613 4.1 Discussion

Post #1

I am providing an analysis of the Navy’s Airspeed and Continuous Process Improvement programs.  From the political perspective, conflict can arise immediately within an organization, as the pursuits of the Navy’s CPI program is to increase efficiency, reduce wastes and constraints, and reposition staff positions.  Additionally, top-level and lower-level members will likely not see the overall agenda when a coalition is introduced to implement the structural reshaping process.  The existing coalitions involved are the consultation team that guides the restructuring process and the practical teams that perform the restructuring of various work centers.  The goals of the consultation team are to establish an organizational plan, broken down in phases, and brief the leading organizational members on the progress throughout the phase.  The practical team has limited goals driven be the reorganization of their designated work center and are directed by the members of the consultation team.

 

The impact of conflict, power, and negotiation in achieving these goals are felt differently by the practical coalition than the consultation (management level) coalition.  The conflicts for the practical level arise with the agendas pushed onto them from above as they restructure a work center.  The resident staff of the subjected work center often develop a frictional climate that hinders progress for the practical team, as the process may eliminate jobs or functions and change the processes that the resident staff members have specialized.  The power is felt more directly on the consulting side, as the members of this level are in immediate contact with top organizational officials and they vicariously use the higher level of authority to meet their agendas.

 

The impact of the negotiation methods is detrimental to the healthy development of all parties subjected to the new implemented vision to increase effectiveness within the specific restructured work centers.

 

 

https://cchpo.ebizcdn.com/media/preread3.pdf, visited March 26, 2018

 

Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2013).  Reframing Organizations Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass.

Post #2

In examining the downsizing of Training Support Center, Hampton Roads (TSC-HR) from 400 military billets to 150 military and civilian positions combined from a political perspective, the coalitions that existed were the Department of Defense (DOD), Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS), and TSC-HR military commanding officer and civilian executive director.  DOD’s goal was to carry out the executive branch’s order of identifying areas were consolidating or eliminating training was feasible and achieve an appreciable reduction in manpower of shore components while increasing the billets of the at-sea operating forces.  The execution arm of devising a plan and carrying out this political agenda was BUPERS and TSC-HR.   According to Block (2000), “Navigating through our clients’ management styles and organizational politics and helping them look at the data are vital tasks.  The skill for the consultant is to address the organizational element of each problem as rationally as we address the technical part of each problem” (p. 175).

 

There was conflict between TSC-HR military commanding officer and the civilian executive director concerning authority, power, hiring, and management over the civil service employees.  This conflict was the result ofanoverhaul of the organization as it was a dramatic shift in reaction to major external events  (Cawsey, Deszca, &  Ingols, 2016).  The impact on the desired outcomes and goals is that active duty service members who had uprooted their families and transferred to the command only to find out that their negotiated billets no longer existed, felt betrayed which resulted in low command morale.  This also created factions cliques, and animosity between military members and their civilian counterparts.    According to Brinkerhoff and Andreadis (2001), “A rash of corporate downsizing and outsourcing has created an unfortunate legacy of distrust and abandoned loyalties” (p. 363).  

 

Brinkerhoff, R. O. & Andreadis, N. A. (2001). Strategic Employee Development  Planning.  L. L. Ukens (Ed.), What  Smart Trainers 

     Know: The Secrets of Success from the World’s Foremost Experts ( p. 363). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pheiffer.

Block, P. (2000).  Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Experience Used (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

Cawswy, T. F., Deszca, G., & Ingols, C. (2001). Organizational Change:  An Action-Oriented Toolkit. (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: 

     Sage Publications, Inc.

Post #3

I am providing an analysis of the upcoming race for Sheriff-Coroner for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD). The office of the Sheriff is the top law enforcement official for OCSD, and is basically the head for the department. This race is extremely political, and can be very well examined through the political frame. The three candidates Duke Nguyen the Los Angeles DA investigator, Don Barnes the OCSD Undersheriff, and Aliso Viejo Mayor David Harrington (Vo, 2018). OCSD is a local government agency. A government agencies goals are determined by legislation and the elected constituent (Bolman & Deal, 2013, p 192).All three candidates have long careers serving in executive branches of the government. On can say that they have a source of power they can attribute through the reputation that they have built through accomplishment and expertise (Bolman & Deal, 2013, p 197). Only two of the candidates, Barnes and Harrington, have had careers with OCSD. Don Barnes, the Undersheriff and the only current employee in the race, can reap the benefits of alliances and networks. Building networks and alliances can make it easier to get things done (Bolman & Deal, 2013, p 198), including being elected to a position by subordinates. From the coalition perspective Barnes can benefit from the mobilization of his supporters within the department to further his goal of being elected as the new sheriff-coroner.

For OCSD there will be conflict within and around the department (organization). While some employees believe that it will be good to support a candidate from within with very close experience to the office of the sheriff-coroner, others believe that it is time for change and demand a new face for the department. Co-workers who cooperated well before can antagonize each other and can hinder progress in their assigned duties within the department, therefore stalling the goals of the department as a whole.

The impact is large for an organization such as OCSD because the employee unions, board of supervisors, and ultimately the residents of Orange County can elect an individual who will determine which way OCSD will chose to implement its duties. A familiar face can keep the department on its current course, regardless of public opinion, while a new face can change the department for better or worse.

Vo, T. (2018, March 12). Candidates File to Run For DA, Sheriff & County Supervisor. Retrieved March 26, 2018, from https://voiceofoc.org/2018/03/candidates-file-to-run-for-da-sheriff-county-supervisor/

Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2013).  Reframing Organizations Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass.