Critical thinking on life in organizations

Life In Organizations

The results of the assessment allow to understand one’s preferences for a particular working environment. Therefore, they provide an opportunity to predict how well an organization and an individual fit together, thus making it easier to foresee whether one’s life in this organization is going to be successful and fulfilling.

Assessment test III-A-1 helps to define person’s preferred organizational structure. The result obtained in the test indicates candidate’s preference for an organic organization, where the structure is flat and less formalized, therefore decisions are usually made collectively and the work is based on projects, which are performed by cross-functional and cross-hierarchical teams. However, the score indicates only a mild preference for organic organizations, hence it would be wrong to infer that the candidate will not be able to perform in more formal settings of a mechanistic organization.

The same conclusions can be derived from the results of III-B-1, where one’s preferences for s particular organizational culture are evaluated according to seven dimensions: orientation for outcome, team, people, stability, aggressiveness and attention to details. The results obtained support the conclusion, that the candidate has a mild preference for an organic organizational structure, which is more informal and humanistic. However, the borderline score shows that the candidate may just as well be successful in a more formal organizational environment, therefore work in either of the two structures may be nearly equally fulfilling for the candidate. However no matter where the candidate is working, according to the III-B-2, he/she will be committed to the organization, thus sharing its goals and putting considerable effort into the success of the company. The score in this test does not indicate any extreme results, therefore, despite relatively high commitment to the organization, the candidate does not show any rigidity in career planning and is willing to reconsider career prospects if the situation requires to do so.

Further analysis is more focused on the suitability of a specific career for the particular person. The most straightforward results are provided by the assessment III-B-5, which evaluates how suitable the candidate is for a global management career. Although the test does not provide strict cut-off points, it is possible to deduce that the candidate should rather focus on more domestic markets, since his/her current skills are not well aligned with the demands of the international business environment. More in-depth analysis of the assessment results suggests that the candidate is not highly motivated to perform managerial tasks, especially in large organizations. Moderate score in III-B-4 supports the previously made conclusion about the preference towards more informal organic organizations, where candidate’s skills will be implemented in a more effective way. Moreover, low ability to delegate tasks, as demonstrated by the result of III-A-2, shows that candidate’s delegation skills, the key component to successful managerial work, need considerable improvement. Therefore, managerial positions, especially in big organizations, do not fit current preferences and abilities of the candidate.

Based on the present assessment the candidate seems to be under a significant amount of stress. The test III-C-2 evaluates the possibility of the recent changes in life to cause stress-induced diseases in the next two years. According to the assessment score the candidate is highly susceptible to the stress-related illnesses, indicating a high chance for negative health changes in the future. The results of the test have to be evaluated according to the personality type of the candidate, because the impact of change-related stress is highly dependent on the ability of a person to accept and manage changes.

On the positive side, the amount of accumulated stress is not long-term, as indicated by the low burn-out rate. Therefore, current stress most probably is only related to the present situation, while in general the candidate is able to cope with stress quite successfully. Moreover, the abovementioned stress is not related to the misbalance between work and personal life, as indicated by the low score on III-B-3. This fact demonstrates that the candidate has clearly identified own priorities, related to the work demands and family responsibilities. Thus, the absence of work-family conflict stimulates better performance and helps to reduce the number of stressful situations.

Since the major source of stress is not related to the family-work conflict, it is possible to suggested that it has been caused by the recent changes in the workplace. This conclusions are supported by a more detailed look at the answers in III-C-2. The high impact of the changes in the workplace environment are explained by low acceptance of turbulent change, as indicated by the assessment III-C-1. This fact supports the previously made conclusions about low success prospects of the candidate in global management positions, which might become unfulfilling or overwhelming.

Summarizing all the assessment results, it is possible to infer that the candidate is likely to perform better in organic organization, where informal settings offer better use of his/her capabilities. Moreover, the best position for the candidate should include job stability and domestic orientation, since workplace changes induce excessive stress. Lastly, managerial positions are not recommended for the candidate, since they require better task delegation and more international orientation. Instead, candidate’s talents can be better utilized in more informal settings of a smaller organization, which operates domestically, and where entrepreneurship plays more significant role than hierarchy, while work environment is relatively stable.

Self- Assessment

III-A-1. What Type of Organization Structure Do I Prefer?
Score: Your score is: 44
Status: Assessment Complete

III-A-2. How Willing Am I to Delegate?
Score: Your score is: 60
Status: Assessment Complete

III-A-3. How Good Am I at Giving Performance Feedback?
Score: self-perceived strengths: 4
Score: self-perceived weaknesses: 4
Status: Assessment Complete

III-B-1. What’s the Right Organizational Culture For Me?
Score: Your score is: 22
Status: Assessment Complete

III-B-2. How Committed Am I to My Organization?
Score: Your score is: 4
Status: Assessment Complete

III-B-3. Am I Experiencing Work/Family Conflict?
Score: Work-Family-Conflict Score: 29
Status: Assessment Complete

III-B-4. How Motivated Am I to Manage?
Score: Your score is: 28

Status: Assessment Complete

III-B-5. Am I Well-Suited for a Career as a Global Manager?
Score: Your score is: 64
Status: Assessment Complete

III-C-1. How Well Do I Respond to Turbulent Change?

Score: Tolerance of Change Score: 69
Status: Assessment Complete

III-C-2. How Stressful Is My Life?
Status: Assessment Complete

III-C-3. Am I Burned Out?
Score: Your score is: 2. 52
Status: Assessment Complete