Discussion 1
According to FDU Magazine (1999), three out of every four American workers report stress associated with their employment with the United Nations’ International Labor Organization stating the epidemic is global. The effect in the United States is approximately $200 billion annually. A Wall Street Journal(Mantell 1999) survey reported one third of employees consider quitting their jobs due to stress and 14% actually did.
The major medical, behavioral, and psychological consequences of distress are:
- workplace violence
- an estimated 60% of lost work days are related to stree
- increased health care costs of approximately 75% to 90%
- mistakes in production
- employees have trouble concentrating
- disorganization
- apathy or anger toward achievement
The signs of distress are present in any workplace with the number of workers ranging from just a few to hundreds. Due to consequences taking their toll on the profitability of the company, it is vital management take all reasonable steps to decrease employee workplace stress.
Discussion 2
Growth should always be an inherent corporate value not only because it determines the success of the company, but because it affects so many other aspects of production (Houston Business Coach 2014). Corporate attitudes toward growth set a company apart from the competition. A clear idea of these attitudes dictate the type of employees hired; alignment is essential for a healthy workplace environment, influencing behavior and interaction. The organizational culture is shaped by corporate growth expectations, motivating employees toward a goal for success. The standards of expected growth communicate to the employees and the community what is important to the company.
Growth is an inherent corporate value because it mandates the major operating activities of the company (1000ventures.com 2014). Sustainable growth is based in knowing the value of the customer and the threat of competitors. Strategies for enterprise, understanding the market, and creating a viable plan for proceeding steers growth in the right direction. Growth dictates recognition of when to change management or pursue specific opportunities. The value of growth should permeate all the aspects of operation from employees and management to the customers.
Discussion 3
Creating an effective workplace team involves clarifying goals and each members’ responsibilities toward accomplishing them and the timeline parameters (Baaken 2001). Team members need to know where to go for resources. Recognize when conflicts were appearing and address them immediately. Evaluate each individual and the team as a whole and praise liberally to the team and the organization (Healthfield 2014). No matter in what capacity the team functions within the organization, customer satisfaction is always the final goal. (Baaken 2001)
The most effective team I’ve worked with was one I created. We shared similar visions of success and the goals toward reaching it, the group was diverse enough to allow for several different suggestions and insight, and we enjoyed working together. Following the guidelines for organizing co-workers and management into a productive group, I was able to organize a group of managers who were effective. When the time came to replace one, it was easy to pull a person up from that division who had demonstrated the qualities we looked for in our team. But the team always knew I was the leader.
Discussion 4
Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in the United States can make extremely high salaries. Larry Ellison, CEO for Oracle Corporation earned a salary of $78.4 million in 2013 (Arrindell 2014). The same year, Walt Disney’s corporations paid CEO Bob Iger $34.3 million. Topping both is Charif Souki , CEO of Cheniere Energy Inc who made $141,949,280.
One has to ask, “What did these men do to deserve this extravagant income?” In the case of Iger, he is credited with saving hundreds of thousands of jobs over the globe. But the general consensus in the industry is there is too much discrepancy between salaries and job performance for CEOs. In addition, Business Week Magazine reports in 1980, the average CEO made more than 42 times what his average hourly worker was paid. By 1990, the figure was 85 times more. By 2000, the CEO made 531 times more than his hourly employees.
Interestingly, according to John Mariotti, President of the Enterprise Group, these huge salaries do little to motivate job performance (Reh 2014). The personalities of the CEOs are more excited by challenge. It also doesn’t rely on the success or failure of the company. Worker response is decreased moral and a resulting drop in innovation. Based on this information, steps need to be taken to limit salaries and bonuses to more reasonable levels for CEOs.
Discussion 5
It is important for a manager to understand conflict, both functional and dysfunctional. In the workplace, there are problems created over disagreement over a problem; resolution brings a positive result (Education Portal 2014). The resolution is a win-win; both parties are satisfied with the result. However, conflicts based on emotion or behavior results in a win-lose or a lose-lose situation. The negative results destroy relationships and may lead to retaliation.
A manager recognizes immediately the threat of conflict in the organization. Functional conflict is not unexpected and can even open avenues to creative resolution (Answers.com 2014). When a manager begins to realize the conflict is dysfunctional, he initiates resolution immediately. The longer this type of conflict is allowed to grow, the more negative the consequences. These types of conflicts threaten the organization and may result in revenue loss, loss of credibility, and even the loss of an employee if the only solution is termination of one or more parties.
Discussion 6
One of the most important responsibilities of a manager is communication. This is not as easy as it may seem. In a society that is diverse in all characteristics, an effective manager first assess the best way to communicate with an employee or client who has thrown up barriers. Methods in breaking through these barriers include physical, status-based, cultural, and linguistic.
Physical methods involve changing the state of the person who is not communicating. Eye contact is important. Change in voice level to require the listener to pay attention in order to hear what is being said. Sometimes, in cases where the listener is upset, a touch on the hand or arm brings him back to focus. Use gestures to indicate attentiveness, give positive feedback, and concern (Search.yahoo.com 2011). Posture is relaxed and the manager should smile easily. Nodding the head shows interest.
Status-based methods involve communication between two people where one is superior to the other, usually based on position within a company. Communication breaks down when one party makes assumptions about his relationship to the other (Bizmove.com 2014). The receiver may receive indications of hypocrisy such as misconceptions or strong emotions about an idea.
Cultural methods require recognition of possible conflict involving the listener’s culture. Language differences or accents, nationality indicators, and type of clothing or hair styles provide clues of cultural differences. Other societies view some behavior as offensive when Americans do not. The explanation of these differences may be all that is necessary to resolve the communication problem.
Linquistic methods may be related to cultural differences, particularly if the listener does not have English as a first language. Meaning may be misinterpreted or intonation indicate the presence of an emotion that is not there. In addition, problems with hearing may cause communication problems involving misinterpretation. The manager needs to explore these possibilities prior to the interaction. Use of small words and simple sentences combined with clear and slow speech go a long way toward resolving this type of barrier.
Discussion 7
I worked for a long time in an informal organization that was structural and the dimension of structure was specialization. The informality of the company was due to the loosely based relationships each department had to the other (Smallbusiness-Chron.com 2014). They contributed to the success of the corporation as a whole, but no one manager reported to a superior other than the CEO. According to Pugh et al (1968), duties were distributed between positions. Within those positions, the individuals performed that function and no other. There were some people who performed generalized duties, but the principal participants focused on one specific area. There were considered specialists and were free to pursue development of their skills outside and during the workday. In exchange for acquisition of these skills, they were rewarded with bonuses, status, and corporate recognition.
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