Paper Example on Visa Europe Peak Performance Culture

Introduction

Visa Europe's identified primary problem was the organizational culture in light of the emergent market realities; there was a need to transform Visa Europe from a small, flexible organization into a larger, more structured organization. It is acknowledged that the key competition in the payment services was steadily increasing, which meant Visa Europe had to deliver a higher quality of service with intensive staff engagement. Secondary to this was the problem of how to achieve the cultural change. In addressing these problems, management recognized that any change in the organizational culture should emphasize performance while still retaining a family feel and elements of empowerment (Muscalu 2014). To address these problems, the recommended action was the implementation of the "peak performance" program. The program focuses on individual growth and individual-organization alignment in terms of values and aspirations. By realizing their own potential, the individual can better contribute to the attainment of Visa's vision and goals.

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The peak performance program is recommended in this case because it encouraged the development of a clear, shared and widely understood vision. This development was attained through involvement in organization-wide conversations that established empowerment and trust as key principles, both of which were necessary for Visa's cultural goals. The peak performance process was recommended because it encourages an upward trajectory of key business metrics such as customer satisfaction and transaction volumes. It also releases individual potential and improves employee engagement scores. For these reasons, the peak performance program is appropriate since it resolves the two problems the organization has: it changes the organizational culture to deal with increasing market competition and provides a way of doing so effectively through individual development.

Difficult Transitions

Identify several concepts and characteristics from the field of organizational behavior that this case illustrates?

Organization behavior is the sum total of the interactions between the employees and the values and common beliefs that are developed in an organization. Organization behavior is shaped by both the management and also the employees in their different levels. For instance, in O' Grady, the organization embraces teamwork which is evidenced by how the employees and the management support each other. On the contrary, in Reece, the organization has an individualistic approach in which the employees compete for promotions and rewards and they are unfriendly to each other. Organization behavior can impact the performance of an organization by either hindering attainment of an organization goals or promoting the achievement of an organization goals. In this case, Reece organization behavior limits employee's ability to interact and its bureaucratic leadership approach makes it difficult for the employees to efficiently accomplish their tasks (Guiso, Sapienza, and Zingales 2015).

What advice can you give Tony? How would this advice be supported or tempered by behavioral concepts and processes?

Tony Stark's problem is how to make a culture transition from the organization culture on O'Grady to fit in Reece organization culture. Stark has shifted from an organization with a clan culture, in which there is great involvement and a focus on long-term human resource development, to one with a hierarchy culture in which stability is valued over creativity and the work environment is formally structured. This is an especially difficult problem because there is no ideal organization whose culture matches the individual's. Most organizations however, especially such as O'Grady, have multiple sub-cultures within the main organizational culture. These sub-cultures differ depending on tasks, profession and expertise. It is recommended that Tony Stark associate himself with the subcultural groups that best identify with his own values. This will enable him to get more satisfaction out of his professional career and fit in better with the organization. Cultural transition requires patience and improvising to ensure that one's cultural ideals reflect the cultural ideals of the new organization and the employees (Landy and Conte 2016). Besides, Tony Stark should try to let go his past organization behavior and adopt the culture in his current place of work to ensure that there is no conflict between his values and those of his new colleagues in Reece.

Is it possible to find an "ideal" place to work? Explain.

There is no ideal place to work because workplaces are determined by the organization behavior that varies from one organization to another at different degrees. Finding a perfect place of work is not easy because it depends on one's qualifications and the previous individual experience in different organizations. However, in most cases, organizations try to create the ideal environment for the employees to increase their level of performance by ensuring that employees remain motivated. Different workers have different organization culture preferences and what is essential is the ability of the employees to make a transition into the new organization culture by adopting what is new and keeping necessary cultural orientations from previous employment. An organization is created by the total sum behavior, personality and beliefs of the employees which makes it even harder to get an ideal place of work (Landy and Conte 2016).

Applying Motivation Theories

Explain the motivational problem in this case. If you were the manager, how would you motivate the employees so that they work better?

Motivational problems in the workplace can arise from management or even the employee level. In this case, the motivational problem that Dr. Banarjee organization is facing is the lack of an effective employee reward system and false executive expectations. Employee reward system should be tied to their performance to be able to increase the organizational outcomes. Currently, Dr. Banarjee's organization has a promising approach that is based on how long employees have worked in the organization. In such a situation, the employees have become complacent and relaxed because they can only get a promotion based on how long they have worked in the organization. Instead, Dr. Banarjee organization should adopt a more performance-based reward system that will reward employees based on their contribution to an organization outcomes. Employees' tend to expect the reward for performances that exceed organizational standards. The absence of a performance-based reward system tends to make employees believe that management takes high work productivity for granted which reduces their engagement to organization activities. As such, there is no motivation for exceptional performance. Therefore, Dr. Banarjee should create a performance-based reward system which will encourage employees to work hard, and this will increase the overall organization products. The recommendation is that management should come up with an incentive scheme that rewards performance, such as a bonus scheme or a special monthly recognition. This will motivate employees to perform better because it will encourage a competitive environment among personnel on the same level. While performance is a primary objective of any organization, such performance can only be achieved by a sufficiently motivated workforce (Park, Min, and Chen 2016).

What would be your response to Banerjee's statement (In the last para of the case), if you were the Personnel Manager in the company?

Performance of the employees should be evaluated on an hourly basis and the employees given an income incentive based on their hourly performance, However, the organization should set up hourly targets and their rewards which will ensure that all the employees are sufficiently motivated and do not just idle in the organization (Martin and Petty 2001).

References

Guiso, L., Sapienza, P. and Zingales, L., 2015. The value of corporate culture. Journal of Financial Economics, 117(1), pp.60-76.

Landy, F.J. and Conte, J.M., 2016. Work in the 21st century, Binder ready version: An introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology. John Wiley & Sons.

Martin, J.D. and Petty, J.W., 2001. Value-based management. Baylor business review, 19(1), p.2.

Muscalu, E., 2014. Organizational culture change in the organization. Land Forces Academy Review, 19(4), p.392.

Park, S.M., Min, K.R. and Chen, C.A., 2016. Do monetary rewards bring happiness? Comparing the impacts of pay-for-performance in the public and private sectors. International Review of Public Administration, 21(3), pp.199-215.