What are the key components that can bring the enterprise to prosperity? Modern researchers found out that the organizational culture is the crucial element that influences the work of the company in a significant way. To improve work and achieve better results, the managers should pay attention to the changes and implement them into the working process. The company under analysis is Philadelphia Job Corps Center. To get a better understanding of how the company functions and what should be made to improve the work, four employees with the different working background were interviewed. The main purpose of the paper is to provide the in-depth analysis of the work of the Philadelphia Job Corps Center and evaluate the organizational culture of the company.
The Department of Labor in the United States developed the Job Corps for people aged between sixteen to twenty-four to improve professional skills by participating in educational programs. The Philadelphia Job Corps Center aims to meet the objectives of the Job Corps. The main purpose is to help young people in the improvement of professional skills to get more chances to find a decent workplace that will satisfy their needs. To achieve this goal, the company should implement appropriate methods and techniques into the working process. To accomplish best results and to help people in advancing the knowledge and professional skills, the employees should unite and function as one organism. The organizational culture is the aspect that contributes to meeting of this objective.
It is significantly important to understand the role of the organizational culture as it is intertwined with the issue of leadership. It worth stating that culture is reflected in any action or behavioral pattern of the employees. In the case when the leader is full of creative and entrepreneur ideas, he can establish the culture of the organization based on own beliefs and values. If the organization becomes successful, the values get shared between the workers and transform to the organizational culture (Schein, 1999). When a new leader takes over the company, he is usually forced to use certain leadership approaches in accordance with the organizational culture. The establishment of the culture contributes to the success of the company, and it can be traced in terms of the employees’ performance.
As the matter of fact, the point of view of the workers reflects how successful the leader is on his way of organizational culture development. To get better involved in the issue and to understand the peculiarities of the Philadelphia Job Corps Center the opinion of the employees should be taken into consideration. To achieve the stated above objective, I interviewed four people who work for the company to diagnose and evaluate desires of the employees regarding the changing of the organizational culture. The interviewees were asked to give a score on the following categories, namely the dominant characteristics:
- The feelings of the employee to the organization. Is it a personal space that feels like an extended family?
- The dynamic of the organization and willingness to take the risk.
- The attention of the company is centered on the achievement of the results and getting the job done. The workers are competitive.
- The company is strictly controlled.
The second part of the interview deals with the organizational leadership, and is focused on the discussion of the following components, namely:
- Type of the leadership: mentoring, facilitation, or nurturing.
- The leadership is centered on modernization and risks.
- The leadership represents the no-nonsense, aggressive, or focused on the results.
- The leadership is found in the dimension of coordination and effective production.
The respondents had an opportunity to set a score between zero to hundred evaluating how the stated components are represented in the work of the Philadelphia Job Corps Center and what score they prefer, namely how they see the organizational changes. Interviewed workers have different experience and background. Observing people from different groups gives a wide range of the objective results and allows making relevant conclusions regarding the success of the organization.
Four respondents are the representatives of different ages, the number of years spent in the company, and gender. The differences in background influence the way the workers feel the atmosphere in the company. The respondents are the following:
- J. Reid – 50 years old, five years in the company;
- J. Wild – 49 years old, thirteen years in the company;
- N. Madison – 24 years old, three months in the company;
- P. Mollekan – 64 years old, more than ten years in the company.
To get the better understanding of what should be changed in the corporation, every element should be taken into consideration and examined as it provides the appropriate information regarding the organizational culture implications. Taking a closer look at each criterion will contribute to finding the ways to improvement and progress.
The first criterion reflects the attitude of the workers towards the company and how they feel in the working place. According to the point of view of every worker under consideration, they want to feel more comfortable in the working place. It means that the workers want to be valued and appreciated. The youngest respondent, N. Madison, is sure that the team does not function as the united organism as she gave the first criterion five points. Older workers state that the level of personal space should be improved.
The second aspect deals with the description of the dynamic of the organization and willingness to take the risk. The answers of the respondents are controversial. Reid and Madison are sure that the company should act more flexibly, adjust to the situation, and take risks. However, Mollekan and Wild suppose that the company has chosen the right strategy, and they are satisfied with it.
The third point is centered on the examination of the objective of the company to work for the result, getting the job done, and the competitiveness of the workers. The insights of the interviewees are different. Two workers, Wild and Madison, believe that the company should focus on the result more, and the index should be improved. However, Mollekan and Reid think that the organization should not pay so much attention to the competitiveness. This problem occurs because of the difference in character as some people are individualistic and prefer to work in isolation, whereas other ones are collaborative and aim to work in a team.
The fourth aspect is focused on the degree of control in the company. Wild and Mollekan stated that the way the company functions is appropriate and satisfies the needs of workers. In addition, Madison and Reid suppose that the company is over controlled and needs to trust the workers and to be more flexible in the decision-making process.
The second part of the interview aimed to highlight the difference in how people view the leadership approaches that are implemented into the working process. First and foremost, it should be stressed that the charismatic leader can influence the work of the company in a positive way. As for the Philadelphia Job Corps Center, it should be pointed out that nurturing, mentoring, and facilitating the type of leadership is considered to bring better results as for the opinion of the respondents. The preferred level got a higher score according to Madison and Reid, whereas Wild and Mollekan are sure that the company should not face changes regarding this aspect.
The following criterion describes how the workers view the leadership centered on innovation, entrepreneurship, and taking risks. Everyone but Mallekan thinks that the implementation of such type of leadership will be beneficial to the organization. Mallekan gave a zero score to the innovation, entrepreneurship, and the risks taking approach, as well as to the next one, no-nonsense, aggressive, and focused on the results leadership. In contrast to Mallekan’s point of view, Madison and Reid think that it can be used in the working process; however, the usage should be limited as the preferred level has fewer score than the present one. Wild, the most experienced worker, believes that the level should stay the same.
The last aspect that was taken into consideration is the leadership that is centered on the dimension of coordination, organization, and smooth-running efficiency. Wild and Madison have similar ideas and stress that it should decrease whereas Reid believes that the methods should be implemented and worth addressing to it. Mallekan believes that the company takes the right position, and no changes are needed.
The vast majority of the organizations do not achieve the theoretical results because their strategy does not involve the daily habits of the workers. The possible way to improve the work of the company is to choose up to ten workers, interview them and distinguish the preferences of the employees and how they view the perspectives of the company. According to the experts, changes are the common and natural phenomenon in the twenty-first century. However, it is worth stating, that most of the enterprises usually struggle with the implementation of changes in the working process. Despite the fact that globalization affects the companies in a significant way, managers and employees usually face a lot of challenges while changing the working process they got used to. As the matter of fact, the dynamic of the organization should adjust to the modern environment (Bridges, 1992). The experts claim that the most successful companies have established the corporate culture, and it was one of the primary benefits and competitive advantages of the organizations. According to Cameron Kim and Quinn Robert, the productive enterprises usually share six specific characteristics. The first one is the fewer competitors due to the high obstacles. The second aspect is the production of the product that cannot be substituted. The next factor is the large market and ability to take a niche in it. Another condition stresses the importance of monopoly. The last aspect is the rivalry as it is significant for the company to understand that it should be in progress and constant developing in order to succeed.
The interview has shown that the employees are not entirely satisfied with the methods of leadership as well as the working environment in the Philadelphia Job Corps Center. To change the situation, the organizational culture should face some changes. The ignorance of the organizational culture can result in poor performance of the employees and dissatisfaction with the working atmosphere and outcomes.
To improve the feelings of the employees in the workplace, the Human Resource department should provide the workers with some corporate events and contribute to the establishment of the organizational culture as this element unites people and brings them closer. To perform successfully, the employees should direct their efforts into the needed direction. It worth stating that it can be achieved by corporate social events and implementation of the team building approach.
The interview has shown that the opinion of the respondents regarding the question of the risk is different. The company should address and take into account the point of view of the employees. To change the situation and improve the working conditions different meetings should take place as it is the essential tool that contributes to the shaping of the organizational culture.
The point of view of the workers regarding the competitiveness of the employees is different. The best solution is to create the organizational culture that will be comfortable for every worker. As the matter of fact, the working atmosphere affects the outcome, and that is, should be taken into consideration.
Control is not always the best opportunity to influence the employees, as sometimes the results will be better and more successful if the workers are free to use the creative skills and are not controlled while decision-making process. Mentoring and supervision works with inexperienced and young employees who requires a lot of control and guidance, however, may have negative consequences in the case the worker is highly professional and does not need the supervisor. Madison, the youngest respondent, gave the mentoring leadership the highest score of sixty as the preferred while the woman thinks that the organization lacks mentoring and nurturing approaches. However, the score is understandable as the woman is the youngest respondent; moreover, she has been working for the company only for three months and has not adjusted to the system yet. In contrast, Mollekan has been working for the company for more than ten years is sure that the leadership should be based on cooperation and smooth-running efficiency. It worth noting that there is no type of leadership that can be considered as the best one, however, the OCAI questionnaire helps in evaluation of the best approaches that work for the particular organization.
Nevertheless, the sphere of working environment is not the only that should face changes. According to the interview, the respondents are not satisfied with the approaches chosen by the manager. It appears to be the significant issue as it influences the workers’ performance. According to the recent researches, people are usually unaware of the major principles of the organizational culture until it starts to change. It is the reason it was not taken into consideration by the researchers and managers earlier (Cameron & Quinn, 2006). Leadership is an essential aspect of the organizational culture. Successful leadership may bring the company into the new level of the development. The interview proved that the respondents view the situation differently. To satisfy the needs of the employees and to contribute to the positive outcome, the leader should combine all the characteristics at once. The leadership type based on mentoring, facilitation, and nurturing scored more preferred points. Managers should take this index into account and try to adjust to the ideas of the workers. The respondents stated that leadership focused on aggressiveness, competitiveness, and results should not be the guiding power. According to the results provided by the interview, the employees would work better with the mentoring leader that will contribute to the smooth-running efficiency. The organizational culture should develop in the dimension of understanding and respect.
After the organization implements the stated above changes into the working process, the performance of the employees is likely to improve. In addition, the satisfaction of the employees with the workplace is sure to increase, and that is, the organizational culture should face changes (Bridges, 1992). It worth highlighting that workshops and social meetings contribute to the establishment of the prolific and positive environment that contributes to the success of the organization. According to the results of the interview, the opinions of the respondents regarding the appropriate leadership methods are different. The reason for such outcome is that every person has a different working experiment, age, and gender, and that is, they view the types of leaderships under different dimensions. However, the vast majority of respondents state that the type of leadership they observe now should be changed.
The OCAI questionnaire helped to examine the organizational culture of the Philadelphia Job Corps Center. There is hardly an organization in the world that has functions in accordance with the single culture style. The vast majority of companies represent the mix of cultures. The values that different enterprises represent are reflected in the organizational cultures. According to the developers of the OCAI, Quinn and Cameron, the companies should dedicate time, effort, and money to establish the organizational culture as it is considered to be an essential element for the success of the company. The most successful enterprises are believed to be those, which are flexible. However, flexibility can sometimes result in conflicting behavior. There are four types of the organizational culture, namely clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy. It should be highlighted, that there is no ‘best’ or ‘worse’ organizational culture as the combination of approaches seems to be the most successful way. The Philadelphia Job Corps Center is the example of the company where there is a mix of cultures. However, according to the preferred scores, the employees want managers to change their focus.
In conclusion, it should be pointed out that the organizational culture is essential to the success of the company. As the matter of fact, the ability of the manager to awake changes is significant as the culture is not felt until it faces changes. The Philadelphia Job Corps Center should go through certain shifts to improve the working environment. Although, the employees are satisfied, according to some criteria, the organization should take into account the opinion of the employees to prosper and show significantly better results. On the example of four interviews, managers can draw appropriate conclusions and take measures to implement changes. The OCAI questionnaires are the perfect tool in shaping the organizational culture that will help the company to meet the objectives.
References
Bridges, W. (1992). Managing transitions: Making the most of change. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Cameron, K., & Quinn, R. (2006). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework (3d ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Schein, E. H. (1999). The corporate culture survival guide: Sense and nonsense about culture change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.