Question

Discuss why it is important to have a balance between the three elements of behavioral control—(1) building a strong and effective culture, (2) motivating with rewards and incentives, and (3) setting boundaries and constraints.

Answer 1

The competitive environment is extremely complex and unpredictable demanding both flexibility and quick response to its challenges. As forms simultaneously downsize and face the need for increased coordination across organizational boundaries, a control system based primarily on rigid strategies, rules and regulations is dysfunctional. The use of rewards and culture to align individual and organizational goals becomes increasingly important. The implicit long-term contract between the organization and its key employees has been eroded. Today's younger managers have been conditioned to see themselves as free agents and view a career as a series of opportunistic challenges. As managers are advised to specialize, market themselves and find work, the importance of culture and rewards in building organizational loyalty claims great importance. This attitude by modern managers and employees, alike, has created a need to accommodate the free-agent mindset. a 20-year career is no longer the norm and I'd say that younger workers view the transactional relationship of employment without the formerly compelling idea of loyalty. This is not to say that employees feel no sense of loyalty, but that loyalty and personal investment must be earned through a strong culture of personal development and recognition for effort.