Managing change in organizations...

Change is the only thing remaining constant today in organizations. The failure to recognize change quickly leads companies to low efficiency and profitability... so what should companies possess to succeed in the turbulent waters of change?

Companies basically need three characteristics to cope with changes: high responsiveness, flexibility and adaptiveness.  But it is not as easy as it seems! because change is not always planned and expected, sometimes it comes as a surprise to the organization and members have to respond in a highly reactive way.

Examples of unplanned changes: when companies are negatively affected by natural disasters or when a top executive suddenly decides to leave the company.

Scope of change:

• Incremental: like for example the implementation of new IT systems to better coordinate customer needs and the company´s services.
• Strategic: New marketing strategies are implemented for launching a a product.
• transformational: Re-engineering processes.

Change agents are usually leaders or groups responsible for introducing and managing change in irganizations, it is very important that change agents learn how to communicate the change to the rest of the organization, creating practical strategic courses that balance both, where the company is right now and where the company wants to be in a near future.

Organizational conflict, is it always bad news?

Conflict in organizations doesn´tnecessarily has to create a negative climate and hostile attitudes, it can also be directed towards problem solving and organizational improvement. The key ingredient is to learn to manage conflict effectively and this implies that parties should understand the nature of conflict.

Models
Thomas Kilman conflict management modes
It helps people identiify which style they trend towards when conflict arises.(compromising, avoiding, collaborative...)

Force Field analysis
Technique that allows people to identify which factors may hinder and which factors may help them when attaining their objectives.


Model of Kurt Lewin (freeze-unfreeze model)
model that allows people to understand change in three simple steps: unfreezing, changing and freezing.

• Unfreezing: people become aware of their routines and decide they are ready to change.
• changing: Implementation
• Freezing: making change permanent, make it stick!

Model of Beer
This model focuses on how to enforce changed ways of thinking, attitudes and behaving.

Paths to managing change and learning

• Environmental
• Psycho-phylosophical
• Organizational

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a philosophy that invites its followers to open their mind and engage with local cultures understanding the different cultural codes. Nelson Mandela believed that humans should not lived in isolation but must always be interconnected with others.

Question for the blog...

Think of a change you would like to make in your life.

Using Lewin’s force field analysis for that change. How will you overcome the forces for the status quo? How will you make sure to “refreeze” following the change?

Summarize your analysis in an action plan.

My action plan

the change I want to introduce in my routine is : I want to start french classes.

Unfreeze Stage:  Realizing that I have to learn french in order to be able to graduate from international business in 2 years, Until now, I´ve been very busy receiving cooking lessons but it´s time to change the status quo.
Specific action: Look for french courses, separate time in my daily routine to receive
the classes.

Change: Studying the language, assisting to class with no interruption, watching movies in french, listening to french music.

Refreezing: always planning my schedule taking into account that some time must be reserved only for french classes

References
Major types of organizational change. Available at: http://managementhelp.org/misc/types-of-orgl-change.pdf

Force field analysis. Business Dictionary. Available at:http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/force-field-analysis.html

Sin Kit I. 2011. Organizational change making, Organization and cultures course, 2011, Universidad EAFIT.

Learn French. (Image). Available at: http://www.lyceum.com.au/lfrench.htm

Change. (Image).http://nittinsagar.blogspot.com/2011/01/hr-mentor-of-change-management.html

Communication and virtual teams

The Communication Model

http://www.suite101.com/view_image_articles.cfm/418479

One way and two way communication

A great example of one way communication are the authocratic environments in which leaders give orders but don´t want to receive any opinions from employees. Two way communication occurs when there is interaction between the communicator and the receiver, like in participative and consultative environments.

Nonverbal communication is any symbol, expression or body movement that help us to communicate without using words. Eduard T. Hall studied this in several countries and found out that there are countries in which explicit information is needed more than in others to get the message, He called this countries High context countries. Low context contries on the other hand, can perfectly understand with implicit information.

Basic types of non-verbal communication:

• Proxemics: the use of territorial space
• Kinesics: body language
• Facial and eye behavior
• Paralangue: variations in speech

Barriers to communication...

• status and gender differences
• language
• physical separation
• noise present in the room
• socio-psychological barriers
• tone of voice

Virtual teams

Are groups of geographically dispersed members with a common purpose or mission enabled by technology and information technology systems to work together and accomplished their  tasks.

.
http://www.timedoctor.com/blog/2011/01/15/strategies-for-managing-virtual-teams

Virtual teams have many advantages some of them are:

best employees may be located anywhere around the world, more flexibility, workers can increase technological knowledge, employees can work whenever they want to and they are not forced to do it during the traditional 8 hour routine,  there could be a shift from production to knowledge/service environments.

Critical Factors that virtual teams should have in order to succeed

• The existence of written rules, objectives, performance metrics
• There should be a leader with the capacity of defining the role of each member
• The leader should listen to the needs and suggestions of each member
• Reward systems should also exist
• Technical training
• A high trust collaborating culture

 Question for the blog...

According to Kuruppuarachchi (2009), what benefits and problems arise as a consequence of

the creation of virtual team? Identify five each.

Based on this, explain how to make the transition from a more traditional team structure to the more distributed team structure?

Some of the drawbacks identified by the author were: quality control is difficult, some members may not be psychologically fit to be in a virtual team, some members may not have the required skills, ineffective communication (since there are no face to face comunication opportunities), additional costs can arise for setting remote offices. The author also identified several benefits like: improved productivity, increased competitive advantage, improved customer service, flexible working hours for employees and potential for expanding labor force.

The transition from a traditional team to a virtual one should include many changes like:

employees will have to learn to accept new members without having face to face interactions, they will also have to accept more dynamic roles and changing tasks, they will also have to learn and adopt new technologies, leaders should be constantly monitoring and controlling results, they should be aware of the needs of members, mechanisms for project control and risk management should be stablished and finally accurate and detailed reports should be sent periodically to the central office.

References

Virtual teams. (PDF). Available at: http://managementhelp.org/grp_skll/virtual/defntion.pdf

Kuruppuarachchi, Palitha. (2009).Virtual team concepts in projects: A case study. Project management journal. P. 19-33

The communication model.  (Image)
http://www.suite101.com/view_image_articles.cfm/418479

Virtual teams. (Image).Available at: http://www.timedoctor.com/blog/2011/01/15/strategies-for-managing-virtual-teams



Religious implications

Can religion affect International Trade?

Even if the relationship between religion and international trade may be a complex one, religion influences international trade in several ways; mainly because religion is a determinant of culture and an institution that guides human behavior.So, when a religious culture encourages hard work and production, it is more possible that it will also encourage international trade.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/salesmachine/would-you-buy-from-an-atheist/303

Also because people that have similar religious beliefs with people from other countries, may create networks that facilitate economic transactions across borders, let´s remember when in history class we were taught how Islamic merchants were able to control commerce in the Mediterranean by forming trade networks there and in North Africa.

What is the function of religion?
Psychological needs


Religions help humans explain death
They are also helpful to relieve the anxieties about the unknown
They are very helful to ease the stress during personal life crisis


Social Needs:
Religions encourage a sense of unity
Religions reinforce group norms
They reinforce group identity


What are the main religions around the world? (ranked by number of followers)

1. Christianity: 2.1 billion
2. Islam: 1.5 billion
3. Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
4. Hinduism: 900 million
5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
6. Buddhism: 376 million

Question for the blog

What is the dominant religion in Colombia? What are the religious implications for doing business here? Give examples.

Catholicism is the primary main religion in the country, catholicism doesn´t prohibit wealth creation or private property, and it doesn´t have many implications in business. Anyway, managers should abstain from including in their products and promotional campaigns elements or phrases that could dishonor sacred symbols like the byble and the cross, mainly because catholic followers may feel offended.


References
The impact of religion on international trade. (2008). Available at: http://www.afrik-news.com/article13606.html

Sin Kit I. 2011. Religion and business, Organization and cultures course, 2011, Universidad EAFIT.

Main religions around the world ranked by number. Available at: http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

Religious symbols. Available at: http://www.bnet.com/blog/salesmachine/would-you-buy-from-an-atheist/303

Managing diversity

Teams are forms of work groups, but not all work groups are teams...

Groups and teams are not the same, a group refers to two or more people with common interests and continuing interaction, teams are a group of people commited to accomplish a certain goal or mission.

Effective groups that are functioning well have the following characteristics: the task of the group is undestood by everyone, members listen to one another and are not afraid or intimidated to express their ideas, decisions are usually based on consensus and whenever conflict appears, it is centered about ideas, not personalities.

Four important aspects of group behavior

• Norms of behavior, to evaluate the behavior of members
• Group Cohesion, which makes members stick together
• Social loafing
• Loss of individuality

Tuckman´s five stage model of group development

This model aims to explain how groups develop over time.

• Forming: ice breaking stage. Ex: identify players with skills to play football.
• Storming: Conflict may appear. Ex: players compare the ways they usually play the game and try to decide which way is the best
• Norming: clear roles of each member are stablished.
• Performing: play the game.
• Adjourning: the game is over.

Every team member has something unique to bring to the table, like different point of views, different skills; There are four styles of group member contribution: the contributor, the collaborator, the challenger and the communicator.

Diversity

http://silkychronicles.wordpress.com/

The term diversity often raises controversy and confusion, some people may think that diversity is limited to etnicity, race and gender but what they don´t know is that it also includes: age, physical abilities, marital status, sexual orientation, educational background, income, religious beliefs and work experience. (Loden and Rosener 1991, 18-19). I found a definition of diversity which I really liked: “otherness or those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the groups to which we belong, yet present in other individuals and groups.” (Loden, M., & Rosener, J. B.1991).

According to the company Ford, organizations that embrace the different points of view, ideas and opportunities that a diverse workforce offers, can obtain excellent benefits in terms of better performance of the company that translate into better profits, in fact embracing diversity is a key component of their strategic plan to become a leader. Other benefits that may be obtained when diversity is perceived as a value-added activity and not an obstacle, are: increased flexibility, innovative marketing strategies, and effective problem solving methods. On the other hand, diversity in the workplace may also bring some new challenges, training is more difficult, there has to be a lot of tolerance taught, but remember even if it may be difficult, it´s not impossible!

Some common misunderstandings based upon diversity are:

• Accents
• communication styles
• stereotypes
• Values and beliefs
• Regional jargon

Question for the blog...

Since diversity is a source of competitive advantage,what could be the recruitment strategies to effectively target to diverse groups? What would be the consequences of ignoring diversity?

A successful diversity recruitment strategy may include the following strategies: the benefits of working for the company should always be highlighted, Exhibiting different cultures within the organization will for sure positively affect the recruitment efforts, social networks could be a valuable tool (but it depends on the type of company), ensuring that diverse employees appear in videos, webpages and publicity of the company is another strategy that could be useful, also including a diversity mission statement in the webpage may increase the effectiveness of the recrutiment process. 

According to the book ´´international management and culture´´that we studied in class, ignoring diversity should only be considered when culture groups have different tasks and they are not sharing any resources.But when groups members are reciprocally integrated, ignoring diversity may cause deep-seated ambiguities to arise.

References

Nelson & Quick. (Power point presentation). Understanding organizational behavior. Retrieved from: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:m3lJcnM-P08J:ftp://ftp.cba.uri.edu/Classes/stlaurent/BUS%2520341/DSL%2520Version%2520PPTs/Chapter%25208%2520Teams.ppt+four+aspects+of+group+behavior&hl=es&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESibTM_4fmc3VpkyCwsm3xhksgTzFpm9NYVXMlvupDW1Bj6QgS62R1WygyhKeMpgJf9QKHud5i-R5l3sfGO018hsGNIqL0YAViM6rfHhXqtkBTujsECEmSs-aRCFD5gETi0ETQoq&sig=AHIEtbSMIv0wwucHM0jSJ_DCR0KaA-QLKw.  Accesed at: May 16,2011

Loden, M., & Rosener, J. B. Workforce America! Managing employee diversity as a vital resource. Homewood, Il.: Busines One Irwin.1991.Accesed at: May 16,2011

Workforce diversity. Ford motors. Available at: http://www.henryfordconnect.com/connect_body.cfm?id=117.Accesed at: May 16,2011

Recruiting tactics. Available at: http://www.boston.com/jobs/hr/hrexpert/articles/071408.shtml.Accesed at: May 16,2011

Mead, Richard. 2004. International management: Cross-cultural Dimensions. London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.

Diversity rose. (Image).http://silkychronicles.wordpress.com/

Migrant workers and expatriate assignments

let´s start with a simple exercise...

what do you think when you read the following paragraph, who am I speaking of: an expat or a migrant worker?
´´I have been living in a new country for two months now, adapting to this new culture has not been easy but I know that this experience will bring many positive results for the company and my career. My company is planning to open a production plant here next year and I´ll be encharged of hiring local workers. I´ve been asisting to a special training program in the mornings and enjoying this beautiful city during the nights´´

I guess most of you imagined an expatriate sent by the company in which he works to live in a new city, but none of you associated those lines with a migrant worker. But if both definitions are almost the same, what is the difference between an expatriate an a migrant worker?
I have found that the difference between them is kind of prejudicial, expatriates are described as professionals with skills that live in another country, while inmigrants are people that have moved to another country to work in crops or other labor intensive jobs.

Why do people move to another country?

• Quality of jobs, higher wages and job opportunities.($)
• wars
• political reasons
• natural disasters
• learn a new language

The creative class by Richard Florida
Class of workers whose job is to create new meaningful forms (Florida, Richard,2002).
In the following link you´ll be able to observe the author of the book explaining the impact of the creative class.

Managing expatriate assignments...

• Training programs that allow expats to adapt better to the new culture are essential
• Recognize their contributions to the firm
• Meticulous selection processes to choose which employees will likely succeed as expats

Question for the blog…

Explain how easy is it for Colombian companies to employ expatriates locally? Give examples.

According to the resolution 00000977 (april 1st 2009)  there are some requirements that colombian companies should follow to employ expatriates locally:

El código sustantivo del trabajo stablishes a certain proportion between local and foreigners employees that companies should always respect. If companies want to employ an expat they must fill in a form and send it to el director general de  la promocion del trabajo del ministerio de proteccion social.

In the form the company should specify the number of colombian workers, their position in the company and their respective wages, also the number of foreign workers with the same information.

Expatriates in the colombian laboral market should be highly qualified.

The employment of expatriates by Colombian companies is very relative depending on the capacity and knowledge of the employee and the task they would develop inside the company. But generally if in a company there is a task that could be completed by a Colombian employee for sure the company would prefer him instead of the expatriate employee because Colombian companies have difference awareness.

For example in the language institute Confucio, they usually employ expatriate teachers, instead of local ones, because with this they want to assure the quality of the service being offered. But in the moment that they found a Colombian teacher with the same skills the institute will inmediately employ him/her. That is the case of a close friend of mine, who was recently hired as the new monitor of the institute after demonstrating great listening and writing skills.  


References

Florida, R. (2002) The rise of the creative class. The Washington Monthly, 34(5), 15.

Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/213679959?accountid=45662

Resolucion 0000977 de 01-04.2009.  Retrieved from: http://www.actualicese.com/normatividad/2009/04/01/resolucion-000977-de-01-04-2009/

The economic impact of the creative class. (youtube video). Retrieved from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIytjqnLvK0

Mergers and acquisitions

let´s start with a short story ...

http://www.tecnofullchile.cl/component/content/article/40-tienda-virtual/105-cargadores-hp-compaq.html

On september 3, 2001 CEO Carly Fiorina announced HP´s decision to acquire Compaq in a stock transaction valued around $25 billion, soon after the announcement was made the stock prices of both companies, HP and Compaq fell significantly. The acquisition was criticized by a lot of analysts and experts who believed that merging those two companies would only create a bigger company with bigger problems. Even the son of one of the founders, Walter Hewlett was part of the opposition. The first three years the merger failed to realize its potential, but then after some changes were made and some strategies redirected, guess what?? the merger turned out to be a sensational combination!, the new HP has become a valuable profitable company with higher revenues, more market share and a superior stock price that many of its competitors envy. Three questions arise: why do some M&A fail? What are the benefits that they may bring? and what are the aspects that managers should take into account to improve the probabilities of success in a M&A process?

Differences between Mergers and acquisitions

Even if the terms are commonly used as synonyms, they are not the same... a merger happens when two companies agree to exist as a single company and the stock owners of both companies receive an  equivalent quantity of stock in the new company, this doesn´t happen in acquisitions.  When one company takes over another company (which ceases to exist) and stablishes itself as the new single owner.

Benefits of M&A?

• The can create cost reductions through economies of scale
• When firms want to enter in new markets
• Increased revenue or market share
• They may generate tax gains
• Resource and technology transfer
• IMPORTANT:they can increase value generation

Why do so many mergers fail?

• Poor strategic moves, such as: overpayment
• Unanticipated events like when a certain technology becomes obsolete suddenly
• Executives forget to have a realistic outlook of the integration process
• IMPORTANT: clashing corporate cultures

Managers, don´t forget to pay attention to the following factors!

• Appropiate objective planning, don´t fall in love with the idea of the merger, view reality as it is
• Recognize the strategic interdependency between the firms
• Acquire capabilities to manage cultural differences
• create methods to evaluate the success of the process: like performance metrics 
• Learn to handle the negative perceptions that employees may have of the other company
• Be sure to promote an environment in which communication is not hampered

Managers, one last thing!....

Keep customers informed about the merger,  they should be viewed as the most important stakeholder and deserve the appropiate treatment...

There were two tech firms that decided to merge in Silicon Valley, soon after the merger was announced, IBM which was a customer of both firms, simply decided to never do business with them again, because they felt that they deserved to be informed of the change before making the announcement.

Question for the blog…

According to the case studies what are the practical steps to minimize the feelings of uncertainty normally expected by employees, and also to facilitate the learning process to occur between the two groups of people in their process of cultural and behavioral integration?

·         The creation of an integration team

·         The determination of top managers to lead the new entity into the future helps to minimize the feelings of uncertainty of employees about the future

·          It´s not about asking: what is the ideal fit?, the fundamental question is: are we disposed and willing to fit?

·         Differences and similarities in values, beliefs and management styles between the companies should be identified BEFORE completing the deal.

·         The establishment of common goals may serve to reinforce integration

·         Understanding and setting integration strategies to facilitate the acculturation process.

References

Why do so many mergers fail (2005). knowledge@Wharton.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articlepdf/1137.pdf?CFID=39130196&CFTOKEN=45385092&jsessionid=a830b2842a4268858fcc316855372f3a2a24

Alzira Salama, Wayne Holland, Gerald Vinten, (2003) "Challenges and opportunities in mergers and acquisitions: three international case studies – Deutsche Bank-Bankers Trust; British Petroleum-Amoco; Ford-Volvo", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 27 Iss: 6, pp.313 - 321

Hp logo. (Image). Available at: http://www.tecnofullchile.cl/component/content/article/40-tienda-virtual/105-cargadores-hp-compaq.html

Learning organizations...are they only a new management trend?

CLASSICAL THEORIES OF LEARNING
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING (IVAN PAVLOV) What do you do when you hear a bell ring? Learning process in which a condition stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus. Doesn´t work in all circumstances, but it has been useful for the treatment of phobias in humans and pets.	OPERANT CONDITIONING (B.F SKINNER) Behavior is modified due to the association of the behavior with a positive or negative consequence.
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY (BANDURA)	THE IMPORTANCE OF GOALS SETTING
Learning that emphasizes the importance of the social context and observational learning. very relevant to criminology, since Bandura stablished that criminals learn to be aggresive by observing others, they don´t inherit violent tendencies. (Bandura, 1976)	Goal setting marks the difference between people who eventually get what they have always wanted and those that will ever crave for their dreams… By establishing the desired results, behavior can be directed towards them more efficiently and with less confusion.

Learning organizations

Learning organizations are those organizations that promote the exchange of information among its members creating a more knowledgeable labor force. This results in an organization with flexible procedures and structures in which people have the ability of adapting to new circumstances easily and embracing new ideas quickly.

It is not only a concept or a trend used by MNC´s, it  becomes essential If companies want to conduct their businesses successfully in the turbulent waters of change and uncertainty in which we are living today.

Why learning organizations?

ü  Allows the members to adapt to new technologies (less rigidity, more openness)

ü  Better adaptive response in times of crisis

ü  Better open communication

ü  Social interaction among members can be improved

ü  To get through with mental models which can be harmful

ü  IMPORTANT: to create and sustain competitive advantages

How does organizational learning works?

*According to Peter Senge in the famous book ´´the fifth discipline:the art & practice of the learning organization´´ it works like this:

1. Personal mastery: clarifying personal vision and observing reality as it is.
2. Shared vision: ´´the capacity to hold a shared picture of the future we seek to create´´(Senge, 1990)
3.  Mental Models: generalizations that influence how people act.
4. Team learning: aligning the capacities of the team to obtained the desired results.
5. Systems thinking: Discipline that integrates the theory and the practice

Question for the blog…

What is the relationship between organizational learning and individual satisfaction?

Organizational learning has a positive effect on individual job satisfaction, this type of organization encourages its members to learn, improve their skills, and participate in the decision making process; so when employees feel that they have an important role in the organization (they are not only pawns in a game) they will be encouraged to give more than they were asked to. Learning organizations appreciate and recognize the contributions and work of its members and this is essential for employees to feel happy about their jobs. As communications barriers are lowered, workers can be more aware of everything going on in other areas and departments, and this creates a sense of coherence across units of the company which also reinforces the belief of workers of being a vital part of the system.

References

Graham C. L. Davey. Classical conditioning and the acquisition of human fears and phobias. Advances in behavior research and therapy. Volume 14, issue 1, 1992, pages 29-66. Retrieved from: Science direct.

Bandura, A., & Ribes-Inesta, Emilio. (1976). Analysis of Delinquency and Aggression. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, INC: New Jersey. P 204

Peter Senge and the learning organization. (Online). Available at: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/senge.htm. Accesed: May 16, 2011

learning organizations: why learning organizations work.(Online). Available at: http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/MENG/MEAB/learning_organisation/why_learning.html. Accesed: May 16, 2011.

Learn-lead (Image). Available at: http://www.thesocialleader.com/2010/09/learning-organizations-competition-peter-senge/