At Johnsonville Food Inc. they have a very interesting way
of doing business. They have created a
culture within their organization that makes people want to be there. They call this the “The Johnsonville Way”
(Johnsonville, 2014). Within this
culture they treat their employees as members of a team and not as just an
employee. They also put their members
first. Within Johnsonville they work
toward using the business to build employees and not using employees to build
the company. Within the organization
they base their culture on five guiding principles. These principles help them create this team
environment. The five guiding principles
are: We work as a team, we win as a team, we coach because we care, we live up
to our promises, we learn for life, and we help our customers become great. They are striving to become the best company
in the world. They hope to achieve this
excelling in defining and then serving the best interests of those who have a
stake in the company. A complex adaptive
system (CAS) is a system which develops teams who perform tasks as there is a
need (Obolensky, 2014). The main cornerstone of this type system are clear
people processes and policies, sound flexible information and communication
system as well as a transparent, inclusive or flexible strategy development
process. These types of systems share
information openly, have very informal hierarchy, if there is a formal
hierarchy it is quite flat, and focuses more on meeting the needs and
expectations of external stakeholders than actually running the company. In the Johnsonville culture statement it
states that they actually recognize that their culture is not the right fit for
everyone, but the members truly see the value and benefit it provides
(Johnsonville, 2014). Sometimes a CAS is
not the nicest place to work (Obolensky, 2014).
These types of business may contain a greater emphasis on personal
responsibility while not tolerating underperformance. These types of organizations may contain
stricter policies or processes.
Within the
United States Air Force (USAF) this type of CAS would not work. The USAF has a long standing tradition of
rank and hierarchy. Along with this
there is a no fail mission. The USAF may
meet some concepts of the CAS but not all.
There is a strong team formation concept within the USAF. Within many different career fields
throughout the USAF this team concept is key.
However, within this concept there is still ranks and with these ranks
comes leadership. The top down
hierarchical approach is what suits the USAF.
While encouraging better communication from the lower ranks is becoming
more prevalent within the USAF have a CAS approach would not work. With the way the younger generation is today
however, the USAF should move to a more open organization with
communication. While within the military
there is a very rigid rank structure this does not mean that someone with low
rank cannot contribute to the unit. People
are more educated and are coming up with innovative and improved ways to
accomplish things. As higher level
leaders within the military you need to be more willing to listen to those who
are younger and junior in rank because the next big idea just might be that
idea from the young airman or solider. While
a completely CAS organization would be detrimental to the mission of the
military certain aspects of it could be incorporated which would help with
adapting and evolving with the changes in environments.
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership (2nd
ed). New York, NY: Taylor &
Francis Group.
Johnsonville.com. (2014). Our Culture. Retrieved from:
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