Strategic Management DB, Research Paper Example

‘Boiled frog’ phenomenon is a term associated with problems existing in large companies, but also applies to small companies, as well. In this case, this applies to instances when a frog is placed inside water, and heating takes place. Gradually, the frog adapts and enjoys increased changes in temperature, the comfort of the warm water confuses the frog and it will not realize that the water has boiled, but eventually boils to death. This applies to organizations that enjoy cozy culture qualities (Gopal, 2002, 122). However, if placed inside boiling water, it would jump out immediately. For example, IBM in the 1980s nearly missed the shift existing from the mainframe markets of computers to that of the PC. Nevertheless, barely did the company recover from the error (Baets, 2006, 65). This applies to managers in organizations who fail to monitor their organizational operations due to greed, corruption, lack of understanding and negligence. Mostly, these problems are small when they start, but eventually escalate to greater heights over time. For instance, those employees who robe the company in small bits as compared to those who steal large sums of money have the same agenda. Therefore, managers should be ready to deal with both individuals in order to maintain growth of business operations.

In strategic management and business, this phenomenon applies in instances when managers assume that their organizations are performing exceptionally well, but in reality, it is dying slowly. An unexpected event that occurs directly affects the culture of organizations. This is deemed to affect the daily occurrence of the company in a major way. For instance, the WorldCom CEO and its employees were slowly killing the company by stealing from it. At first, it was not noticeable, but ultimately, it was out in the open (Cch, 2010). This is like putting the frog in cold water and heating the water to boiling, which eventually leaves the frog dead. Greed is a vice that should be discouraged among those in managing organizations in order to promote the goals and objectives of the organization.

References

Baets, W. (2006). Complexity, learning and organizations. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Cch. (2010). Australian Master Human Resources Guide 2010. Australia: CCH Australia Limited.

Gopal, Kanji A. (2002). Measuring Business Excellence. New York: Routledge.