Management Society and new forms of work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Society and new forms of work - Essay Example Analysis The author draws on the real subsumption notion of Marxism. This argument claims that the capitalistic regime will eventually be hard pressed to absorb all the labour it produces. The author claims that the phenomena in the digital/new economy whereby internet users become active participants in the development of content and/or software (Terranova 2004). The argument here is that many difficulties arise from this relationship. While the difficulties may present a problem, under close inspection, this argument collapses in view of Adam Smith’s contention that man is driven by his own desire to better his/her lot and society becomes better as a result (Raphael 1985). It can thus be argued that the content developing users of the internet are only striving to make the sites better off for them and in the process benefitting all of us. This is a significant improvement in innovativeness that has been brought about by the interconnectivity in the new business environments . The traditional organization structures are changing. With the emergence of new thoughts and bold maverick entrepreneurs emerging to experiment with new structures and often emerging successful, more and more companies are bond to pick up the trend. Andrew Ross’s study of the ‘silicon valley’ analyzed companies like Razorfish which had open managements and was able to induce over enthusiasm in its workers and increase production (Ross 1988). These advances redefine management and employer employee relations and have succeeded in making workers feel ownership more than traditional setups. This is a direct rebuttal by the innovative capitalists to its opponents of the sixties who argued that labour in capitalist states was repetitive and dull. With the new age of information technology, one does not even require to have met their boss; a company can outsource certain functions across continents without anybody having left the office. This has resulted in more fle xible and stimulating working experiences and the productivity of all parties becomes markedly enhanced. Influences of the management theory reform movement have informed most of the new economy’s decisions. The emphasis on the value of giving workers more liberty in driving the production process through new management structure has paid off. Decentralized institutions and ones which delegate a lot has proved to be more productive in the long run. Arguably, this draws from the ‘biological turn’ discovery. The argument that it is possible to contain and direct human effort and the creativity of the masses has considerable promise, elective and moderate application of pressure is the means to achieving this. It is highly possible to harness production from workforces without necessarily having the congregated at a particular territory. As such even the office as we know it today is bound to change. With this in mind, it can also be said that the Bionomic view of t he economy as a chaotic but self organizing ecology and organizations intelligent and social beings and that the ultimate boost to the bottom line will come from organizational learning. Looking at the internet as an example of this, a lot of truth in the view is evidenced. The internet expands and mutates without the control of any planners, managers, and in essence not a single person in charge. This can be a reference for any company that favors bottom

Managing Change Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Managing Change - Case Study Example The company that refuses to face up to the challenge of change will be swept away by the flood tide of this very change, the literature on change management implies. It follows that the company that manages change well could reap enormous benefits. Organizational change is a challenge, which may be imposed or initiated. It could be the outcome of a merger, the setting of a new organizational direction, or a newly installed information technology system (Concept Systems Online). In this paper's discussion of change, it relates to a plan of a progressive furniture manufacturer in the US to expand its operations into cyberspace, a process that follows the just mentioned concept except for the part about the merger. For one, it sets a new direction for the organization and it calls for the installation of an unfamiliar IT system. It can also be said that the change is initiated by top management and imposed by circumstance. Management initiated the move following assessment by the firm's finance and accounting department that profits do not reflect the rising manufacturing costs and that raw material inventories waste expensive rental space in public warehouses. The website option is then set to be imposed by suggestions that tran sferring part of the firm's business online can take care of this sort of production problems and ensure its continued profitability. This is where change management is called into play because e-commerce is strange territory to a small-town company run on paternalism by an outdoors type of man who involves himself in the design and technical work and shares lunch with employees, most of whom have been with the company from the start and thus strong on loyalty. Although without formal training in business and management, the hands-on company president reads and attends business seminars, which gave him an open mind about change. However, the reaction of employees to the online plan was frosty, indicating their lack of enthusiasm on this idea of change. This represents a big challenge to change management, which this essay precisely seeks to address, in a way that would illumine how to meet the challenges and how to carry out the appropriate change management methods and models set forth on the subject. Chad's Creative Concepts Chad Thomas, founder and president of the company called Chad's Creative Concepts, started entertaining the idea of going online when a conflict arose over the firm's production of standardized line of furniture on top of the custom-design products. The company was catapulted to prominence by custom-made wooden furniture that brought "a bit of the outdoors" into homes. As the market for this innovative and unique product boomed, Chad's decided to add standard-design furniture to its product line. Lately, the standard-design furniture accounts for 40 percent of the firm's sales turnover but only 25 percent of the dollar value of sales. The customized furniture makes up 60 percent of sales and 75 percent of the sales' dollar value, which means this product line remains the company's bread and butter. For this reason,