44.312
Security Management
home page > Unit 12: summing up / study guide
meant that companies could address each of the above functions as discrete activities which:
- involved relatively few people directly (usually limited to senior management)
- were seen as fundamentally different from their normal duties, with little direct impact on those duties
- took place at scheduled intervals (training, motivation, performance review, budgeting) or when dictated by pressing needs (recruitment and selection, discipline and discharge).
Today, companies face a far different set of realities that mean this approach is no longer functional:
- companies have had to switch from hierarchical, top-down, pyramidal organization structures to ones that are "flattened," circular, or even spherical because they both need to empower everyone in the organization, because much of middle management was eliminated in the 1990s by "downsizing, and because e-mail and other technologies such as intranets destabilize hierarchies by allowing individuals within the company to communicate directly
- competition is now global, and companies must constantly change their strategies in response to changing external conditions
- in leaner organizations it is no longer feasible to delegate responsibilities solely to specific individuals: everyone must share in these duties.
- relentless pressure to cut budgets mean that companies need to pursue strategies that can achieve multiple objectives with fewer initiatives and lower cost.
The goal is the "learning organization."
"Peter Senge defined a learning organization
as dynamical systems (as defined in Systemics) that are in a state of continuous adaptation
and improvement. That is, organizations
that are adapted for maximum organizational learning and that
build feedback
loops deliberately to maximize their own learning."
Benefits of the learning organization strategy:
- synergies between various
management responsibilities:
pursuing a single responsibility (recruiting, training, etc.) can also benefit other areas. For example, recruiting better applicants can reduce disciplinary problems with unqualified and/or rogue employees - lower operating costs:
costs can often be reduced for each activity because they are positively affected by other ones - managers don't have to spend
as much time on each of these activities, especially at the expense
of their daily routines:
for example, instead of dropping their normal responsibilities for an annual budgeting exercise, this may be done on a continual basis throughout the year, in the context of overall management responsibilities. - the organization is better
able to respond rapidly to external challenges and opportunities:
managers are continually monitoring these changes and because their workforces are more flexible. - employees are happier and
more motivated:
they are better trained, given more responsibility and more opportunity for growth, as well as being better paid and feeling they are working for an organization of which they can be proud. With a diverse and empowered workforce, the company can profit from a wider range of backgrounds and perspectives.