The Following Are the Implicit Assumptions Made by Ned Wicker

The following are the implicit assumptions made by Ned Wicker – i. ii.

iii.

iv.

The Monday morning meetings seemed to last longer and in his view soon consume the entire day, a luxury he felt the department could not afford. He also had a nagging feeling that, as the department’s manager, he needed to be better prepared at the Monday meeting to discuss the merits of the RFPs in order to assist the group in reaching the soundest decisions possible. He thought to have answers ready might speed up group decisions on Mondays, and it will be in a manner which would not allow his opinions to directly influence members of the group. In the review meetings the analysts were holding back their ideas and technical judgment, both of which Ned knew were crucial to arriving at the soundest bid/no bid decisions. The following are the implicit assumptions made by the analysts –

i. ii. iii.

The analysts felt that their opinions were not considered while deciding on the proposals. The analysts’ efforts were not appreciated on the earlier two won contracts. The analysts will not have scope for growth if Ned Wicker overtook all the Monday morning meetings.

2. Describe Ned Wicker’s group as a subculture within Graubart Electronics. How does the subculture of the group constrain communication? Organisational Subculture – While the culture of an organization is representative of the company as a whole, many smaller subcultures also exist within this structure. Organisational subculture are pockets or segments of culture which (while reflecting the dominant aspects of the main culture) show different customs, norms, and values, due to differences in geographical areas or (within an organization) departmental goals and job requirements. Each individual subculture has its own unique set of characteristics making it distinguishable from the other subcultures, but together, they still operate as a whole striving for the same overall goals.

Ned Wicker’s group as a subculture – Ned had 7 different people under him. These people were hired by him and all were highly qualified as system’s analyst. By scrutinizing everyone’s background we can establish facts about the individuals to help us classify them into sub-cultures. Knowing the different sub-cultures will allow better management and communication specific to the sub-groups present.

Managers will be able to plan approach and strategies that will be suitable to the sub-cultures present in the department. In Ned’s department, aside from the usual demographics such as age, gender and race, the more important facts to consider are the experience and knowledge of individuals. Knowing these facts will provide Ned with better insight in handling his people.