Essay Examples - Human Rights Essays
Management Tool to Define Culture:
Social Science theories seem to provide some insightful theories to define culture. The theory of Weber provides some important insights to society and culture therefore there needs to be a tool that maximizes the good of each and minimizes the bad.
Weber also stresses the importance of inequality within the social structure for the workers. Therefore Weber's theory is more than the interaction between the managment and the working class. Weber's theory has four parts of society which are; traditional and cultural history and rules; affectual - emotional shaping influences of society; wertrational - value orientated rationality; zweckrational - goal orientated rationality.
Therefore the focus of Weber's theory is that society and management can be determined by these four spheres of social classification. The key notion that Weber developed in order to balance out the inherent inequalities is that of the rationalizing of society and law; hence if the values of the society and the goal's of the individual can be rationalized and de-mystified then equality and justice can be instituted to achieve the best system for the society and the individual to obtain these goals. Weber sees it as an important factor that has shaped society and important to understanding the development of societal structure and management. Therefore the individual is the key, where rationalization is the key.
Therefore rational management of individuals is important, to limit the emotions and interests of the dominant oligarchy in respect to the rights and goal of society, as a whole, and the individual in order to create a limited justice within a society of domination. This in its nature is exploitative as the rational use of the management's power to ensure maximized productivity is the key role of the methodology of Weber.
However there are problems because the concerns of individuals are not important therefore the Blake and Mouton Grid needs to be adapted for cultural control, i.e. the needs of the culture as a whole should replace the concerns of productivity and the needs of the individual replaces the personal concern of workers. Therefore the maximization of these needs would be 9,9 where the leaders of state protect the culture and laws of society but there is some form of rights protection which cannot be derogated against, i.e. the role of law allows for individuals to participate in the government and enforce their rights in the court.
This is a socialist-democratic society where the needs of the society and the needs of the individual without self-interest are met, i.e. a more holistic model. 9,1 would be a laissez faire system where the state has now societal/cultural control and libertarianism runs rampant at the expense of the society and culture. 1,9 would be a totalitarian system where the society is ruled by culture as defined by a few - this could also be a theocratic system such as the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Therefore adapting this Blake and Mouton grid is a very important tool. 1,1 is a culture and culture where there is no strong associations, i.e. a loose working of people to survive and the leaders are the most satisfied, which is much the same as many underdeveloped countries where there is the very rich and very poor and no social conscience to equal out the deficiencies. 5,5 is the role of balancing culture and individuality but there is a conflict between the two rather than the working of the two in the 9,9 model. Also the leaders in this model look for self-satisfaction, in truth the liberal democracy would satisfy this 5,5 category.
George W. Bush - An Application of the Blake and Mouton Grid:
On the grid above George W. Bush lies in the Authority-Compliance Management area, but also in what is called the 9 + 9 approach which is the Paternalistic father knows best Management where compliance is rewarded but non-compliance is punished. This means that if the individual/organization/state does not comply with the policy then punishment occurs; however if it does comply it is greatly rewarded, i.e. performance is the ultimate goal and if one performs then the concern is high, but if performance is low then concern is low.
The two models are closely tied because it the question of authority and compliance that is the key. In recent years this paternalistic model has been illustrated in the incursions ordered by George W. Bush into foreign states. This is especially so in respect to the creation of the pre-emptive self defence policy by Bush. The Bush Doctrine or doctrine of pre-emptive war has caused a lot of controversy; because in the eyes of many it is an excuse for the US to go to war with any party that does not fall in line with their conception of world and international relations:
This is a potentially very dangerous situation in which this country might be swept into a very messy and long-lasting Middle East war. You don't have a licence to attack somebody else's country just because you don't like the leadership.
This means that if a state does not comply with the whims of Bush then he will punish that state, even though the international consensus was not warfare. Yet the UN Security Council denied any need to enter Iraq as the proof was not sufficient and the populace of the UK was primarily against the war in Iraq, therefore with the aid of the US another method apart from the support of the UN for entry into Iraq was necessary. The US and British governments in their run-up to the recent war on Iraq came up with many types of semantics in order to justify their war on Iraq, starting from Security Council authorization stemming back to 1990 to the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive warfare in self-defence .
The first line of argument was quashed by the refusal of the Security Council to authorize warfare in Iraq and followed by Iraq's compliance with weapon inspectors. Therefore another angle was taken by the US and the UK to authorize the recent Iraq law, which has concluded in the formulation of the Bush Doctrine that was based on outdated international law that allowed pre-emptive strikes in respect to self-defence. Therefore this indicates the importance of the legal and public relations advisors in the Home Office, Cabinet, Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Defence, i.e. releasing just enough legal, propaganda and the edited facts to gain support in order to legitimize entry into Iraq.
However after entry into Iraq and the inability to recover weapons of mass destruction or actual links to Al-Queda the media propaganda turned against the UK; whereby no justification was borne out and public calls for inquiries into the acts of the media and the government were required. In short Bush supports and awards those who comply, such as the UK but if there is non-compliance then there is punishment. Iraq is an example of this; however there is also Canada because it refused to enter Iraq and trade sanctions have been levied against the country:
Mr Bush's first official trip to Canada is being interpreted as a sign the US is keen to mend fences with countries, like Canada, that opposed the Iraq warThere have also been disagreements on trade issues between the two countriesThe dialogue between the two nations became particularly strained under Mr Martin's predecessor, Jean Chretien, when he decided against sending troops to Iraq.
Theories of Motivation & the Workplace:
The workplace situation that will be used in all three workplace tasks is the lack of staff retention in a collections call centre of a major financial institution, because there is lack knowledge and understanding of new compliance laws in a high-stress career; as well as the lack of a definite operations manager for a brand new pilot team. This job pays average-high on the non-professional scale, i.e. around 15,000 barely meeting the physiological needs of the individual.
The traditional X theory was formulated by Freud which argues that workers will not work unless there is constant policing therefore in this situation the motivator would be the need for a definite manager, otherwise the team will be lazy and unmotivated. For the business this is bad for reputation and will call loss of staff and even lower morale. Reputation is the key to the financial markets and organizations and without proper adherence to ensuring that reputation is protected then the risks that the financial organization is open to great.
Although the problems that our company faces are not so grave there are lessons to be learned about the essential nature of reputation; therefore if the lack of an Operations Director effects the company's reputation serious actions have to be taken. The policy that has been recently introduced will be affected from the lack of operations supervision and therefore the possible negative effects have been exacerbated. Therefore according to Theory X is that the main action that needs to be taken is the implementation of an Operations Director.
Theory Y, which is Douglas McGregor's approach, argues that staff wants to learn and achieve highly at their job; therefore the best form of motivation is to direct this passion into results, i.e. if there is no direction this slackens motivation because there is no results. This means that if the staff wants to work in the above situation the educational needs of the situation need to be satisfied, there is need for a direct manager and a direct set of policies and goals. The new policy has to be efficiently implemented without causing loss for existing customers, i.e. the administration of the company has to be efficiently monitored and goals for customer service need to be implemented.
Also the staff need to be educated on the policy and reassured; as well as schemes to raise morale. At the same time the qualifications of the staff need to be monitored to ensure that all FSA standards are met, especially in an atmosphere of high turnover. Also staff retention has to be closely monitored because staff changing hands all the time will slow down the efficiency of organization's efficiency. There will be conflicts from implementing these measures, first of all in the organizational hierarchy because the lower management has been able to create their own rules, which a new Operations Director will challenge.
Theory Z, which Maslow's hierarchy of needs which argues that there needs to be a system of satisfaction and needs because this is how individual's rate importance. These needs are; physiological (low); safety; love; esteem; and self-actualization (high). How this works is that the low needs need to be satisfied before the higher needs. Therefore in a job that barely meets physiological needs the best form of motivation are bonuses and awards because this satisfies these basic need in order to ensure higher needs are met. Safety needs must be fulfilled by the company but by satisfying these lower needs it allows for the employee to feel motivated to achieve higher needs. In order to do this there needs to be a feeling of job security, which cannot be happening when there is a lack of direction; therefore the following actions need to be taken to increase motivation for the employees:
- The employment of a new Operations Director
- An audit of the customer operations policies and the introduction of an efficient customer administration system and education of the staff
- For all staff that meet required standards a staff retention bonus system and a productivity bonus scheme.
Individual Behaviour & the Workplace:
The most important individual in the workplace is the manager and if the manager in the above situation was present but ineffectual, i.e. cannot promote efficiency and motivation, because the manager has no confidence then it reduces staff morale. This is because in effect there is no manager, which promotes bullying and discrimination in the workplace, as well as job dissatisfaction and the low staff retention. It also opens the company up to liability, especially in a highly regulated industry to liability because corners will be cut by staff due to the lack of control and accountability. The main problem with compliance is in relation to lack of organization without the effective control by a manager.
This is because without a sufficiently responsible and liable individual corners will be cut. In other words this individual's behaviour is putting the company to a detriment and puts the company in a difficult position if laws are breached because it owes a duty of care to customers and shareholders and if his actions open up the company and himself to civil and criminal actions; therefore an appropriate individual with the correct skills and personality needs to be employed ensuring accountability and efficiency into the organization.
Tuckman's Theory & the Workplace:
Tuckman's model explains that as the team develops maturity and ability, relationships establish, and the leader changes leadership style. Beginning with a directing style, moving through coaching, then participating, finishing delegating and almost detached. At this point the team may produce a successor leader and the previous leader can move on to develop a new team. This progression of team behaviour and leadership style can be seen clearly in the Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum - the authority and freedom extended by the leader to the team increases while the control of the leader reduces.
This is a theory of teambuilding which begins by setting up the team under strict direction; therefore in the pilot team as discussed the avenue taken by the workplace was incorrect because at the initial stage there needs to be intensive direction. This will create the basic role in the workplace and ensures that minimum standards are met; however this does not increase motivation and productivity. In order to do this each individual needs to be developed therefore the team is coached to take steps in development by forming relationships and bringing the team closer together. Then decision making slowly starts to involve the team rather than direction, this is done through participatory sessions such as brain storming.
This will start illustrating strengths and weaknesses in the team therefore allowing for the team to delegate managerial tasks amongst them in accordance to their skills. The manager allows the team with less and less input to perform its tasks and once it is working without any direction the manager can adjourn and leave the team as a cohesive working unit. It is at this point that if the manager was missing it would not harm the productivity and motivation of the team, i.e. it is more important for a new team to have a manager than an older cohesive team.
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Management Theories & My Future Career:
Taylorism and the Human Relations Movement are both examples of management exploiting the workers to maximize the work output for the minimum cost. They do this in a different manner, i.e. Taylorism follows a scientific method; whereas the Human Relations Movement follows a socialist method. This discussion will illustrate that although they have different methods there is the same end where the work force are exploited, therefore my future career as a higher education lecturer has to make sure that traditional approaches should not be take. Rather there needs to be a consideration of the Blake and Mouton model. The best model is team management with smaller seminars, where students have input into the structure of the classroom.
This would include emphasis on teambuilding as a motivator, as well as goal and time orientation. In the larger classroom this is not possible therefore Middle of the Road Management would be the best approach balancing the needs of personal concern and productivity. Yet there still needs to be small seminars such as tutorials to ensure that team management and team building elements are included; otherwise it leaves the student thinking that work is a chore and do not see the future and benefits. If one treats leadership and management as a maximization of productivity at the cost of the worker (in this case student) it takes all the motivation and dedication out of the worker as the problems with Taylorism illustrates:
The processes of the division of labour fundamentally altered the culture of work, especially the prior control which skilled craftsmen exerted over the operation of their trades. The factory processes introduced new characteristics into work which effectively led to a redefinition of the meaning and ownership of 'skill'. Firstly, the production process was broken down into simplified and routinized operations. Each operation was standardized to eliminate delays or 'idle' gaps in work. Thirdly, rational factory production involved a separation of conception from execution--the skilled areas of design and the planning of the work was now a management prerogative.
This treatment and mechanization of the workforce may in the short term seem the best way to increase productivity at the minimum price. This is very much the rational approach to human interaction and the increasing of productivity, management and governance of individuals. If there is no objectivity then there can be no maximization of work productivity at the minimum cost. There needs to be respect for individuality and the treatment as an individual with basic rights, not a rational machine or a cog in society that creates a productive and satisfied workforce as both are necessary to ensure the productivity of workers, without the resentment of exploitation. In a student/teacher relationship this would be a travesty as the student is there to learn and develop and to take this passion and make it into and objective machine would hinder the development and passions of academia.
Bibliography:
Bush & Leadership:
BBC News, 2004, Bush Patches up Canada Relations, BBC News Online December 1st 2004 can be found at: Rai, 2002,143-150
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