The future of organization and work

THE FUTURE OF ORGANIZATION AND WORK Student’s Name Student’s Number Course Professor’s Name University City (State) Date Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc177026654 \h 3Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc177026655 \h 7Part 2: Reflective Learning Model PAGEREF _Toc177026656 \h 8Reference List PAGEREF _Toc177026657 \h 10Appendix 1 PAGEREF _Toc177026658 \h 12Appendix 2 PAGEREF _Toc177026659 \h 14Appendix 3 PAGEREF _Toc177026660 \h 16 Introduction Modern business organizations are adapting more to changes due to a diverse workforce and constantly evolving business dynamics. More people today travel for work from different countries and continents to find better opportunities for their career growth, personal enrichment, financial incentives, quality of life, global networking, and competitive work environment (Gomathy, 2023, p.1). The paper explains the challenges such expats face in Singapore regarding organizational behavior. For this purpose, interviews were conducted with three expats from three countries currently working in Singapore. Based on the responses of these individuals, recommendations are provided, which have been driven by several theories, models, and concepts from the module. Singapore is regarded for its high standard of living, which offers a high quality of life and a business-friendly environment. The country’s well-developed infrastructure, high salaries, low personal income tax rate, and extensive career growth opportunities attract expats worldwide to work in this hi-tech, safe, and culturally rich country (Michael, 2021). Despite several benefits and attractions, expats may face challenges adjusting to Singapore’s work environment. The interviews were conducted with expats from different nationalities with other work norms and cultures. One of the biggest challenges expressed by expats is the long working hauls and poor work-life balance in Singapore. The working hours are often extended, negatively affecting work and personal life balance, increasing work pressure and stress, creating significant difficulty for the expats (Appendix 1). The greater expectations from the employees and the fast-paced business environment affect the personal lives of the individuals. According to Robbins & Judge (2023, p. 641), the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model explains that employees are more likely to undergo pressure and stress when the job demands surpass the individual resources possessed by the person. Employees’ resources include their time, energy, and enthusiasm, which require the corresponding job resources to achieve the target goals. The job resources must match with the employee resources. Overusing employee resources to achieve organizational goals can increase stress and decrease the productivity and performance of the employee. Employees must manage their time and tasks while making decisions that support their welfare (Drucker, 2005, p. 104). Organizations in Singapore are recommended to have work-life integration programs that offer employees working hours and remote work (Chauhan et al., 2024). It can increase employee resources (i.e., flexible working hours and location), contributing to work-life balance. Another critical challenge is understanding and working in team dynamics in a multicultural environment where people from diverse cultures work together. Conflict arises in such teams due to differing opinions, work styles, values, morals, and mindsets. It may affect the task’s completion and the teams’ achievements. Expats face several challenges in a diverse work team (Appendix 3). The social identity theory states that individuals within teams classify themselves based on their social characteristics. They identify themselves as a part of the group or team they belong to. (Robbins & Judge, 2023, p. 304). So, if they lack association with their team, it may lead to adverse outcomes in the attitudes and behaviours of the individual. Expats from different countries face strained identity challenges in team dynamics when they need more inclusion and support. High identification increases self-esteem, whereas low identification reduces satisfaction and low participation. Moreover, multicultural teams suffer due to group dynamics as they are more likely to suffer in group development. Robbins & Judge (2023, p. 306) state that group development requires rigorous participation of all members. It is difficult to manage a team with diverse team members. Besides, conflict may arise in the second stage of group development when the teams face conflict due to contradictory opinions, work behaviour, communication problems, and cultural misinterpretations (Eisenhardt, 1997, p. 80). It is also essential for the management to plan diversity and inclusion programs for people from diverse cultures to build cohesive and productive multicultural teams. (Appendix 2). Organizations are recommended to plan team-building activities and exercises to ensure more significant interaction among team members in a friendly way. Organizational hierarchy and formal corporate structure are more evident in the Asian business culture. Expats find it quite challenging to adopt a formal business hierarchy and rigid corporate structure (Appendix 2). It requires following the standards, rules, and corporate policies established by the leadership and management (Robbins & Judge, 2023, p.95). Leaders help guide individuals in achieving their potential. It requires the integration of competitive culture within corporate processes to shape organizational behaviour (Gardner & Schermerhorn, 2004, p. 275). According to Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory, Singapore scores high in power distance, which shows that the corporate culture is more rigid, and people are more accepting of the power to be exercised by the leader and centralized decision-making (Hofstede, 1993, p. 82). The expats expressed their struggles with the country’s culture of collectivism. Singapore scores low on individualism, representing it as a collectivist society prioritizing collective goals over individual interests. Singapore’s working environment values teamwork, relationships, and collaboration. Motivation and rewards play a vital role in organizational behaviour. Countries around the globe follow different motivational theories and reward systems to encourage their employees. The reward system directly influences organizational performance (Okwuise et al., 2023, p. 24). The work environment influences expats from other countries working in Singapore. The Two-factor theory by Herzberg explains that workplace satisfaction depends on hygiene factors and motivators. The expats in Singapore experience hygiene factors in the form of high salaries, safe, modern and equipped workplace environment and job security. The motivators in the theory are extensive growth opportunities, rewards, and personal development prospects. Organizations in Singapore focus more on extrinsic rewards such as pay, bonuses, rewards, recognition, and promotion. The expats need to adopt this different working model as most organizations in their home country prefer intrinsic rewards. Self-determination theory states that extrinsic and intrinsic factors of motivation drive people. Leaders should encourage employees to make decisions which drive employee well-being (Sepalla, 2016). Furthermore, they should let the individuals decide their preference for the intrinsic or extrinsic motivation factors. Workplace diversity is both challenging and valuable for modern organizations. Singapore is considered a global business centre, attracting employees’ attention worldwide and making it a country with a diverse workforce. Diversity offers enormous opportunities for creative minds and workplace challenges (Robbins & Judge, 2023, p.52). Expats expressed concern over the diverse workforce, which comprises people from different cultural backgrounds with distinct opinions, perspectives, and approaches to work. They can learn from their experiences, knowledge, and skills, but they also find it challenging to work in an environment with diverse people working towards common goals as teams (Guo, 2023, p. 23). An expat finds it difficult to build close associations with people from different cultural backgrounds due to differences in language, values, standards, and outlook (Appendix 2). It usually takes time to develop relationships with people, particularly with people who do not have the same beliefs and morals as you, making you feel isolated and lonely in a new place. Communication has a strong influence on the work processes and operations of an organization. Organizational communication is shaped by the approach followed by leadership and employee interaction (Gomathy, 2023, p.3). Being a culturally diverse country, Singapore strongly influences expats from different nations such as China, India, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and European countries. English is the official language of business, and most people speak and understand it. Still, there is a strong impact of Mandarin and Malay languages preferred by locals and most expats from regional countries. The communication style is mainly indirect, a common practice in Asia. It makes it challenging for expats from different nationalities to comprehend the meaning of indirect communication and nonverbal cues to read between the lines (Robbins & Judge, 2023, p. 360). Expats from other continents, such as Europe, Australia, and America, may find it complex as the communication style in their country is explicit and direct. The cultural context theory considers Singapore a high-context environment where non-verbal cues, situations, gestures, body language, and tone are essential to grasp the message. Expats find active listening helpful in improving communication in the country (Appendix 1). It is recommended for the expats to receive training in cultural intelligence. Non-verbal communication is significant in workplace interaction (Michail, 2021). For instance, for an expat, silence is considered to be agreement or disinterest of the person, but it is regarded as respect in the Singaporean context. Expats understanding these cues can interpret the meaning, fostering more significant interaction among people. The theory presented by Hall states that individuals from low-context cultures cannot decipher non-verbal cues and indirect communication (Robbins & Judge, 2023, p.362). Therefore, they need the training to adapt to high-context communication, which helps them understand the implied meanings. Despite all the challenges for expats, organizations need to follow a global ethical set of conduct that is acceptable globally by every culture. The leadership should implement ethical behaviour and policies in the workplace. Fair practices, justice and ethics are vital in establishing organizational behaviour (Sims & Brinkmann, 2003, p. 244). The corporate world continuously encounters ethical dilemmas or ethical choices when making critical business decisions. The wrong decision leads them to unethical behaviour. So, leadership must choose the widely accepted moral norms to gain the approval of employees from diverse cultural and national backgrounds. It positively impacts the corporate culture and enhances job satisfaction (Julian et al., 2023, p. 541). The ethical decisions can be guided morally, legally, and culturally. Conclusion Organizations are evolving continuously to match the pace of changing trends, shifting preferences of the customers and competing at the global level. They hire people from all across the world to ensure diversity at work, which can help bring innovation, creativity, diverse perspectives and distinct i...