Running Header: PERSONAL REACTION
Objective 4B: Personal
Personal Reaction
Chelsea Day
McDaniel College
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An organization being an organic element, should adjust and react to changes from
outside and within in order to continue functioning and ideally to be able to increase success and
productivity. Organizational behavior and culture are two characteristics of an organization
which not only define the organization and how it functions but also help predict whether or not
it will be able to successfully adapt to change. McDaniel College’s fourth HRD Program
objective to assess competency of its program is to “Understand the concepts of organizational
behavior and culture as well as the unique features of various organizations in order to provide
interventions appropriate to an organization’s strategic plan.” In order to demonstrate my
complete competency in this object, I will use a personal artifact in which, I reacted to a
statement made on a current event referencing organizational culture within the United States
Secret Service.
An organization’s behavior and culture is manifests from the highest levels of
management. The leaders of an organization should not only put into place policies and
procedures, which outline rules and expectations of their employees, but they also must
demonstrate the characteristics and behaviors that they require of their employees (Ogbonna &
Harris, 2000). Within my artifact, I discuss a quote which suggests that it is not the leader’s job
to gain trust from their employees, but it is the employee’s job to gain the trust of their leader.
This statement suggests that only the leader of an organization is able to control the relationship
between the employees of an organization and its leadership. While leadership within an
organization is supposed to set the tone for the organization’s culture, it is not to say that the
employees do no control or impact its culture. Fielder’s contingency theory expresses that there
are many different leadership styles and that different employees and organizations need varying
types of leadership depending on culture and organizational goals. The theory also expresses that
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the organizations leaders and the employees must trust one another in order to successfully
accomplish organizational goals. The statement reviewed in the artifact also contradicts a key
aspect of Felder’s contingency theory which establishes key traits for favorable leadership
environment (Lantham, n.d). One key trait required for favorable leadership is the degree of
confidence, trust and respect the followers have of their leaders. Felder established that in order
to be an effective leader, they must be able to lead, but they will not be able to attract followers
without creating a level of confidence and trust (Lantham, n.d). Being competent in the ability to
understand the elements of an organization’s leadership and how it impacts organizational
behavior and culture, I am able to use this information to assist in creating interventions by
applying theory to specific aspects of the organization including its culture of secrecy and
mistrust. Gaining the title of a leader does not immediately establish a following. This aspect can
be compacted by further organizational culture variables. A weak organizational culture is one,
which does not respond to the changes enforced by leadership or does not value the leadership or
organization. Organizational changes are necessary to combat weak organizational culture.
These changes and the needs for the changes vary depending on the individual characteristics of
the organization.
The configuration of leadership and power and how that impact culture is unique within
each organization. As established, Fielder’s theory supports the leader of the Secret Service was
not wrong in trying to establish trust between himself as a leader and the organization’s
employees. The previous leader of the organization was forced to step down due to the
numerous organizational scandals, which had tainted the organization and established an image
of unfit and out of control employees. It is clear that his response to the most recent scandal was
incorrect based on the Fielder’s theory. The notion that he was incorrect in wanting to establish a
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strong relationship that moves top down and bottom up is correct for all organization, but it must
be organized in a manner the addresses the complex characteristics for this organization’s unique
purpose. The Secret Service is an organization with many unique characteristics. It is not an
organization, which rates its success on sales or the bottom line as many are. As a government
organization, its budget is supplied by the American people through taxes dollars. This is unique
in that all American people are stakeholders in their success. This stake within the organization
not only lies in costs and expenditures, but the organization’s sole purpose is the protection and
defense of the Nation’s Highest and most powerful Leaders including the President of the United
States. Thus, these are characteristics establish huge costs in the event of an organizational
failure. Also, the employees of the organization must trust each other for their own survival and
trust that their leaders make choices to keep them safe. One unique aspect of this organization
was that it was in constant defense and the sole group who was responsible for their duty. The
idea of trust within the organization was in itself a strong characteristic because they are
entrusted with the life of the U.S President.
When one has assessed an organization’s strategic plan it would be important to
incorporate future goals, a process to measure success and options for change if the organization
requires. Many aspects of a successful organization and strategic plan transcend organization
type, but the specific changes or process of the execution for those changes will vary greatly
based on the specific characteristics of the organization. Walmart was an organization, which has
a culture very different from the United States Secret Service. The organizations goals are also
very different. The organization was a sales based company, and their goal was to increase sales
and profit. Walmart has a long history of working to create employee stake in the organization
(Schnieder, 1998). While Walmart was in many ways different from the Secret Service, there
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are many similarities in what the organization needs in order to be successful. Both organizations
need their employees to be able to trust and support organizational leadership, both need
employees, which could fit within the organizational culture to support the mission and both
organizations had struggled to overcome and prevent public image problems.
While both of these organizations have similar issues or goals, it was their individual
culture, which would have dictated the best path to addressing each organizational dilemma. An
organization such as the Secret Service has an organizational culture, which was known for strict
employment requirements, intense mental and physical training, and status systems, it was very
secretive in all functions. This culture would suggest the employees would not respond well to
outside organizations coming in to establish interventions or policies (Wong, 2015). This would
also mean that a successful Human Resources manager would need to become immersed in the
organizations culture to understand how to best establish a successful strategic plan. Personally,
I would first review the performance appraisals and plans for the employees. Since the
organization has had several behavior related infractions, it would be important to also look into
the direct superiors to each group of employees.
One cannot change a culture within an organization without first understanding how it
works. The Secret Service being very militant like with its leadership coming would suggest that
the organization and culture itself was indoctrinated with following ones superior (Wong, 2015).
But the idea of following leadership was not directly correlated to following policies and
procedures. If organizational culture and behavior have been established through a history of
agency employees not abiding by set policies and not having the threat of reprimand then it
would not be surprising these behaviors still continue regardless of who is currently head of the
organization. Also it was well supported that the actions of leadership set the tone for the culture
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of the organization. While the leader of the organization and its managers may state they want
one thing but do not enforce the change or they do not represent the change they say they
require, it was unlikely that the employees will respond with the desired result (Ogbonna &
Harris, 2000). The organization recently changed leaders in hopes it would instill change within
the organization, but as an HR manager it was clear that the problem within the organization
would not have been fixed by merely changing leaders. It may have in fact slowed change due to
the bureaucracy within the organization, which was another unique aspect of culture within the
organization.
In order to successfully provide interventions to establish a strong and effective strategic
plan as Human Resources manager, I would have recommended a survey to gage the status of
the organizational culture. This step in a review process would be vital because it would have
given employees the ability to provide unbiased and secure insight on the organization. Also, I
would have liked to assess the employee feelings of the organization as a whole, their happiness
in their current roles, as well as what they valued in their current position and their ideal position.
This information would have been vital because paired with turnover rates it could have revealed
how effectively the organization is hiring employees who fit the organizational goals. Another
important step in using organizational culture and behavior to establish interventions is to align
management and other aspects of the organization to work with the Human Resources to ensure
all aspects of the organization are working as a team toward the same goal, organizational
success. In order to create a plan for an intervention as a HR manager. I would need to establish
the root cause of said issue. While the issue being addressed in the artifact was poor employee
behavior, it is necessary to find out why this problem is occurring, where problem stems from
and how this has been an issue. . Being competent in using organizational culture and behavior
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to establish interventions means that I have a great understanding of how complex and powerful
the impact of organizational culture is in not only establishing an organizational dilemma but
also understanding how culture and behavior will influence measures to intervene in this
dilemma. In an organization culture characteristics can be impacted by interventions such as
establishing a culture that respects policies and procedures and establishing training and
progressive discipline program to ensure that the expected behaviors are the ones performed by
the employees. But, I am also aware that there are elements of an organization’s culture that will
and must remain due to the business or industry, such as a high level of privacy. While these
elements of behavior and culture may be necessary, they may also be incorrectly applied. For
example, privacy and security are strong elements with the Secret Service, but there should be
expected levels of privacy and of transparency from within the organization (Wong, 2015).
Leadership should be transparent so that their actions align with the goals and policies as well as
being transparent with their expectations. Problems within the organization should not remain a
secret from upper management, HR or leadership. Many organizations suffer because the culture
is weak or they expected behavior of the employees is one that influences employees to fear
management or be dishonest. It is possible that in an organization where members of leadership
are not the individuals who hold power. These situational leaders can use their leadership traits
or position established within the organizations culture to encourage or establish an
organizational culture where there is no upward communication. If this is the case for the
example organization then it would be HR’s responsibility to realign leadership with the
organization and vice versa by either reestablishing their power or using the sources of referent
power to align with organizational goals. These aspects that element of the organization can be
correctly applied to strengthen the organization.
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With the knowledge I have obtained through the graduate program, I am able to
successfully understand the strength organization culture and behavior have on establishing
interventions for an effective strategic plan. Motivation, power and leadership can shape an
organizations culture. These same elements can also be the root cause of the problems and/or
weaknesses within an organization. Using unique elements of behavior and culture to establish
interventions also means being able to understand where organizational behavior and culture
have been established and in fact may be the root of an organizational dilemma. Being well
equipped with a strong competency is proven by not only my understanding of how unique
aspects of organizational behaviors and cultures need to be understood to establish interventions
but that I am confident in my ability to use these unique aspects to strengthen my ability to
establish successful and effective interventions regardless the type of organization I am
supporting.
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References
Lantham, A. (n.d.)., The Advantages of Fiedler's Contingency Model. Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-fiedlers-contingency-model-18368.html
Ogbonna, E., & Harris, L. (2000). Leadership style, organizational culture and performance:
Empirical evidence from UK companies. International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 11(4), 766-788.
Schneider, M. J., (1998). The Wal-Mart annual meeting: from small-town America to a global
corporate culture. Human Organization, (3), 292
Wong, L., & Gerras, S., (2015). Lying to Ourselves: Dishonesty in the Army profession. Strategic
Studies Institute.