Business Management Concepts Assignment 1
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Introduction
This paper presents principles and procedures through which an organization can develop an innovative culture to excel in its field of operation. The focus lies on three factors that are essential in fostering positive change. Firstly, the paper will cover employee characteristics that have to be present for an innovative culture to be cultivated. Secondly, leadership qualities are considered keeping in mind that employees’ talents and skills have to be managed and supported for the best results to be realized. On leadership, the paper looks at the characteristics of good leaders and how these can be channeled to build an innovative edge. Lastly, what organizational culture entails is covered; the focus here is on how positive culture can be enhanced with leaders at the forefront. It is not only how an innovative culture can be built but also how it can be maintained for progressive organizational growth. The company of interest is one dealing with pasta and baked products. Baking and packaging the products come in handy. Again, the firm has its distribution line and has an active sales and marketing department. Developing an innovative culture for this company will be focused on developing an efficient way of production, marketing, and distributing the products. In summary, the paper will look at how employees’ characteristics leadership qualities and organizational culture can be harnessed to boost innovativeness in the above sample firm.
Characteristics of Employees
Companies and organizations are as good as their employees. An innovative culture can only be fostered by an employee who is focused and with appropriate characteristics. Skills and know-how of the tasks at hand have been a prerequisite requirement, but currently, firms are going the extra mile in defining the ideal employees. Character traits are now a point of consideration in building a team of employees that can serve to create a positive culture. Every individual in the team matters, hence it is imperative to ensure that all employees have favorable traits (Czalewski, Key & Scotter, 1). Therefore, acquiring and maintaining a workforce with good working characteristics is key to organizational culture development.
As we have seen, what an individual knows and the skills he/she has is necessary, but the current trend with responsible companies is to recruit along with traits and personality. The thinking is that information and skills can be imparted much easier, unlike personal characteristics and traits. There are a number of characteristics that notable companies are going after in the quest to create a dependable culture. According to Bessant (2), favorable employees are those that are disciplined, responsible, with excellent communication skills, and creativity. Further, honesty, cheerfulness, confidence also fall into the list of positive traits.
Disciplined employees are more likely to be dependable and reliable. Employees with this kind of profile will keep time and will work to undertake their responsibilities as instructed. These are the kind of employees who will deliver, whether supervised or not. In promoting an innovative culture to increase quality production and to market, discipline is critical. Another crucial trait is on communication skills. I believe that employees who are good at communication stand a chance to contribute to a positive culture. Having ideas is one thing, and presenting them to the team is another. Communicating the concepts with clarity not only makes them conceivable but also easy to implement. Further, a good attitude and a cheerful disposition are right for teamwork, and it creates a platform for employees to combine efforts and brainstorm for efficient ways of doing things (Czalewski, Key & Scotter, 1). All these positive characteristics can help to lay out a foundation for maximizing production, seeking more market, and serving customers satisfactorily.
Two Leadership Qualities
Leadership can enhance organizational growth or bring it down altogether. It is an essential management function that has to be present in building an innovative culture. Great leaders have a way to influence their employees to perform positively and be in tune with the set goals (Reynolds, 3). Poor leadership, on the other hand, contributes to diminished or lukewarm performance. Workers under such leadership are usually discouraged, and some would quickly leave the company if another opportunity comes their way. Studies show that almost half of employees who abandon their employment do so primarily because they are unhappy with their bosses (Thompson, 4). Many traits define a good leader, and which can help to create a positive culture. Qualities like being committed, having confidence, commitment, and focus are essential, and I believe that they make a good leader. Two qualities that I would go for in selecting and recruiting employees for leadership positions in my firm would be creativity and decisiveness. I believe these two qualities are necessary for formulating a positive culture capable of fostering innovativeness and growth.
Creativity has everything to do with being idea-oriented, thinking outside the box to develop workable plans. A manager with this quality will be able to organize his/her workforce and guide them to solve the problems at hand in a satisfactory manner. This manager also understands how to go about in decision making whether departmental, all for an entire organization. A creative leader will not only focus on improving operations and serving customer interests but will also strive to motivate employees. On the other hand, decisiveness is a crucial quality that is helpful, especially when tough choices have to be made (Thompson, 4). A decisive manager can perform due diligence, assess the available options, and quickly take action. Thus, creativity and decisiveness would be the best qualities for managers in my company.
Organizational Culture
A company’s culture contributes a lot to its performance; hence it is imperative to create a positive one from the word go. Organizational culture defines how the employees view themselves, what they are willing to do, and how far they are willing to go for performance’s sake (Botelho, 5). The shared values and beliefs within an organization influence how employees approach tasks and responsibilities assigned to them. They also determine how people in an organization behave and generally act (Warrick, 6). A culture that is characterized by innovative must have a workforce that is motivated and with the drive to perform.
To build an innovative culture for my company, I would begin with defining the goals and determining the ideal requirements to achieve them. People, as we have already seen, are key to shaping the culture, and so this would be the next thing to contemplate. The kind of employees to look for and the leadership qualities criteria to follow when appointing managers would be prime. I would give more focus on leadership, which I believe has a vital role in shaping organizational culture. Aspects of interest would be on how to build morale, instill confidence in the workforce, and enhance their motivation. Further, the issue of creating favorable working conditions would be on the list as well. Overall, the above factors and how managers are able to promote matters in building and maintaining a good culture in the company.
Conclusion
Developing a positive and a winning organizational culture calls for dedication. It is not a matter of luck, as evidenced in the life of giant companies of the world in various industries (Bessant, 2019). The process involved does not happen by accident, but all stakeholders have to be in tune and work towards the same. Employees must be responsive to the culture being promoted, and this is easy when the team of workers has the appropriate characteristics. The managers appointed also need to have the necessary qualities. Being decisive and creative are essential qualities that can enable a manager to foster innovativeness. Finally, productiveness in a company is closely connected to sound culture and this should be enhanced.
Sources
- Czaplewski Adrew. J, Thoma Martin K, & Van Scotter, J. R, 2016, The role of positive organizational behavior in building a worldclass service organization. Leading the positive organization: Actions, tools, and processes, 82-101.
- John Bessant, 2019, How do you create an innovative culture? https://blog.hypeinnovation.com/how-to-create-an-innovation-culture-part-2
- Justin Reynolds, 2019, 10 leadership qualities to look for when hiring a manager, https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/leadership-qualities-when-hiring-a-manager
- Sophie Thompson, 2019, Leadership skills for managers and the importance of these skills. Virtual speech, https://virtualspeech.com/blog/leadership-skills-for-management
- Carlos Botelho, 2020, The influence of organizational culture and HRM on building innovative capability. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
- DD Warrick, 2017, What leaders need to know about organizational culture. Business Horizons, 60(3), 395-404.