Strengths of the company

Question:

Discuss about the Cultural Variation in Conflict Resolution.

The report shows that the company is doing all it can to ensure that its management practices are in line with the desired goals. By looking at the way the company has performed on the fourteen principles of management, it is apparent that the company is embracing the Australian Engineering Capabilities (Daft, R., & Marcic, D., 2016). This is evident by looking at the areas that the company is doing and some of the capabilities in Australian engineering Capabilities. For example, the Australian Engineering capabilities call for an organization to understand the needs of the clients. The requirement is in line with the principle number 12 which calls for an organization to know the value of the customer. In this specific principle, evidenced by the survey, the company has scored 5, and that is a sign to show the commitment of the company.

Based on the survey results, the company needs to look into distributed leadership aspect. In the modern day, Leaders need to approach issues in a more diverse way (Argenti, 2015). The junior employees are the most significant stakeholders in an organization. This is because they implement the strategies laid down by the management. With this in mind, there is a need to engage them in the process of drafting and implementing the strategies. Therefore, the company needs to take distributed leadership to the highest level. By so doing, the company will enjoy increased productivity from the employees who will feel valued and part and parcel of the organization.

Aztec has a program established for the sole purpose of providing employees with training on awareness of cross-cultural policies. The program is well defined with different stages of training that offers skills in dealing a culturally diverse workforce by understanding and appreciating the diversity of the human race. The training encompasses all varieties of cultures including training on indigenous Aboriginal Australian culture. From the survey, there is a need for the management to come up with a framework that makes sure job allocations and promotions are given fairly and that every culture is represented.

The strengths of the company are associated with how good the company has scored on some of the principles. If the company has scored the highest, then it becomes apparent that on that specific principle, the company has demonstrated strength. When it comes to integrating others into the processes and functions of the company, Aztec has performed well. The company does not only give rules; but it also makes sure that it involves others in the process of making decisions and that makes all employees feel as part and parcel of the organization (Barney, 2014). The company has done well on matters affiliated with standards and practices. 

Weaknesses of the company

The company makes sure that is on the frontline in making sure that high standards are practices are observed in the processes of the company. When it comes to short-term and medium strategies and issues, the company tries to maintain balance. Some organizations pay much attention to only long-term issues, but that is not the case in Aztec. Management and utilization of time are one of the aspects that the company takes seriously. This is a strength because management of time has positive effects on the processes and operations of any given organization. When it comes to sharing information with the employees, it is apparent that the company has done extremely well.

This is a strength because of numerous reasons. When a company shares information crucial to the growth of the company, the company experiences growth. At the same time, when the employees realize that the company does not hide anything from them, they feel as part and parcel of the organization. When employees feel as part and parcel of an organization, they are motivated to work tirelessly towards attaining the goals of the company (Barney, 2014). The company has value for its customers. Customer value is one of the most significant principles. The reason why the company is in place is to meet the needs of the customers.

Therefore, if the company fail to do so, it stands a chance to be kicked out of the competitive market. Scoring highest on customer value is a strength. The strength depicts the management as value-oriented and visionary. The last strength that has been depicted by the company in line with the fourteen principle survey is micro to macro. Micro to macro entails making sure that the employees are aware of their contribution to the company. The company’s management has done all within its power to appreciate and honor the employees. As a result, the employees know what impact their efforts have on the processes and operations of the whole company.

Harsh climate in most of the Australian continent is one of the weaknesses affecting the company in its operations. According to the survey, this weakness puts the company in a disadvantageous position as far as smooth operations are concerned. Fluctuating economic times also make the market unpredictable. As a result, planning and budgeting for the company operations become a challenge.  The organization has a score of 4 in regards to alignment. Alignment involves the coordination of all employees’ behaviors with the organization’s values and directions. The entity needs to improve regarding aligning personnel objectives with those of the entity. At the same time, there is a need to ensure that all values and morals, as well as directions,  are respected in this principle (Barney, 2014).

Cross-cultural training and job allocations

Distributed leadership is also a weakness in this organization. In every business, there is a need for individuals to work in teams and deliver as per the requirements. Decision making and performance improvement need to be boosted, for the sake of increased efficiency. The fifth principle is also a weakness for the organization.  The organization has not yet achieved efficiency when it comes to the balancing of short term and medium term issues and requires to enhance integrity and openness in its business activities. The entity requires improvement to be ‘upfront.’ Other weaknesses of the organization include; bias for action, learning focus and discipline, which are related to principles 8, 9 and 10.

Regarding bias for action, the organization is not good at implementing ideas and strategies. Regarding learning focus, everyone in the entity is not actively involved in the learning and development programs, which needs to be corrected to increase efficiency. Discipline, as the tenth principle, needs to be highly considered. The entity should step up and invest in policies and procedures, as well as standards which will lead to the application of strong business systems (Barney, 2014). Finally, capability creation is a major weakness in the organization. The organization’s capabilities are not defined priority areas, which needs to be corrected for development and investment purposes.

Conflicts in organizations is a common occurrence that in most cases makes people so uncomfortable that they choose to suppress it as opposed to dealing with it. According to the survey, suppressing conflicts doesn’t bear any positive fruits and may even cause more problems (Wallensteen, 2015). Conflicts can, however, at times be a good thing as they can arise from valid reasons. Good managers need to understand the causes, types and ways of managing and resolving conflicts at the workplace. The Australian Engineering competencies present useful strategies which may be of help to the process of resolving conflicts.

Conflicts occur when different people’s beliefs, priorities, and interests clash (Autesserre, 2014). Other factors that cause conflict within the organization based on the survey results include;

When companies are faced with stiff competition, employees are put on the pressure to perform. If the goals and objectives allocated to these employees are communicated, conflicts could arise. Managers need to vividly address their requirements to their employees while encouraging them to seek clarification on matters not comprehended.

Correct information is critical to organizations, especially along production lines. Passing of incorrect information down a production line can cause conflicts within the supply chain. For example, if the production manager sends the wrong information about the quantities to be used in a manufacturing process, the suppliers could end up having a shortage or a surplus in goods to supply.

Managing conflicts in organizations

If a problem has occurred within an organization and there’s nobody taking responsibility, there could be conflicts until the situation is resolved. Managers can solve this situation by having every employee that comes into contact with a document to sign and add the date of signing as a paper trail could be used to find employees responsible for a mishap in the organization.

Task conflicts – occurs when two parties disagree on the facts of a situation, such as company policies and procedures, task completing methods or distribution of resources, due to opposing behaviors, needs and attitudes (Mesmer-Magnus, J., & Doty, D., 2013).

Interpersonal Conflicts – this is a conflict between two people or groups that is caused by the difference in opinions, personalities, value, and beliefs.

Procedural Conflict – this type of conflict occurs when every member of a team or group agrees on the goals to be achieved but disagree on the methods, process, and means of achieving the said goals (Vachon, F., & Tremblay, S., 2014).

Affective conflict – this type of conflict occurs when collaborating parties disagree by interpersonal prejudices such as strong political, racial, ideological or religious differences.

Great managers need to possess certain qualities such as decision-making skills, management skills; negotiation skills, leadership skills, observation skills, time management skills and most importantly they should possess workplace communication skills if they are to manage conflicts and disputes within the organization successfully. According to the survey, with the aid of these qualities, the manager should utilize the following strategies to manage workplace conflicts effectively;

Hardly is the case that situations are honestly presented during a conflict. Most often than not, facts are usually exaggerated or underrated especially when presented by others. based on the survey results, it is therefore wise for a manager to first adequately investigate both sides of the story before making any decisions or judgments (Cummings, T., & Worley, C., 2014).

Heated arguments bring about strong emotional reactions, and the people involved usually result in their natural defense mechanisms – fight or flight – hence logical thinking takes the 2^nd place. It is therefore crucial for managers to understand how to decode facts from emotional reactions so that they can logically deduce solutions for the conflict.

It is a common occurrence for dialogues to be halted when a person or group in a conflict is rendered wrong. A great manager should listen and consider views from all the involved parties even if some are wrong (Kerzner, 2014). This will foster teamwork as employees will feel that their opinions are appreciated regardless of their correctness.

Managers need to keep a keen eye out for re-occurring conflicts as they might be a manifestation of underlying troubles within the organization either on the ground or the management level.

Great managers understand that everybody’s opinions matter regardless of their personalities. A particular employee could be perceived by the rest as a trouble-maker, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have legitimate problems and opinions (Mayer, 2015).

Great managers can opt to implement regular open sessions with the sole intention of brainstorming on the procedures that are working and the ones not working. This provides the employees with a platform to air their opinions freely thus mitigating future conflicts on the same issue.

One of the ways to prevent future conflicts is to have every member help in creating a conflict resolution protocol, and chances are they will respect the code as they are the authors.

A good manager should have his employees adopt and agree or clear, official communication channels (Cahn, D., & Abigail, R., 2014). Having unacceptable and counterproductive means of communication can bring about misinformation hence causing conflicts within the organization.

The role manager’s play in engineering institutions and organizations is key to the proper functioning of the organization as they are tasked with economical and effective planning responsibilities (Nicholas, J., & Steyn, H., 2017). Essentially, based on the results obtained from the survey, the role of managers is to predict and plan, to organize, to direct and to control.

Top managers are the senior-most managers in an organization. As a business grows, there come legal and operational needs to divide the roles into several top-level management sections to conscientiously actualize functions that are getting more intricate. The chief executive officer (C.E.O) is the highest-ranking manager in an organization and only reports to the board of directors. The CEO is responsible for advancing the comprehensive goals and strategies for the enterprise (Dale, 2015).

The chief operating officer (C.O.O) is often the 2^nd highest-ranking officer and reports directly to the chief executive officer and can act as an arbitrator between the CEO and other top-level managers. The chief operating officer is responsible for overseeing all daily operations.

Next in hierarchy is the chief financial officer (C.F.O) who is responsible for superintending the company’s finances, book-keeping and ensuring that the company’s financial controls are in line with all federal and tax regulations. The chief financial officer is followed by the chief information officer (C.I.O) also known as the chief technology officer. This manager is responsible for managing the technological needs of an organization about the implementation of computer and information systems (Argenti, 2015).

Planning is the function of management that entails having managers set goals and determines the course of action for attaining these objectives. It requires managers to be always aware of economic and financial conditions affecting the organization and forecasting future trends (Arends, 2014).

Strategic planning – Top managers oversee conducting strategic planning. This type of planning involves assessing the organization’s strengths and weaknesses to analyze competitive possibilities and threats and then discerning means of putting the organization in an effectively-competitive position in the business environment (Barney, 2014). It is usually a long process that can take more than three years.

Tactical Planning – this is the intermediate-range within which middle-level managers can take 1-3 years to establish relatively substantial means to aid in the implementation of the strategic plan (Haines, 2016).

Operational Planning – this is short-term planning (1 year) that focuses subunit and organization-wide goals. It is usually overseen by 1^st line managers who are responsible for creating specific frameworks to aid in the facilitation of tactical and strategic plans (Johnson, 2014).

This function of management involves establishing an organization structure and ensuring human resources are allocated to facilitate the accomplishment of objectives (Scott, W., & Davis, G., 2015). The organization’s structure acts as the framework for effort coordination. Senior managers agree on organizational design decisions and present the structure by an organizational chart with a graphic depiction of the organization’s hierarchy (Daft, R., & Marcic, D., 2016). The managers also determine the duties and responsibilities of individual and how well to cluster or departmentalize jobs for effective effort coordination.

This function of management entails ascertaining that performance does not stray from standards (Goetsch, D., & Davis, S., 2014). Managers perform these functions using the following steps;

1. Establishing performance standards. Performance standards are usually measured in monetary terms, for example, costs, revenue or profits.
2. Contrasting actual performance against standards and

This function is conducted by managers from all levels of the organization. The control function does not mean that managers should control juniors in a manipulative way, but rather it entails having the managers play their role in taking the required and appropriate action toward the accomplishment of company goals and objectives. There are two traditional techniques used controlling;

1. Budget Audit – provides information on the organization’s progress and position about plans and budgets(Shatri, Y., & Hashani, S., 2016).
2. Performance Audit – tries to determine whether the information given in the budget report reflects actual performance(Skærbæk, P., & Christensen, M., 2014).

This function requires managers to be good leaders to direct effectively. Directing is an inter-personnel aspect of management which involves managers dealing directly with subordinates in supervising, guiding, motivating and influencing them towards achieving set objectives. It involves the following elements;

1. Supervision – the act of overseeing by watching and directing work
2. Motivation – encouraging, inspiring and stimulating subordinates with the zeal to work.

• Leadership – guiding and influencing work to the desired direction

1. Communication – sharing of information, opinion or experience within the working environment
2. Recommendations

Aztec should invest more on information intelligence especially in the finance departments to come up with strategies for dealing the ever-changing financial times. Financial investment goes a long way for most organizations, especially where success is the main priority for most firms. Aztec should take into consideration all required Australian engineering principles for the sake of boosting its success and public relations in the organization. Basing consideration on the survey results, Aztec as a firm needs to step up and ensure that information intelligence is not shunned. This way, it will acquire a competitive edge in the market, and more so, be known for its quality, professionalism and effective service delivery.

Engineering practitioners in Australia are governed by the code of ethics. Therefore, I would recommend that these principles be highly adhered to. There is a need to keep in mind the knowledge and skills of this profession for the sole benefit of the community. The major aim is to create engineering solutions, to realize a sustainable future. In future, the organization needs to strive to serve the community. Conflicts of interest need to be put behind professional interests. A code of conduct should be followed and made known to every person. The engineering profession in the country should not be tarnished, but this can only be achieved where discipline is emphasized.

Thirdly, Aztec should consider opting out of internalization processes and venture out of its comfort zone by trying to outsource. Dealing with the shortage of skilled labor will require Aztec’s management to consider reinventing themselves by thinking outside the box and broadening the scope of hiring skills. Instead of just focusing on individuals with engineering knowledge and skills, the company can try hiring people with other skills and expertise such as analytical experts who would come in handy in all areas of management. Analytical skills are highly sought after in the business world, and individuals who possess these skills could help in human resource, finance, and inventory services. 

It is everybody’s responsibility to conserve the environment and Aztec should spearhead the campaign by pursuing means of developing alternative sources of energy. Most of the equipment involved in the construction industry use petroleum products for fuel, and this ends up having a detrimental effect on the environment. Aztec should be actively involved in developing other sources of energy such as solar, wind and biomass fuels. It is the desire of every organization to achieve profitability in the long term, and more so, be at par with all industry concepts, processes, and procedures which enhance overall success.

Aztec, just like any other organization, needs to deal with relevant principles, required aspects, and professionally set standards to ensure the Australian engineering aspects are not shunned. All these elements should be emphasized at the organization level, for improved efficiency in general. The bottom line to adhere to set engineering standards, remain efficient, produce at high quality and have the best, reliable and competent professionals to work in the organization. Service to the community is of utmost importance as well.

The challenges in making this report are associated with connecting leadership and the effects it has on the organization from diverse perspectives. The connection between the management of an organization and the Australian engineering capabilities also came in handy. However, the whole process was educative in different ways. One of the ways is related to the Australian Engineering Capabilities. I was able to know that the capabilities play a big role in helping a company to be effective in leadership as well in conflict resolution. The capabilities are rich in ideas that do not only help an organization to grow but also helps an organization to deal with its internal affairs without affecting the leadership structure. Researching more about the company used was also educative because from the survey, I was able to understand why the capabilities would be of so much help to the company. I was able to overcome the challenges by conducting an in depth research.

Some of the lessons learned are associated with management and leadership in an organization, and strictly from the results of the survey. I learned that an organization cannot be effective if it does not implement leadership plans in its strategies. I was able to identify how the Australian Engineering competencies can be effective in an engineering organization. This was through the interview and also by just going through the competencies and looking at different ways in which the organization has med sure that it is effective in its management.

Attempting to run a project without the proper project management tools and techniques is like trying to correctly put together a tool with lots of disconnected parts without the aid the product’s instruction manual. Engineering projects most often than not involve a lot of interdependent and interconnected tasks, ergo engineers need to set up predominantly acceptable instructions that serve as guidelines when rolling over new projects. Project management tools and techniques come in handy especially for engineering tasks with different possible outcomes and where there are risks of encountering failures and problems, ergo, project managers require skills in organizing resources and activities and planning and assessing options in order to achieve successful results (Babcock, D., & Murthy, M., 2014). According to the survey, the project management processes outlined below have proved to yield successful results;

1. Precise project specification – also known as ‘terms of reference,’ project specification involves agreeing on a precise and fact-based description of the goals aimed to be achieved, benchmarks and flexibilities involved regarding scope, sources, parameters, outputs, range and timescales(Lock, 2014).
2. Project planning – this entails arranging the sundry stages and activities in the project. Involving the whole team in brainstorming for ideas can be helpful. One utilitarian tip is thinking back from the end product and determining things needed for different stages then working your way back to the end. Fishbone diagrams come in handy at this stage as they help in figuring out missed items(De Roo, G., & Porter, G., 2016).

• Communicating project plan to team – this involves keeping the team in the loop about the project and is essential in obtaining the necessary agreement, commitment, and support in the project

1. Delegating project actions – persons responsible for each activity should be identified during the planning process. With the help of the SMART acronym, project managers can ensure that only the right individuals are delegated for project actions(Sims, R., & Quatro, S., 2015). If some duties are allocated to groups, the Jamari Window Model can aid in reviewing the framework for group activities.
2. Review project performance – this involves checking and measuring the progress of project activities against the original master plan. It aids the project managers and planners in regularly reviewing the project’s performance and adjusting the plan where necessary(Schwalbe, 2015).
3. Project completion – at the end of the project, a review meeting should be held to assess the whole process. A report should be written detailing the reflected successes and failures and making observations and recommendations.

• Follow up – this stage is crucial, especially if the project has relatively low visibility and meaning to stakeholders, as it involves a follow-up to measure the project’s viability and efficiency.

This is the worst challenge facing the construction industry in Australia. The limitations to entry into the construction business are currently low hence creating a flooded market with fierce competition. The heavy competition dwindles down profit margins thus curbing crucial reinvestment in advancing business practices. Aztec stays afloat by maintaining fair rates on services offered with no compromise on product quality.

Project complexity increases proportionally to the growth of opportunities in the construction industry. Sudden necessary changes to the production system could wipe out profits for the entire organizations as companies are already struggling with thin profit margins. We try to always stay ahead of the game by having a resource information technology department.

Surveys conducted have shown that 75% of managers in national engineering companies and organization feel that there is an acute shortage of skilled construction personnel such as engineers, supervisors, and estimators. There seems to be a rift the old generation of engineers that is gradually fading away and the new boom of millennial engineers that some feel is not adequately experienced. Aztec has ‘old generation’ experts who work hand in hand with the younger professionals in coaching them on the values of great performance.

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