I am presently a management student at the Torres University of Adelaide, Australia and a management aspirant who aims to achieve success and professional growth in a management position. My aspiration to be a manager has enabled me to achieve academic success by enrolling with the esteemed university. Currently I am one of the best academic performers in the class and have received several accolades from the university about my management aptitude and knowledge.
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze SA Water to identify its strengths and weaknesses that can determine my organizational fitness in SA Water using self assessment tools and discussion about the scores from the tools used. Additionally, personal SWOT assessment is used to find my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, relating them to the naturally occurring data and personal experiences to understand my position within the managerial perspectives. In the assignment I shall also discuss diversity in the organization, how it can be an opportunity or threat for SA Water and how its understanding can support my management career. Organizational fitness has also been discussed to understand and justify my future in SA Water.
SA Water is a governmental enterprise that is under the complete ownership of the South Australian Government. The company was formed through the implementation of South Australian Water Cooperation Act on July 1st, 1995 and succeeded the Engineering and Water Supply Department (E&WS) which was established on 1856, two decades after the Europeans started settling in Australia. SA Water has undertaken several important projects on infrastructure such as the Morgan – Whyalla pipeline between 1940 to 1944, Mannum-Adelaide pipeline between 1949 to 1955, Hope Valley Reservoir which started on 1869, Mount Bold Reservoir which started on 1932, Bolivar Treatment Works which started on 1961, Adelaide Desalination Plant between 2008 to 2012 and North South Interconnection System Project (NSISP) between 2010 to 2013.
The organization is involved in the management, maintenance and operation of assets that has an approximate value of 12 billion AUD and includes water mains of 26,000km, recycled water mains more than 8700 km, 30 plants for water treatment, 24 plans for wastewater treatment, more than 15 reservoirs having a total capacity of about 200,000 megalitres, a 3MW electricity generating unit (Terminal Storage Mini Hydro) that is powered by the water which flows to Hope Vallety from Anstey Hill. In addition the organization owns desalination plants located in Penneshaw and Lonsdale (sawater.com.au, 2018).
The company is based on the vision of “World-class water services for a better life” and the value of safety, accountability, genuineness and innovation. The strengths of the organization include a strong working culture with no gap in gender based pay which is not seen in any other company in Australia. The company also has the knowledge and expertise to attract and retain skilled workforce from diverse backgrounds thereby supporting a culturally diverse workforce. A functional structure is also followed by the organization based on the functional domains which helps to strategically manage the company which helps to implement a fixed chain of command. Multiple channels of communication moreover help to develop effective sharing of information with the stakeholders. The organizational policy also upholds the value of diversity and respect and provides employment opportunities with people with disabilities. These factors are significant strengths of the organization (sawater.com.au, 2018).
SA Water requires a strong leadership involvement at all levels, which can be challenging for people in leadership positions to manage the day to day operations. The diverse work culture can also be a challenge for the management as it leads to diversity in expectations and mindsets which can lead to conflicts. Maintenance of a zero carbon footprint of the company is also one challenge that is faced by the company (Mishra, 2018; Kelloway & Gilbert, 2017).
The assignment has been approached from a critical point of view to understand how SA water operates and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organization followed by the usage of self assessment tools and SWOT analysis to understand my fitness within the organization (Bull et al., 2016).
The information was mainly sourced from the company reports and website as well as online links for self assessment tools.
The assessment tools that were used for the purpose of the self assessment include The Global Emotional Intelligence Test, Jung Typology Test and VIA Character Strength Test. These tests help to understand the emotional intelligence scores, personality type and character strength that can be used to understand my fitness within the organization (humanmetrics.com, 2018; globalleadershipfoundation.com, 2018; viacharacter.org, 2018).
The tools provided the results below:
Emotional Intelligence test: Self Awareness: 9, Self management: 5, Social Awareness: 6, Relationship management: 1
Jung Typology test: ENFP (Extravert 9%, Intuitive 13%, Feeling 12%, Perceiving 10%)
VIA Score: Greatest Strengths: Kindness, Love of learning, Zest and Humour. Greatest weaknesses: Spirituality. Core values: Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance and Transcendence.
The Emotional Intelligence test shows that I have high levels of self and social awareness. This helps me to effectively assess various situations and take decisions accordingly (globalleadershipfoundation.com, 2018).
The Jung typology test shows that I prefer extraversion over introversion, intuition over sensing, feeling over thinking and perceiving over judging (humanmetrics.com, 2018).
The VA Character test shows that kindness, interest to learn zest and humor as my biggest strengths while spirituality as my greatest weakness. My personality is based on the values of wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence (viacharacter.org, 2018).
(Figure: Self SWOT analysis. Source: self work)
The self assessment tests showed that my key strengths lies in my ability to show kindness to others, a keen interest towards learning, completing my tasks with a zest, ability to exhibit humor and showing self awareness and social awareness. Through kindness, I am able to foster a sense of dependence on me as people can confide in me more easily and with more confidence. My interest to acquire new knowledge also helped me to stay up to date with new information that can be useful to manage the organization and inform key decisions, showing zest in my work also ensures that I complete the tasks and responsibilities that I am entrusted with and see them to their completion, I also have a good sense of humor which I can use to relieve stress and mitigate challenging situations, self awareness have helped me to analyze my own strengths and weaknesses effectively and understand the actions I should take to overcome the weakness and father develop my strengths while social awareness have helped me to understand and read social situation with great accuracy and thus understand any problems in the work culture (Rangkuti, 2018).
I am not a spiritual person as I believe in logic and scientific evidences. I also find it difficult to express certain emotions such as love at certain times. This has challenged my ability to manage my personal relations effectively, causing personal emotional stress in me. At times, I also find it difficult to self regulates me and as a result I often indulge in unhealthy behavior such as binge drinking (Phadermrod et al., 2016).
However, I believe that by effectively utilizing my key strengths I would be able to further develop my professional aptitude and gain more success in the organization.
Significant threats that I face in my professional career includes a dynamic work environment that is culturally diverse which challenges my ability to address conflicting situations. The inability to manage personal relations is another threat that I need to overcome. The organization with its large and diverse workforce also leads to a high competition among employees. Technological changes are another threat I face as I constantly need to be aware and have understanding of new technologies relevant to the organization and how they need to be used (Jiang et al., 2018).
From the perspective of the management, I am at a favorable position to take upon the roles of a manager as I have strong management aptitudes.
Questions that can be asked in my SWOT analysis include:
(Jiang et al., 2018; Phadermrod et al., 2016; Rangkuti, 2018)
Workplace diversity can be both strength as well as a weakness for an organization. A diverse workplace can be more challenging to manage, and can lead to stress among the management. However, a diverse workplace also helps to instill the values of respect and teamwork and can support the management to develop creativity and innovation in the workplace (Guillaume et al., 2017; Bond & Haynes, 2014).
Focusing on diversity is a significant opportunity for the organization since it can help to instill the values of mutual respect and collaboration between the employees. This can also help to develop the reputation of the organization and help to attract and retain skilled workers. However it should also be noted that a diverse workplace can also increase the chances of interpersonal conflicts which can adversely affect the productivity of the employees and thus pose a threat to the management (Kim et al., 2015).
In SA Water, the management has been able to attract and retain experienced employees through its workplace diversity policies. This has also helped to develop a culture of respect and team work which helped to develop amiable relations with the employees and have greatly supported the organizational growth and success.
Understanding workplace diversity have helped me to understand how effective interpersonal relations, diversity in culture and professional skills and team coordination are important to organizational performance. This helped me to acquire strategies that can be used to foster the development and maintenance of a diversified workplace and help me function as a more efficient manager (Morris, 2015; de Aquino & Robertson, 2017).
Based on the analysis above, I can say that I am well fitted to be a part of SA Water, as my own strengths and skills are aligned to the values of the organization and can help me to take care of my responsibilities with great efficacy. My interest to learn new things and ability to show kindness, zest and humor have helped me to gain trust and respect from others and this can help me to support organizational goals and values. I believe that such factors can prove to an asset for the organization and I can lead the workforce towards further success and growth (Jiang et al., 2018).
Considering that my abilities are well fitted to partake in the management of SA Water with efficiency and efficacy, I believe that it can support a long term relation with the organization in a mutually beneficial way as I can gain experience working here and help the organization address the challenges in the management of the diverse workforce thereby helping the organization to grow. I also believe that with the long term association with the organization, I can be able to rise up to a senior managerial and maybe even a leadership position within the organization (Guillaume et al., 2017).
Conclusion:
SA Water is a large organization that has a very diverse workforce. The organizational polices strongly support this diversified culture that is based on the values of innovation, genuineness and safety. Through my self assessment and personal SWOT analysis, I was able to identify the abilities that can prove to be of significant importance to the organization and how they can be used to achieve excellence in the workforce. This I am of the opinion that my unique skills and capabilities are a perfect fit for SA Water which can help me to achieve both professional success and also help the organization to grow further.
References:
Bond, M. A., & Haynes, M. C. (2014). Workplace diversity: A social–ecological framework and policy implications. Social Issues and Policy Review, 8(1), 167-201.
Bull, J. W., Jobstvogt, N., Böhnke-Henrichs, A., Mascarenhas, A., Sitas, N., Baulcomb, C., … & Carter-Silk, E. (2016). Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A SWOT analysis of the ecosystem services framework. Ecosystem Services, 17, 99-111.
de Aquino, C. T. E., & Robertson, R. W. (Eds.). (2017). Diversity and Inclusion in the Global Workplace: Aligning Initiatives with Strategic Business Goals. Springer.
globalleadershipfoundation.com. (2018). Emotional Intelligence Test – Global Leadership Foundation. Retrieved from https://globalleadershipfoundation.com/geit/eitest.html
Guillaume, Y. R., Dawson, J. F., Otaye?Ebede, L., Woods, S. A., & West, M. A. (2017). Harnessing demographic differences in organizations: What moderates the effects of workplace diversity?. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(2), 276-303.
humanmetrics.com. (2018). Personality test based on C. Jung and I. Briggs Myers type theory. Retrieved from https://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
Jiang, R., Mao, C., Hou, L., Wu, C., & Tan, J. (2018). A SWOT analysis for promoting off-site construction under the backdrop of China’s new urbanisation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 173, 225-234.
Kelloway, E. K., & Gilbert, S. (2017). Does It Matter Who Leads Us?: The Study of Organizational Leadership. An Introduction to Work and Organizational Psychology: An International Perspective, 192-211.
Kim, H. K., Lee, U. H., & Kim, Y. H. (2015). The effect of workplace diversity management in a highly male-dominated culture. Career Development International, 20(3), 259-272.
Mishra, A. S. (2018). Organizational Leadership in Changing Times. Effective Executive, 21(2), 5-6.
Morris, K. (2015). Diversity to Inclusion: Expanding Workplace Capability Thinking around Aboriginal Career Progression. Commission for International Adult Education.
Phadermrod, B., Crowder, R. M., & Wills, G. B. (2016). Importance-performance analysis based SWOT analysis. International Journal of Information Management.
Rangkuti, F. (2015). Personal SWOT analysis. Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
sawater.com.au. (2018). SA Water. Retrieved from https://www.sawater.com.au/
viacharacter.org. (2018). Character Strengths Survey, Character Test: VIA Character. Retrieved from https://www.viacharacter.org/www/Character-Strengths-Survey
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