What traits does he possess that makes him an effective manager?

1. Read Chapter 2: Values, Attitudes, Emotions , and Culture: The Manager as a Person.
2. Listen to the audio show on the 5 Generations (see below). It will help your understanding of how managers need to “adapt” to each generation within a workplace culture.

3. Watch the video on how Richard Branson built his culture at Virgin Companies. He is considered to be one of the best managers of a company,
having acted like a “new” manager for a very long time.

Outline of Chapter 2 on Org. Culture
I always recommend my classes to read, “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. We now can conduct business 24/7 because of our advanced technology that can break barriers around the world, so we can open companies in other countries (globalization).

Here are some points to know about diverse cultures in the workplace (listen to the audio show above, and message me a point about each of the generations, for an extra credit point):

1. Generation C – called the “Connection Generation”, they weave technology into every aspect of their lives.
2. Baby Boomers – born between 1946 and 1964, they make up a large portion of the workplace (included with “Changing Demographics” in the Workforce 2017 handout).
3. More than half of all babies born in 2011 were members of minority groups. Hispanics are the largest minority group, and Asians are the fastest growing.

As a result, today’s managers have to be aware of the great diversity of employees they work with. Decades ago, the workplace was made-up of white males. Today, we have a “diversity umbrella” that not only includes gender and ethnicity, but age, religion, marital status and technical experience, just to name a few.

It’s important to understand the levels of “corporate culture”. The visible culture includes things you can see when you walk into a company, like dress, and office layout. Some companies have done away with walls, and just have tables and chairs on rollers that they can move around based on the team meetings being held (more on teams later).

The invisible culture are the values, beliefs and attitudes of a company, like Hewlett Packard’s “The HP Way”. (Here at Capital, we call it the “Capital Way”,) It also includes deep beliefs held by a company.

You may want to research Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh, to see how he cultivated a “happy” culture (includes 10 core values). Have any of your jobs included some of these values?
Also, watch the video on how CEO Richard Branson of Virgin Companies creates a successful culture.

Cultural leaders use signals and symbols to create high performing cultures, like having a “vision” that employees can believe in, and utilizing day-to-day activities to reinforce that “vision”. Whole Foods founder and CEO John Mackey,wanted his managers to “place more value on creating a ‘better person, company, and world’ then on pursuing personal financial gain”.

As we discussed in the handout, “Before Workplace 2017 and Beyond”, diversity in the workplace is one of the major changes in the workplace. There are many types of the diversity under the Diversity Umbrella today. Diversity maturity is the ability to respect and work with others who may be ethnically and culturally different.
See the video above on the changing demographics in the workplace. Baby Boomers use to be the largest group in the workplace, but the Millennials have outnumbered them. Baby Boomers were born between 1946 -1964, and they are many still wanting to stay in the workforce. Many Baby Boomers cannot retire, due to the changing economic changes. Social Security, founded in the 1930’s is no longer enough to retire on.
Do you know someone who has postponed retirement? Baby Boomers are also more healthy today and want to keep working. Some become mentors at companies, and others consider their jobs as “their image”…like being a fire fighter.
Managing diversity should be a top leadership priority. Many companies have diversity training programs.
Another change we examined in “Before Workplace 2017 and Beyond” is women in the workplace. The “glass ceiling” isa hidden barrier to the advancement of women and minorities.

The Family Medical Leave Act, (FMLA), allows employees to take time off from work to care for sick relatives, with the understanding that their jobs will be there when they get back. Paid FMLAs depend on state and company policies. FMAs don’t appy to companies with 50 or less employees.
Capital Community College is the most diverse of our 12 CT Community Colleges. It gives all of us an opportunity to speak and actively engage with people of other cultures. Have you felt awkward introducing yourself to an international student or a foreign visitor to your community?
We have to realize and understand that many of these people are suffering from culture shock…”the confusion and discomfort that a person experiences when in an unfamiliar culture”.
We also need to be aware of the “silent” languages of cultures, like context, time, and space, to help lessen the culture shock of people from other countries.
In their book, Half the Sky, authors Kristof and WuDunn outline the “prevalence of indignities suffered by poor, uneducated women around the globe, and offer well-thought-out ideas for eliminating that injustice”.

1. After viewing the video on Richard Branson above, and reading the chapter revew, briefly answer the following:

a. What traits does he possess that makes him an effective manager?

b. How would you describe his management style? (Based on what you read in Chapter 1.)
c. If you visited his company’s headquarters, how would you describe its “visible culture”? What do you think are the company’s major “values,attitudes and beliefs”? (See chapter review above.) You may also want to read more about Richard Branson for your answers.

Number each of your answers and be sure to include citations from the chapter, as well as your own ideas.
Be sure to
>> label all parts of the questions.
>>cite the page number from the text to indicate you read the chapter ( use your own words and put the page number after your point (385)…like this.
>>ask questions throughout your post to encourage other students to respond to your post.

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