Organizational Development Within the Recorded Music Industry

Completed on April 4, 2007, Cummings and Worley's “General Model of Planned Change” was applied to the Recorded Music Industry

Entering and Contracting
Purpose/Mission:
Although no formal purpose or mission statement was retrieved from the organization’s official web-site or through the use of alternate sources, the prevailing culture of Sony BMG Music Entertainment is perceived to be of information sharing. Press Release language articulates that ‘this global recorded music joint venture’ includes local artists, international superstars, and a catalog of historical recordings.

Size:
With offices in international regions, the record company includes artists such as Beyonce′, Christina Aguilera, and Jennifer Lopez.

Positioning:
Classified as a diversified investment of the entertainment industry, this is the number two record company in the world.[1] A joint venture of Sony Corporation of America (founded in May, 1946) and Bertelsmann (founded in 1835), their UK’s 2006 and 2005 total album market share was 17.7% and 20.7%, respectively.[2] With 25.3% of 2006’s U.S. digital tracks market share[3], they received 109 Grammy ™ nominations and thirty-six awards.

Diagnosis

• Although perceived as a ‘Best Practice’ by industry insiders, the recording industry’s operation of exploitation is an ineffective system. This process needs to be restructured because its current format is a major barrier to organizational effectiveness.
• Organizational and key industry players’ commitment to change this behavior is perceived as low because revenue is and will continue to be severely impacted.
• Prevailing culture’s historical doctrines impedes role definitions and job descriptions, thus creating a conflict of interest. This is causing a lack of creativity and innovation.
• Ongoing litigation includes attacks on cultural diversity which lead to group conflict (“employees vs. employers”) and ineffective teamwork.

Planning and Implementing Change
The steps of the implementation plan include over one-dozen interventions. The rationale behind the choice of this prescription is to minimize and eliminate the key driving issues as identified in the diagnosis. Once structured communication events have taken place, organizational team members will be in prime position for optimized operations which will result in an improving overall effectiveness. Events[4] of the following nature are strongly suggested:

1. Studies of structural causes of Leadership Development biases and Developmental Education
2. Identifying "key communicators
3. Conducting and Open Space Meeting led by External Consulting Positions. Group Facilitated foci should include Whole System Changes (with a special emphasis on Systems Theory) and Goal Setting.
4. Strategic Planning and Creative Problem Solving through In-visioning
5. Management/leadership training on Interpersonal Communication, Sociotechnical System Design, Diversity
6. Experimentation with alternative arrangements (ex. Learning Organization
7. Intergroup Problem Solving
8. Setting up measurement systems
9. Identifying "fireable offenses"
10. Team Building
11. Applying criteria to goals
12. Establishing inter-unit task forces led by Internal Consulting Positions on Knowledge Management and Career Development
13. "Walk-the-talk" assessment
14. Survey-feedback led by External Consulting Positions

By presenting content and information in these tested forms, conflict management, negotiation, and resolution can be deployed to assist those who may be overcome with resistance to change.

Evaluation
There is a high likelihood that the proposed interventions will be rejected by the industry leaders, thus resulting in a retardation of enacting the desired changes. The preceding recommended procedures face a high degree of difficulty in gaining support of key individuals in the organizations because a significant amount of their revenue is generated by the practice of exploitation. This population will also function as the main resistors of change. A suggestion to overcome their resistance is to build ally-relationships amongst independent labels and recording artists while monitoring signs of this pattern being repeated.
If marketed as an industrial or competitive organizational corporate experimental learning program, evaluations on the effectiveness of this prescription can be an informational data asset for participants. Post data mining, qualitative research from this project can be applied to market research and potentially product certification. Further programming evaluation can be quantified by conducting a Return on Investment computation and analysis. By tracking enrollment, completion, scores, feedback, and surveys, this activity just may exemplify the total benefits out-producing the total costs.

References

1. John E. Jones Organizational Universe Systems. (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2007 from http://www.improve.org/odbasics.html
2. Sony BMG Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2007 from http://www.hoovers.com/sony-bmg/--ID__135429--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml
3. Universal Music Group Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment Conference. (September, 2006). Retrieved April 4, 2007 from http://www.vivendi.com/ir/download/pdf/UMG_MLConf_120906.pdf

[1] http://www.hoovers.com/sony-bmg/--ID__135429--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml
[2] http://www.vivendi.com/ir/download/pdf/UMG_MLConf_120906.pdf Page 13
[3] http://www.vivendi.com/ir/download/pdf/UMG_MLConf_120906.pdf Page 21
[4] John E. Jones Organizational Universe Systems (http://www.improve.org/odbasics.html)

*** For additional research, including an analysis of current operations, please contact me at moniball77@yahoo.com.***

Leveraging Diversity to Appeal to an Expanding and Diversifying Customer Base for Long-Term Performance in General Parts Inc.’s Industry

"Leveraging Diversity to Appeal to an Expanding and Diversifying Customer Base for Long-Term Performance in General Parts Inc.’s Industry: A Comprehensive Training Curriculum for Leaders and Teammates."


Abstract
The strategic-leverage of a diversity initiative for General Parts Inc. (GPI), the parent company of Carquest and Worldpac, was studied. A multi-activity intervention based on this program was also designed using the following resources: Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction; The Society for Human Resource Management; Langdon, Whiteside, and McKenna’s “Intervention Resource Guide”; Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr.’s “Building on the Promise of Diversity; Diversity Executive Magazine; and automotive industry diversity authority Monica Emerson.

Introduction
As charged, a lesson plan to address a diversity issue as a training solution was designed by using a case study, feedback, texts, resources, and a template.

Case Study Description
General Parts Inc. (GPI), parent company of Carquest and Worldpac, wanted to become a “global brand of excellence”. Nine steps were created to journey the initiative.

Concerns
Although ideal, certain Diversity Journey Steps (DJS) as co-identified with Global Lead Management Consulting gave cause for concern.

Discussion
What was learned from feedback
Questions arose including who the diversity initiative was aimed at/to. Suggestions included: cross-cultural training, bottom-line focus on cause of training and the desired solution

What was learned from published text, “Building on the Promise of Diversity”
When crafting Strategic Diversity Management ™, it is important to apply the following roadmap: use multiple activities to help sustain diversity intervention progress.

Interventions
Training interventions considered in the design
Complementary interventions included: Customer Feedback, Just-In-Time Training, Performance Analysis, and Results-Based Management.
Description of intervention deployed in the design
Action Learning was adopted to fully sustain Strategic Diversity Management ™.

Lesson Plan
Title: “Leveraging Diversity: A training curriculum for leaders & teammates.” Date: December 7, 2008 Instructional Designer: Monique Burey-Ballard
PLEASE CONTACT VIA EMAIL (moniball77@yahoo.com) FOR A COPY

REFERENCES
*Alden, J. (1999). Results-Based Management. In D. Langdon, K. Whiteside, & M. McKenna
(Eds.), Intervention Resource Guide: 50 Performance Improvement Tools (pp. 330-336). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass and Pfeiffer.

*Brethower, D.M. (1999). Performance Analysis. In D. Langdon, K. Whiteside, & M. McKenna
(Eds.), Intervention Resource Guide: 50 Performance Improvement Tools (pp. 280-286). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass and Pfeiffer.

*Burey-Ballard, M. (2008, November 24). Monica Emerson, Diversity Consultant. [Creation date: Monday, November 24, 2008 1:33:52 PM CST]. Retrieved December 07, 2008, from Discussion Board Message posted to http://blackboard.roosevelt.edu/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_120993_1&conf_id=29803&forum_id=46896&nav=discussion_board_entry&thread_id=1445690&message_id=1445690

*DiBenedetto, J.E. (2008). Case Study: Shifting Diversity Into Overdrive. Diversity Executive,
1(2), 60-62. Retrieved from November 24, 2008, from http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/de_200811/

*Gardenswartz, L. & Rowe, A. (1999). Workplace Diversity: A Product of the SHRM ®
Diversity Initiative. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from http://www.shrm.org/diversity/buskit699.pdf

*Marquardt, M.J. (1999). Action Learning. In D. Langdon, K. Whiteside, & M. McKenna (Eds.),
Intervention Resource Guide: 50 Performance Improvement Tools (pp. 52-58). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass and Pfeiffer.

*Phillips, B. (Interviewer) & Emerson, M. (Interviewee). (2004, January 12). Keeping the Dream Alive: Tips from the High-flying Icons of Diversity [Interview transcript]. Retrieved from Black Engineer on November 22, 2008, from http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/printer_183.shtml

*Razvi, M. (2008). Assignment 6[Diversity by Design Lesson Plan] Template. Retrieved
September 17, 2008, from http://blackboard.roosevelt.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_120993_1

*Rothwell, W. (1999). On-The-Job Training (OJT). In D. Langdon, K. Whiteside, & M.
McKenna (Eds.), Intervention Resource Guide: 50 Performance Improvement Tools (pp. 243-250). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass and Pfeiffer.

*Thomas, R. R. (2006). Building on the Promise of Diversity: How We Can Move to the Next
Level in Our Workplaces, Our Communities, and Our Society. New York: AMACOM.

*Zemke, R. (1999). Customer Feedback. In D. Langdon, K. Whiteside, & M. McKenna (Eds.),
Intervention Resource Guide: 50 Performance Improvement Tools (pp. 131-141). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass and Pfeiffer.

Knowledge Management equals Knowledge Conformity

The most important thing I discovered about learning technologies this semester were examples and uses of knowledge management. This prescription is ideal to support human performance in relation to technology. Further still are benefits associated with using varied formats of multi-media to train, motivate, and change adults.

As a counselor for a management consulting company, SMEC, I advise on business services. This is achieved by looking at organizations behaviors that impact operations, innovation, and development. Interventions are then recommended to improve performance and advance the health of an organization. It has been in my experiences that while Ikujiro Nonaka distinguished between tacit (subconscious and internalized) and explicit (conscious and communicated), I have furthered this theory. My hypothesis is that although tacit and “un-coded”, adult’s information resources – correlated with knowledge access stages – can shape cultures and impede change.

Initial proof of this concept can be illustrated in the field of Organization Behavior. Take for example the common policy of workplace electronic monitoring potentially leading to an employee termination. Are these policies created in response to trends? Possibly. However, I would like to think that individual organizations mandate this directive in response to specific cultural abuses. If entities want to change, knowledge management prerequisites should include having had assessed tacit information that shapes development. Improper adherence to this warning has already led to:

¨ Innovation Rarity or lack of innovation
¨ Unmotivated employees
¨ Talent Management Retention issues
¨ “Unconnected” Employees
¨ Diversity Un-appreciation
¨ Independence Restrictions

Ultimately human – and subsequently, organizational – performances will be affected.

By incorporating multi-media technologies into knowledge management efforts, companies could gain a more competitive edge by learning about their employees. From a perspective based in Systems Theory, I believe that the behaviors of the employees shape the behavioral health of the business. If industry leaders use information to change their workers, then the converse should also be true. An organization’s health can be better managed if all of the active components that impact development are included in training projects.

Initial applications included the internet, and later, intranets. Global collaborations today are Wikipedia, peer-to-peer file sharing networks, and yes, the entertainment industry. Movements such as these are further manifested into social networks which not only contain knowledge, but they also share content and information via “word-of-text/type” marketing. “Web stars” are being born every fifteen minutes and the majority of the business industry is missing out because they are disengaged from the present and often rely merely on traditional advertising strategies to display their expertise. By remaining on the pulse of multi-media technologies, the future workforce, entities interactions and vertical lateralization opportunities are limitless. Archaic methods of hording knowledge should not be considered a best practice unless losing talent and revenue are in your organization’s strategic plan.


To further engage in this or other dialogues, I invite you to continue the conversation via your response or email at monique.bureyballard@myMail.roosevelt.edu.

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KEYWORDS: Adult Learning, Learning Technologies, Knowledge Management, Multi-Media Training, Organizational Health, Organization Behaviors, Organization Development, Innovation, Motivation, Talent Management, Retention, Unconnected Employees, Human Performance, Organizational Performance, Entertainment Industry, Change Management, Business Industry, Vertical Lateralization, SMEC, Monique Burey-Ballard.

Changing the Way Adults Learn: Improvements for On-Demand Learning in Children’s Programming

As a single, stay-at-home parent, I find myself knowing the latest PBS Kids and Nick Jr. character developments. Because of this, I am pleased to tell you that I am refreshing my understanding of basic Spanish, and am learning conversational Chinese. I have watched and been assessed on animals I have ‘helped’ rescue. What’s my motivation? Interacting with my toddler.

I have also used print media to review science. While riding in the elevator in our building, my 2-year old has repeatedly asked me how it worked. Post visiting my local library, I plan to re-create a model to illustrate the technology. As a mother, I am called upon to apply lessons learned from a nineteen-eighty-something elementary school lesson.

With assistance, my child already knows how to operate the latest technology: small home appliances including the DVD player, the remote control, the microwave, the dishwasher, and the phones: cordless and cellular. I am pretty sure that if I left her unattended with my laptop and a happy meal, she could visit “Mcdonalds.com”. Not only has corporate branding educated my future life-long learner, it continues to inform me.

As a powerful behavioral tool, the media is also a learning technology which has a social responsibility assigned to it. It can bridge cultures by triggering the “hood-rich” to purchase a luxury sedan in order to be accepted into the upper echelons of society. It can cross generations by threading history into the present and ultimately the future. The media can stimulate action or annihilate innovation. It is changing the way we – seniors, adults, teens, and children – learn and think about ourselves and our fellow man.

The informed consumer is aware of this, and enacts change either in accordance with or in spite of ‘the machine’. The conscious artist recognizes this and creates because of and through it. The adult learner takes responsibilities for their actions and discovers their world and how they relate to it. As a role model, I hope to teach organizations, my daughter, and other adults about media technology’s powers.

Although the media is by no means a new technology, “instant” learning is in-fact newer (think: on-demand cable content). By having content quickly accessible via the ‘click’ of the mouse, remote, or I-Pod, adults can then gain knowledge of limitless content. As a reader (in contrast to my toddler), designers could co-produce on-demand content written on screen to supplement the children’s show, but geared for the adult learner. Say for example that while my toddler is engaged in a children’s television programming show, I could also interact with a device that allows me to see the verb “comer” conjugated in different tenses and for different voices. To me, this would be an effective use of time because I could make further meaningful knowledge connections and teach my child outside of the traditional half-hour broadcast.

Further still, a supplementary web-site, print-guide, and ‘hotline’ could be created to help stimulate learning for the adult viewer. To me, this seems like a viable option to help fulfill the charge “Each one Teach One” by using varying methods to reach different audiences. Current technology exists for closed-captions, DVD language translation, and digital television guides. By including education into this information, the media could assume responsibility and help teach society.


M. D. B. Ballard, April 18, 2008


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Created for TRDV 450.98, Roosevelt University (Chicago), Spring, 2008

Musings on Taylorism

Scientific Management and its principles were “originally prepared for presentation to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers” and was also a “remedy for inefficiency [with]in systematic management” (source). I personally feel (but did not locate initial research for) that Scientific Management has some tie-ins to Systems Theory, specifically, Systems Engineering in which the employees can be perceived as stakeholders. Based within the historical perspective of ‘science’, only speculation and interpretation can yield that management’s early phases needed educational/academic/scholarly documentation for credence. Research and communication methods assisted in accomplishing this feat and Taylorism was perhaps classified as a “scientific” certification.

I feel that G. Hamel’s 1995 response was ethnocentric and that by saying that “HPT is Taylorism with a new name” is committing the same, unintelligent fallacy. Taylor’s work was a part of the foundation for management’s (ex. production and/or manufacturing) evolution. Per today’s latest research, science is different from technology. My philosophy is that the ‘H’ is optional; technology is primarily needed to support/nurture “Industrial Objectives”, and the fundamental aspect is Performance. Seeing that HPT’s definition is malleable per user, Performance can then be explored infinitely.


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Created for RU TRDV 450.98 Spring, 2008