Exploring Ethics In Business Networks: Impact Of Value, Diversity, And Teamwork In Coles Essay.

Challenges faced by Coles' Managers

Discuss about the Exploring Ethics in Business Networks.

Every manager needs to undertake an important role in the organisations so that they can help it to attain success. In the words of Holden, Linnerud and Banister (2017), managers play various roles in an organisation. In an organisation like Coles, one such role played by a manager is that of being a leader. Coles is a supermarket store located in Melbourne Australia. It is a subsidiary of Wesfarmers and was established in 1914 (Coles.com.au. 2018). At the same time, other roles include the monitoring, spokesperson and entrepreneurial that can help managers to adapt to the various challenges they face in the organisation.

The challenges faced by the managers of Coles include the satisfaction of the employees, threat from the competitors and other external environmental factors such as changes in the political and economic level of a country. As observed by Le Blanc (2015) the challenges present itself in the form of threats that can disrupt the organisation and cause loss of productivity of Coles. Motivating employee can be a challenge for the managers as every employee have different needs and preferences. Hence, every employee needs to be satisfied so that managers can get the required cooperation and support from the employees.

Therefore, the functions of the managers can be discussed so that the challenges can be mitigated. One of the most important functions of a manager is the ability to plan effectively. Every manager needs to ensure that a proper planning is done by taking into consideration the factors that affect the environment. This particular function helps in setting out a blueprint based on which the goals of Coles can be achieved. Other functions include organising, staffing, leading and controlling the employees so that effective results can be obtained.  However, risks can be involved while carrying out the functions that may affect the organisations.

According to Charles Jr, Schmidheiny and Watts (2017), the risks faced by the managers of Coles can be from the external as well as the internal environment. For example, improper planning of the strategies may cause risk factors, as the strategies cannot be applied effectively. Hence, the risk of losing a competitive advantage exists. Along with this, the biggest risk that managers face is the crisis in the economic factors. Without proper support from the economy, an organisation faces the risk of a low purchasing power of customers.

Impact of value, ethics and diversity in organisations

According to Carley and Christie (2017), the value of an organisation signifies the extent to which organisations tend to present itself in the market. The value of Coles upholds the manner in which the duty of the organisation is undertaken. Every organisation need to collaborate with the culture and value of the place in which it functions. The functioning of the organisation signifies the value it needs to develop and follow so that it can conduct its functions in an effective manner. Therefore, the values of Coles define the manner in which it presents and conducts itself in the business market of Australia.

At the same time, it can be said that Coles need to be ethical while continuing its business. The ethical factors include providing proper and fair employment opportunities to people and treating them without in a kind manner. Ethical issues in an organisation include abstaining from any type of abuses on the employees. Proper maintaining of the laws of a country need to be upheld so that the organisations can function properly (Pearce 2014). It has been seen that every organisation need to display the ethical rules and policies so that it can protect the employees from any violation.

The ethical considerations in an organisation are important as an organisation consist of various people from different backgrounds. The diversity in the organisations such as Coles can help it to prolong its business in different cultures. According to Galegher, Kraut and Egido (2014), the presence of people of a different culture and ethnic background provides organisations with an opportunity to learn about the culture that is present in other countries. This can help during its expansion in that country and thereby enhance its reputation. The decision-making capability of an organisation also improves as various opinions are obtained that help in creating uniqueness in the organisations.

Thus, after analysing the effectiveness of ethics, values and diversity, it can be said that the roles, behaviours and performance of the managers can also be pointed out. The managers of Coles need to provide flexibility in the thought process and ensure that every employee follows the ethics involved in the organisations. During decision-making, the managers need to include the employees from the various cultures so that uniqueness of the business can be maintained. Apart from this, the managers need to ensure that the organisational values display the contents of the organisation and the beliefs it has while continuing its business.

Method of working together

Teamwork is one of the most important aspects that can help an organisation to succeed (Gargiulo et al. 2015). Without teamwork, an organisation cannot expect to continue its good work and thereby the productivity may be hampered. In an organisation with diverse teams, it is necessary that the employees work together to ensure that the goals of the organisation, as well as the team, are achieved. Research from the use of quantitative method indicates that teamwork can be maintained by effectively applying the model proposed by Tuckman.

Tuckman’s team management model indicates that every team goes through several processes that bring about ultimate success at the end. The stages of forming a team include forming, storming, norming and performing. These four stages help in the development of a team so that an organisation can continue to work in an effective manner and ensure that success is obtained. According to Forsyth (2018), the teamwork of the people requires being done in a manner so that ethical policies are respected and the team develop a sense of mutual respect for one another. However, criticism has been made about this model stating that the team bonding by the application of this model takes time.

Thus, the application of a different teamwork model can be applied that can help employees to identify the job roles that best suit their skills. According to Sherif (2015), the application of Belbin’s nine-team role model can help employees develop skill sets that are based specialisation of their work. Every employee can be provided with the task that suits their personal skills and which can be used to contribute to the development of an organisation. Thus, it can be said that the application of Belbin's model is effective than Tuckman's model.

As stated by Ovsiannikov (2014) teamwork can help organisations to maintain effective productivity and thereby can help in reaching the targets set by the company. Hence, it can be said that in the case of Coles, the working in a team requires full cooperation and trust of each member. The loyalty of the team members towards a team and an organisation help it to ensure that effective team performance can be maintained. Thus, it can be said that working as a team can lead Coles to success only if the team is guided properly and collaboration is maintained.

Organisational strategies: The strategies of Coles include certain planning that is necessary for the success of the business. The strategies include an analysis of the external and the internal factors that may cause hindrance in the progress of an organisation. As stated by Tucker (2017) organisational strategies need to focus on the planning of the organisation and the manner in which it can be implemented in its success. The planning need to be undertaken to keep in mind the risk factors that may be faced by the organisations. Hence, it can be said that organisational strategies are important as it helps an organisation to define the area where it wants to be in the future. In other words, it can help Coles in the future development in the retail market sector

Focusing on areas of management

Organisational structure: This is considered as one of the most important frameworks of an organisation. The organisational structure includes the manner in which every employee and employer needs to report and monitor one another so that no communication exists. Usually, the hierarchical organisational structure is followed by most organisations and it is important that the hierarchy be maintained so that organisational development takes place (Abdolmanafi, Soroush and Mohamadi 2015). The organisational structure of Coles helps in the development of the strategies as the ideas can be obtained from the employees either directly or indirectly. The employers of every department need to ensure that they priority of the works on an everyday basis so that strategies can be formed based on the work performed. Working as a team can help employees understand the role they need to play in the organisation and the people they need to report.

Organisational culture: Organisational culture refers to the values and beliefs that are set in an organisation. The manner in which these values are created shed light on the fact that organisational culture is one of the most important factors that govern a company. The culture provides an identity to the type of work done by an organisation like Coles and the value it represents in the business. As stated by Engle et al. (2017) every organisation needs to maintain a culture that balances work and relaxation aspects of the employees. Every employee needs to be given the proper freedom to work and maintain factors that are necessary for gaining refreshment. However, the freedom needs to be provided keeping in mind the ethical policies and organisational procedures.

Sustainable practises in an organisation are an indication of the factors that are used to ensure the organisations maintain a business that protects the environment. In the modern days, sustainability of a business is an important aspect as it helps in maintaining the environment from any type of harm. The factors that are necessary for the conservation of an environment are taken into consideration and it is necessary that the sustainability of the business is developed by identifying the factors that cause harm to the environment (Halinen and Jokela 2016).

The conservation of the natural resources is important for the protection of natural resources for Coles. It is necessary that Coles make a vow of maintaining sustainability in the environment by following the rules and regulations that direct sustainability. This includes ensuring that the organisation use more innovative approaches to continue its working. Crane and Matten (2016) stated that the sustainability of an organisation could be determined by the manner in which it involves itself in the CSR activities. The CSR activities can help Coles to maintain a proper balance in the environment and spread the importance of sustainability in the society. Thus, it can be said that the case study research of Robert K Yin is an excellent example of the manner in which sustainability can be maintained.

In this research, it is stated that the sustainability of an organisation can help in the development of an environment. One of the external threats that need to be accessed by Coles is the threat to the environment. The society in which Coles works contributes to the protection of the environment and thereby any type of constraints found can result in the reduction of the popularity of the organisations. According to Dierksmeier et al. (2016), the manner in which the environment is protected signifies the popularity of an organisation.

Thus, it can be concluded that the management perspectives that are involved in the organisations need to focus on its sustainability. Managers of an organisation need to understand the role environment plays in the success of a business and accordingly make plans for the success of the company.

Reference

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