1.

Discuss how changes in an industrys environment can have an impact on the culture, structure and
the management of human capital in the global organisations of today?
Changes in Industrys environment: Worlds Economy / Local Government policy / Competition from
other companies / Union
Culture, Structure, management of human capital

A. Worlds economy: Financial crisis
= Organisation can be forced to change their structure to adapt to the changes (Functional / Product /
Geography / Geographical structure) Restructuring of company

B. Local government policies (e.g. Taxation / embargo / Foreign workers policies etc.)
= Organisation may change demographics of employees (Diversity problems)

C. Competition from similar companies
= Change culture / Cut cost to gain competitive advantage Become more profit-oriented
= Violate psychological contract of many employees
D. Union of employees
= Shifting of power from top management to employees
= Improve learning of top management
E. No. Self will decide whether organisation will be affected by these external factors
= Closed from learning
Conclusion: Even though learning and self-adjusting can preserve the organisation, external factor
largely sway organisation design. Strongest of the fittest.

2. Some people might perceive others performance to be poor when it really is not. Discuss this with
reference to the topics on learning and diversity.
Performance: Work effectiveness / Ability to communicate and get along with others / Able to balance
work and life (Career with heart)

Yes:
Reason 1: Self-definition through Oppositionality
If we think we are good, they must be poor.
Reason 2: Scarcity Thinking
If we are higher ranking than them, they are weaker than us as apparently they are of lower caste
Reason 3: Defensive Reasoning / Single-Loop learning
Adjust our expectation to match the achieved outcome / governing value of our master programme
Reason 4: Cultural generalization
We define people by their skin colour or nationality
No:
Reason 1: Open to learning / Make deduction based on actual observation / Dual-loop learning
Conclusion
More often, we often take the easy way out / protecting ourselves.

3.Being professional at work means being able to manage ones self in relation to others Discuss.
Professional: Work effectiveness / Ability to communicate and get along with others / Able to balance
work and life (Career with heart)
Yes:
Reason 1: EQ / Leadership in interacting with others
Reason 2: Managing role identity/ social identity to work well in teams
Reason 3: Productive reasoning to continually improve oneself with changing environment (Diversity in
colleagues etc.)
Reason 4: Manage ones own psychological contract with the employers by learning to participate in
unions
No:
Reason 1: Technical skills
globalized world require one to provide the competitive advantage to companies

Conclusion: Largely still depend on oneself as one can move to other organisation if get fired. However
managing diversity will continually be an issue.

1. An employees work behaviour is an outcome of whether the organisation perceives him/her to be
valued human capital. Discuss.
Work behaviour: attitude towards the actual work / customer / colleagues / superior
Valued human capital: Someone who is considered as an useful asset in the company
Yes:
Reason 1: Role identity
Employees may act to match the perceived image imposed by the organisation
Reason 2: Violating Psychological Contract of employees
Generate negative emotions


No: work behaviour Self determined
Reason 1: Subjected to productive reasoning, one can prove to the board one is a valuable asset. Learn
to adjust expectation / values to avoid negative emotions
Reason 2: The organisation may not be a prominent support for the employees role identity (Families /
friends etc.)
Conclusion: Self can turn tragedy into opportunity

2. Organisational culture can be a motivational factor. Discuss.
Organisational culture: refers to the pattern of beliefs, values, & learned ways of coping with
experience that have developed during the course of an organisations history & which tend to be
manifested in its material arrangements & in the behaviours of its members
Motivational factor: Encourage employees to work more effectively with positive emotions (Career with
heart)
Yes
Reason 1: Culture can be aligned with individuals career with heart Role identity Life integration
Reason 2: Culture can promote diversity (Mental model that embrace diversity) Positive emotions
Reason 3: Culture can be aligned to promote productive reasoning More autonomy/motivation
Protean approach

No
Reason 1: Environment factor Financial crisis / Epidemic/ Natural disaster etc.

Conclusion:
Largely self-determined.

3. Resistance to change in organisations is often a result of poor self-knowledge and learning. Discuss.
Resistance to change: Not willing to adjust the structure/culture/management of human capital

Yes:
Reason 1: I am my position
Not open to explore possible improvements
Not aware that organisation is highly interlinked; teams, network etc.
Reason 2: The enemy is out there
Not open to feedback
Think highly of oneself
Reason 3: Illusion of taking charge
Reason 4: Fixation on events
Single-loop learning
No global mindset / Mental model is inappropriate
Discontinuous sudden change
Reason 5: Parable of the boiled frog
Top management deem the problem as insignificant
Global warming etc.
No
Environment factor: Economy / Government policies / Rigid and highly bureaucratic structure
Conclusion: Mainly self can control learning and make changes

1. The key to coping with change is to first change our mindset. Discuss.
Mindset: Mental models Define how we interpret things
Change: Difference in structure/culture/management of human capital
Yes
Reason 1: Invoke productive reasoning
Open to dual-loop learning
Ready to change our underlying values
Reason 2: Open to change/adjust our role identity
Prevent conflicts between perceived and actual
Reason 3: Reframe our mindset about diversity
Prevent pitfalls when dealing with diversity
Reason 4: Allow ourselves to empathise with others / EQ

No
Reason 1: Improve our communication skills
Diversity & communication
Reason 2: Understanding our own present emotions etc.
Deal with change calmly

Conclusion: Mental model is the main factor Allow us to recognize the change and deal with it.



2. Managing interpersonal relationships in a diverse work environment is a heart and mind
endeavour. Discuss.
Interpersonal relationships: with colleagues
Heart and mind: role identity and mental model
Yes.
Reason 1: Role Identity / E Goffman self presentation
Impression management requires both mind to manipulate others / heart to assume one role identity
Reason 2: Productive Reasoning
Mindset to make changes to oneself to be socially acceptable
Reason 3: Empathy / EQ to understand others and oneself Multiple identities / Salience
Heart to step into other peoples shoes.

No.
Reason 1: Environment
If everyone else in the society is xenophobic, workplace interpersonal relationship will inevitably be
affected. Peer pressure / Family pressure Socialisation
Conclusion:
In the end, one has the power to change the paradigm.

3. You are the driver of your own career success. Discuss.
Career success: Career with heart
Yes
Reason 1: Understanding your own role identity
Align with positive emotions, life integration. Protean approach
Reason 2: Dealing with diversity by reframing mindset
Reason 3: EQ to deal with other colleagues
Reason 4: Embrace productive reasoning to improve oneself
Reason 5: Build Career Capital Protean approach

No
Reason 1: Environment global turmoil
Reason 2: Declining industry
Reason 3: Unions protesting against industry Nuclear etc.

Conclusion: Change career if environment change but largely still depend on self.
1. Discuss the challenges posed by globalization in relation to human capital and their implications for
the various stakeholder groups.

Challenge 1: Rapid, Discontinuous changes
Global business more volatile (Raging bull to Bear market)
Require human capital to be shifted around more rapidly Expect diversity
Require individuals to adopt a mental model that embrace continuous learning / EQ / Productive
reasoning
Require us to juggle role identity well More multiple roles

Challenge 2: Growing worldwide interconnection
Far reaching effects
Global mindset :
- Curiosity about the world and a desire to become smarter about how the world works (I am my
position)
- Self-conscious awareness of ones current mindset (Productive reasoning)
- Exposure to different experiences and to diversify Require human capital to be shifted around more
rapidly Expect diversity
- A disciplined effort to weave together diverse strands of knowledge about others into a
cohesive/integrated framework

Challenge 3: Increased numbers and diversity of participants
EQ / Productive reasoning / Role identities

Challenge 4: Growing complexity
Different simple answers to the same questions /Gives rise to new questions about values and
preferences
Productive reasoning (open to multiple answers)
Spheres of activities
1.Global business and industry activities
2.Natural environment
3.Global culture
4.Global politics
5.Global economics
6.Global technologies


2. Performing well at work is more than just being competent in meeting the requirements of ones
role. Discuss.
Meeting the requirements / Role: Role prescribed by the employers Competency to get work done /
Competency to interact and get along with colleagues
Yes
Career with heart
Positive emotions
Protean approach
Life integration
Point 1: Understanding ones own role identity
Protean approach / Life integration
Loyalty to company / Would not change job radically
Point 2: Able to deal with diversity / EQ
Positive Emotions
Point 3: Understanding ones own psychological contract
Positive emotions
work happy , work better
Point 4: Rich Human capital (Includes other than know what)
= Know how: Skills / Experience / Knowledge
= Know whom: EQ / Networks / Reputation
= Know why: Work Values / Motivation
= Know what: Skills / Experience / Knowledge Even with know what one should continually learn
and unlearn the know what Productive reasoning
= Know where
= Know when

No
Reason 1: Meeting the know what expectation from boss
The main figure that hire you
One has to/must satisfy this basic contract
Conclusion
Performing well Subjective
Minimum have to satisfy the bosss expectation
Take it further Develop our human capital
depends on the culture of the organisation

3. If change is constant and learning is continuous, learning to change is therefore constantly
continuous. Discuss.
Is continuous learning essential?
Yes
Reason 1: Diversity brought about by globalisation
Role identity should continually be adjusted to fit to the changing environment
Generate positive emotions Strive towards career with heart
Reason 2: Complexity
Global mindset
- Curiosity about the world and a desire to become smarter about how the world works (I am my
position)
- Self-conscious awareness of ones current mindset (Productive reasoning)
- Exposure to different experiences and to diversify Require human capital to be shifted around more
rapidly Expect diversity
- A disciplined effort to weave together diverse strands of knowledge about others into a
cohesive/integrated framework
Reason 3: Growing, worldwide interconnections
Learning to use new communication technologies
Reason 4: Rapid, discontinuous change
Learn to adapt to unfamiliar environment (Productive reasoning)

No
Reason 1: Something would remain relatively constant (Well-rooted theory about human behaviour)
EQ / social intelligence / Role identity Global citizen (Merge multiple identities)
Reason 2: Skeptical view on globalisation (History repeats itself)
Learn a few languages / skills enough to survive the predictable turns and tides

Conclusion:
The no argument Illusion of taking charge





1. Reframing diversity requires changes in mindsets. Discuss.
Mindsets: Mental model
Reframing diversity, Yes
Point 1:
Multiple Identities / Salience
Different identities at different contexts
Need for a sense of belonging / Sense of uniqueness
One of the multiple identities may feel more salient to us than others in different contexts
The same is true for others and may explain their behaviours
Understand role identities and their dependence on the social context
One have to determine the social context and change the mental model of the persons role identity
accordingly

Point 2:
Costs and Benefits / Salience / Choice
Individuals have the choice of becoming a certain role identity
Recognising that the individual has evaluated the costs/benefits while making the choice can make us
more tolerant
Some identities may exact higher cost or befits in different societal context
Although my cost/benefit is less than yours it is real and important to me
EQ to determine other peoples cost/benefits/ salience for a particular role identity
Point 3:
Redefinitions and Change
Our individual identities are always developing
Continually negotiating, defining and redefining the internal coherence of our original values, our new
experiences and our multiple identities.
Productive reasoning to accept the changes of others
Point 4:
Shared goals
Identity differences do not preclude the development and pursuit of shared goals among and across
identities.
We can be different and still have the same goals and we can be similar and have different goals.
Cooleys looking mirror We also continually change to social context
EQ
Find shared goal
No.
We may have already accepted diversity no need to change mindset (If internal expectation meets
actual outcomes)

Conclusion: more often, from world news, conflicts are borne from conflicts between groups. Arab
Springs / Terrorism etc. Yes. We need to change our mindset to reframe diversity.

2. Self-reflection is a more effective way to learn and change ones behaviour than just reflecting on
the reactions of others. Do you agree? Explain.
Self-reflection or reflecting on reaction of others? (Cooleys looking mirror vs Goffmans self-
presentation)
No.
Reason 1: Possible learning disabilities if self-reflect Others give a more correct picture of your role
identity
Reason 2:


3. To what extent is it true that a professional is one who has high value and uniqueness in his or her
organisation?


1. Being competent in ones job is the most important factor in determining ones career success.
Discuss.
2. Explain how the structure and culture of an organisation can affect interpersonal relations among its
staff.
3. To what extent is it true that reframing your mental models is the most difficult part of your learning?

1. Continuous learning means continuous career growth. Discuss.
2. The key to embracing diversity is to balance emotionality and rationality. Discuss.
3. Managing change is all about managing our self concept. Discuss.

1. An organisations culture can have a big influence on its employees attitudes towards learning.
Discuss.
2. The roles we take on at work reflect our self-concept. Discuss.
3. Globalisation presents more career opportunities than threats. Discuss.