A630.3.2.RB - A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee

 A630.3.2_Manglona, Matthew-Napu_ A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee

The Culture Committee at Southwest is effective in establishing culture norms. The culture committee follows Southwest’s definition of culture within its organization. Mcgee-Cooper, Trammell, & Looper (2008) discuss that South West Airlines’ culture consists having a warrior spirit, leading with a servant’s heart, and having a Fun Loving attitude. (p. 49) The cultural norms from South West Airlines provides not only the customers with great service but amongst their employees as well. Brown (2011) stated that “culture is the glue that holds an organization together.” (p.64) from the video “A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee” a committee within the organization provides a service known as “hokey” days where they feed the flight crews and pilots and clean their planes giving them a break from their long days on a flight, this gesture shows the cultural norm of team spirit and ensuring that all employees at every level within the organization are taken care of.

The purpose of the cultural committee is to ensure that the morale and work production from South West Airlines are kept at a high standard. Not to many companies practice this type of ordeal because of their goals and vision are not quite the same. Jain (2015) stated that “Strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values.” (p. 116) which in the video and as stated earlier the organizational values surround not only the customer/consumer but the employees as well.

In my organization we do have something similar in a sense of the cultural committee like South West Airlines. Our committee is known as the Family Readiness Group (FRG). This committee is set up to provide soldiers and their families the necessary outreach programs, soldier/spouse bonding, summer camps for their kids, and the other activities to ensure the soldier and their families are taken care of. Brown (2011) stated “the question is not whether corporate cultures will continue to exist but what type of corporate culture will be most effective in enabling a company to survive and excel.” (p. 66) My organization tries to instill other outlets for soldier readiness to be at its highest performance but at the end of the day it is the family programs and readiness group is what makes Soldiers excel in every performance factor within our organization. Ensuring a happy home front will not only enhance performance but another important factor of retention as well.

What I can take away from this assignment is to actually look for other outlets that can provide the output as South West Airlines. Where we take care of each other as employees at the internal level. Yes, I understand I discussed the Family Readiness Group, but I think if our leadership (management) took the time to take care of their employees (soldiers) with what Brown (2011) discussed as having a team emphasis, being people focused, having autonomy, having control, and having risk tolerance. (p. 65) These five categories here can provide any organization a guide into having a great workforce and most of all a great work place.

A question I like to bring up is, to establish a great organizational culture what is necessary for management to move forward with ideas to establish themselves as an organization that stands for their employees and customers?

I believe that any company that provides a group within an organization that supports the ground pounding or hard labor of the company sets up success for all who work for that organization. It is a great way to show that others within the company are appreciated.

References:

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (8th ed.). Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Jain, A. K. (2015). Volunteerism and organisational culture. Cross Cultural Management, 22(1), 116. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1647575507?accountid=27203

McGee-Cooper, A., Trammell, D., & Looper, G. (2008). The power of LUV: An inside peek at the innovative culture committee of southwest airlines. Reflections: The SoL Journal, 9(1), 49-55.

A630.2.3.RB - 21st Century Enlightenment

A630.2.3.RB_Manglona, Matthew-Napu_21st Century Enlightenment 

I think that the reason why the discussion is called “21^st century enlightenment” is because we now live in a world where we challenge the thought process of others and the way others perceive information that is given to them. What I mean by this is that we live in a world where social media, media, technology, and the ever so changing dynamic of human relations is accelerating at a high pace we are continuously trying to keep up in stride till we hit a new phenomenon.  Brown (2011) discusses a term called “Future shock” where a product is greatly accelerated through change in our society. It replaces a new culture from an old one. (p42) We as a society are moving forward so fast that (whether through an organization, human relations, or markets) we are finding ourselves almost out of breath trying to keep up.

In the video Taylor (21^st Century Enlightenment) stated “to live differently you have to think differently,” I think he means that by saying we have to separate ourselves from the crowd. Just because the vast majority is doing something, to be successful and incorporate change (whether in an organization or the world) we have stand out and bring out new ideas which is all acquired through learning.  Prandini, Petronella, & Barthelmess (2012) state that  “Learning is rather a meaningful and active process which fosters a holistic understanding of the role, dynamics, and impact of corporations in the creation of sustainable social, environmental and economic value.” (p. 19)

When Taylor (2010) argued that “"to resist our tendencies to make right or true that which is merely familiar and wrong or false that which is only strange" he meant that to resist our tendencies of believing what is told to us. You take for example the battle between religion and science, faith and knowledge, or statement and fact. We as individuals take the perceptions from others and believe it to be true at times. In my organization, this term relates to the effect of our training doctrine. We follow it up to the tee but have to realize that every situation dictates the outcome of what we were taught to do. What I mean by that is just because it is taught to us in this particular way, does not mean we can veer off and conduct it in a manner that fits our units comfortability to accomplish our task.

When Taylor (2010)discusses about the eschew of pop culture and the development of human empathy,  it all comes down to our leaders in the human realm. Our leaders whether it be our congressional leaders, our community leaders, or even within our workplace they have to establish a common ground to how we treat each other as humans. “Under-standing past and present competitive environments offers input for charismatic and visionary leaders to formulate and implement probable and workable strategies for the future.” (p.111) So I do believe that this can be accomplished through the effectiveness of great leadership within our world.

To answer the question on what Taylor (2010) discusses about atomizing people from collaborative environments and the destructive effect on their growth he simply means when he discussed a “small number of thoughtful citizens can change the world and it indeed is the only thing that ever has”. You cannot stop the thought process of your employees in your organization to simply put it. You have to have room for expansion for the strategic vision and the adaptability for change. Brown (2011) shares what is called an Organization transformation which tends to focus on unplanned changes from within the system in response to life-cycle considerations. (p. 44)

What I can take away to immediately exercise in my career especially holding a leadership position in my organization is to simply be more open to ideas and recommendations. To develop myself as a human being and embrace the change that constantly occurs within our world. To practice that just because what is said doesn’t necessarily mean it goes. If someone told me “to go right and take the hill” and I respond “I’ll go left and take the hill” it doesn’t matter which direction I go as long as I take the hill, which is the overall end state to the task at hand.

Some questions that I would like to ask pertaining to this video is:

1). Where do we see leadership development in the 21^st century moving forward? Because of the new generation taking over are we going to be more challenging to directives given out amongst each other compared to the old days of what is said goes?

2). Do you believe that the 21^st century can be kept up in regards to leadership developing of others?

References:

Barnes, J. N. (2010). Extending traditional 21st-century leadership skills. Journal of Leadership Studies, 3(4), 111-112. doi:10.1002/jls.20148

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to Organization Development (8th Ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

Prandini, M., Petronella, V. I., & Barthelmess, P. (2012). Responsible management education for 21st century leadership. Central European Business Review, 1(2), 16-22. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1647600147?accountid=27203

Taylor, M. (2010, August 19^th) RSA ANIMATE: 21st Century Enlightenment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo