Organization Structures and Cultures

Organization Structures and Cultures
Case of Walmart and John Lewis

What is Organization Structure
Indicates the way in which the elements in the organization are organized. (Robbins and Mathews, 2009)
It defines the power, responsibility as well as the authority with in the organization.
There are various types of organization structures based on size of the organization, nature of the business and the maturity of the organization.

Wamart Inc
World’s largest supermarket chain with presence over 20 countries.
It was founded by Sam Walton who inspired the company with his personal values to save people’s money
The philosophy of Walmart is to provide goods at lowest possible price on a daily basis
With time the business have evolved creating various businesses namely Walmart US, Walmart International, Sam’s Club and Discount Centers

Organization Structure of Walmart – Divisional Structure
Divisional structure is a situation where the organization is structured around various business divisions which could be based on products or geographical location or any other parameter that create divisions within the organization.
(Robbins and Mathews, 2009)

Divisionalized structure is overlooked by a headquarter and the authority is delegated to business units with responsibility to make profits in their respective business
divisions.
At Walmart, divisionalization based on product/services as well geographical locations can be identified

John Lewis
S Retailing chain primarily based in UK
S Small in size compared to Walmart
S Operates online as well as offline stores
S Specializes in Fashion relation items and Household items
S Organization is structured based on the functions within the organization that are key to the day to day success

Organization Structure of John
Lewis – Functional Structure
Functional structure is an organization structure where the organization is structured based on the key functions of the organization and such key functions could include Human resource management, sales and marketing, procurement and so on. (Robbins and Mathews, 2009)
Suitable for small scale organizations who focus on functional excellence. (Robbins and Mathews, 2009)
Authority is delegated to functional managers to achieve targets that are set based on each function.

Organizational Culture
Organization culture is a system of shared meaning held by the members of the organization that distinguishes them from the other organizations. (Schein, 1985 cited in
Dwivedi, 1995)
The organization can be highly influenced by leadership of the company as well as the process, procedures within the company that distinguishes the company from the rest in the environment.

Organization Culture of
Walmart – Power Culture
Walmart’s culture is heavily influenced by its founder Sam Walton who set a group of shared values within the company
Sam and his family are considered to be the center of the web with significant level of power in the organization.
Company still believes in philosophy of the founder and that drives them forward while differentiating themselves from the other players
The company has an open culture where there is no major power gap between superiors and subordinates. The open door policy encourages ideas from lower level employees to be executed.
However, this structure is not in line with the divisionalized structure as divisional leaders are not given prominence in the culture.

Organization Culture of
John Lewis – Role Culture
There is no highly influential person behind the culture as in the case of Walmart
Culture is heavily focused on roles and functional specialism within the company
There is a high power gap between the superiors and subordinates and there is high level of bureaucracy.
However, employees within the department have understanding and the organization culture heavily focused on functional departments trying to improve their performance.
Identified to be in line with the functional structure of the company

References
Dwivedi R K (1995). Organizational Culture And Performance .
New Delhi: M D Publications .
Robbins S P and Mathews M (2009). Organization Theory:
Structure, Design, And Applications. 3rd ed. USA : Pearson Prentice Hall

Case Study - Abbey College

Table of Contents

Executive Summary........................................................................................................................ 2

Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 2

Relationship Between Organizational Culture and Structure and Its Impact on Business Performance (LO 1.2)......................................................................................................................................................... 2

Factors Affecting the Individual Behavior  (LO 1.3).................................................................... 3

Leadership Styles and Effectiveness (LO2.1).............................................................................. 4

Recommendation........................................................................................................................ 5

Approaches to Management with Examples (LO 2.3).................................................................. 6

Recommendation to Mr. Wakefield.......................................................................................... 7

Motivational Theories (LO 3.1, 3.2 3.3)........................................................................................ 7

Recommendation to Mr. Wakefield.......................................................................................... 9

Nature of Group Behavior and Factors Impacting the Group Behavior (LO 4.1, 4,2)............. 10

Impact of the Technology for the Organization (LO 4.3)........................................................... 11

Conclusion..................................................................................................................................... 11

 

Executive Summary

The scenario explains that City College is acquiring Abby College and it will be merged with the City College in terms of management and operations. The management of the City College is in need of consultation about merging operations of City College and Abby College. This report considers various aspects including the organizational culture, motivation, group behavior, organizational structure, factors influencing the individual behavior and implications of the technology on Abby College. The main aim of this report is to assist the management of City College in merging the two organizations while allowing them to understand the organizational behavior at Abby College.  There are various recommendations provided to City College on how to manage the transition period considering various aspects of the organizational behavior. It is highly recommended for City College to abide by the recommendations that are made in the report.

Introduction

City College is acquiring Abby College and it will be merged with the City College in terms of management and operations. However, there are various factors in the organization that impact the performance of Abby College and this report aims to analyze such factors in detail. The main aim of this report is to assist the management of City College in merging the two organizations while allowing them to understand the organizational behavior at Abby College

Relationship Between Organizational Culture and Structure and Its Impact on Business Performance (LO 1.2)

The organizational structure refers to the way in which the elements in the organization are organized. (Robbins and Mathews, 2009) In other words it defines the way in which the elements such as power, authority and the responsibility are organized within the organization. Therefore, the organizational structure is considered to be the foundation by which the company operates and it defines the relationship between parties within the organization. There are various types of organizational structures with unique features in each of those structures, which make them different from one to another.

The organizational culture is a system of shared meaning held by the members of the organization that distinguishes them from the other organizations.  (Schein, 1985 cited in Dwivedi, 1995) In other words, it defines what is common among the members of the organization, which makes them unique from other organizations. This could include the special features of the company including the power structure to reporting system to the way in which employees treat each other. The organizational culture is identified to be a broad concept where it includes almost all the meanings held by the members of the organization in terms of differentiating the company from other organizations.

Sometimes the terms organizational culture and the organizational structure are often considered to be the same which is misleading. There is a significant difference between organizational culture and the organizational structure. However, there is a relationship between these two elements in the organization. The organizational structure defines the way in which elements are organized in the organization. Therefore, it defines the first point in which how things operate within an organization and the organizational culture is based on the shared meanings that are held by the organization. Therefore, it is apparent that the organization structure is the starting point of the organization culture. Hence, there is a relationship identified and with the organizations getting matured and structures getting formalized, the organizational culture reflects the reactions of the organization structure as elements of shared values within the organization.

Factors Affecting the Individual Behavior  (LO 1.3)

There are various factors that influence the individual behavior at work and these factors can be discussed as follows: There is a significant change that is occurring within Abby College where the whole management is just about to change. When there is a change occurring in an organization, there is a natural tendency within the organization to resist the change which is seen as a part of the human behavior. Since there is a significant change, the employees might resist the change in terms of the structure, the management and new processes and such resistance to change could result in negative behavior at work which could ultimately bring down the overall performance of the company.

Apart from the resistance to change, the level of motivation within the staff also impacts the individual behavior of the staff member. When there is a high level of motivation, the staff tends to act highly positive delivering high level of performance. However, when there is low level of motivation, the staff tends to behave in a negative manner, which ultimately leads to low level of performance. Therefore, it is essential to have the right level of motivation within the staff, in order to ensure that they display the right behavior resulting in the right level of performance.

The individual behavior at work is also impacted by the behavior of others at work where the reactions/behaviors of the peers tend to have an influence on the individual behavior. In other words, when the peer behavior is positive, there is a high tendency that the individual behavior also could be positive and similarly, vice versa can occur in the reverse situation. Apart from these factors, the individual behavior at work is also impacted by the situational factors such as the work related stress and other work related matter where the employee could be reacting to some of the negative/positive situational factors accordingly. Similarly, other factors such as the personal values and attitudes also shape the way in which an individual behaves at work as they would react to a situation based on their values and the thinking patterns. Therefore, it can be concluded that the individual behavior at work is a complicated phenomenon that is impacted by various factors, hence, making it essential for the management of City College to understand such factors in managing individuals from Abby College.

Leadership Styles and Effectiveness (LO2.1)

There are various styles of leaderships that can be adapted in leading an organization and some of those styles are identified in the analysis below:

The transactional leadership – This is a leadership style which was adapted when the human resources were considered to be just another input/slaves to the production process. Under this leadership style, the leader is short terms oriented where his/her ambition is to get the task completed by the subordinates and it also assumes that leader has the right to punish the subordinate in a situation of failure to deliver the promised standards.

Autocratic Leadership – Autocratic leadership is where the decisions are purely made by the leader and there is no input from the subordinates. This approach is seen as the highest level application of the transactional leadership where the leader is given the complete control over the subordinates which allow him/her to treat subordinates as machines. These type of leadership styles are appropriate when the subordinates have a low intellectual capacity to make decisions on their own.

Charismatic Leadership – The charismatic leadership is the leadership that is driven by the personality of the leader where s/he is able to get the full support of the subordinates through motivating them through speech and actions. In other words, the charisma of the leader drives the change among the subordinates and such charisma also motivates the subordinates to perform well in the group. In order for this leadership to be executed, there should be a high level of charisma within the leader and such leaders are very rare to be found.

Participative Style of Leadership – This is where the leader engages his subordinates in the decision making process and subordinates are empowered to make their decisions. The role of the leader here is limited mostly to overlooking the task that is carried out by the empowered subordinates. This leadership style is seen as the exact opposite of the autocratic leadership style and it is also mostly suited for occasions where the subordinates are of high level of intellectual capacity who can make their decisions to support the leader.

Recommendation

Considering the leadership styles discussed above, it can be stated that the participatory leadership styles is the most suitable leadership style for City College to be adapted at Abby College as the staff of Abby College is consisted of highly intellectual lecturers/teachers who can be supportive to the leader in terms of making decisions. Further, other leadership styles such as transactional leadership or autocratic leadership would not fit Abby College as a large proportion of worker are knowledge workers who should be treated with respect and due recognition in the decision making process. Hence, it is recommended for City College management to adapt a participatory style of leadership in managing the staff of Abby College.

Approaches to Management with Examples (LO 2.3)

There are various organizational theories that are aimed at providing various approaches to managing people within the organization. The analysis below identifies the approaches that can be used for management within an organization.

Scientific Approach to Management –This is a classical approach to the management which was adapted in the early ears of management where the standardization is seen to be the core of this approach. In this strategy, the scientific methods are developed for the production and they are considered to be the standards and this also gave rise to the standard costing within organizations. For example, this approach is used by most of the garment manufacturers in the third world countries where the labour and the raw materials are added to the process based on standards and actual results are compared against standards to evaluate the performance. This approach is suitable only when human resources are not placed importance in the production process.

Administrative Theory of Management – This approach was introduced by Henry Fayol who is considered to be the father of management where he stated that management should be carried out through executing planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlled approach. However, with the dynamic environment this approach is no longer considered to be effective, as the planning does not work in the modern businesses. Nevertheless, government organizations and not for profit charity organizations still execute this strategy as they still believe in planning.

Bureaucratic Approach To management – Max Weiber who believed that strict controls resulting in high rec tape facilitated effective management initiated this approach. – This approach to the management. This approach was heavily centralized and the decisions made in the top level were implemented in the bottom level through various processes that were designed. This approach to the management was heavily process driven and rejected by many organizations as employees fail to stick to such processes. Further, res tape also caused drags in the decision making process and therefore, companies were failing to respond to the environment changes in a fast and efficient manner resulting in loss of competitive advantage. Nevertheless, certain companies such as automobile manufacturers still stick to this process driven management styles initiated by Max Weiber.

Human Relationship Theory –

This approach to the management is seen as a neoclassical approach to management and it was introduced by Elton Mayo through a study that was conducted in a manufacturing plant. In this study, he identified that when the human resources are given due recognition and importance, the performance level of the company tend to increase by means of increased productivity. He identified that the improved working conditions results in better productivity among the employees and from these findings he derived at human relations theory. The core idea here is to recognize human resources as a resource in the production process rather than considering them as just another input to the process. This strategy leads to a situation where, positively treated human resources deliver high level of performance and vice versa. Many companies such as Walmart, Tesco and large conglomerates in UK adapt this practice and achieve improved level of performance in the workforce. This approach is applied wide across many industries irrespective of whether it involves knowledge workers or mechanical workers.

Recommendation to Mr. Wakefield

The analysis above identified various approach to management that can be used to manage organizations. Since a college involves large number of knowledge workers, it is recommended to adapt a human relation theory where by due recognition is provided to teachers and the rest of the staff in the production process while being overlooked by the top management at City College.

Motivational Theories (LO 3.1, 3.2 3.3)

There are various motivational theories that are used by various scholars and some of the motivational theories can be explained as follows:

Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs assumes that the people are motivated to climb up in the hierarchy through achieving various dimensions in the life.

Source : Brown, (2013)

This approach also assumes that a need satisfied not longer is considered to be a need where the person tries to move to the next level in the hierarchy. This approach is commonly used by many scholars to explain motivation because of the simple nature of the process. However, this approach does not specify further aspirations upon achieving the self-actualization, which is not the case in the normal day-to-day lives of people.  Further, this approach gives confusions in terms of categorizing types of needs, for example, situational factors could make a basic need satisfied to appear again making it a need which is not covered in terms of the hierarchy produced.

Theory X and Theory Y

 Theory X and Theory Y identify two types of people where they are motivated for two different purposes.  Theory X people are identified to be lazy and not achievers where they need high level of supervision to get the work done. These type of people are motivated by financial rewards where the Theory Y people tend to be achiever, go-getters and highly motivated to prove themselves. Therefore, they tend to be motivated for non-financial benefits such as recognition and promotions in the career and financial factors do not act as motivators for this segment.

Two Factor Theory

The two-factor theory was introduced to identify what factors motivate the employees to perform well in the organization and there are two types factors identified in working environment namely hygiene factors and motivators. Hygiene factors do not result in motivation where they tend to avid any demotivation. In other words, hygiene factors are the basic requirements in a working environment and absence of which causes demotivation. Motivators are factors that cause motivation within the employee as they are seen to be something more than the basic requirement. Examples of hygiene factors include the basic salary and security where as examples of motivators includes factors such as promotions, bonuses and additional benefits. However, there is also an issue identified where hygiene factors for some employees could be motivators for some employees making it difficult to distinguish between elements.

Recommendation to Mr. Wakefield

Since Abby College has a high level of knowledge worker who belong to the Theory Y category,  it is recommended to define non financial rewarding system for the academic staff. Further, it is highly recommended to understand the hygiene factors and make them available in order to avoid any demotivation. However, the support staff of Abby College belongs to the theory X and therefore, it is recommended to implement proper financial rewarding system for those employees while imposing strict supervisions.

Nature of Group Behavior and Factors Impacting the Group Behavior (LO 4.1, 4,2)

There are various factors that impact the group behavior within a team and positive and negative contributors to the team behavior can be identified as follows:

Leadership – Leadership plays a significant role in modifying the group behavior where a powerful leader has the ability to motivate the team to achieve the objectives of the group. In-group dynamics, the most effective leaders are the charismatic leaders as they are able to motivate their team members through the pleasing personality As positive leadership contributes to a positive group behavior, a weak leadership in the team also could lead to negative performance as there is no person to guide the team in the right direction leading to various conflicts.

Atmosphere – Atmosphere also plays an important role in determining the group behavior, as the atmosphere is a basic requirement for the effective execution of tasks. For example,  a positive atmosphere give comfort to the group member and thereby they are motivated to execute tasks. This positive atmosphere results in positive group behavior in many instances. Similarly, a negative atmosphere would lead to negative group behavior as the hygiene factor; atmosphere is not supportive to the execution of tasks. Therefore, it can be stated that the negative and the positive aspect of atmosphere result different group behaviors.

Objectives of the Team –  The objectives of the team also plays a role in terms of managing the group behavior. When there is an objective for the team, the team members are motivated to achieve those objectives and this creates the cohesive behavior that is essential for the successful groups. Therefore, setting objectives for the group results in positive group behavior and not having objectives also result in messy situations leading to negative group behavior.

Goal Congruence- The goal congruence indicates that the all members in the group share a common objective that is beneficial for all the members in the group. This approach is essential to create the collectivism in a group where it would the members in the group to strive towards achieving the same. When there is no goal congruence, there is suboptimal state displaying negative group behaviors where each member in the group are focused on their own personal agendas rather than achieving the overall goal of the group.

Impact of the Technology for the Organization (LO 4.3)

In the modern world, the technology keeps changing at a rapid pace and there are many organizations that use technology to generate competitive advantage for the company. In this context, Abby College also can use technology to maximize its positive impact that would result in competitive advantage for the company. The technology together with Internet changes the way in which marketing activities are conducted in the modern world, and therefore, Abby College can use Internet to market their course to the target student population. The automation is also taking place in many organizations and such automation is possible for some extent in Abby College where the manual registration of students can be automated which would yield better results in terms of storing and dissemination of information. Similarly, the teaching methodologies also change with the changes in the technology where Abby college is compelled to change the learning methods to technology based methods such as videos, online study material sharing portals and visual aids through Microsoft PowerPoint and so on.

Conclusion

The analysis above identified various methodologies in which the City College can take over the management of Abby College without interrupting the current level of performance within the company. There are various recommendations made to improve the performance of Abby College as well as best practices in terms of merging which will be highly effective in application. Therefore, it can be stated that by strictly adhering to the recommendations provided, the City College should be able to maximize the performance of Abby College while ensuring a smooth merger.

References

Dwivedi R K (1995). Organizational Culture And Performance . New Delhi: M D Publications .

Robbins S P and Mathews M (2009). Organization Theory: Structure, Design, And Applications. 3rd ed. USA : Pearson Prentice Hall

Portfolio

Table of Contents

Executive Summary...................................................................................................... 2

Introduction................................................................................................................... 2

Learning Issues and Learning Styles to Solves Issues (LO 4.1, 4,2)........................ 2

Time Management Strategies (LO 4.3)....................................................................... 5

Self Learning Style and Methodologies to Encourage Lifelong Learning (LO 1.2, 1.3)   8

References.................................................................................................................... 9

 

Executive Summary 

The section one of this report identifies the various learning issues in the accounting and finance industry and proposes learning styles that can be used to solve these issues using models such as VARK. The section two of the report identifies the various time management strategies that are available to improve the performance and recommends various tactics to be followed to manage the time effectively. The Final section identifies the self-learning styles and makes recommendation to improve the learning on a lifetime basis.

Introduction

Many people face issues in terms learning when they try to achieve their personal development goals. There are various learning styles that can be used to solve these issues in learning. Time management is also seen as important element in the personal development and right strategies should be chosen to properly execute time management in organization. Life long learning is another challenge where many stop the learning process when they become mature and this report identifies ways in which lifelong learning can be executed.

Learning Issues and Learning Styles to Solves Issues (LO 4.1, 4,2)

ABC Limited is a firm that specializes in accounting outsourcing, financial consulting and audit activities. They engage in business with several clients and they provide various consultancy services to these clients. The job undertaken for clients varies from one to another depending on the nature of the business process. Therefore, it is essential for the consultancy team to understand the business process prior to the engagement in the consultancy activity. However, the problem encountered is that the team finds it difficult to understand the business process due to failures in the learning style leading to many problems within the company as they can not deliver the jobs as promised without understanding client’s business process. This task is aimed discussing learning styles in order to solve this problem.

One of the learning styles that can be used to solve this problem is the VARK Model and it is comprised of four main elements namely visual learning, auditory learning, reading/writing and kinesthetic learning. (Fleming, 2012) The application of these VARK factors to problem the business issue can be explained as follows. The visual learning represented by the letter V in the model indicates that the learning can be created through visual aids that would facilitate the effective learning. For example, the problem with understanding the business process can be solved using the visual aids that would aid the consultants and analyst to understand the company better. In most of the company, there are ready made visual aids available and some of these material include company videos and company deck which are used to project the business process of the company while providing an overall introduction to the company. This process would be highly suitable for the middle level mangers that need to understand the process to make decisions. The next element in the VARK model is the auditory learning process where the audio aids can be used to solve the problem through providing learning through listening. The application of this method happens when representatives from the company listens to client’s that are expressed at one to one meetings or group discussions where the employees are able to understand the business process of the client through listening to information disseminated. This methodology is highly appropriate for higher level management (Strategic level) who do not have more time to sacrifice on watching videos or physically visiting client’s premises where they can gather this type of learning through joining an audio call with client’s representatives. The next learning method of the VARK model is reading and writing where the reading and writing is aided to create learning to solve problems. In order to solve the problem that is encountered in terms of understanding client’s business process, the analyst team (tactical level managers) can use techniques such as reading and writing to get an understanding of the business process. They can identify the activities in the business process, make notes of those and there after convert it is visual learning through developing flowcharts. Similarly, the junior analyst team also can engage in practices such as reading newspaper articles about the company and reading the company profile in order to get a better understanding of the business process of the client. Kinesthetic learning that is indicated by the letter K in VARK Model of learning styles is focused on stimulating the real world phenomenon to give a better understanding of the reality to solve issues. This is seen as one of the most practical tools in solving business problems as the solutions are stimulated for the learner making the learning process very easy. In order to understand the business process of clients, it is recommended for the company to implement the kinesthetic learning at all levels of the organization as it allows the company to understand the business process of the client through stimulation. This learning avoids wrong learning/information for a great extent, which is highly essential in terms of providing consultancy for its clients. Further, this method also makes sure that people with learning disabilities are able to gab the essence with less effort facilitating faster learning process. Nevertheless, it is essential for the company to balance between the four learning styles that were explained above in order to understand client’s business better. Hence, it is recommended to use a system that combines all four types of learning.  However, the focus should be placed to save time of the senior management in the learning process while providing in depth understanding to the tactical level staff who effectively engages in the ground work of consultancy assignments.

Time Management Strategies (LO 4.3)

Time management is an essential element of the personal development as a professional as professionals need to carry out huge pile of work within the limited time in order to achieve stated deadlines for the task. Hence, this report proposes various time management strategies that can be used to manage the time to achieve the best possible results.

Out of the time management strategies, the main strategy is to determine the application of the time management matrix that is given below:

Source: Mind Tools (2013)

The time management matrix is developed based on two aspects namely the urgency and the importance. Based on these two axes, the time management matrix is developed identifying four different types of situations namely important goals, critical activities, distraction and interruptions. Based on these situations, the time management strategies are developed and out of all four situations, the important goal category is the best category to be operating. The important goals category identifies the important, yet not urgent activities and a person should try to manage time with more activities being placed in this situation. In this situation, the task is identified to be important but since there is no urgency, the person can take time and focus on the work in order to deliver better results. Hence, this time management matrix recommends users to place more emphasis on the important goal activities by operating within that category. Apart from operating in the important goal category of the time matrix, there are also other simple time management strategies, which can be used for effective time management in the process of personal development.

Scheduling tasks is one of the most crucial and effective time management strategies where it is recommended to identify tasks, measure the time allocation and schedule those task in order to have a schedule for a given time period. When there is a schedule noted down, there is a less probability that a person would miss out on performing a certain activity. Therefore, it ensures that the all required tasks are performed on time without any delay while being in the times allocated. Scheduling the tasks also gives an indication of how much of time is allocated for each activity and therefore, the person is aware of such limitations and thereby s/he tries to be within the limit by improving the productivity. In other words, it allows the person to focus on value adding activities rather than wasting time on non-value adding activities, which increases the productivity further contributing to better time management. Similarly, having a schedule allows the person to know what activities should be done within a day and it sets a benchmark to be achieved. Once a benchmark is set for performance, there is a high tendency that such tasks would be achieved rather than performing without measurements. Further, at the end of the day, the s/he is able to have look at the activities that were actually performed and compare those with the activities that were actually planned for the day. This provides the opportunity to evaluate the actual performance against the planned performance giving an indication about the areas that needs to be improved in terms of time management.

Apart from this strategy, it is also recommended for people to have an allowance for interruptions that can be caused the normal activity schedule. There is also a tendency to have disruptions during the process and it is highly unlikely that these disruptions can be completely eliminated. Therefore, it is essential for the person to think about such possible interruptions in advance and thereby allocate sometime for such activities just in case if they materialize. This avoids the chances of interruptions actually disrupting the existing schedule of the person, which was developed as explained in the strategy two. If there are no such interruptions, the allowance will have a positive impact on the productivity and achieving goals for the day. However, if there are no such allowances and an interruption materializes, it could impact rest of the schedule that was preplanned making the whole time management a failure. Therefore, it is advised to have allowances for interruptions and minimize the impact on the day-to-day schedule of the person.

Self Learning Style and Methodologies to Encourage Lifelong Learning (LO 1.2, 1.3)

Different people use different learning styles in learning the knowledge that they require in their day-to-day lives. These learning styles could vary from a person-to-person depending on the nature of the person and there are various means to identify the learning styles of people. Through such analysis I identified that I am a visual learner as explained in the VARK Model and it was discovered through the questionnaire that was set to evaluate the learning styles in the VARK Model. This is an in built questionnaire that is available in the website of the VARK model which is developed by the developers of the VARK Model. It rates the user’s learning preferences based on various hypothetical occasions and thereby it allows the person to identify their learning style which is the highest ranked option in the questionnaire.  Apart from this evaluation, I have always noticed that I tend to understand certain matters better when there are visual aids present. For example, when understanding financial performance of companies, I prefer to see graphs and diagrams instead of numbers which can be seen as visual learning as it utilizes visual aids to create knowledge. Further, I tend to understand the essence of a vocal presentation when the presentation is accompanied by a set of Microsoft PowerPoint slides, which are also seen as a part of visual aids leading to visual learning style. Hence, it is confirmed that I prefer to use the visual learning style over other methods such as vocal, write/read and kinesthetic approach.

People can understand their learning preferences based on their experience in terms of learning. From their own experience they can provide judgment in terms of most preferred learning method out of vocal, write/read and kinesthetic approach. However, in order to follow the formalized approach, people can also participate in questionnaire based surveys that are available online as well as offline which are used by many users to evaluate their learning style. The theorists who introduced those learning styles developed most of these questionnaires and therefore, those questionnaires are identified to be authentic. Further, people also can hire consultants who are specialized in learning styles in order to understand their learning style. However, hiring a consultant for a such task could be extremely costly and therefore, it is advised to refrain from such activities unless there is a direct benefit associated to the cost involved.

Life long learning in the personal and professional context is highly essential as the continuous learners seem to be in better ranks in terms of the professional life as well as the personal life. Life long learning can be encouraged by educating the learner about the importance of the learning process and the advantages that can be gathered through continuous learning. Further, learning also can be encouraged through rewards such as best learner in the organization or leaning of the month sort of awards within an organization as such competitions could motivate people to gather and store knowledge in their memory. Examples of successful life ling learners can also be shared among people who will be encouraged by the success stories that are achieved through the continuous learning.

In the life long learning, the self-managed learning is identified to one of the most effective approaches to learning due to various reasons. The major reason for the success of such practice is that the person is aware of his/her strengths more than facilitators and thereby they are in a better position to control the learning. Since it is a learning that is managed by themselves, it gives the happiness, satisfaction for the user which further motivate the user to keep on learning.

References

Fleming, N . (2012). VARK has just passed the 5 million mark for meaningful use (not just hits.) by respondents since 2007. . Available: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp. Last accessed 12th July 2013.

Mind Tools . (2013 ). The Urgent/Important Matrix Using Time Effectively, not Just Efficiently. Available: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm. Last accessed 12th July 2013.