Read the original post from Layla here: https://create.twu.ca/ldrs501/2018/11/12/cooperation-in-a-national-company-of-china-seems-effective-yet-conflicts-lie-underneath/
Reading through your post, Layla, I was struck by how easy it would be to confuse compliance with cooperation. State Grid sounds like a large company with many departments who need to coordinate with each other. Your role in training and educating employees must be critical to ensuring alignment with the company’s MVV. When you mention that you must include the Communist ideal of “working for the collective goals, yielding in conflicts, and teamwork” (Zhang, 2018, para. 2), I wondered how closely that aligns with strategic teams where “trust and strong relationships must also exist between the team and other key teams in the organization” (Hughes et al., 2014, p. 210)? Is this more of an ideology of obedience for greater uniformity or are these ideals to truly have employees at all levels think in alignment with the MVV and thus produce more innovative and creative solutions to the company’s issues?
It is difficult for me to grasp the day-to-day functioning in a business world since I have been in the classroom several decades. Systems of rewards for quality work and company allegiance do not exist in my workplace. Years ago I discovered the odd truth in education that those who need little assistance and are hard-working, innovative thinkers usually get more work and more challenging classes; teachers who are less efficient, take all their sick days, or lament a great deal tend to receive more assistance or grace: “those who do, do more and those who don’t, get help” seems to be the mantra. I do not think this model would work well in your company or in many businesses, do you?
Integrity. You mentioned integrity is a core value for your company (Zhang, 2018, para. 1). Who is to show integrity and how is this core value modelled by the leaders? “Leading with integrity is one of the great challenges of leadership” (Suggs, 2012, para. 1). Since leading with integrity means to lead completely (Sugg, para. 4) and TSL leaders seek to build up their followers, leaders with integrity should put others first. Is this exemplified in the leaders of your company? Galbraith (2014) discusses that training in an organization needs to be continuous and targeted at cross-unit participants because it builds relationships which adds to the network (p. 145). Do you also train leaders, Layla, or do you train staff according to the changing needs of the organization and the vision of its leaders?
At the end of your post you discuss some of the conflicts that occur in your company more frequently at the lower level, and, to female workers. The inability for their voices to be heard by leaders at higher levels must create inequities among employees. How can this be addressed in your company? Is this a problem for which people are seeking a solution or is this just an inevitable condition of a large company? Hughes et al. say that often “too little attention is paid to the human element of strategy” and yet “organizations need to be as intentional about leadership strategy as they are about business strategy” (2014, p. 12). Is the company growing in its awareness of the human emotions, needs, and beliefs that can impact their efficiency in maintaining alignment with their core values?
References
Galbraith, J. R. (2014). Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit and enterprise levels. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Hughes, R., Beatty, K. & Dinwoodie, D. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organization’s enduring success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Suggs, D. (2012) Leading with integrity. Retrieved from http://www.delsuggs.com/articles/Leading%20with%20Integrity.pdf
Zhang, L. (2018). Cooperation in a national company of china: Seems effective, yet conflicts lie underneath [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://create.twu.ca/ldrs501/2018/11/12/cooperation-in-a-national-company-of-china-seems-effective-yet-conflicts-lie-underneath/