Unseen Consequences in Organizational Change
I currently work for command Zulu, which is a detachment from the headquarters located in Virginia. Zulu employs two officers and four enlisted personnel whose primary job is conducting inspections on all East Coast Trident submarines. The two officers fill the roles of Officer in Charge and Assistant Officer in Charge. The four enlisted personnel are specialists in the areas of security, safety, technical operations, and administrative programs. An organizational change occurred a couple of years ago that shifted our chain of command to a higher headquarters. Command Zulu’s organizational culture significantly changed after the reorganization left the trust and customer relationships in shambles. This paper will briefly described the reasons for change, players associated with the change, leadership strategies, results, and lessons learned. The reason for change to the organization was to increase autonomy and subjectivity of the inspections.
Reasons
The reorganization focused on autonomy of the team and subjectivity of inspection results. Removing the team from the direct chain of command of the inspected units allows each team member autonomy to dig deep into the administrative programs. However, the change did not consider how relationships would negatively influence the mission of command Zulu. Specifically, the customers (e.g. inspected units) relied heavily on our assistance in preparing and monitoring their day-to-day performance for self-assessment. The reorganization meant that anytime command Zulu visits and subordinate unit inspectors must generate and submit a formal report to the chain of command. There are no free looks and inspected units felt betra...
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.... Journal of Management Studies 41(6), 977-1002.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief analysis of the United States Army’s organizational structure and its culture and how these two elements impact its workers, associates and affiliates. This paper will first examine the Army’s history, development and structure to highlight the origins of the Army’s culture. Secondly, a brief history of the Army’s organizational development will be followed by a close examination of its philosophy and supporting beliefs. Lastly, this paper will discuss the role of the Army’s leadership, their response to critical issues and the organizational structure of the Army. An analysis of the army’s top leaders will help the reader to understand the Army culture more thoroughly in the context of the Army’s organizational structure. More specifically this section of the paper will examine the Army leadership’s response to the current geo-political environment and other related issues. In conclusion, this paper hopes to highlight the Army’s overall functioning from an organizational standpoint and emphasize that idea that the Army is like a functional corporation. This will be accomplished by addressing various key questions throughout this text.
We can identify three major cultural dimensions that help us to understand what leaders must focus on as they guide the transition of the Army. First, professional Identity, which is guided by Soldiers at all levels who are striving for excellence in their functional specialty, i.e., HR Sergeants. Soldiers who have goals and ideals of the Army to ethically put service and duty first. HR Sergeants are trained and well educated in their field. They are taught to put Soldiers first and have great customer support skills. Second, community, the sense in which Soldiers stop thinking about “I” and start thinking “we”. The bond among units who not only believe in cohesion with Soldiers, but their families too. The HR Sergeants are there to take care of Soldiers when financial issues arise with them or their families and don’t back down until the situation is solved. Last, hierarchy, which leads to order and control and provides Soldiers with moral reference and a sense of direction. The HR Sergeant has the mentality of mission first, knowing who to contact at the next level for assistance helps get the mission
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“Before new chiefs can set a path for a new vision, they must have a clear understanding of the past. A police department’s organizational culture is a deeply ingrained, personal aspect of its functioning that must not be trivialized. Years of hard work and dedication by scores of individuals went into the creation of that culture, and it must be respected. However, if the culture is no longer in step with the expectations of the community, then changes must be made. Changes for the future must be carefully crafted to achieve the desired goal without disregarding the past. New chiefs can best accomplish this task by first listening to the variety of individuals that represent the stakeholders for their departments. Gaining input is important to obtaining an understanding of the values and expecta...
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The purpose of this essay is to address how leaders become toxic after their arrival to SF units and how unit cultures or individuals either correct or contribute to that development. Toxic leaders exist in all organizations and Special Forces units are no exception. Some arrive as toxic leaders and some develop toxic leadership characteristics after joining the Regiment. The Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) does a good job of properly evaluating those leaders who exhibit toxic qualities and either correcting those characteristics or purging those individuals from the course. Those toxic leaders that manage to complete the SFQC and join the SF Regiment, by and large, are identified quickly and through proper evaluation and counseling
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The first part of this week’s assignment was to look was to interview a manager/leader that we admire and seek their insight on management. But before we discuss the interview let me introduce you to who I selected as my interview subject. Chief Master Sergeant Smith is the Chief Enlisted Manager of the 235th Operations Group, 15th Wing, Air Combat Command. The group consists of an HC-130 squadron, an HH-60 squadron, an operations support squadron, and a Guardian Angel squadron (paramedics that parachute into bad places). He is responsible for matters concerning the health, welfare, morale, professional development, utilization and combat readiness of more than 400 military and 50 civilian personnel. Additionally, he advises the commander on operational matters, enlisted issues, unit standards, planning, programming and mission readiness. Chief Master Sergeant Smith entered the Air Force in October 1993. After completing basic military training, he graduated from technical school as a Pararescueman in 1995. His assignments include bases in Japan, Kentucky, New Mexico and Georgia. He has also deployed numerous times in support o...
In the article “Working to Transform Your Organization”, the issue of tackling an organization’s needed changes amongst a bureaucratic national system is a difficult one. Fortunately, they become very attainable if certain steps are taken. These outlined concepts when combined with an opportune situation yield a positive result, it seems, when associations are no longer relevant or efficient. The Department of Defense, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Veteran Health Administration were all examined. It was determined within their case studies that eight common lessons emerged among them. These lessons are proven that when implemented, they have the opportunity to make the pertinent modifications to bring the largest organizations in line with their purpose. These ideas could be used on an organization such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, otherwise known as the NAACP.
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