{"id":497,"date":"2018-11-23T18:58:31","date_gmt":"2018-11-23T18:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/?p=497"},"modified":"2018-11-23T18:58:31","modified_gmt":"2018-11-23T18:58:31","slug":"unit-9-activity-2-forsight-change-and-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/2018\/11\/23\/unit-9-activity-2-forsight-change-and-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Unit 9 – Activity 2, Forsight, Change and Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

Foresight is an essential principle in transformation servant leadership and a direct factor in a leader\u2019s ability to lead organizational success. It is comprised of four concepts which include: foreseeing the unforeseeable, using the art of discernment, moving with the lead of the leader and developing a creative, measurable plan (Unit 9 Notes, 2018). This is important for large organizations like the United States Postal Office, Canada Post and Walmart to posses as foresight is required in their organizations to respond to environmental uncertainty and change evolution effectively. <\/p>\n

In our fast -paced, technologically dependent society we witness businesses and organizations responding to environmental uncertainty in various ways. Smart (2013) talks about accelerated change theory and how change happens faster every year in the areas of communication technology, computing technology and nano technology. The above-mentioned organizations are directly affected by this change theory phenomenon. Smart (2015) points out three key ingredients in how organizations need to handle environmental uncertainty and respond to change, which is innovation, management and foresight.<\/p>\n

Handling environmental uncertainties <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jack Ma (2016) the CEO of Alibaba, highlighted some significant behaviours that contributed to his company\u2019s success in managing uncertainly that are as follows: <\/p>\n

–\tFocus on value: Culture as a core competency. Everyone having the same vision to help others;
\n–\tCustomers are # 1 priority: Provide the revenue, employees # 2- drive innovation, share holder # 3 (least amount of commitment). So, focus on the customers and engaging them in what they want and need while fostering creativity from employees to support the innovation;
\n–\tBusiness is knowing the problem: Opportunity is where the trouble or complaints are. Where problems are identified there is an opening to improve and grow;
\n–\tBusiness is forward looking: Think about the long term. These behaviors have been carried out by these major organizations, like Canada post and Walmart as they have been able to sustain business and adapt to accelerated change in their fields of communication and computing technologies. <\/p>\n

Furthermore, when we look at how organizations approach and respond to handling environmental uncertainties, we need to consider management styles. Smart (2013) discusses three types of future foresight management styles to accelerated change theory which are: <\/p>\n

–\tPossible, grounded in evolution (chance) and accounts for 95% of change in complex systems that require innovating and experimenting;
\n–\tProbable, which are developmental (necessity) which is about protecting and predicting that accounts for 5% of change;
\n–\tPreferability (utility), blended between evolution and development styles and considered to be learning or adapting organizations focused on vison and strategic planning, which is where most management lies. Walmart and Canada Post falling more within the preferability style as both organizations have responded by adapting to communication and technology changes to drive their business forward (Smart, 2015).
\n
\nResponse to change<\/strong><\/p>\n

Building on the last paragraph, when we take a more generalized approach to how Walmart and other organizations have responded to changes in technology, Malgeri (2010) identifies the need for leadership to first and foremost have a broad sense of foresight and stewardship. The development of creative, adaptive and measurable strategic plans that guide organization\u2019s processes would be a way that top management could display foresight and stewardship while actively seeking input from employees to cultivate a \u201cvalue system that ties individuals\u2019 emotions and motivations to the needs of the organization\u201d (Malgeri, 2010, p. 42). It is important in change management especially technological changes, that management, to the highest-level, encourages employees to share thoughts and views that could benefit the organization by increasing shareholder awareness to better understand how current and possible future trends within the operating environment could impact the organizations operations (Malgeri, 2010). These ideas support what Jack Ma was emphasizing when he alluded to culture as a core competence in responding to environmental uncertainty.
\n
\nPositive and Negative Affects: Technology Focus<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are many positives and negatives when it comes to the use of technology. In a complex system, Smart (2015) talks about the TINA trends model that focuses on the developmental trends in areas which are considered not reversible. What is interesting about these models is that the outcomes that they measure are both positive and negative. The positive, life enhancing technological benefits that Smart (2015) highlights includes: <\/p>\n

–\tNanoscience and nano tech: Nano is faster, stronger and thriftier than human space;
\n–\tInformation tech (IT): IT becoming unambiguous and brain-like (i.e. how we gather and share information);
\n–\tEngineering tech: Cities and machines are automating and dematerializing (i.e. robotics);
\n–\tCognitive tech: Conventional interface to the wearable web (enhances how we learn);
\n–\tResource tech: Periodic crisis, long-term abundance (i.e. how we use our natural resources) <\/p>\n

In contrast, some of the obvious negatives of technology are witnessed daily as we deal with internet banking malfunctions, large scale data breaches through hacking, or even online bullying on sites such as Twitter and Instagram. Society is so consumed with the use of technology that the common negative outcome is less engagement and interactive connection with others, which causes remoteness. In addition, job loss is directly affected by engineering technology advances and as Smart (2015) implies, that cities are driven by machines which automate and dematerialize. An example of this is the option of self check outs which takes away from jobs as the employer does not need to hire as many cashiers to run the tills based on customer usage of this service. <\/p>\n

Would you do anything differently?<\/strong> <\/p>\n

As I reflect on how Walmart has responded to environmental uncertainties and change, I think as an organization they model a stable structure that is rooted in stewardship and foresight. Walmart\u2019s history shows that for over five decades, they have maintained the same objective of remaining a retail giant by selling to more people (Walmart, 2018). It is evident that their leadership has made their vision, mission and objectives relevant to upcoming generations and they have responded to change through innovation and foresight management which Smart (2015) shares is crucial to an organization\u2019s survival. Ultimately, technological changes would cause disruptions in how organizations communicate, handle business operations and evolve, however, what is noticed is that Walmart has embraced technological advancements. Through innovation, creativity and development the organization has identified and met customer\u2019s needs through marketing and selling their products as well as expanding access to their services (Smart, 2015; Walmart, 2018). The one item that I would encourage is how the use of technology could improve company culture (Ma, 2016). Despite this, I feel Walmart has done very well in embracing unavoidable technological change as it did not deter them from actualizing their vision, mission and objectives.
\n
\nQuestion to Group:<\/strong> For those that use previously mentioned self-checkout at big box stores, are you happy that you can just get out of the store faster? Or do you even consider that by using it you are facilitating the advancement of technology and replacing actual people?<\/p>\n

Daneen <\/p>\n

References<\/p>\n

Ma, J. (2016, June 23). [E-learning]. Keys to Success from Jack Ma | Self-Made Billionaire and CEO of Alibaba. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9WjHZ5wLe6w<\/p>\n

Malgeri, J. (2010). Organizational foresight and stewardship. The Public Manager, 39(4), 39-42.<\/p>\n

Smart, J. M. (2015, April 8). John Smart \u2013 leadership of tech change \u2013 wfs 2013. Retrieved from: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QhdWqLNUJns<\/p>\n

Walmart Inc. (2018). In Our history. Retrieved from https:\/\/corporate.walmart.com\/our-story\/our-history<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Overview Foresight is an essential principle in transformation servant leadership and a direct factor in a leader\u2019s ability to lead organizational success. It is comprised of four concepts which include: foreseeing the unforeseeable, using the art of discernment, moving with… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ldrs500","category-unit-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":503,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions\/503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/daneen85\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}