Corporate Culture : The Key To Understanding Work Organisations :: essays research papers

Corporate Culture : The Key to Understanding Work Organisations Organisational or corporate culture is widely held to refer to a system of shared meanings held by members that distinguishes the organisation from other organisations, that is a set of shared key characteristics or values. The culture that an organisation has will play an important part in its success in its market sector. Likewise an organisation's continued success will depend to a large extent on the ability of the leadership of the organisation to perpetuate that culture. A large, established organisation in a mature market is likely to have objectives of moderate growth and the maintenance of its position within the market. McDonald's is an example of such an organisation. You could walk in to a McDonald's restaurant in London, Tokyo or Moscow and expect to see staff dressed in the same uniform serving the same food from within restaurants that look remarkably similar. There are no risks to be taken here and rarely a snap decision to be made and certainly not by the staff. Contrast this with a small organisation, thirsty for success in an emergent market such as Steve Job's Apple Computers in the early eighties. Here was a company led by a very strong character who was highly motivated, possessed a highly practical imagination and was fanatical about detail. He built up a multinational company on the strength of his ability to promote free thinking coupled with the attention to detail that is required to produce a world class computer within the organisation that he ran. It is quite clear that if the cultures of these two organisations were transposed there would be internal chaos and the company's would lose their positions within their markets. A McDonald's restaurant that started to add flair to its menu would soon cut in to the company's tightly controlled profit margins whereas a company with tightly enforced rules and regulations could never lead the market in innovative technologies. It is not by chance that these two organisations have such different cultures. They are each the product of a clearly constructed and executed leadership policies reinforced by the organisation's founders and subsequently their top management. The processes of selection and socialisation are key tools in the maintenance of an organisation's culture. The selection process is typically employed within organisations not only to select individuals who have the technical skills and knowledge to perform their roles within the organisation but also to select people who will fit in with, and not undermine, the organisation's culture. The process of socialisation has as its key objective the moulding of the

Reflective Essay on Module

With the help of the Gibbs model for reflection I have written the below reflective essay. I have chosen this model for reflection cause: Firstly it is simple to understand and secondly it follows a very systematic and easy approach. As I began with the module I was quite happy that it has been included in the course, as it would help me overcome academic writing skills difficulties. Although, initially I did feel that the module would only aim at giving academic support, but eventually I realized that like its name suggests it also helped develop my personalities as well.In this module, we were given to make a poster and a formal report. In this way I felt the module evaluates an individual in different ways and on different aspects. By making a poster the creativity of an individual can be evaluated. Poster presentations are becoming common at workplaces and the first assignment helped us have an experience on how to make on. The second assignment was a critical report based on the same article we used for the poster. This assignment helped us improve our critical skills and present it in a formal report structure.Since we had to critique only one report it was quite difficult as there were nothing to compare it to. We only had theories as a base to help us write the critique. Whilst doing research for the report, I came across a learning styles model by Honey and Mumford. The model is given as below. Peter Honey and Alan Mumford (1992) connected each stage in this learning cycle with a preferred learning style: Stage 1 Having an experience – Activist Stage 2 Reflecting on the experience -Reflector Stage 3? Concluding from the experience -Theorist Stage 4?Acting differently as a result/planning the next steps- Pragmatist As I read about what each part meant I could completely relate myself to the Activist part of the model. I am generally very enthusiastic about things and like to be in power whenever in a group discussion. It gives me a sense of satis faction. Also when we were given discussions in the Tutorial to undertake I would tend to lead and chair the group. Something that is not is that just as the model suggests even I tend to act and then consider the implications afterwards. This is one attitude of mine that I am trying to hange and adapt to a reflector model where I consider the implications of my actions before acting on them. As it is famously said â€Å"Think twice before you act†. I must inculcate this proverb in my acts of life. Many a times when I introspect on my learning altitudes I also feel that a part of me is the Pragmatist learner. As I mentioned earlier I am always enthusiastic and keen to learn and experience new things. I always understand concepts faster which I can relate to practical experiences in the past and apply to my job in future. Just as the theory states even I tend to generally get impatient with lengthy discussions and conversations.From a pragmatist point I want to try to improve my patience level especially in lengthy discussions as often in workplaces lengthy discussions are carried out. Personally when I looked at the theorist attitude I felt I could not fit there but should try to adopt some of its attributes such as trying to be a perfectionist. Applying this concept to my PRS module when I was given the poster to do, I did not think much. I just looked up a few posters and got down to making my poster. It was later that I realized I should have first had discussions with my class mates on how they are approaching the assignment.By then I had already acted like an activist but it was time to become a reflector and overcome my hasty behavior. Hence, before I started critiquing the article with my peers and only then got down to do some relevant reading. Coming back to the first assignment. I quite enjoyed making the poster much more than the report as the poster involved using creativity. While I was writing the report I felt quite dull and boring as a f ormat had very formal approach. This is when I realized that I need to increase my interest for formal writing.Reflecting the Gibbs way I have reached the Analysis stage. To this I concluded that maybe more reading around the topic and reading a few sample reports would have probably helped to do it better along with more interest. For that I have thought I must plan a minimum amount of reading target to be set. And undertake detailed discussions with my class mates on a regular basis apart from the one’s that happen in the tutorials. On a general note, during the module when the topic of report writing was being covered, I had doubts but felt they were too silly to ask the module tutor.Due to this I had numerous difficulties while starting the critical report. I have decided not to fear from people judging me and go ahead and ask the questions to clear my doubts. In fact I did start acting on it and did start questioning tutors and friends. I realized I should have done this much before. The Personal and Research skills module has taught me about researching which gave me a sense of self confidence on something I wasn’t sure I could do. Or rather knew how to do. Before I joined the master’s course I was quite friendly with MS Office.But some of the tutorials and lectures on IT skills helped me enhance my technical skills prezi, a very interesting application was unknown to me. After the lecture I downloaded it and started to see its features. I have always been interested in enhancing my technical skills in any form. Because in today’s tech savvy corporate environment one is considered un-updated if they do not poses skills. Referencing was a very new concept to me. Initially, I just could not get my head around it. One of the PRS lecture taught us how to use ref works. Now, I just do not need to bother with journal articles referencing.Refworks had made it so easy. I have particularly mentioned about Prezi and refworks as these we re two highlighting factors that I found in the module, very helpful in making my coursework manageable. As I attended the lectures I felt that the PRS model has been formatted in a way to help students do their coursework and acquire the intellectual and technical skills required to complete the MSC in Human Resource Management at Robert Gordon University. Before I came I had heard that RGU has a high performance demand. I felt this module was designed, to make sure that students meet up to it.The good part of this modules experience is it does actually help you acquire the Personal and Research skills that it aims to. But in my opinion the module was a little insufficient in providing writing skills, especially for international students who are doing this form of studies for the first time. But as I thought of it I felt it is the master level and everything cannot be fed on a spoon to the students. To this thought I felt, I need to put in some more effort from my side maybe throu gh taking help of the study skills help available.I have come to a belief now that at masters teachers are more of a catalyst then an ingredient to our masters degree. On a concluding note, the Personal Research skills module in my opinion is essential for every business related course. Maybe if I had had something like this while doing my degree it would have been more helpful at a master’s level. But whether at a master or at a degree it is an essential model helping an individual to develop ass sorts of skills needed in today’s competitive business environment. References: HONEY, P. and MUMFORD, A. , 1992. The manual of learning styles

Human Evolution Essay - 2714 Words

Human Evolution Human Evolution, the biological and cultural development of the species Homo sapiens, or human beings. A large number of fossil bones and teeth have been found at various places throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia. Tools of stone, bone, and wood, as well as fire hearths, campsites, and burials, also have been discovered and excavated. As a result of these discoveries, a picture of human evolution during the past 4 to 5 million years has emerged. Human Physical Traits Humans are classified in the mammalian order Primates; within this order, humans, along with our extinct close ancestors, and our nearest living relatives, the African apes, are sometimes placed together in the family Hominidae because of genetic†¦show more content†¦Much later (perhaps 50,000 years ago) hominines were able to cross the water barrier into Australia. Only after the appearance of modern humans did people move into the New World, some 30,000 years ago. It is likely that the increase in human brain size took place as part of a complex interrelationship that included the elaboration of tool use and toolmaking, as well as other learned skills, which permitted our ancestors to be increasingly able to live in a variety of environments. The earliest hominine fossils show evidence of marked differences in body size, which may reflect a pattern of sexual dimorphism in our early ancestors. The bones suggest that females may have been 0.9 to 1.2 m (3 to 4 ft) in height and about 27 to 32 kg (about 60 to 70 lb) in weight, while males may have been somewhat more than 1.5 m (about 5 ft) tall, weighing about 68 kg (about 150 lb). The reasons for this body size difference are disputed, but may be related to specialized patterns of behavior in early hominine social groups. This extreme dimorphism appears to disappear gradually sometime after a million years ago. Face and Teeth The third major trend in hominine development is the gradual decrease in the size of the face and teeth. All the great apes are equipped with large, tusklike canine teeth that project well beyond the level of the other teeth. The earliest hominine remainsShow MoreRelatedEvolution And Its Impact On Human Evolution910 Words   |  4 Pages Humans have gone through many stages of adaptation, allowing for great expansion and our unrivaled dominance of the earth. So it could seem as though humans have reached the peak of evolutionary development. Evolution is often thought of as a natural process, and were it not for humans, this might be true. However, evolution, in the strictest sense, is a change in the genetic structure of a population (Jurmain, et al., 5). While natural selection is a major contributor to the process of evolutionRead MoreThe Evolution Of Human Evolution1103 Words   |  5 PagesHuman evolution according to research started over 6 million years ago. 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A large number of fossil bones and teeth have been found at various places throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia. Tools of stone, bone, and wood, as well as fire hearths, campsites, and burials, also have been discovered and excavated. As a result of these discoveries, a picture of human evolution during the past 4 to 5 million years has emerged. Human Physical Traits Humans areRead MoreThe Evolution Of The Human Body989 Words   |  4 PagesThe evolution of the human body can be observed from studying the intermediates found in ancestral organisms. Shubin proposes that every attribute that makes us human can be traced back to a time that showcases its importance for survival. Every single trait in the human body has been selected for through multiple mechanisms of evolution, natural selection being one of them. This theory is intriguing because not long ago it was unheard of to relate humans to fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, andRead MoreThe Evolution Of Human Origins1179 Words   |  5 PagesInitial ideas of human origins are reflected in the ancient mythologies. Later on, religious versions of human origins appeared. One of the most popular religious theory is creationism. According to it God had created men and everything else in the world. There are two types of creationism, young earth creationism and old earth c reationism . Ancient philosophy first proposed ideas of the natural origins of men. Most of its ideas were speculative. It was the product of the ancient philosophers` imaginationRead MoreThe Evolution Of The Human Body996 Words   |  4 Pagesinformation website is primarily focused on the evolution of the human body. The web source provides various selections to choose from, including: the human evolution summary, timeline, hall of skulls, and their perspectives. Likewise, the human evolution page describes the fossil hominids and their origins. The author recapitulates the hominid family, which consists of Homo, Australopithecus, and Ardipithecus. Correspondingly, the human evolution timeline page includes six distinct topics that follow