Reflection report – MGT101A –final copy
1. What environmental factors have helped to create the situation Empress faces?
The following environmental factors have helped create the situation Empress faces, sociocultural, international and some Legal- Political factors. According to Samson and Draft
(2012, p.74) some aspects within sociocultural are the norms, values and customs of the general population. It is these values that come into action with the Empress case and will influence the outcomes of the situation. There are two clear sides of employees and the sociocultural values they apply when it comes to fulfilling the job. In the one case, Phil Bailey and Roger the CFO are willing to go to any lengths if it will benefit the company, whilst in contrast, Kevin Pfeiffer and Antonio Melendez apply a different level of sociocultural values in their decision making and following instructions. They demonstrate that there is a line that they question whether to cross or not as it conflicts with their own values of what they think is the ‘right’ thing to do. These contrasting sociocultural values have been a strong influencing factor in creating the situation, due to employees differing values and beliefs in approaching the situation.
International environment factors are creating pressure for the company to keep up with global source and supply through advanced technology, which the company does not have due to financial hardship. Antonio’s perspective that management has finally found a way to fund the computer system upgrade he’d been requesting, indicates the complication of the situation he is in from the information received. International influencing factors have created the need for improved technology and now the opportunity to address this has arisen through manipulating the insurance claim in a way that is creating a dilemma for employees. Legal factors are applying as employees of Empress Company face two choices; one to uphold the law or the other to break the law in order to benefit financially for the company.
The employees involved are influenced by the two sides of the legal factors, those that are feeling obligated to uphold the laws of the business and report and those that are willing to break the law to see higher profits for the company and gain resources.
2. How would you describe the corporate culture at Empress? What recommendations would you make regarding the culture if you were an advisor to the company?
I feel that the Empress corporate culture is mostly influenced by the achievement and adaptability cultures of a work place. Achievement culture values competitiveness, aggressiveness, personal initiative and willingness to work long hard hours (Samson and
Draft 2012, p.97). The strengths of an achievement culture would be that due to the competitive and independent nature of employees and their ability to make decisions for the benefit of the company would result in positive, result driven outcomes.
This culture is seen in the decisions that Phill and Roger make in regards to the insurance claim. They are aggressive in their approach and take the initiative to make a decision, even if it is not the right one for the benefit of Empress. As an advisor, I would recommend that although it is good for business productivity to have ambitious, competitive people working in a company it would not be ethical or legal to approach situations as they have. It also seems that not everyone works or feels the same way and so they do not fit in the culture which may lead to a high staff turnover contributing to an unstable work force.
Empress also appears to be influenced by the Adaptability culture, an environment that requires fast response and high-risk decision making (Samson and Draft 2012, p.97). The scenario shows that executive management in Empress are willing to take high risks decision making and support employees ability to rapidly detect, interpret and
