WHAT IS A MANAGER IN THE MODERN ORGANIZATION?

"Today's managers must be supportive facilitators. They still need to be directive and decisive but they can no longer use an autocratic management style"

Managers have to make sure that the people work correctly, they have a controlling position in the decision making process, however, today the most important task for managers is deal with responsibility with their subordinates , being a support for their employes and showing ways to them to be more effective and productive. The manager does not dictate orders anymore, within an organization, the decision making process involve all the people, letting everyone participate in the company's lines of action.

So the manager is not anymore the policemen or the slave driver, they are better call in modern organizations as the motivators.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.The Manager's Role in Modern Business: How the Role of Manager Has Become More Facilitative http://www.suite101.com/content/the-managers-role-in-modern-business-a67373#ixzz0y9pKfpiJ

CHILE!!

By

Carolina Franco

Manuela Castaño

Luisa Fernanda Hurtado

Juan Sebastian Delgado

First of all they started explain the management style in Chile, they said very specific characteristics about chileans:

• The business set up in Chile is very formal and conservative
• For the most part, Chileans are formal in their business dealings, at least until a personal relationship has been developed. Good manners and proper etiquette are seen as a sign of good breeding.
• It is a good idea to have a wide range of contacts. This is a country where knowing the right person is often more important than what you know. Interpersonal relationships, including loyalty to family and friends, are essential to business success.

The main topic of our classmates presentation was the change and the conflict in Chilean organizations

WHAT IS CHANGE ?

“Organizational change is any action or set of actions resulting in a shift in direction or process that affects the way an organization works.”

TYPES OF CHANGE:

1. Development Change: from something already created improve it.

2. Transitional Change: to leave an old activity to start a new one.

3. Transformational Change: is a radical change, properly planned and executed.

In Chile, changes are made slowly, because both individuals and groups fear to fail, so patient will play a major role in success when is manage a business with that country.

They showed us an example of change within a organization, in Chile, there are developing some changes in Chile in the " Instituto de Investigaciones agropecuarias" (INIA)

WHAT IS CONFLICT?

Organizational conflict is the difference, incompatibility, discord or divergence of values, ideas, interests and goals between individuals or groups within an organization.

TYPES OF CONFLICT

According with the book “Contemporary Management” of Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George; there are four types of organizational conflict:

• Interpersonal Conflict.
• Intragroup Conflict.
• Intergroup Conflict.
• Interorganizational Conflict.

BUSINESS PROTOCOL IN CHILE

• To initiate a negotiation in Chile is necessary that your presentation is realized across third parties such as institutions, consultancies or banks.
• To get in contact with whom takes decisions, it is necessary to communicate first with its secretary, because she is the one who determines the appropriate meetings.
• Punctuality is very important in business events. Nevertheless, this norm is applicable only for visitors, who surely will have to wait for his Chilean counterpart during 15 or 30 minute.
• Show amiability and respect.
• Catholic and Protestant beliefs can be a great influence in the Chileans way of thinking.
• It is accepted the sense of humor but in meetings it is preferred a serious environment.
• Be clear in your priorities, terms and conditions.
• Agreements are fulfilled in a strict way, problems are resolved rapidly and payments should be effected punctually.
• Offer a hand squeeze and establish visual contact when greeting a Chilean.

BRAZIL !!

By

Susana Arredondo

Carolina Hernandez

Andres Echeverrí

The main topic of our classmates in their presentation was the management style in Brazil.

Before they start talking about that topic they comment to us some generalities about the largest south american country and they played some brazilian music.

Then they define: What is management style?

R// Management style is the method of leadership the manager of a company use.

There are four types:

1. Democratic : The manager gives responsibility to the staff, so the employes are involved in the decision making process

2. ¨Autocratic: the manager dictates orders and the staff simply act without any objection

3. Consultative: the manager will ask different points of vies from their staff

4.Laissez Faire: There is a minimal involvement of the manager, they let their staff do their task with freedom.

TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT STYLE IN BRAZIL

• The manager is not always from Brazil but they must be residents and domiciled in the country.
• The manager is expected to give direct instructions and the employes are expected to act without discussion.
• The boss and the subordinates build a relationship based on trust and respect.

¨As with most South American countries, Brazilian companies will tend to be organized along strictly hierarchical lines with information flowing in a very structured way up and down the various chains of command"

They they exposed a case of study of a company called: " Empresa Brasileira de compresores S.A" in which it is evidence the influence of the german organizational culture in a brazilian company because of the immigrants that cam to Brazil from German.

BUSINESS PROTOCOL

Recommendations if you do business in Brazil...

• Brazilians take time when negotiating. Do not rush them or appear impatient.
• Often the people you negotiate with will not have decision-making authority. Use local lawyers and accountants for negotiations.
• Brazilians resent an outside legal presence. Brazilian business is hierarchical.
• Decisions are made by the highest-ranking person. Brazilians negotiate with people not companies.
• Do not change your negotiating team or you may have to start over from the beginning.
• Business appointments are required and can often be scheduled on short notice. It is not uncommon for appointments to be cancelled or changed at the last minute.
• In Sao Paulo and Brasilia it is important to arrive on time for meetings. In Rio de Janeiro and other cities it is acceptable to arrive a few minutes late for a meeting.
• Do not appear impatient if you are kept waiting. Brazilians see time as something outside their control and the demands of relationships takes precedence over adhering to a strict schedule.
• Business cards are exchanged during introductions with everyone at a meeting.
• Meetings are generally rather informal.

AUGUST 26Th

The last class started with an explanation by the professor of how the manager is recognize as a hero in many situations within the organization

The professor talked about four specific characteristics of the manager if we see it like that:

1. The manager if he/she is a hero, can save or destroy a company and he/she will be remember as a super hero or as a mess. For example, Alvaro Uribe or Andres Pastrana

2. The wise manager, she/ he knows every possible thing. But the problem is that the manager does not know everything and sometimes it is better to analyze their recommendations before just doing it as they speak.

3.The manager is immortal it means they can not be fired.

4.Managers are never wrong

5. Managers pays the employes, so if the company pays on time , he/she is a good manager but if the company has a delay the manager is severely judge.

The last class we talked again about organizational culture, we learned that within an organization there are a cultural diversity , that means that there are different cultures in a same corporation.People join different groups in the organization as they feel identify depends on what they like or not, to understand this better it is important to recognize the way the people interact from the beggining and polarized.

We also talked about how to analyze the diversity appreciation in order to understand what the customer have in mind and the potential that have a certain product, it is also related to the cultural added value in each culture.

We moved forward to make a funny activity, we went to the coffe shop to chose a group of people in a table and observed how they interact whit each other, if there was a leader, what were they talking about, what they study and so on. The we returned to the class room and shared what we saw , almost every one identified which carrier study the people we analyzed.

The last class we talked about organizations and cultures, first we started defining : What is culture?

Culture is a group or agroupation of habits,behaviours,customs and so many different ways to interact in order to have an identity. For an organization, culture are the guiding beliefs that determines the way we are going to do the things.

We also discuss the key elements of cultures, those are

-Shared values: values are things that are consider inherently important in a community.“Values can help employees find meaning and purpose in their work and link their individual efforts to those of the entire company.”(1)

-Beliefs: the dictionary defines belief as a "conviction that certain things are true"

-Norms: rules, prescriptions or standards to be followed by people who have different tasks.

Also a cultures involve how we interpret things , how are we seen, the actitudes, assumptions,customs, manners and ways of thought.

We saw the characteristics of organizational culture and we learned that when you're building a business the first and most important thing is to get a great team with members that have the same identity and it is fundamental to make emphasis on groups but not in people so they can be seen as an unit that work together in a coordinate and integrative manner to gain certain goals or focus in develope techniques or processes.

THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IS A POWERFUL WAY TO KEEP PEOPLE ENGAGE WITH THE COMPANY SPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE DOING A PROJECT THAT IS RISKY.

Bibliography

1.http://www.pmforum.org/library/papers/2004/CultureBudapest.pdf

2.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXxeWqlq2Tw

JULY 28th

THE ROLE OF CORPORATIONS IN THE ACTUAL CONTEXT

The last class was very interesting because we could wonder about something that influences so much our lives, we talk about " the role of corporations".

At the beginning of the class ,the professor explained us what this blog activity is about, we are going to summary each class and we are going to answer a question supported on what we saw in the session but also in some resources.

Then we saw a documentary called " THE CORPORATION" that shows how they have become extremely important for the world, as they generate enormous benefits and profits but also a lot of damage.

Before continuing, let`s define WHAT IS A CORPORATION?

A financial dictionary define it as " A legal entity that is separate and distinct from its owners" this is explain by Ambrose Bierce as " An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility" .

As we saw in the documentary it is true because legally a corporation is not a group of people but a legal person that has the same rights and obligations of any other person, however, its first responsibility are its stakeholders and its main goal its to gain as much profits as it can.

How is that a legal person become so important for the world?

It is because some corporations are bigger than some countries

(1) Measured by value added or GDP, 2000, Million dollars.

Also they represent the most important external financial source of the developing countries (foreign direct investment), so their decisions have a strong impact in all aspects in the world.

As they are the most important non state actors today , they have gain so much power and their impacts bring both negative and positive things.

Positive actions of corporations:

• Much of them produce goods and services that make our life easier
• They generate employment
• They increases national income
• As they are key actors in the globalization boom, they carry with them the opportunity of transfer new technologies every where
• Globalization of products
• Investment increases in developing countries

Negative actions of corporations:

• Violation of human rights
• Child labor
• Environmental damage
• Driving toward cheaper & cheaper labour
• Exploitative practices

Sometimes these crimes go unaccounted or are just forgiven by a fine much smaller than the damage caused.

So it is clear that in the actual context which is call " globalization " , the corporations are playing a determinant role, they are making this world more profitable but at expenses of anything or anyone. To change this it is necessary the states to control the actions of these business, not closing the doors for them but regulating them more strongly in order that they prefer not a more profitable world but a better quality of life for all who live in it.

This kind of class make us aware of that , because sometimes the propaganda just influences us to gain money and then buy and buy a lot of things without thinking how that things were produce, by whom, where or over which conditions,we can require something better and in the future we have to be good ownerships or respectable and respected workers.

At the end of this class we discuss what we saw in the video and we all conclude that the end do not justify the means.

Bibliography

(1). Mortimore,Michael.2003."Globalization & trasnational organizations".Available at: http://www.eclac.cl/ddpe/agenda/4/15304/Globa-trans-corp.pdf

(2) "Positive and negative effects of Multinationals". Available at: http://www.socialscience.gardner-webb.edu/Faculty/craymond/Devdocs/DevMNCposneg.htm

(3) Corporation definition. Available at:http://www.investorwords.com/1140/corporation.html

(4) Financial dictionary. Available at: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/corporation