Concepts of Leadership

I used to think that running an organization was equivalent to conducting a symphony orchestra. But I don't think that's quite it; it's more like jazz. There is more improvisation. Warren Bennis Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience (Jago, 1982). This guide will help you through that process. To inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are NOT resting on their laurels.

Definition of Leadership
The meaning of a message is the change which it produces in the image. Kenneth Boulding in The Image: Knowledge in Life and Society Before we get started, lets define leadership. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. This definition is similar to Northouse's (2007, p3) definition Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership knowledge and skills. This is called Process Leadership (Jago, 1982). However, we know that we have traits that can influence our actions. This is called Trait Leadership (Jago, 1982), in that it was once common to believe that leaders were born rather than made. These two leadership types are shown in the chart below (Northouse, 2007, p5):

While leadership is learned, the skills and knowledge processed by the leader can be influenced by his or hers attributes or traits, such as beliefs, values, ethics, and character. Knowledge and skills contribute directly to the process of leadership, while the other attributes give the leader certain characteristics that make him or her unique. Skills, knowledge, and attributes make the Leader, which is one of the:

Four Factors of Leadership

There are four major factors in leadership (U.S. Army, 1983):

Leader
You must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what you can do. Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader or someone else who determines if the leader is successful. If they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed.

Followers
Different people require different styles of leadership. For example, a new hire requires more supervision than an experienced employee. A person who lacks motivation requires a different approach than one with a high degree of motivation. You must know your people! The fundamental starting point is having a good understanding of human

nature, such as needs, emotions, and motivation. You must come to know your employees' be, know, and do attributes.

Communication
You lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, when you set the example, that communicates to your people that you would not ask them to perform anything that you would not be willing to do. What and how you communicate either builds or harms the relationship between you and your employees.

Situation
All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another. You must use your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective. Also note that the situation normally has a greater effect on a leader's action than his or her traits. This is because while traits may have an impressive stability over a period of time, they have little consistency across situations (Mischel, 1968). This is why a number of leadership scholars think the Process Theory of Leadership is a more accurate than the Trait Theory of Leadership. Various forces will affect these four factors. Examples of forces are your relationship with your seniors, the skill of your followers, the informal leaders within your organization, and how your organization is organized.

Boss or Leader?
Although your position as a manager, supervisor, lead, etc. gives you the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives in the organization (called Assigned Leadership), this power does not make you a leader, it simply makes you theboss (Rowe, 2007). Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to achieve high goals (called Emergent Leadership), rather than simply bossing people around (Rowe, 2007). Thus you get Assigned Leadership by your position and you display Emergent Leadership by influencing people to do great things.

Bass' Theory of Leadership

Bass' theory of leadership states that there are three basic ways to explain how people become leaders (Stogdill, 1989; Bass, 1990). The first two explain the leadership development for a small number of people. These theories are:
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Some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles. This is the Trait Theory. A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person. This is the Great Events Theory. People can choose to become leaders. People can learn leadership skills. This is the Transformational or Process Leadership Theory. It is the most widely accepted theory today and the premise on which this guide is based.

Total Leadership

What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by those they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the future. When a person is deciding if she respects you as a leader, she does not think about your attributes, rather, she observes what you do so that she can know who you really are. She uses this observation to tell if you are an honorable and trusted leader or a self-serving person who misuses authority to look good and get promoted. Selfserving leaders are not as effective because their employees only obey them, not follow them. They succeed in many areas because they present a good image to their seniors at the expense of their workers. Be Know Do

The basis of good leadership is honorable character and selfless service to your organization. In your employees' eyes, your leadership is everything you do that effects the organization's objectives and their well-being. Respected leaders concentrate on (U.S. Army, 1983):
o o o

what they are [be] (such as beliefs and character) what they know (such as job, tasks, and human nature) what they do (such as implementing, motivating, and providing direction).

What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by those they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the future.

The Two Most Important Keys to Effective Leadership

According to a study by the Hay Group, a global management consultancy, there are 75 key components of employee satisfaction (Lamb, McKee, 2004). They found that:
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Trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organization. Effective communication by leadership in three critical areas was the key to winning organizational trust and confidence:

1. Helping employees understand the company's overall business strategy. 2. Helping employees understand how they contribute to achieving key business objectives. 3. Sharing information with employees on both how the company is doing and how an employee's own division is doing relative to strategic business objectives.

So in a nutshell you must be trustworthy and you have to be able to communicate a vision of where the organization needs to go. The next section, Principles of Leadership, ties in closely with this key concept.

Principles of Leadership
To help you be, know, and do, follow these eleven principles of leadership (U.S. Army, 1983). The later chapters in thisLeadership guide expand on these principles and provide tools for implementing them:
1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement - In order to know yourself, you have to understand your be, know, and do, attributes. Seeking selfimprovement means continually strengthening your attributes. This can be accomplished through self-study, formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others. 2. Be technically proficient - As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees' tasks. 3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions - Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they always do sooner or later do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the next challenge. 4. Make sound and timely decisions - Use good problem solving, decision making, and planning tools. 5. Set the example - Be a good role model for your employees. They must not only hear what they are expected to do, but also see. We must become the change we want to see - Mahatma Gandhi 6. Know your people and look out for their well-being - Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers. 7. Keep your workers informed - Know how to communicate with not only them, but also seniors and other key people.

8. Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers - Help to develop good character traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities. 9. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished Communication is the key to this responsibility. 10.Train as a team - Although many so called leaders call their organization, department, section, etc. a team; they are not really teams...they are just a group of people doing their jobs. 11.Use the full capabilities of your organization - By developing a team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its fullest capabilities.

Attributes of Leadership
If you are a leader who can be trusted, then those around you will grow to respect you. To be such a leader, there is aLeadership Framework to guide you:

BE KNOW DO
BE a professional. Examples: Be loyal to the organization, perform selfless service, take personal responsibility. BE a professional who possess good character traits. Examples: Honesty, competence, candor, commitment, integrity, courage, straightforwardness, imagination. KNOW the four factors of leadership follower, leader, communication, situation. KNOW yourself. Examples: strengths and weakness of your character, knowledge, and skills. KNOW human nature. Examples: Human needs, emotions, and how people respond to stress. KNOW your job. Examples: be proficient and be able to train others in their tasks. KNOW your organization. Examples: where to go for help, its climate and culture, who the unofficial leaders are.

DO provide direction. Examples: goal setting, problem solving, decision making, planning. DO implement. Examples: communicating, coordinating, supervising, evaluating. DO motivate. Examples: develop morale and esprit de corps in the organization, train, coach, counsel.

Environment
Every organization has a particular work environment, which dictates to a considerable degree how its leaders respond to problems and opportunities. This is brought about by its heritage of past leaders and its present leaders. Goals, Values, and Concepts Leaders exert influence on the environment via three types of actions:
1. The goals and performance standards they establish. 2. The values they establish for the organization. 3. The business and people concepts they establish.

Successful organizations have leaders who set high standards and goals across the entire spectrum, such as strategies, market leadership, plans, meetings and presentations, productivity, quality, and reliability. Values reflect the concern the organization has for its employees, customers, investors, vendors, and surrounding community. These values define the manner in how business will be conducted. Concepts define what products or services the organization will offer and the methods and processes for conducting business. These goals, values, and concepts make up the organization's personality or how the organization is observed by both outsiders and insiders. This personality defines the roles, relationships, rewards, and rites that take place.

Roles and Relationships

Roles are the positions that are defined by a set of expectations about behavior of any job incumbent. Each role has a set of tasks and responsibilities that may or may not be spelled out. Roles have a powerful effect on behavior for several reasons, to include money being paid for the performance of the role, there is prestige attached to a role, and a sense of accomplishment or challenge. Relationships are determined by a role's tasks. While some tasks are performed alone, most are carried out in relationship with others. The tasks will determine who the roleholder is required to interact with, how often, and towards what end. Also, normally the greater the interaction, the greater the liking. This in turn leads to more frequent interaction. In human behavior, its hard to like someone whom we have no contact with, and we tend to seek out those we like. People tend to do what they are rewarded for, and friendship is a powerful reward. Many tasks and behaviors that are associated with a role are brought about by these relationships. That is, new task and behaviors are expected of the present role-holder because a strong relationship was developed in the past, either by that role-holder or a prior role-holder.

Culture and Climate

There are two distinct forces that dictate how to act within an organization: culture and climate. Each organization has its own distinctive culture. It is a combination of the founders, past leadership, current leadership, crises, events, history, and size (Newstrom, Davis, 1993). This results in rites: the routines, rituals, and the way we do things. These rites impact individual behavior on what it takes to be in good standing (the norm) and directs the appropriate behavior for each circumstance. The climate is the feel of the organization, the individual and shared perceptions and attitudes of the organization's members (Ivancevich, Konopaske, Matteson, 2007). While the culture is the deeply rooted nature of the organization that is a result of longheld formal and informal systems, rules, traditions, and customs; climate is a short-term phenomenon created by the current leadership. Climate represents the beliefs about the feel of the organization by its members. This individual perception of the feel of the organization comes from what the people believe about the activities that occur in the organization. These activities influence both individual and team motivation and satisfaction, such as:
o

How well does the leader clarify the priorities and goals of the organization? What is expected of us?

o o o o

What is the system of recognition, rewards, and punishments in the organization? How competent are the leaders? Are leaders free to make decisions? What will happen if I make a mistake?

Organizational climate is directly related to the leadership and management style of the leader, based on the values, attributes, skills, and actions, as well as the priorities of the leader. Compare this to ethical climate the feel of the organization about the activities that have ethical content or those aspects of the work environment that constitute ethical behavior. The ethical climate is the feel about whether we do things right; or the feel of whether we behave the way we ought to behave. The behavior (character) of the leader is the most important factor that impacts the climate. On the other hand, culture is a long-term, complex phenomenon. Culture represents the shared expectations and self-image of the organization. The mature values that create tradition or the way we do things here. Things are done differently in every organization. The collective vision and common folklore that define the institution are a reflection of culture. Individual leaders, cannot easily create or change culture because culture is a part of the organization. Culture influences the characteristics of the climate by its effect on the actions and thought processes of the leader. But, everything you do as a leader will affect the climate of the organization. For information on culture, see Long-Term Short-Term Orientation

The Process of Great Leadership

The road to great leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 1987) that is common to successful leaders:
o o o o

Challenge the process - First, find a process that you believe needs to be improved the most. Inspire a shared vision - Next, share your vision in words that can be understood by your followers. Enable others to act - Give them the tools and methods to solve the problem. Model the way - When the process gets tough, get your hands dirty. A boss tells others what to do, a leader shows that it can be done.

Encourage the heart - Share the glory with your followers' hearts, while keeping the pains within your own.

Next Steps

Benefits and Problems of a Diverse Workplace 87

rate or flag
By Mr.Gadget

The world is becoming smaller every day. The Internet, mass media, telecommunications and mass transportation have all contributed to the shrinking of international market. Because of these technologies, there is a

continuing necessity for companies to address the needs of a very diverse market so that they can be competitive. Companies must now ask themselves what they can do to increase the number of customers for which they serve while determining the needs of these customers. This business process makes diversity a crucial part of a companys growth and operation. As companies are becoming more and more diverse its becoming more and more important for companies to understand and manage it. The people of different background, races, religion creates diverse workforce. There is an importance of having diverse workforce to provide better performance. There are perspectives of managing the diverse workforce, which require organization leaders and managers of being responsible of attaining better diverse workforce.

Diversity in Workplace Diversity means differences, difference of age, sex, race, religion and culture etc. People with different demographic differences working in the organization makes diverse workforce. And it is becoming more important for the organizations to know about these differences and how to manage it. Diversity is also the common issue in the workforce environment, in some companies employees often get discriminated or misunderstood because of the diverse features. (Sacco, Joshua, Schmitt, Neal, 2005) Diversity is increasing everyday in everyday in every organization; In America 1 in 4 Americans belongs to a minority or is foreign-born. Women, who currently make up less than half the work force, are expected to fill 65 percent of the jobs created during this decade. Whether you are a business owner, executive, salesperson or customer- service professional, and your success will increasingly depend on your ability to function in a culturally diverse marketplace. Over the next decade, companies realize that they must have a diverse workforce and that each member of that workforce must truly embrace principles of diversity to realize the longevity, growth, and increased profits (Outtz, James L, 2004). Women, people of color, and immigrants will soon hold almost three- quarters of all jobs in this country

Diversity in the workplace is a topic that many industries and organizations spend an abundant amount of time and training on in order to ensure its presence. Todays workplace is more diverse than it has ever been in history. While the workforce has made strides in the direction of equality, it is still far from attaining total equality in the workplace. A company must value diversity. The main objectives of valuing diversity include awareness, education, and positive recognition of the differences among people in the workforce. Organizations are increasingly emphasizing group work or teamwork as a source of competitive advantage in a diverse workforce. It has been suggested that such organizations must target their recruitment efforts at applicants who are both diverse and amenable to working in teams (Rau, Hyland 2003). A cultural environment must allow differences to be celebrated instead of merely tolerated. All employees must understand the competitive and moral advantages of diversity. They must respect and support cultural diversity through the recognition of cultural and religious holidays, observances, practices, and diet restrictions. We are not where we once were, but we are not yet where we should be (Outtz, James L, 2004). In an ideal world, every person is treated equally when it comes to receiving a job, advancing in their career, and being treated fairly in the workplace. In reality, we know this is not the case. Unfortunately our reality is unfair treatment in regards to an individuals gender, race, culture, ethnic origin and lifestyle. These discriminations still exist in salary decisions, hiring, firing, and promotions. In order to effectively manage diversity, and recognize it as a source of strength and not one of conflict, one would need to be educated and reprogrammed to accept and embrace diversity. Society as a whole is programmed to embrace sameness and frown upon assortment. Managers and the powers that be must be taught to appreciate and draw on differences because unfortunately it does not come naturally for most people. Americas past should teach Americas today that success lies within diversity. In order to achieve ultimate success, diversity is a necessity. Workforce diversity is a fact of organizational life. It is also a key concern for theory and practice in organizational behavior (vanKnippenberg, De-Dreu, Homan, 2004).

Diversity is important to companies because with a diverse environment people can benefit and learn from others ideas. Other reasons for the importance of diversity to many organizations are the recognition of differences as prerequisites for high performance and continuous improvement, enhancing the effectiveness and creativity of the organization, and valuing conflicts as opportunities for more effective decision-making and problem solving (Outtz, James L, 2004). Diversity has a major impact on our behaviors in the work place. Many organizations are placing primary emphasis on people who fit their cultures when hiring. The reasoning is that if the people have the right attitude, they will more than likely understand and adapt to the goals and expectations of the organization. The necessary skills can be taught. That is a lot easier than hiring people with the right skills but wrong attitude probably cannot be changed. Many organizations have determined what it takes to succeed in their companies. There is an underlying problem that is promoting racism. It is the fact that a lot of people believe, and try to make they believe, that racism no longer exists. Many people today live their lives oblivious to what is happening in the world around them, often trying to convince themselves that racism is not a problem in their world. (Grano, J. J, (1999) Diversity calls for the recognition of the contributions that individuals can make as individuals, not just as members of legislatively designated groups. Diversity requires the management of organizations to be very inclusive, not just tolerating those who are different but also celebrating those differences. It calls for the opening of non-traditional occupations to men and women of all creeds, colors, religions, races and social groupings and for making reasonable accommodations the workplace and work life for this to happen. Diversity calls for diversity beyond just gender, race, or physical and intellectual abilities to include diversity in opinions, sexual preferences, social customs and mores, and other aspects of the variations in lives and lifestyles. There is a compelling generic business case for achieving and managing diversity in the workplace. Diversity can help organizations: identify and capitalize on opportunities.

Diversity programs are considered to be good investments whose returns have been very beneficial to organization. Successful professionals are learning to demonstrate the contribution of diversity programs to the business on macro and micro levels. We have to remember that having a diversified workforce is not something a company should have; actually it is some thing that has happened or is soon going to happen due to the fact that we have a more diversified population. Diversity in the workplace is becoming more and more prevalent. Corporations in all industries are encouraging minorities, women, elderly workers, and people with disabilities as well as foreign workers to join the dominant workforce in the workplace. Diversity of the workforce is clearly here to stay. Business owners and managers, experts say, will still need to maintain or step up efforts to recruit and advance ethnic minorities each year. Essentially, because having a diverse work force a gives the company a lot more advantages to their competitors. People of different ethnic backgrounds possess different attitudes and values. Cultural differences determine the observed differences in work attitudes. An organizations culture determines the ability of members from other groups to perform within the organization. Individuals from minority groups face challenges everyday dealing with prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping. Prejudice is defined as an adverse opinion or judgment formed beforehand or without full knowledge or complete examination of the facts; a preconceived idea or bias (Sacco, Joshua, Schmitt, Neal, 2005). Discrimination can include bias towards a person based on their group identity. Minority group size may determine the level of determination. In fact, a recent survey found that nearly half of Black job seekers indicated that the racial composition of the prospective workforce is a factor in their decision making process. (Grano, J. J, 1999) Workforce diversity is a necessity for clarity and efficiency of all organizations. In order to make this work, strategies must be put into place to make the each organization become a multicultural, diverse workplace. This process begins with managers but must include assistance from employees within the corporation.

In todays global market, diversity is a must. Traditional barriers are being broken down, and for many companies cross border trade is essential for the companys success and growth. A decade ago Japan, Europe and North America were responsible for over 80% of global commerce, but new markets are opening up throughout the world and these have brought increased opportunity and also competition. In addition, rapid developments in technology such as the Internet have made new markets accessible to even the smallest of companies. The growing markets of Latin America, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe are now playing an ever more important role in global buying, selling and manufacturing. Diversity within a company can help the firm better understand the culture, customs, and the way of doing business internationally. Customers also prefer to do business with a workforce that which they can identify, and that have a strong commitment to their community. A company is also encouraged to adopt diversity programs to stay out of legal trouble. Many companies are under legislative mandates to be nondiscriminatory in their employment practices. Non-compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity or Affirmative Action legislation can result in fines and/or loss of contracts with government agencies (Diversity Guidelines). In the context of such legislation, it makes good business sense to make use of a diverse workforce. In 1996, Texaco agreed to allocate $35 million for a task force to implement changes in their human resources programs after being sued for racial discrimination. The plan included revising company recruitment and hiring procedures to reflect diversity in the workforce, focusing on career development and retention of current employees, and increasing the number of women, and minority owned business partners.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Workplace Diversity Diversity is beneficial to both associates and employers. Although associates are interdependent in the workplace, respecting individual differences can increase productivity. Diversity in the workplace can reduce

lawsuits and increase marketing opportunities, recruitment, creativity, and business image. In an era when flexibility and creativity are keys to competitiveness, diversity is critical for an organization's success. Also, the consequences (loss of time and money) should not be overlooked. There are many advantages to having a work environment that is diverse. A company that is prepared for changes in demographics is prepared for the market changes as well as the changes in the pool of applicants. Having a diverse workplace creates an increase in attracting and retaining the most qualified candidates. Diversity programs within corporations improve corporate culture, help in recruitment, and help foster better client relations. Diversity in the workplace is thought to increase shareholder value. Diverse knowledge and experiences can aid in generating profits. Diversity is a concept that is seen as having the potential to understand the international market, represent different customer bases, contribute diverse operational skills and help with decision-making and diverse age and experience provide different perspectives. Race and gender also provide crucially different views in the workplace. (Chatman, Jennifer, Charles A, 2004) Having inside information on how to communicate and what a community wants in a product is a great asset. A multicultural company can penetrate and widen their markets with the knowledge of political, social, legal, economic, and cultural environments. Further, having someone within the organization who can negotiate and speak the language of the country is a very valuable asset to the corporation. Despite the powerful advantages possessed by the multicultural organization, diversity is nevertheless not a panacea and not without its drawbacks. With the benefits of diversity come organizational costs. Too much diversity in problem-solving groups can be dysfunctional. Diversity increases ambiguity, complexity, and confusion. Diverse organizations may have difficulty converging meanings, may find it hard to reach a single agreement, and have difficulty agreeing on courses of action.

In many organizations, diversity can produce negative dynamics such as ethnocentrism, stereotyping and cultural clashes. These negative dynamics can in turn combine with imbalanced power structures to create work disadvantages for women and minorities. In traditional, assimilationistoriented organizations, cultural differences between majority and minority group members create barriers to full participation of minority members. For example, Tsui, Egan & OReilly (1992) analyze 151 workgroups and find increasing work-unit diversity to be associated with lower levels of psychological attachment among group members. If leaders ignore or mishandle diversity, it may detract from performance. Poorer work outcome includes affective and achievement outcomes and these in turn adversely influence first-level organizational measures such as productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. (Grano, J. J, 1999) Homogeneous groups often outperform culturally diverse groups, especially where there is a serious communication problem. Heterogeneous work teams often under-perform homogeneous teams because they do not allow each member to make a special contribution to the work effort. Cross-cultural training is necessary to enable culturally diverse groups to live up to their potential and overcome communication difficulties. For example, a study of the performance of both culturally homogeneous and culturally diverse groups over a 17-week period initially finds homogeneous groups to score higher on both process and performance effectiveness. Over time, however, intragroup communications improve and the differences between the groups converge. By the 17th week, there is no difference in overall performance of the two groups, and the heterogeneous group scores higher on two task measures. The diversity movement has the potential to polarize different social groups and harm productivity while breeding cynicism and resentment, heightening intergroup frictions and tensions, and lowering productivity just the opposite of what managing diversity is intended to accomplish (Chatman, Jennifer, OReilly, 2004). Ignorance of cultural differences is a source of ineffectiveness in the work performance of diverse work groups.

Likewise, knowledge of the cultural differences in diverse workgroups should enhance work relationships and work team effectiveness. Higher turnover and absenteeism are problems faced by diverse organizations. Research reveals that turnover for blacks in the US workforce are 40% greater than for whites. Corning Glass reports that between 1980-1987 turnovers among women in professional jobs is double that of men and the rate for blacks are 2.5 greater than whites. Schwartz (1989) finds a two-to-one turnover rate of women in management, while Scott & McClellan (1990) find similar gender differences. Meisenheimer (1990) shows women have 58% higher absentee rates. Using 20 actual work units, OReilly, Caldwell, & Barnett (1989) explore the relationships among multiculturism, social integration, and individual turnover. Results suggest heterogeneity in group tenure is associated with lower levels of group social integration which, in turn, is negatively associated with individual turnover. Consequently, outgroup members are the individuals more likely to leave the organization. (Stanford Report, 2000) With all of the positive aspects that multiculturalism brings a company, there are a few disadvantages. Many people feel threatened by working with people of a different age, sex, or culture. First, there is an increase in the cost of training. This increase comes from costs associated with seminars, programs and lectures given to promote diversity in the corporation. These types of training are given to all levels of staff within the organization (Outtz, James L, 2004). They teach employees how to accept the personalities and ideas or thoughts of others. These programs also teach one how to deal with conflicts and prejudice in a professional and civil manner. Another disadvantage a company may encounter is reverse discrimination. This is a feeling that is associated with affirmative action policies. It is a major argument against such policies. Reverse discrimination is a claim by white males that they have been unfairly discriminated against. They claim they are equally or more qualified for the position, yet were passed over for a minority to receive the job. This can cause lawsuits in some cases, but mostly a sense of rejection by other workers in the company toward the minority who received the position.

In the absence of effective diversity management, culturally diverse workgroups may have certain dysfunctional outcomes such as miscommunications, longer decision times, lower member morale and lower team cohesiveness than culturally homogeneous workgroups. The negative consequences of diversity can reduce creativity and innovation, problem solving, and workgroup cohesiveness. As a result, these negative consequences can reduce market share, profitability, and achievement of organizational goals. (Outtz, James L, 2004) In conclusion diversity in workforce is growing in all countries special USA, Canada and Europe. With having more diverse work environment organization can produce better performance. It is important for the companies to know diversity and how to handle the issues relating to it. Also the need of the diverse workforce is getting more not only because there are different people but also because they can produce better results with having different types of people working. Leaders in the organizations should learn diversity (differences of gender, age, sex and religion in their work environment and also to communicate will between them) and how to manage it effectively.
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Workplace Discrimination(Part 2) Age Discrimination Age Discrimination Differences of treatment between different individuals or groups on the grounds of age are often based on generalized assumptions or casual stereotypes. When individuals are... Workplace Discrimination (Part 1) Workplace Discrimination Everyone agrees that workplace discrimination has no place in the modern business world. But not everyone understands the laws that protect employees against discrimination....

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Training Diversity 12 months ago

Well researched and written article. Thanks for the insight. "In order to effectively manage diversity, and recognize it as a source of strength and not one of conflict, one would need to be educated and reprogrammed to accept and embrace diversity" Do you think it would be good for schools to help more with this when children's minds are a blank slate? Children can be taught at a young age to be accepting of everyone around them.

Organizational Communication: Employees Can Handle the Truth

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Diversity Effective Leadership 2d Open Communication Improve Communication

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Employees can handle the truth. One of the most important aspects of organisational communication today is to get employees to trust the management and to offer ideas for improving the business. Employee trust can be developed by enhancing leadership skills, managing diversity, and opening up workplace communication. Once there is trust throughout a company, communication and ideas can flow efficiently, ultimately improving the business. Leadership Skills Kouzer and Posner's five features of leadership are to challenge, inspire, enable, model, and encourage. "Today's employees want to be nurtured, inspired and recognized for their achievements, and they want to feel part of something great" (Henricks 2005). It is important for the leader to understand employees' desires so that they can use these features to nurture and lead their employees. Transformational leaders provide a sense of vision and mission, provide personal attention, and coaching for employees. The leader must empower employees, giving them the maximum amount of power to do what they see fit. "Companies with engaged employees will experience double-digit growth more often than those in which workers feel un-trusted and unheard by the leadership". Significant interactions were found "between leader behaviours and agreement among subordinates". This suggests that agreement arbitrates the relationship "between leader behaviours and attributions of transformationalleadership style" (Feinberg, 2005).

"Employees demand more than paychecks, and smart leaders know it". Once again, in order to create trust and efficient communication channels, a leader must understand their employees' desires. "I've heard from several admired business leaders that never before has such a premium been placed on building trust and showing integrity (Henricks, 2005)." Integrity is needed in leader to build trust amongst associates and employees. The weaknesses of transformational leadership include not explaining the basis of the transformational leader's power; such that the leader has an identity with which others wish to associate themselves. Transformational leadership also gives a one way view of leadership and presents a romantic view of leadership (Burns 1978). Managing Diversity Diversity needs to be managed so all employees can contribute to organisational goals. Workplace diversity can improve innovation, create stronger customer relationships, and improve productivity. Stakeholders are also demanding that companies become more diverse. It is important for the management to take in consideration all of these benefits while trying to make all of their employees feel part of the team, even if they have diversifying opinions and backgrounds (Salomon, 2003). Innovation is anything that is 'new' or 'different' while diversity is differences amongst people. A diverse workforce improves the rate and quality of innovation, as they provide more perspectives on an issue or idea. If the employer is able to manage this efficiently it can work to the companies advantage (Salomon, 2003). Customers demand understanding of their own culture. By having the diverse workforce to accommodate such customers, improved customer relations can be created. A diverse workforce can also improve productivity

when all members feel they are part of an inclusive team. Once employees feel they are included, they will trust the leader more (Salomon, 2003). Workplacediversity affects leadership processes such as team building, developing the talent of team members, and enhancing teamwork. It also places unique demands on organisation leaders as they attempt to facilitate teamwork and cooperation between increasingly diverse work groups. The weakness of managing workplace diversity is that it is very difficult to manage and takes time and perseverance. It also requires implementation and change, and could be disruptive to the current order of business. However, it is important to for the company and the leader should have a good understanding of diversity in the company (Stockdale, 2004). If the leader respects and manages the diversity of his employees efficiently then he will most likely earn their trust. Once an employer has trust and open communication channels, the business should then improve. Workplace Communication Companies create trust by considering employees' best interests and inviting them to take part in decisions (Katz, 1998). By taking employees' interests into account when making decisions, you create rapport and trust in the workplace. "Employees who are well-informed about the business can recognize change and know what they can do to address that" (Henricks, 2005). Leaders must keep their employees well informed through open communication channels so that important issues are discussed openly in the workplace, thus improving relationships. The effective organization is one recognizes that "builds a community of likeminded people who are on the same page, motivated to work together, and moving in the same direction" (Gorman, 2003). It is important for

leaders to communicate on an individual basis to all of his employees to make sure they are always on the same communication level. This would improve employees' view of the leader as an approachable and admirable individual. Employees must also feel a sense of "being connected together in a worthwhile enterprise" (Gorman, 2003). It is fundamentally important that all individuals in the workplace feel connected and they are working for a motivated organisation. With careful management, the grapevine through which office talk stems, the corporate communicator "can use it to provide stability and credibility in the work environment to facilitate the achievement of organizational goals" (Nicholl, 1994). The grapevine can be used to reinforce company messages and to flow important messages to employees. It is important to understand this powerful aspect of the company and for the leader to use it as an open communication channel. There are some weaknesses of the leader being heavily involved in workplace communication. It is difficult for a leader to be constantly communicating with employees and also monitoring what information is in the grapevine. The leader will also find it difficult to always make decisions according the employees' own interests. Through this analysis of organisational communication it is evident that a leader must be attuned to his employees' needs and desires, open communication channels, and understand his company's diversity in order to earn their trust. "It's making people feel as though they share the vision, to open up their enthusiasm and passion by sharing stories about why you're doing what you do... I've heard from several admired business leaders that never before has such a premium been placed on building trust and showing integrity." (Henricks, 2005) Once the leader involves all

employees in his vision, then he can begin to gain their trust and admiration. Employees can handle the truth. Employee trust can be improved by enhancing leadership skills, managing diversity, and opening up workplace communication. Companies create trust by considering employees' best interests and inviting them to take part in decisions (Henricks, 2005). Once there is trust in a company, communication and ideas can flow efficiently, ultimately improving the business. References

How to Handle Diversity Within a Company

By Angela Ogunjimi, eHow Contributor

Diversity is good for business, but you must manage it to be effective.

To handle workplace diversity, you simply must value it and use it strategically. Gone are the days of hiring people in certain demographic categories to meet quotas. Today's competitive business environment requires you to use your diverse workforce to your advantage. Practically speaking, handling people with many differences is not easy. You will inevitably encounter misunderstandings, tension and outright conflict. Proper training of management as well as employees is the first step to initiating smart diversity practices within a workplace.

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Instructions
1.
o

Harness diversity to create better products and make better decisions. Research from the Stanford and Kellogg Schools of Business says an innovative way to use diversity is to pool together different kinds of talent and ideas. Assemble several different work groups in your organization to solve problems. Pay attention to age diversity to mix generations and incorporate different educational backgrounds. If your business is trying to reach new markets, use employees who are from that market and speak your desired customers' language to be your ambassadors.
o

Use diversity to create an inclusive culture. Business is not a place to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. It is, however, worthwhile to practice team-building and recognize how much better off your company is because of a commitment to diversity. Create employee resource groups or diversity councils to manage a scorecard on how well the company is doing with diversity and to mediate minor disputes before they blossom into lawsuits. Be sure all employees are protected from discrimination, harassment and retaliation and all employees have the same opportunity for advancement. Remove the obstacles to open communication. Involve all employees in planning extra-curricular activities.
o

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Celebrate differences. Free food and music are universal connectors. Use activities like potlucks, commemoration days and holiday parties as

opportunities to get employees from different backgrounds to share their cultures with each other.
o

Use diversity to improve your position above your competitors. Diversity is great for branding and improving your corporate reputation. It garners the respect of communities, as well as customers, and draws positive media attention.
o

Diversify your business partners, especially your suppliers. It makes good business sense to ensure you are getting the best deals and best prices from your partners. Don't neglect small, minority and disadvantaged businesses when looking for partners.
o

Use diversity to make more money. Researched published in the journal "American Sociological Review" reported that companies with the highest levels of racial diversity earned 15 times the sales revenue than that of companies with the lowest. Gender diversity put $599 million between high- and low-diversity organizations. Companies that valued diversity have more customers, a greater percentage of the market share and better profitability, the report said.

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Tips & Warnings

Ensure you watch who is coming and who is leaving your employ. If you are hemorrhaging minority talent, you need to work on your retention practices.

Avoid applying diversity in a piece-by-piece patchwork. According to Prism International, a diversity consulting firm, doing so will only leave you and your employees frustrated. And you won't get the full effect on your bottom line. Start with training, work on a solid plan, and then implement it entirely.

Read more: How to Handle Diversity Within a Company | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7600471_handle-diversitywithin-company.html#ixzz1pvCzDGaA

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Small Business Business Models & Organizational Structure Organizations Factors Influencing the Social Environment in an Organization

Factors Influencing the Social Environment in an Organization

by Jagg Xaxx, Demand Media

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Teamwork makes a workplace more enjoyable.

Related Articles
Factors Influencing Trends in Retailing Factors Influencing Strategic Employee Relations What Is the Most Important Factor Influencing Decision Making? How Does the Social Environment Affect a Business? Internal & External Factors Influencing Recruitment External & Internal Environmental Factors Influencing HR Activities The relationships between individuals in an organization are influenced by many factors. Personalities, ways of working and cultural backgrounds all combine to create a workplace that can be vibrant and exciting or stressful and alienating, depending on how people cope with the challenges of working together. A commitment from all parties to developing positive working relationships is key to creating a successful workplace.

Job Satisfaction
The social environment of any organization is heavily influenced by the levels of satisfaction experienced by individuals. People who are unhappy at their jobs may still make an effort to reach others well, but will just as frequently become sullen, uncooperative and counterproductive. When job dissatisfaction leads to poor interpersonal relationships, those relationships can then contribute to a poor working environment, creating a downward spiral in the social environment. Conversely, when the majority are happy and satisfied at their jobs, they are more likely to contribute positively to company culture and help to create a mutually agreeable environment for everyone involved.

Teamwork
Cooperation in the workplace helps to create a supportive social environment. When people work together on projects rather than competing, they learn that their best interests are shared together, and that what benefits their co-workers also benefits them. Progressive corporate managers are aware of this fact and go to great lengths to foster teamwork amongst their employees. While some jobs will always be more efficiently done by individuals, a dominant culture of teamwork within a workplace helps to create a social environment that is conducive to good work, whether it is done in a team or individually.

Politics
Office politics are notorious for undermining a healthy social environment. Sensitive issues can range from gender relations to religion to race to actual politics, such as co-workers who become excessively adamant about supporting different political parties. Most workplaces have guidelines and rules of conduct designed to prevent this kind of disruption and interpersonal tension. In work situations, employees are expected to refrain from sexist language, aggressive behavior, and demeaning comments about any aspect of other people whom they do not like. The cliche of "not saying anything at all" when you have nothing good to say is very applicable to organizational environments where people need to get along.

Conflict
When conflict does erupt, it has a major effect on the social environment of an organization. Ongoing feuds between one or more people can disrupt the work of everyone around them and lead to decreased productivity, lowered job satisfaction and damaged morale. When friends of conflicting individuals begin to jump into the fray, it can sometimes lead to an office-wide feud that can be very difficult for management to handle. Talented managers are able to sense the seeds of these sorts of conflicts and resolve them quickly before they get out of hand.

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References
Business Pundit; When Social Issues Affect Business; Rob May; May 2005 Personality Research; The Five-Factor Model of Personality in the Workplace; Sean P. Neubert

About the Author

Relationships were examined among the social environment of organizations, employee satisfaction (both job-related and personal), and perceptions of a creative work environment. The subject organization was a manufacturing facility in the United States which produced parts used in automobile production and operating in a dynamic market economy. Creativity was desired and verbally encouraged, but no attention was given to organization development, nor were there any intervention efforts designed to promote a creative environment. Results from environmental and climate inventories indicate that there are significant linkages between the social environment of the organization and satisfaction with the organization and personal lives, and the potential for innovation. Pride in the work, freedom, and other personal variables were also found to be related to an innovative climate.

Have you ever wondered why some organizations are always at the top position while some others have to struggle even for their very existence? The answer is that, successful organizations have a solid organizational structure and design than the others. Let us know more about organizational structure and designing organizational structure in this article.

Organizational structure is the process of building a team of highly talented, professional, ambitious and enthusiastic individuals to achieve our set goals and targets. Effective employee management and business expansion are the main reasons for the necessity of a systematic organizational structure and design. You may face countless difficulties while starting your dream organization. The scope of the word 'organization' is very wide. An organization can be a company, a business or even a school or a college. A small business will need a simple organizational structure, while large multinational companies or universities with several colleges under its control would need a large or complex organizational structure. Whether small or large, the first step in forming an organization is to set up a management team which will supervise the working of the entire organization. The management team includes the chairman/promoter of the organization, board of directors and non executive chairman. The mission and the vision of the organization should be defined by the management. Be aware of the types of organizational structures to increase your chances of success. Explanation of Simple Organizational Structure A primary school or a start-up private limited company is a good example of a

simple organizational structure. Apart from the management, these organizations have fewer employees as compared to the big organizations. The main advantage of a simple organizational structure is the simplicity in caring out the day-to-day activities. In a primary school, the school head can personally take care of every student's needs due to less number of students. The boss of a small firm can solve his employee's problems immediately and can personally interact with him for performance related issues. Like large organizations, small companies also have marketing department, personnel department, legal advisors and accounts department. Generally, small organizations have few branches and less annual turnover than the large ones. The ultimate power is with the head, who has the final say on any matter related to the company. How to Design a Good Organizational Structure? Designing organizational structure needs extra-ordinary management skills, dedication and perseverance. The first step in designing organizational structure involves explaining each employee, what his role will be. Employees will not be able to deliver their best, unless they are completely aware of their work and expectations. Another important thing is a system of accurate evaluation of the employee performance without being partial or unjust to any employee. Favoring some employee over the other without authentic reasons can be harmful for the company's future. There should not be concentration of power in the hands of a few executives, as this may lead to grouping and reduced quality output. Decide the number of employees needed in a particular department and recruit only those many employees. Recruiting excess number of employees can affect the financial position of the company in a negative way while recruiting less staff may cause delay in the production and marketing tasks, thus causing loss of revenue. Satisfying the needs of the employees is of prime importance as this retains the faith of the employees on the employers. The basic idea is to promote people with good leadership skills. Presence of employee grievance cell under the supervision of the human resource department can assure the employees of their security in terms of payment and position in the company. The rules and regulations set by the management should be followed by all the employees of all the departments. However, the departmental heads should have the freedom of taking certain decisions on their own and interference of people who are in no way connected to a particular decision-making process should be strictly prohibited. All departments like marketing, human resource management, accounts and finance, research and development should have independent directors, followed by assistant directors and general managers. Regional managers should be appointed for managing the affairs of a particular territory. As per the descending order, regional managers are

followed by branch managers, clerks and assistant clerks. Transparency in promotions is the highlight of a good organizational structure and design. Promotions and increments should be made strictly on the basis of merit to keep the employee faith in the organization alive. Following the above suggestions might help your dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur come true.

By Charlie S Last Updated: 10/10/2011

What Is Organizational Structure And Design?

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An organizational structure defines how work tasks are formally divided, grouped and coordinated. Six basic elements are used by the managers that are kept in mind when an organizational structure is to be designed. 1. Work specialization 2. Departmentalization 4. Span of control 3. Chain of command

5. Centralization & decentralization 6. Formalization

Organization Design defines a formal and outlines process which can be used to integrate people and information and technology of an organization. It a process that can be used to improve the chances that an organization will be successful in the present and the future as well. There are three more common organizational designs which are 1. Simple structure
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2. Bureaucracy

3. Matrix structure Anonymous

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