Formal statements that are prevalent Essay

Formal statements that are prevalent -? Suggest what about the organization? â€Å"Cisco Systems’ vision is to change the way we work, live, play and learn. Our mission is to shape the future of the Internet in ways that empower individuals to participate fully in our vision. This powerful shared vision and mission is what we all have in common at Cisco. Equally compelling is the broad spectrum of unique skills, perspectives, values and behaviors that influence how we each like to work, live, play and learn. This is what defines Cisco’s diversity† (Chambers, 2003). Cisco’s culture drives the company to set high standards for corporate integrity and to give back by using Cisco’s resources for a positive global impact. Strong, mutually beneficial relationships with partners, customers, shareholders, and the people who work for, with and near Cisco are essential to the business (Good opening statement) Workspace: The Organizational Culture Spare lines, bare walls, and sweeping curves are the non-ornaments of the CISCO workplace; these are cultural clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s for futurism and modern thinking that have been used since the 1920’s. Flat screen monitors are hung like paintings on the wall. More modern than the design proper is the CISCO Vice President Dave Rossetti’s concept of the ideal office. Brad Stone of Newsweek writes, â€Å"CISCO VP Dave Rossetti heads a research group of 100 colleagues working on the office of the future. Rossetti talks about a workspace comprising free-floating employees who walk into a building and find an empty â€Å"generic office† nearest to their current team of collaborators. The office features boringly blank walls and surfaces when unoccupied, but senses when an employee wants to sit there, perhaps by reading his ID badge. Then it automatically customizes itself. Suddenly, the proper e-mail account appears on the PC, and the Internet telephone adopts that employee’s extension. Even the digital picture frames render photos of the employee’s family, or a favorite Ansel Adams vista.† Clearly, the message is that the workers make the workplace come alive. Customization for the individual indicates the company’s desire to make sure the worker is comfortable. The fact that each office would be identical illustrates that all workers would have equal resources. Corporate colors in the Executive Briefing Center are a sea like green/blue and a tan as shown in the promotional brochure. Warm yellow light flows from recessed fixtures in a design of radiating hoops. Clearly the message is â€Å"we are a global company†. The color scheme replicates that of the globe. To be seen as an agile competitor in the marketplace, a competitive company will ensure that its workers have the necessary tools they need to do the job well. Slogans -? Inform people in the culture The article The Best Team in the Business, (Doyle, 2004) describes a CISCO conference that was held in Honolulu. During the conference CISCO used an IP-based interactive polling system to pound Hawaiian drums and scroll the words â€Å"Incredible things happen† across a screen. The CEO enters the stage to an AC/DC song blasting over the large sound system. This type of slogan and saying provides the public with the impression that CISCO is up to date on technology, innovative, and motivates the crowd on the company. With the loud beat and demonstrations, the public immediately receives the impression that CISCO works towards making sure the incredible things happen statement becomes a reality. Deliberate role modeling, training and teaching is emphasized. CISCO produces many different unique ways to provide employees with empowerment and therefore has developed teams to handle any type of situation CISCO refers to these teams as their channel teams (Doyle, 2004). Channel teams provide business experiences that actually allow an organization to quickly resolve a situation. Having this type of team allows the organization to pull resources together to brain storm, work towards resolving conflict, come up with project plans, and work towards future enhancements. Channel teams provide role modeling, training and teaching allowing an organization to depend on all resources and have them organized to handle the task at hand. Rewards -? Used to motivate employees There are a few rewards and status symbols that motivate the employees at CISCO. CISCO offers employees a comprehensive and flexible benefits package. Depending on the work site, employees may have access to additional services to help them balance the competing demands of work and home. In addition, CISCO leaders support ongoing training and continual career growth. Regardless of location, all employees have access to e-learning activities. Traditional instructor-led sessions are also available in most locations. Managers also have discretion to identify other creative ways their employees can develop new skills. One benefit most focused upon was telecommuting. The benefits most cited by telecommuters are qualitative–reclaimed commute time, flexible working hours, fewer interruptions, as well as more family time. The average telecommuters savings (not including tolls and parking) resulting from a reduced IRS-established mileage rate). Their wardrobe and dry-cleaning costs were reduced by 40%, and lunch and snack expenses were reduced by a factor of five. Employees are able to work in an environment that is designed to meet their individual needs and style. Better relationships with spouses and children, improved personal morale and fewer sick days are cited by more than 80% of individuals who work some of their time at home. Stories, legends and myths The history of a company often tells a story that epitomizes the very nature of the company. CISCO Systems Inc. has such a story that shows the CEO’s concern for his employees. During 2002, John Chambers was CEO of CISCO SYSTEMS INC. When he learned that a CISCO employee needed a surgical procedure that only three doctors in the country could perform, he called and made the arrangements himself. (Hooper, 2002) This shows how culturally this company is like one big family. Organizational activities ?- Organizational Reactions to Critical Incidents CISCO’s leaders measure and control many organizational activities, processes, and outcomes. An important facet of CISCO’s business is the intertwined relationships between quality control, inventory, planning, and ordering. To assist with this process CISCO partners with dozens of companies. In particular, Flextronics, one of the largest electronics contract manufacturers, has partnered to create a secure and seamless integration between the two giants. (Roberts, 2000). CISCO has also controlled a past internal downsizing event. After jobs were cut, CISCO gave employees an option to stay with the company and work, at a reduced salary, for a nonprofit organization. Approximately 80 employees opted for the chance to continue to work (Murray, 2001). This program allows CISCO to reduce its workforce temporarily, while giving themselves the future option and control to bring trained and qualified employees into the workforce again. CISCO’s organizational leaders are quick to react to incidents and crises. Recently, an approximated 800 megabytes of software code, used to direct Internet traffic, was reportedly stolen by criminal hackers. CISCO spokesman, Robert Barlow, responded to the attack by stating, â€Å"CISCO is fully investigating what happened. As a matter of policy, we take security very seriously and we continue to take every measure to protect our intellectual property, employee, and customer information† (Musich, 2004). This attack is not just a security threat for CISCO, but the entire Internet. CISCO is maintaining a strong stance and will â€Å"continue to actively monitor the situation and will respond according to established processes and procedures, should the need arise† (Musich, 2004). Describe the workflow and organizational structure. In 2001 Cisco started to arrange its business structure from line of business to 11 technology groups, centralizing its engineering and marketing organizations to support this structure. (Pallatto, 2001) Details of this structure can be found at Cisco’s Website (http://newsroom.cisco.com). (This is a good way to direct the reader to an area, without including it in the paper). In the future it may be hepful to say ie search â€Å"corporate structure† on left side of website. The eleven areas that Cisco decided to focus on are Access, Aggregation, Core Routing, Ethernet Access, Internet Switching and Services, Cisco IOS Technologies Division, Network Management Services, Optical, Storage, Voice, and Wireless. This new organizational structure was developed to better enable Cisco to integrate solutions through out a company seamlessly across extranets, intranets, and the Internet. Organizational systems and procedures Organizational structure impacts the performance of the firm. Alfred Chandler suggested in his classic research that structure follows strategy. Through the years, organizations have altered their structures to better meet the demands of the competitive marketplace. CISCO Systems announced a number of changes in their organizational structure during the summer of 2001. Changing customer requirements and the inherent market opportunity were at the heart of the change. When CISCO created its line of business structure in April 1997, our enterprise, commercial, and service provider customers were building separate networks with predominantly unique product requirements. â€Å"Today, our customers want our products to move across all of these customer segments. They want a network of networks that are seamless and have transparent integration across extranets, intranets, and the Internet. As our customers and the industry evolve, CISCO continues to evolve its organization† (Chamber, 2001). The new centralized technology groups and marketing organization are a logical extension of CISCO’s Six-Point Plan. They began organizing the company around profit contribution, aligning resources to create efficiencies, and focusing on markets with growth opportunities. Centralized technology is also consistent with the breakaway strategy to take advantage of inflection points in the market. â€Å"We believe our changing customer requirements signal an important market transition point. Our new organizational structure will accelerate innovation and aggressively expand CISCO’s product leadership capabilities consistent with customer expectations for a single product architecture and strategy with clear product roadmaps† (Chambers, 2001). However, this new structure will allow CISCO’s technology differentiation to be at the forefront of messaging and competitive positioning. This change will lead to more efficiency in CISCO’s time-to-market with pro ducts, better use of engineering resources, and deliver a stronger competitive position overall. Organizational goals and associated criteria CISCO Systems is one of the most innovative companies in the high-technology industry.(Doyle, 2004) They hire talented people who can continue CISCO’s global leadership, delivering networking products and solutions that help customers achieve their business goals. Employers who invest in certifications experience a quick return on their training and certification investment. Investing in their skills brings improved employee morale, confidence, and productivity, while increasing the CISCO bottom line. To be part of the team an individual must be willing to accept a lot and part with nearly as much. Travel, for example, is intense. Team members say they rarely get by on anything less than 60-hour work weeks, and that doesn’t include time in the air, which is significant when considering they frequently huddle together all over the world for team meetings. Often, there are requisite get-togethers that are not considered part of the job, but merely adjuncts to it. That would include the weekend that members of Mounford’s team spent skiing in Chamonix, France, where he maintains a ski chalet. Then there are the rigors of the job, which can be intense. They’re compounded by the competitiveness of the individual team members. References Doyle, T. C. (2004, May). The Best Team in the Business, Cover Story. VARBusiness. Hooper, L. (2002). No. 7 John Chambers. Computer Reseller News 74. Retrieved May 24, 2004, from the RDS Business and Management database at the UPO Library London, Simon. (2004, May). CISCO shares fall on investor fears. The Financial Times, 17. Retrieved May 22, 2004, from InfoTrac OneFile database. Murray, Sarah. (2001, October). Human resources: Jobless staff gain community spirit: CISCO employees have the option of being seconded to non-profit organizations. The Financial Times, 2. Retrieved May 22, 2004. Musich, Paula. (2004, May). CISCO source code reportedly stolen. eWeek. Retrieved May 22, 2004, from InfoTrac OneFile database. Pallatto, J. (2001, October). Cisco searches for a market recovery. Internet World, 7 (18): 22, October 2001. Retrieved May 25, 2004, from the RDS Business and Management database at the UPO Library Roberts, Bill. (2000, July). Ready, fire, aim. Electronic Business, v26(7) 80. Retrieved May 22, 2004, from InfoTrac OneFile database. Stone, Brad. (2003, April) Newsweek, Vol. 141 Issue 17, p46, 2p, 1c. Retrieved May 23, 2004, from EBSCOHost Research Database. Unknown. (2001, August). Q&A: John Chambers Discusses. NEWS @ CISCO. Retrieved May 24, 2004 from http://newsroom.CISCO.com/dlls/hd_082301.html