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About hammjustsaying

An IT Consultant for 15 years and also a Social Commentator

Case Study: Mount Cedar Technologies Inc.

2016-06-17 15.30.36

Introduction to Mount Cedar Tech Inc

Mount Cedar Technologies, which began as an importer and distributor of computer accessories but later grew into an IT infrastructure integrator that specializes in hardware, software and security solutions, from an employee of 6 to 170 in 2006, is having an organizational behavior challenge. The company lacked an organization structure that can help improve on its operations’ effectiveness. Even though the decision making was highly decentralized, there was no cooperation among the managers therefore, each department were making independent decisions, without coordination or communication.

Mount Cedar Technologies Vision

In trying to analyze and provide suggestions that can improve or enhance Mount Cedar Technologies’ organizational challenge, we need to find out what the company’s vision is. According to Neil Kokemuller (2017), A mission and vison are standard and critical elements of a company’s organization strategy. Most established companies develop organizational vision statements which serves as foundational guides in the company’s objectives. The case study has not mentioned any mission or vision statement for the company, and this is an underlying factor in shaping an organizational culture. Where mission relates to goals and refers to the overriding purpose of the organization, Vision refers to the desired future state of the organization” (Johnson et al., 2011 p.8).

Hans Hinterhuber and Wolfgang Popp (1992, p.106) defines vision as “an orientation point that guides a company’s movement in a specific direction. If the vision is realistic and appeals both to the emotions and intelligence of employees, it can integrate and direct a company”.

Assessing the Leadership Style

Even though John Curtis, the CEO, has been instrumental to the growth of the business, his present leadership style had become problematic to many including the top management. He surprised people by showing uninvited to meetings and employees are expected to provide impromptu responses to unprepared questions thrown at them. Since Curtis has been perceived as being an issue, he cannot be recommended as a change leader. So, Mount Cedar Tech. need to restructure its organization, and what the company need is a distributed leadership which could be used to effect an organizational change. Research has also shown how change is driven by large number of organizational members, in an approach that is called “leadership constellations” (p. 17)

Creating an Organizational Structure that Promotes Creativity

The case study identified that the company lacked an organization structure that can help improve on its operations’ effectiveness. And one way to achieve this to create an organizational structure that promotes creativity. According to “Making Innovation Structures Work”, a McKinsey Global Survey results, Executive say their companies use multiple organizational approach to drive innovation and that the success of these efforts depends on integrated strategy.

While 86% say the structure of their separate functions positively influences outcomes, results however suggested that the most important factor of success is how creativity is integrated into corporate strategy. Therefore, some of the general characteristics of organizational innovation Mount Cedar Tech. can put in place to promote creativity, are

Allowing everybody understand that they are capable of generating creative ideas
Organizational culture that can smother creativity
If any one comes up with a great idea, let them understand – ‘no need to tell, just show it’

Improving Mount Cedar Tech. using Communication and Employee Empowerment

At Mount Cedar Technologies, decision making was highly decentralized which resulted in the loss of possible gains to be obtained from cooperation among managers. Ideally, having a flat structure and decentralized decision making should make an organization work more efficiently, and allow it to react quickly to business situation, however, if there is no coordination or proper communication, there will be a resulting silo effect in which each department will make decisions by itself.

Research has shown that effective lateral and work group communication leads to an improvement in overall company performance. Here are a few ways organization communication can increase decision making effectiveness and a productive organizational behavior

When information is not transferred correctly to the right people, there might be miscommunication as seen at Mount Cedar Tech. it is important to have a good communication system, so that everyone understands the goal and can work together towards it. E.g. to launch a new product on Facebook, new goals and tasks should be properly communicated to the employees
Effective communication can also empower employees and improve productivity if they have more information, about specific tasks. Mount Cedar Tech employees where not empowered and were not encouraged to risk taking. In fact, department managers acknowledged that they were busy reacting to problems and customer issues, allowing them no time to coordinate or listen to their employees. This is because managers don’t have information about how to deal with specific tasks.
Communication also creates healthy and productive cultures in an organization. If employees and managers have good working relationships with each other, the organizational behavior of the company improves.
Effective organizational communication also increases accountability. When employees and managers are provided with clear instructions, they know what is expected from each of them. This will break silo effect in an organization, and managers can work together in tandem with the organization mission and vision.

Addressing Diversity and Minority

Christensen and Cornelissen (2011, pp. 402-3) argue that organizations have to work with many voices, with different views and ideas, so that communication can be ambiguous and inconsistent for this reason of accommodating diversity in an organization: “vague and equivocal language allows organizations to talk about themselves in ways that integrate a variety of members and stakeholders without alienating anyone”. This is key to Mount Cedar Tech. as it was also lagging in the advancement of women and minorities.

Organizational Motivation and Reward

Finally, it is important to keep employees motivated and rewarded. Mount Cedar Tech, experienced complaints from employees who did not feel equitable treated, which resulted in the loss of talented employees. According to Lipman (2013) here are 5 easy ways (which are self-explanatory) to motivate employees

Align individual economic interests with company performance
Take a genuine interest in the future path of an employee’s career
Take a genuine interest in their work-life balance
Listen
Do unto others as you would have done unto you

Mount Cedar Technologies Inc.

Designing A High-Performance Organization

Adebola Oyinloye

California Miramar University

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE

References

Palmer, I., Dunford, R., Buchanan, D.A. (2016). “Managing Organizational Change”: A Multiple Perspectives Approach. New York NY. McGraw-Hill Education

Neil Kokemuller (2017). “Importance of Mission Vision in Organizational Strategy” http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-mission-vision-organizational-strategy-16000.html

McKinsey & Company (September 2012). Making Innovation Structures work: Mckinsey Global Survey results. http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/making-innovation-structures-work-mckinsey-global-survey-results

Pavel Aramyan (Octoboer, 2015). 5 ways workplace communication effectiveness can increase productivity. http://explore.easyprojects.net/blog/5-ways-workplace-communication-effectiveness-can-increase-productivity

Victor Lipman (March, 2013). 5 Easy Ways to Motivate and and Demotivate Employees. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/03/18/5-easy-ways-to-motivate-and-demotivate-employees/#344ce3e9682d

Organizational Change: External Environment Alerts and Internal Pressures to Change

Wonder Wonder Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox

5 Replies

MY GREATEST FEAR. …

That my circumstances will not, one day, change to erode or compromise either my Principle, Integrity or Belief.

Bae spoke to me about a scheme a few months back, and without listening for too long, I got the gist and swiftly killed her presentation.

I know those schemes – PONZI. But this one is called, MMM (click, to meet the OG)

Without realizing how much fire this movement had caught on, I got to the office today and heard many testimonies. But the two most striking ones…

1) This is the most TRANSPARENT PONZI Scheme ever – (How PONZI and Transparent happen to find its way into the same sentence is very confusing.)

As a matter of fact, it is disingenuous. For, the transparency outlook actually makes the scheme appear reliable and accommodating

2) Someone ‘they’ know somewhere just bought a car after his “Provide Help/Get Help click click” matured – MMM Web App terminologies 😀. An encouraging testimony.

Apparently, my office has been a MMM branch office for a while now. Testimonies only just started coming out. One need to see the motivated presentation and pep talk I was given, just to gain my buy-in.

I confess, it was convincing.

You do not need to be a marketer to give a good sales pitch. People actually do know how to sell a product or any type of service, most especially when given the right motivation. My office team, were not any different. They were animated, trying to sell me MMM.

I was impressed. Attention to details; full product (MMM) knowledge; live presentation and Q & A session.

Should I still be in doubt – case studies were highlighted, plus personal testimonies – clients, families and friends. The list was extensive.

So how does MMM work?

Sincerely speaking, understanding MMM’s business module is very vague on detail. But I will try

You see, you have a spare N100,000 you don’t mind throwing away (MMM clearly warns you on its website, not to use money you cannot lose – disingenuous, yes?).

You register your personal details on the MMM website and click on provide help to start ‘investment’. You then have to wait for about 2 weeks to be paired with someone who needs a N100,000. All the while, the N100,000 you have committed to MMM still resides in your own personal account, so you have this safe feeling that your money is still with you and not lost. In addition, while this committed money is in your possession, you can log in to MMM website to see your virtual N100,000 accruing interest at 1% per day – remember about 14 days have gone, so you should expect to see something like N114,000 in your virtual MMM account

Soon as you are paired, you transfer the N100,000 directly to the person you are paired with. Both of you, by now, has direct contact with each other and can relate on phone or any preferred means of communication. MMM is not involved in anyway.

Then you wait out the remaining days of the 30 days, to cash out. While waiting, you can always log into your MMM account to watch your interest continue to grow daily! At the end, you will be credit N130,000 by someone (probably another maga) you are paired with.

Simple!

On the surface, this is how MMM works. No interaction with MMM providers. No service charge, aside penalties, if you default on your commitment.

Pastors now advertise MMM in churches (I think you should avoid these kind of Pastors and Churches).

Workplaces now turned to MMM recruitment agencies.

Businessmen & women now invest in MMM since the ROI is 30% in a month (why do I need to bother with buying goods from China, when there’s no guarantee I will have my goods shipped and cleared through customs in 30 days).

“MMM promises me N300k for my N1 million in ONE MONTH!”

I would be a fool not to partake after the whole impromptu session, which lasted less than an hour!

But you know. .. it is still a PONZI scheme!

Conspiracy

Why and what exactly is money exchanging hands for, in this scheme?
It is not a stock neither does it possess its characteristics, and it has no physical material or composition.

How does Sergie Madrovi, or the MMM franchize in Nigeria make money?

I cannot claim to know the answers to these questions, but basic common sense would tell us, there is nothing free in Freetown.

MMM could be your ultimate trojan! All of its operation is on a website. Through the website, you enter all your personal details including bank information. Opening the website on your private PC could also install rogue bots that will capture every other data you have on your PC outside just visiting the MMM’s website, and that includes your key strokes! This is very insidious.

Data mining is the future. And you may just be providing MMM every single information you possess without signing a contract. This is besides intending this, for Google’s ad sense and general advertizing purpose.

RED LIGHT!

My Advise

– Just be aware MMM is a PONZI scheme. This kind of scheme, always wearing a new look and new name each time, often show up when a nation is in misery or in recession. Guess which countries its featuring on in Africa at the moment.. Zimbabwe & Nigeria

– It has a lifespan. Probably 1 year, if really good and the machinery is well perfected by its organizers. I see this one dead, by mid next year. If this helps, do note that it has gone bad in South Africa & Russia

– However, if you are going to go for a risky venture (remember, risk is neither good nor bad), GO BIG & ONCE. Do not attempt to be cautious or claim smartness about this, saying:

“I’ll do N20k, if it comes back, I’ll increase to N50k, then N100k”.

Trust me, you would have played yourself by the time you want to invest the N100k. That is what these schemes aim for – PROGRESSIVE GREED! 😀.

What you do, if and when convinced is, take a reasonable sum (say N100k or N200k), close your eyes and JUST DO IT!
If you win – Cash out and say bye bye
If you lose – Your bad

Like I have communicated earlier, Do Not Be Greedy!

But you can always make an attempt to take an advantage of a scheme that is scheming to scheme you

This is my opinion on MMM. And please, do not forget to read on the founder – Sergei Mavrodi

Ade Of Nigeria, is an IT consultant and social commentator

hammjustsaying

October 23, 2016

I thought to make my household a tech-savvy environment, with the intent to expose my kids, early in life, to technology use. I made it a point to buy them a tablet on their 5^th birthdays – the older got separate ones while the younger, shares with a parent.

These days, children are known to always show this pure inquisitive interest toward any portable gadget within their reach, right from an early age, and I naturally do not want a situation where my kids mistakenly mess around with my working tools; or put simply – damage them.

So I bought my boy a tablet on his 5^threcently. Many months after, this picture popped up on my spare phone – which doubles as a “guardian tablet” to my kids’ devices. LOL!

You can’t imagine what children do behind you. And oh yes! I have since learnt some lessons. This’ my spare phone monitors most of their activities online, aside the parental control I have implemented on both the Wi-Fi access router and their individual devices

Kids don’t require much help to navigate around a device. They know where the download app is and what favorite games or any other useful app to download. I guess the familiarity comes by instinct or while sharing with their parents.

I remember getting my daughter, hers. A couple of months later, I coincidentally came across her tablet and interestingly decided to go through it. As I flipped the numerous apps she had downloaded, mostly “Barbie” related stuff, a favorite for early aged girls; I noticed some disturbing Naked Barbie apps which alarmed me and raised my curiosity!

Gbege!!

Child protection have always been a lifelong humanity concern, hence the reason why it is not surprising the Child Online Protection Act was passed into law in 1998 in the United States for the protection of minor on the internet. The COPA required that all commercial distributors of material considered harmful to children should restrict their sites from access by minors. In 2010, the Nigeria Communications Commission followed suit by organizing a stakeholder forum to develop a framework on Child Online Protection with particular emphasis on the Information, Communication and Technology industry. This was being championed by the Ex First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan.

But how effective are these regulations in the protection of a minor from the dangers of the internet? According to online resources, “Material harmful to minors” was defined as content that by “contemporary community standards” was judged to appeal to the “immodest interest” and that showed sexual acts or nudity (including female breasts).

As with all creations in life, the internet is a very valuable tool that provides as much good information as harmful ones. The protection of minors on the internet requires a multi-level approach to implementing the needed security. Inasmuch as there are current child online protection laws or in the case of Nigeria which still has its bill as a work in progress; the need to properly protect a child starts from the child’s immediate environ. Just the way a child can wander in life without proper parental guidance is the same way a child can ramble into a world of obscenity on the internet without proper parental or content control.

It is estimated in 2003 that 20% of all pornography traded over the internet was child pornography, which have since increased by 1500%. The US Department of Justice states that “at any one time there are estimated to be more than one million pornographic images of children on the internet, with 200 new images posted daily.” Child pornography on the internet is becoming more brutal and graphic, and about 80% of the children in the abusive images are female under the age of 12!

To further drive home my point; statistics from survey shows that 90% of children that have access to the internet make use of the internet and 60% of these children communicate in chat rooms. About 80% of children with access to internet freely share personal information about themselves and family members, and there is a high probability that a small percentage of these kids can be targeted by pedophile or other undesirable visitors. We should also not forget cyber-bullying, online gaming and other addictions.

What a lot of parents don’t know is there is a wide gap between what parent think and what children know. When parents say they have rulebooks and do monitor their kids, a percentage of these kids do confess to that fact that their parents have no idea! In the UK, according to online source, 60% of children between 9 – 16 year olds say they have seen online pornography. If one checks, these patterns are consistent to most countries across the world, Nigeria not excluded.

As the increase in the internet penetration grows in Nigeria, there will also be an increase in its home use. The internet has brought a lot of untold benefits to people around the world and it will not be uncommon to have Nigerian families embrace it as it gets more affordable, just as it is the case in advance climes. But while the good of the internet is not in denial, it has also raised disturbing issues every parent should be anxious about, and so, the need to be able to identify technological or other methods that will help reduce access by children to material that is harmful to minors on the internet.

The first step in protecting children online is the necessity for parents to be aware of the kind of dangers lurking on the internet. Next is to have internet access points with parental and content control capabilities. This should however be properly configured by the parents or a consultant, if need be. There are so many online materials that can assist in these configurations.

In addition to the steps above, I ensured, in the case of my children, that the home internet access point provides internet connectivity to her device only when either of the parents can monitor and at all time during weekends.

Child online protection starts at home.

Ade of Nigeria is an IT Consultant

At the beginning of this year, I had this magnificent plan of having one of the best summer holidays with the family.

Summer, summer, summertime
Time to sit back and unwind

Here it is the groove slightly transformed
Just a bit of a break from the norm
Just a little somethin’ to break the monotony – Will Smith

In fact, I wrote down “summer holiday” as part of my 2016 goals, including a bucket list of what to do, by the side – sky diving was one. Then I prayed over the sheet of paper during my church’s end of the year Watch Night Service. You know that service you get to pray from the night of 31^st Dec into the early hours of 1st Jan? Yes, that one!

Today would have been the day we are headed out to ‘The abroad’.

For a striving middle-classer like me, going on summer holidays with the family has always been something to look forward to.

Aside it being a great opportunity to visit families and friends abroad, see places and engage in various activities; going on a summer trip is like a self-pay-back benefit, for a year of hard work, taken from your income.

Understandably, Not every Nigerian can afford a holiday, not even the luxury to travel within the boundaries of the country. But soon as an average middle class can save up for it – it doesn’t matter if the cost is equal to two years of their personal savings plus some borrow here and there; a summer holiday will surely appear on the horizon.

You can’t blame us. We are Nigerians, very egoistic by nature. We must feel among. Our complex has no limit. Interestingly, this kind of behavior is something that is evenly distributed across all our socio-classes – high, middle & low income earners. Trust me, it is even more common among the poorest. ‘O sure ju’.

But this 2016 summer period is different. A very very special one. And this is not because of the Olympics happening in Rio

But anyway, during the course of the year, as I was doing’ my planning for the summer abroad jejely, that was how Forex caught malaria and started having high temperature, such that Naira dipped to 388 degrees to a dollar. As if that is not enough, Nigeria fell into recession, Airfare went up and Food prices shot up. You know all the gbogbo orisirisi inside fisherman okro soup? Yup. It all got into the same soup with Nigeria

As the summer drew near, and reality touched awon boys, my friends and I started to discuss with each other;

“You dey travel this year so?”

“Omo I no sure o”

“E be like say we no dey travel dis year again”

“I don buy ticket, but I go seek refund”

Well, there were some baddest….

“Bro, I go find the money. Anyhow we must travel”

“I can’t change plans, I already promised madam and the kids”

“We are no longer going to Paris. We will just go straight to the UK or Yankee and back”

That was how somewhere along the line, I decided to deceive myself, checked the price of ticket and accommodation for 10 days, for a family of 4 (may be I can change my mind too)….

HELL to the effing NO! Lai Lai! Kini won nsha ni be? What exactly is in the abroad? What benefit will I bring back from the abroad? Over N2 Million for a 10-day summer trip, excluding other things and…. Fian, Lobatan! No way!

Buy Sense. Grow Naija

So I kukuma decided to apply common sense, or rather, borrow myself brain to see what else I could do with the abroad money. Probably, use this opportunity to invest in self.

Necessity is the mother of all innovations. Who abroad epp?

Remember that my scrap book I mentioned at the beginning of the year? I dusted it to check out other goals

Hang on…

I am approaching middle age and I haven’t bought a single plot of land! All these while, it is “the abroad” that I always invest in. Father Lord!

I picked up my phone.. things must change. Thank God for Buharonomics. No more wastefulness.

I called my friend, Bishop. He is a property mogul – Adron Homes. Oga mi sir! Can I Pay Small Small?

Imagine, Adron was even distributing Ileya ram, if you subscribe to a scheme

It only now makes sense. I will rather buy a plot of land with N4 million than go to the abroad this 2016.

This is my story. E fit be you o.

Ade of Nigeria

HammJustSaying

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