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Running Head: MODULE ONE 1

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MODULE ONE

Module One Critical Thinking Example 2 FIN 500: Principles of Finance Colorado State University-Global Campus Professor Jane Smith July 14, 2013

Formulating the Research Question Worksheet

1. Discover Management Dilemma

Complaints are being made that the team takes too long to create adequate financial reports. The team’s response to this is that the computer software programs are too complicated, and requires hours of manual manipulation, creating the delay. As a manager, Sahari should see that the symptoms of this problem are complicated technology, and that team members possibly lack the adequate knowledge, skills, and abilities to be efficient. Her challenge/dilemma will be to find a way to improve proficiency with the software in hopes that efficiency will also increase.

1a. Exploration

Coelho, J. (2010). Employee skill set certifications: What’s in it for them?. Proceedings of The European Conference on Knowledge Management. 268-278 Morgan, M. (2011). Building skill excellence. Strategic Finance. 92(12). 16-19. Still searching for the missing management model. (2011). Financial Executive. 27(9). 42-45.

2. Define Management Question

Can better training create a stronger knowledge base that will increase the team’s skill set, and help them to better learn how to efficiently produce needed reports?

3. Define Research Question(s)

How should the training be structured? How should the knowledge be transferred and shared? How should the training programs effectiveness be measured?

2a. Exploration

Clements, B. (2007). Improving the employee software training process. Indiana Libraries. 26(4). 45-48. Gibson, J., Ivancevich, J., Donnelly, J., & Konpaske, R. (2012). Organizations: behavior, structure, processes. (14 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Pass the Aspirin. (2013). ABA Banking Journal. 105(2).23.

Module One Critical Thinking

Sahari has received complaints about her team’s inability to deliver reports in a timely manner. When addressed, the team cited complicated software as the primary reason for this. As a manager, Sahari is faced with a dilemma. Although the software may be complicated, there is no evidence in the case study that other teams are having trouble delivering reports on time or that replacing the software throughout the company is a practical solution. This means that Sahari should try to assess if a secondary factor is causing the inefficiency. One possible cause could be that her team lacks the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to develop the needed reports using the software. According to the literature, companies often fail to train employees properly on new technology, and consequently lose revenue. The article “Still Searching for the Missing Management Model” states that performance improvement can be triggered by several things including, giving employees the chance to share common experiences or creating a solid foundation within the company that gives employees the resources to improve (Still Searching for the Missing Management Model, 2011). A study done by Coelho (2010), concludes that training and certifications can make employees feel more comfortable with company resources, and increase proficiency. Furthermore, the study states that as companies grow and become more globalized it becomes increasingly important for managers to know how far an employee’s knowledge base stretches, so that they can help team members fill in knowledge gaps through certifications and training (Coelho, 2010). Lastly, the article, “Building Skill Excellence” emphasizes the need for finance professionals to always demonstrate proficiency, because if they cannot then creating value for the client becomes difficult (Morgan, 2011). According to this article, employees should be taught to “take ownership” for their skill sets, and should have the resources needed to improve if they are struggling (Morgan, 2011).

Taking the need for her team to broaden their ability to use the software into account, Sahari could ask the question: Can better training create a stronger knowledge base that will increase the teams skill set, and help them to better learn how to produce the needed reports? A glance at the literature would suggest that the answer to this question is yes. Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, and Konpaske (2012), stress the importance of continual training and performance appraisals as a means to help improve efficiency. In a study done by Clements (2007), the data showed that including employees in the development of the training programs helped these programs to be better accepted by employees, to better fill the gaps of knowledge, and to better increase software usage proficiency. Bank managers interviewed for the article “Pass the Aspirin,” saw an increase in their teams skill set simply by setting up optional trainings for software programs that their banks used, and by directly designating employees that were already proficient in these programs as experts and tasking them with helping other employees to learn efficient methods for using the software (Pass the Aspirin, 2013).

After understanding that training is one way she can solve her team’s low efficiency problem, Sahari needs to ask herself how the training should be structured, how progress should be measured, and how knowledge can be continually shared. If Sahari, were to meet with each member of her team to develop structured training goals, proficiency with the software program would likely increase, employees would feel involved in the training process, and she could determine what skills need to be learned so that she could better structure the training program (Gibson, et. al., 2012). Additionally, each member’s current proficiency level could be assessed, a goal and time line for achieving that goal could be documented, and the tools needed to achieve the goal could be listed and established. It would be very easy to measure progress quantitatively since the team could track the average amount of time report production takes, and use it as an indicator of increased or decreased efficiency as the training progresses. The time it takes for Sahari’s team to prepare a report can also be compared to other team’s time.

To ensure that knowledge gained from these trainings is shared amongst her team, Sahari should consider knowledge management theory. This is a fairly new technique that organizations are trying in order to better train employees and retain knowledge (Salisbury, 2003). Knowledge management is the practice of documenting new ways of doing things or recording solutions to previous problems. In theory, doing this enables an organization or team to grow smarter by retaining the knowledge of its individual employees (Salisbury, 2003). One company that has recently done this is Apple Inc. Prior to his death, Steve Jobs hired former business professors to write case studies on the Apple’s past business success and failures. These case studies are available for employees to study, and training programs are developed around them (Lashinsky, 2011). Most companies do not use knowledge management theory as comprehensively as Apple has done, but many have found value in having a process of their own. For instance, IBM recently created a forum for employees to post solutions to common problems with software. This helps IBM to utilize the knowledge of all of its employees across its international offices, because an employee struggling with a problem can log on to see if anyone other company employee has found a solution to that problem already (IBM reaps rewareds of employees who think on the job, 2006). Since Sahari’s team is complaining that the software used by the company is too complicated, and requires hours of roundabout manipulation it would be good for them to use knowledge management; even if only done on a small scale. Individuals could be asked to record solutions or shortcuts used to accomplish day-to-day work, and all members of the team could access and benefit from this shared knowledge.

References

Clements, B. (2007). Improving the employee software training process. Indiana Libraries. 26(4). 45-48.

Coelho, J. (2010). Employee skill set certifications: What’s in it for them?. Proceedings of The European Conference on Knowledge Management. 268-278

Gibson, J., Ivancevich, J., Donnelly, J., & Konpaske, R. (2012). Organizations: behavior, structure, processes. (14 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

IBM reaps rewards of employees who think on the job (2006, May 19). Irish Times

Lashinsky, A. (2011, Aug 25). How apple works: Inside the world’s biggest start-up. CNN Money, Retrieved from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/25/how-apple-works-inside-the-worlds-biggest-startup/

Morgan, M. (2011). Building skill excellence. Strategic Finance. 92(12). 16-19.

Pass the Aspirin. (2013). ABA Banking Journal. 105(2).23.

Still searching for the missing management model. (2011). Financial Executive. 27(9). 42-45.

Salisbury, M. W. (2003). Putting theory into practice to build knowledge management systems. Journal of Knowledge Management, 7(2), 128. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230331096?accountid=38569