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Introduction
This paper analyzes various case studies on about human resource management. The first section of the paper discusses moral development. The Kohlberg theory of moral development explains the stages of moral development that a person undergoes beginning from childhood to adulthood. The stages of moral development include pre-conventional, conventional, and post conventional stage. The study discusses how the case study related to ethics can be resolved in the organization. This paper also discusses the need for change in an organizational. It discusses how a conflict between the new managers and the employees who have served in an organization for a long period of time. The paper discusses how to handle such a conflict and steps that can be taken to reconcile the two employees. The final section of the paper discusses the role of leadership in implementing change in an organization. The strategies that managers can use to minimize resistance to change are also discussed in this paper.
Developing Self-Awareness
According to Kohlberg’s theory on moral development, human beings progress through three levels of moral thinking, which helps in building their cognitive development (Baril and Wright, 2012). These three levels of moral development include pre-conventional level, conventional level, and post-conventional level. He indicates that each of the levels has two different stages which a human being must undergo before reaching the next level. The conventional level of morality is usually experienced in childhood. This is the stage where the sense of morality of a child is controlled by external factors(Peters, 2015). They accept the rules of morality imposed on them by people of authority, such as parents and teachers. The children at this stage have not yet developed the right mindset to differentiate what usually is wrong and right. At the conventional level, the sense of morality of an individual is tied to their personal relationship as well as involvement with the society (May 2017). At this level, a person continues to accept the rules of authority and respect the figures who enforce this rules on them. They do this because they believe that it is necessary to ensure positive growth and promote order in society.
The post-conventional level of the sense of morality of an individual is where an individual acts according to clear moral principles and values. People at this stage act based on self continuous, and they believe that some rules in the society and the organization are unfair and should not be followed (Lind and Wakenhut, 2017).
From the discussion, it is clear that I am at the sixth stage of moral development. This stage is referred to as the universal-ethical-principal orientation (Salter et al., 2016). A person at this stage of moral development reasons based on the universal ethical principles. They revolve ideas such as equality, dignity, and respect. People in this stage follow ethical principles that they believe are grounded on justice, and hence, in case they fail to develop their policies, they feel very guilty. Individuals do not act per their self-interest, but according to what they believe is morally right. An individual at this stage of moral development does not act this way to avoid punishment, but they act so because it is in their best interest, and it is legal to act morally.
Given my current stage of moral development, I would not write my colleague the note indicating that his friends were potential clients. This is because I have strong moral principles and am a person with high levels of integrity — I believe in being truthful and honest at all times because this is morally right. I would, therefore, advise my colleague to approach his boss and own up to the mistake he did. This would go a long way in convincing his boss that he is a truthful person, and he should apologize for the mistake that he did. By doing this, he would teach himself to act morally if faced with moral dilemma and this would help him develop strong ethical principles. By writing him a note, I would betray my conscious and moral principles, and I would have acted against the code of conduct of the organization. Furthermore, doing this would encourage my colleague to continue operating contrary to moral principles, and this would additionally lead him to ask for me to cover up his immoral acts. Failure by my colleague to admit wrongdoing will force me to report the matter to the seniors to ensure that the right course of action is taken.
Orientation also plays a huge role in decision making in situations such as this. According to Bronfenbrenner, there are five types of moral orientation (Gibbs et al., 2013). These moral orientations occur regardless of culture, social group, or developmental stages. He argues that movement from one step of moral direction to the next is dependent on the family background and the social institutions within the cultural setting (Lind, 2017). The movement to the final stage of moral development greatly depends on the exposure to the moral systems that might be in conflict with personal moral principles. Moral pluralism therefore compels a person to examine their moral reasoning and beliefs and they may hence alter their moral orientation. This mostly happens when individuals work in regions where they are exposed to different cultures and hence they are exposed to different set of moral convictions. This may greatly influence the moral orientation of a person. This therefore means that the decision taken by an individual faced with a situation like the one I find myself in will greatly depend on their culture and different moral convictions that a person has been exposed to. Therefore, my moral orientation informs me that I should follow my principles of honesty and truthfulness at all times no matter the repercussions of the decision. The other manager knew that what he did is morally wrong and whatever he was telling me to do for him is also morally wrong and hence I have to decline his request and bring the situation to the attention of the senior managers within the organization.
Solving Problems Analytically and Creatively
Conflicts between long-serving middle-level managers and new senior managers are very common in many organizations. This is because middle level managers who have been in an organization for a long period of time feel that they have a lot of knowledge about the firm and hence they need to be consulted by the new managers when making decisions (Chalmers, 2013). In this case, the conflict that has arisen is as a result of power relations between the existing leaders and the new manager. Employees who have served for a long time may also find themselves being more resistant to change than other employees. This is because they believe things work best as they are and hence there is no need for change. The manager who has served in the organization for 15 years has different view of the organization from the new manager who is their senior.
As a junior employee, I would advise my boss to engage with his boss and explain the concern.I would explain to my boss the need for embracing creativity and change in the organization. Explaining to him that the new manager is trying to introduce and encourage creativity due to the increasing competition and advancement in technology would help him understand the actions of our new manager. It is critical that he seeks the attention of the new manager in order to encourage her to involve other employees in making decisions which they may feel have a significant effect on them (Aslani et al., 2012),. My boss is right in that bringing radical changes in an organization could have some negative outcomes. It is critical that a new manager takes time to understand the organization before beginning making major changes to the processes and policies. This is because, there may be some aspects of the organization that work perfectly for the particular organization and hence changing them could lead to decline in the performance of the organization. In the modern organizations, it is critical to involve the employees in the decision making process. Research has established that involving employees in decision making helps in improving their morale because they develop a sense of ownership for the organization and hence they put more effort in their work (Müller and Ulrich, 2013). Additionally, studies on this subject has indicated that a manager should consult and prepare his employees for change. This is vital because, human beings are naturally afraid of change and hence they tend to resist change. It is therefore critical for the new manager to work in consultation with both high level managers, middle level managers as well as the junior employees when implementing changes in the organization. By doing this, employees and fellow managers are in a position to understand the need for change in the organization. Once employees understand that the change is meant to benefit them and the organization in general, they are able to support the manager and implement the agenda of the manager and hence contribute significantly to the success of the organization (Beheshtifar and Kamani-Fard, 2013). Failure by the manager to involve the subordinates in change sows seeds of mistrust between leaders within the organization and hence some employees may begin sabotage the initiatives of the new leader.
According to Parjanen, (2012).,It is critical for a new manager to give an organization a sense of direction and to use their talent and experience to lead an organization towards a desired destination. As they try to implement their vision for their organization, they have to keep in mind that without the support of the employees, they are bound to fail. The new manager however should not allow herself to be controlled or intimidated by long serving managers. They should ensure that they are firm in their believes and ensure that they rally all the managers and employees to support the impending changes in order to ensure that the organization moves forward together.
Some employees can be potential block to creativity. This is because they have lived in the old system for too long and they want things to remain that way whether or not the change could improve the performance of the organization. The new manager is trying to bring creativity into the organization in order to improve the efficiency and effective of the organization. One of the ways in which managers can identify creative analogy is use of brainstorming (Ketokivi et al., 2017). Managers can organize employees to form groups in which they can brainstorm ideas which can be of great importance in transforming the organization. According to (Mitchell and Walinga, 2017) analogies can help an organization to get out of the mental rut. Brain sometimes become fixed on a specific idea and hence it becomes difficult to come up with new potential solutions.
Managing Conflict
Conflict is defined as the process in which one party suggests that their interests are being opposed by another party (Bercovitch, 2019). It can also occur when one party feels that their authority is being undermined by another person. Conflicts are very common in the workplace. They occur due to varying reasons. According to Yirik et al(2015), there are various classification of conflicts. They include:
Relationship conflicts- this is where there are interpersonal incompatibilities between team members (Wallensteen, 2018)
They may include clash in personalities, anxiety, mistrust, frustrations or as a result of being isolated by other team members.
Task conflict- these are disagreements which come about due to the nature of the tasks and roles of individuals working in a team (Folger et al., 2017). Some tasks may overlap and some employees may feel that others are interfering with their work and hence resulting to conflicts at the workplace.
Process conflicts- these are disagreements which arise due to a misunderstanding about how a task should be accomplished as well the responsibility of each individual in accomplishing the task (Rahim, 2017).
This conflict is associated with low morale among employees as well as failure to organize tasks within an organization.
From the above discussion, it is clear that the conflict between me and my neighbor at the workplace can be classified under the relationship conflicts. Despite having informed the neighbor of the disturbing noise when speaking on the phone, she did nothing to stop this irritating behavior. I tried my best to cope with her but the noise was so consistent and it interfered with my productivity at work. When confronting my neighbour about the issue, I will explain to her how the noise is disturbing and how I have had to put up with it for a very long time. I will also explain how the noise has interfered with my concentration and hence affecting my ability to perform my tasks appropriately when at the office. I will approach her in a polite but firm manner. I would go and knock in her office and try to explain to her how her loud telephone conversations have been a nuisance to me. The reason why I will approach her politely is to ensure that she does not feel disrespected. Respect for all people is one of the values that I strongly believe in. The other reason why I will approach her politely is so that she can listen carefully and understand the suffering I am going through so that she can try and change this behavior. Additionally, this will help to avoid any verbal and physical confrontation in the office which could bring unnecessary attention or escalate the issue further.
According to Gelfand et al(2012), there are various ,methods of conflict resolutions. These methods include ; Competing, accommodating,avoiding , collaborating and compromising. In order to resolve the conflict between me and my office neighbour, I will use the collaborating approach to conflict resolution. In this approach, the parties to the conflict are expected to work together with the aim of developing a win-win solution (De Wit et al., 2012).
This approach focuses on finding a solutions to the needs of everyone and not interfering with the rights of any of the parties. In this case, my neighbour needs to use her phone to communicate with potential clients of the company. At the same time, I need a quiet environment where I can maximize my productivity. Therefore, it is critical that we engage in a conversion in order to find how the noise emanating from her office can stop being a bother to me. My neighbour should try and converse over the phone at a low reasonable voice in order to give me ample environment to carry out my duties.The conflict can either be resolved by only the two of us or we can involve a third person who can act as a mediator.One of the potential solution is that we can talk to the manager to install sound proof walls between our office in order to prevent the noise from reaching my office. The manager can also decide to switch our offices. She can be moved to another office space or I can be moved to another place where I can work without disturbance from the noise. This approach is very appropriate because it leads to a long lasting solution to the conflict. This approach can also resolve the conflict without escalating the situation or bringing about personal enmity between the parties involved in the conflict. Another alternative approach which can be used to resolve the conflict is the accommodating approach. This style is one of the most passive approach to conflict resolution. In this approach, one of the parties to the conflict gives in to the demand of the other party so as to avoid the progression of the conflict. This approach is not known to be very effective because there is a high likelihood that the conflict may reoccur in the near future.
Leading Positive Change
Organization change is defined as the process in which an organization alters its structure, processes and procedures in order to achieve a predetermined objective (Sikdar and Payyazhi, 2014).
Organizational change is a very important aspect of every organization. This is because it helps an organization to adapt to the external environment. Failure by the organization to change means that it will be left behind by its peers in the industry and hence may lose a significant market share and may eventually get driven out of the market. Modern organizations have become more dynamic and versatile due to the rate at which the external environment is changing (Gray and Wilkinson, 2016). As a manager, I need to come up with new strategies in order to grow the company and give the company competitive advantages. I also believe that employees is the most important asset for the company and therefore they should share in the benefits of the company.In order to make the company the most profitable sausage company in the US, I need to implement a variety of changes in this company. As a manager I will involve my employees in the change process. For any policy to be successful in this organization, it is critical that employees understand why it is being undertaken. It is critical for the employees to have confidence in the planned changes. This helps in making transition smooth and hence ensure that the change achieves its intended objectives.In order to cultivate a positive environment among employees, I will develop a strategic workforce plan. Developing this plan will ensure that the right types of employees are available to make the change happened. It will also assist in forecast the impact of future changes on the workforce. This helps in putting the right measures in place to help employees who might be affected by the change. A proper study needs to be carried out in order to identify the risks that may come with implementing the change. According to Aarons et al., (2015), one of the biggest challenge when implementing change in an organization is employees who may resist change. Employees may resist organizational change for various reasons. The main reason is that they feel that the change may result to them losing their jobs and hence they may sabotage the efforts to introduce change in the organization.
I will also ensure that employees at all levels of the company are engaged before beginning the change process. Employees will be encouraged to organize themselves in groups. They will be presented with the proposed changes and they will be offered a chance to discuss these changes and make recommendations. The suggestions and recommendations of the employees will be discussed by the committee put in place to oversee the change. Their suggestions need to be considered and incorporated in the plans for change. According to Jurkasov et al., (2016) this plays a very great role in lifting the morale of employees because they feel that they are greatly valued by the company. The fears of downsizing and layoffs by the employees will be addressed by the company signing memorandum of understanding with their union. This will provide the employees with an assurance that their jobs are not at risk and hence they can prepare for the impending change with a positive attitude. Effective communication with employees at all the levels will also play a critical role in aligning employees with the new vision of the company (Fugate et al., 2012). This is done by identifying employees who can act as leaders of other employees. These leaders are used to pass important messages to the rest of the employees. This will ensure that the employees have faith in the strategies of the company because they have been endorsed by leaders who they trust. Communicating the plan of the company to the employees will also ensure that all the employees understand the rationale of the changes and hence they will be more willing to support the changes. Additionally, the management of the company will come up with reward schemes to encourage the employees to adopt the change. Employees will be offered more bonuses and additionally non-monetary benefits if the profitability of the company increases as a result of the intended changes. Employees can be offered improved medical covers, flexible work routines and additional leave days per year. This will act as a motivation for all the employees to get on board the new plan and put all their effort towards achieving the goals of the company. Employees have to be engaged throughout the change process, the message of change needs to be consistent and reinforced from time to time to ensure that employees do not lose focus midway (Fallik, 2013). The management of the company also needs to oversee proper coordination of activities between the various departments in the organization. This will ensure that the company works smoothly towards achieving efficiency and hence increase the market share and profitability.
Conflicts
According to Kohlberg’s theory on moral development, human beings progress through three levels of moral thinking, which helps in building their cognitive development (Baril and Wright, 2012). These three levels of moral development include pre-conventional level, conventional level, and post-conventional level. He indicates that each of the levels has two different stages which a human being must undergo before reaching the next level. The paper also discusses how to solve problems analytically and creatively in an organization. The process of managing change in an organization is also discussed in this paper.
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