Author: layla

Unfortunately, it is really hard for the staff to discard their biased perception of female workers in my workplace. I am putting this conclusion at the very start to raise the attention of the unfair treatment toward women and to notice myself that there is still a long way to go and do not give up.

I was born in an Eastern country and raised up in the eastern culture. I always consider the women in Western countries have more opportunities to be themselves and much easier to achieve the higher level management. After reading Chapter 15, I was surprised by the number taken as examples to demonstrate the pervasive biased gender stereotype toward women in western countries. Therefore, I guess that since the topic of women in the leadership role is a worldwide issue remaining to be solved, I could get more information and find supportive ways to try to make a change in my organization and country.

Northouse (2016) mentions that the unfair treatment of female leaders “stems from the culturally defined role of women in society” (p. 410). I have a deep feeling about it for this is what I am facing everyday at my working place. For example, several days ago I mentioned in my office that I wanted to lose some weight by sensing that I was fat recently. The male staff in the office criticized that “Why bother, you are already a mom. Whom are you doing this for?” I felt more sad that even the female collogues were saying the same thing to me. It is not only due to the organizational culture, but also the culture of the whole society. In terms of the leader, there are approximately 70 leaders or managers in the organization with only three female leaders who are in the lower level of the management hierarchy. Based on this phenomenon and culture, the female workers are in the self-abandoned status and after years, they have become satisfied with this situation.

In order to foster recognition and the sense of belonging for women, this most important thing is to change the underlying basic assumptions against women in the organization. The underlying basic assumptions lie in the deepest core of the organizational culture (Cameron & Green, 2012).

Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjY2bCpyunbAhUSIIgKHfc8CoYQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sidewaysthoughts.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F11%2Forganisational-culture-defined-courtesy-of-edgar-schein%2F&psig=AOvVaw0b7RXBtNE2GWfSXGIfDmwU&ust=1529836258741300

The underlying basic assumptions belong to the unconscious recognition of our brain. Hence, changing the assumptions requires being aware of the typical stereotype we have intrinsically. In order to be more effective, it is better for a leader in the organization to advocate and raise the attention of the unfair situation of women.

Second, the managers should build more teams for different work issue and involve more female in the teams. The sense of belonging means they feel “welcomed and valued as part of their workgroups and among their colleagues” (Nugent, Pollack, & Travis, 2016, p. 2). Therefore, based on the current situation in my organization that the females are self-abandoned, the most useful way is to give them more chances to work with other male staff by working in teams. Not only will the female staff gain more recognition through accomplishing the tasks and from others, but also the male staff could reassess the value of the women and change their stereotype towards female unconsciously.

Third, leaders and managers should hold more conferences for both male and female staff to communicate and exchange opinions and feelings. The lack of communication between different genders can only exacerbate the biased stereotype. And I believe that the biased stereotype is happening both ways. Only accusing male of being unfair to female might originate the impatient and resistant attitude of the men. Trying to comprehend the situation of both genders is the correct and effective way to reduce the biased stereotype. Sheryl Sandberg (TED, 2010) mentions that women also put a lot of pressure on men such as earn more money. Hearing that, I just thought maybe that was the root of the origination of the unbiased perspective. Women put pressure on men, and in turn, men add conditions to women. It is unfair for us to only focus on the women who want to achieve higher management level. What about a man who dislikes to go to work and just wants to stay at home, spends time with the children? I guess we are both being unjust. In order to bridge the gap, the communication should be sufficient and timely. Once we can understand the perspective held by another gender, we could be more supportive and welcome.

References

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2012). Making Sense of Change Management (3rd edition ed.). New Delhi, India: Kogan Page Limited.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Nugent, J., Pollack, A. & D. Travis, (2016). The Day to day experiences of workplace inclusion and exclusion. Retrieved from http://www.catalyst.org/system/files/the_day_to_day_experiences_of_workplace_inclusion_and_exclusion.pdf

TED. (2010, December 21). Why we have too few women leaders | Sheryl Sandberg [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18uDutylDa4

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-8/unit-8-learning-activities/

Case 15.3 Pregnancy as a Barrier to Job Status

Question 1: What advancement barriers is Marina encountering?

Based on the history of women promotion in Marina’s organization, it seems that pregnancy and promotion cannot coexist. This is due to the gender-based prejudice deeply implanted in the organization culture. I am saying this because it is mentioned in the case that “several other women who were eased out of their positions before they gave birth or shortly thereafter” (Northouse, 2016, p. 414). Clearly, it indicates that little effort has been taken to fight for this unfair treatment. This phenomenon implicitly has become pervasive and been tacitly approved by the staff in her organization. Once the prejudice has been institutionalized in the organization, the female employees will face greater difficulty in the way of promotion (Northouse, 2016).

Question 2: What should Roy have said when Marina told him she was pregnant?

Roy could have shown his concern toward Marina first, to care about her status of health during the pregnancy and ask the date of the delivery. Then, Roy could discuss the workload Marina is taking right now with Marina to see if she needs to distribute some to other staff. For example, if Marina is influenced by the changes of the hormone during pregnancy and feeling incompetent to accomplish some part of her work, she could get support from other staff. I think if it is used appropriately, this is an effective way to form the supportive culture within the organization. After that, Roy should ask Marina’s future plan about her work, including getting promotion and how to balance the domestic responsibility with work. At last, Roy should tell Marina that no matter what will her plan be, her job would be guaranteed. This act would comfort not only Marina but also other female workers in the organization, which is conducive to build organizational consensus.

Question 3: What could Roy do to ensure that Marina’s work will be covered during her absence and that taking this time off will not hurt her advancement?

The best way I can think of is that Roy could view the absence of Marina as being away for lengthy training. According to the case, Marina has a master’s degree in chemical engineering, and she has gained an MBA during work. Apparently, Marina is a mature adult learner who is eager to gain more knowledge and well organized in balancing the process of learning and working (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972). Based on this information, Roy could assign relevant training material, such as books, articles, and conference reports, to Marina for her to read during the three-month leave of absence. At the same time, Marina should keep track of her work during her absence, such as how the work has been distributed to other staff and to what extent they could accomplish the work. Roy could make a team including Marina and other staff who is going to take charge of her work. The team member should regularly report the process of the work to Marina via high-tech means. I am sure that Marina would be an effective and considerate team leader for women incline to demonstrate transformational leadership and to employ contingent-reward strategy (Northouse, 2016). Additionally, after Marina get promoted eventually, it is very crucial for her to publicly appreciate the members of the team during her pregnancy and absence and make sure the others know their contributions (Kotter, 2012). Not only the staff who have helped Marina would feel they are valued, but also the rest of the staff, regardless of the gender, would feel the warm power from Marina’s leadership. In turn, the organizational culture would change to the equal treatment towards female workers, and the other females would get more chances to be promoted. 

Question 4: What type of organizational changes can be made to benefit Marina and other pregnant women in this organization?

Northouse (2016) summarizes several ways of organizational changes to help female staff reach top positions in the organization. First, the culture of the organization should be changed. For example, the impression of some roles which are defined can only be accomplished by male should be changed; the notion of “uninterrupted full-time careers” (p. 406) should be abandoned. Second, the organization can “augment women’s career development by involving them in career development programs and formal network and offering work-life support” (p. 406). Further, “assigning more women to high-visibility positions and developing effective and supportive mentoring relationship for women” (p. 407) could greatly facilitate the selection and promotion.

I would like to add another organizational change which can change the situation of the female workers: mergers and acquisitions. There are five basic rules of mergers and acquisitions which include tackling the cultural issues (Cameron & Green, 2012). When mergers and acquisitions are happening, it will lead to the integration of the two types of culture. I believe this process in which we can redefine or restructure the culture will change the culture of the whole company from the core. Especially mergers with women-owned companies can significantly remedy the biased gender stereotype against females.

References

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2012). Making Sense of Change Management (3rd edition ed.). New Delhi, India: Kogan Page Limited.

Knowles, M. S., Holton, E., & Swanson, R. (1972). Andragogy. NETCHE.

Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change, With a new preface by the author. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-8/unit-8-learning-activities/

This is a response to Charlie Mable’s blog https://create.twu.ca/charliemable/2018/06/14/ethics-and-morals-act-1/

Question: If leadership truly is a process of influencing others, it is important that leaders enact the moral and ethical responsibility entrusted to them. Do you agree?

Yes, I agree with you. Moreover, I think leadership can be observed and exerted in other kinds of situation or context rather than merely organization and political domain, such as leadership at home, leadership within the school setting, and so on. Considering the influential process of the leadership, I believe the moral and ethical responsibility should be addressed more in other kinds of context. For example, it is far more profound for a father to nurture his children to grow up and become ethical and righteous individuals. In turn, if the children are raised to be the potential transformational leaders or ethical leaders, they would influence more people who are around them or working for them. Similarly, the authentic and moral impact that the leadership has on within school settings or friends can be significant. Coming back to the organizational context, I really like the example you made in promoting effective financial management. This example can also be a perfect one to demonstrate the conduct of leading by examples. When the leader is acting moderately and morally, the followers will be at least influenced to act the same way in terms of short-term effect. Sequently, the moral behaviours will be institutionalized as the moral traits for the followers. In turn, the moral culture within the organization is formed. This process just echoes your words in the beginning: It has a ripple effect. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

This is a response to Kwantlen Brenda’s blog https://create.twu.ca/kwantlenbrenda/2018/06/11/unit-7-activity-1-indigenous-economic-development-ethical-leadership/

Question: What are some other ethical and moral beliefs that the public holds with its indigenous organizations? Do you think it is fair that indigenous organizations are held to this standard given the history of inter-generational trauma?

Thank you sharing your valuable thoughts of indigenous organization which I barely considered before. I live in China, therefore I could only synthesize the situation of the indigenous organizations here to my answer.  Hope you find them useful.

China is governed by the Communist Party, and the culture in China particularly emphasizes the morality of serving for the mutual good for the society. This moral principle serves as the implicit standard for all kinds of organization, especially the indigenous ones. Actually, I do not like the invisible pressure that the public has put on the indigenous companies. Actually, I am working in an indigenous company. To be honest, the public and the government are using a magnifying glass to look at the all aspects of the indigenous company. For example, the public thinks that it is abnormal for the staff of an indigenous company to have the salary above the average level of the citizens in that city. And the government, who is willingly to incline to the thoughts of the public on this issue, has been extremely strict with the companies. Ironically, the government does rely on the indigenous companies to gain a beautiful financial report each year, and the public admires and desire to work in the foreign companies or partly foreign-owned companies. Therefore, I totally agree with your words that there is only one chance to do things right for the indigenous companies because it is already hard and impossible for the indigenous companies to satisfy the public and the government anyhow. The pressure and the unfair treatment are potentially undermining the intrinsic will of serving others of the indigenous companies. This is the real potential threat to the country, I think, and this threat is stemmed from within.  

 

Question 1: What are the main implications for managers in the article? How can you use this information to become a better leader?

I think there are four main implications for managerial strategies which can be pulled out of the article. First, the company should provide training to managers and help them acquire or enhance the transformational leadership.  Hypotheses 1, 2, 3, 4 supported by the results imply that transformational leadership greatly contributes to superior performance at all levels (Wang, Oh,  Courtright, & Colbert, 2011). Moreover, Barling, Weber, and Kelloway (1996) have examined that transformational leadership can be gained through training and practice. Second, for an individual who wants to be picked up as the manager, he/she should possess the traits of transformational leader in advance such as “being dominant and self-confident, having a strong desire to influence others, and having a strong sense of one’s own moral values” (Northouse, 2016, p. 164). Sequentially, he/she could select or nurture the next potential manager who is “more likely to become a transformational leader”(Wang, Oh,  Courtright, & Colbert, 2011, p. 253). Third, the managers could increase the chances of engaging team-work in tasks to gain higher performance. The results tested in the article show that “the overall relationship of transformational leadership with organizational-level performance was somewhat smaller than for team-level performance but greater than for individual-level performance” (Wang, Oh,  Courtright, & Colbert, 2011, p. 246). In sum, the transformational leadership will work the best within teams. Fourth, it is crucial for managers to exert transactional leadership when necessary to maximize the performance. The contingent reward, one of the typical transactional leadership behaviours, is examined to be particularly useful in increasing individual-level task performance (Wang, Oh,  Courtright, & Colbert, 2011). Although the transformational leadership is superior in other aspects such as enhancing individual-level contextual performance and team performance (Wang, Oh,  Courtright, & Colbert, 2011), the manager can demonstrate a multi-leadership style rather than sticking to only one type of leadership. Incorporating different types of leadership and balancing the factors of the leadership in the managerial actions are the best choice for the manager.

Question 2: Define and describe the principles of ethical leadership.

(1) Respects others

Respect others means “Treat others the way in which you like to be treated” (BuildingCapacity, 2013). It also means that the leader “listen closely to followers, is empathic, and is tolerant of opposing points of view” (Northouse, 2016, p. 342). In sum, “respect includes giving credence to others’ ideas and confirming them as human beings” (p. 342).

(2) Serves others

A leader who puts the followers’ needs and concerns foremost demonstrates the principle of serving others (Northouse, 2016). Also, this principle is “an example of altruism” (Northouse, 2016, p. 342).

(3) Shows justice

Being fair means the leader chooses to treat the followers equally (Northouse, 2016). This principle needs the leaders to “place issues of fairness at the center of their decision making”(Northouse, 2016, p. 344).

(4) Manifests honesty

Dalla Costa (1998) states that the honest principle means “do not promise what you can’t deliver, do not misrepresent, do not hide behind spin-doctored evasions, do not suppress obligations, do not evade accountability, do not accept that the ‘survival of the fittest’ pressures of business release any of us from the responsibility to respect another’s dignity and humanity” (p. 164).

(5) Builds community

The ethical leader intrinsically feels he/she should seek the common goal which presents the good of everyone (Northouse, 2016). Consequently, the community will be built based on all the members moving towards the mutual goal.

Question 3: Which 2 do you think are the most important? Why?

Serving others and showing honesty are the most important principles from my perspective. The reason for choosing them is that they are both hard to achieve for the leader. The aforementioned altruism, another illustration of serving, requires the leader to promote the interests of others regardless of his/her own preference (Northouse, 2016). Also, altruism is addressed in many types of leadership such as authentic leadership, transformational leadership, and especially servant leadership. I believe that these types of leadership value the role of serving not only because it is unique but also it can contribute to long-term benefit including the welfare of the people, the flourish of the company, and the harmony of the community (Northouse, 2016). Comparing with serving others, being honest is relatively easy to achieve. While the critical part of being honest is to what extent should a leader share candidly with the followers (Northouse, 2016). Apparently, lying to the others most of the time will make the individual undependable and unreliable, and the consequences of this behaviour could be destructive and irreparable. On the contrary, always being honest and open is unwise because “telling the complete truth can be destructive or counterproductive” (p. 346). In order to motivate the followers in the best way and to gain the better performance effectively, the leader should face the challenge of striking the balance “between being open and candid while monitoring what is appropriate to disclose in a particular situation” (p. 346). I think the words of Dalla Costa (1998) mentioned above can serve as the standard of being honest or not for a leader. However, the leader should decide or develop his/her own standard of honesty considering different situations or issues. This could be a critical task for the leader. But once the leader has figured it out and exerted this principle perfectly, he/she can genuinely achieve the reciprocal relationship with the followers and the long-term effect will be positive.

My questions: If you are the leader who chose to disclose some information in the particular situation, how would you deal with the dissatisfied emotion of the followers when they discover the truth? How would you rebuild the trusty relationship with them?

References

Barling, J., Weber, T., & Kelloway, E. K. (1996). Effects of transformational leadership training on attitudinal and financial outcomes: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 827-832.

BuildingCapacity. (2013, March 29). What is Ethical Leadership? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks2QGoIq5nA

Dalla Costa, J. (1998). The ethical imperative: Why moral leadership is good business. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Wang, G., Oh, I. S., Courtright, S. H., & Colbert, A. E. (2011). Transformational leadership and performance across criteria and levels: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of research. Group & Organization Management, 36(2), 223-270.

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-7-2/unit-7-learning-activities/

Question 1: What are the moral implications of leadership behaviour?

Since the leadership behaviour is definitely related to three factors including the leaders, the followers, and the organizational context or certain events or challenges, I would like to consider the answers according to the components of authentic leadership development theory (Avolio & Gardner, 2005), ethical theories, and principles of ethical leadership (Northouse, 2016).

(1) Considering the influence/impact of the consequences of leaders’ conduct

There will be many types of conducts involved in leaders’ actions, such as making decisions, dealing with conflict, express their preferences and emotions. Each conduct would produce its particular consequences (Northouse, 2016) revealed eventually in short term or long term, and in turn the consequences would influence the followers and the context. Therefore, whether the leaders have consider about the consequences and the impacts and how they are going to act could greatly reveal the leaders’ ethical level ((Northouse, 2016).

(2) Arranging the hierarchy of interests

I concluded the types of interest which should be considered and balanced by leaders including self-interest, interest of others, and the interest of the community. Regarding to the moral conducts which shows the concern for self-interest or concern for the interest of others, the figure 13.1 (Northouse, 2016, p. 334) and the three approaches including ethical egoism, utilitarianism, and altruism demonstrate the way in which leaders arrange their personal hierarchy of interests. Apparently, the leader who take the job or the power for his/her selfish enjoys represents  ethical egoism (Northouse, 2016). So, there is a great chance that the leader might cheat, conceal, or act dishonestly to maximize his/her own profit.  Utilitarianism means that the leader should behave “to create the greatest good for the greatest number” (Northouse, 2016, p.334). I think the leader would consider both self-interest and the interest of others, therefore, the moral level of the leader would be moderate. In terms of altruism, the leader may consider most about the interest of the others and the community, “even when it runs contrary to his or her own self-interests” (Northouse, 2016, p.335). I deem the approach of altruism, to some extent, equals to the spirit of sacrifice. The leaders need to give up personal self-interests to make a contribution to the interest of the others and the mutual interests. Hence, demonstrating altruism requires that the leader need to be psychological healthy. In another word, he/she has the ability to construe his/her loss of self-interest in a positive way, and the capacity of balancing the feelings and emotions. This point echoes the positive psychological capital of authentic leadership (Avolio & Gardner, 2005).

Positive psychological capacities, such as “confidence, optimism, hope and resiliency” (Avolio & Gardner, 2005, p. 322), are drawn on emphasizing the self-awareness and self-regulatory behaviours of the leaders (Luthans & Avolio, 2003). Combined with the authentic leadership, the moral behaviours of a leader showing altruism would be consciously keeping a cool head of what he/she is doing and where he/she is leading, keeping the answers honestly to himself/herself, and staying consistent during the process.

(3) Viewing their duty

“Whether a given action is ethical rests not only with its consequences, but also with whether the action itself is good” (Northouse, 2016, p.335). The duty of the leader mainly focuses on the leader’s moral obligation and responsibilities (Northouse, 2016). Then, the process for the leader to take the responsibilities, such as helping the followers “assess their own values and needs in order to raise them to a higher level of functioning” (p. 338) and  “telling the truth, keeping promises, and respecting others” (p. 335) or not, can be resorted to assess the moral level of the leader.

(4) Further learning to enhance or update their virtues and moral abilities through practice

I add this aspect for it implies that a leader with high ethical spirit has the urge to be a “morally appropriate human being” (Northouse, 2016, p.335). Despite the moral factors of the leaders are always categorized into the virtue-based theories which state that virtues are part of the individual’s characteristics (Pojman, 1995), Northouse (2016) argues that the virtues and moral abilities can be acquired and enhanced through practice.

Combined with the authentic leadership, I think the moral abilities include the ability of self-awareness and self-regulation (Avolio & Gardner, 2005), the ability to “incorporate positive moral perspectives” (p. 324), and being “temperance, generosity, modesty, fairness, and justice” (Northouse, 2016, p.336). I always think that it is easy for the leader to demonstrate a high level of morality in their conducts when the context is stable and harmonious. In order to keep the morality in the destructive, unstable, or threatened context which could trigger destructive leadership (Northouse, 2016), the leader would actively practice their heart and validate their faith to be competent and moral in all kinds of context. The initiative to practice and to forge the moral abilities can genuinely explain the will of the leader to achieve a higher level of morality.

Question 2: How can you enable your organization to grow and flourish?

(1) Building a supportive and trust context

The organization is consist of staff including leaders, managers, and followers. In order to enable the organization to grow, it is fundamentally to enable the staff to grow. Therefore, creating a supportive context should be the first thing to do. “For leaders and followers to be effective, leaders must promote an inclusive organizational climate that enables themselves and followers to continually learn and grow” (Avolio & Gardner, 2005, p. 327). Further, when facing tough issues, it is significant for the leader to create “a ‘holding environment’ in which there is trust, nurturance, and empathy” (Northouse, 2016, p.338). Within the holding environment, there are “clarity about project scope, meetings times, and a clearly defined set of operating procedures and ground rules in which people can get together, share feedback together and learn together” (Cameron & Green, 2015, p. 210). With the trust climate and collaboration, the staff could effectively tackle the hard issues, their confidence and abilities would grow as well. In turn, the organization would grow eventually.

(2) Engaging in more charitable activities

The organization could intentionally do more charity, such as donating books to the schools, visiting the orphanage, and so on. These charitable works could create and “institutionalize an ethical culture”(BuildingCapacity, 2013) within the organization. When an ethical culture is formed in the organization, all staff would be motivated to work towards something larger than themselves, such as contributing to the good of the organization and the community. In the long-term perspective, the organization and the community will definitely flourish and be benefited. 

(3) Increasing sustainable superior performance

“Sustainable superior performance” can be interchangeably used as “sustainable competitive advantage” (Avolio & Gardner, 2005, p. 328). The sustainable competitive advantage means when a company is “implementing a value creating strategy not simultaneously being implemented by any current or potential competitors and when these firms are unable to duplicate the benefits of this strategy” (Barney, 1991, pp. 99-120). In another word, when the organization has the sustainable competitive advantage, it is unlikely to be overwhelmed by other companies. Also, it is clear that sustained superior performance can help the organization “achieve persistently high performance and growth over a long period of time” (Avolio & Gardner, 2005, p. 328). Besides “financial, human, social, and psychological capital” (Avolio & Gardner, 2005, p. 328) which are included in the sustained performance, I think that keeping to the organizational code of ethics (BuildingCapacity, 2013) should also count. Moreover, obeying the code of ethics should be seen as the underpinning of all the performances.

(4) Providing trainings

Most of the companies provide technical training for the staff all the time. As far as I am concerned, the training regarding leadership and ethics should also be provided. For example, the ethical training could help the staff gain a better understanding of the codes of ethics in employee manual (BuildingCapacity, 2013). The staff should have a clear sense of what they can do and what they cannot do. Also, the ethical training could build the capacity of empathy for the staff. People would understand the situations or perspectives of others with the power of empathy. In turn, the communication would be greatly facilitated and the consensus within the organization will be achieved easily.  The staff would work productively when they are sharing a mutual goal (Cameron & Green, 2015), and the organization can be flourishing apparently. 

Questions: If you have any working experience, do you familiar with the codes of ethics in your company? How do you think of or understand the codes?

References

Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The leadership quarterly, 16(3), 315-338.

Barney, J. B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99-120.

BuildingCapacity. (2013, March 29). What is Ethical Leadership? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks2QGoIq5nA

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools, and techniques of organizational change. (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page.

Luthans, F., & Avolio, B. J. (2003). Authentic leadership: A positive developmental approach. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship (pp. 241-261). San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Pojman, L. P. (1995). Ethical theory: Classical and contemporary readings (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-7-2/unit-7-learning-activities/

Living in the Informational Age, people have invested too much energy in building the relationship with technology and relied on it. Technology has become part of our life, and basically, all kinds of organization exert the role of technology to gather information and to break through. For example, in my company, the Information Department has designed an organizational website for the staff to review the news of the organization and to post their professional report. We also have our own chat tools requested to use within the organization. Although most of the companies have incorporated high-tech means, technology itself is not the most crucial factor to offer “competitive advantage” (Kandampully, Bilgihan, & Tingting, 2016, p. 159). How to use it effectively in the right way is the main task for the organizations. In another word, “technology is created and changed by human actions, it is also used by people to accomplish various actions” (Kandampully, Bilgihan, & Tingting, 2016, p. 159). Therefore, the organization should address more on how to motivate the staff to use technology creatively. 

Inspired by the People-technology hybrid organizational model (Kandampully, Bilgihan, & Tingting, 2016), I have outlined a 4-step plan for employee development in my organization.

1. Design new communication tool for group chat

Although we have chat tools installed on everyone’s computer, we just use it to transfer files or documents most of the time. We used to text each other or send voice messages via other communication means such as Wechat. While actually, it is inappropriate for us to talk about issues of work through other communication means, and the chat record cannot be presented as evidence when encountering issues such as the conflict between different divisions. Therefore, creating an effective communication tool within the organization which could enable staff to use group chat whenever they want is the top-priority thing to do. The staff could genuinely exchange their opinions or thoughts through the group chat with each other, and they can create many chat groups to facilitate the communication with different people. For example, an employee can join a chat group of his/her division, or he/she could join another chat group which is consist of other people from different divisions who are in charge of the similar tasks as him/her.

2. Create a platform for offering and filtering feedbacks of innovative ideas

After creating the useful communication means for exchanging opinions, a platform which could allow staff to upload the electronic materials of their innovative products should be established. Also, the platform should allow other people to offer useful and valuable feedbacks rated by other readers. The innovators could refine their innovative products based on the feedbacks which are considered useful. I believe this would be the right way for genuine creation because the products are made based on the need of the workers rather than the need of the managers.

3. Offering external support

Sometimes, the chatting software or platform cannot be designed and accomplished by the staff in the organization. The higher management should offer great help such as technicists from a software company to make it happen. Although the technicists might not be familiar with the needs of the staff, they could have meetings and discussions until the satisfactory plan comes out. 

The external support could also involve hiring a professional assessment company to design a series of suitable questionnaires for the company. The questionnaires can help the staff to rate their level of professional work, to develop their personalities perceived by other colleagues, and to acquire all kinds of perspective including customers.

4. Seeking online courses to help managers understand and exert the power of leardership

Managers are definitely adult learners. Offering the suitable training courses to help them get access to the knowledge of leadership is the perfect way to motivate them to learn internally (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972). When managers possess the knowledge of leadership, they could understand how to better motivate the staff towards the common goal. Further, they could solve the problems and make decisions effectively with the ability of critical thinking. The most important thing is that once the managers have become transformative leaders or servant leaders, they could devote more to the community and society (Northouse, 2016).

References

Kandampully, J., Bilgihan, A., & Zhang, T. C. (2016). Developing a people-technology hybrids model to unleash innovation and creativity: The new hospitality frontier. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 29, 154-164.

Knowles, M. S., Holton, E., & Swanson, R. (1972). Andragogy. NETCHE.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage publications.

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-6/unit-6-learning-activities/

 

My experience working with adult learners

Fortunately, my professional work has a lot to do with adult learners as I am one of the trainers in my organization to train new recruits who are at least older than 22. Adult learners are defined in two ways: in one sense, adults refer to “mentally mature people”; in a different sense, adults can be understood as “individuals who are beyond the traditional school ages of 7 to 21” (Lieb & Goodlad, 2005, p. 7). Clearly, the new employees can be treated as adult learners. Before I got access to the term “Andragogy”, I had never systematically considered about the difference between adult learners and children or teenagers. However, I did find out that the employees trained in my course represented several traits which were completely different with my memory of being a student during the period of high school or college. I had summarized these traits that the employees (adult learners) were very aware of what was imported to them; they also valued their experience and thoughts very much and loved to share the experience with other people; when they were not interested in the content or knowledge points I was illustrating, they just left the room to run their personal errands; and it was hard for them to accept something beyond their recognition and beliefs. These special features sometimes greatly facilitated the quality of training and the trainees showed high degree of original learning, such as the principles or knowledge just accorded with their values and experience. While, sometimes the traits were the obstacles against adult learners’ participation in learning. My previous summarization did help me to reinforce my understanding the six principles of andragogy (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972).

1. “Self-concept: As a person matures, his or her self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality toward one of a self-directing human being” (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972, p. 4).

Self-concept includes self-schema, which is our “beliefs about self that organize and guide the processing of self-relevant information”, and possible selves which are “images of what we dream of or dread becoming in the future” (Myers & Smith, 2012, p. 39). Basically, self-concept is our sense of self that based on our personal experience and keeping moving towards our ideal self. Since each individual has his or her own possible selves, their destinations and directions are completely distinctive. I can always distinguish the trainees’ directions because they would focus more on the knowledge which can help them build on the way towards their possible selves and act indifferent to the skills which is irrelevant to the directions. Also, they are more firm on their way to achieve the ideal selves than the teenagers who are mostly confused and unsure about the future.

2. “Experience: As a person matures, he or she accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning” (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972, p. 4).

Experience is related to self-concept because the self-schemas of self-concept can “help us organize and retrieve our experiences” (Myers & Smith, 2012, p. 39). Experience is also the most typical principle that makes adult learning distinctive from learning in childhood (Mezirow, 1993). Generally, the older you are, the more experience you will gain in terms of many aspects of life and professional work. Based on my experience with adult learners, the Experience can be both an accelerator and a barrier for them. We do not just train new staff, we also regularly give class to older workers to see if they still retain the skills and knowledge. Apparently, the older staff have possessed several years working experience. It is extremely easy to re-teach them, and they are always willing to share their experience with the new staff. But when we are trying to show them a new way or method which can help them work effectively, the acceptance degree of the older staff is much lower than the new employees as the older staff are habitual of resorting to the old ways to solve problems. They would rely on their own experience, which they value a lot and has become part of their beliefs (Mezirow, 1993), and it is hard to transform them to another perspective.

3. “Readiness to learn: As a person matures his/her readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his social roles” (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972, p. 4).

“Adults are practical, focusing on the aspects of a lesson most useful to them in their work” (Lieb & Goodlad, 2005, p. 2). I think the developmental tasks of one’s social roles can be seen as the tasks they would like to accomplish to become their possible selves. Focusing on the practical aspects can help the adult learners move towards the goal accurately and steadily.

4. “Orientation to learning: There is a change in time perspective as people mature – from future application of knowledge to immediacy of application. Thus, an adult is more problem than subject centered in learning” (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972, p. 4).

Adults are “goal-oriented” and “relevancy-oriented” (Lieb & Goodlad, 2005, p. 2). I think the goal means solving real life or work problems as soon as possible. Based on my experience, I think the reason why adult learners are reluctant to accept irrelevant knowledge they might use in the future is that adults have so much to deal with both in life and work and they do not have enough capacity to memorize a vast amount of knowledge. They just want to gain the relevant skills that can fix the problem they are facing as soon as possible.

5. “Motivation to learn: As a person matures the motivation to learn is internal” (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972, p. 4).

The motivation factors for adult learners are listed by Lieb and Goodlad (2005) that “typical motivations include a requirement for competence or licensing, an expected promotion, a need to maintain old skills or learn new ones, a need to adapt to job changes, and the need to learn in order to comply with company directives” (p. 3). Clearly, the needs and requirements mentioned above are internal factors which represent the adults’ own willingness. The trainees I have met are more motivated by the need to adapt to job changes and to comply with company directives, and they want to be competent in the work and become someone reliable and trustworthy.

6. “The need to know: Adults need to know why they need to learn something before undertaking to learn it” (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972, p. 4).

As an adult learner, I clearly realized that teacher or trainer is a typical type of servant leadership before I took the course. And I hope what I am learning right now and what I will learn from the future courses will greatly help me create value for the organization and the community. I would also want to help other people understand the power of embodying servant leadership in educational and training profession.

References

Knowles, M. S., Holton, E., & Swanson, R. (1972). Andragogy. NETCHE.

Lieb, S., & Goodlad, J. (2005). Principles of adult learning. Retrieve from http://carrie-e.startlogic.com/handouts/Rotterdam2012/Eu_Coaches_Conf2_Rott_Day_1_A4.pdf

Mezirow, J. (1993). A transformation theory of adult learning. In Adult Education Research Annual Conference Proceedings. pp. 141-146.

Myers, D. G., & Smith, S. M. (2012). Exploring social psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-6/unit-6-learning-activities/