Management Assignment Analyzing Scenarios Based On Business Theories & Practices

Question

Task:
Prepare a management assignment addressing the following questions:

1. Tanishq Jewellers want to set up MIS in their organization in order to manage the information better across the organization. Can you guide them about the same along with the characteristics, components, advantages and limitations?
2. Premier Automobiles plans to set up a base in various countries across Europe. Can you please explain that how can they analyze the culture using Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture before setting up a base in those countries?
3. A two-year-old start-up company dealing in 3D Printing is undergoing a major overhaul due to COVID 19 and requires your help.
   1. They are facing a lot of resistance to the changes being implemented and want to understand the reasons for this resistance?
   2. Can you help them manage these resistances to change?

Answer

Management Assignment Answer 1
Management information system is a computer system that consists of both hardware and software and help serves as a backbone of organization’s operational areas. It helps the organization to gather information from multiple online systems and this information is gathered to make reports and aid in decision making process. Management information system is implemented in different areas of operations such as process control, inventory control, sales and marketing, human resource, decision support system and others (OMOLOLA, 2018). For example, UUM (2013) has stated that management information system helps in improving the capabilities of the logistics services through implementing activities such as warehousing management, inventory replenishment and order fulfillment. Thus, through implementing MIS in their global logistics services, Tanishq Jewelers will be able to actively take advantage of the higher production and sourcing efficiency and operate effectively in such a highly competitive business environment.

To help Tanishq manage the information better, MIS should make use of five different components that will work together to achieve organizational objectives. The first component is the people such as the users of the system such as experts of the ICT department and staffs of other operational department who will use information system to perform daily activity and decision making. The second component of MIS is business procedures that consist of best business practices that guide the employees to work efficiently (Seth, Goyal & Kiran, 2017). Third component is data that MIS records such as daily business transactions and information on various other operational areas. Fourth component which is required in MIS are computers, networking devices and other IT that can provide different capabilities across operations such as data processing, printing, soft storage and others. Last component is software such as various programs that allow the hardware components to run and usually consists of operating system and application software. Thus, these five components together will work in Tanishq where each component will play an important role in data storage and sharing (OMOLOLA, 2018). For example, the staffs in the inventory department, the inventory management procedures, information of total inventory, network devices such as internet connection and inventory management software will together allow Tanishq to implement their inventory and order processing activities.

Tanishq should analyze and consider various characteristics of MIS before implement this system in their operations. Firstly, the approach of the system where the information system adopts a holistic approach based on the business objectives and overall performance expectations. Secondly, the information system to be adopted should be need based, which means that the development of the system should fulfill the information needs at different levels (Mohd Saifudin, Zainuddin & Deraman, 2012). Thirdly, the MIS should have future scope, which means that it should be able to provide information also on future projections and actions. Fourthly, an MIS should be the one that follows a top-down approach and should start from the purpose of management requirements. Lastly, the MIS should have a central database characteristic, which means that all the data should be stored in one central master files where it can be accessed by other subsystems. One common example of MIS system in supply chain management that fulfills all characteristics is ERP systems (Seth, Goyal & Kiran, 2017).

Further, Tanishq should be aware that a good MIS is the one that not only uses data storage; however, it should also support management analysis. This shows that it has several advantages such as it helps in increasing customer satisfaction from operational excellence, improves flexibility and efficiency of operations, allow effective management of global data without much confusion improves decision-making processes in the organization (Mohd Saifudin, Zainuddin & Deraman, 2012).. However, it is also important for Tanishq to learn about various limitations that they need to manage for effective implementing a MIS such as it increases operational cost because of technological changes, regular upgrades, high maintenance cost and need extensive employee training and skilled employee base.

Thus, Tanishq can implement an efficient MIS in their organization through identifying these characteristics, components, advantages and limitations of such systems.

Answer 2
Analyzing and learning the cultural aspects of the business is highly important for any business before expanding or entering into new countries, as they will have to manage a diverse work team. Setting up in different countries across Europe would mean that Premiere Automobiles will have to manage a diverse global team because they need to interact and collaborate with people from different culture in different countries. One such cultural model that the company can use to analyze the culture in different countries is Hofstede’s five dimensions. Europe consists of 44 different countries and each of the countries has different tradition and culture that is portrayed through their behavior, thinking, values and perception. The Hofstede five dimensions model will help Premier Automobiles to analyze and scale different cultural behaviors and thinking through five different dimensions such as power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation (Huang & Crotts, 2019). Thus, based on these factors the organization will be able to set up their division in different countries with different business structure and learn about the extent of risk takin behavior and notion employees keep in each nation.

Power distance dimensions will help in tracing the level of acceptance that employee will have in each European country towards power inequality at work. For example, Germany has low PD and would prefer a friendly and inclusive work between manager and employees, whereas, Russia has high PD, which means that the manager should be the most important person to take all the decision. Similarly, Individualism will help Premiere Automobile to identify the ties that people have with each other in European countries. For example, Germany high individualism which mean each employee aims at focusing at their own work and take less responsibility for the decisions and consequences at work, whereas, Russia has a collectivism culture, which means group work is valued and everyone take responsibility for each other (Hofstede Insights, 2021). Similar differences in culture can be traced from other three dimension of Hofstede across different European countries and Premiere Automobiles can implement decisions, behavior and strategies according to these differences. Hofstede five-dimension analysis would allow them to understand people in a particular society and respond accordingly while setting up business.

Figure- Cultural Dimensions
Source- (Hofstede Insights, 2021)

Answer 3

1. Resistance to change refers to a phenomenon that occur where the employees and other stakeholders of the business denies to accept the change or implement it. This usually delays or slows down the change process and increase costs (Mariana, Daniela & Nadina, 2013). Resistance to change is evident in every organization that understands a change because each change has an impact on the individuals working in it.

   There are various reasons behind resistance to change that a company needs to identify to manage it effectively. Khan, Raza & George (2017) has stated that even though organizational change is initiated by the managers, yet it makes the members of the organization such as the employees to think and act differently then they used to do. Moreover, there are differences in thinking or perceptions towards change such as the employees with lower tolerance to change show resistance or unacceptance. For example, in the 3D printing company the staffs that do not prefer change or have low tolerance to change are the one that will show high resistance to change taking place. Further, Mariana, Daniela & Nadina (2013) has pointed out that the major reasons for employees resisting to change are fear of unknown, misunderstanding about the need for change and the consequences of change. This means that in the 3D printing company that is undergoing change due to covid-19 is facing high resistance to change because the company has not effectively communicated with the employees about the need of the change. This makes it important for the 3D company to effectively communicate the need of the change to the staffs and the benefits and importance the change hold for each work position. Likewise, communication gap has also led to fear among the employees about the consequences of change and this has been the major reason behind the resistance among the employees. Thus, effective communication is needed for eliminating both reasons and increase change support. Similarly, there are many employees that are showing resistance because of fear of unknown or lack of risk-taking behavior. This means that there is large number of employees in the organization that has risk adverse behavior. Y?lmaz & K?l?ço?lu (2013) has further pointed out that employee do not actually resists change, they actually resist to the loss of status, pay or comfort they will have to bear because of the change. This means that in the 3D company the major reason behind the resistance they are facing is the fear in the employees about the loss of comfort and benefits them will lose from the change. This makes it important for the business to communicate with the employees about the benefits they will have from the change and make them aware of the new changed process. Thus, most change resistance is coming from lack of incentive to adopt change, poor communication and risk adverse behavior of the employees.

   Therefore, it can be stated that change needs to be carefully implemented in the 3D organization because the resistance to change is occurring because of the behavior of the employees as well as poor communication and misunderstanding between the management and the employees.

2. The 3D company needs to respond to the reasons that are causing resistance to the change they are planning to implement in their organization. Employee’s involvement and empowerment is important for effective implementation of change in the organization and also enable reduce employee’s resistance to change.

   There are different types of strategies and methods that the organization can adopt to manage these resistances to change in the workplace and effective implementation of the major overhaul happening due to covid-19. Firstly, change should be implemented with effective communication and participations and involvement because change enforced on the employees without much information make the employees feel that they are being poorly treated and not valued by their organization. Thus, change should be planned with open communication that take into consideration the ideas and perception of the employees so that they feel comfortable with the change. Moreover, Simoes & Esposito (2014) noted that communicating change act as a major success factor of organizational change and help in building change readiness and reduce uncertainty. This means that with open and transparent communication the case company will be able to learn the perspective of the employees towards the change and disseminate them about the benefit and value of the change to their work role. This will help eliminate misunderstandings about the change need and consequences of the change.

   The other ways by which the case organization can reduce resistance to change in the organization is timely training in which the employees can be trained and made aware of the new processes and the way these processes can be implemented. Workplace training will make the employees feel confident about the new processes and reduce their fear of unknown that is acting as major change resistance factor. Developing important skills and knowledge about the change is essential for successful implementation. This will also make the employees reduce the risk associated with the change and accept innovation easily. This is because the employees will be better educated about the new process and reduce chances of errors. Mariana, Daniela & Nadina (2013) stated that effective change communication depends on the leadership of the organization and thus transformational and collective leadership behavior will make change more successful with minimum resistance. Further, Rafferty & Jimmieson (2017) has pointed out that change resistance can be managed by effectively by offering employee some incentive to accept change. Employees in the organization should be given certain incentive, monetary or non-monetary benefits to accept the change. This will motivate them to accept change for some extra benefit from the organization.

   Therefore, it can be concluded that reducing resistance to change is the most crucial phase in the change implementation process in an organization. Successfully reducing resistance to change among the employees can act as a precondition for achieving better success. Change resistance should be planned before planning or implementing change. This can be done through various processes such as open communication, training and change incentive or benefits.

References
Hofstede Insights. (2021). Compare countries - Hofstede Insights. Hofstede Insights. Retrieved 27 May 2021, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/.

Huang, S. S., & Crotts, J. (2019). Relationships between Hofstede's cultural dimensions and tourist satisfaction: A cross-country cross-sample examination. Tourism Management, 72, 232-241.

Khan, S. T., Raza, S. S., & George, S. (2017). Resistance to Change in Organizations: A Case of General Motors and Nokia. International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce, 7(1), 16-25.

Mariana, P., Daniela, B., & Nadina, R. R. (2013). Forces that enhance or reduce employee resistance to change. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 22(1), 1606-1612.

Mohd Saifudin, A., Zainuddin, N., & Deraman, N. (2012). The effect of management information system (MIS) on warehouse operation efficiency in small and medium enterprises (SMEs),607-616.

OMOLOLA, O. S. (2018). THE IMPACT OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM TO BUSINESS ORGANIZATION: A STUDY OF UNION BANK PLC (Doctoral dissertation, DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING, FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA).

Rafferty, A. E., & Jimmieson, N. L. (2017). Subjective perceptions of organizational change and employee resistance to change: Direct and mediated relationships with employee well?being. British Journal of Management, 28(2), 248-264.

Seth, M., Goyal, D. P., & Kiran, R. (2017). Diminution of impediments in implementation of supply chain management information system for enhancing its effectiveness in Indian automobile industry. Management assignment Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM), 25(3), 1-20.

Simoes, P. M. M., & Esposito, M. (2014). Improving change management: How communication nature influences resistance to change. Journal of Management Development.

UUM, U. U. M. (2013). Warehouse Layout and Efficiency in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES): A Management Information System Perspective. International Foundation for Research and Development (IFRD), 276.

Y?lmaz, D., & K?l?ço?lu, G. (2013). Resistance to change and ways of reducing resistance in educational organizations. European journal of research on education, 1(1), 14-21.