Workplace spirituality has recently emerged as a significant aspect of organizations and hence, a significant topic of inquiry in the organizational science. Since the late 1990s, publications such as Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fortune and others have reported a growing desire among employees for meaning and purpose at work, for a spiritual dimension to organizational life. Spirituality is the state of intimate relationship with the inner self of higher values and morality as well as recognizing the truth of inner nature of people. The concept of spirituality at workplace can be explained as an experience of interconnectedness, shared by all those involved in the work process, initially triggered by the awareness that each is individually driven by an inner power, which raises and maintains his/her sense of honesty, kindness, and courage, consequently leading to the collective creation of an aesthetically motivational environment characterized by a sense of purpose, high Continue reading
Management Concepts
Case Study on Entrepreneurship: Walt Disney
Animation is the allusion of movement through the persistence of vision. It dates back to as early as 1650 in Paleolithic cave painting, where animals were often drawn with multiple sets of overlapping legs. Although some argue that this could simply represent the artists’ changing their minds about leg position, most perceive these paintings as early attempts to portray motion. The zoetrope, a cylinder with vertical slits in the sides, is another example of early animation, as the inner surface of the cylinder has a band of sequenced pictures that produce the illusion of motion as the user looks at the pictures through the slits as it spins. Since cave paintings and the zoetrope, other forms of animation have been established, including stop motion, 3D animation, motion capture, rotoscope, film, etc. Numerous people have contributed to the world of animation and amongst those is Walt Disney. Just to name a Continue reading
Obstacles to Effective Organizational Performance
Over the past decade there is an abundance of evidence, which could be produced to say that successful organizations are managed by efficient managers. Success in the long run can be ensured only through effective management. Successful managers foster sustainable growth through their skills, attributes and personal qualities. There is a distinction between common sense and common knowledge. Knowing things is different from doing things. Being able to analyze a case, identify a problem, and suggest a correct solution makes a manager more effective. Out of all the characteristics that make an effective organization, the most important factor is the quality and alignment of the human resources. The main obstacles to effective organizational performance are discussed below. 1. Working Conditions Ergonomics does matter for job performance. Not only the furniture and fixtures but also the colors of the rooms and the objects with which people work influence people’s attitudes and Continue reading
Organizational Culture – Meaning, Characteristics, Importance and Dimensions
Organizational culture is the set of values that states what an organization stands for, how it operates and what it considers important. Edgar H. Schein defines organizational culture as the pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has invented, discovered and developed while learning to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration. All the above definitions stress acceptable and unacceptable behavior of its members. For instance, one organization might value solidarity and loyalty to organization more than any other value whereas another organization might stress on good relations with customers. Such values are part of organizational culture in spite of not being formally written like rules and regulations of the organization. They do not usually appear in the organizational training program and in fact, many organizations have difficulty in expressing their cultural values. However, an organization’s values automatically enter every employee’s personal values and actions over Continue reading
Non-Profit Organization: Meaning and Characteristics
The term ‘non-profit organization‘ refers to government organizations, educational institutions, religious bodies, foundations, libraries, clubs, Government hospitals, and welfare organizations. These organizations exit to render service rather than to earn profits. Their success is also measured primarily by how well they render the service. For example, the purpose of a library is to provide books and a place for reading and reference. Its performance can, therefore, be measured by how well it renders the service to its readers. Non-profit organizations aim at providing the best possible service with the given resources and the managerial decisions are taken accordingly. The objectives of a non-profit organization are less precise, more diverse, and sometimes contradictory. Distinctive Characteristics of Non-Profit Organisations The main difference between profit and non-profit organizations lies in the purpose for which they exist. In addition following differences are found in the characteristics of these two types of organizations: Profit Measure. Continue reading
Managing Planned Organizational Change Process
A planned change is a change planned by the organization; it does not happen by itself. It is affected by the organization with the purpose of achieving something that might otherwise by unattainable or attainable with great difficulty. Through planned change, an organization can achieve its goals rapidly. The basic reasons for planned change are: To improve the means for satisfying economic needs of members To increase profitability To promote human work for human beings To contribute to individual satisfaction and social well being The planned organizational change process may comprise, basically the three following steps: Planning for change Assessing change forces Implementing the change 1. Planning for Change The first step in the process of change is to identify the need for change and the area of changes as to whether it is a strategic change, process oriented change or employee oriented change. This need for change can be Continue reading