BP and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster of 2010, Execute radical change

 Introduction

On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers on the platform and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations. Nearly four million barrels of oil flowed. It was an avoidable human-caused environmental disaster. On December 15, 2010, the United States filed a complaint in District Court against BP Exploration & Production and several other defendants alleged to be responsible for the spill. However, putting aside the actual disaster itself or its engineering problems, The crises also exposed dysfunctional organizational cultures built by those leaders. The behaviors and attitudes of leaders have been disappointing and irresponsible at worst. In this crisis, even some basic elements of leadership have been flouted by those leaders. The leaders of BP, who are ultimately responsible for this environmental disaster, ignored expert advice, overlooked warnings about safety issues, hid facts, and sanctioned the extreme risk-taking organizational culture. The disaster was a direct consequence of this flawed culture. 

However, before we consider the appropriate leadership styles of the BP and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster of 2010 event and evaluate which one would be the most beneficial to execute radical change, we must understand The Five Stages of Radical Change and the Different Leadership Styles. 

The Five Stages of Radical Change

i. Planning

This stage emphasizes creativity, garnering important information, identifying obstacles, considering alternatives, and selecting among those alternatives. 

ii. Enabling

The focus in this phase is on explaining the plan to those who will be involved in the change effort. In this stage, empowering employees provides needed assistance in preparing to launch the change process.

iii. Launching

This step is where the change effort commences, required to meet specified launch goals, achieve early results to demonstrate the value of the plan, and assess progress.

iv. Catalyzing

Here people become the focus. Making the change effort and rewarding small successes along the way to keep energy up in the change process.

v. Maintaining

This phase also emphasizes people. Persuasion becomes crucial and guiding people to continue their efforts and providing them with motivation and assistance.

Different Leadership Styles

According to The Leadership Style Inventory (LSI), which is designed to measure the unique leadership style of current managers, executives, and other types of organizational leaders, there are four basic styles, commanding, logical, inspirational, and supportive. 

The commanding style focuses on performance, short-term goals, productivity, and results-oriented. The logical style pertains to leaders who insist on covering all alternatives, using analysis, and for long-term goals. The inspirational leader is those who are able to develop meaningful visions of the future by focusing on radically new ideas. They learn by experimentation. 

Now, let's get on a time machine and recommend this company some radical change, trying to change the result of this event, and save those workers. According to the investigation, BP made the mistake of trying to spin its way out of this crisis rather than tackling it head-on. This is the first thing we have to change, a dysfunctional organizational culture. Secondly, the duty of leaders, politicians, and investors to adhere to regulations was pushed aside in the drive to build successful businesses, create jobs, and deliver shareholder profits(Corkindale, 2010). However, they refused to remember that true leaders are stewards of their organizations and must lead for the longer term(Corkindale, 2010). Therefore, the second thing that needs to be changed is the leaders need to work together rather than scoring points or deflecting blame. Remember, leaders are there to serve their companies, people, and communities, rather than just taking the benefits and blaming each other.

With so many engineers on the platform, I suggest that adapting logical leadership is an effective way to ensure that everyone understands the risks and possible tragedy behind these small steps. Starting with the planning stage, the leader must emphasize garnering important information about safety and identifying obstacles. When the leader values the safety issues, all workers will know what is the top priority. Instead of blaming each other, workers now understand they are on the same platform and they have to be safe together as a team because everyone is part of the safety rules. Then, after explaining the plan to those engineers who will be involved in the change effort, everyone should understand that they have the ability to avoid a possible disaster and consensually launch the change process. Now, we have to keep it up as long as the platform is still working. Logically persuading them to continue their efforts and providing them with motivation and assistance is a crucial part of the plan. 

References

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). EPA. Retrieved July 30, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/deepwater-horizon-bp-gulf-mexico-oil-spill 

Five leadership lessons from the BP Oil Spill. Harvard Business Review. (2014, July 23). Retrieved July 30, 2022, from https://hbr.org/2010/06/five-lessons-in-leadership-fro 

(Corkindale, 2010)

The Five Stages of Radical Change and Different Leadership Styles

 History teaches us that many species survived not because of their intelligence or strength, it is their adaptability to change that helps them survive. Today’s business leaders are confronted with rapid and explosive changes that require them to sufficiently recognize what is necessary for change, in order to inspire their subordinates to adopt appropriate strategies. The key challenge facing leaders now and in the future is responsiveness to radical change. Moreover, today’s leaders also work with employees who are more diverse than ever before, and their customers are also spread worldwide. Multiple styles of leadership may be needed to effectively implement most forms of organizational change. 

For some leaders and employees, if we break down the process into three questions, why we need it, how to change it, and what should the company look like after the change, they understand why they need it but do not certainly know how to do it. Even though they do know all the answers to the three questions, they still have to work together as a team to achieve the goal and vision. Under such conditions, no single leader can have all the answers or all of the styles required to accomplish the myriad tasks confronting each day. Therefore, how do leaders communicate with, persuade, and energize employees in the process of change? It is preferable for leaders to develop the capacity to adapt their styles to the demands of situations, especially when their organizations are undergoing radical change. Now, let's get to know The Five Stages of Radical Change and the Different Leadership Styles first.

The Five Stages of Radical Change

i. Planning

This stage emphasizes creativity, garnering important information, identifying obstacles, considering alternatives, and selecting among those alternatives. 

ii. Enabling

The focus in this phase is on explaining the plan to those who will be involved in the change effort. In this stage, empowering employees provides needed assistance in preparing to launch the change process.

iii. Launching

This step is where the change effort commences, required to meet specified launch goals, achieve early results to demonstrate the value of the plan, and assess progress.

iv. Catalyzing

Here people become the focus. Making the change effort and rewarding small successes along the way to keep energy up in the change process.

v. Maintaining

This phase also emphasizes people. Persuasion becomes crucial and guiding people to continue their efforts and providing them with motivation and assistance.

Different Leadership Styles

According to The Leadership Style Inventory (LSI), which is designed to measure the unique leadership style of current managers, executives, and other types of organizational leaders, there are four basic styles, commanding, logical, inspirational, and supportive. 

The commanding style focuses on performance, short-term goals, productivity, and results-oriented. The logical style pertains to leaders who insist on covering all alternatives, using analysis, and for long-term goals. The inspirational leader is those who are able to develop meaningful visions of the future by focusing on radically new ideas. They learn by experimentation. 

A Real Story | A Unexpected Pandemic

One of my friends was running a coffee shop in Taiwan. During the pandemic of COVID-19, the revenue plummeted to a record low due to the massive lockdown. Many small restaurants in Taiwan were facing collapse during this period. Even more, her suppliers are also affected by the global supply chain. Multiple national lockdowns continue to slow or even temporarily stop the flow of raw materials and finished goods, disrupting manufacturing as a result. Right now, her major issues are the revenue was tumbling, the fixed costs and variable costs are still on the table, the supply of raw materials, and most importantly, her employees were worried about their jobs. She was struggling to keep her shop open while the operating cash flow was at a dangerous level. She discussed her concerns with me and I tried to work out a plan for her. 

A few weeks later, I came out with an idea, food delivery. I suggested that she can consider transferring her business to food delivery temporarily. In partnership with UberEat and FoodPanda in Taiwan, her revenue began to improve gradually. However, it was not as easy as it sounds to be. It required another expenditure to work with those delivery platforms and to set up the system. After that, she has to get her employees to learn it quickly while they were doubting whether this plan would actually work or not. 

During the planning stage, she has multiple challenges such as the packages and the new menu designed for the delivery. Since this stage emphasizes creativity to develop a new menu and identifying obstacles such as how to maintain the quality of the coffee and cake and considering alternatives such as closing the shop for a year. I recommended that she should explain the plan to her employees, don't lay off anyone, and tell them what her vision is. She agreed and prepare to launch the plan after successfully communicating with her employees. I think that since the logical style of leadership is particularly effective when the goal is strategy development, her employees actually became her solid support during the recession of her business. During this period, she also serves as an inspirational leader who motivated her employees to move toward the desired vision. I reckon that it is also a win-win strategy for them.

After that, the revenue of her coffee shop was back on track and even a little bit higher since the regular customers were back and her delivery services have become an extra income source. In this case, she only adapted a combination of inspirational and logical styles of leadership to lead through the change. I found it is pretty effective. However, it takes some time to communicate with her employees and to convince them of the plan.

References

LSI - Leadership Style Test | Psychological Assessments. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://www.psychological-assessments.com/leadership-style-test/ 

Reardon, K. K., Reardon K. J., & Rowe, A. J. (1998). Leadership styles for the five stages of radical change. Acquisition Review Quarterly, 2. https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/1585144/mod_book/chapter/344618/reardon.pdf

What it takes to change a rotten organizational culture. Big Think. (2021, September 30). Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://bigthink.com/influence-power-politics/what-it-takes-to-change-a-rotten-organizational-culture/ 

How effective have you been in learning from your wrong decisions so far?

 Most of the mistakes I made in the past I think were "Not to do something early and I should do it more wisely". For example, when I was 23, the Financial crisis of 2007–2008 unexpectedly happened. During that time, I was trying to redeem my investment, even though it was just a $3,000 portfolio. And, yes, it was a big mistake. Five to six years later, I found it was a huge opportunity to invest even more. I did not do my research, conquer my fear, and calm myself down to make the right decision. I think if I had already done my research and learned from more business and investment courses, I would make a better decision. Now, I cannot undo the past. All I can do is face what's ahead. 

Every devil was once an angel. I reckon that failures usually bring us two things, depression and opportunity. Depending on how we process them, we always can move toward an opportunity. However, it is easy to say but hard to do. Because depression is always the first that comes to our mind, you have to defeat it before you get the opportunity to grow. Therefore, after going through many failures, I learned that processing those depression moments are crucial to finding a light path later on. Generally, these events do not change how they affect us. It depends on how we think about them. For example, if I hold one bottled water for 10 minutes, it is not a big deal. However, if I hold it all day long, it begins to hurt. My arm will be numb. In my previous investment case, if I always think and feel disappointed about my failure, it begins to hurt me and feeling hard to do anything. Therefore, to fight those depression moments, I must attempt to make changes to my thought and behavior to help improve my mood. 

Thinks to the failure, I have become a wiser and more sophisticated investor. I told myself that it is great to make mistakes early. Now, my decision is at least will be not purely based on fear or chaos. I developed a systematic research method and planned ahead before making any investments. Before investing, I assess personal factors such as financial goals, time horizon, risk profile, and market volatility. In addition, I also consider external factors like economic cycles and geo-political risk. Once I have made an investment plan, I stick to it and ensure that it is for the right reasons and not based on impulse or emotions. 

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References

DSP Mutual Funds. (2021, February 12). How can you make good investment decisions? Invest in Mutual Funds with DSPMF - Premier Investment Company. Retrieved July 24, 2022, from https://www.dspim.com/learn/articles/mutual-fund-beginner/how-can-you-make-good-investment-decisions 

The Ethical Checklist, Organizations must develop a procedure for dealing with ethical dilemmas as they arise

 Introduction

The profession of business ethics has long needed a highly practical resource that is designed particularly for leaders and managers. However, far too many resources about business ethics end up being designed primarily for philosophers, academics and social critics. As a result, leaders and managers struggle to really be able to make use of the resources at all. This guide is a straightforward and highly practical tool designed to help leaders and managers implement comprehensive ethics management systems to deal with the complex, ethical issues that can occur in realities of leading and managing a company(Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC, 2022). Therefore, organizations must develop a procedure for dealing with ethical dilemmas as they arise. Ideally, ethical dilemmas should be resolved by a group within the organization. One of the effective methods is an ethical checklist, a ten-step method, and a list of key questions. 

Real-to-Life Examples of Complex Ethical Dilemmas

“A customer (or client) asked for a product (or service) from us today. After telling him our price, he said he couldn’t afford it. I know he could get it cheaper from a competitor. Should I tell him about the competitor — or let him go without getting what he needs? What should I do?” 

This kind of situation happens almost every day in the modern business world. Suppose that I am the owner of an electric car company. A potential customer asked for a partnership and wants to sign a contract to sell my cars. However, after telling him the price, he said he couldn’t afford it, and its also lower his profit from becoming a dealer. Yes, I probably know he could get it cheaper from one of my competitors. In this case, I believe I will try my best to explain why my products are worth the higher price compared to my competitor's products. But, it is his freedom to choose other products if he only considers as lower prices as possible. I think I would not actively tell him or encourage him to purchase my competitor's products or become a dealer of their products. However, I will tell him there are many cheaper products out there but it is better for his business if he actually understands what the price gap is for. Letting him go without getting what he needs is not what I am going to do. Instead, I will try my best to help him get what he needs because I can earn his trust. I believe it would be worth doing so because doing business is not just a short-term job. 

Now, let's take a look at the Ethical Checklist to get a reflection on my response. “1” = not at all; “5” = totally yes

1. Relevant Information Test. Have I obtained as much

information as possible to make an informed decision and action

plan for this situation? 4

The deducted one points are for what he needs. I believe I have to better understand what the potential client is actually looking for and what position he stands before making any suggestions.

2. Involvement Test. Have I/we involved all who have a right

to have input and/or to be involved in making this decision and

action plan? 4

Yes, I think I have to seek more suggestions from my professional team or board of directors to consider a wider range of ideas.

3. Consequential Test. Have I/we anticipated and attempted

to accommodate for the consequences of this decision and action plan on any who are significantly affected by it? 5

Yes, I anticipate and attempt to accommodate for the consequences of this decision and action plan on any who are significantly affected by it which is the loss of a potential deal to build trust.

4. Fairness Test. If I/we were assigned to take the place

of any one of the stakeholders in this situation, would I/we

perceive this decision and action plan to be essentially fair,

given all of the circumstances?   4

If I were assigned to take the place of any one of the stakeholders in this situation, I probably perceive this decision to be essentially fair but not totally fair. Because, my decision may not consider including enough perspectives of the stakeholders.

5. Enduring Values Test. Do this decision and action plan

uphold my/our priority enduring values that are relevant to this

situation?  4

I reckon this decision and action plan somewhat uphold my priority enduring value, "Business build on trust", which is relevant to this situation.

6. Universality Test. Would I/we want this decision and action

plan to become a universal law applicable to all similar situation,

even to myself/ourselves? 4

I think I would probably want this decision and action plan to become a universal policy within my company and applicable to all similar situation, even to myself. However, I still trying to keep some level of flexibility when this action plan does not work for some situations.

7. Light-of-Day Test. How would I/we feel and be regarded

by others (working associates, family, etc.) if the details of

this decision and action plan were disclosed to all to know? 5

I believe I will gain more trust if the details of this decision and action plan were disclosed for my employee and other people to know.

8. Total Ethical Analysis Confidence Score . My total of all circled numbers is 30 which means very confident according to the standard provided(7-14 = Not very confident, 15-21 = Somewhat confident, 22-28 = Quite confident, and 29-35 = Very confident)

References

McNamara, C (n.d.) Complete Guide to Ethics Management: An Ethics Toolkit for Managers. Retrieved from:http://managementhelp.org/businessethics/ethics-guide.htm#anchor26548.

Rumors, Facts, Opinions, and Beliefs, Distinguish Them If You Are A Leader

 Rumors, Facts, Opinions, and Beliefs

In my opinion, a fact can be verified objectively. We can determine whether it is true by researching or discovering the evidence to prove it. Facts provide strong support for an argument. An opinion is a judgment or an honest attempt to draw a reasonable conclusion from factual evidence. As I said, "In my opinion, a fact or truth is verifiable", I attempted to draw a reasonable conclusion. However, an opinion is changeable, depending on how the evidence is interpreted. For instance, the recent(2022) oil price is going up rapidly. The higher price is a verifiable fact because we actually pay for the higher prices. But, there might be multiple opinions about what caused this event such as inflation, war, demand and supply, technology, or scarcity. And, depending on what you believe and research, you may arrive at your opinion. Therefore, what you believe is influencing your opinion since a belief is a conviction based on cultural or personal faith, morality, or values(RegisteredNursing.org Staff Writers, 2022). Moreover, a rumor is a story or statement in circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts(Dictionary.com, 2022). However, rumors often come to mind with truth, rather than falsehoods, because people generally believe that "Where there’s smoke, there’s fire". Only a few people take their time or effort to research or discover the truth. After all, the smoke can also from a hookah pot or hot water.

Distinguish Them If You Are A Leader

I believe that as a leader, the ability to distinguish between rumor, belief, opinion, and facts is a must-have skill or mindset. Oftentimes, leaders have to make tons of decisions daily. These decisions can be dead or live decisions for an organization or a company. For example, since Microsoft found in 1975, Microsoft has accumulated a pile of failures to go along with its list of smash hits. Some of those flops were inconsequential, while other larger missteps were so significant, they likely helped bolster the fortunes of companies such as Apple and Alphabet(Brad Moon, 2018). An epic Microsoft flop that still rankles Microsoft investors is the Lumia smartphone. Microsoft acquired Nokia’s smartphone business for $7 billion in 2014. However, by Q3 2017, Microsoft’s quarterly smartphone revenue had dropped to $5 million. Learning from this failure, as a leader, we have to understand whether our decisions are based on facts, beliefs, opinions, or even just a rumor. When a leader seeks suggestions or tries to find data for making a big decision, he(or she) has to carefully evaluate those suggestions and determine which one has the strongest support from facts, or at least, does not come from a rumor. Notices that it is good to have diverse opinions since opinions generally mean viewpoints, although they are not absolutely based on facts or evidence. But, good opinions all have the potential to become the best solution. In addition, those suggestions may also include some beliefs that come from different experiences and values. As mentioned above, belief is influencing your opinion since a belief is a conviction based on cultural or personal faith and morality. Understanding the sources of those suggestions and possible solutions is crucial to a leader. 

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References

Brad Moon, I. P. (2018, March 27). Microsoft's 15 biggest flops. Kiplinger. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/t057-s001-microsoft-s-15-biggest-flops-of-all-time/index.html 

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Rumor definition & meaning. Dictionary.com. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/rumor 

RegisteredNursing.org Staff Writers, R. N. S. (2022, February 4). Distinguishing between fact and opinion, biases, and stereotypes: Teas. RegisteredNursing.org. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://www.registerednursing.org/teas/distinguishing-between-fact-opinion-biases-stereotypes/ 

The Diversity Bias, Leverages Diversity

 The Diversity Bias

During this week, I try to reflect on my bias against diversity in the past. I think it is understandable due to the Psychological reason behind it. Generally, "We Like People Who Are Similar to Us". Of course, it is not surprising that we tend to like someones who are similar to us. But the reasons why we like people who are like us can be complex. Perhaps we anticipate that someone who has a lot in common with us will realtively more likely to help or like us. In studies where people just read about a stranger and don't actually meet them, finding out they have a lot in common with the stranger greatly boosts liking, because they have nothing else upon which to base their impression. In studies where people actually met strangers with whom they had more or less in common, actual similarity affected liking, but not as much as in studies where people never met the stranger(Psychology Today, 2018).

Leverages Diversity 

Included in Vision

As the core values of an organization can best be described as operating philosophies or guiding principles that guide an organization’s internal conduct as well as its relationship with the external world, I believe that making diversity included in the vision is helpful. Thus, its core value and vision can be described as the codes of conduct that guide the mindset of its stakeholders. In addition, if the mission statement tells an organization what it currently exists to achieve and its vision statement articulate where it desires to go, the purpose of stating its core values would be to define the type of company it strives to be. Moreover, core values must keep reminding all of its members what is important. 

CSR Porgram

From CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) point of view and extended the idea that individuals outside the dominant group should be given opportunities within the workplace, not only because it was instituted as a law, but because it was the right thing to do. Diversity is shown to bring substantial benefits such as better decision making and improved problem solving, greater creativity and innovation, which leads to enhanced product development, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. Moreover, diversity also enhances organizations' abilities to compete in global markets. Simply recognizing diversity in a corporation helps link the variety of talents within the organization.

Diversity Programs

Some companies will approve funding for a diversity program and allow staff to take a workday for the course. Diversity classes expose people to new ideas, encourage acceptance, and may result in a higher level of productivity. Whether you take it online or invite a diversity expert to deliver an in-office course, diversity workshops can be beneficial to the office.

References

16 unconscious bias examples and how to avoid them in the workplace. Built In. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2022, from https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/unconscious-bias-examples 

Atcheson, S. (2018, September 28). Embracing diversity and fostering inclusion is good for your business. Forbes. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/shereeatcheson/2018/09/25/embracing-diversity-and-fostering-inclusion-is-good-for-your-business/?sh=34c2346d72b1 

Holt, M. (2017, November 21). How to create an organizational culture that values diversity. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved October 16, 2021, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/create-organizational-culture-values-diversity-1198.html.

Sussex Publishers. (n.d.). Why do we like people who are similar to us? Psychology Today. Retrieved July 19, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/close-encounters/201812/why-do-we-people-who-are-similar-us 

Inclusion and diversity in The work place, Different Types of Diversity, Leveraging Diversity | American Express

 Introduction

Nowadays, more and more companies are focusing on being diverse by incorporating diversity and inclusion policies at all workforce levels. Making your company diverse and inclusive is much more than a matter of ethics. It is also a driving force of growth, revenue, and profit(Pathak, 2022). Diversity and Inclusion refer to the set of strategies, policies, and missions adopted by a company to create and encourage an inclusive workplace that attracts a diverse pool of talent from various cultural backgrounds(Pathak, 2022).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. companies have talked about increasing their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. It seems like there are more and more issues they have to deal with such as racial injustice, workplace labor shortages, and other forces. To ensure a more balanced representation across all levels of a company, recruitment, hiring, and promotion practices have to attract, develop, and retain a diverse group of colleagues(McKinney, 2022). In addition, to drive retention and engagement, companies must also focus on building a welcoming culture where employees feel they belong, with initiatives including supporting a wide range of colleague networks, development programs, and opportunities for dialogue and feedback(McKinney, 2022).

Different Types of Diversity

Diversity in the workplace refers to an organization’s workforce comprising people from different genders, sexual orientations, religions, races, ethnicities, ages, or other differentiators. Diversity also can be of many types such as internal, external, or organizational. Factors such as race, age, ethnicity, national origin, and cultural diversity are internal. External factors are those characteristics that can be changed or modified by a person such as education, skills, geographical location, or citizenship. And, organizational factors are work location, job function, departments.

Leveraging Diversity | American Express

American Express designs a company scorecard to measure its performance on business priorities and this scorecard includes a colleague component with goals related to diversity, talent, and culture. It reflects this strategic focus in its recruitment, hiring, and promotion practices across the company to attract, develop, and retain the best talent. Recruiting diverse talent is only one part of the experience. At American Express, once candidates have been chosen, American Express provides ongoing support to help them grow and thrive in their careers within an environment where everyone feels seen, heard, and like they truly belong. American Express also partners with diverse organizations to offer colleagues a variety of meaningful learning and development opportunities such as Management Leaders of Tomorrow and Blue Circle Transformational Leadership.

Being in a service business that is operating in an increasingly intense, complex, and competitive environment, American Express developed a business model which consists of smart, dedicated, and motivated employees working together as a team to service a diverse set of customers since customer service is considered a competitive differentiator. To win in this complex marketplace, American Express employees are expected to be fully engaged in their jobs, realize their potential, and have the opportunity to grow and develop with the company. Moreover, I believe that the three things that make American Express a great workplace that is credibility, respect, and camaraderie. Giving clear directions and being accessible and approachable all the time, is what makes the organization credible. Employees at American Express feel respected by the management, based on the level of support, collaboration, and caring they see, expressed through the management's actions towards them(People Matters Editorial TeamThe editorial team at People Matters has features writers, 2019).

According to the Inclusion and Diversity vision at American Express, its differences are what shape the world and are committed to ensuring everyone is seen, heard, and feels like they truly belong. That’s why American Express actively cultivates an inclusive and diverse workplace where every voice is valued, teamwork is rewarded, and different points of view are celebrated. American Express understands that diversity of people and experiences is fuel for the creativity and innovation its needs to be and deliver our best, for its colleagues, customers, and the communities it serves. Inclusion and diversity are also at the heart of the American Express culture. Providing an environment where every colleague can be themselves, embrace differences, and truly feel included. American Express deeply understands that when its employees feel supported and thrive, it is an all-win strategy.

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Reference

Inclusion and diversity in The work place: American express. Visit American Express. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2022, from https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/careers/inclusion-and-diversity/index.html/ 

McKinney, J. (2022, January 19). How American Express is leveraging corporate DEI for Business and Career Advancement. Black Enterprise. Retrieved July 17, 2022, from https://www.blackenterprise.com/how-american-express-is-leveraging-corporate-dei-for-business-and-career-advancement/ 

Pathak, A. (2022, May 30). Diversity and inclusion in the workplace: A complete guide. Nurture an Engaged and Satisfied Workforce | Vantage Circle HR Blog. Retrieved July 17, 2022, from https://blog.vantagecircle.com/diversity-and-inclusion/ 

People Matters Editorial TeamThe editorial team at People Matters has features writers. (2019, March 6). #4 American Express: Diversity & Inclusion for talent optimization. People Matters. Retrieved July 18, 2022, from https://www.peoplematters.in/article/employee-engagement/4-american-express-diversity-and-inclusion-for-talent-optimization-1076 

Leadership | What Is Diversity? How Diversity Increase Productivity?

 Preface

Companies of all sizes are now realizing that diversity is not just a moral imperative. Employees favor diverse organizations over their homogenous competitors and innovation depends on the viewpoints of many. Usually, diversity was not the term that is considered associated with increased productivity. Oftentimes, the term came with terms such as troubles, chaos, or mess. Not every boss like diverse employees or different environments they are unfamiliar with. Many business owners prefer to hire, interact, and promote candidates that are pretty much like them because those people act and think likewise. However, the truth is like global climate change, diversity actually can increase productivity. So, why diversity is able to increase productivity and how do leaders manage, lead, and finally benefit from diversity? That's what we are going to learn. But, we have to define what is diversity first. 

What Is Diversity?

Just like Biodiversity refers to the variety of living species on Earth, diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. In short, it is what makes people different from each other such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, and national origin.

How Diversity Increase Productivity?

Diverse groups consider a broader range of ideas and produce more possible solutions and resulting in better decision-making. It is obvious that people who live in different environments tend to have very different life experiences and multiple perspectives. The same math question has more different solutions and more solutions mean it is much more likely to hit the target or find an effective and efficient one from such a broader range of ideas. Diversity also leads people to consider multiple and more complex approaches. This means greater creativity, innovation, flexibility in formulating strategy, better problem-solving in implementation, and more original ideas. In addition, diversity throughout management levels creates a competitive advantage by learning from different perspectives. 

Moreover, workplace diversity promotes employee engagement and productivity by helping employees feel accepted and included. Thus, increasing their satisfaction at work and making them more engaged, productive, loyal, and lower turnover rates. As the world becomes more multicultural, companies with a diverse workforce are also in a better position to identify and develop solutions that satisfy the needs and demands of consumers.

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"Biodiversity is important to most aspects of our lives. It includes the many basic needs humans obtain from biodiversity such as food, fuel, shelter, and medicine. Further, ecosystems provide crucial services such as pollination, seed dispersal, climate regulation, water purification, nutrient cycling, and control of agricultural pests."(What is biodiversity? why is it important?: AMNH).

"Just like Biodiversity is important to most aspects of our lives, diversity in our workplace is an enormous source of energy inside an organization."

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I believe that as a leader, high emotional intelligence is an essential characteristic for dealing with diversity since diverse groups consider a broader range of ideas and produce more possible solutions and resulting in better decision-making. 

Leaders must be humble and value learning and knowledge while deemphasizing status and position. Thus, when employees need to feel valued, included, and encouraged to make contributions, they are more likely to speak their minds about what needs to be done. I reckon that increased diversity has been a moral case for action, a moral code that has been written inside the core processor unit. 

However, I found it is not as easy as just hiring diverse people. In the United States, positive discrimination is an affirmative action that is legal when used to recruit underrepresented or minority groups. However, that doesn't mean it is without risk. In some cases, even the person who has benefited from positive discrimination can take legal action against their employer. Legislation, including the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, safeguard the rights of people in protected classes from discriminatory hiring practices. Moreover, even if you have done great recruitment, it is just the beginning of the real challenge, building a positive culture.

In conclusion, I believe building a diverse workforce is the right thing to do and I will definitely adopt it for my own business in the future. Start with hiring and culture. Diversity hiring is legal in the US but only when it is done properly. Therefore, I have to set inclusion goals for my diversity hiring, according to the ACLU(American Civil Liberties Union). Next, building a positive culture for them is a necessary step for moving from diversity to belonging and embracing diverse thinking.

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References

Biodiversity. National Geographic Society. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/biodiversity 

How to build a diverse and powerful culture: By Gustavo Razzetti. RSS. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://www.fearlessculture.design/blog-posts/how-to-build-a-diverse-and-powerful-culture 

Inclusion targets: What's legal? ACLU of Southern California. (2019, February 26). Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://www.aclusocal.org/en/inclusion-targets-whats-legal 

Sustainability, N. for B. (2022, March 25). How diversity increases productivity. Network for Business Sustainability (NBS). Retrieved July 15, 2022, from https://nbs.net/how-diversity-increases-productivity/ 

What is biodiversity? why is it important?: AMNH. American Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://www.amnh.org/research/center-for-biodiversity-conservation/what-is-biodiversity 

What is Diversity & Inclusion? Global Diversity Practice. (2019, October 25). Retrieved July 15, 2022, from https://globaldiversitypractice.com/what-is-diversity-inclusion/ 

Organizational Future Orientation, upgrade professional development, and corporate foresight

 I believe there is no single best solution for improving personal growth, especially leadership skills and strategy. Therefore, instead of trying to pick one strategy, I tend to understand the concepts behind them and how to effectively take advantage of them. I reckon that in order to improve my personal growth, I must first identify what my goal or my vision is. This step involves the SMART Technique and Strategic leadership. And, here comes the important part, the hybrid of two or more models or methods. For example, Strategic leadership is a practice in which executives, using different styles of management, develop a vision for their organization that enables it to adapt to or remain competitive in a changing climate. And, those mentioned management and vision must apply the SMART Technique. For strategic leaders to use vision and management to motivate employees and departments, I believe that there is no one fits all solution. I believe professional development goals can help me achieve my short-term and long-term objectives, help me stay up-to-date on industry trends, and increase engagement and job satisfaction. However, setting goals that are SMART is not enough. Other skills such as emotional intelligence, SWOT Analysis, STAR, and GROW Approach are all I have to learn. 

To start with a clear end in my mind, I have to set many SMART goals for each small step on the path of my professional development objectives. However, setting these SMART goals does not mean I will eventually succeed without other strategies and skills. For example, I was learning and growing myself to be a good business owner and a great leader. But, if I set each of these goals ONLY considering the SMART technique, there would be so many issues on the path such as communication issues with my employees, when I need my team to undergo training, and being unable to continually evaluate my team culture and employee satisfaction. 

Therefore, I suggest that to upgrade professional development goals, keeping skill set updated and developing human skills such as interacting smoothly with one another are important, rather than just setting the goals and working hard on them. And, finally, I have to learn to take up leadership responsibilities and show others that I am striving to grow. In addition, I think most companies are only focusing on operating their current business, to become more efficient or outcompete rivals. However, efficiency and rivals are just two factors of the SWOT Analysis(rivals = threats, efficiency = strength). To ensure long-term survival and success, we need more than just that. Companies have to become future-oriented and develop corporate foresight to identify future change and identify opportunities and threats. Nokia is a bloody example that did not catch up with the trend and failed. If Nokia increased engagement with external stakeholders and operated new business-development units that make more investments to build more possible options for their future, the result might be different. By doing this, Nokia was able to build its corporate venturing units that permit to nurture a portfolio of promising future businesses and also very likely to launch its excellent smartphone series even before the iPhone. I believe that all companies must systematically build future options and keep upgrading their competitive advantages.

References

Hyken, S. (2021, June 13). Six leadership strategies that bring out the best in your employees. Forbes. Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2021/06/13/six-leadership-strategies-that-bring-out-the-best-in-your-employees/?sh=e37071726055 

What is organizational future orientation. Future Orientation. (2015, December 4). Retrieved July 11, 2022, from http://futureorientation.net/2010/07/29/what-is-organizational-future-orientation/ 

Frequently Used Leadership Terms, Aikido, SMART, DELPHI Analysis, SWOT Analysis, STAR, and GROW Approach

 Introduction | Frequently Used Leadership Terms

Aikido

Aikido is a Japanese martial art known as the “art of peace". Unlike other martial arts, it aims to resolve conflict peacefully. Aikido transcends instinctual obsessions of “winning” and “losing” and realizes a new path and blending attacks to achieve peaceful resolutions. In today's business world, conflict is inevitable and addressed directly with the complete self. As we continue to look for new ways to approach leadership development, Aikido provides the basic attitudes we need such as lifelong learning, connection and protection, and keeping an open mindset.

SMART

SMART is an acronym used to guide goal setting. It means that if you want your goals to be clear and reachable. Your goal must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. The goal should be clear and specific, otherwise, you won't be able to focus your efforts or feel truly motivated to achieve it. In addition, it's important to have measurable goals, so that you can track your progress and stay motivated. Realistic and attainable means the goal should stretch your abilities but remain possible. And, every goal must have a target date, so that you have a deadline to focus on and something to work toward. 

DELPHI Analysis

The Delphi method is a forecasting process framework based on the results of multiple rounds of questionnaires sent to a panel of experts. This process combines the benefits of expert analysis with elements of the wisdom of crowds.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a framework used to evaluate a company's competitive position and to develop strategic planning. The SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. By understanding these four factors, companies can develop a better strategic plan. SWOT analysis involves internal and external factors, as well as current and future potential.

STAR

STAR is an acronym for a formula that stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Determine the Situation and the Task you were asked to accomplish. The Action you took and the Results of your actions. 

GROW Approach

Before you become a leader, success is all about growing yours. After you become a leader, success is to help others grow. Therefore, one of the leaders' most important roles is to coach their people to do their best, helping them make better decisions, learn new skills, and otherwise progress their careers. The GROW Model is a powerful framework for structuring your mentoring sessions. The GROW stands for Goal, Current Reality, Options, and Will. "A good way of thinking about the GROW Model is to think about how you'd plan a journey. First, you decide where you are going (the goal), and establish where you currently are (your current reality). You then explore various routes (the options) to your destination. In the final step, establishing the will, you ensure that you're committed to making the journey, and are prepared for the obstacles that you could meet on the way."(the Mind Tools Content Team, 2022).

Summarization

To summarize, these terms are ineffective if you do not catch their core value or their spirit. Instead of seeing limitations as things we need to hide, we use them as a source of data for constant improvement. One of the most important things to learn as a leader is how to become insightful on individual and corporate levels because they are interwoven. Businesses frequently ran into obstacles in their daily operation. These great tools and terms provide the reasons and good equipment we need to gain even more energy and explored creative solutions rather than getting stressed out and frustrated we got excited. Too many people, including business leaders, are disconnected from their life experiences, either ruminating on the past or worrying about the future. These tools increase a leader's awareness and make it possible to develop a harmonious relationship with what's happening. Accept the situation rather than resist it. And, from a position of awareness and acceptance, a leader can mindfully influence a situation, rather than mindlessly react to it. I reckon that this is the essence of social responsibility. 

The goal for leaders is to think big with innovation. One of the most important things to learn as a leader is how to become insightful on individual and corporate levels because they are interwoven. The tools and terms mentioned above provide leaders with useful techniques to get to the point where global issues could be viewed from a collective point of view. Notice that strategic thinking applies to individual patterns of thought and action while corporate foresight refers to collective ways. When leaders try to secure a viable future, they have to take action and change the way they think.

Decisions | Tesla

Tesla is an American electric vehicle giant. It is famous for its innovative approach to the market. Tesla has emerged as one of the most discussed and analyzed companies among business enthusiasts. Its SWOT analysis of the very organization will reveal all the significant insights regarding every factor of Tesla's business model. For example, during its early period, Tesla has tons of outstanding debt which bring this innovation company huge financial uncertainty. If the company is unable to generate enough cash flow to repay its debt, then there is a risk of delaying expansion, reducing investments, or even selling assets. Therefore, Tesla decided to launch the Model 3, which is a more affordable version of the Model S with less range, power, and fewer features. It is an excellent opportunity for Tesla to expand the size of its audience market.

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References

Anasagasti, A. (2022, June 2). Tesla Swot Analysis (2022). Business Strategy Hub. Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://bstrategyhub.com/tesla-swot-analysis/ 

Kenton, W. (2022, July 8). How swot (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis works. Investopedia. Retrieved July 9, 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp 

the Mind Tools Content Team By the Mind Tools Content Team, Team, the M. T. C., wrote, B. T., wrote, K., & wrote, M. (n.d.). The grow model of coaching and mentoring: A simple process for developing your people. Skills From MindTools.com. Retrieved July 9, 2022, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_89.htm 

the Mind Tools Content Team By the Mind Tools Content Team, Team, the M. T. C., wrote, Y., & wrote, M. (n.d.). Smart goals: How to make your goals achievable. Time Management Training From MindTools.com. Retrieved July 9, 2022, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm 

Twin, A. (2022, July 8). What is the delphi method? Investopedia. Retrieved July 9, 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/delphi-method.asp 

What can aikido teach us about effective leadership? Sanger Leadership Center. (2020, March 31). Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://sanger.umich.edu/news-1-2-19-ema-aikido/ 

Corporate Foresight | The Vaccines for Companies and Organizations

 Corporate Foresight | The Vaccines for Companies and Organizations

Companies and organizations often suffer from the lack of a framework to encounter future economic conditions as well as assuring all relevant external changes and responses properly. Therefore, all corporates need to develop the capabilities of foresight. For example, if electric cars will dominate transportation in the future, why so many car manufacturers are procrastinating in investing in them? Oftentimes, companies neglect the high diversity of foresight activities inside the companies and only focus on foresight development projects. 

Corporate foresight involves multiple stakeholders and leads to value generation through access to critical resources for superiority in competition, prepares for changes, and to step forward desired future. It is mainly seen as the process of external environmental information collection, interpretation, the future scenarios gathering process to combat unexpected events, and the attempts to cover the weaknesses of a company and proposed a framework that combines corporate foresight and strategic planning approaches.

For many companies, predicting the future is extremely hard. But, it is can facilitate the analysis of future scenarios if companies propose a framework for the study and develop a strategy by incorporating foresight methodologies. Just like our immune system protects our bodies from outside invaders such as germs such as bacteria and viruses. The immune system is made up of different organs, cells, and proteins that work together. Moreover, strategic planning also yields to decrease the uncertainty. On the corporate level, success is mainly measured by such criteria as market share increase, productivity growth, and profitability. However, there are multiple barriers to the execution of the foresight models such as future inaccessibility, changes in forecasts, contribution increases, data collection, and cost reduction. Companies must employ foresight capacities to reduce existing uncertainties, evaluating the condition to enter foreign markets. Awareness of existing opportunities and affecting factors are the practical steps for long-term success.

Similar to research on an economics event, recognizing the affecting factors on these events is one of the top priorities. So, to enhance corporate foresight performance, it is crucial to recognize affecting factors on corporate foresight and to design a specially structured framework to develop corporate foresight capabilities. Foresight is a vital issue for both public and private companies. Foresight is a structured process that gathers insight-making information on the long-term future continuous progressive actions. It also arises from strategic planning and future study.

The Remarkable Foresight | Tesla

Nickel is an essential component for the batteries of Tesla's products. When the mass production of electric vehicles has become a global trend, nickel was already experiencing a rise in cost. However, as global nickel supply is reported a big issue, the American electric vehicle pioneer Tesla has shown some remarkable foresight as it reportedly secured an undisclosed nickel supply deal with Brazilian mining firm Vale. 

Tesla has spent a considerable amount of its resources over the years to push its battery tech further and even built a Gigafactory for its battery production. This step was to ensure that it is not as affected by the rising costs of battery components as other automakers. Tesla urged nickel miners two years ago to mine more of the component and promised nickel suppliers a great deal to inspire the miner to efficiently produce more materials. How can you confidently promise such a big deal and sign a contract? It is the power of foresight.

Developing Corporate Foresight | PDLA

Among so many methods and models, I noticed that the top priority is to identify the issue first. You cannot actually resolve an issue if you have a wrong understanding of the issue. For example, as an automaker, should you invest in the innovation of electric vehicles? Even though we all know the answer is clear. Back in the early stage of EV development, it was harder than we think. First, there is more than one energy option such as Hydrogen, Natural gas, and even solar. Before Tesla decided to develop its own battery and EV, I think it had already done an analysis of its own on these possible options. Secondly, I suggest that companies can follow a development cycle to try and test these possible options, the PDLA(Plan, Do, Learn, Action). 

i. Plan

Set a SMART(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) goal and make a detailed investment plan including financial, human resources, budgeting, teams, consumer analysis, and stakeholder research).

ii. Do

After the plan has been made, the next step is to execute and do the experiment within the budget and calculated risks.

iii. Learn

Learn from experiment and execution. Report the pros and cons of each option and learn from them. This is a great opportunity for companies to grow and innovate even more.

iv. Action

This step is like a reflection after you get the result of your exam. Now, you know the possible answers to each question, how to achieve the goal, and determine whether the goal is believed to be the future or not.

And, there is one more thing. I think corporate foresight should be somewhat connected to the overall mission and vision since it is the core value and the future of a company. The benefit is companies can now actually "think about the future" during their daily operations. This is important because we should not only prize the past but also we must inspire future imagination within an oganization. 

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References

Alvarez, S. (2022, March 30). Tesla shows foresight with undisclosed nickel supply deal with vale: Report. TESLARATI. Retrieved July 9, 2022, from https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-secret-nickel-deal-vale-report/ 

Dadkhah, S., Bayat, R., Fazli, S., Tork, E. K., & Ebrahimi, A. (2018, October 3). Corporate foresight: Developing a process model - european journal of futures research. SpringerOpen. Retrieved July 8, 2022, from https://eujournalfuturesresearch.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40309-018-0147-7