure to achieve a childhood dream may influence decision making when opportunity knocks on the door (Cheramie et.al, 361). In the end, one can switch careers and settle on their childhood dreams.

Apart from the above factor, the existence of boundaryless careers presents vast openings of succeeding in other fields. In addition, one does not need previous qualifications to fit into its context or job description (Guan, et al 3). In fact, a boundaryless career does not factor in hierarchy or organizational structure. Thus, it gives a window of opportunity for an urge to transfer from current career. In other words, boundaryless career do not have limits, which in turn facilitates transfer from one career to another.

Besides boundaryless careers, an integrated model within the labor market encompasses all the personal factors that may result to a career change. If more than two factors fall under the integrated model, a person may see it fit to change their career (Rhodes, and Mildred 633). The advantage of the model is that it increases flexibility and show variable terms suggested by Mobley and is in line with other researches. In terms of the longitudinal study, timing presents the resources, which in turn enables the current analysis of the present job performance and actual search. If the current performance is poor, then one can get a reason to change into another career.

Reasons for staying

People can stay at a specific career for a long duration. There is link between performance and personal fulfillment. For example, the framework surrounding a job facilitates rewards and bonuses when a worker performs above average consequently favoring the job above others (News Release, 3). To emphasize further, when an individual identifies readily available opportunities, a person assesses the daily challenges he or she faces in the current profession together with outcomes. Therefore, when the benefits of the current job outweigh emerging opportunities, a person will stay in in his profession for a long period of time.

 Age is another factor that influences remaining in one career for a longer time. Increase in time strengthens the bond between a worker and an employer (News Release, 5). For illustration, if a worker began working at a frim at the age of 24 or 18, he or she is more likely to stick to the job whenever other job offers come knocking at their door.

In summary, if the benefits of the current job outweigh the emerging opportunities, an individual will opt to stay rather than switch. On the other hand, culture and boundaryless opportunities tend to sway decisions. Thus, one can end up taking any job opportunity that comes their way. Life roles dictate time, manner and perspectives that later influence careers and other related goals.

References

Cheramie, Robin A., Michael C. Sturman, and Kate Walsh. "Executive career management: Switching organizations and the boundaryless career." Journal of Vocational Behavior 71.3 (2007): 359-374.

Guan, Yanjun, et al. "Career boundarylessness and career success: A review, integration, and guide to future research." Journal of Vocational Behavior (2018).

Number of Jobs, Labor Market Experience, and Earnings Growth among Americans at 50: Results from a Longitudinal Survey. New Release, 2017

Rhodes, Susan R., and Mildred Doering. "An integrated model of career change." Academy of Management Review 8.4 (1983): 631-639.

Venable, Melissa A. "Using technology to deliver career development services: Supporting today's students in higher education." The career development quarterly 59.1 (2010): 87-96.

      Federal Emergency Management Agency Directors performances in major U.S. Crisis

1. James Lee Witt remarkable performance during the Northridge earthquake

James Lee Witt is a former FEMA director that served between the years 1993 to 2001. He has in the current day been named as the leader of the Rebuild North Bay which is a non-profit organisation that helps to deal with the recovery of wild fires within that region because of his remarkable work back in FEMA. Witt is the most renowned director of FEMA that was able to successfully respond to more 350 disasters within 50 states during his term in FEMA (Gordon & Emerson, 2010). He has over the years been appreciated because of transforming FEMA from a lacklustre bureaucracy to an agency that effectively manages disasters. Witt built closer ties with the employees, the state, the local officials, voluntary organizations and private companies among others which helped change FEMA’s legacy.

In the three decades that Witt worked with FEMA, he was able to manage major disasters including; The Indian Ocean earthquake and the Northridge earthquake among many others. The most remarkable disaster response for Witt is the magnitude 6.7 Northridge Earthquake that rattled the valley of Los Angeles. The event led to the death of 60 people while 9,000 others were injured, there were damages of about $40 billion which is the most costly disaster that has ever been experienced in U.S (Gordon & Emerson, 2010).

Witt effectively responded to the disaster in an immediate and extensive way. The first thing that Witt did was open up more disaster registration centre which added up to 11 centres and 1800 more workers were recruited to help with the registration of the victims. The workers that were recruited included members of the congress and their staff who were involved in the outreach programs (Kamel & Loukaitou-Sideris, 2004). This was very effective because it helped to understand the extent of the damages that was reported by the outreach teams and potentially volatile catastrophe was diffused something that saw Witt get highly rated for his work.  A recovery channel was also opened up through a satellite that was linked up to over 100 cable television stations where people would follow up on the things that were going on in the rescue mission (Corrêa d’Almeida & Klingner, 2008).

 The other important element that was applied by Witt in this catastrophe was that he ensured that he made daily briefings on the progress of the rescue in the created channel which was very helpful in keeping the residents informed and it also helped to show the support and the involvement of the agency during the disaster. The briefings worked effectively in helping to get more help from the members of public in other regions in terms of work force and also donations; that were needed by the victims and this helped to reduce the time taken to complete the rescue mission.

When it comes to language barrier, Witt ensured that in every rescue station, there were agents that could speak several languages on the hotlines which greatly helped in answering of the queries that were brought forward by the members of the public in regard to the disaster (Kamel & Loukaitou-Sideris, 2004). Witt ensured that the selected outreach team was effectively trained on matters of effective communication skills which enabled them to effectively communicate with victims as well as the other selected local officials.

Three months after the disaster Witt requested that the FEMA workers work seven days every week in order for them to process the aid requests for over 500,000 victims. To help get the aids to victims, the agency used zip codes map which helped to analyse the victims that really needed the grants and to ensure that there was no fraud in the process (Corrêa d’Almeida & Klingner, 2008). This worked effectively and shortly after the agency gave grants to the displaced families where each family received about $3000 to help them start of a new life.  In the long run the agency was involved in the rebuilding of the critical infrastructure that was damaged during the incident within the region.

Witt is a true definition of what a FEMA director should be, this is an individual that came into FEMA and helped change it for the better all to the benefit of the American society. The way that he handled the Northridge Earthquake set the pace on how disasters should be dealt with in the immediate actions and also in the long run plans of reconstruction. His idea to set up a channel was very intriguing and effective, something that should be adopted in any disaster management.

2. Michael D. Brown unremarkable performance during the Hurricane Katrina

Michael D Brown is a former FEMA director that served between the years 2003 and the year 2005. Brown is one of the most controversial former FEMA directors because of his association with the Katrina Hurricane (Slater, 2011). Brown who was appointed by President Bush to be a FEMA director ended up resigning in the year 2005 after he was accused of mishandling the Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane is rated to have been the 6^th strongest hurricanes that have ever been recorded and also the 3^rd strongest that made landfall within the United States (Nicholls & Picou, 2013). It caused the death of over 1800 people and it has been ranked to be the most expensive disaster within the history of the U.S.

The greatest problem with Brown in dealing with the Hurricane Katrina was mainly his lack of passion to do his work. This was an individual that a week earlier had hinted on his interest to quit from his job mainly because he was not getting along with most of the other stakeholders in FEMA (Nguyen, 2015). The recorded emails of Brown show his desire to quit his position and his reluctance in helping respond to the hurricane disaster. One of the emails that were recovered from him indicates that a request to get emergency medical supplies to the sites of disaster was openly ignored for four days while he kept chatting with his friends about how exhausted he was with working in FEMA (Nicholls & Picou, 2013).

The rescue mission of the Hurricane Katrina was delayed for one week without any help getting sent to the affected areas because Brown did not put bother to do his work of organizing for a rescue (Slater, 2011). Brown’s argument in his defence lays blame on other leaders in other agencies for failure to provide the required equipment like transportation. Brown however was the head of the agency that is supposed to deal with matters of disaster and he was required to make the emergent request for equipment that was needed to help offer help to the hurricane’s victims.

Brown’s concern in this disaster was in matters of authority that were not of importance, instead of commanding the fire and rescue departments to move out and start with the rescue mission immediately, he advised them to wait for direct appeal from the local governments so that they do not overstep federal authority (Starks, 2006). This was an emergency issue, the lives of innocent people were at stake and it was not a time to start thinking about the legal option to provision of the required help and this is something that a great leader in an agency such as FEMA should know.

Another shocking revelation of the disaster is that Brown did not any point visit the affected areas to understand the impact of the disaster which would have helped him to make the necessary solutions to deal with the disaster (Starks, 2006). He also did not take the time to brief the public about the disaster which would have prompted donations from well-wishers as well as volunteer worker force that would have greatly helped with the rescue mission which would have prompted a reduce number of the people that died (Nguyen, 2015). Most of the people died because they could not get immediate help that they needed after the disaster.

Brown is to blame for all the damages and loss of lives that happened during the hurricane Katrina, he is truly a disaster in his own right. He choose not to do his duty as a director of FEMA to come up with a response strategy that would have helped save many lives of people as well as millions dollar worth property. Brown can be defined as a selfish and irresponsible individual whose interests did not integrate with the mission of FEMA whose main objective is to help in proving emergency help during disasters like the hurricane Katrina.

References

Corrêa d’Almeida, A., & Klingner, D. E. (2008). FEMA and the Witt Revolution: Testing the

Hypothesis of “Bureaucratic Autonomy.” Public Organization Review, 8(4), 291–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-008-0060-9

Gordon, K., & Emerson, J. (2010, August 06). Governing Through a Disaster. Retrieved from

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2010/08/06/8221/governing-through-a-disaster/

Kamel, N. M. O., & Loukaitou-Sideris, A. (2004). Residential Assistance and Recovery

Following the Northridge Earthquake. Urban Studies (Routledge), 41(3), 533–562. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=12844520&site=ehost-live

Nguyen, T. (2015, August 27). Former FEMA Head: Don't Blame Me for Hurricane Katrina.

Retrieved from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/08/hurricane-katrina-fema-head-not-my-fault

Nicholls, K., & Picou, J. S. (2013). The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Trust in Government

The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Trust in Government. Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 94(2), 344–361. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00932.x

Slater, R. B. (2011). Deadly Indifference: The Perfect (Political) Storm; Hurricane Katrina,

the Bush White House, and Beyond. Library Journal, 136(11), 103. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=61428529&site=ehost-live

Starks, T. (2006). Former FEMA Head Michael Brown Blames Departmental Setup for Hurricane Problems. CQ Weekly, 64(7), 442. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=20292994&site=ehost-live

Establishing the Climate in my Team

Team: Disaster Management Team

 Disaster causes public health consequences and a consistent approach is needed to manage disaster threats. In response to the disaster, individuals and society have developed measures and adopted approaches. However, the community is unable to fully address the problem due to economic, cultural or political barriers. Thus, there is a need to create a social disaster management team that will work together with the individuals and community organization to create sustainable development policies and manage the disaster.

 The structure of the team 

 The disaster management team will be made of up of two sub-teams. The first team signifies planning and preparedness team. The role of this particular team will be to create plans and engage the individuals and community in the planning process. The planning and response and other stakeholders will create a multi-agency response and come up with a framework aimed at minimizing disaster,  taking efficient actions, organizing training and,  allocation and placement (Wilkinson,  Linda  & Nancy et al, 30).The second team is the response and recovery team. This team will play the role of implementing plans towards providing assistance, reducing damage, providing effective recovery operations and maintaining the normal systems. The response and recovery team work hard toward providing basic services and repairing the damage caused by the disaster (Wilkinson, Linda & Nancy et al, 30).The membership will involve the two sub-teams and additional volunteers who will have the willingness to support the disaster management team.

 The mission of the disaster management team is to coordinate with local shareholders and provide emergent management to the disaster through preparedness, response, and recovery.  The core missions are designed toward providing a comprehensive emergency management through providing critical alerts, notifications and recovery operations which disaster occurs.

  Team norms are important as they strengthen the team interaction and guides the behaviors. In other words, team norms are established guidelines or ground rules that create successful functioning.  Two norms that I feel are essential to the team's success are continuous communication and backbone support. The first norm: continuous communication means that all team members should engage in regular communication strategies including face-to-face, online platforms, and phone communication to share objectives, foster trust and build relationships (Hamner et al. 99). Continuous communication is important as it will enable the team to create a common agenda, create and implement an action plan and create a collective effort. The second norm that will bring success is backbone support. This means that the team should value teamwork for them to work together and benefit the society.  Lack of teamwork will cause more catastrophes and failures but a team that values teamwork always supports and educates each other thereby achieving success.

 In this team, I will encourage cohesiveness through establishing a mission. The team mission will help the members understand the purpose and values of the team. Having understood the mission, they will develop a strategy on how to achieve the mission. The strategy toward achieving the mission will be based on sticking together and being in unity. In other words, the team members will build a cohesive team by working together to fulfill the mission (Hamner et al. 99).  The second method that I will use to encourage cohesiveness is celebrating success.  After creating the mission and encouraging the team to work together toward a common goal in order to fulfill the mission, I will appreciate their work. By so doing, the team will increase cohesion and continue working together.

  In the disaster management team, I will set standards of excellence to help the team understand the organization expectations. I will set the standards on the basis of accountability and decision-making. Members should be accountable for their own behaviors and should adhere to ethical principles. Second, members should engage in participatory decisions making and create an inclusive environment to develop the best solutions, promote trust and share information (Wilkinson, Linda & Nancy et al, 3). After setting the standards of excellence, I will measure the performance by checking the quality of work and cost-effectiveness. The team should provide quality practices in managing the disasters and they should also utilize the available resources effectively. I will recognize the best team members or rather the best sub-team by providing certificates of achievement to encourage and motivate the employees to work harder toward saving the lives of people in managing the disasters.

Reference

Hamner, Marvine P, S S. Stovall, Doaa M. Taha, and Salah C. Brahimi. Emergency Management and Disaster Response

Utilizing Public-Private Partnerships. , 2015. Internet resource.

Wilkinson, Frances C, Linda K. Lewis, and Nancy K. Dennis. Comprehensive Guide to Emergency Preparedness and

Disaster Recovery. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2010. Print.

Disaster Response and Recovery

 Haiti earthquake occurred in January 2010 and caused economic, political and social impacts. In response, national and international actors offered humanitarian assistance. The research found that half of the population live in extreme poverty and Haiti does not have the ability to cope with natural disasters (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). One of the contributing factor to the Haiti earthquake is the massive poverty. It is important to note that prior to the earthquake struck, Haiti was a nation that had the lowest social-economic status in the world. The nation was already suffering from environmental crisis and these claims show that Haiti was vulnerable to natural disasters. Due to the economic and political instability and dysfunctional management, the foreign nations could not provide humanitarian assistance effectively (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). Poverty is the root cause of response and recovery hindrance in that the natural disaster damaged the buildings, skilled personnel, and equipment. The international organizations experienced difficulties in supplying materials and delivery of services. Such as water, health, and electricity. The higher poverty level hindered coordination with agencies that were ready to offer assistance. The poverty level was influenced by governmental factors such as corruption and lack of transparency (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). These issues led to a higher unemployment rate, low-level manufacturing, higher migration and lack of population support.

In recovery and response, the U.S government played a significant role by appointing USAID Administrators who led in planning and execution. During this period, President Obama developed a ‘whole of government' response where the federal agencies and military offered humanitarian assistance immediately after the event (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). UN offered a slow response despite the fact that UN should be the first responder to natural disasters. UN peacekeepers were not involved in humanitarian relief within the 72hours of the disaster occurrence (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). Finally, the Haiti government asked for assistance from the international level. The government used international communication equipment to coordinate with foreign officials in offering response and recovery (Taft-Morales et al. 2010).

There is a need for cooperation and coordination among the countries in order to offer to prevent and manage the disaster. As an emergency manager, one method that I would propose to increase cooperation is using the Disaster Management Information System (DMIS).This information system will provide the operators and managers with information related to disasters, threats, indicators, emergency response, recovery plans, crisis management, and task assignment (Palanivel et al. 2015).The system will strengthen cooperation and offer technical solutions.

Reference

Palanivel K., Saravanavel J., & Gunasekaran S. (2015). Disaster Management. Allied Publishers

Taft-Morales, M., Margesson, R., & Library of Congress. (2010). Haiti earthquake: Crisis and response.

DIANE Publishing

Risk analysis

 Defining the risk is the first principle. The nature of the risk on the table will dictate how the scenario at hand will play out (Weisburd, 2015). For instance, the worst-case scenario when driving a vehicle is the occurrence of an accident. The second is risk control, which unveils possible solutions to the risk. Risk finance and management deal with the after effects of the risk

Steps in coming up with a risk strategy

The first step is recognition and description of the risk, which in turn helps to gauge the outcomes. The second is evaluation of the risk and its features, which helps to anticipate any extra effects and gain insight into the main objectives. The third is assessing the nature of the risk by knowing its scale and impact hence the plan should fit the risk (Weisburd, 2015).

Information systems

Information systems are able to collect and interpret risk data (Weisburd, 2015).

Safeguarding digital evidence

Ensuring that the computer system containing the evidence does not shut down because the information stored in the RAM may become vulnerable to manipulation. The second step is securing it from any open network through which a hacker may manipulate evidence(Weisburd, 2015). The evidence can only come into contact specialists to avoid any chances of breaching. The officer collecting the evidence ensures that the electrical device carrying the information is clean and safe.

How the process safeguards evidence

The process explained above ensures that digital evidence is free of any breaching and a standby emergency strategy protects data from deletion or being lost (Weisburd, 2015). Documenting the steps helps to secure the evidence in a viable manner and in case of any misstep; one can notice a mishap took place.

 How an analysts proofs evidence is untampered with

Through a chain of checkpoints and procedures helps the custodian of the evidence proof to others that the evidence remained intact during collection and preservation process (Weisburd, 2015). Hence when the evidence is under the surveillance of more than one person, it is easy to verify and administer it in court in front of a jury. Therefore as a juror, I can identify the trained specialists who handled the evidence.

References

Weisburd, D. (2015). The law of crime concentration and the criminology of place. Criminology, 53(2), 133-157.

The Changing Dynamics of Consultancy

Today’s consulting landscape has been subjected to intense disruptions such as the gig economy, technological developments, and globalization. Similar to the clients they counsel, consulting organizations have been required to change themselves as well as their employees in the provision of fast, quality and profitable servicing as demanded by their clients. Over the past couple of years, consulting firms have experienced a major marketplace change occurring since traditional consulting has turned out to be less profitable. With respect to reports by major consultancy firms in the United Kingdom, it has been revealed that the consultancy sector is experiencing a revolution which leads to the conclusion that traditional consultancies with regard to management will come to an end in approximately twenty years. According to Consultancy (2018), it is without a doubt that organizations are necessitated to get and retain skilled personnel since such skills are needed in flourishing in the ever-changing business surrounding. However, it is agreed that the absence of talented employees is a major barrier to consulting firms. The solution, therefore, lies within the conventional staffing approach where skilled professionals are allowed to work independently.

Due to the increasing demand for quality and innovative services as well as employment, the gig economy has become a source of disruption for the conventional staffing which has the power to change industries inclusive of consultancy. The gig economy is normally connected with minimal pays, insecure working as well as high exploitation. However, there is an increasing professional gig economy that is mainly comprised of skilled experts that are currently changing the situation in the industry. The share of independent workers is increasing rather fast and the sector that has been affected most is management consultancy. Ignatia Consultancy is seeking to be a challenger consultancy by taking advantage of the evolving world and working approaches as well as increasing pool of independent consultants that offers marketing leading teams to its clients.

Consultancy (2018) asserts that Independent consultants will soon take over the market based on their general ability to meet the growing and ever-changing needs of clients within the global sector. Both firms and independent consultants benefit mainly from liberty and flexibility that might not be acquired from large traditional consulting companies. Actually, about 48 percent account that flexibility is essential for choosing independent consultancy over all the other traditional companies which makes the feature more important than the associated pricing. It is without a doubt that clients today are not only seeking quality services but also convenient, fast as well as affordable something that most of the operating consultancy firms fail to meet. Cost is usually a major barrier since such services can only be offered by skilled professions which means that they need to be paid to act as a motivation and enhance the ability to retain them.

Independent consultancy is a major disruption in the industry because firms hold that independent consultants provide quality work when equated to conventional companies. The top priority in the industry is not only to maximize gains but also to attract a significant share of consumers in the market over the competitors. As a result, there will be an increasing utilization of independent consultants in the next couple of years which is driven by the need to embrace change. Innovation has been an influential way through which independent consultants are succeeding in this technological era. Innovation as a means of conducting business successfully means being able to operate differently and better to make positive differences in terms of quality, productivity, and values. Currently, online networking and communication connect consultants with their clients at ease thus increasing the ability to overcome conventional challenges that come with technology use.

In the competitive business landscape today, the success of the business is dependent on the ability to provide quality and satisfactory services. Thus, succeeding in independent consultancy means doing things different than what all the other competitors do as a whole. Clients highly appreciate the services offered by independent consultants because they are perceived as affordable and fulfilling to their needs at large. In that, these consultants appear to be guided by the needs of their clients as their main driving force. In other words, independent consultants are consumer-centered meaning that their operations are guided by the needs in the marketplace rather than the conventional focus of increasing revenue generation.

In summing up, it is evident that the gig economy of professional consultants is a major disruption in the market. Thus, becoming a challenger in the market requires Ignata Consultancy to get and retain skilled professions particularly those that have the ability to increase its competitiveness. In other words, the success of any consultancy firm is dependent on its ability to holistically employee talented professions. Quality, convenient, fast and affordable servicing is what clients demand and thus for a form to succeed it must be ready to innovate different strategies for working in the industry that overpowers the competitors. Ignata Consultancy is ready to be part of this disruption by strategically situating itself as an innovative and client-centered firm.

Reference

Consultsncy.UK. (2018). One fifth of UK management consulting work goes to independent consultants. Retrieved from: https://www.consultancy.uk/news/16722/one-fifth-of-uk-management-consulting-work-goes-to-independent-consultants