A Case Study on “Managing Like a Man at Silkqueen?”

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is the case study on â€Å"Managing like a man at SilkQueen? † by Kate Hutchings of Queensland University of Technology. Here we are given a character named Sally Dawson who works for SilkQueen, which is an Australian company. She is a well skilled manager who has a huge experience for working successfully in Asia. However, working in this company as a manager, she facing some problems, which lead her to take a decision whether she leaves the company or try to make some smart changes. For this case study, we are using four questions. We answer all the four questions one by one respectively. In those, we try to figure out the problems faced by the employees and Sally, attitudes of the organization towards Sally, ways open for Sally. We also discuss about cross-cultural problems here. We also include a bibliography at the end. Company Profile SilkQueen is an Australian Company. Its’ main product is fabrics. It produces high quality fabrics and sell those throughout the world. SilkQueens’ manufacturing plants are situated in Sydney as well as in several locations throughout Asia. This company started its’ business as a family-owned company in 1910 and it started its’ international operations in 1979. The workforce of SilkQueen always female-dominated but maximum times management has been male-dominated. Sally Dawson has been working for SilkQueen for many years and most of the time she was expending her times working in Asia. It should be noted that she is quite successful in her career. Recently she has been posted to Australia and she is facing some problems with her employees. Although, the productivity is increased but the management is not quite satisfied with her work because the workers are neglected there. In this case study, we have to find out the problems faced by the employees and Sally and the probable solutions for those problems. For this purpose, we are using four questions. They are as follows: 1)From the perspective of the employees, what problems they are facing? 2)What are the problems faced by Sally and what could the organization have done to address her problems? 3)What could Sally do to improve her leadership style? )Why Sally’s leadership style is questioned in Australia and accepted in Asia? Now we are discussing the above questions with a view to analyzing the case study. Because of globalization and workforce diversity, the nature of management in an organization has considerably changed over the years. Nowadays, management is not only about exercising reasonable power using directive leadership but also about building relat ionships with employees, adapting leadership styles depending on situations, and working together with people from various cultural backgrounds. To understand the management terrain in the various areas of organizational behavior mentioned above, the objective of this paper is to analyses the case study, ‘Managing like a man at SilkQueen? ’ and provide insights on the problems encountered by Sally Dawson, the employees and the organization at SilkQueen. The paper will first focus on perception stereotyping and dominance effect to explain how the employees perceive the situation and Sally’s leadership. The problems faced by Sally will be next looked into to understand how the organization could have helped in various areas. Theories on improving leadership styles will be used to explain why Sally’s leadership approach is accepted in Asia but not in Australia. Question One: From the perspective of the employees, what problems they are facing? To recognize the problems met by the employees of SilkQueen, an analysis of their perception of the former line manager Mr. Wong will be compulsory. This is because the assessment of Sally by employees is partly based on comparison with Wong. According to the employees’ perception, Wong is an effective leader who is consultative, caring and concerned about their well-being. He is seen as valuing employees’ opinion as he always asked what the employees think before he does anything. Unlike Wong, Sally does not walk around the factory floor or show concerns for her employees. She does not ask what the employees think before she implements anything. The employees therefore perceive Sally to be a poor manager who does not care about employees’ work condition and who buries herself ‘behind a high desk with her back to the door in an office two levels above’. These perceptions however may not be true. According to organizational behavior scholars, ‘women are evaluated negatively when they adopt a stereotypically male leadership style and occupy traditionally male-dominated positions’. The employees in the case assume that Sally being a woman should be ‘nurturing and †¦ care about their workers’ suggesting preconceived notions of how women should behave. This notion of stereotyping can result in misinterpretation of information because not all people are the same, and many in the same social category may demonstrate inconsistencies with the stereotype. Question Two: What are the problems faced by Sally and what could the organization have done to address her problems? The first action by Sally in making a decision to change the work hours without consultation with the employees formed a lasting impression of her leadership, known as the primary effect the primary effect relates to a perceptual distortion which states that ‘first impressions are lasting impressions’ and once an inaccurate first impression is established, it is difficult for the perception to change even when new information contradicts the first impression. The consequence of Sally’s non-consultative management style spells the beginning of a problematic relationship with her workers. Within three months after she took over line management, Sally is faced with considerable indifference and hostility from her subordinates. In addition to his pressure, Sally also has to ‘change the focus of her work’ when she took up the role of line management in the manufacturing operations-an area which she is unfamiliar with. Because of this, she has to work long hours with very little time for social life, resulting in increased stress. Sally’s problems and stress could have been substantially reduced if the organization has played a supportive role. A good organization should first assess its manager’s strengths and weaknesses before assigning new roles. This may be done through a structured interview process or through research and information gathering with the objective to understand two areas of managerial competencies- past behavior to predict future behavior, and recent behavior to predict distant past behavior. By understanding Sally’s former experiences and roles, the organization can then decide whether to assign her to another area of to send her to a leadership development program such as the leadership grid to train her in evaluating task-oriented and people oriented leadership to work out a style best suited for her new role. Question Three: What could Sally do to improve her leadership style? Notwithstanding this fact, however, Sally should cultivate her emotional intelligence to monitor her own and others’ feeling and emotions to guide her thinking and action. According to behavioral theories by Ohio state studies and University of Michigan studies, there are primarily two categories of leadership: people oriented, and task-oriented. The behavioral studies propose a managerial grid based on a manager’s ‘concern for people’ and ‘concern for production’, which ideal grid position rates the manager as performing best when the style of leadership is high on people and task dimensions. In the case of SilkQueen, Sally could improve her leadership style by adapting a more people-oriented behavioral approach. To influence her subordinates, she could consider using contingency leadership ‘based on the idea that the most appropriate leadership style depends on the situation’. Theories of contingency leadership that Sally could use include Hersey-Blanchard situational theory, house’s path-goal theory, and Vroom-Jago leadership participation theory. The Hersey-Blanchard situational theory proposes that effective leadership is dependent on the followers. This means that regardless of what the leader does, it is the actions or acceptation of the followers that decide the effectiveness of the leader. This theory suggests that the leader should change his or her leadership style according to the maturity of the followers and the situation. Situational theory combines task and relationship behaviors and identifies four specific leadership styles: telling, selling, participating and delegating. Based on the maturity of the followers, each of the relevant four styles is used by the leader to respond to the employees by gradually declining control over activities and relationship behavior. For example, when an employee is new to the organization, the leader should use the style of telling the follower what to do, giving clear and specific directions. Depending on the maturity stage of the follower, alternative styles such as selling the leader’s ideas, participating in decision-making, or delegating responsibilities to the follower may next be used. In the case of SilkQueen, using the situational theory approach would have helped Sally understand that leadership is dependent on the followers and the way to lead followers is dependent on situations and levels of maturity. Instead of telling the employees, Sally could use the method of selling and participating in implementing the change of work hours. The path-goal theory developed by Robert House is another contingency theory model that Sally could employ in improving her leadership style. The theory suggests that an effective leader is one who can influence employee satisfaction and performance by making their need satisfaction contingent with the overall objectives of the group or organization. Four styles of effective leadership are indentified in this model: directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented. A directive leader lets subordinates know what is expected, giving directions on what to do and how, while a supportive leadership shows concern for the needs of subordinates. A participative leader consults with subordinates and involves them in decision making, while an achievement-oriented leader sets the goals and expects subordinates to perform at their highest level. Using the path-goal theory, Sally could effectively change the perception of her subordinates by building a people oriented behavioral approach through the use of a more supportive and participative leadership style instead of an achievement-oriented leadership. The third model of contingency theory that could be used by Sally is the Vroom-Jago leader participation theory. This theory developed by Victor Vroom and Alfred Jago takes a contingency approach to determine the optimal level of employee involvement depending on the situation. It proposes choosing the best decision making method for any problem situation through alternatives such as individual or authority decision, consultative decision, group or consensus decision. The model considers five levels of employee participation based on a decision tree ranging from autocratic at the top to team consensus at the bottom. Following the leader-participation theory model, Sally could evaluate the level of participation required by her in choosing the optimal level of employee involvement. Instead of using the top two levels of the decision tree, that proposes autocratic decision-making. Sally could use the bottom three levels of consultative and group decision in her approach. Question Four: Why Sally’s leadership style is questioned in Australia and accepted in Asia? As can be seen in the theories discussed above, one of the traits required of an effective leader is adaptability of leadership styles in varied situations. Adapting styles to situations however is not an easy task especially in organizations today where employees are made up of people from different cultures across national and regional boundaries. In the case of SilkQueen, it is apparent that Sally’s leadership is seen as questionable in Australia, but appropriate in Asia because of cross-cultural perspectives. This underlying cultural value may be translated as power distance, uncertainty, avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, achievement versus nurturing orientation, and long-term versus short-term orientation according to Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture. Using Hofstede’s framework as the guideline to cross-cultural comparison in SilkQueen’s case study, employees in Australia may be seen as high in individualism, high on social obligations and traditions, but moderately low in power distance. This rating vastly differs from countries in Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and China. In Indonesia, individual goals are seen as less important than collective goals. In Malaysia, power distance ranks high while in China the future is emphasized more than tradition or social obligations. Based on the ranking described above, it is easy to understand why Sally’s task oriented leadership style is questioned in Australia but accepted in Asia. According to Hofstede’s framework, Australia is more inclined to meeting individual goals than group goals and expects relatively equal power sharing. In Asia, power distance is generally high, which means that receiving commands from superiors are commonly accepted. Conclusion Throughout the discussion in this paper, the studies of organizational behavior have been primarily focused in four areas: perception, leadership styles, leadership assessment, and cross-cultural behaviors. The perception of leadership based on stereotype and primacy effect can present inaccuracies and incorrect information of a situation or a person. A manager who wants to be effective must cultivate emotional intelligence and be flexible to adapt different leadership styles depending on the situation. A good organization must first assess its leaders to understand past behavior to predict future behaviors and bridge the gap of its leaders through leadership grid training. To manage a global organization, the leader must understand the differences in cross-cultural values across different parts of the world. Bibliography: Robbins, P. Stephen, Judge, A. Timothy. Organizational Behavior Luthans, Fred. Organizational Behavior

Free Essays on Affirative Action

All over the world, disparities between the rich and poor, even in the wealthiest of nations is rising sharply. Fewer people are becoming increasingly â€Å"successful† and wealthy while a disproportionately larger population is also becoming even poorer. There are many issues involved when looking at poverty. It is not simply enough (or correct) to say that the poor are poor due to their own (or their government’s) bad governance and management. In fact, you could quite easily conclude that the poor are poor because the rich are rich and have the power to enforce trade agreements, which favor their interests more than the proper nations. This is a very serious problem in our society today. Poverty is everywhere and it needs to reduced so that our economy will be more stabilized and balanced that it has been. What does it mean to be poor? What does it mean to describe a nation as â€Å"developing†? A lack of material wealth does not define one as deprived. A strong economy in a developed nation does not mean much when a significant percentage or a majority of the population is struggling to survive. Development usually implies an improvement in living standards such that a person has enough food, water, and clothing, a stable social environment, freedom, and basic rights to have a fair chance for a decent life. Is this actually progress? On the other hand, are we fooled into believing that it is? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services placed the poverty level for a family of four at $16,450 in 1998, and the poverty rate in 1996, according to the HHS, was 13.7 percent, or 36.5 million Americans. (Egendorf: 1999, 12). Is there really a way to measure poverty, and to decide exactly what poverty is? Hunger, income level, housing and the economy’s condition of the working poor are just a few example of what needs to be considered when measuring the poverty levels in our nation. Poverty expands and contracts and its defini... Free Essays on Affirative Action Free Essays on Affirative Action All over the world, disparities between the rich and poor, even in the wealthiest of nations is rising sharply. Fewer people are becoming increasingly â€Å"successful† and wealthy while a disproportionately larger population is also becoming even poorer. There are many issues involved when looking at poverty. It is not simply enough (or correct) to say that the poor are poor due to their own (or their government’s) bad governance and management. In fact, you could quite easily conclude that the poor are poor because the rich are rich and have the power to enforce trade agreements, which favor their interests more than the proper nations. This is a very serious problem in our society today. Poverty is everywhere and it needs to reduced so that our economy will be more stabilized and balanced that it has been. What does it mean to be poor? What does it mean to describe a nation as â€Å"developing†? A lack of material wealth does not define one as deprived. A strong economy in a developed nation does not mean much when a significant percentage or a majority of the population is struggling to survive. Development usually implies an improvement in living standards such that a person has enough food, water, and clothing, a stable social environment, freedom, and basic rights to have a fair chance for a decent life. Is this actually progress? On the other hand, are we fooled into believing that it is? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services placed the poverty level for a family of four at $16,450 in 1998, and the poverty rate in 1996, according to the HHS, was 13.7 percent, or 36.5 million Americans. (Egendorf: 1999, 12). Is there really a way to measure poverty, and to decide exactly what poverty is? Hunger, income level, housing and the economy’s condition of the working poor are just a few example of what needs to be considered when measuring the poverty levels in our nation. Poverty expands and contracts and its defini...

Free Essays on Owens Sacrifice

Owen’s Sacrifice I believe Wilfred Owen went from heaven to his own purgatory in minutes. From a lady’s man and athlete, to a sad statistic of the blood shed in war. He wrote the poem â€Å"Owens Disabled† to show how quickly a man in those circumstances of isolation and disfigurement could go from being in his prime to the worse stages of his life. Owen tells you all you need to know to realize he was in his prime. For example in â€Å"Disabled† he states â€Å" After the match, carried shoulder high† and â€Å"some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheered Goal† telling me that he was a good athlete (23,37). He must have been good looking as well because he said, â€Å"girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim†(9). When he signed up for the military he was nineteen telling me he was a healthy young man. All of these statements he says about himself before he went of to war about his age, athletics, and good looks suggest he was defiantly in his prime. Not only was he in his prime he seemed to be better of than your average Joe. Than a time of war came and Owens stated, â€Å"he thought he’d better join- He wonders why†(24). After all â€Å"someone had said he’d look a god in kilts,† telling me he did it for the glamour (25). In a book called Wounds Of War people see soldiers in war as heroes they don’t see or thing about the psychology effects of killing some one else or seeing your best friend killed beside you (Nendin and Haas 6). I think that is how Owens thought war would be; you go get the enemy, and your hero. I do not think he ever imagined getting wounded or possibly dieing. I picture it like today’s army commercials: you could be an army of one and do all these great things; it would be like one big adventure. I’m sure he did not see it the same as we see it today, however either way you look at it, it is still can be very misleading. . The military is not going to say you could die, possibly loose... Free Essays on Owen's Sacrifice Free Essays on Owen's Sacrifice Owen’s Sacrifice I believe Wilfred Owen went from heaven to his own purgatory in minutes. From a lady’s man and athlete, to a sad statistic of the blood shed in war. He wrote the poem â€Å"Owens Disabled† to show how quickly a man in those circumstances of isolation and disfigurement could go from being in his prime to the worse stages of his life. Owen tells you all you need to know to realize he was in his prime. For example in â€Å"Disabled† he states â€Å" After the match, carried shoulder high† and â€Å"some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheered Goal† telling me that he was a good athlete (23,37). He must have been good looking as well because he said, â€Å"girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim†(9). When he signed up for the military he was nineteen telling me he was a healthy young man. All of these statements he says about himself before he went of to war about his age, athletics, and good looks suggest he was defiantly in his prime. Not only was he in his prime he seemed to be better of than your average Joe. Than a time of war came and Owens stated, â€Å"he thought he’d better join- He wonders why†(24). After all â€Å"someone had said he’d look a god in kilts,† telling me he did it for the glamour (25). In a book called Wounds Of War people see soldiers in war as heroes they don’t see or thing about the psychology effects of killing some one else or seeing your best friend killed beside you (Nendin and Haas 6). I think that is how Owens thought war would be; you go get the enemy, and your hero. I do not think he ever imagined getting wounded or possibly dieing. I picture it like today’s army commercials: you could be an army of one and do all these great things; it would be like one big adventure. I’m sure he did not see it the same as we see it today, however either way you look at it, it is still can be very misleading. . The military is not going to say you could die, possibly loose...

Definition and Examples of Kennings in English

Definition and Examples of Kennings in English A kenning is a  figurative expression, usually compound in form, that is used in place of a name or noun, especially in Old English. Kenning as Metaphor The kenning has been described as a kind of compressed metaphor with the referent suppressed. Commonly used kennings in Old English and Norse poetry include whale-road (for sea), sea-horse (for ship), and iron-shower (for the rain of spears or arrows during a battle). Examples Old English poetry used a special poetic vocabulary. . . . [The word] ban-cofa (n) had a special meaning: its two elements were bone-den, but it meant body. Such an expression is a paraphrase, a reference to a thing by concentration on one of its attributes. A person could be called a reord-berend (speech-bearer) because speech is uniquely human. This device of paraphrase was frequent in Old English poetry, and it goes now by the name (borrowed from Old Norse) of kenning.(W.F. Bolton, A Living Language: The History and Structure of English. Random House, 1982)The poets loved kennings because they were opportunities to vary their descriptions when they told long stories of heroes and battles. . . .So, what could a ship be? A wave floater, sea goer, sea-house or sea steed. And the sea? A seal bath, fish home, swan road or whale way. Anything could be described using a kenning. A woman is a peace-weaver, a traveller is an earth-walker, a sword is a wolf of wounds, the sun is a sky candl e, the sky is the curtain of the gods, blood is battle sweat or battle icicle. There are hundreds more. (David Crystal, The Story of English in 100 Words. St. Martins Press, 2012) Circumlocutions The poets of medieval Scandinavia developed a system of naming by circumlocution, or kennings, which they could expand to a dizzying degree of complexity. They might call the sea earth of the fish. Next, they could replace the word fish by the expression snake of the fjord. Then, they might substitute for fjord the phrase bench of the ship. The result was a strange, prolix thing: earth of the snake of the bench of the shipwhich, of course, simply meant sea. But only those familiar with the conceits of poetry would know it.(Daniel Heller-Roazen, Learn to Talk in Beggars’ Cant. The New York Times, August 18, 2013) Contemporary Kennings We clearly see kenning variation . . . in the seventh of the sequence Glanmore Sonnets in [Seamus] Heaneys next volume, Field Work [1979], when names of the BBC Radio 4 shipping forecast (itself possessing the sonority of a formulaic catalogue from early heroic poetry) prompt the poet to expand on the metaphor in the Old English kenning for the sea hronrad (whale-road, Beowulf, l. 10): Sirens of the tundra,Of eel-road, seal-road, keel-road, whale-road, raiseTheir wind-compounded keen behind the baizeAnd drive the trawlers to the lee of Wicklow. . . . Heaney performs variation not just on the concept signified, but on the signifier itself, echoing the hypnotic chant of the shipping forecast. (Chris Jones, Strange Likeness: The Use of Old English in Twentieth-Century Poetry. Oxford University Press, 2006) Etymologyfrom the Old Norse, to know Pronunciation: KEN-ing

Air cargo Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Air cargo - Research Paper Example Efficiency in the handling and regulating movement of merchandise, power, passengers, services and products is very crucial as they are moved from the point of supply to the point of requirement. As business activities continue to expand globally, proper regulation of shipments will result to efficiency in trading activities. It will also improve production activities due to availability of factors of production on time (Elias, 2010). The trading activities will expand due to ease of marketing of commodities as a result of market expansion. Coordination of airline transportation will incorporate information, movement of goods, passengers and services; stock taking, monitoring of raw materials and wrapping of manufactured commodities (O’connor, 2001).The fees charged on merchandise will vary depending on the potential for airline to ferry up to its capacity. This will also influence demand for the aircraft services since it will result to biasness by the airline operators. Airl ine operators keep on changing the charges for the merchandise from time to time as demand varies overtime. There is an issue of protection when it comes to movement of goods or passengers thorough the air. This also plays a pivotal role in determining the revenue amount raised by the companies (Elias, 2010). In most cases, busy destinations such as airports are the targets of terrorists and could influence income and demand for airline services (Molotch, 2012). The airline companies are usually faced with challenges when determining the capacity of their carriers for different classes of merchandise of varying categories to be transported in order to maximize their revenue. Shipment of goods and passengers by airline is dependent on their weight. This is because airlines have a limited capacity in terms of weight which determines the amount of goods and passengers a particular airline can

Compare and contrast two Middle Eastern civil wars, such as Lebanon, Essay

Compare and contrast two Middle Eastern civil wars, such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, or Libya - Essay Example Through associate degree analysis of various cultural constructions, the conflict that passed off throughout the war has helped in Lebanon’s healing method (Horowitz 2008, 217). In Syria, President Bashar Al- Assad took power in the year 2000 immediately after the death of his father Hafez that had dominated Syria right from 1970. President Assad hastily dotted hopes of political reforms, as the power remained targeted within the ruling family, and therefore the system of one party gave few avenues for political opposition. With lack of nonviolent transfer of leadership since the Fifties, amendments will only happen solely through a military coup or a well-liked struggle. This report, will explain the similarities and differences of the civil wars in Lebanon and Syrian states in the Middle East and their roles in bringing political reforms in the respective nations. The vicious loop of enhanced sectarian attitude, escalating sadism and out of doors support has up to now, prevented any serious attempts to resolve the conflict between the war-ridden factions in the Syrian nation (Leenders & Heydemann 2012, 142). The government and the opponent deny one another as conflict partners in an exceedingly competitive struggle however regard each other a vital enemy to tumble or destroy. Anassessmentof Lebanon provided that sectarian as well as ethnic identities had changed into settled markers for violence and thrown the nation into a destructive war (Sambanis 2004, 823). The main issue is if a power-sharing approach that resembles the one efficiently employed in Lebanon can be suitable in making sure the war in Syria is ended. Opponents to the idea the application of the Lebanon model to Syria argue that the two nations that are characterized by social compositions of a sectarian nature have administrative arrangements that are incommensurable (Ghosn & Khoury 2011, 381). The area is the foundation of the three most

Dam paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Dam - Research Paper Example Remediation of Gorge Dam will involve; revitalizing its catchment area, that is the river Cuyahoga to ensure constant supply of water to the dam and reduce the flow of sediment. The decision to remediate a dam is based on various ecological, economical and human considerations in terms of impacts and risks associated with it. According to the American White Water organization, the Gorge Dam is roughly 57feet tall (approximately 17.4 meters), with a current average flow rate estimated at approximately 522 cubic feet per second (approximately 14.8 cubic meters per second). Remediation processes in the United States are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and it is executed in stages. The Gorge dam was built in 1912 on the Cuyahoga River between Cuyahoga Falls and Akron Ohio. Vast deposits of metal waste from industries were dumped into the Cuyahoga River between 1912 and 1926, which over time have converted into free flowing sediment. Also from 1926 to 1978, coal combusted products were also laid in the river as waste. The dam was built for the generation of hydroelectric power for the local street car public transportation systems and to provide cooling water storage for a local coal burning power plant. Removing the dam will cost approximately 50 to 70 million dollars and over a year to finish the process depending on how the funds are distributed and consumed. With these figures, it’s better to leave the dam alone since in removing or ignoring the dam doesn’t solve the problem of pollution as the sediment has to be removed even after the dam is removed. Sediment is a naturally occurring material produced by the forces of erosion and weathering and is transported downstream through the water. After removal of the dam, the large amount of polluted sediment on the base of the dam and the river also needs to be taken out to avoid allocating itself downstream. The operation is a major component of the cost consideration and time taken in removing the dam. Ignoring the dam means continued build up of sediment and water quality declination. The solution for the dam is remediation. Currently, the dam has a potential of generating approximately 2526 kilowatts. Considering its situation, this is a good amount of power and this means once the dam is remediated, power generation efficiency will increase. The generated power will be viable for feeding into the national grid. The cost incurred in remediation and upgrading the hydroelectric plant will be recovered in a few years, which is better than spending 50 to70 million dollars in removing the dam and over a year to do so, or incurring an annual expense of 1224 dollars in ignoring the dam to maintain it without any economic benefits. From the calculations in the appendix, Gorges dam can generate up to 2021017 watts of power assuming its efficiency is 80%. Hydroelectric power generation of a typical dam ranges from 70-90 %. When remediated, the fountainhead of the dam wil l be increased and a higher head implies more potential to generate power. The result is a cheap and readily available power for factories and to the local communities. Cheap and readily available power encourages local investment. Industries will develop which will create employment, and improving the standards of living. Remediating the dam removes the sediment accumulated over the years