Case_Study_for_J&J

Introduction There are many key management terms, concepts, and theories that are used in management and organization of businesses. The important aspects of management include leadership dynamics, group dynamics, conflict management and negotiations, technology, organizational culture, and change in the organization. Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) uses most of these concepts and theories in their business. They are a company that has withstood the test of time and have come out as a successful business. Each aspect of management includes special terms that help in understanding just what the concept means. Leadership Dynamics Leadership dynamics is understanding and explaining leadership in an organization, and how to train the leaders how to lead a team. Some important terms for leadership dynamics are achievement oriented leadership, charismatic and transformational leadership, and authentic leadership development. J&J is a big organization with many resources, but beliefs that each of the operating companies should function as its own small business, while employees operate in a small-company setting, they have access to the know-how and resources of a Fortune 50 company. Achievement oriented leadership is management which sets challenging goals, assists in training, emphasizes improvement, and expects the highest levels of performance. When a task is complex, this type of leadership flourishes. It is a type of path-goal theory. The path-goal theory is a type of leadership theory developed by Robert House. J&J leads by example they currently use solar panels in there university that a leader should motivate subordinates to achieve high performance by showing them the path to reach valued goals or results (Shani, Chandler, Coget, & Lau). Some other terms included in the path-goal theory are participative leadership, which emphasizes consultation with subordinates before decisions are made. Directive leadership is similar to the Ohio state concept of initiating structure. Supportive leadership is similar to the concept of consideration. All of these terms have to do with path-goal theory. Charismatic and transformational leadership are also important aspect of business management. Although they are separate terms, they are considered identical. Charismatic leaders influence their followers by motivating them to an extraordinary extent. They do this by using four different mechanisms: they change their followers’ perceptions of the nature of work itself; they offer an appealing future vision; they develop a deep collective identity among followers; and they heighten both individual and collective self-efficacy (the belief that one has the capabilities to perform in a certain manner or attain certain goals) (Shani, et. al). Transformational leaders heighten their followers’ awareness about the importance and value of designated goals and the means to achieve them; induce followers to transcend their self -interest for the good of the collective and its goals; and stimulate and meet followers’ higher-order needs through the leadership process and the mission (Shani, et. al). J&J develops leadership through the following: Build on J&J core strengths, Be globally applicable, Be situationally adaptable, Be simple but not simplistic, Positively change behavior of current and future leaders, and Be central to J&J leadership development (Fulmer, 2001). Along with leadership dynamics come group dynamics. Group Dynamics Knowles defines group dynamics as complex forces that are acting upon every group throughout its existence which cause it to behave the way it does. We can think of every group having certain relatively static aspects – its name, constitutional structure, ultimate purpose, and other fixed characteristics. But it also has dynamics aspects – it is always moving, doing something, changing, becoming, interacting, and reacting, and the nature and direction of its movement is determined by forces being exerted on it from within itself and from outside (Shani, et. al). Group dynamics includes several important terms. The first important term is the human group concept. This was advanced by Homans more than 50 years ago as a framework for investigating and understanding human dynamics in groups (Shani, et. al). The first elementary activities included activities, sentiments, and interactions. The social system of this concept constitutes two parts; an external system and an internal system. The external system are the relations among interaction, activity, and sentiment that are imposed on a group by forces external to it. Internal systems are the relations among interaction, activity, and sentiment that are spontaneously elaborated and standardized by the members of the group. Another important term is role differentiation. Whenever two or more people come together to work on a common purpose, role differentiation occurs, that is, patterns of behavior for each individual develop that tend to become repeated as activities progress (Shani, et. al). Roles can be classified into those that are focused on achieving the tasks of the group, ones that build and maintain favorable relationships among group members, and those that serve individual needs, sometimes at the expense of the group (Shani, et. al). Individual roles include aggressor, blocker, dominator, recognition seeker, and avoider. A final term for group dynamics is groupthink. This is a mode of thinking that individuals engage in when pressures toward conformity become so dominant in a group that they override appraisal of alternative courses of action (Shani, et. al). Two of the characteristics and symptoms of groupthink include an illusion of invulnerability is shared by all or most members of the group, which creates excessive optimism and encourages high risk taking. Also, collective rationalization discounts warnings that might lead members to consider their assumptions before they commit themselves to a major policy decision (Shani, et. al). J&J uses group dynamics on a daily basis. J&J is organized on the principles of decentralized management. “The more than 230 J&J operating companies employ approximately 116,000 men and women in 57 countries and sell products throughout the world. JJHCS provides account management and customer support services to key health care customers, including hospital systems and group purchasing organizations, leading health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, and government health care institutions. The company also provides contract management, logistics and supply chain functions for the major J&J franchises” (Yacovone, 2007). With all of the employees, there are plenty of group processes that occur. Group dynamics are important to this company that has one of the greatest reputations in America. Conflict Management and Negotiations There are several types of conflicts that can be found in the context of work. In general, such conflicts include affective conflicts, which are conflicts in interpersonal relations, and substantive conflicts, which are conflicts involving the group’s task. Cognitive and social emotional conflicts, for instance, are generally characterized as affective conflicts involving interpersonal disagreements not directly related to the task (Shani, et. al). Such conflicts may, for example, arise at J&J where co-workers are family members and/or close friends. Intergroup conflicts may also arise and are important to understand when discussing conflict management and negotiations. Intergroup conflicts refer to clashes and opposition between two teams or groups. For example, a profitable department at J&J may collectively have animosity towards another J&J department operating at a loss. One study distinguished between task-focused conflict and relationship-focused conflict and found that both types of conflicts have an effect on teams’ performance (Shani, et. al). Both of these conflicts lead to different types of intergroup conflicts within organizations. These types include vertical conflicts, which refer to clashes between employee groups at different levels. For example, a plant manager may clash with a subordinate line worker. Horizontal conflicts may also occur, which refer to clashes between groups or employees at the same level. A horizontal conflict may arise, for example, where a team of equally paid J&J employees provide disproportionate contributions to a common project. Line-staff conflicts are also quite common, which refer to clashes between advisory/support teams and teams that are responsible for creating the good or services (Shani, et. al). For instance, a research and development team at J&J may clash with a production team that ineffectively attempts to implement their design. Negotiations are a means of handling conflict. In situations where there is both conflict and interdependence, the process used to deal with conflict is negotiations. There are two basic types of negotiation situations. In distributive negotiation, the negotiators have both a preferred outcome and a least desired outcome. In an integrative negotiation, the conflict between the parties may be more apparent than real, or the interests of both parties can potentially be satisfied. One concept that is useful in any negotiation is BATNA. This is an acronym for best alternative to a negotiated agreement. The notion is that the negotiator should work to develop alternatives to a particular negotiated agreement (Shani, et. al). Having this is a source of power in negotiations. Technology Used J&J uses advanced technology on a daily basis. J&J is recognized for having registered many high profile internet domain names during the early internet years. They now have a vast array of internet domain names. Namely, J&J evolved from posting flyers at pharmacies and supermarket counters, to procuring several thousand domain names. To date, the J&J internet portfolio includes 29,925 internet domain names, which is more than most of the large internet and technology companies. This portfolio includes generic expressions such as “Babypowder.com”, as well as 676 short two-letter domains such as “jj.com” and “ky.com”. Technology is essential to J&J. Although many of J&J’s first products emerged from “paper and pencil” designs, J&J now has an internal technology division dedicated to writing custom programs directed towards J&J-specific needs. Not only has technology allowed J&J to become increasingly more profitable, but it has also allowed them to develop more efficient methods for improving their products. J&J also has a vast amount of institutional knowledge of successful and unsuccessful business practices by virtue of it being in business for over 125 years. With advances in technology, J&J can more readily tap into this institutional knowledge to streamline current and future processes, thus making them more efficient. Accordingly, because of this institutional knowledge J&J is less prone to repeating past mistakes. “The best practice for organizational design at J&J Health Care Systems Inc. uses a standard internal process for design, development, and implementation while utilizing Six Sigma and change management tools. The process is conducted in collaboration with process and system design teams and business stakeholders” (Yacovone, 2007). This design has helped enhance the technology at J&J. “There are benefits to utilizing a model and framework when conducting organizational design. They provide a consistent approach to utilize with design teams across the business. The framework establishes a set of guiding principles used to ensure alignment between the strategic intent, organizational structure, and the new process and technology” (Yacovone, 2007). Organizational Culture Organizational culture addresses sustainability in a work system. Therefore, exploring the basic elements that form cultural and organizational culture, what influences it, and how work systems are influenced by it (Shani, et. al). Culture is a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certain nation, region or period. It is also defined as the behavior and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group (Shani, et. al). Organizational culture seems to stem from increasing difficulty in the global marketplace and from the management of mergers or acquisitions once the formal contracts have been signed (Shani, et. al). A more detailed definition by Schein states that organizational culture is a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group, as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid, and, therefore, is to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Shani, et. al). J&J is a health and family oriented business, J&J name is very important to the business reputation it is essential, trust and reputation is important to the organization representation to the public. J&J symbolizes purity their image is significant to the organization therefore they cannot invest in product or business that have negative image to the public; it is not good for business. J&J main symbol is the way J&J is written for example[pic], J&J has been creative since the beginning stages of their business. J&J is a pioneer in the medical market consumers trust products that have the J&J name or symbol because of the organizing background and history. Some important terms that have to do with organizational culture include value orientation model. This was developed by Kluckholm and Strodtbeck. It includes six dimensions that attempt to capture the value orientation of cultures (Shani, et. al). The value orientation represents the way a society copes with emerging issues and challenges (Shani, et. al). Another term is the national culture model. This was developed by Hofstede. In a study of culture that focused on work-related values conducted in 40 countries, developed national profiles that explain differences in work behavior. Hofstede initially extracted four dimensions of values to develop his national culture model. Change in the Organization Organizations are constantly changing. Developing the organizational capability to change is critical for the development of sustainable organizations and sustainable workplace (Shani, et. al). Organizational learning is a large part of change. A learning organization is an organization characterized by a particular culture, climate, managerial pattern, and capacity that enable the entity to improve itself systematically and over time. Organizational learning is another important term that is a system of principles, activities, processes, and structures that enable an organization to realize the potential inherent in the knowledge and experience of its human capital (Shani, et. al). Organizational learning mechanisms are also important. Learning mechanisms, at the most basic level, are formalized strategies, policies, guidelines, management and reward systems, methods, tools and routines, systems, allocations of resources, and even the design of physical work space that have been designed, formulated, and ratified in order to promote and facilitate learning in the organization and its networks (Shani, et. al). Another important term is organizational development, which is an effort planned, organizationwide, and from the top, to increase organizational effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization’s processes, using knowledge. Consequence-based clustering is also important. This includes holistic change programs. Holistic programs simultaneously try to address all (or most) aspects of organizing. Focused change programs identify a few key aspects, such as time, quality, and customer value, and then use these as levers for changing the organization system wide. Conclusion In conclusion, there are many aspects to leadership dynamics, group dynamics, conflict management and negotiations, technology used, organizational culture, and change in organization. There were several terms that could not be included as to do so would require much more space. The terms covered were looked at in great depth in order to better understand the aspects of each of these management organizational concepts. All of these types of leadership can be found in J&J as well as they are a diverse company with many types of leaders. References Fulmer, R.M. (2001). Johnson and Johnson: Frameworks for leadership. Organizational Dynamics, 29 (3), 211-220. Yacovone, L. (2007). Organizational design for a supply chain transformation: Best practice at J&J Health Care Systems, Inc. Organization Development Journal, 25 (3), 103-109. Shani, R., Chandler, D., Coget, J.F., and Lau, J. Behavior in Organizations an Experiential approach: Ninth Edition. The McGraw-Hill Irwin Companies.