Organizational Innovation and Change - Critical Thinking Mod 8 - The Essay - 1

Organizational Innovation and Change - Critical Thinking Mod 8 - The Challenger and Columbia Shuttle Disasters - Essay Example Both the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters were a result of weak organizational cultures along with other critical factors. After the Challenger disaster of 1986, the Rogers Commission came up with a number of recommendations for NASA which included a restructuring of the management structure as well as a change in the organizational culture in order to carry out a more centralized decision making for effective safety measures. As a result of these measures and recommendations, NASA changed its organizational culture by focusing more on the implementation of safety measures and by assigning more professionals for these safety and quality assurance measures. However, the aftermath of the Columbia disaster revealed that NASA was unable to sustain these effective changes as it had actually implemented downsizing policies in response to a lack of funding. Instead, of employing specialized and trained labor from within the company for these delicate and critical safety measures, NASA instead resorted to outsourcing these responsibilities. Furthermore, the emphasis on the safety measures was reduced as the pol icies were directed towards cost reduction rather than on development and safety measures. The policies adopted relied on the past success of NASA and the problems associated with safety, rather than researched upon, were ignored. Instead of scheduling meetings for further improvements and developments, the management focused on short term operations. In order to gain competitive advantage and sustain effective changes in the organization, it is important to invest in long term opportunities and carry out long term planning. It was also observed that NASA missed a number of signals and if these would have acknowledged, the disasters of Challenger and Columbia could have been avoided (Oberg, J. 2013). NASA also faced problems in terms of its hierarchy and organizational control.

Leadership and change Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership and change - Assignment Example I exhibit a high level of confidence in situations that require leadership. I have confidence in my ability to deliver exceptional results from any situation. My confidence complements my decision-making skills especially in situations that need quick and real-time decisions. I have the ability to use the available resources in any task to deliver outstanding outcomes. I show a high level of organization when accomplishing leadership roles. In all situations, I try to plan and to apply a high level of order during all tasks. When planning, I set ambitious yet achievable goals that help to create an optimal level of operation and diligence. As a leader, I display flexibility in all situations. Being flexible helps to change strategies and plans whenever unexpected problems or challenges crop up. Flexibility helps me to adapt to uncomfortable environments or situation. Being flexible is useful when using feedback and new information to improve or change processes or policies. I apply a high level of fairness and equality when handling the people I lead. I make sure that all people are treated with respect despite their roles or position. Finally, I have the ability to encourage and motivate other people to work towards a common goal. My weakness during situations of leadership is that I have poor negotiation skills. During negotiations, I usually fail to recognize some factors that have a huge bearing on the process and the final outcomes. I have problems handling presentations.