Week One Assignment
Dustin Schuetz
Southwestern College
LEAD570 – Dr. Susan Sasiadek
Almost every organization in this day and age has a defined “Mission Statement” and “Core
Values.” Each individual is asked to read and understand these in the beginning and to ask
questions so that they can fully see the direction that the organization wants to head in or
currently is heading in.
From my first job as a golf course greens keeper to my current job as a Quality Assurance
Specialist with the Defense Contract Management Agency, I have been presented with values of
the organization and asked what my personal values are. As I believe that it is important to know
what values are on the big picture it is pertinent that we have our own personal values (goals and
advancement) to keep our careers on the right path. In our reading, Rokeach defines values as
“enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state existence is personally or socially
preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state existence. “ (Anderson p. 38).
DCMA’s values are to work with its partners and contractors to ensure delivery of quality
products and services to the warfighter, on time and on cost. This is a very vague but to the point
description of what is expected of us as an organization. Every employee upon hire is given and
individual set of values for each job description which includes day-to-day duties as well as
training requirements. With all the training we are required to do, DCMA is giving us the
necessary tools (education/training) to accomplish our mission. Although this sounds great top
level management has really lost sight of what it really requires to do our jobs and do it well.
In such large organizations it is my belief that management stops looking at the day-to-day
operations and what a job actually takes to get done; instead it is a numbers game. It is not my
intent to talk about the negatives but when they are so evident it is hard to look past them. Values
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are in place to help guide and it may look great in a frame on a wall but sometimes organizations
need to take a step back and really analyze what is going on.
On page 41 of our text it discusses “participation, involvement and empowerment.” “Creating
occasions for participation in decision making means giving employees a choice to contribute for
participation in decision making means giving employees a choice to contribute.” (Anderson p.
41) This is where I feel that large organizations could benefit. To manage and move forward a
company must lean heavy on its employees for feedback to ensure that the values and goals that
were implemented previously are still doable.
In my undergraduate studies I did a case study on Bill Gates (Microsoft Chairman) and his
empowerment practices. Microsoft’s Mission Statement and Values: “"At Microsoft, our
mission and values are to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full
potential.” (retail industry website). One of Gates way’s to achieve this is through a program
where he allows any Microsoft employee (janitor-CEO and in between) to fill out a form with
recommendations or other visions to enhance Microsoft’s organization. As long as the proper
protocol was followed Gates would take ALL suggestions to a remote location and personally go
through each one. By doing this I believe he is empowering his employees and giving them a
chance to feel like they do have a voice and it will be heard!
To maintain your values and to help promote growth it is paramount that a company utilize its
employees and value their opinion. “The Importance of Groups and Teams” (Anderson p. 42) is
my favorite way to accomplish this. DCMA has in the last couple of years started to organize
brainstorming teams in each job category. DCMA asks for volunteers to get involved in teaming
exercises to help improve the Agency. Now, it is still very early in this stage but if we are able to
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follow through with this initiative I feel that it can only help and promote our values. It is very
important that every employee feels that what they are doing is important.

Participation, involvement and empowerment.

The importance of groups and teams.

Growth, development and learning.

Valuing the whole person.

Dialogue and collaboration.

Authenticity, openness and trust.
(Anderson p. 45)
This being the last class of my Masters of Science in Management (MSM), I have taken
numerous courses in leadership, management etc. I have yet though to read a chapter in any book
that really drove home the importance of values and how to achieve them as it did in this text. If
any organization would follow the bullets listed above I believe that they would be on the right
path to success. My favorite quote about life is, “you are only as strong as your weakest link.”
(Author unknown). This quote proves its accuracy in all aspects of life but surely within an
organization. In life sometimes we get ahead of ourselves and everything is a race. Success does
not happen overnight, sometimes it is important to step back and take a breather; re-analyze our
current situation and think on ways to improve it, whether it be in our personal life or in our
careers.
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References:
Anderson, Donald L. Organizational Development. The Process of Leading Organzational
Change. Second ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2012
"Microsoft Mission Statement - Big and Vague Creates Hit and Miss Ups and Downs."
About.com Retail Industry. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
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