Sabado, Hunyo 22, 2013

The Concept of Empowerment by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

                                       
Despite the general movement towards less mechanistic structures and the role of managers as facilitators,there appears to be some reluctance especially among top managers to dilute or weaken hierarchical control.A study of major US businesses suggests that there are mixed reactions to the new wave of management thinking. While a prospect of empowerment can hold attractions for the individual employee,many managers are keen to maintain control over the destiny,roles and responsibilities of others. Beneath the trappings of the facilitate and empower philosophy the command and control system lives on.However ,in a discussion on modern leadership and management,Gretton makes the point: " Today's leaders understand that you have to give up control toget results. That's what all the talk of empowerment is about."

Empowerment is generally explained as allowing employees greater freedom autonomy and self-control over their work ,and responsibility for decision making. However, there are differences in the meaning and interpretation of the term. Wilkinson refers to problems with existing prespective literature on empowerment. The term "empowerment" can be seen as flexible and even elastic,and has been used very loosely both practitioner and academics. Wilkinson suggests that it is important to see empowerment in a wider context.It needs to be recognized that its has different forms and should be analyzed in the context of broader organizational practice.

The concept of empowerment also gives rise to the number of questions and doubts. For example, how does it differ in any meaningful way from other earlier forms of employee involvement? Is empowerment just another somewhat more fanciful term for delegation? Some writers see the two as quite separate concepts while other writers suggest that empowerment is a more proactive form of delegation.

Padilla suggests that to support true empowerment there is a need for a new theory of management- Theory E-which states that managers are more effective as facilitators than as leaders,and that they must devolve power, not just responsibility,to individuals as well as groups. Morris, Willcocks and Knasel believe, however,that to empower people is a real part of leadership as opposed to management and they give examples of the way empowerment can actually set people free to do the jobs they are capable of. Both make the point,however ,that true empowerment is much more than conventional delegation.

According to Mills and Friesen: "Empowerment can be succinctly defines as the authority of subordinates to decide and act. "
 
  "It descends a management style. The term is often confused with delegation but, if strictly defined, empowerment goes much further in granting subordinates authority to decide and act. Indeed,within the contaxt of broad limits defined by executives,empowered individuals may even become self- managing."





Sabado, Hunyo 15, 2013

The Power of Self Concept..by Jolito Ortizo Padilla




Self Concept is the way in which a person sees him-or herself and thinks that others see him or her. An individual with a strong self concept is able to view his or her own abilities in a positive way. Such people do not have to turn to others for affirmation within themselves. A positive self concept results in a person self confidence necessary to deal with others in a professional and productive manner. Customer service providers must work to develop a positive self concept. Angry customers may take out their frustrations on the person who is trying to assist them in finding resolutions to their problems. When this happens ,it would be easy for an individual with a poor self concept to take the customers' words or actions personally. A positive self concept creates the armor necessary to keep customers' actions in perspectives.

Unfortunately, many people do not have a positive self concept. Society places a number of unrealistic examples of perfection before us. The media continue to show us that in order to be truly happy we must be attractive, tall ,thin ,witty,affluent, and perfect in every way. How can we interact with the world in a positive manner if we are less than what we see as ideal? This is a challenge that faces most people.

Others are not influenced by the example that the media have established but have been surrounded by negative people. Negative people can only chip away at an individuals' self concept. If someone tells me that I am not good ,why shouldn't I believe them? The most important thing that people with less than positive self concept can do is to realize that they alone have to power to change the way that they see themselves.

Every individual has the ability to improve his or own self concept. While others can affect how individuals see themselves,change must begin within the individual. The first step in improving oneself is to perform self assessment. A self assessment is an individual evaluation in which individual strengths and weaknesses are identified. A self assessment helps individual to determine where they are headed if they make no changes in themselves or in their behavior. A self assessment must be performed honestly and is meant to evaluate the individual. Instances in which individuals believe that they have been overlooked or have experiences "bad luck" are not relevant during a self assessment. Excuses and blame do not contribute to the performance of an accurate self assessment.

To begin performing self assessment, ask yourself the following questions and record your answers on the sheet of paper or on your computer:

  1. What are my strengths? What do I receive compliments from others for having done well. What do I think I am good at?
  2. What are my weaknesses? What activities do I feel less confident in performing? Do I frequently make excuses or blame others for my failures? Do I finish what I start? Do I say yes too often? Do I pull my weight in a group activity?
  3. How do I see myself? Am I dependable? Do I speak well in front of others? How is my sense of humor? What do I like most about myself? What do I like least? If I could change one thing about myself, what would it be?
  4. Do I establish goals and work toward achieving them? Do I take pride in successfully accomplishing task?
It is not enough to perform a self assessment. After assessment, the individual must evaluate the recorded information. When evaluating ,it is helpful to draw conclusions and to develop a plan for the future. Review the responses that you recorded as you performed your own self assessment. Are there specific areas in which you are pleased with your responses? As you draw conclusions about your strengths and weaknesses, recognize that the future will be much more productive if you consider your strengths and weaknesses in establishing goals.

Even if you are not entirely pleased with the outcome of your self appraisal, you now have a valuable new information about yourself. Most people have a very little self awareness because it is sometimes difficult to recognize who are and how others see us. It is much easier to make excuses for our failures and to blame our circumstances on someone else. Do not dwell on any negative information that your self appraisal may have revealed. Go forward making goals to emphasize the positive aspects of yourself and exploring ways to improve those areas that need improvement. Above all accept yourself as the unique person that you are.
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Lunes, Hunyo 3, 2013

Managing Resistance to Change by Jolito Ortizo Padillla




No organization or individual can escape change.But the thought of change rises anxieties because people fear economic loss, inconvenience,uncertainty, and a break in normal social patterns. Almost any change in structure, technology, people, or strategies has a potential to disrupt comfortable interaction patterns. For this reason. people resist change.The strategic management process itself can impose major changes on individuals or processes. Reorienting an organization to get people to think and act strategically is not an easy task.

Resistance to change can be considered the single greatest threat to successful strategy implementation. Resistance regularly occurs in organizations in the form of sabotaging production machines, absenteeism, filing unfounded grievances, and an unwillingness to cooperate. People often resist strategy implementation because they do not understand what is happening or why changes are taking place. In that case, employees may simply need accurate information. Successful strategy implementation hinges upon managers' ability to develop an organizational climate conducive to change. Change must be viewed as an opportunity rather than as a threat by managers and employees.

Resistance to change can emerge at any stage or level of the strategy -implementation process. Although there are various approaches for implementing changes, three commonly used strategies are a force change strategy, and educative change strategy, and rational or self interest change strategy. A force change strategy involves giving orders and enforcing those orders; this strategy has the advantage of being fast, but it is plagued by low commitment and high resistance. The educative change strategist is one that presents information to convince people of the need for change; the disadvantage of an educative change strategy is that implementation becomes slow and difficult. However, this type of strategy evokes greater commitment and less resistance than does the force changes strategy. Finally a rational or self interest change strategy is one that attempts to convince the individuals that  the change is to their personal advantage. When this appeal is successful , strategy implementation can be relatively easy.However, implementation changes are seldom to everyone advantage.

The rational change strategy is the most desirable, so this approach is examined a bit further. Managers can improve the likelihood of successfully implementing change by carefully designing change efforts. Jack Duncan described a rational or self- interest change strategy as consisting of four steps. First, employees are invited to participate in the process of change and in details of transition; participation allows everyone to give opinions, to feel a part of the change process , and to identify their own self interest regarding the recommended change. Second,some motivation or incentive to change is required.; self interest can be the most important motivator. Third communication is needed so that people can understand the purpose for changes.Giving and receiving feedback is the fourth step: everyone enjoys knowing how things are going and how much progress is being made.

Because of diverse external and internal forces, change is a fact of life in organizations. The rate, speed , magnitude, and direction vary over time by industry and organization. Strategists should strive to create a work environment in which change is recognized as necessary and beneficial so that individuals can more easily adapt to change.Adopting a strategic management approach to decision making can itself require major changes in the philosophy and operations of a firm.

Strategists can take a number of positive actions to minimize managers' and employees' resistance to change. For example, individuals who will be affected by a change should be involved in the decision to make the change and in decision about how to implement the change. Strategists should anticipate changes and develop and offer training and development workshops so that managers and employees can adapt to those changes. The strategic management process can be described as a process of managing change.

Organizational change should be viewed today as a continuous process rather than as a project or event. The most successful organizations today continuously adapt to changes in the competitive environment, which themselves continue to change at an accelerating rate.It is not sufficient today to simply react to change.Managers need to anticipate change and ideally be the creator of change. Viewing change as a continuous process is in stark contrast to an old management doctrine regarding change , which was to unfreeze behavior , change the behavior , and then refreeze the new behavior. The new "continuous organizational change" philosophy should mirror the popular "continuous quality improvement philosophy".



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