Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is a term for the personality of a company. Numerous Western companies enjoy a laid-back, family-oriented culture. Employees may dress casually; workstations may have decorations representing the inhabitants’ personalities or hobbies; pets may even occupy a space within the office. Other Western companies will have an atmosphere of professionalism where business attire is required, individual expressions are minimal, and a work-life balance may be imbalanced. Some companies may employ a mixture of the two or be completely remote so that an organizational culture may be non-existent. Successful managers will learn the company’s culture that employs them and their team dynamic to keep negative conflict to a minimum.
Evolutionists use the term culture to refer to: first, information or behavior developed through social learning; second, one or more social behaviors common to the group; or third, socially learned behaviors that have improved over consecutive episodes of societal instruction (Heyes, 2020). The company, from the case study, has a culture of competition and distrust. Due to high levels of competition, distrust has become a learned behavior. Employees will work hard to gain the advantage of the win and claim work that is not theirs, withhold information from others, or do other unethical deeds to gain the victory. In addition to employees’ characteristics, organizational culture plays a crucial role in influencing unethical actions (Kuenzi et al., 2020).
Managers will influence the attitude of their subordinates, either directly or indirectly. The negative effect is one of the ways that managers may influence their subordinates. A manager who is highly critical of those under them will provide negative affectivity to the team (Jones & George, 2023), and the team will see this as part of the culture and reflect that attitude, especially to newcomers. This vicious cycle will continue until it becomes commonplace. Mistrust, apathy, dysfunction, and reduced internal customer service will become traits of the office. New management will have a rough, uphill battle to change the culture when it becomes the standard for all involved. Senior employees will fight any policy changes because they will be under the impression that a newcomer does not understand the office dynamic and is trying to implement unnecessary changes.
Management has fostered a combative, dysfunctional culture within their workplace, and a change needs to happen immediately, primarily because of their inability to control the climate when issues were first known. Management has withheld correcting their employees, bringing chaos (King James Bible, 1995, Proverbs 23:13a), creating dysfunction that may not be resolved to stop an implosion in the workforce. The whole attitude of the team must change and change quickly. Acknowledging the dysfunction and addressing the competitiveness that has spawned such a mess must be done quickly. Suspending the reward system that allows unethical behavior will help send the message that each project is a team effort and that competing with each other is no longer allowed. Negative attitudes and talks must not be allowed within the business office, and attitudes must have appropriate penalties.  The reward and punishment system must be refurbished, employees who violate ethical standards must be disciplined, and individuals must be rewarded for ethical behavior and decisions (Kuenzi et al., 2020).
Just as the Father wants His children to live a turmoil-free life, management must change their perspective on how they view their subordinates. Christ’s love changes our mindset to see the positive and work peacefully with others. Dysfunction should birth a zeal to do better, to make life worth living. An attitude of positive affectivity needs to be set in stone and followed wholeheartedly. Dysfunction cannot be changed overnight, but recognizing the issues that have caused the dysfunction is the first step in fixing the issues.

Reply to Introduction to Leadership Discussion 1

Q – Please read the discussion below and prepare a Reply to this discussion post with comments that further and advance the discussion topic.

Discussion

Introduction to Leadership

The KSA leader that I selected is Mohammed Abdullah Al Jadaan who is the Chairman of the Financial Sustainability Program, Minister of Finance and Member of Council for Economic & Development in Saudi Arabia. I chose him because he wears a cap of a leader who reflect Saudi Vision 2030. The Saudi Vision 2030 is an all-inclusive approach to turn Saudi Arabia into a global wall of investment. Al-Jadaan’s contribution to the Fiscal Sustainability Program corresponds with some of the economic objectives in Saudi Vision 2030 which is to decries subsidies, create sovereign wealth fund and open Saudi Aramco to private investment through partial IPO.

         The aim of the Fiscal Sustainability Program is to keep public finances stable and achieve fiscal balance in the Kingdom. Saudi Vision 2030’s aspiration for economic sustainability is reflected through Al-Jadaan’s work as Structural Fiscal Reforms and reduction of the Kingdom Net Deficit Ratio of 15.8% in year 2015 to 2.3% by 2021 (Saudi Vision 2030). The program’s attempts to enhance financial accountability, develop public finances through the formation of institutions such as Government Expenditure & Projects Efficiency Authority, National Debt Management Center and Non-Oil Revenue Development Centre are consistent with vision for diversification of economy and reduction in dependence on oil.

        With regards to the imperial bases of power identified by French and Raven’s, Al-Jadaan makes use both expert power and legitimate authority (Feriors, 2021). Expert power comes from his knowledge of finance and economics that is essential for running the Fiscal Sustainability Program. From his position as the Minister of Finance, he has legitimate power that enables him to influence and take decisions. As a result, his authority serves as the impetus for promoting fiscal reforms that are specifically listed in Saudi Vision 2030.

         Al-Jadaan stand as a leader who can be emulated by others in leadership and governance. On the other hand, he is also a transformational leader as he leads Kingdom through an momentous shift in its economy. As illustrated by Kotter (1990), transformational leaders strive to create an environment that facilitate their performance of some great deeds which allows them to inspire and motivate people and Al-Jadaan uses kind of approach which is visible in his efforts towards effective structural reform.

        Additionally, he implements a participative style of leadership through openness and disclosure in financial planning. Al-Jadaan ensures that there is the formulation of a culture for collaboration and evidence base decision making through creating annually budgeted in sustainable way designing it to fit on conditions at macroeconomics level over next few years. This participative approach does not only develop trust and confidence between the citizens but it also correlates with modern leadership theories that entail a process of shared-decisions.

        The successes achieved by the Fiscal Sustainability Program under Al Jadaan’s leadership indicate that a new era has arrived in Saudi Arabia. This determination to achieve both medium- and long-term aims is strengthened by increasing non-oil revenues, and improving of financial management that are also redirecting goals of Saudi Vision 2030. Therefore, Al-Jadaan’s leadership is crucial in steering the Kingdom into economic diversification, stability and credibility on public finance thus reflecting one of the aspirations for a prosperous future.

References

Feriors. (2021, January 26). Bases of power in leadership by French and Raven.

Kotter, J (1990). Leadership versus management and emerged leadership, John Kotter’s Approach. Creative Commons. New York, NY.

Saudi Vision 2030. (n.d.). Fiscal Sustainability Program. Www.vision2030.Gov.sa. https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/en/vision-2030/vrp/fiscal-sustainability-program/

Discussion Thread: Organizational Culture

      The assigned case study this week delves into the need for immediate action rather than lengthy assessment and slow calculated moves. The restructure process will change the dynamic of the assumed organizational situations and systems and require harsher decisions of those in leadership roles (Li & Wang, 2023, p. 3).

      Under normal circumstances Theory Y could be applied to ensure staff feel valued and appreciated due to their contribution to the organization (Schmitz & Gunderman, 2019, p. 1), however, due to the urgent need as per instruction a more stringent approach is needed. Theory X states managers will take more authority over workers and although it can create negative outcomes over the long term, it is a necessity in the short term (Senarathne, 2020, p. 11-12).

      The bible speaks of dropping dead weight in the book of Isaiah and applies that meaning to thoughts that disobey the will of God, and items not of God (New International Version). In a company setting owners and managers at times have to remove staff that are not effective in their positions. Verse 1-2 in the book of John states “God cuts off the branches that bear no fruit”, which is direct instruction for humans lives in the current world (New International Version). When an impending closure or failure looms tough calls such as realignment of management staff, elimination of key roles, cost cutting of extra and non-essential expenses might be utilized. Changes in leadership can cause confusion to stakeholders however it can be unavoidable in a restructure process (Li & Wang, 2023, p.8).

      Utilizing a basic re-structuring process initially by cutting all non-essential expenses immediately, which could be deactivating all company cards staff hold and stemming all raises and bonuses thus stopping the flow from unauthorized sources. Advising staff in low producing departments, they were furloughed or temporarily laid off providing the influx of their salaries back into the system. Closing locations pending the size of the business is another way to cut expenses, however there is not enough information to list that as a must do.

      Staff unity would be beneficial, however, at this point given the situation, the main focus must be ensuring each staff member knows their particular job and is providing their best effort in the process. Negative speech will only lead to discord (Merida et al., 2015, p. 151). Narrowing latitude of managers and instructing a management style more structured and authoritative will assist as well, while cross training and ensuring more staff are able to complete assorted tasks under the new structure (Jones & George, 2022, 55). Managers will need to assess quickly and downsize their departments to the absolutes therefore eliminating staff overhead and in essence ensure each department head maintains control over the specific objectives set for the short-term situation (Senarathne, 2020, p. 14).

       Last minute efforts for company salvage could be filing Chapter 11 to protect assets and ensure creditors are kept at bay (Hotchkiss, et al., 2023, p. 2), however it is unclear if this situation would warrant this step.

      Cost cutting is first and foremost then the shuffle of key personnel into new roles that create the opening for eliminating unessential higher and middle management positions is next (Li & Wang, 2023, p.10). This is followed closely by utilizing Theory X for closer supervision while the company gains its footing in the market and financially (Jones & George 2022, 50-51). Once all departments are running efficiently and the financial situation is fully under control, only then can staff retention plans be instituted to provide longevity to the organization.