Enterprise Week

During enterprise week I had the chance to attend numerous events which were both engaging and useful to me. From all the events visited, one stood out which was Ella’s Kitchen. This was a truly inspirational story of a successful man and father who quit his job to pursue his own venture of baby - toddler food products inspired by his daughter to follow his ambitions. The presentation which was given by the owner of the company called Paul Lindley, in this presentation he was talking about how he started up his business and how it continued to grow into the market that they specialised in.

The presentation was very useful as it contained a lot of information which I was able to take away with me as it suggested a number of research strategies that they were using which was to appeal to both the kids and the parents as they were in the baby food sector. Interesting facts were also given such as starting off as a one man business which now has 25 employees and holds a 10% of the market share of which they are situated in. This is an unbelievably figure as there are well established companies in that sector such as cow and gate and managing to grow rapidly and get 10% of the market share in roughly five years showed huge achievement and made me believe that anything is possible if the foundations behind the idea are solid. Tips were also given on ways of becoming successful as he suggested that sometimes risks need to be taken to be successful but that doesn’t mean taking risks all the time, as he stated that risks need to be measured.

From this event it was possible to take away with me the following information which can help me in the future this includes, that anything is possible, hard work pays off, risks need to be measured and that luck plays a huge part in your fortunes. Paul also stated the need for diversity within a business as this helps generate new ideas and future products to make the business continually successful. This information will help me in the future as should I want to start up my business I would look back to this day and think that anything is possible if the effort is of the right manner and conducted in the right way.

Overall the enterprise week was hugely beneficial to me although other events as well as  Ella’s Kitchen did help me in how the business environment works and the passage you need to take to succeed. But it was through this particular event that made me think about my future and about how and why businesses become successful as it’s not all about the resources behind the business, it’s the inspiration and willingness that are key to being a success.


References:


Lindley, Paul (2010) Ella's Kitchen Homepage [online]. Available from:  http://www.ellaskitchen.co.uk/ [Accessed on 28th December 2010]

Conflict

What is Conflict?

Jeanty, J. (2011) Suggests that conflict is part of everyday life; everyone will at some point in their lifetime have conflict with another person which is mainly due to disagreement on a specific issue. Conflict occurs between two or more people and is common in businesses. Conflict in businesses can occur between anyone and it is highly important that conflict is sorted out so that it does not affect the daily running of the business.

Conflict however can be a good thing as a business which does not have conflict may not be good as conflicts can show commitment to the business as it shows the employee thinks of ways the business can improve. Conflict is particularly useful if managed properly for example, when presenting ideas an employee may feel strongly about their idea and this can create good arguments between ideas which allows the business to gather great detail of each idea as employees will back their idea up. However businesses much ensure that there is no hard feeling between employees if one idea is rejected by the other as this may cause conflict in the wrong way and can prove to be bad for the company. Other benefits of conflict would be personal growth, stronger relationship bonds and increased productivity.

Conflict that I have experienced

Conflict which I have experienced came during an assignment that had to be done. This was a group task and the aim was to organise an event to raise money for charity. Conflict occurred throughout the assignment. The first time conflict occurred was when we as the group discussed ideas on ways in which money could be raised. A number of ideas were put forward, however due to the lack of time all ideas would not be able to be conducted and only one would be used and this is where members of the group tried to back up their own idea and deciding on which idea would be used took time and each idea had its pros and cons. However after a small debate a football tournament was chosen as this were the most simple idea and proven idea. This conflict that occurred was not a bad thing but a good thing as it got us as a group together and communicating which each other which made us stronger as a group and more committed to get the event organised and successful. This conflict also made us as a group look at more ideas whereas if there was no conflict then any idea could have been used as the members of the group may have just wanted to do anything and just pass the assignment and if that happened the idea that may have been chosen could have be unsuccessful.

Sources of Power

Laurie J. Mullins (2010) states the sources of power were identified by two researchers called French and Raven. The five sources of power are:

Reward power

Coercive power

Legitimate power

Referent power

Expert power

Reward power – this power is about rewards being given to employees for doing things right. It shows that leaders and managers have the power to give out rewards for people who have good performance and are achieving targets. Rewards are generally financial such as pay rise, bonuses, promotion and other perks. For example if an employee was to achieve targets and consistently do a good job for the company then the leaders or managers or other authorised people within the business who are authorised to give out rewards may give that employee an reward for their hard work.

Coercive power – this type of power is the opposite to the reward power as this power uses fear of the employees as leaders or managers would have the power to punish employees who do not abide by the rules or orders that are given. Punishment can be small such as prevent pay rise or drastic such as sacking the employee. For example the punishment would depend on the level of crime that may have occurred within the business which would determine the level of punishment to suit. Bad performances could lead to prevention of pay rise which can then be led to sacking of the employee if bad performances carry on.

Legitimate power – this power is based on a power that a leader or manager would get due to his or her position in the organisation. This leader or manager would be different compared to others as this leader would have more power as well as responsibilities and rights. An example of legitimate power would be in the armed forces as there are different ranks and people who are ranked generals have a lot more power than the lower ranks such as trainee’s and privates, etc... This is the same in a business organisation where directors have power over managers who have power over employees.

Referent power – this is when a workers believes that someone has qualities which they would also like to have as they admire it. This would lead to that member who idealises the person with the qualities and tries to be exactly like them. For example, this is done a lot with celebrities as many people would like to dress and act like their favourite celebrities and this can also happen in business but with skills and qualities.

Expert power – expert power is where a member of the team or a leader would have expert knowledge or skills required to do a job that is being done. This would mean that the person who has the expert knowledge or skill may get more pay as they would be working hard and doing a better job. For example someone who may have expert power in departments would be the managers of the departments as they would have more knowledge than the workers in the department such as the assistants.

5 Strategies organisations can use to overcome conflict

Park, E. (2010) suggests conflict is a regular part of the business and happens often due to change and uncertainty businesses must be aware on how to deal with conflict if it is having a negative effect on the business and the employees. Five ways businesses can overcome conflict is by:

Communicating frequently with employees

Setting goals and targets

Regular evaluation of employees work

Disciplinary procedures

Equality

Communicating frequently with employees can reduce confusion and the employees would know what they are doing which would lead to less conflict between the worker and the manager as the employee would have nothing to complain about should they know what is required from them. Communicating with employees also clarifies the job they need to do.

Setting goals and targets will keep employees aiming to something and they have something to achieve and aims and objectives should be kept similar for everyone so that everyone is working towards a goal which benefits the company. This also reduces confusion among the work force if everyone has a similar target.

Regular evaluation of employees work is important, this is an appraisal where the employee and the manager would sit down and have a conversation on the employees performance, this is useful to the employee as this will tell them whether they are doing the right thing and also will show that the company values the employee as new goals can be set.

Disciplinary procedures can also help as if there is a disciplinary procedure that is set then employees would be aware of what could happen if they do react out of hand and therefore they would think twice before taking a wrong step and this would make them do the sensible thing in seeking help from colleagues and seniors. Equality may be one of the most important factors which can lead to conflict, therefore a business must ensure that they treat all employees equal and pay between employees is similar and not judged by sex, age or beliefs as if they are doing the same job they should be paid equally.

Reference List

Laurie J. Mullins (2010) Management & organisational behaviour. 9th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Jeanty, J. (2011) What is conflict? [Online]

Available From:http://www.ehow.com/about_4576718_what-is-conflict.html

[Accessed 11 March 2011]

Park, E. (2010) How to overcome conflict at work [Online]

Available from: http://www.ehow.com/how_6318570_overcome-conflict-work.html

[Accessed 11 March 2011]

Leadership blog

Management and leadership may have similar qualities however both jobs are different as they both focus on different aspects. Management thinks mainly about the company and has little relationship with its employees, whereas leadership is more to do with have a good relationship with employees and leading them to do the right thing. Managers use leaders to communicate with the work force. For example, managers will see a goal that needs to be achieved and this would be passed to the leader to carry out the instructions in a way that is motivating for the workforce. Leaders work as motivators to the employees and therefore having a good relationship is vital. Even though managers are higher up than leaders, managers must have leadership qualities and not all organisations have leaders and it is up to the manager to do both jobs. Laurie J. Mullins (2010)

There are different styles of managers and the managerial grid is one way of describing the five different types of managers. The grid provides a basic comparison using two dimensions which are concern for production, concern for people. Concern for production is the amount of effort put in to achieve goals for the production and getting results and profits which helps the organisations. Concern for people is the amount of effort which is put in to motivating employees by using their individual needs and expectations.

There are five types of managers and these include the impoverished manager who focuses little on the production hence getting little work completed as well as little on the people that work for them which means that this type of manager does not motivate its employees. This is mainly due to the fact that they want little trouble and don’t want to put the effort in. The authority compliance manager has a high concern for production which means meeting goals and targets for the organisations however little concern for the people working for the organisation. The country club manager is the opposite to the authority compliance manager as this type of manager is concerned more about the people and less about the production which means that the manager believes that people are the key to production and more focus should be given in motivating them. The middle of the road type of manager is moderate with the production side and is also moderate with the people. The team manager is the most active manager as this type of manager is highly concerned for the production as well as highly concerned for the organisations people. Laurie J. Mullins (2010)

A person that I have worked for would fit into the middle of the road manager as he concerned for the production as well as the employees needs and feelings. He was encouraging as well as helpful in the workplace and this is helpful in helping new staff such as myself settle in and feel part of the team while knowing what my work commitments are.

A good leader in this case would be Steve Jobs CEO of Apple; this is because he has a concern for both the people and the production which in this case would be the results of the Apple Corporation as well as inspiring the staff members through motivational speeches. The reason he is a good leader is because he has proven himself by achieving unbelievable success while CEO bringing forward the Iphone, Ipod and Ipad. He is concerned for the players as he protects the players from publicity and other things. In the grid Steve Jobs would fit into the country club manager as Apple offer a work experience that is very diverse and different to many organisations and he places employees first before production knowing full well that employees will be motivated by this and in turn lead to more sales which is shown by the success of Apple.

To conclude difference between leadership and management is clarified as many people assume that they are both the same, however they are different as they have different aims as managers are focused with the organisation and leaders with the people, however managers would also need leadership skills to be successful.

Reference List

Laurie J. Mullins (2010) Management & organisational behaviour. 9th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Apple (2010) Online available from http://www.apple.com/uk/ [accessed on 14^th December 2010]

Culture

Organisational Culture Blog

An organisation such as Royal Mail employs a diverse mix of people and they all have one thing in common, which is that they will be the best person for the job. So despite the employee’s sex, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or religion they will not be discriminated and will get the job, should they fit the job role. Royal mail is also introducing a number of initiatives at a number of sites, from learning centres through to prayer rooms for employees. Royal mail also offers employees family-friendly policies and if possible flexible working hours to suit their lifestyles. Royal mail also have a pay-roll giving scheme which allows employees to donate money to a charity of their choice. Royal mail takes into consideration the environmental issues when they are planning, decision making and conducting day to day activities.

Handy suggested that organisations can be classified into four cultures. He also stated that the formation of the culture would depend on factors including company history, ownership, organisation structure, technology, critical business incidents and environment.

The four cultures are, power, role, task, and person. The power culture is described by handy as the web. This is where the centre is the power source which has rays which are sent throughout the organisation. The power culture is more common in a small business. It works by trust, empathy and personal communication to be as effective as possible and it also has few rules and regulations but fast decisions are made. An example of power culture would be Tesco as they would have a headquarters base which would then use its power to pass on relevant information to the different types of businesses involved in Tesco such as Tesco bank or Tesco mobile.

The role culture is often portrayed as s bureaucracy, this type of culture in and organisation works by rules and regulations. In this type of culture the job role is more important that the individual and power is based on level in hierarchy, there for the higher up the hierarchy the more power. An example of role culture would be a typical factory as there are more rules and regulation which employee must work with to accomplish the work and the organisation would just look to get the work done from the individual rather than focusing on the individual and getting them as motivated as possible.

This type of culture (task culture) is to do with team work and groups; this is because organisations can put individuals in groups to make them more effective. This culture tries to put the right people together with the right resources and the strength of the group is used to help the business. However they are constantly having to change and have to create temporary task teams to meet future needs. There is also a close link between business departments. An example of task culture would be jaguar; this is because they would have teams who are then assignment tasks which may involve putting part together or creating parts or a combination of both. They would also need good communication between departments because trends are always changing and the organisation may need to change to meet future needs which generally involve new car models.

Person culture is where the individual is focused on by the organisation and the work is set to serve the employees working for the business. Organisations which use this culture reject formal hierarchies for “getting things done” and exist solely to meet the needs of their members. An example of person culture would be consultants as they solely focus on the individual’s problems and try to resolve them. (Laurie J. Mullins, 2010)

The problem with classifying an organisation with only one culture out of four is that it may be leaving out another culture which may be needed. For example parts of person culture would need to be considered in all organisations as the people working for the organisation are important as without them the organisation would fail, therefore this is an important culture as well as the other three. Most organisations would fit into more than one culture as aspects from each culture may be used within the organisation and if an organisation had to be in one culture only then it would be difficult to run and keep everything smooth and someone may be isolated, for example if person culture was ignored then the employees would feel unwelcome.

To conclude culture within an organisation represents what the organisation stands for and how it is ran. An organisation can adopt many types of cultures and each culture would have its own benefit. As a organisation changes and develops the culture may change and the organisation may run differently however the organisation has to also take into consideration is employees and the management to adopt the correct culture.

Reference List:

Laurie J. Mullins (2010) Management & organisational behaviour. 9th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Motivation-improving staff performance

The difference between content and process theories are that content theories are what and why whereas the process theories relate to how businesses use techniques through these theories. Content theories looks at the workforce usually individually and looking at way in which each individual is motivated. This is usually done by identifying an individual’s needs and goals then using it to motivate the individual. Therefore content theory looks at ways in which to motivate employees. Laurie J. Mullins (2010)

Examples of Content theories include:

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model

Alderfer’s modified need hierarchy model

Herzberg’s two factor theory

McClelland’s achievement motivation theory

Process theory on the other hand looks at the behaviour of the workforces and how their needs influence it has on the work they are doing. Process theories are ways in which organisations try to motivate the individuals which means that the organisation is applying the theory into the workforce. Laurie J. Mullins (2010)

Examples of Process theory include:

Expectancy theory

Goal setting theory

Equity theory

Debenhams is the organisation identified that uses techniques in order to motivate their employees. The reason to which I have done this is due to knowing someone that works there and via the careers section of their website. Research methods I have used were primary research as well as secondary research which are different as primary research is based on information or data that already exists whereas secondary research is based on research that doesn’t already exist and needs to be researched i.e. via questionnaires.

Debenhams do their best to help people improve as they offer a range of training programmes such as, practical courses, career enhancement through one to ones, coaching, graduate programmes. These programmes would benefit the employee and is used as a motivation technique as this would help employees to become better and achieve, this is where Maslow’s and Herzberg’s theories come into place as in Herzberg’s two factor theory, the second theory is about motivation which involves needs such as status, achievement and recognition which is similar to the higher part of the pyramid in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model.

They also offer staff a wide range of benefits to employees that work for them such as, flexible/fair working hours, holiday, retail trust, discounts as well as pension plans

However the main process theory they use is the expectancy theory as Debenhams provide rewards which are financial based to employees, this means that the employee would put the effort in which would lead to a better performance and then should lead to the reward.

Debenhams also treats all employees fairly no matter how different they may be as they ensure that all individuals connected with the company receive fair treatment regardless of the ways in which they may differ, such as, gender, race, religion, disability age. This links back to the equity theory which is partly to do with fairness and this theory which is in place would encourage all the people connected with Debenhams to work for them without conflict as everyone is being fairly treated.

Throughout this topic I have learnt that there are many ways in which employees can be motivated. However organisations need to be aware of the fact that all the individuals are different and will be motivated in different ways as their needs may differ. Also I have found out that the most popular way to motivate an employee would be using the expectancy theory as by doing this the employee would know that if they put the effort in to perform and achieved their goals then they would get a reward which meets their needs.

References

Laurie J. Mullins (2010) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 9th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Debenhams (2011) Benefits [online] Available from: http://www.debenhams-jobs.com/deb_rec/people/ourbenefits/  [Accessed: 03 January 2011]