Principles of Management in Strategic Management

CONTENT

General introduction

Strategic lenses (1. design lens, 2. experience lens, and 3. idea lens)

Dynamic capabilities

Managing diversity

Diversity of thought

Importance of developing trust in management situations

Managing boundary-less organizations

Effective management (how to effectively make management work)

Peter Drucker and the essentials of management

Overall sum-up

Appendix

Scientific management and the Hawthorne studies

Creativity

Dynamic capability

Knowledge management and encouraging performance in terms of calm and in terms of trouble

Organizational structure and design

Evolution of management theory

Strategy: How does a manager approach a problem from a strategic position?

Design lens, experience lens, and idea lens

Motivation Concepts: The realization of the human side of work

Designing organizational structure

The Cultural Web: How does a manager affect or shape company culture?

Creating a high-performance project team

Leadership: What is the role of a leader manager in a self-managing team?

Bibliography

Introduction to volume IV (value mechanics in resilience management): Abstract

Flexibility or resilience in natural management

Preambles

Situational fluid adoption and adaptation (SFAA)

The nature of situational fluid adoption and adaptation

Definition of “the nature of situational fluid adoption and adaptation”

Summary discussion of the above definition of the nature of SFAA

The five natural assumptions of SFAA

The life span of an entity

The natural source of energy and old technologies (perpetual energy derivatives)

How friendly are these sources of energy?

What should we do to get abundant environmentally friendly energy?

Trend link, i.e. summary on electric roads

What is the message?

Advanced database management, mining, and warehousing

Database management

CFMs and DBMSs

The use of DBMSs

Intelligent management of DBMSs

Cost and time management

Appendix

Bibliography

DEDICATED TO: My daughter Lydia Emefa Abra Dornyo and to my son Prince Intellect Mawutor Kofi Dornyo

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: To all whose intellectual properties, texts, and or videos have been used, cited, or referenced. Also, to my professors in management at the MBA Level at that time, Professor Martin McGoldrick et al (2006-2010) at the then unva.cz Prague campus.

REVIEWED ABSTRACT: This independent study program “ISP”, was thoroughly supervised by the lecturer of the “management course unit” at the MBA level. ISP is a detailed supervised academic solo study and research project crowned-up with a write-up in a particular course area among the lot as part of a whole masters’ program, towards covering-up the particular course-unit syllabus or structure, if the student feels insatiable and wants and requests or (s)he is offered further rigor in order to become an authority in that area. In this case the particular area of study is in “management”. Several literatures were reviewed deeply and thoroughly with respectively different perspectives. All citations were foot-noted and finally concluded with a thorough bibliography. All supporting diagrams in the text were appropriately referred and explained. In fact, this paper in totality, makes you an authority in strategic, resilience, and database management in this context and its principles, and could be deemed fit for references by both academic and professional researchers who are aspiring to managerial positions. Furthermore, this project write-up was targeted to develop the business jargons, vocabulary, and expression background of a devoted student. It could be beneficial to all levels who find this text interesting.

VOLUME I

1.0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The ISP is made up of topics that could be seen among other topics in the table of content above. They were to be completed respectively in order to fulfill the question styles that were leveraged. Deep and thorough review of several literatures that were searched mostly over the internet has been utilized with consideration of each topic or area in respectively different perspectives. We have tried to connect different views under a topic just to broaden the scope of each material. References could be seen at the foot of most pages for easy tracing of sources of materials. Considerable care has been exercised to make points as clear as possible. Quotes have been well revised repeatedly in order to draw down to their appropriate applications to the point they were meant to make and clarify. Where diagrams were constructed for use, we have appropriately referred them. In fact, this paper in totality, is a real coverage of quite a high percentage of materials covering each topic and could be as well as deemed fit for academic references by whoever might be aspiring to such a task. Furthermore, this project write-up was targeted to develop the business jargons, vocabulary, and expression background of a devoted learner of the text.

1.1 STRATERGIC LENSES (1.DESIGN LENS, 2. EXPERIENCE LENS, AND 3. IDEA LENS)

STRATERGIC LENS

1.1.0 DEFINITION: According to Wikipedia¹ “strategic lenses are a concept of strategic management. They are the three angles from which strategy can be viewed and implemented on corporate level”. Here, the three lenses above have been considered under the strategic lenses i.e. the designed, the experience, and the idea lenses.

Carrol, of the Sloan School of Management² considered the three lenses as ; strategic design lens, political lens, and cultural lens. The strategic lenses have also been considered at one website ³ as of four kinds being; stake holder engagement lens, resource mobilization lens, knowledge development lens, and cultural management lens. These four strategies have been considered here as very effective in tackling challenges that are wide ranging. Road Map Strategy ⁴ considered the same strategic lenses under; social/cultural, human, technologies, and financial lenses. Here, the socio-cultural lens aspect highlighted on what propels us as an organization forward when we work closely with customers as a culture and when we work with our hearts in high social mood or status. With the human lens aspect, it is a question of human ramification of strategic decisions and decisions upon strategic course as well as what that will mean in skills and capabilities terms, once required, in order to execute strategies. It also concerns investment in training, consulting etc. The technological lens case concerns new technologies as well as their impact on existing ones that an organization employs. There is need for new skills i.e. the human lens to challenge assumptions for long-terms by focusing on the best and right approach to things i.e. socio-cultural lens. This in turn has to do with finance i.e. financial lens. Here again, the financial lens aspect in turn requires appropriate allocations of resources, updates of skills training due to new strategies i.e. incurring cost in the human lens. Also, the financial aspect connects, orgs, to communicate extensively i.e. social-cultural lens, and mainly the need for capital investment to start up. The four lenses are interconnected and could be combined in application to give effective results.

THE DESIGN LENS

1.1.1 At the Wikipedia website, it is posited that “this lens views strategy development as a process of logical determinism”. That, “optimal strategy and direction ar e determined by carefully evaluating the industry, the environment, and the available resources of the firm”. The above definition and statement can be seen in the strategy diagram below. This diagram is not for the design lens but the strategic points in general.

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In this diagram “evaluation” is noted as well as “resources”. The statements imply a process termed “analysis-selection-implementation-process”. Despite any processes and no matter how tactical management should be involved, it is necessary that it (i.e. management) throws its full weight behind it i.e. financial support etc. Responsibilities of strategy development are hence seen to be top management driven coupled with efficiency in selecting the optimal business strategy. This will aid the success of the process. According to Carrol of the Sloan School of Management, “the strategic design lens could be analyzed with five key points or factors. These are; model, key processes, key concepts, leader, and drivers of change ”

MODEL

1.1.2 Organizations in terms of the design lens are designed or engineered to achieve goals agreed-upon. Under politics, model means contests for power and autonomy among internal stakeholder and in terms of culture; a model is hence, a shared mental map, identity, and or an assumption .

KEY PROCESSES

1.1.3 The design lens here explains this as a growing formal structure, linking, alignment, and a fit to the environment. Actually, it is true that, processes involve connecting links through dialogue alignments. We still want to be as realistic as possible hence we end up in comparing facts and probable results with the environment through research work of a sort. It is only then that organizations are able to proceed in some certainty with confidence. The political aspect of key processes states that it is conflict, negotiation, and coalition building, whereas, the cultural aspect sees the key process as meaning and interpretation, attribution, cognitions that are taken for granted, and normative invested with value.

KEY CONCEPTS

1.1.4 The design lens of the key concept is stated to be goal-directed, tasks, roles, information flows, and interdependence, but the political aspect of the concept entails power, influence, networks, autonomy, interests, and dominant coalition, whereas, the cultural aspect details on artifacts, symbols, myths, values, assumptions, identities, and subcultures .

LEADER

1.1.5 The design lens outlines a leader as a strategist, designer and an architect. In politics in organizations, leader means a coalition builder and a negotiator. The cultural aspect spells out a leader to be a symbol of culture and an articulator of symbols and visions.

DRIVERS OF CHANGE

1.1.6 In design this is lack of fit to the environment and internal lack of alignment. When things go bad in an organization in the short-term, there is the need to immediately call for reason and change and the above asserts the problem source to be either from the environment or inside the org itself. The need to call for a change depending on organizational climates is really important and necessary. In politics drivers of change points to shifts in power of stakeholders which can really be influenced by changes in design, the environment or strategy applied as a driver of change. In culture, drivers of change mean challenges to basic assumptions and new interpretations. In strategic design, the basic process is to get the people with the appropriate acumen and give them appropriate tasks with sufficient information in order for them to accomplish the goals of the organization. Figure 1 above indicates the summary of processes in strategic management for that matter the strategy lens as a whole but for the design strategy, the diagram in figure 2 below summarizes the points involved i.e. according to Carrol, Sloan School of Management.

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However, Mintzberg⁵, argued that, “the design lens is often inaccurate as top management executive are too distant from daily developments of the org therefore, strategic development should be adaptive experience”. In fact, experience and ideas are conspicuous in successfully carrying out the above. For this reason, let’s look at the experience lens followed by the idea lens.

EXPERIENCE LENS

1.1.7 Mintzberg, labeled that strategy development should be adaptive and he divided it into three sections; intended, realized, and emerged lenses. Here, it is seen as the continuous adaption of past tactics or strategies based on experience. In his view, strategy is said to be greatly influenced by taking the culture of design or assumption for sake and staining more to lots of bargains and negotiations. Bargaining and negotiating are typical to experience since through this, data due to experience and past recurrence etc. are deemed to give realistic results by experience. However, a risk arises from this due to an effect known as strategic drift. This strategic drift is a result of becoming too much dependent on the past occurrences i.e. past activities and failing to act upon current changes of the environment. The environment is very important and since an organization’s products and services must fit to the needs and interests of the market and the environment, it is important to become continuously adaptive to it. Strategies that are experience based should be intended, realized, and emergent. That means it must be planned (intended) and results must be realized through implementation and should be highly likely useful and ongoing (i.e. emergent).

IDEA LENS

1.1.8 Wikipedia has the view that, idea lens interprets strategy as a process coming from within an organization and influenced by the environment around strategy of flexibility of opinion exchange horizontally among employees and the onward movement upwards in a vertical direction to management is allowed. This managerial strategy is termed “bottom up” approach. Employees are allowed the freedom to express ideas that intellectually go into the improvement of the organization. This approach helps to well utilize the firm’s innovations where, strong emphasis is placed on the importance of innovative variety as well as diversity. It is important for the ultimate need that seeks out from within an org, emergent strategy. Strategic management encourages innovative thinking and developments unlike in the case of design lens where strategy is viewed as the process of logical determinism involving linking, alignment, and fittings.

OTHER SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

1.1.9 Finn’s⁶ idea lens says it is a process which consists of in-depth market research. That, it includes a multitude of elements essential to any business, including; clients, products, technology, corporate position, target audience, competitive analysis, evaluation of market trends, drives, and deterrents. Though these, business development opportunities are developed. Of course, any of the lenses has a pack of ideas that contribute together for ultimate organizational achievements. It is geared towards fast technological advancement i.e. it is an essential ingredient for competitive advantage over competitions of an organization.

SUMMARY

1.1.10 At the website⁷ it is clarified that most challenges call for actions of four common strategic areas, the first is stakeholder engagement, this calls for a real-deep-impact-on-progress, second is values-are-blended-through-resource-mobilization, and the third is adaptability-comes-through-cultural-management, and the final is knowledge-development-leads-to-efficient-strategic-approaches. These four must work together through top management strategic applications for total control progress, and prosperity of organizations. The design lens is what helps an organization to know its stand as it compares to the environment to see if it is the “right peg” in the right hole, and that, it is feedback oriented through outcomes it gets in the end. The environment consists of competitors, market, trends and skills. For this analysis so far, I can make resource mobilization as a subject of the same direction of focus such as getting the right people or skills and using them, also, utilizing the assets structures i.e. infrastructure, logistics etc. to their fullest advantages. I can compare the idea lens and knowledge developmen t here, where the latter is a subset of the former.

EXPLANATION OF THE STRATEGIC DIAGRAM FIG. 1 PAGE 6

Starting from the top-most of the diagram, the strategies of an organization unfolds the organization’s top managerial decisions. It is important to make draft and this draft followed to implement the organizational top management’s decisions, the implementation is then evaluated taking into consideration, its existing and potential competitors to make specifications to determine the organizational missions and the missions used to realize the visions of the organization.

At this point competitors and set goals are assessed including the strategies of existing and potential competitors. This assessment is then employed to allocate resources to implement the policies and plans as well as projects and programs of the organization. Out of the designs of projects and programs the org develops further policies and plans to help achieve the org’s objectives.

The org must develop the tactics of research studies and evaluation, alignment, adjustment, and control throughout its life and management must be consistent with its strategies and with the market etc. and finally, the org must re-assess its achievements annually or periodically to ascertain if it has been successful

1.1.11 The experience lens should be of a characteristic that play between and around all, and these are; stakeholder engagement, culture management, resource mobilization and knowledge development, taken several cues from what pertains in the past, till now. “Road Map Strategy”⁸, has illustrated on the figure below as the model of the strategic lenses.

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Here again the socio-cultural climate and human with technologies backed by finance is the whole engine that moves the wheel above, under a whole organization to keep it on should the lenses above be well combined by top management. We get our profit from how we sell things, and whether our products meet high quality standards indeed (what propels-us forward: brand). We get continuously propelled forward having stain to the lenses without retreat. We get (what we sell: the-product) depending on what we want to sell (goal), our competitors, the available technologies and skills, and the caliber and number of “who are they that want it to buy?”. We get who our customers are from the market demand and competitors supply and our ability to supply our target quantity, as well as the sort of value we add to it.

At this stage it is clear where our design lens, experience lens, and idea lens can fit in the above wheel.

Definitions ⁹ ; Org(s) = Organization(s). ISP = Independent Study Program

1.2 DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES

1.2.0 INTRODUCTION TO DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES: Whatever is dynamic is well informed or tuned to be flexible and competent. Therefore, we would say that the term “dynamic capabilities” should be whatever is well informed or tuned, flexible, competent and has the capability to stand a challenge. A challenge could be any task that is good or not. The idea is that, dynamic capabilities could be attributed to a person or a system that is alive i.e. a pc or system of routine of activities, or an organ or a group of people of a common aim. An organ of a group of people of a common aim could have different or divergent set of responsibilities but as far as it remains an organ, the various responsibilities must work together for a resultant common direction for the organ. This common direction should be a common goal of the organ. Since the organ is of a group of people, I would conclude that it is an organization i.e. the common term that we are all used to. We now have the common term that is an “organization” and with this, we have people in mind.

Whoever is well informed is learned or an intellectual of a sort. An intellectual of a sort should be a flexible person in the face of change and must be able to stand the changing situation or condition. If someone is able it means that he or she has a “capability”. If the capability is there in addition to competence then he must be experienced (he here, means he or she). The word “change” has emerged in this analysis so far done trying to break down “dynamic capabilities”. It implies that “dynamic capabilities” itself, is already a signification of “change”. Definition¹⁰ traced to “dynamic”, defined dynamics as: 1- The way in which people or things behave and react to each other in a particular situation, 2- the science of the forces involved in movement, 3- a force that produces change, action or effects, 4- Changes in volume or music. From the four dictionary definitions we can see the following terms; behave, react, force, movement, change, action, and effect.

People hence an organization’s behavior must be reactive and forceful to cause a move, to bring a change through this action for an effect to take place advantageously to signify the extent of competence of the organization and hence its people. In this case, we say that the org is a living system. A living system must be managed but the management must be strategic with all the above analysis especially in the face of change and this is where the dynamic capabilities surfaced. Where, this term is the one signifying the management of this change in a strategic way backed by top management since it remains strategic. See Wikipedia’s¹¹ definition of “dynamic capabilities”. The following terms were further considered under dynamic capabilities; organization, well informed people, flexible people or flexible org, competent people or competent org, capable org, etc. All these could be utilized to effect the changes through; 1- the way they perform, 2-the procedures used, and 3- the extent to which they will configure resources to meet the change. We will look at these in turn.

1.2.1 PROCEDURE: This topic encompasses a lot of processes through dynamic capability for an org to conform or adapt to changes. Procedures must be designed to be continual and consist of learning and coordination. Wikipedia considers that, “learning requires common codes of communication and coordinated search procedures”. “That is, the organizational knowledge generated resides in new patterns of activity, in “routines”, or a new logic of organization”. The diagram below further details on other processes under consideration termed procedures. Diagrams or figures are easy to remember therefore we tried to put these complexes into the form of diagrams that are simple and self-explanatory. See further explanation of this figure at page 125 final appendix.

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PERFORMANCE: 1.2.2 The topic encompasses the firm's performance which is determined by the effective and efficient internal coordination of strategic assets. According to Garvin, (1988), “quality performance is driven by special organizational routines for gathering and processing information”. The rest of the points are summarized in the diagram below. It is hoped that, this diagram is self-explanatory.

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EXPLANATION OF THE DIAGRAM ABOVE

Customer demographic data, market data, product data, etc. in carefully designed research, and data collection procedures and the leveraged level of the method by which all information is processed, and hence its effectiveness, was indicated in the diagram at the top left with an arrow extending rightwards to indicate that, with sufficiently gathering and processing information, it is effective in linking the customer experiences in mind and culturing this in engineering design choices. In the diagram, another arrow extends from this point to indicate that, a well-informed customer experience cultured in engineering designs, are helpful to better appropriate component supplies procurement and hence the coordination of factories as well as suppliers, see top right side of the diagram.

Then, in the diagram, the double arrows dropping-down from the top line then showed that, the high approach w.r.t the top elements in the diagram leads to competitive advantage. Now, further double arrows dropping-down from the component “increasing competitive advantage” showed that, all elements streamlined above together as a strategy, require the integration of external activities and technologies in the form of “alliances as well as with virtual corporation”.

RECONFIGURING

1.2.3 This topic encompasses the ability of reconfiguration of the firm's asset in the face of fast changing market so as to accomplish the necessary internal and external transformation. This according to Amit and Schoemaker, (1993), ”change is costly and so firms must develop processes so that low pay-off changes are minimized”. The capability to change is summarized in the diagram below, i.e. the capability to change is the ability to scan the environment to evaluate markets, and to quickly accomplish reconfiguration and transformation ahead of the competition. It is hoped that, this diagram is self-explanatory. We will read further details on this topic later in this paper.

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FURTHER VIEW ON DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES

1.2.4 According to O'Reilly et al, dynamic capability entails two different approaches one at a time to have it executed advantageously and these are to explore and to exploit. Some top managements cherish the exploration approach, whereas others cherish the exploitation approach. However, the two can be approached at the same time by a top management of an org. Approaching the two at a time is termed “ambidexterity”.

Exploration: This promotes both change and ability to compete competitors. This action involves searching, discovering, innovating, embracing of variation, and a gain of autonomy.

Exploitation: This becomes dominant in the short-term but obsolete in the long-term and could fail. This promotes increased productivity, gaining control, assuming certainty, resuming high efficiency, and reducing variance. Even though exploitation can fail in the long-term, it is worthy of note to point out that exploration has setbacks too. Returns on exploration are more uncertain, more distant in time and a threat to existing units of the organization. For reasons of these, organizations are often less effective at exploring. They end up becoming vulnerable to market changes and technology. To be efficient, firms must be ambidextrous and in addition be capable of reconfiguring resources and organizational structures.

SUMMARY: The org must sense, seize, and configure. Sensing entails scanning, searching and exploring. Seizing is making the right decision and executing it, and reconfiguration entails reorganizing resources.

Sensing: This involves process variation, competitive intelligence, tracking technology change, new opportunities, balance in centralization and decentralization, culture of openness that encourages debate, feedback encouragement from the market promotion of exploration commitment of resources by senior management, encourage longer term thinking, encourage longer term mindset, accepting failure and learning from early mistakes and errors, provision for integration and transfer of knowledge.

Seizing: This implies that top management must create vision and strategy, do organizational alignment between exploiting and exploring resource allocation on time, and fix up complementing asset. Top managements must plan strategic intentions and consensus drawing and align this plan with their business models. In the absence of the above, the organization may see opportunity and threats but cannot quickly react to them.

Reconfiguring: Structure, processes, people and culture are shifted or aligned gradually or in sequence (Duncan 1976, Eisenhardt and Brown, 1997 et al). In the face of rapid change, the above shifts are likely to occur in parallel (Govindarajan et al, 2005). The key to the implementation of the above reflects on senior managements who are able to facilitate the ability to design systems of organizations, incentives and structures that permit targeted integration across organizational units to capture the advantages of co-specialized assets and the appropriate staffing of these units, (Daneeds, 2002). The most important thing is the way or formulas by which the above units are connected, linked and integrated in order to harness the most out of them. Finally, top management needs to work hand in hand with stakeholders owing to the above processes.

1.3 MANAGING DIVERSITY

1.3.0 INTRODUCTION TO MANAGING DIVERSITY: BERKELY University of California¹², defined diversity, see footnote. Marquis et al¹³. Marquis et al found that, more than a source suggested that “to be competitive today, businesses must maintain a cadre of personnel who are both highly qualified and highly diversified”. That is, “a work force must be composed of a heterogeneous mix of people of different races ethnicities and genders ”. They stated that, “the two most commonly mentioned reasons are that, a diverse workforce improves a company's bottom line and enhances the work environment”.

1.3.1 A HOLISTIC MODEL OF TOTAL QUALITY DIVERSITY (TQD)

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EXPLAINING THE DIAGRAM ABOVE

CULTURAL CHANGE extends SECONDARY DIMENSION whereas, INSTITUTIONAL INCLUSION extends PRIMARY DIMENSION. These dimensions then reflex and reflect through the CULTURAL CHANGE and the INSTITUTIONAL INCLUSION converging to CULTURAL LIVING DIVERSITY which is central to all.

Furthermore, this CULTURAL LIVING DIVERSITY is the point of focus of every contributing factor and element. Thus firstly, INDIVIDUAL INCLUSION and INTERACTIONAL CHANGE. Secondly, learning-culture-occupation, and language-education-values. Thirdly, ethnicity-sexual orientation-disabilities, and race-gender-age.

This whole model culminates to what is referred as “the holistic model of total quality diversity” According to Caleb, “managing diversity is the axiom of our time that our world is rapidly changing. With change comes not only a different view of the world, but also changes in languages to name old words that take on new meanings and new words enter the vocabulary, resulting in another way of “seeing””. He mentioned that, “it was not long ago that as a nation we moved from an agrarian society concerned with conformity, through an industrial society concerned with diversity within a global context on our way to the global society of the 21st century with a planetary world view, such cultural and political upheavals have given rise to knowledgeable players in the game of social change, which is leaving most people as confused bystanders, desperately hanging on to a past”. See footnote¹⁴. Included in TQD is TQR-Total Quality Respect. Total Quality Respect is an integral part of Total Quality Diversity; in that, the proper management of today’s diverse business world is not possible without respect for human beings. TQR is the process whereby the other is treated with difference, courtesy and compassion in an endeavor to safeguard the integrity, dignity, value and social worth of the individual. It means treating people the way they should, to be treated. It is a lack of respect for others, no matter their position or the differences they bring to an institution, which gives rise to most of the conflicts in orgs. We do not always have to endorse the things which we must tolerate in a respectful workplace in order to get the job done, and well. It is important to note that orgs are unlikely to embark on change initiatives unless they either are experiencing pain regarding diversity issues, or lack a vision of the challenges before them. Both factors are driven by the bottom line “profit motive” to help orgs deliver a quality product or service that meets human needs in a competitive society.

1.3.2 WHAT MAKES A COMPANY MULTICULTURAL? It is whether its seven Ps [(product, price, place, promotion, people, process (packaging), position (physical evidence: the environment where the product or service is provided, layout-interior design, packaging, and branding)¹⁵ ] implement the following four imperatives: See footnote¹⁶

1.3.3 LEADERSHIP: AWARENESS CREATION BY TOP MANAGEMENT: Top management must inculcate the mindset to acknowledge that, diversity needs long-term change, and must see it as good and inclusive (to involve all people). Formal vocal proclamation from a group of managers in the org through memos, public statements, and company speeches to signify especially on employees is an indication of positive management commitment to it. Senior management must put diversity at the top rank to the extent of even making minority personnel in leadership positions. Leaders must include diversity in the orgs operating goals, and in the mission statements to incorporate diversity principles in the corp.’s philosophy, develop rationale for it, and draw plans of diversity for various departments of the org, and must create a diversity office to signal its significance to the org.

1.3.4 INITIATIVES: Diversity programs needed to be implemented at all levels and aspects of the org. Initiatives that recruiters promote must retain diversified group of employees that signal healthy diversity climate of the org.

1.3.5 RECRUITMENT: Diverse labor markets are used, diverse recruitment terms, long-term relation establishment with other minor orgs, professionals and institutions e.g. colleges where candidates could be obtained and to interview potential candidate of diversity competency.

1.3.6 PROMOTION: Establishment of minority performance evaluation, special attention taking into account cultural or ethnic differences as well as individual differences. Bowen et al, (1999) suggested race, ethnic background, and gender assist to define people hence, it should be considered. Ensuring aspiring leaders are diversity competent is important too.

1.3.7 RETENTION: Need for support and mentoring, giving diversity friendly environment are important. Employee motivation include skills and management training, reimbursement for educational cost, senior management commitment, centralizing diversity as part of core strategy existence of a large base minority employees and financial support for initiatives that are diversity oriented. Determining the personal development need and giving professional training of minorities including language and other technical skills, including mentoring programs is important.

1.3.8 EVALUATION: Accountability programs should be developed to make diversity initiative performance partly integral with employees’ performance; also, accountability programs to evaluate individual management responsibilities to the success of diversity policies, and ensuring all employees are able to articulate policies of diversity. Formal methods of quantitative and qualitative should be used in carrying out the above programs.

1.3.9 DISADVANTAGES OF THE LITERATURES ON DIVERSITY: It lacks practical advice and specific methods of implementation. Too abstract best practice philosophies with general notes without concrete instances of how to design and implement them.

1.4 DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT

INTRODUCTION TO DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT

1.4.0 Susan Woods¹⁷ defined diversity of thought as “the idea of more-than-one-way” and it is the key to understanding the potential of diversity and inclusion as an organizational resource. The way each of us interprets and negotiates the world around us is informed by our identity, culture and experience ”. Greater diversity means greater variation in perspectives and approaches. To further the conversation, this paper suggests three factors organizational leadership might consider in order to access and leverage diversity of thought; 1- Willingness, 2- Readiness and 3-Opportunity. Diversity Executive website¹⁸ put diversity of thought as “the ways in which different individuals process circumstances – (or diversity of thought), -merits as much consideration as any other difference. One direction leads to collaboration, the other to conflict, which is why diversity of thought can be a tangible impact on the workplace”.

That diversity of thought is the most powerful way by which we are different since it is the inclusion of our cultural, familial and situational experiences. That is the specific lens through which we are able to process information and interpret our world. The way we hear, see and behave that leads to our individual ways of thought, give rise to what we learn about ourselves, our families, our cultures and world in time. Everyone has a different level and means of interactions with people, places and things, and different speeds of information processing. Who we become depends on how we absorb and process these “interactions”. The sum total of the experiences influencing our thought and behavior is equal to who we become. Let’s look at a few considerations as of the topics below;

1.4.1 THE WORK PLACE: The overall aim bearing in mind the importance of diversity of thought is to achieve good performance at the work place as well as progress of the business. Some employees in an organization welcome all points of view and these are more comfortable with the expression of their perspectives without fear of consequences of negativity. Everyone is entitled to his opinion and it is important each view point is embraced and encouraged.

1.4.2 ORGANIZATIONAL DIFFERENCES: Not all opinions are accepted in all orgs, each might have a way of approach to lead to the core applications for success. Each has its own rates, norms, or culture of approach and an individual’s opinion could become strange and unaccepted in another org, leading to various losses of opportunities and privileges for him or her, such as promotions, denial of sort of training opportunities, prevention from participating in speech deliveries etc. It is important for an individual to take some time to familiarize himself to new environments before coming out with decisions about a lot of issues, situations, and circumstances. Sharing ideas are really important to help fit “inside”, and becoming well informed about new outcomes, in order to become empowered.

1.4.3 CONFIDENCE AT THE WORK PLACE: It is necessary to integrate values into each employee by first accepting, orientating, and imparting the necessary skills, unearthing his potentials and helping to encourage the development of these potentials. This will lead to positive contributions from and maximum utilization of the employee to the benefit of the org. The employee will hesitate to contribution if he lacks enough information to the org system. Business maximum performance is the main goal and it is well diversified conscious individuals that can together co-exist to contribute to the maximum, their coaters to this success. Differences should be appreciated and differences of thoughts should be “ individual-entitlement-focused ”, but indifferences should come from awareness of its necessity and the readiness to bury distractive differences , to boost confidence and trustworthy environment. In the absence of considering the above, productivity will drop due to failure to contribute by desperate employees who are feeling partial because of partial acceptance by a society, and lead to employee quits”

1.4.4 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Although this should be embraced, it should not be detrimental to the progress of business. Therefore, it is useful to pursue diversity of thought training programs to prepare employees and management to the totality of awareness to their business environment and to each other and even to customers that frequent the business environment. Listening and accepting opinions promotes co-existence, and accepting opinions not in match at a time with what pertains, could be put as “agreeing to disagree”. Freedom of expressing diversified opinions is necessary if we want to remain innovative and diversified, even as we pursue and implement the useful ones that are of real significance to the time and need. There is no bad idea except that, when it is seen as mismatched to the core one in practice, but if dilated severally on, other accidental useful ones might result, and it is left to the system to find a method or formula for its application in order to suit what the system is doing so as to lead to profit.

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¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stratergic_lenses

² http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Sloan-School-of-Management/15-301Fall-2006/0E5C02B5-F9A1-417D-B46C-3096B7789F15/0/lec2.pdf

³ http://www.4lenses.org/part3/strategic_lenses

⁴ http://www.roadmapstrategy.com/four-lenses.html

⁵ http://www.oppapers.com/subjects/mintzberg-managerial-roles-page1.html

⁶ http://www.ruderfinn.co.il/what-we-do/research-analysis-marketing.html

⁷ http://www.4lenses.org/part3/strategic_lenses

⁸ http://www.roadmapstrategy.com/four-lenses.html

⁹ At the website, http://www.4lenses.org/part3/strategic_lenses, the following were defined and I hope they will be useful; STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT- A stakeholder is anyone who has a role to play in addressing the social problem (i.e. community, clients, donors, staff/management, board, environment, public, etc.); RESOURCE MOBILIZATION- Human (people and their skills), relational (networks, partners, communities-including- intangibles such as brand, reputation and image), physical (tangible assets, vehicles, land, buildings, raw materials), or financial (cash, loans, equity, grants etc.); KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT- This is the combination of information (content, results from research, data) and processes (methodologies, systems, techniques, procedures), culture results from the combination of the many belief systems and mindset found among stakeholders groups.

¹⁰ The Oxford Advanced Learned Dictionary (International edition), p.458

¹¹ (http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic Capabilities) defined dynamic capabilities as “the organization’s ability to integrate, build and reconfigure internal competences to address rapidly changing environments”. The basis assumption here according to Wikipedia, is that firms are forced in current fast changing markets to respond quickly as well as be innovative.

¹² http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/GUIDE/diversity.htm, “Those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the groups to which we belong yet present in other individuals and groups”. A common term “otherness” was used by the same source quoted above to represent the definition above. According to Berkely University of California, “dimensions of diversity include but are unlimited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities or qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographical location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience”, (Loden and Rosener, in work force America).

¹³ http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/index.php/pubs/hrguidearticle/chapter-12-managing-diversity-the-workplce/, led a research project on diversity in large companies in America, where there are a number of characteristics of best diversity companies, best HR companies, etc. using quantitative and qualitative methods. Their key findings are that, firms recognized for diversity are distinguished by a core set of motives and practices that resemble those presented in the best practices literature, now these best practices alone might not allow a company to achieve a high level of diversity but contextual factors like industrial affiliation and company size, might be significant as straight factors influencing the extent of a company's diversity.

¹⁴ From these statements and quotes above, it is clear that we cannot do without diversity, it is simply irresistible and natural therefore, we as seekers of modernization must accord a fluid adaptation to the norms of the literatures on diversity in order to get diversified to the fullest status. By becoming fluid adaptable (accepting the essence of cultural, technological, political, social, economic, psychological, and philosophical mix) and applying this to business management and therefore the various orgs, growth and profits could be actually assured. Managing diversity is a process that is on-going and this unleashes the various talents and capabilities which a diverse population brings to an org so as to get all-inclusive system (where no one is left out), and to maximize dynamism and output. It is essential to avoid “bashing” i.e. strong criticism on others and to embrace mutual understanding and respect to all. Top managements need to continuously create continuous awareness and concern in employees on diversity as they try managing it. Racial or ethnic hostilities and cultural insensitivities should be completely erased.

¹⁵ Business Queensland (2017). The 7 Ps of Marketing. Date visited the website: March 1, 2020. Website: iness.qld.gov.au

¹⁶ 1. Reflect the heterogeneity of the workforce and the country -the dynamic of affirmative action; 2. Are sensitive to the needs of the various groups comprising the work force and the community population - the dynamic of valuing differences; 3. Incorporate their contributions to the overall mission of the business - the dynamic of managing diversity; 4. Create a cultural and social ambience that is inclusive and empowers all groups in the corporation n - the dynamic of living diversity. The four imperatives form the basis of the effective management of a diverse workforce. Marquis et al classified management diversity into three groups; leadership, initiatives, and evaluation. They pointed out that to create an effective diversity management; an org needs to combine the three groups.

¹⁷ www.workforcediversitynetwork.com/docs/Article/Article-ThinkingAboutDiversityofThought_Woods.pdf

¹⁸ www.diversityexecutive.com/article.php?article=475