Sunday, February 23, 2020

Royal Dutch Shell Group Strategic Management Essay

Royal Dutch Shell Group Strategic Management - Essay Example These definitions highlight both the internal and external roles of strategic management in terms of the organization. Further definitions will be given in following sections. Shell’s approach leading up to the new millennium was mainly internal, with massive restructuring of the organisation through divesting unprofitable business areas, eliminating unwanted bureaucratic levels of administration, and placing more power in the hands of a few executives, with the main control and authority coming from the corporate centre consisting of the committee of managing directors (CMD). This was established by flattening the organization’s structure and resulted in minimizing the channels of communication between the corporate center and the operating companies, thus making reporting less complicated. By 2000, Shell’s management structure consisted of the corporate center as the central authority, with executive officers from each of their business units reporting directly to the corporate center. The operating companies, in turn, reported to the business units. This constitutes a flatter organisation structure with a strong central leadership where the overall objectives and goals of the organisation are clearly communicated through the different entities, and problems facing the operating levels in different geographical regions can be effectively made known to the corporate centre for further strategic actions (see Dubrin, 2004; Mullins, 1999). In effect, it can be safely assumed that Shell was headed towards an authoritative style of management starting from the corporate center and continuing down through the executive offices of the business units and finally the operating units. A simpler structure is also helpful for the management in assessing more clearly employees’ performances in order to carry out appraisals and give rewards (Mullins, 1999; Brooks, 2006).

Friday, February 7, 2020

Tyco Company - Process of Communicating Change to Its Staff Essay

Tyco Company - Process of Communicating Change to Its Staff - Essay Example Applying this concept to Tyco’s case, the turnaround team have used Gerard and Teurf’s transformation skills to overcome the frustrations of employees through suspending judgment on those who clearly erred by never openly commenting on what happened; showing determination to change by replacing the members of the board; getting away with sophisticated images of grandeur (moving the Tyco office); and instilling a new culture of adherence to ethical standards, accountability and good corporate citizenship. 2. Tyco used vignettes to communicate changes in ethical behaviour. Write a vignette that could be used by Tyco to assist in overcoming the cultural change barriers that companies like Tyco faced. What international issues might need to be taken into account in writing these vignettes? Possible vignettes that Tyco could have used to assist in overcoming the cultural change barriers that they faced at the time are: â€Å"Transparency is the best policy† or â€Å"Tyco means business: out with conspiracy and engaging in a fraudulent mess.† In writing these vignettes, the message should be clear and should be understood in all cultures where they do business with. The universal nature of adherence to ethical standards through the promotion of transparency in governance must be imminent. Using Ford and Ford’s four types of change conversations, Tyco would go through the process of communicating change to its staff through: (1) initiative conversations, where the need to establish change would be promoted through assertion and declaration that there is a need to reinvent its credibility and integrity; (2) conversations for understanding to encourage personnel to appreciate the changes being proposed to be implemented through vignettes and by affirming reading the new code of ethical conduct; (3) conversations for performance where clear and accurate actions for change are seen and indicate the determination of top management that change is crucial to regaining trust and confidence in the public, and through the use of middle management who cascaded and localized the proposed changes; and (4) conversations for closure where the change garnered a reward indicating that Tyco was one of the most dramatically improved organizations. â€Å"The time of concealment, conspiracy and fraud are over. Just like a ship that has been devastated by a tsunami, now is the time for transformation, for a complete turnaround.  Ã‚