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In the movie “Gladiator” Russell Crowe plays the role of the Roman general Maximus, who was betrayed by his friends and was ordered to be killed. He was able to escape death and return home, where he found his wife and son killed by the New Emperor. Maximus sought revenge, but he was captured by slave traders and was brought to the gladiator school. Once again Maximus showed great potential as an outstanding fighter and a leader. His decisions were quick, which made his spectators love him. Maximus was selected to go to the gladiator game in Rome; if he lived there, he would be granted freedom. Maximus accepted the offer and went to Rome. During the games, Maximus proved that he was a great leader and warrior—he was able to capture his spectators. The New Emperor was extremely frightened when he recognized Maximus as a potential threat. The Emperor had many enemies and with Maximus being in Rome, his situation was worsened. Maximus was going to over throw the Emperor with the aid of Senate and the Emperor’s sister. Maximus’ army was loyal to him; they would help him avenge his family and over throw the Emperor. The plot against the Emperor failed, which lead Maximus’ face-to-face confrontation with the Emperor in the Coliseum. The Emperor stabbed Maximus before the match, which made him very weak. Despite the wounds inflicted by the Emperor, Maximus was able to defeat and kill the Emperor. Maximus too died (from his wounds) but he accomplished his goal to avenge his family. In my opinion Maximus is an extravert owing to his ability to get along with people. He had a lot of energy, and has a great deal of relationships with other characters in the movie. Throughout the movie, Maximus showed his ability to deal with people in many situations. For example, in the beginning of the movie, when he was fighting the barbarians before the battle he drove throughout his army talking to his soldiers and getting them ready. Another instance is when he was able to get along with other slaves during his captivity. Maximus seemed like he was always energized, during his battle seen he provide enough energy to motivate his soldiers and his gladiator friends in order to keep them alive. Maximus had a few friendships during the movie; one was with a slave from Africa they opened up to each other about their personal lives and their emotions. Maximus also got really close with the slave trader who was a former gladiator who won his freedom. Another important relationship was with the old Emperor of the Roman Empire, the Caesar. Maximus and Caesar were really close friends just like father and son and because of Caesar’s decision to make Maximus a new Emperor he was betrayed and family was murdered. Maximus is more of the intuitive person throughout the movie as seen in his daydreams, where he fantasies about his farm and his family. Maximus is somewhat bothered by reality, he wants to live in his dream. During the movie he talks about his family and his farm and how he wants to get back to that civilian life. In the last scene of the movie when he died he sees himself going home to his wife and his son. Maximus is sensitive; he is emotional, subjective, and personal when he is dealing with other people. The movie shows Maximus talking to Caesar right before his death—this scene shows his soft side, and his feelings for the Emperor and the new emperor’s sister. When he has a conversation with her about her personal live he relates to her and make her understand right from wrong. Maximus’ friends try to help him cope with his problems. For example, Maximus’ friend from Africa helps him explains to him that, that if he wants it bad enough, one day he can rejoin his family and his dreams will come true. Maximus is also very persuasive especially when he was trying to set up the plot against the new Emperor by convincing his fellow gladiators to help him escape to get in touch with his loyal army. I believe in the movie Maximus is portrayed as a judging and perceptive type. He makes his decisions based on the situation at hand and waits till the last moment to execute them. He also makes the decisions ahead of time and assumes the positive outcome. During the movie I was able to observe both types. In the beginning of the movie Maximus led his army against the barbarians and it was clear example of judgement. He knew where to position his army and he knew what to expect from the barbarians in order to win the battle and he was happy with the outcome. He was also portrayed as perceptive type, during his battle at the Coliseum he waited till the last minute to make a decision and execute it, even though he won the battle he lost men and he wasn’t very pleased with the results. If Maximus had more time to prepare the outcome would have been the same and with less casualties. In the article “Are two departments better than one?” I was able to identify a few issues regarding the organizational behavior in the company. In this article, the issues that were addressed were cultural changes due to the merger of two companies. It explains that cultural changes are detrimental to the company’s future behavior. Since the acquired company will be forced to change it’s previous culture, many employees will be faced with a difficult task of adapting to the new management and new cultural structure. Since this will be a difficult task on the acquired company the acquiring company should implement employee involvement programs where employees can give their outlook on the new cultural program. With an employee involvement the difficult tasks could be solved in a relatively faster manner. Another program that could help integrate the new culture should be an employee-training program, where employees can learn about the new culture and new rules and regulations that will be implemented in the organization. If the acquired company is going to try to get employees involved and trained to adapt to the new culture this would increase employee moral and increase the productivity. The second issue I was able to identify is working in teams with an acquired company to achieve the common goal. This is a very important and difficult issue that companies must face. Both companies have different organizational approaches on how to convert from one task to another. In order for both companies to stay on the same level and work together as a team the following ideas should be implemented. The integrated meetings where managers from both companies meet together weekly or what is appropriated in order to integrate both companies in working as a team. By doing so, employees of both companies could work on their differences in order to accomplish the common goal as a team. Since both companies are technology based companies working in the team is essential to maximize the profit and reducing the cost in order to stay competitive in the market. In the second article one of the main issues is adopting to the new culture when a new program was introduced to the company. In order for that program to work employees must learn it and implement it into the daily routine. For many employees it’s difficult to adopt to the new program because of complications in the program learning to operate it. In order for employees to accept the program, companies should hire a consultant who can help the employees learn the program, so that the new program may be beneficial. Cultural changes are always too difficult to make; it requires training and employees support and corporation. The second issue was to motivate the employees to use the program. This is a manager’s job to make sure that employees are motivated in using this new program. This program will help to create a better customer satisfaction. From the managers point of view it will increase the profit margins, but how to make employees get involved. There are a few ways a manager can motivate or encourage the employees to use the new program. Managers should use the employee recognition program, by which an employee is recognized for his performance by verbal or money rewards. The employee will receive bonuses at the end of the year for the highest performance. Any reward system can be a motivator for the employee to use the program. By implementing all these reward systems employees should strive to achieve higher customer satisfaction and higher profits by using the new program. After reading the description of American managers compared to the British managers I noticed the main differences in both cultures. American managers concentrate on individualism and it stands out as a main feature. Most individuals are praised for their qualities, not for the great teamwork. In order to stay competitive, an individual must be the head of the crowd. British managers are more preoccupied with teamwork and not as much as individualism. Americans always strive to get things done and not wait for a long time to accomplish a task they were set to do. In Britain it’s complete opposite from the Americans. Things tend to be more complex and would take more time to get things done. Americans view overtime as merit and a quality that puts employees ahead of the crowed but in British companies it doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing. British managers do not value the overtime as Americans do. Individualism is being seen as a self-depiction, where managers depict themselves. This way, managers are more satisfied with themselves and this helps to eliminate possibilities of an error. Since the British are more preoccupied with teamwork this would not be really affiliated with them. American managers tend to be more vainglorious than the British managers are. In the United States individualism and career go hand to hand. Career is a measure of individual worth in which a single person’s occupational achievement is evaluated over the period of time. It helps to determine how far did he/she get with the career, how many obstacles were in the way and how did he/she went about doing the right things. During your career people go throughout a lot of wanted and unwanted changes such as layoffs, job transfers, and sometimes to enhance an opportunity. American manager is facing a more dynamic career opportunity compared to British career opportunity. British environment is more of the straight line where managers don’t really experience such a dynamic career change. Another important factor that separates Americans from British managers is that in American managers are allowed to move from one department to a different department or functions within the organization. In British organization this type of behavior is really not appropriate. For British manager it’s hard to understand the concept of women manager. Since in the United States it’s essential to be working with a women manager. In many aspects they are being treated equally with men. British managers are more concentrated on the idea that women should be in the industries such as publishing and retailing. It’s hard from them to understand that women managers can go and take care of themselves just like men could with no problem or confrontation. British managers are very old-fashioned when it come to accepting the fact that women could be managers. American managers during their career didn’t work in just one company. When opportunity arises managers take the chance to advance themselves and make the most out of their careers. It’s not unusual for the manager to take a job somewhere and move there right away and selling a new house he/she just bought. Sometimes managers would move to the area where they don’t have any intentions of living but the opportunity is more important. British manager thinks a little bit different on this prospective. British managers usually stay with the same company for awhile, they are more concentrated on company’s loyalty. Individualism once again is more important since it helps managers and employees to strive for the best results they can possible achieve. This is also based on the self-merit where employee feels good about him/herself. After comparing American managers to British managers we can see quiet a few differences almost in every aspect of the organizational behavior. If I were hired to work for a British company I would have a difficult time adjusting to the British culture, not only in the country itself but organizationally also. Working with a team and not willing to show off your individual traits would be difficult. Praising the employee is important factor in keeping me motivated to stay competitive in the organization. This makes it difficult to progress in the organization, but in the same token, working for the British company reduces many risks of losing the job and would keep me loyal to that organization. Being a male, I have a greater chance to move up to the higher level management compared to the woman. It would take some time to get adjusted to British organization and it’s cultural values. Working for a British company I would have to motivate employees differently than I would if I were working for an American Company. The merit system would have to be adjusted on the performance of the team and evaluate team as a whole not each member individually. This also provides the healthiest environment to work in and this would keep the employee feeling safe and secure about their jobs. After closely reading the case on IBM the problem that was faced by the U.S largest Computer Company were beyond its control. With the increase in competition and dynamically changing market it’s very difficult to prevent the loss of the shares and the loss of the profit. With a new computer companies emerging the competition also increases which can cause price wars and IBM wasn’t ready to take on the challenge. With IBM long standing culture it was difficult to react to the cultural changes that needed to be done. Downsizing the employees wasn’t the policy IBM went about, but in order to minimize the cost of operation and increase the profit and market share IMB was faced with a difficult decision to downsize it’s employees. This was beyond the control of IBM. Losing the market shares and not willing to restore the shareholders and investors confidence brought IBM into serious trouble. Even though R & D department was working hard to come up with a new PC in order to keep up with the competition. IBM could not control these factors and the competitor was gaining on them. The sales overseas also dramatically decreased, bringing the profit down by 15%. IBM had to change its cultural values from being centralized to decentralized company with decision making being made on lower levels management, and IBM being a giant corporation it was very difficult to implement. So all those factors that brought problems on IBM were beyond its control. The major problem confronting IBM are organizational issues. IBM’s culture was centralized and standardized, with strict behavioral and dress code. IBM was very bureaucratic with decisions being made on the highest level. With the policies regarding the employee layoffs and long term employee commitment IBM lost more money due to these policies. With very competitive market out their IBM wasn’t ready for the changes that needed to be done in order to stay on the market and keep up with the competition. IBM recognized it needed changes in cultural structure but it was to late. IBM adopted the idea of decentralizing where lower management can make a decision and empowering the employees to get involved a with decision making process. The bureaucratic structure stymied the company from being innovative in a fast-moving industry. It wasn’t very flexible to adapt to the competition and since IBM believed in “don’t take a chance” and “ don’t rock the boat” philosophy it made difficult for IBM meet the competition. Due to the cost cutting IBM was forced to downsize, reducing the number of employees and breaking a long lasting tradition. In my opinion the problems IBM faced were due to the organizational issues. From the three C’s mindset of vulnerability, conservatism is to blame for IBM’s problems. IBM is very traditional company with many norms and regulations, which IBM wasn’t willing to change right away. Management teams are still very past oriented and with bureaucratic structure it wasn’t willing to change and adapt to the new environment. Managers saw no need to change because IBM would stay competitive in the market no matter what. Due to those believes IBM lost great market shares and profit because it wasn’t ready to make the right changes. By the time IBM recognized the need for change it was too late and it took IBM few years before it was able to come back on track once again. After completing the course I believe that every manager should know ten most important things about organizational behavior. Stimulating innovation and changes, management by objective, know the rational decision-making process, communication skills, leadership abilities, trust with his employee, ability to settle the conflict, key elements in designing the organizational structure, TQM, and reward system. Stimulating innovation and change is important attribute manager should use today for successful organization. This will provide flexibility, continuously improving the quality of the product, try to stay ahead of the competitor and maintain competitive advantage in the market. In today’s environment managers should be ready for changes and improvements. The challenge for the managers is to stimulate employee tolerance and creativity for change. Management by objective has emphasizes on setting goals for the organization. Managers should try to convert the organizational objectives into specific objective for the organization and employee. MBO should specify the goal, give the feedback, encourage the decision-making process, and set a time period. Managers and employee should implement this into everyday routine for better performance and feedback on future tasks at hand. Know the rational decision-making process to improve the effectiveness of the decisions being made by managers. The process has six steps manager should go by, in order to make efficient and effective decision. Manager should be able to come up with innovative and creative ideas. This would provide clear alternative the problem and help to identify the problem in the fast and efficient manner. Communication skills will help manager to control employee behavior by complying with company policies. Communication also fosters motivation by clarifying what employee must do or accomplish in order to achieve the best results. It provides information that individuals and groups need to make a decision. Communication is essential key in the organization. There are many forms of communication within the company. Manager should be able to communicate with their employee and higher up chain of command. With clear communication organizational goals will be accomplished. Leadership traits are important to the manager since it helps to influence a group toward the achievement of goals. There are different types of leadership, manager should pick the one that most suitable for him/her. Managers should posses the leadership qualities in order to motivate and lead his employee through organizational or cultural changes. Ability to motivate them to accomplish a certain objective or goal. Great leaders are made and some are born but managers should have both to maintain the employee effective and efficiency. Managers and employee should earn trust. Manager should be able to have trust and understanding with his subordinates and vice versa. If employee have trust in the manager they would be willing to go beyond what is required in order to accomplish a task or a goal that is required form them. In the same way goes to the manager, manager should have trust in his employee in order to accomplish the goal efficiently and effectively. Conflict process is another important factor managers should know when dealing with employees. In the diverse workforce many conflicts are going to arise and managers should be ready to deal with them. In order for managers to prevent the conflict, they should also posses good communication skills, which would help them solve the problem between the employees. There are four stages to the conflict process and managers should be able to identify those stages to prevent the conflict and know the behavior of the people. Good managers should solve all the differences in the work place to make organization run without flaws. Designing the proper organizational structure will help managers to manage employee behavior. Managers should divide, group, and coordinate job tasks. Work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization and decentralization, and formalization should be looked at when the manager is designing the organizational structure. All these factors are important and every manager should have a clear view of how to implement them. By doing so managers will be able to motivate their employees and produce the best outcomes. Total quality management is a philosophy of management stating that constant customer satisfaction throughout the continuo improvement of all organizational processes. Every manager should be familiar with TQM. By implementing the TQM managers will be able to achieve lower costs and higher quality products and services. Every process can be constantly improved especially today when the market is very dynamic and the competitor is always improving their product or service. Managers should look not only at short term projects like they did in the past but also long term once, and with help of TQM managers can achieve good results. Reward systems are a motivator for the employee. Manager should be familiar with reward systems in order to keep the employees motivated and have higher outcomes. There are many forms of rewards and managers should pick the one he/she believes would greatly benefit the employees. Manager should know his workers in order to provide the reward that person would want. Reward systems are based on performance and manager should always evaluate his employee so all the reward would be distributed evenly. Managers should be familiar with these ten elements in order to be successful leaders, since it will enable them accomplish the organizational goals efficiently and effectively. Bibliography: Word Count: 3801
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