Money on the Mind - Implications on Decisions Making

As part of the course we were asked to watch a video, Money on the Mind, that reports on studies done at Berkley. The studies were all related to how people act based on their wealth and how people's behavior changes when someone socio-economic status is modified either in pretend or real experience. The studies suggest that when a person has a high wealth, they are less considerate of others and feed into a sense of entitlement, neglecting all the factors that placed them in the position of wealth.  The studies also showed that when a person was closer to poverty they were more apt to share what they had and were more polite and humble.

A few decision making implications that come to mind from this video include the following list. When wealthy make decisions, they will likely look to create direct benefits for them and not the organization as a whole. However if you expose the person to a simulated or actual poverty level you maybe able to recalibrate them to make decisions in the best interest of the organization and the employees. Wealthy decision makers will also be ok with or prefer win-lose situations instead of win-win situations that can create problems for an organization with suppliers, the labor force, or clients.

The video also discusses that those who are wealthy having the sense of entitlement at work are more likely to steal from work, engage in unethical behavior (the rules don't apply to them), and lie. If you are negotiating with someone who is wealthy, you might want to approach with caution as it will be difficult to determine whether or not they have everyone's best interest in mind or only their own. I would say knowing someone's socio-economic status before going into a negotiation can give you a tactical advantage. If they are wealthy you know they are going to be looking out for themselves more, but even a little exposure to poverty might recalibrate them. If you know this and can force the wealthy person into a simulation or otherwise expose them to poverty, you might be able to make them re-evaluate their own decision making process prior to a final decision. However, if they are closer to poverty they are more likely to give more in negotiations toward the betterment of both organizations.

Culture Exercise - Module 10

The four culture types discussed in the Org. Theory text are adaptive culture, mission culture, clan culture, and bureaucratic culture.  The culture exercise from module 10 asked that you rank eight different statements related to your preference for an organization's focus that would best determine your preference for one of the above cultures. After ranking mine I found that my lowest score (highest preference) of 4 was for the adaptability culture, where my highest score (lowest preference) was tied at 12 for mission culture and bureaucratic culture. The clan culture was somewhere in between with a score of 8.

The adaptability culture does resonate with me. I believe that taking weighted-risks and focusing on improving situations is positive for an organization. I like flexibility in work as it prevents me from becoming bored with routine tasks. As a result in my former positions I have been the agent for quite a bit of change with a focus on improving process efficiency, which ultimately made for a happier customer.  I also really like being able to help internal and external customers achieve their goals, while creating win-win situations for them. I believe that the most attractive component of this culture is that the freedom to change exists and that employees are empowered to help compel that change.

My lowest preferences (highest scored) from this exercise were mission culture and bureaucratic culture. Both of these cultures share a stability aspect. I do like stability but believe it to be, on many levels, boring. I do like the idea of a flexible work environment, and benefits that come with not having to have an 8 to 5 job that is just part of some process. I find little interest in doing repetitive tasks the same way that was defined by a group who had no imagination of how a system could be more efficient and effective.  However, if I found myself in this sort of an organization then I would be pushing for innovations with reasoned arguments that make a case for change.

Chevron Organizational Complexity

Chevron Corporation is a very complex organization and has relatively high levels of both vertical and horizontal differentiation. The company's complexity is a fit for their environment, configuration, strategy type, and organizational goals. To review an analysis of the organizational complexity for Chevron see the following link.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hatg-Klh0g2b-7vh6HoCiLiWCbHxXLsqg5SaILqi8wo/edit?usp=sharing

While preparing for doing the analysis, I researched the current organization break down at the top level. See the following graphic for the organization chart. Click the graphic to see a larger version.

Chevron Corporation's Organization Chart

Chevron Environmental Complexity

Chevron operates in a complex unstable environment. The linked document below reviews the many sectors that influence chevron, as well as examines the environmental complexity for the organization.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/176xWrRQCvXM3lstn250_wOblizpQKwQRL3bd2dLL_pc/edit?usp=sharing

Chevron SWOT

 A SWOT is a common tool used in strategic planning for organizations, and helps understand the bigger environment which the company is in and leveraged to operate. The SWOT looks at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that an organization has or faces. The strengths and weaknesses represent internal organization state, where the opportunities and threats represent the external environment that the organization operates in or desires to operate. 

Chevron Corporation is an integrated energy company that spans the globe. The following graphic represents a SWOT analysis that has been applied to the company.

The following is a link to the document that helped develop the above graphic, hosted in Google Docs. Chevron SWOT