Organizational Analysis PDF

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Organizations across multiple industries have experienced change related to internal and external influences founded upon behavioral theories. Short- and longterm organizational success requires leaders to distinguish connections between these influences and individual, group, and organizational beh...

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Organizational Analysis Wendy Wilson August 15, 2021 Organizational Behavior

The case study “The GM Culture Crisis: What leaders must learn from this culture case study by Tim Kuppler (2014) is a short summary of an investigation of the GM ignition switch recall crisis, which caused at least thirteen deaths. The top leadership team, primarily Mary Barra, would be known as the strength of the company. The case study states that she did not know about the issue until December 2013, but when she became aware she advised to “Get the right data; then do the right thing” (Kuppler, 2014). The weaknesses in the study would be the senior executives that knew about the issue to include a Vehicle Line Executive, a Chief Engineer, and three “senior managers” (Kuppler, 2014). Organizational Modeling: Current Organizational Model The study of human behavior in an organizational setting and the study of organizations as a social system, the dynamics of change in organizations, industries and markets, and the relationship between organizations and their environment is known as an organizational model (Organizational Behaviour, 2013). There are a lot, different behavioral models that companies use, however the top five that are used to are autocratic, custodial, supportive, collegial, and system (Organizational Behavior Model, 2020). After reading the case study several times the best model that describes this case study is autocratic. In an autocratic model the owners and manager’s have power to dictate and form decisions while making employees obey their orders. In this type of model employees could be forced into obedience out of fear, employees are rewarded for job well done versus reprimanded for job not performed to par. It is hard to believe that the higher executive, like Mary Barra did not know what was going on. Because of the environment that the employees worked in no one cared about exposing and resolving the issue. Because the executive managers displayed the autocratic leadership behavior, they created an environment of do not tell.

Organizational Modeling: Other Models The other organizational models that are being used are custodial, supportive, collegial, and system. The custodial model provides economic security, which comes in the form of high pay scales, remunerations like health benefits, corporate cars, and financial packaging (Organizational Behavior Model, 2020). The supportive model is based on motivating staff through the manager and employee relationship along with the treatment that an employee receives on a daily basis (Organizational Behavior Model, 2020). The collegial model is one that is developed in a way that there is no boss not subordinates, but all are colleagues who have to work as a team (Organizational Behavior Model, 2020). Organizational Modeling: Differences After researching other companies I found that the collegial model is the one being used the most. While researching other companies in the car industry I found that Nissan in fact uses the custodial model. They “strive for honest, effective two-way communication” (The Nissan Way of Doing Business, 2014). They evaluate their employees and focus on results and real performance as the true measure of success (The Nissan Way of Doing Business, 2014). The difference between these two companies is culture. The Nissan philosophy is known as the Nissan Management Way. One of the senior executives stated, “This is our way, a commonsense way that anyone in the company can take as their own” (The Nissan Way of Doing Business, 2014). As a company their guiding principle was both flexible and simple to inspire effective performance. The biggest difference between GM and Nissan is that Nissan is a customer driven company, they try their hardest to satisfy the customer. Because GM ignored the issue and

continued to install a faulty part into their vehicles meant they cared more about profit versus customer safety and satisfaction. Organizational Modeling: Culture Collective values, beliefs, attitudes and norms that influence how employees think, feel, and behave is known as organizational culture (Organizational Behaviour, 2013). A company’s culture can ultimately determine its success or failure. If the employees are happy and satisfied, they will enjoy working for their employer and perform their job to their fullest ability. However, if an employee is not satisfied with the company that they work for then it is possible that they will not perform their job to their fullest capability. Organizational Modeling: Unique and Motivational Models There are varying factors that have changed how companies operate from the past, like technology, lifestyles, and socioeconomic status. As companies hire managers, or promote from within, they all bring a different belief system of how to lead their team. While good managers encourage their employees, great managers empower them. General Motors is not known as a problematic organizational culture (Kuppler, 2013). The issue that was unique with GM is the fact that the issue lasted over an eleven-year spam, with no one correcting the issue, the employees resulted to “The GM Nod” (Kuppler, 2013). Because the GM had the autocratic management style. it is fair to guess that they will not have much employee participation and will lack motivation. The employees will obey orders because their jobs will be in jeopardy. not because they felt compelled to perform the task.

Evaluate Leadership Theory: Leadership Style The best style that could be related to the General Motors (GM) story would be the laissez-faire style. When GM gave the team members the freedom to make their own deadlines and do their own work, they were using this style of leadership. Once management realized there was a need for accountability due to a report that was brought to their attention, they realized they had to shift their leadership style. There was also a lot of incompetence that was brought to their attention as well. The change showed that changing their management style removed any type of toxic behavior that went against the company’s values. Evaluate Leadership Theory: Characteristics and Decisions The actions that the CEO Mary Barra took did not show the normal features of a manager. Most managerial decisions are made based on risk, conflict, and uncertainty along with the lack of structure guidelines. Mary Barra’s actions showed how certain the structure of programmability was. The decisions that were made reflected the information regarding the issues that were being ignored within the company. A function of a leader is to be able to identify the elements within a team that makes it functional and dysfunctional, then be able to make changes that will improve the team dynamics. Evaluate Leadership Theory: Internal and External Influences The internal influence with GM that caused a shift was the need for motivation and better talent. There also needs to be an improvement to the safety program and the quality of each employee’s performance. Because the company could not predict every situation there were some external influences as well. Making sure the company followed all business laws and ethical standards as it pertained to employees and customer safety was the biggest external factor.

Evaluate Leadership Theory: Relationship In the beginning the company followed the laissez-faire leadership style, however after the issues were found out the leadership style changed to the transformational leadership style. Because this changed happened the working environment changed into one that became more emotionally intelligent, and accountable. They realized some of the changes that the company needed to make, what actions they needed to take, and how to handle the social scrutiny. In order for the problems to be identified the management teams within the company had to engage in a decision-making process. Organizational Culture: Internal The culture within the GM organization showed how the people and the system worked against each other, which ended up limiting the employee’s performance and quality of services. The employees showed low job satisfaction due to poor working conditions, unreliable supervisors, and an award system that was unjust. The company failed to follow the workplace rules and ethical guidelines that were instructed to be followed. Organizational Cultures: Examples The biggest action that was mentioned is the GM nod, which means that employee just agreed to all proposed plans but never really meant to complete them. There was also the fact that any issues that were found were not escalated to higher management. If the issue was brought to their attention, then they would just pass the issue on to someone else, so they do not have to take responsibility for it.

Insights and Conclusions Because this company used the laissez-faire leadership style it caused the company to fail internally. Because the employees did not possess the correct communication skills it made it hard for the company’s employees to attain the desired goals and objectives. The shift from the lassiez-faire to transformational leadership style caused a change to a more progressive leadership style. This is a big change from the independent style the employees were used to. Which is why the leadership had to make the importance of the self-awareness and accountability known. After GM management received the report, they changes to a transformational leadership style. This helped leaders to inspire their employees into working their best for taking accountability for the outcomes.

References Arvinen-Muondo, R., & Perkins, S. (2013). Organizational Behaviour. Replika Press Pvt Ltd. A, N. (2004). The Nissan Way of Doing Business. Our Way. https://www.nissanglobal.com/EN/DOCUMENT/PDF/AR/2004/ar2004e_09.pdf Shethna, J. (2021, May 25). Organizational Behavior Model: Best 5 Organizational Behavior Model. EDUCBA. https://www.educba.com/organizational-behavior-model/ Kuppler, T. (2017, August 4). The GM Culture Crisis: what leaders must learn from this culture case study. Switch & Shift. https://web.archive.org/web/20180510083046/http://switchandshift.com:80/the-gmculture-crisis...