An Analysis of employee involvement on American Water Company Essay

An Analysis of employee involvement on American Water Company - Essay Example An Analysis of employee involvement on American Water Company Staw & Ross stated that employees know better what is expected of them, and they commit better on the organization’s decision (1978). [Employee]Participation may lower the disutility of effort, by providing intrinsic motivation (Staw, 1980). Also, participation may suit non-financial needs such as achievement, creativity and the longing for respect. This may also develop cooperation and communication; employees discuss with each other instead of allowing all discussions only to the management, saving management time. When employees are participative, they tend to supervise themselves, therefore reducing the need for a lot of managerial positions and lessening costs of labor. Involvement teaches employees new skills and helps identify and train leaders. Strauss emphasized that â€Å"participation increases loyalty and identification with the organization†. He also argued that â€Å"If participation and rewards take place in a group setting, the group may pressure indivi duals to conform to decisions† (1977).When management leaders and union participate cooperatively to resolve problems on a non adversarial basis; it improves union management relationship. Involvement often results in the setting of goals and according to Latham, Gary â€Å"goal setting is often an effective motivational technique, particularly when workers set their own goals (1988). Disadvantages of Employee Involvement However, employee involvement had been evaluated as disadvantageous in some ways. Among the disadvantages cited are: Employees may be less knowledgeable than managers, and the understanding upon the decisions they made may be different. Aside from this, Jensen and William stated that "the rewards motivating workers to share their ideas may be larger than the value of the ideas themselves" (1979). Employees may be unenthusiastic to change, once they commit to a decision. Employee Involvement is time consuming, and if the groups decided, response to changing environments may be mainly slow. Another concern is the possibility that when a precedent of employee involvement is established, it is difficult to withdraw this right to participate. Organized, participative groups may unite against the management to limit production and avoid change. Sharing information with unions raises their bargaining power, so companies may lose. If the management and union are unified, working together wit h management may lower unions' legitimacy with members. Goals employees set for themselves may be low. In order to better understand employee involvement, it is better if we take a closer look on an organization that allows/promotes employee involvement. One of these organizations is "American Water". Employee Involvement in American Water Company As cited in the World Wide Web American Water Works & Guarantee Company was founded in 1886 and was restructured in 1947 as American Water Works Company, Inc., and locally operates in New Jersey. Its major mission is to become a trusted water resource company dedicated to

Service, Solidarity and social justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Service, Solidarity and social justice - Essay Example In the author’s view, social injustices and suffering do have an exact form of measure thereby making it difficult to quantify or minimize. The three personalities showed solidarity with the poor, fought for their rights and stood by them. However, the culprits oppressing the disadvantage take every measure to ensure they continue with their oppression; a good example being the killings of Romero and Gustavo when they were campaigning against the oppression of the poor. The author proposes that the best way to deal with suffering and violence is to lay down fundamentals such as schools and hospitals. Additionally, many other allies to join the fight against oppression the way Martin Luther and the predecessors have done in the past. In summary, the author views accompaniments as the best way of dealing with grief and loss. One of the author’s main point of argument is that fields such as medicine and public health are neglecting the issue of grief and loss. I think this is not true because one of the fundamental principles taught to medicine students is how to console their patients and make them feel at home even when they are facing the toughest challenges such as cancer. In my opinion, doctors and public health officials offer much consolation the same way the liberation fighters provide solidarity to the poor. On the other hand, I strongly concur with the author that indeed it is quite challenging to quantify the amount of suffering one experience. Suffering that causes grief and loss are subjective in that what I view as suffering may not be misery to another person. The controversial view of suffering makes it hard to dealing with it. Respecting and acknowledging the efforts that activists such as Romero, Gustavo, and Martin did put in liberating the poor from oppression is not inevitable as they impacted on the lives of the helpless at a time of