The Benefits of Open Systems in Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust

The open system’s structure stems from the systems theory that refers to how an organization structure affects the flow of information and internal interaction of the different components. When working as an Intern at Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust I encountered an open system where the organization is viewed as both hierarchical and loosely coupled system that operates through interdependencies and connections within different subsystems to increase efficiency (Weber & Waeger, 2017). This perspective is based on the notion that there are different energies in the organization that is supplied within the surrounding environment of the organization. This means that the system exchanges materials, people, energy, capital, and information within its environment. This means that by being open, managers can easily solve many problems within the organization by allowing different organizational elements to work together and exchange information to improve organizational efficiency.

Thien & Razak (2012) suggest that open systems have been attributed by the contingency theorists, system design and Wieck’s theory of organizing. In at Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust the contingency approach was used to advocate for a single structure system that meets different factors called contingencies. According to my understanding. the contingencies in the organization increase flexibility in the organization by creating a natural environment that allows easy exchange of information (Fiss & Zajac, 2004). This flexibility leads to increased decision making since the employees in the organization are allowed to make real-time decisions based on the openness of the system. The system design on the hand is controlled by top management but the flow is broken down into black boxes or segments that isolate different problems in the organization. The role of management is to exploit the strengths and improve the weakness that arises within the breakdowns of black boxes. Lastly, Weick’s theory of organizing theory is based on organizing where leaders look for processes that depict reflective behavior thus creating routines and stability that improve workflow.

In at Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust openness of the system allows the exchange of feedback from different levels of the organization. By having porous boundaries as employees, I believe the open systems feedback to be exchange thus improving effectiveness. As an employee of the organization, I have to understand the environment through scanning, evaluations and market research that enables feedback to enter and leave the organization. With open systems, I have the freedom to approach issues from my own understanding so long as they fall within the needs of the organization. Since the openness of the system is defined by creating a whole that interacts with the environment, then the organization needs to function by becoming importing information, energy, and resources to function well in heterogeneous and complex mode (Chikere & Nwoka, 2015). As employees we benefit from this system through increased efficiency whose outcome lead to improved decision making that necessitates better outcomes and growth.

The Role of System Design in Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust

According to Tucker, Nembhard, & Edmondson (2007), organizational learning is the process of creating retaining and transferring knowledge in the organization.  In at Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust this process improved my gains and experiences by creating knowledge at the individual level, group level, organization, and inter-organizational levels. The learning curve has been mostly used to measure the relationship between products produced by the organization and the increases in productivity, efficiency, improvement in the structure and routine coordination (Argote, 2011). This process entails the capacity of the organization to acquire, share and use valuable knowledge gained to increase business efficiency. This perspective views intellectual capital as existing in three areas: human capital entails knowledge possessed by people and generate within the organization. Structural capital entails knowledge that is captured with organizational systems and structures while capital relationship entails value derived from satisfied customers or suppliers.

Sole & Edmondson (2002) suggest that the learning process starts with the acquiring of knowledge extracted from the environment as well as through insights. In at Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust this includes the hiring of skilled staff to carry out organizational process or training and development of employees to empower them with skills that make them more informed about organizational processes. The next step in organizational learning requires me to share knowledge through distributing knowledge throughout the organization like the use of emails, memos and even posting case studies on the organizational intranet. Sometimes the knowledge can also be shared through coaching and mentoring where an employee shares the knowledge that they have with new employees. The last step of the organizational learning process is knowledge use which entails applying knowledge to organizational processes to improve the effectiveness of the organization (Argote & Miron-Spektor, 2011). Once I have gained knowledge, it needs to be implemented in organizational practices by being given the freedom to apply the new ideas that I have. This is the reason why I prefer open systems since they allow employees to develop solutions that they feel meet the situation that they are facing rather than the closed system where the process is purely designed by the organization.

Edmondson (2007) argue that once the learning process has been acquired organizations need to store the knowledge generated through the learning process by keeping knowledgeable employees through reducing turnover and at the same time encouraging knowledge sharing that entails the transfer of knowledge to others to avoid the risk of unlearning. Therefore, managers need to put measures in place to address any organizational deficiencies that can increase unlearning thus creating challenges for the organization.

Organizational Learning in Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust

High-performance work practices are used to increase productivity and profits for organizations. In Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust we applied the tactics systematically to increase employee morale and build customer trust in the organization (Sanders, et al., 2018). The strategy is not only limited to performance but rather ways that the organization uses to attract, hire, develop and retain employees within the organization. This focus is reducing employee turnover and hiring the best fit for the organization. The main practices in this category are employee involvement and job autonomy, employee competence, and performance-based rewards.

I believe employee competence involves the strategies used to select and hire employees in the organization. Managers need to ensure that employees who are hired in the organization reflect the vision and mission of the organization (Garman, McAlearney, Harrison, Song, & McHugh, 2011). The hiring process is an important element since it reduces future challenges like employee turnover. The hiring process should be thorough and objective based to meet the needs of the organization.

Further, my understanding of employee involvement and job autonomy is that they are a way of motivating employee through intrinsic motivation. According to the Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation, there are intrinsic and extrinsic motivators that increase employee performance (Hameed & Waheed, 2011). However, as an employee in Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust intrinsic factors like the nature of the job, job autonomy and developing self-directed teams were the best way of dealing with employee motivation. This means that high performing employees do not necessarily rely on extrinsic factors like rewards but rather the nature of the job that they do and how the job requirements make the employees fit into the organization.

Lastly, in Canadian Apartment Property Real Estate Investment Trust, performance-based rewards were used to generate innovative behaviors in employees since they make employees work based on the expectations that they seek to achieve in the organization. As an employee these rewards encourage me to achieve my goals by defining how I meet the needs of the organization and how the goals that they set relate to the whole organization. This means that employees are rewarded based on the output that they deliver. This rewards system is used to make employees work more since the higher the performance, the higher the rewards.

Therefore, high performing work practices are used to create work conditions that motivate employees and make them more comfortable to work with the organization. By hiring employees who meet the needs of the organization, creating good work conditions and using performance-based rewards, organizations create the best conditions for work and achieving their goals.  

References

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Argote, L., & Miron-Spektor, E. (2011). Organizational learning: from experience to knowledge. Organization Science, 22(5), 1123-1137.

Chikere, C., & Nwoka, J. (2015). The Systems Theory of Management in Modern Day Organizations- – A Study of Aldgate Congress Resort Limited Port Harcot. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 5(9), 1-10.

Edmondson, A. J. (2007). Three perspectives on team learning: Outcome improvement, task mastery, and group process. The Academy of Management Annals, 4(8), 21-33.

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Sanders, K., Jorgensen, F., Shipton, H., Rossenberg, Y. V., Cunha, R., Li, X., . . . Dysvik, A. (2018). Performance?based rewards and innovative behaviors. Human Resource Management, 57(6), 60-75.

Sole, D., & Edmondson, A. C. (2002). Situated knowledge and learning in dispersed teams. British Journal of Management, 13(2), 17-34.

Thien, L. M., & Razak, N. A. (2012). A Proposed Framework of School Organization from Open System and Multilevel Organization Theories. World Applied Sciences Journal , 20(6), 889-899.

Tucker, A. L., Nembhard, I. M., & Edmondson, A. C. (2007). Implementing new practices: an empirical study of organizational learning in hospital intensive care units. Management Science, 53(6), 894-907.

Weber, K., & Waeger, D. (2017). Organizations as polities: an open systems perspective. Academy of Management Annals, 11(2), 886-918.