Classical school of thought

Classical school of thought INTRODUCTION There are three main areas to the classical school of thought; the Classical, Humanistic and Management Science perspectives. All three of these perspectives helped shape how industry developed through the ages, and elements of the classical school of thought are still used today in modern management. The Classical perspective emphasised a scientific and efficient approach to managing work. The Humanistic approach focused on human behaviour and attitudes as well as how to motivate workers to achieve the very best they could at work. Finally the Management Science perspective stressed the importance of applying quantitative techniques such as statistics and mathematics to management problems. One early management innovator who is sometimes known as the pioneer of management1 was Robert Owen (1771 1856) who ran mills, most famously of all in New Lanark where he introduced several new management practices. Owen also contributed towards the humanistic perspective by trying to make life better for his workers through understanding his workers needs for example by providing a nursery so employees with young children could continue working, and by proposing political reforms on issues such as shorter working hours for children, higher wages and increased job security so that workers safety and physiological needs would be better met. Even though these reforms were not passed in full due to his ideas failing to win him immediate followers and possibly being too radical for the time due to the all-or-nothing approach 2 Owens work went on to influence key reformers such as Joseph Rowntree and heavily influenced management in todays world. CONTRIBUTIONS Technological advancements such as the steam engine radically changed the organization of work. A large number of workers gathered together in a new type of workplace called a factory. This new way of organizing work was a serious challenge to any manager of the time. Planning, organizing, leading and controlling such a large and complex organization brought about many problems and challenges. Therefore, decisions based on rules of thumb and tradition became obsolete and new approaches and solutions had to be developed. Conditions in early factories were extremely harsh, with very hazardous working conditions for all employees. Long working hours (normally at least 13 hours per day, six days a week) were the norm, with children as young as five or six working under the same conditions as adults. Factory owners placed more importance on the care of their expensive machines than on the well-being (or otherwise) of their expendable employees.3 Robert Owen radically altered the approach to how a factory is run, placing more emphasis on the actual workers within the environment than just the wellbeing of the equipment. As the classical school of thought regarded people as machines, Owen recognised that machines must be well cared for in order to function optimally and lastingly, and thus improved on the classical perspective by treating the workers in a more humane way that would give them the respect and motivation to perform their best, in a happier work environment. Robert Owen not only made Lanark Mills more profitable than any other mills at the time, but he proved that happy, educated and healthy employees work harder and achieve better results: Proving that his method was effective. Owen was able to produce unheard of profit and good productivity due to his new methods of work, thus gaining New Lanark and himself international recognition. Owens social reform that helped his business progress included: Improving housing conditions Making a public refuse system Paving new streets Robert Owen was a pioneer in trying to limit child labour, by introducing a more humane and progressive employment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦No children younger than ten years old were employed and these were allowed relatively decent breaks for meals and some modestly worthwhile educational opportunities.4 In adult labour his efforts were continued extensively by enforcing simple rules to eradicate drunkenness, laziness, and crime. In order to reduce these efforts Owen created a Silent Monitor System where a square piece of wood indicated an employees performance via the colour at the front of the square; this could be linked to scientific management where employees are monitored to improve productivity, as well as the humanistic perspective as the system was an attempt to motivate laggards to perform better and good workers to maintain high performance.5 Owen thus created a workplace that was motivated and content. Owen managed to influence other early industrialists by buying out his opponen ts and changing the way their businesses were run, to mimic his new approach. This would in turn, cause others to see how he was increasing efficiency in the workplace with his methods, and cause them to follow suit. Modern managers recognize the importance of employee welfare, as they have seen how much of an impact good care can increase business success, learning from past examples, such as the ones set by Robert Owen. For example: offering flexible work methods where employees may work from home due to a large commutes, or children, so long as their work is sent in on time. Nowadays employees are offered perks in their jobs to increase working satisfaction, and hopefully increase their dedication to the company. E.g. Dental and medical care, holidays, pension funds, company cars/phones. By Owen giving education and general aid to his workers, we in the modern society have made this standard and are always looking for ways to further improve working environments and processes, to make businesses even more efficient and also enjoyable. LIMITATIONS As we have seen Robert Owen was an innovator in the industrial revolution, creating policies to benefit the business environment and creating a work place that was motivational, progressive, and organized. However, Robert Owen was considered somewhat radical in the business workplace during the time of the industrial revolution, and thus his policies had many limitations. Even in todays business environment some of his policies would be considered too heavily biased on equality, instead of focusing on profits, which remains the main aim of businesses in modern management. Robert Owens philosophy within management was based upon socialism, creating an equal workplace for everyone, to increase the overall welfare of society. He tried to stress this with his business associates, however due to his views being considered radical at the time; Owen alienated himself from many of his business partners. In his Truth Principles he states Any community may be arranged, on a due combination of the foregoing prin ­ciples, in such a manner as not only to withdraw vice, poverty, and, in a great de ­gree, misery from the world, but also to place every individual under such circum ­stances in which he shall enjoy more permanent happiness than can be given to any individual under the principles which have heretofore regulated society.6 Robert Owen believed that in todays business worlds, every worker could enjoy permanent happiness, however the principles of management are based on a competitive market place, in which capitalist values are at the core of creatin g a profitable business and permanent happiness for workers is not the main objective of companies. Robert Owens theories would be considered as too radical and somewhat unrealistic to achieve in modern management, due to the fact that everyone must have some form of authority and responsibility, creating a workplace based on incentive and promotional prospects instead of ensuring worker happiness. The diagram demonstrates another limitation that Robert Owens classical theories contain. Robert Owen could not have foreseen how business would have developed at such a rapid rate, and to the extent in which businesses have expanded, creating new branches of business in which modern management has to facilitate. Thus Robert Owen could not have known how difficult it would be to create a business structure that creates an equal and socially responsible work environment that tries to cater for an ever growing population and the effects of globalization. EVALUATION Robert Owen is truly one of the most influential management contributors in the classical perspective. He helped build a basis for modern management by introducing key social reforms, technological improvements, and increased worker productivity. Owen formed a structure for humanistic managers to develop their skills and become socially accepted. By increasing the amount of healthy adult workers, and reducing the amount of child labour, this, over a long period of time on a large scale made the countrys economy stronger by taking pressure off of the basic health systems at the time and increased the number of children in education, in order to develop a higher skilled society. By believing that every worker could contribute in some aspect and that every individual was vital to the success of his business, Owen was an inspiration to Douglas McGregor, who was the main contributor to theory X and theory Y analysis. However, we have seen some of the limitations to his approach to management and although this was heavily influenced by the classical school of thought, to achieve his status as a pioneering manager, he used humanistic approaches too. He has proved that no one can use just one school of thought only, but a mixture of this and humanistic to improve efficiency between workers and the operations of the business. SOURCES AND REFERENCES Robert Owen. Robert Owen. Web. 4 Nov. 2009. . Daft, Richard L. New Era Of Management. South-Western, 2008. Print. Sources/References Sources used for the introduction: http://www.answers.com/topic/management-historical-perspectives Additional background reading for the introduction: Robert Owen, Prophet of the Poor edited by Pollard and Salt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_management_techniques http://www.laynetworks.com/Theories-of-Motivation.html ((http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/historical/biography/robert_owen.html))contributions) http://www.reliance-securities.com/images/img_structure.jpg

Antiguan Paints: Lack of Communication and Poor Organizational Structur

As this case analysis was thoroughly investigated we have discovered that the company Antiguan paints had some major problems, after careful consideration and collaboration it has been established that the core problems which hinders the success of Antiguan Paints are as a result of the lack of organization structure and Communication. The Satellite problems stated within this case study are management, leadership, role conflict and role ambiguity. Organization structure can be defined as the process that determines the authority relationships amongst employees within an organization. Communication can be considered as a process or flow, it conveys a message and it is the transference of understanding and meaning, it is also physical as well as psychological. Summary of the Facts Antiguan Paints was formed in 1980 by a group of local businessmen who came together to take over a foreign owned company that had gone into voluntary liquidation. The company continued to make a loss after two years and as a result of the loss they hired a consultant, Mr. Stanley Edwards with whom they depended on to make major decisions within the organization. During Mr. Edwards’s stint at Antiguan Paints he was informed of various complaints against Mr. Hilary Frankly. It has been said that it was a case of no management rather than mismanagement seeing that Mr. Franklyn was not able to cope with people. The majority of employees came from the same neighborhood as Mr. Franklyn. Mr. Franklyn allowed the workers to lime and play cards during work hours, he allowed tardiness for example employees being late from which he did nothing. Mr. Franklyn took the responsibility and did all the work himself. Causes of the Problem Firstly,... ..., depress and exhibit dissatisfaction. Mr. Franklyn is constantly allowing his subordinates to exhibit behavior that they have learnt within their environment, this is as a result of majority of his subordinates living within the same neighborhood and he has allowed them to bring the same culture that they exhibit within their neighborhood into the organization. Hence his subordinates don’t have any respect for him and they will continue to do as they please once they know that at the end of the day Mr. Franklyn is going to do the work and also that he would not reprimand them for their behavior. The lack of a marketing department within the organization has also resulted in their problems; they took it upon themselves to unethically sell both their higher and lower level products at the same price however obtaining other supplies to label the lower quality paint.

Essay --

Hi my name is Ethyn Scott, can I ask everyone to stand up please – That was fairly easy for most of us right? Thank you, please be seated. There are approximately 1.7 million Americans living with being an Amputee, according to statistics verified by Diabetes Amputation Prevention, Net Wellness Foundation on July 28,2013. Many of these people become amputees due to health issues but most are males under age 45 that had injuries that lead to amputations due to trauma. The War in Iraq has left more soldiers with amputations than any other previous war and coined a new term Dismounted Complex Blast Injury, which involves multiple limb amputations.[1] With such high numbers of young people with multpile amputees, the need for better prosthetics , and technological advances, what was once science fiction is now a reality with the creation of the Exoskeleton. A robotic suit that allows paraplegics the use of their limbs and gives the military personal super human strength. When President Obama ended the 9 year War in Iraq 4,400 United States troops were ordered to return to their homes by January 2012. According to the U.S Defense Department the human cost of more than 5,225, deaths, 50,159, injured, over 1,572 amputees have lost one or both legs, as well as with 486 soldiers having multiple amputations, The Exoskeleton is not just for paraplegics but also the military, and what was once science fiction is now a reality. The Exoskeletons similar to Tony Stark AKA Iron Man! How many of you have seen the Iron Man movies? Well did you know his bulletproof, computer interfaced, flame-throwing, flying, weapon- loaded, body armor suit that allows him to become super human actually exists! Well not entirely, the Exoskeleton is the Iron... ... maneuverability and agility over the XOS 1 version. It is also more resistive to environmental challenges.† The XOS2 astonishing great new features allows the operator to run and walk but it is not only limited to that. â€Å"Approximately 70% of the injuries orthopedic surgeons see while serving in the region are orthopedic-related.† Due to the new ability of the suit allowing soilders to lift a large object and hold for a long period of time with out pain, this should stop the orthopedic pain caused to the body by the heavy loads. The XOS2 like the first verison the XOS(used in hospitals) is tethered to the hydraulics power source by a wire. There is a develop in a XOS2 Suit not requiring a power wire, Researchers plan to develop a fuel carrying backpack in hopes of having a battery that last 8 hours long and will allow mobility and the user in combat environments.

HSE Management system Essay

Management and supervision (at all levels) shall be regarded as being fully committed to HSE by all staff and contractors. They are to be seen as providing a leading role towards constant improvement through leadershiptheir behaviours and action planning. Their HSE performance will be assessed against achievement of annual objectives. Element 2.Policy and Strategic Objectives This HSEMS element addresses corporate intentions, principles of action and aspirations with respect to health, safety and environment and the aim of improved HSE performance. Basic Requirements Companies shall have a written HSE policy embodying as a minimumthe ADNOC Group Policy contents. HSE objectives shall be challenging understood by all and consistently incorporated in policies. In setting objectives management shall consider the overall risk levels of their Companies’ activities and shall identify those critical operations and installations requiring a fully documented demonstration that risks have been reduced to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). Element 3.Organisation, Resources and Competence This HSEMS element addresses the organisation of people, resources and the competence required for sound HSE performance. Basic Requirements The necessary organisation and resources to comply with the HSEMS shall be provided. Responsibilities at all levels shall be clearly described, communicated and understood. Staff shall be developed following structured competency assessment and training systems. Contractors will be required to manage HSE in their activities as per or better than the company objectives. HSE communication shall be effective and structured to provide key information to all relevant organisation levels. Element 4Risk Evaluation and Management This HSEMS element addresses the identification, evaluation and management of HSE hazards and evaluation of HSE risks, for all activities, products and services, and the development of measures to reduce these risks. Basic Requirements The risk management process for all HSE critical operations and installations shall include: -an inventory of the major hazards to the environment and to the health and safety of personnel the public and customers from all the activitiesmaterials products and services; -an assessment of the related risks implementation of measures to control these risks and to recover in case of control failure. The up-to-date inventory of hazards and assessed risks relating to the usestorage transport and disposal of all products is available to the workforcecustomers and others. Product stewardship shall be applied at all stages of product life cycle relevant to the Company’s activities. Health Safety and Environmental impact assessment (including a consideration of social impacts) shall be conducted prior to all new activities facility developments and/or significant modifications to existing ones. Health risk assessment shall address physical chemical biologicalergonomic and psychological health hazards associated with the work environment. Soil and groundwater contamination shall be assessed and where required control or remediation shall be in-hand. An HSE assessment shall form an integral part of any proposal for acquisition divestment abandonment or merger of business entities. Element 5Planning, Standards and Procedures This HSEMS element addresses the planning of work activities and the standards and procedures along which these shall be executed, specifically the risk reduction measures as selected through the evaluation and risk management process. It includes safeguarding the integrity of assets, managing changes and developing and testing emergency response measures. Basic Requirements An HSE Plan shall be in place which demonstrates pursuit of continuous improvement principles at all organisation levels. HSE Critical equipment shall be subject to adequate asset integrity controls. Adequate standards and procedures, derived from clearly defined risk assessments/analyses, or internationally acceptable practices shall be in place and understood at the appropriate organisational levels. Preparation, review and distribution of all key reference documentation shall be adequately controlled. Change, in all its typical business aspects, will be adequately controlled. Emergency response procedures (including HSE emergencies) shall be regularly tested. Element 6Implementation and Monitoring This HSEMS element addresses the manner in which activities are to be performed and monitored, and corrective action to be taken when necessary. Basic Requirements All HSE critical activities shall be executed according to the set standards, procedures and work instructions. HSE performance targets shall be set to ensure progression towards the long-term goals of no harm to people and no damage to the environment. Performance indicators shall be established, monitored and results reported in a way that can be externally verified. All HSE incidents and near misses with significant actual or potential consequences shall be thoroughly investigated and reported and action shall be taken to avoid reoccurrence. Element 7Audit Basic Requirements An audit programme shall be in place to review and verify effectiveness of the management system. It shall include audits by auditors independent of the process or facility audited. Element 8Management Review Basic Requirements Management shall regularly review the suitability and effectiveness of the HSE ms

Ingvar Kamprad Leadership Essay

Business Leader Profile Ingvar Kamprad Founder of Ikea Retail Stores Why Ingvar Kamprad? Does the name Ingvar Kamprad mean anything to you? To most people it doesn’t and it's a testament to the fact that he built up a brand that is so powerful people recognize it immediately, while not tying it into, or even knowing, the genius behind it. The brand? IKEA! The reason why we chose this business leader is simple, Ingvar Kamprad is a businessman and the founder of IKEA with an estimated worth of $22. 5 billion dollars.Kamprad was born in the south of Sweden in 1926 and raised on a farm called Elmtaryd, near the small village of Agunnaryd. He is a great leader and one amazing thing about him is that he went into business early in life, selling matches as a schoolboy and also, very wisely for his age (or any age for that matter) Kamprad took his profits and used them to expand his operations, adding to his small line of goods with decorations of Christmas trees, fish, and seeds. He was learning the operational side of retailing, and he was learning it quickly and profitably.When Kamprad did well in school, his dad rewarded his with some money, and that was the seed to launch a company he named IKEA. He got the name from his initials I. K. , and then added the EA from the name of the farm and the town he was raised in – Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd. Don't think the idea of a furniture company was brewing in the mind of Kamprad with his new company, he still focused on smaller items, and for the most part look to the business of securing contracts of supplying pencils. Like in his younger years, Kamprad soon began to expand into all sorts of other areas, including everything from jewelry to male and female ccessories. He soon outgrew individual visits to customers and went into the mail order business on the local level, having the milk trucks deliver his products to his customers. When Kamprad first included furniture as part of the product line of IKEA, his i dea was to use local manufacturers to keep costs low and under control. That was in 1947. By 1951, furniture sales were so successful, he decided to drop all other products and focus on the furniture line alone. The first furniture showroom opened in 1953, and the rest is history.Almost immediately a price war started between IKEA and its chief competitor, and the inclusion of the showroom helped sway potential customers who were able to see and touch the quality before making their purchases. Like many great retailers, Kamprad was obsessed with controlling costs, and dedicated to finding new ways to do things at a less expensive level. That has been one of the major reasons behind the ongoing success of IKEA furniture sales and profits. Some people attempt to point out the fact that Kamprad has several properties he owns and so the frugal image is contrived.I have to disagree with that, because the reason he can afford some of these things is because he remained frugal within the c onstruct of his company, and so because he was able to put of instantaneous gratification, could then do whatever he wanted once he became wealthy. While there is some truth to the image part, it was also very much practiced by Kamprad. Many people think being frugal is being cheap in a negative way, and yet those best at it are the ones that serve their customers and employees at the highest level by giving customers the best deals possible, while at the same time offering longevity to employees.The best definition that reflects the idea of leadership for Kamprad is â€Å"Leadership is a kind of activity meant to influence behavior, beliefs and feelings of the group members in a certain direction. † (Wright, Peter L. and Taylor, David S. Improving Leadership Performance. Great Britain: Prentice-Hall International Ltd; 1984. p. 2). As Peter F. Drucker said â€Å"The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say â€Å"I. † And that’s not because t hey have trained themselves not to say â€Å"I. † They don’t think â€Å"I. They think â€Å"we†; they think â€Å"team. † This idea is mostly based on a simple word, and that word is â€Å"team†. Every leader who has this trait is surely to have great success simply because they don’t work and take decisions just on their own, they seek and welcome the help of employees, one of those leaders being Kampard of course. If we go back to Niccolo Machiavelli, we can see that he once said that â€Å"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. and it a really smart and correct thesis, because in order for a leader to successfully empower his organization he needs employees, but not just any employee, they have to be creative, loyal and intelligent in order to really be useful to their organisation. So while cost control is a major part of the IKEA success story, the empowerment of its custo mers is as well, which is brought about from a highly committed and talented design team. Leader’s position in organizational structure „In an hierarchical system, participants take for granted what the participants with the higher position defines† (Becker, 1998).In other words, social actors in the labor market believe what the professionals (leaders, professors, mass-media) define as leadership, considering that the privilege formal position brings privilege information and ethics. This is not a valid statement if we look into the organizational structure at IKEA. Anecdotes about Kamprad abound. When his father complained that Ingvar slept late in the morning, Ingvar got himself an alarm clock, set it for six o’clock, and yanked away the off button. According to Kamprad, we should all divide our lives â€Å"into 10-minute units, and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activity. Though past 80, Kamprad still travels the world to visit new IKEA stores. He flies economy class, calls his employees â€Å"co-workers,† encourages everyone to dress informally, stays in cheap hotels and even replaces bottles from the hotel room mini-bar with cheap bottles bought in local supermarkets. He gives no interviews. As far as setting an example through his actions, Kamprad flies only economy class, drives a 15-year-old vehicle, and focuses on little things for his workers like writing on both sides of the paper, and other frugal practices. That has helped IKEA remain on the top of a highly competitive market.Critics of these stories say they seem intended to reinforce the company’s no-nonsense brand and encourage cost-awareness among company staff. They point out that Kamprad may be the world’s richest man, that owns several lavish houses around the world, and that it would be ludicrous to assume a man of such wealth would not use any of it for private purposes. If you've ever read IKEA literature, catalogs or advertising, they reinforce their and Ingvar Kamprad's motto of not only existing to make improvements in the lives of people, but to improve people themselves.With that in mind, the way the stores themselves are set up and the design of the furniture built with the idea of being very simple to assemble, it generates the healthy idea of self-sufficiency, which helps empower people and make them feel good about themselves. Leader or non-leader; manager or leader If we would be to make a list with leader and non-leader and manager traits we would easily see that Ingvar Kampard is a leader, not only that, he is a good example for hundreds of people out there who thrive to become leaders themselves. If we look closely at Kampard we can see that he is a proactive an, he believes in people following examples, he motivates and inspires top results and has great strategic orientation. If a leader is not like this, then as Abraham Maslow said †If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. †. Based on interviews with employees at IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad is a good example of leadership because he strongly expresses the organisational value of IKEA through his behaviours. Thereby, all the IKEA employees (from top management to co-workers) follow this organisational value as a framework.In addition, the leadership style of management position also was influenced through strong organisational value. Employees have used descriptives such as „role model† and „father† when speaking about Ingvar Kamprad thereby denoting the familial nature of IKEA corporate culture. If we apply the model of leader vs. Manager described by Abraham Zaleznik – Ingvar Kamprad is the epitome of business leader. All of this is based on his empathic relationship with his co-workers and employees. By setting examples and inspiring, he also sets the company’s overall direction by altering the direction of its employees.One of his subordinates characterises his leadership style as a „teacher†. Senge (1990) and Max de Pree(1990)’s theory states that a leader should be a teacher in the organization „ †¦ much of the leverage leaders can actually exert lies in helping people achieve more accurate , more insightful and more empowering views of reality, when the leaders carrying out stewardship (Senge, 1990: 353)†, according to Senge (1990). The roles that leaders should play is exactly how Kamprad has been doing for so long. Creativity As Teresa M. Amabile once said „Keep doing what you are doing†.Or if you want to spark innovation, rethink how you motivate, reward, and assign work to people. † What is business creativity? We tend to associate creativity with the arts and to think of it as the expression of higly original ideas. Think of Pablo Picasso reinvented the conventions of painting or how William Faulkner redefined fiction. In business, originali ty isn’t enough. To be creative, an idea must also be appropriate, useful and actionable. Within every individual, creativity is a function of three components : expertise, creative-thinking skills and motivation.Expertise is, in a word knowledge – technical, procedual and intellectual. Creative-thinking skills determine how flexibly and imaginatively people approach problems. Do their solutions apend the status quo? Do they persevere through dry spells? Not all motivation is created equal. An inner passion to solve the problem at hand leads to solutions far more creative than do external rewards, such as money. This compenent – called intrinsic motivation is the one that can be most immediately influenced by the work environment.Senior manager at IKEA strongly believes that IKEA is a creative organisation based upon home-furnishing company; IKEA has to be creative within value â€Å"efficiency and cost conscious†. This reason makes IKEA differ from other companies because it is not easy to produce a good product at low price. Furthermore, IKEA has a strong organisational value that every employee should concern as follows: †¢ Togetherness †¢ Cost consciousness †¢ Respect †¢ Simplicity IKEA follows a model of „family business† because at its inception, Ingvar Kamprad was developing it as a family business which eventually grew to outstanding proportions.Due to this, most of his own ideeas like the simplicity and togetherness have actually become some of the company’s most important organizational aspects. IKEA is an extremely creative organisation because IKEA allows employees to work in freedom and are open for trying new ideas. To demonstrate clearly, when employees have concepts, it is important to express their concepts to the manager in order to consider whether it is possible to develop and make this concept concrete. The respondent emphasises that â€Å"It does not take a long time, if you have a really good idea.This creative idea will be developed and spread out to use at every store of IKEA in the world Moreover, the organisation also encourages employees to continually learn from their own experience and also other’s experiences such as co-workers. As a result, employees are able to complete their own tasks as well as generate new ideas that make IKEA different from other companies. Leadership styles Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. Kurt Lewin (1939) led a group of researchers to identify different styles of leadership.After a complete analisys of all three styles(autocratic, democratic and delegative) we have reached the conclusion that Ingvar Kampard is most of the times a Participative(democratic) leader. This style involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process (determining what to do and how to do it). However, the leader maintains the final decision making authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness, rather it is a sign of strength that your employees will respect. But of course, he is not always using this style, since every problem requires a different style.Besides the fact that Kamprad is one of the wealthiest living people, he is also an impressive leader. The leadership style he embodies is one of personal example. Though he has billions of dollars, Ingvar is reluctant to a life in luxury. People confess seeing him haggling in the market and dining together with his wife in cheap, dirty places. His image makes up for billion words. Black worn out shoes, cheap glasses and a grey faded coat dress up the billionaire in most of his rendezvous. Taxis are substituted with public transportation like busses and subways and, luxurious jets with low-cost airlines.By his daily routine and his habits of living in an artificial poverty, Ingvar Kamprad embodies the average IKEA customer. â€Å"I look at the mo ney I'm about to spend on myself and ask if IKEA customers could afford it. † â€Å"If I start to acquire luxurious things then this will only incite others to follow suit†¦ †. Ingvar considers himself to be an example for all others and tries to appear as a normal individual. In â€Å"A Furniture Dealer’s Testament,† Kamprad suggests that â€Å"IKEA people do not drive flashy cars or stay at luxury hotels. †, â€Å"How the hell can I ask people who work for me to travel cheaply if I am traveling in luxury? he asks. â€Å"It’s a question of good leadership. † From a young age, Ingvar learned what working hard meant and what a strong bound truly is. He is a preacher of the religion of simplicity and during over half a century, along the constant growth of his company, numerous others joined in. According to Plato, the mob is a â€Å"big and dangerous animal† which must not be underestimated. What kind of strategy could work with masses rather than a leader of their status? Governments have fallen and people died along time only to protect the need of having a representative leader which could alike them.Ingvar Kamprad succeeded in building up a truly simple and productive leadership style only by regarding himself as equal as and never more important than the commoner. Nicolo Machiavelli stated: â€Å"Religion is not important because of the truth it holds but because of its efficiency in maintaining control over masses†. In our case we have little to do with angry mobs but with the angry way in which money are wasted by a company or individual in matter of costs. Kamprad understood this fact and built a distinctive corporate culture which comprehended his true nature.In contrast, the famous RJR enjoyed the expense of private planes and luxury and unlike our billionaire, success was only passing by. Warren Buffet’s mentality resembles the one IKEA’s Founder and together with the m indset, the income is comparable. Coming again to Plato, the philosopher once said „Those who rule must provetheir leadership abilities. A person can be trained to be a good ruler, but we have to distinguish between superficial competencies (oratory) and profound competencies (developed with the help of philosophy). The ruler has to guard not only the peaceon the ship but also to know which wayto sail and ow. † Ingvar’s thinking is flexible and innovative. Mistakes are praised and considered as the most important link to success. He is without regard a transformational leader. His style motivates people and defines a new way of thinking. Ingvar also connects with his followers and is a source of inspiration for younger generations. Bernard M. Bass, after decades of research and experimentation, regards transformational leaders as the leaders who recognize the needs of the followers and in addition tends to go further and satisfy higher needs of the follower.All of these actions are aimed to propel the follower on a higher tier in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Whereas common leadership or transactional leadership seeks only to maintain the satisfaction of the individual, transformational leadership looks into enchanting the well-being of the followers in order to achieve a higher outcome alongside with their happiness and devotion. This gap between the leadership styles is what I believe to be the main reason for the existence of excellent, world-changing people, in contrast with the unsuccessful ones.Their view of the world is their most precious asset and how they regard to others is the main secret of conquering unreached heights. Due to the fact that Ingvar Kamprad has a unique way to behave with the employees of IKEA and tries to enrich them with traits so important for the success of both the corporation and the employee’s leadership skills, I believe that Kamprad is a brilliant representative of Bass’s beliefs. Kamp rad could also be considered to be a Level 5 leader according to Jim Collins’s â€Å"Good to Great†. Ingvar greets the uncommon and is on a constant quest for taking apart obstacles which lie between failure and success.His constant struggle for reaching excellence in everything he does could be clearly seen in the process which I would like to call â€Å"building the empire of self†. His focus on the main purpose, the one of bringing innovative furniture in each and every household and changing the lives of many by simplifying their existence, assured his success and the status of one of the greatest business managers and leaders to have ever existed. A Napoleon of the furniture industry, Kamprad was. Close to followers, talented and emotionally involved were some principles he used during his reign.Thus many would say he received divine help, he started as a common man. Only his devotion and hard work made the difference. Garry Gemmill and Judith Oakley refer to a leader as a Messiah or a savior and hardly agree with the concept of a leader as a creator. Moreover, they state that â€Å"Leadership is nothing else but a myth propagated in order to keep everybody else quiet and nice. † . They might be right but in my consideration, this words do not apply to the hero we analyze in this project. Ingvar strongly encourages creative discussions within the company and his actual position is one of a leant and a symbol of excellence.David Goleman on the other hand expresses, in his work â€Å"What makes a Leader? † some traits which could help us identify other traits of the IKEA Giant. Goleman places a great emphasis on emotional intelligence and connects the status of a leader according to it. The main skills David puts behind a glorious leader are Self-awareness, Self-regulation, Motivation and the abilities to relate to others – Empathy, and Social Skill. Ingvar seems gifted with emotional intelligence when managing peop le and events. Happiness is in his opinion the greatest asset an IKEA worker should possess.An excellent business man and an excellent time manager he proved to be during many occasions and time only knows when the world could inherit another great leader such as Ingvar Kamprad, the Swedish Scotsman. Conflict management style â€Å"The Ikean culture, which was directly linked to Scandinavian culture, valued simplicity and informality, frugality, humbleness, responsibility, and the constant will to renew. † The company initially sold furniture provided by numerous suppliers. As time passed, competition started to corrupt the suppliers and as a result, Ingvar decided never to trust others than himself.It was a turning point in the history of IKEA which now started to produce its own furniture. A moment of conflict and lack of trust turned into a brilliant idea and started to place the organization on the path to success. Another turning point in Ikean history was by the time an employee decided to disassemble the furniture in order to transport it by car. Kamprad saw this particularly insignificant moment of conflict as a possibly gorgeous opportunity for the future. From that point onward, the furniture company started to differentiate and build up not just furniture but a light, innovative, easy to use and cheap type of furniture.The most significant property Ingvar’s furniture has is its ability to be assembled by the customer and offer him the joy of putting the puzzle pieces together. Price was amazing. IKEA furniture was 50% cheaper than the competition and besides this important factor; it was more than friendly and practical. Ingvar once was accused of being a Nazi supporter due to the fact that he attended to their meetings on numerous occasions. The conflict took a serious impact on Ingvar’s personality and started to shift its public perception in a truly negative way.However, the conflict was in some manner consumed when Kamprad composed letters of apology to all his employees and people whom he disappointed. He recognized that he made a mistake and that it was a dark chapter in his existence which shouldn’t have happened. Questioning the status quo is Ingvar’s best way in dealing with everyday problems and through his successful career they were many. To begin with, the more IKEA grew, the more Ingvar’s problems developed. Alcohol, Nazi support and deaths at the opening of a store were only the biggest of them.Despite the severity of the problem, the modesty, humanity and determination always brought Ingvar on the right track. For the IKEA founder, conflict never ceased to be functional. It helped both him and the employees remain focused and constructive. It generated growth, activated learning, maintained excellent interpersonal skills and gave a different perspective over issues. The main conflict management style of his was collaborating. In almost every occasion he and the employe es formed a team and everyone is expected to contribute with anything they can.Departments are structured on the philosophy of sharing ideas and support. Also, there is a win-win situation between IKEA and its customers. On the one side, IKEA has tremendous profit margins (about 16% – almost two times higher than other furniture retailers) and sells for tens of billions annually and on the other side, the customer benefits from exceptional quality and practicability for the given money. Ingvar’s mentality (comprehended by the Business Harvard Review: How Management Teams Can Have a Good Fight) is one of creating common goals. The company and he was an impeccably motivated and determined group of people.Creative and interpersonal relations are also highly praised within a company and IKEA makes no exception. In his work, Kenneth W. Thomas, refers more and more to the importance of conflict in an organization. Throughout a sustained study of the great players in the corp orate world, the mesmerizing power of a poorly managed conflict is revealed. Too many companies suffer great reductions in income and performance due to this mostly overlooked default. Using a bi-dimensional representation, Thomas expressed the whole conflict issue using 5 elements – Avoiding, Accommodating, Compromising, Competitive and Collaborative.The IKEA model works entirely based on the Collaborative model due to the fact that it is mostly a win-win situation in which both the company and the employee reach a high level of fulfillment. Conflict can also be managed using a system of rewards resembling the one parents use for their children. It might be unexpected but I believe this is an awesome way to educate outsiders and to make them behave according to a reward. Despite the fact that it might be a bit manipulative, the rewards system is a good way to achieve a prosperous work environment.However, if good is not enough for a company, this system could be substituted by one composed of amazing people, highly talented and qualified personnel which requires little training and can propel the company to new heights. The ideal way in which I believe conflict could be turned into a powerful creative force is through the use of Virtuoso Teams. Despite the fact these kinds of teams require a constant action and an important continuous goal. Jeff Weiss and Jonathan Hughes express in their â€Å"Accept-And Actively Manage Conflict† the necessity of conflict in a prosperous working environment.After and during the Industrial Revolution, people and mostly employees were kept under and oppressive working regime which limited their creativity and power to change their condition. Riots were common and worker unions started to prosper. However, the work was dull and no sane man could cope with it more than a few years. Now, a century later, conflict is comprehended as a powerful tool. Just thinking about the Olympiads or a race between two close friends is more than enough in order to have an insight into the invisible motivation a challenge releases.The same principle applies in the development of Ikean furniture. People have a â€Å"Vojna Idej† (War of the Ideas) and as a result breakthroughs occur. However, due to the fact this war of ideas is hardly sustainable in time, there must be a boundary composed of the corporate vision and goal. I believe that none of the amazing commercials and ways of presenting the company could have emerged without a nearly balanced conflict management system. Weather we think of the cleverly designed buss stations or the exquisite TV commercials, IKEA is a sign of greatness. EthicsBusiness ethics (also corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations. Busin ess ethics reflects the philosophy of business, one of whose aims is to determine the fundamental purposes of a company. If a company's purpose is to maximize shareholder returns, then sacrificing profits to other concerns is a violation of its fiduciary responsibility.Kamprad began to develop a business as a young boy, selling matches to neighbors from his bicycle. He found that he could buy matches in bulk very cheaply from Stockholm, sell them individually at a low price, and still make a good profit. From matches, he expanded to selling fish, Christmas tree decorations, seeds, and later ballpoint pens and pencils. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him a cash reward for succeeding in his studies. IKEA was founded in 1943 at his uncle Ernst's kitchen table. In 1948, Kamprad diversified his portfolio, adding furniture.His business was mostly-mail order. The acronym IKEA is made up of the initials of his name (Ingvar Kamprad) plus those of Elmtaryd, the family farm where he was b orn, and the nearby village Agunnaryd. Kamprad has lived in Epalinges, Switzerland since 1976. According to an interview with TSR, the French language Swiss TV broadcaster, Kamprad drives a 15-year-old Volvo 240, flies only economy class, and encourages IKEA employees always to write on both sides of a paper. He reportedly recycles tea bags and is known to pocket the salt and pepper packets at restaurants. In addition, Kamprad has been known to visit IKEA for a â€Å"cheap meal. † He is also known to buy Christmas paper and presents in post-Christmas sales. The firm he created is still known for the attention it gives to cost control, operational details and continuous product development, allowing it to lower its prices by an of average 2-3% over the decade to 2010, while continuing its global expansion. Kamprad explains his social philosophy thusly in his â€Å"A Furniture Dealer's Testament,† â€Å"It is not only for cost reasons that we avoid the luxury hotels.We don't need flashy cars, impressive titles, uniforms or other status symbols. We rely on our strength and our will! † Despite this, Kamprad allows himself some luxuries; he owns a villa in an upmarket part of Switzerland, a large country estate in Sweden, and a vineyard in Provence, France; he also drove a Porsche for several years. Ingvar Kamprad had made two „big mistakes†. From 16 to 25, Kamprad was a friend and follower of Per Engdahl, the leader of the quasi-fascist, pro-Nazi Neo-Swedish movement. Engdahl attended Kamprad's first wedding in 1950.Kamprad only terminated his involvement in 1951. When the scandal broke in the early 1990s, Kamprad wrote to his employees: â€Å"You have been young yourself. And perhaps you find something in your youth you now, so long afterwards, think was ridiculous and stupid. In that case, you will understand me better. † He also apologized in a television interview and said he had not fully understood what the Neo-Swedish movement was about. And the second happened while working with furniture manufacturers in Poland earlier in his career, Kamprad became an alcoholic.He has, however, stated that his drinking is now under control. In 1947, Kamprad introduced furniture into the IKEA product line. The use of local manufacturers allowed him to keep his costs down. The furniture was a hit, and in 1951, Kamprad decided to discontinue all other product lines and focus on furniture. In 1953, the first IKEA showroom opened. It came about because of competitive pressures. IKEA was in a price war with its main competitor. The showroom allowed people to see it, touch it, feel it, and be sure of the quality before buying.Kamprad's vision has been the driving force behind IKEA's succcess. IKEA hires its own designers, who have received numerous awards over the years. Kamprad believes that the company exists not just to improve people's lives, but to improve the people themselves. The self-service store design and ease of assembly of their furniture are not merely cost controls, but an opportunity for self-sufficiency. This vision is reinforced in their advertising and catalog, as well. Kamprad has been extremely shrewd in creating IKEA's organizational structure.It is owned ultimately by a Dutch trust controlled by the Kamprad family, with various holding companies handling different aspects of IKEA's operations, such as franchising, manufacturing, and distribution. IKEA even has an investment banking arm. Kamprad has repeatedly resisted pressure to take the company public, feeling that it would slow their decision-making processes that have allowed their phenomenal growth. On a final note This leader and founder of IKEA is an Old – School Business man that made mistakes in his teens. His mistakes were that of an average teen that dreamed at glory and power or of that of an overworked man.He weakes up at 5am in the morning, every day and sometimes arrives at the IKEA store before the first truck. Ingvar Kamprad treats all his employees with respect and calls them co-workers, he recycles and he tries to persuade his employees not to buy expensive cars and big villas in countries that are reprezented as dots on the World map. Ingvar Kamprad built IKEA from scratch and he worked very hard so that the comapany became what it is today. Finally, he is a man that was interested in being a business man since he was a child.He is a much respected man and a wonderful example for future leaders and it was a pleasure for our team to work out together in order to realize this portfolio about Ingvar Kampard. I hope you enjoyed reading our essay as much as we enjoyed writing it. ( Questions Are there strong parallels between theory and organizational environment, reflecting your understanding of reality? -Based on our understandings the reason for that is most experiences in organizations have autonomous processes which are self-replicating and form themselves randomly by gro up decision.Theory is embedded only when it is actually considered firsthand Did you use various perspectives to analyze the leader? -We have extended our search into various perspectives about Ingvar Kampard, such as private life, workplace and even his â€Å"fun† time. How many problems or â€Å"bugs† did you identify in the theory or practice of leadership? -As far as we’ve gone into research, we were not able to find many bugs in the practice or the theory of our leader, only minor mistakes that are now â€Å"buried† underneath the ground. Do you have a critical approach to leadership? Our approach towards leadership is pretty much critical but not to a higher extent Did you use tables, logical schemes or graphics to illustrate your ideas? -At our meetings we needed to put up our ideas somewhere so we used logical schemes that we followed and established by ourselves and after that we transferred the info onto paper. Are your ideas backed-up by eviden ce? – The evidence is provided in the form of surveys and results conducted by people with authority to perform such research. Some evidence may be anecdotal, lacking any form of statistical analysis.However most of the data is falsifiable (both in theory and practice) hence observable in different ways, so that reality can speak for itself instead of giving evidence or proving points. Did you use relevant and important papers/authors? -We have used relevant and also important papers/authors/articles. Did you use both academic and professional sources? -Yes we did. One of our most important sources were the Harvard Business Reviews Reference: fondatorul-ikea/ ———————– [pic]

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Q5 - Essay Example The culture plays a major role in global information system management. Since the culture strongly influences management practices, such as decision making, policy-making, and system development strategies. However, the research on cultural dimensions offers a theoretical base that has been normally utilized for discovering the effects of cultural differences on the implementation and acceptance of information systems. These dimensions of culture are: (Kim & Peterson, 2003) Additionally, the complication of GIS development augments with the cultural dissimilarities in the countries concerned, particularly when the project manager is unable to recognize or distinguish the factors and overall situations that must be measured all through the global information system implementation. In addition, other complexities and challenges take place because of different languages, business, and official environments, vendor and technology help, national communications, local market size, the presence of local IT skills, and data export controls. Normally, culture differences affect global projects more than local projects because the straightforward and uncomplicated information system implemented locally can become a nightmare (a challenging task) if implemented globally (Biehl, 2007). Different techniques and technologies can be used to help resolve above discussed issues, for instance outsourcing is a best solution when workforce is less qualified. Social networks and other collaboration tools can be used to improve communication between international teams. As physical and logical security regulations are dissimilar, and they require to be tackled in cycle. Companies and Governments have previously spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the union of logical and physical security solutions. Security inside the business organization has previously been