Running Head: SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT UPDATE 1

Summative Assessment Update

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
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Summative Assessment Update

The 21st century has witnessed a rapid growth in virtually everything that humankind

has laid his hand on. Leadership and organizational management is not left behind in this

case. The high level of competition is the main problem that faces the 21st-century

organizations, and thus the only way to survive is to develop the best organizational structure

that is equipped with good leaders who can steer the organization through the turbulent forces

that are in the current world economy. In addition to good leadership, organizations ought to

have an excellent strategic plan that is under continuous review with regards to the

environmental assessments done by the firm. This will ensure that the company is informed

at all times and thus avoids any decisions that may lead to its collapse. Managers are also able

to plan and develop strategic plans that are viable and able to make the company to reach its

objectives.

During my life, I have worked with a number of companies, and most of them have

helped me develop my skills and also advance my knowledge. In one of the organizations

where I worked as an inventory manager keeps me thinking since then as the company

worked in a totally different manner as compared to most of the firms I had worked with and

I have worked with since then. One of the most striking aspects of the firm is the

management protocols that were exercised in the different departments of the organization.

The company was a privately owned company that was dealing with regular retail products

distribution (Anderson, 2016). This, therefore, meant that the company had to assess all the

aspects of the markets and also the environments of their customers before proceeding to

stock the specific products required by the different retailers. After going through this course,

it is evident that the concepts that are covered are a reflection of what the company gave me

the opportunity to exercise. For instance, the top management only facilitated the smooth

running of the organization and left the departmental leadership to the departmental heads.
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This kind of structure gives me the opportunity to exercise my leadership skills and decision

making in my department. The organization had in its culture the believe that the only way

any company or firm can be successful is by making its employees feel to be part of the

organization. This is the core reason why the management of the organization left the

organizational control to the department heads. This motivated us to work harder and thus

achieving more as compared to when the top management makes all the decisions.

Additionally, the position in the company created opportunities for its employees to

contribute to the organizational culture. This, therefore, ensured that the organizational values

and the employee personal values were aligned and thus smooth running of the company.

When the employee values and organizational values are aligned, the company is able to

achieve its goals as every stakeholder of the organization is inclined towards the same course.

And in any case, if there is need to change, the decisions are inclusive of everyone in the

organization thus motivates the employees as they take part in the decision making (Shanafelt

et al.,2015). Another concept that the company helped me develop was strategic development

and implementation. Strategic planning is like the backbone of any company, and it is

directly related to the success of the company. During my life in the company as an inventory

manager, I was subjected to stiff conditions that required me to develop plans that could help

the company survive the high competition in the economy. This included conducting regular

environmental scans and adjusting the company’s strategies to fit in with the data collected

from environmental scanning. But the most important situation was ensuring that the

company survived the competition in the market and also ensure that all workers in the

inventory department were motivated to achieving the organizational objectives.

Other information that may seem relevant in analyzing the organization is the

employee turnover ratio and the remuneration policy of the company. The company had an

inclusive remuneration policy that included all the stakeholders of the company. To ensure
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that everybody in the organization felt part of a large organizational family, everybody was

paid according to his or her efforts. The departments also took part in developing the salary

policy. Departments were remunerated according to the departmental performance, and this

was to make sure that teamwork was facilitated in the organization (Anderson, 2016).

Employees were nurtured to fit into teams and have a healthy relationship with each other.

The organization also took the departmental heads through training that was aimed to equip

them with team building skills and also strategic development and implementation skills.

The organization had a number of beliefs structured into the organizational culture.

One such belief is that the company never considered employees as employees but a part of a

large corporate family. Every person in the organization was considered to be a part of a

bigger family. This was to help with employee motivation and thus maximizing

organizational output. Secondly, the organization culture ensured that the employee values

and corporate values were always aligned and thus avoiding unhealthy conflicts (Shanafelt et

al.,2015). The company had an organizational culture that was inclusive of all the

organizational expectations, philosophy and also the organizational values that were used to

guide all the stakeholders of the organization. Additionally, the member’s behavior was

expressed by the member’s self-image and his or her working interactions with other people

in and outside the organization. It was the responsibility of the departmental heads to develop

and engineer the organizational culture that covered all aspects of the organization and also

ensured a high employee satisfaction throughout the organization.

The organization utilized a participative leadership as the departmental heads were

like the leaders of the organization. The top management only came in when there were

issues with finances and any other issue that required their intervention. This, therefore,

meant that the employees were given a chance to govern themselves as the organizational

culture required that every employee and subordinates take part in the decision making
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process. This helped the company to recognize those employees with good skill sets and thus

to make use of their talents and skills effectively. For instance, the reason I ended up in the

inventory department leadership was that I had a basis in leadership and team leadership

(Aaronset al., 2015). The simple fact that an employee was consulted makes him, or her feel

part of the organization and not just a worker. The application f a participative leadership

style gives the workers the opportunity to do the work the way they feel best for the

organization and also favor them. The style also gives the leader to supreme power to

intervene and make the final decision.

The core reasons why I always feel the situations and environment created by the job

was the best in my life include the chances and opportunities the situation presented to me.

The job position gave me the opportunity to exercise the leadership skills that I had

developed throughout my life. My previous jobs had not given me such kind of opportunity

or anything close to that. All that I used to know of the job market was that we were like

slaves and we could only do what we are told. But the firm made me feel different as it made

me feel a part of a larger organizational family and I was obligated to drive the organization

to success. Secondly, the organization utilized the best leadership styles that were all

inclusive (Amanchukwu, Stanley, & Ololube, 2015). This kind of leadership motivates

workers as they take part in the decision-making process and thus no need to feel like you are

a slave to the organization. My position as the inventory manager gave me the opportunity to

advance my skills in environmental scanning, strategy formulation and implementation and

most importantly team development. Finally, on what makes the situation good is the

organizational structure that is employed by the company. The alignment of organizational

values with the employee values is the key to the success of any organization and my position

at the company made me learn how to do it. I was mandated to ensure that all the employees

in the inventory department were aligned with the organizational values.

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Among the things that were in place that helped me to utilize the change process was

the organizational culture that was engineered to include all the stakeholders of the

organization in decision making. This implementation of new decisions and projects easy and

swift. The inventory department is one of the departments in any organization that requires

particular decisions otherwise it could end in losses or unhealthy inventory turnover.

Therefore, the organizational culture made the management of the organization well-

coordinated and thus swift decision making. Finally, employee motivation was at the core of

organizational culture. All the employees were motivated to achieve the organizational

objectives and goals. The organization also had the culture of continuous environmental

scanning (Langley et al., 2013). This helped me in strategy development and implementation

and also identification of new strategic plans that needed implementation.

In conclusion, the organization gave me the opportunity to exercise my skills in

leadership and strategic development. The culture of the organization that provided me with

the departmental leadership obligations of the company helped me to advance my knowledge

and strategic development and implementation. Additionally, the practice of allowing

employees take part in decision making made proofed to be a good motivational practice as it

makes them feel a part of a large organizational family. This makes them feel obligated to

drive the organization to its prosperity. Most importantly, the situation created by the job

position in this firm greatly impacted my leadership skills and strategy development skills

and I will always employ them in my future leadership position

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References

Aarons, G. A., Ehrhart, M. G., Farahnak, L. R., & Hurlburt, M. S. (2015). Leadership and

organizational change for implementation (LOCI): a randomized mixed method pilot

study of a leadership and organization development intervention for evidence-based

practice implementation. Implementation Science, 10(1), 11.

Amanchukwu, R. N., Stanley, G. J., & Ololube, N. P. (2015). A review of leadership theories,

principles and styles and their relevance to educational

management. Management, 5(1), 6-14.

Anderson, D. L. (2016). Organization development: The process of leading organizational

change. Sage Publications.

Langley, A. N. N., Smallman, C., Tsoukas, H., & Van de Ven, A. H. (2013). Process studies

of change in organization and management: Unveiling temporality, activity, and

flow. Academy of management journal, 56(1), 1-13.

Shanafelt, T. D., Gorringe, G., Menaker, R., Storz, K. A., Reeves, D., Buskirk, S. J., ... &

Swensen, S. J. (2015, April). Impact of organizational leadership on physician

burnout and satisfaction. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 90, No. 4, Goetsch, D. L.,

& Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper

Saddle River, NJ: pearson.pp. 432-440). Elsevier.