Royal Dutchs Shell Dynamics
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) is the sixth largest company on the planet. It is made up of 1700 smaller companies and employs 101,000 people throughout the world. This is not a nimble start-up company that is attempting to create a brand new culture; this is a behemoth of a company, with over 100 years of history and a workforce that is literally global. The business in which RDS operates is primarily oil and natural gas, commodities that can fluctuate dramatically in market value by the minute. Systems thinkers in the 1970’s at Royal Dutch began to plan for many future scenarios, including a future where a barrel of oil would cost $15 (this, at a time when the value of a barrel of oil was $30 a barrel). This was a move in a positive direction. However, if RDS was to survive for another 100 years, then a new culture had to be born out of the old to enable it to adjust to these possible scenarios. In the 1990’s, Royal Dutch Shell began its transformation into a learning organization. There is now an emphasis on self-direction for every employee and a true commitment at all levels of viewing mistakes as learning models. Management has to allow the organizational systems and structures to be re-made, and then commit to the belief that everything is subject to re-examination.
Phil Carroll, former CEO of U.S. Shell (SOC, the American arm of Royal Dutch Shell) believed in the importance of the servant-leader model of leadership. In the early 1990’s, when this new leadership model was introduced, it shook the foundations of a company that had known success for many years using a more traditional authoritarian model of leadership. He wanted to completely transform the company into an organization that could continue to expand, and make a profit doing so. The company needed to tap into the resource it had (and still does) right under its nose – its employees! Mr. Carroll wanted the culture of the company to be transformed into a model of self-directed leaders who share knowledge amongst each other, creating an environment of continuos improvement. According to the American Management Association “Phil Carroll has led Shell Oil Company toward a significant transformation of its corporate culture. It is comprised of a new vision, a new business model, a new system of governance, a new concept of leadership, and the use of learning...
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...o survive today (Scwartz, 1991, p. 44).
What started out with futures planning at RDS has now become something much more. A major force behind the creation of a school of thought coined the learning organization; Royal Dutch Shell and U.S. Shell were successful in transforming themselves into competitive and effective enterprises. Their work is not done however, because the work of a learning organization is never done. It must continually improve and develop, and every employee in the company must commit to this, from the janitor to the CEO.
Bibliography:
Schwartz, Peter. The Art of the Long View. New York: Currency Doubleday, 1991
Kline, Peter and Saunders, Bernard. Ten Steps to a Learning Organization. 2nd ed. Arlington: Great Ocean Publishers, 1998.
Pascale, Richard. (1998, April) Grassroots Leadership – Royal Dutch Shell. Fast Company, 14, 110-106
Brenneman, W. B., Keys, J. B., & Fulmer, R. M. (1998, Autumn). Learning across a living company: the Shell companies’ experience. Organizational Dynamics, 27(2), 61-70.
Guyon, J. (1997, August 4). Why is the world’s most profitable company turning itself inside out? Fortune, 136(3), 120-125.
In conclusion, the book Ender’s Game portrays the theme that growing up in pain leads to a hard working, dangerous lifestyle through the conflict, both mental and physical Ender endures in the book. Ender spent his whole life growing up in pain, and now lives a hardworking, dedicated lifestyle in unison with his
Gambling... Who does not like to gamble? People play lotteries, bet on sport games or try their luck on slot machines with a thought to win some amount of money. In fact, this excitement for gambling can be seen even from early ages; for example, ancient Egyptians used to play dice in 2000 BC or the first casinos opened their doors to customers during the Greeco-Roman period ( Whittaker and Cushman 1 ). Nowadays casino industry is a large business in the United States that brings high revenues and offers various entertainment that attracts people from different areas. So just recently residents and visitors of Worcester, Wicomico and surrounding counties got a great opportunity to try themselves in a new Ocean Downs casino that came into operation couple months ago. Ocean Downs casino is an excellent benefit to the community that helps to improve the economic and social status of the county and also serves as a great entertainment for the adult population.
Leadership is defined as the action of guiding an individual or group of people. Effective leaders shape the behavior and thought process of the individuals around them. As a result, the success of an organization is often impacted by the leadership style and approach of its leaders. Even when engaging with multiple people, impactful leaders maintain their own style of leadership but occasionally change their approach based on the motivational needs of each individual. However, regardless of the style, leadership within an organization is designed to drive the performance of their employees and it is done through proficient communication. This guidance influences the culture of an organization, which subsequently, helps to shape its leaders.
A good design begins with a creation or plan for the making of an object or service. It is a strategic approach towards a person’s (usually a client or target audience) required unique expectations. A design generally defines the specifications and parameters in achieving its main objectives. Often there are no key attributes as to what would make a design successful and interesting. Products and peoples needs and wants or taste often change and revolve around time. This brings a definite change in the market and its emerging’s trends. This cycle of evolution will always exist, but finally it is the factor of emotional response with the customer that will determine whether a product is successful or not. Whether the design is an object or it is a concept, the design that we see is an accumulation of various concepts and decisions that have been brought together from a variety of disciplines. In order for a consumer to view the design as something that is good it takes a unique combination of aesthetics, quality and ergonomics to make a design successful. Often we recognize a bad design at its first glance and a bad design often forces one to take in many confusing and conflicted content. So what makes our design/ product fail?
Senge, P. M. (1990). The leader's new work: Building learning organizations. Sloan Management Review, 32(1), 7-22. doi: 812347
In conclusion, there is no indifference against the form we take or the life we lead but what we make of what we have been given. Every story has a hero, no matter how insignificant or secondary they may seem, and any individual does not require any extra powers to make a difference in someone's life than can affect tens, hundreds, even thousands of people. A person is bestowed with the title of a “hero” in the same manner any other person has to earn respect. Our stories shape our character, and lead us to becoming influential people despite our origin. A hero can be anyone, and can come from anywhere. Our literary figures today face their struggles and come out victorious which make them the ideal warriors to role model and aspire to become. A hero's origin is merely the basis for leaving an everlasting impression on the world.
The concept of heroism has been explored by every author in every generation of writing. The earliest heroes were “self” described heroes that existed within Greek mythology and gained the actual title “Hero” by completing feats that, while they were humanly possible, were only accomplishable by those at peak human form, both physically and mentally. For as long as heroism has been used in literature, and spoken word, they have all had the common theme of humanity. The most prominent heroes were all human, some were “underdog” heroes starting at a disadvantage, some were a manifestation, or reflection, of the average person of the time, and yet others were supposed to represent the peak of humanity. The hero embodies the ideals of the society but is often helpless at the hands of fate.
"Developing a Philosophy of Leadership." . Leadership Paradigms Inc., n.d. Web. 12 Nov 2013. .
The development of a hero persona and the ability to combat enemies is shaped by encounters with personal hardships, within a fabricated and manipulative environment. Throughout Enders Game the pre-adolescent protagonist, Ender, has his nature and mentality warped by manipulative adults in order to make him into what they perceive, the most effective ‘saviour’ of the human race, only to result in Ender finding an equally as evil force within the battle school. The repeated dialogue at the opening of most chapters, between two unknown officers discussing the necessity of Ender’s submersion in “isolation” (1) and “enemies” (2) is an indication of intentional manipulation and exposure to a set of engineered human problems, in an attempt to turn Ender into the hero they want him to be. Card has further accentuated this idea by imbuing these discussions with ambiguity. No setting is described, neither is the identity of the two men revealed; granting them a sense of enigmatic authority. The alienation and isolation that ...
Is The Tyranny Of Shareholder Value Finally Ending? N.p., n.d. Web. The Web.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
Everyone was expected to know how to do their jobs and if they didn’t know how to do something they had to “figure it out”. Needless to say, mistakes were made. Of course, natural leaders emerged and became pseudo role models to a few of us but the firm never made the step to establish role model relationships for training purposes. Furthermore, our constantly heavy workloads made it difficult for us to watch or learn from any one person because the few people who would have been consistent role models were regularly traveling for business and were not available to offer their guidance to the younger or less seasoned
...n the idea of heroism in 20th and 21st century only exist as a fantasy, separated from real life?” If we accept the current “idea of heroism” to be a blissful brutal battler, then we can conclude that this can only exist far away from our lives, for that type of a hero doesn’t exist. Sadly, we must answer yes.
When trying to understand these particular characters’ experiences, it is very important to consider their worldviews, which promote “[th...
... Worley, C.G. 2006, p.11) is two significant factors that make the organization’s change difficult. Management systems are designed affects every level in the organization structures and processes when make change. On the other hand, people rewarded for stability impact organizational change seriously because people like working in a stability environment and they resist change. It is very difficult for organization to make changes in those two areas.