تجديد الخطاب الدينى فى مصر

بالعقل كده:
عشان ماتضحكوش على الناس وعلى نفسكم (لو صدقتوا اللى بتقولوه) هو مين بالضبط اللى حيطور الخطاب الدينى؟ مشيخة وجامعة الأزهر ولا وزارة الأوقاف ولا كلهم مع بعض؟
طيب اسمحولى بسؤال ساذج لو جاوبتوا عليه يبقى يمكن فيه أمل: الناس اللى بيقعدوا ورا المقرئ اللى بيقعدوا ورا القرآن فى الراديو (يعنى من الإذاعة المصرية الرسمية) زى الكورس اللى ورا المطرب يشجعون ويستحسنون ويقولون الله والله يفتح عليك عمال على بطال حتى لو كان المقرئ يرتل آيات العذاب وهول يوم القيامة وجهنم والعياذ بال...له.

والأكثر من 45 ألف زاوية بكل حارة وشارع وتحت المنازل وفى الشقق ويرفع منها الآذان من قبل أناس لايعرفون الفرق بين القاف والكاف ولا الصاد ولا السين ( يعنى الآذان بيرفع غلط أصلا) ثم يؤم المصلين فيها أى عابر سبيل يخطئ فى قراءة المعوذتين.
إذا كنتم كلكم ووراكم الدولة بكل أجهزتها العسكرية والشرطية عاجزين عن منع هذا التهريج والسيرك الدينى الذى يعرض ألعابه 5 مرات كل يوم ويخصص يوم الجمعة لليلة الكبيرة، يبقى ممكن حد عنده شوية عقل ممكن يصدق إنكم مؤهلين لمهمة تطوير الخطاب الدينى؟

التطوير وإرادة الحياة

نصف قرن من العمل العام حاولت خلالها أن أحلق فوق أى مكان أعمل به أو أزوره بجناحين: العلم والخبرة العملية .. ألتقى بكم هنا كل أسبوع مرة فى محاولة للتحريض على التفكير فى أمور حياتية من خلال مواقف تعرضت لها وتعلمت منها.

التطوير .. وإرادة الحياة

أى عملية تطوير تعنى بالضرورة محاولة تغيير وضع قائم إلى وضع أفضل، وهى بهذا المعنى تمرد على التسليم بالأمر الواقع وقبوله على أنه أحسن مايمكن، وبالتالى رفض التعلل بأسباب الظروف والملابسات والمواءمات التى تتخذ فى كثير من الأحيان حججا تجهض التطوير أو تعرقل انطلاقه .. التطوير الجيد بطبيعته مثل مرآة للواقع يرى فيها الناس أخطاءهم بوضوح ويرون نتائج أعمالهم ومايترتب عليها من نتائج يمكن أن تكون ضارة للغير او للمؤسسات التى يعملون بها ، ومن هنا فهو يمثل تهديدا للمراكز التى كونوها بفعل الزمن، والمزايا التى اكتسبوها، ومعظمها يكون بغير وجه حق لأنهم اقتنصوها بسبب وجودهم فى المكان المناسب فى الوقت المناسب وليس لأنهم يستحقونها عن علم أو خبرة أو بالتحالفات التى تكونت للدفاع عن تلك المراكز .. والتطوير يمثل كذلك عبئا على "تنابلة السلطان" الذين يأكلون ويشربون وتلتقط صورهم بجانبه، ثم يذهبون للنوم وهم يظنون أنهم قد حققوا إنجازات رائعة، وحين يستيقظون يظلوا يسبحون بحمد السلطان فى حلقات ذكر جماعية أو فى عزف منفرد ثم يروحون مرة أخرى فى غيبوبة استعدادا ليوم جديد من النفاق والمداهنة "والبهللة" قانعين بأن يكونوا أصفارا، رافضين لأى تكليف ذا قيمة يتطلب عملا ومجهودا أو حتى تفكير.

عرضت مرة إطارا عاما لخطة تطوير – لاحظ أنى اقول إطارا عاما للخطة وليس الخطة نفسها بتفاصيلها- على أعلى سلطة اتخاذ قرار فى مؤسسة عريقة واستغرق العرض أقل من ساعة .. كان العرض بسيطا واضحا بلغة سهلة لاتحتمل أى تأويل ولا يرصعها تعبيرات علمية معقدة، وطلبت فى آخر العرض رأى من حضروا، وشجعتهم على طرح الأسئلة ولكن أحدا مهم لم ينطق لا بتعليق ولا بسؤال، ولكنى حين تحاورت مع رئيس المؤسسة عن انطباعاته فوجئت به يضحك قائلا أن البعض لم يفهم كلمة مما قلت وأنهم ذهبوا إليه ليعاتبوه على السماح لى بهذا الوقت قائلين "منك لله".. بديهى أن هؤلاء سوف يتربصون بأى خطة تطوير ويتحينون الفرص لإثبات عجز من تجرأ وأزعجهم "بهز" المركب التى يجلسون على حافتها من كل الجوانب يحيطون بالربان ويرصدون بالساعة ماتم إنجازه ويشككون فى النوايا ويتفاخرون بأنهم كانوا على حق حين رفضوا فكرة التطوير من الأساس.

قارن ذلك بمجموعة أخرى متحفزة للتغيير، غير راضية عن الأمر الواقع، ومتمردة على النمط الذى تدار به المؤسسة التى ينتمون إليها، وغيورين على إسم المؤسسة وسمعتها وتاريخها، تزاحموا لكى يحضروا لقاءا مماثلا عرضت فيه نتائج مرحلة من مراحل خطة مكتملة للتطوير فى نفس الوقت الذى قضيته لعرض الإطار العام على للمشروع على المجموعة الأولى من ذوات "المكالم" (جمع مكلمة) وكان المفروض طبقا لأجندة الإجتماع أن تكون الأسئلة والإقتراحات – إن وجدت – فى حدود نفس مدة عرض الخطة أى ساعة فإذا بالإجتماع يمتد لساعتين أخريين طرحت فيها أفكار واقترحت مسارات واتخذت مبادرات كلها تصب فى اتجاه التطوير والتغيير لكى تصبح المؤسسة جاهزة لمواجهة التحديات الهائلة وملاحقة التغيير المتسارع فى الشارع المصرى بعد ثورة 25 يناير.

الفرق بين الحضور فى المناسبتين فى نظرى يتلخص فى أمرين محددين هما مستوى الولاء للمؤسسة، ودرجة الوعى بالمصلحة العامة وتغليبها على المصلحة الشخصية..مجموعة تهرب من مرارة الواقع الذى ساهموا فى صنعه بحقن أنفسهم بمخدر أحلام اليقظة الذى يجمل الواقع، ومجموعة تصر على البقاء متيقظة لمواجهة الخطر بالتفكير الواعى فى وسائل تغيير هذا الواقع .. مجموعة تظن أن الصراخ والعويل سوف يخيف شيطان الفشل ويصرفه، ومجموعة تعلم أن ذلك سوف لايصرف الشيطان بل سيغريه باستدعاء أنصاره لكى يشتركوا فى حفلات "الزار الخطابى" يحمس المشتركين فى حلقة الزار ويجعهلهم يتمايلون فى هستيريا تتصاعد تدريجيا كلما زاد الصراخ ويبقى على حالة الغيبوبه والغياب عن الواقع، يلعبون دور "الملقن" يذكر الممثلين على خشبة المسرح  بما نسوه ويعيدهم إلى النص إذا خرجوا عنه .

الخطة الجهنمية "لعدم تحرير المرأة"

حدثتكم بالأمس عن مؤامرات تقسيم العالم العربى وكيف أنها ترجع إلى بداية القرن العشرين وليست وليدة تلك الأيام كما نظن .. واليوم أكلمكم عن الخطة الجهنمية لاختراق القيم والمثل والثوابت المجتمعية التى تقوم عليها ثقافتنا وتشكل مواقفنا.
استهدف اليهود وكل من يناصر الصهيونية ويدعم جهودها لارساء دعائم دولتهم في وسط العالم العربى الأسرة وخططوا لتفكيكها من خلال "إغواء" ربة الأسرة التى هى عماد تربية الأبناء.
...إجتمع حكماء اليهود والصهاينة في بازل بسويسرا ووضعوا خطتهم الشيطانية في بروتوكول اشتهر باسم "برتوكول حكماء صهيون" (هم ينكرون باستمرار وجوده ولكنه حقيقة وقد حققته علميا وأنا اعد للحصول على ماجستير الإعلام ) وضمنوه خطتهم للسيطرة على العالم كله من خلال التغلغل والسيطرة على الإعلام وأسواق المال وترويج الإباحية وإشاعة التحلل من القيم والأخلاق وتسهيل الرذيلة.
خصصوا جزءا كبيرا من بروتوكولاتهم للمرأة وكيفية استغلالها في تنفيذ مخططهم من خلال:
* إشاعة وترسيخ مفهوم أن المرأة مستضعفة ومضطهدة من الرجال
* وأنها لابد وأن تحارب لكى تسترد حقوقها التى ضاعت
* وأن المساواة التامة مع الرجل "في كل شيئ" هى السبيل إلى ذلك
* ولابد من تغيير القوانين التى تمنع أو تحد من تلك تحويل المساواة إلى واقع ملموس.
* أن تنشغل المرأة بنفسها وبقضاياها طول الوقت وتأتى الأسرة وتربية الأبناء في مرتبة تالية
* نشر صرعات الموضه في الملابس وأنماط السلوك "العصرى" في الغرب من ارتياد أماكن بعينها والتدخين والتحلل تدريجيا من كل مايذكرها والترويج لموديل المرأة الغربية في معاملتها للرجل واستقلالها وحقها في أقامة علاقات خارج مؤسسة الزواج.
* ترسيخ احساس الأبناء بحريتهم دون التقيد بتقاليد معينة وحقهم في اللجوء إلى القضاء لانتزاع حقوقهم من الآباء.
* كثرة المؤتمرات التى يدعون إليها الشخصيات المؤثرة في المجتمع ونشر كل تلك المبادئ بطريقة ممنهجة منظمة.
* توسيع مفهوم "الزواج" لكى لايقتصر على الشكل التقليدى الذى تتبناه الأديان المختلفة.
(هناك الكثير غير ذلك ولكن المجال هنا لايسمح بالمناقشة لما هو أكثر من ذلك)
تفتكروا نجحوا فيما خططوا له منذ أكثر من قرن من الزمان؟

حديث مع البواب .. وأشياء أخرى

قصة البوابين فى مصر نموذج لسيطرة العواطف على العقل فى التعامل مع الناس، وحسن النوايا التى كثيرا ماتفسد اكثر مما تصلح وتخلق مشاكل كان يمكن تجنبها أو تزيدها تعقيدا بدلا من أن تجد لها حلولا .. أغرت وظيفة البواب فى مصر الملايين من أبناء الريف والصعيد والنوبة أن يهاجروا إلى عواصم الأقاليم فى مصر وبتركيز شديد على القاهرة والإسكندرية حيث توفر الوظيفة سكنا متواضعا للبواب وأسرته يتوافر بها المرافق الأساسية اللازمة ومرتب معقول وإكراميات من السكان أو الملاك فى المناسبات والأعياد تعينه على العيش .. المشكلة أن ضمان ذلك لايمثل حافزا للبواب أن ينظم حياته ويخطط لها على قدر إمكاناته، وإنما يظل يعيش بنفس نمط الحياة التى يميزها العشوائية والإتكالية، وبدلا من أن يمثل ماحققه من استقرار نسبى فى قيامه بعمله وإخلاصه فيه يركن إلى الكسل والتراخى حتى فيما يتقاضى عليه أجرا إضافيا نظير تنظيف السيارات مثلا .. ولأن الملاك منشغلون بامورهم الخاصة ويركزون – طبقا للثقافة العامة السائدة فى مصر – على مصالحهم فقط فإنهم يتجاوزون فى كثير من الأحيان عن محاسبة البوابين الذين لايؤدون العمل الذي يتقاضون عنه أجرا، وبالتدريج يصبح البواب جزءا هاما من الحياة اليومية لساكنى وملاك أى عقار ويبدأ فى التخطيط لتحقيق أقصى فائدة من وجوده معهم وتزداد مطالبه تدريجيا فى سكن أكبر بعد أن تضاعف عدد أبنائه ويضيق بهم المكان، ويبدأ فى بناء منزل بقريته لايستخدمه ويؤجره ، ويبدأ مشروع تاكسى بشراء سيارة قديمه ثم يغيرها بعد أن تتوافر له الإمكانات، ويشترى موبايل يدير به أعماله الخاصة بعد أن ينخرط فى سلك سمسرة العقارات والسيارات، ويختفى تدريجيا من العقار الذى يعمل به ويترك زوجته أو أحد ابنائه لقضاء حاجات السكان حتى يعتادوا على ذلك النمط الجديد من التعامل ويتقبلوه .. بمعنى آخر يصبح البواب بالتدريج هو "مدير العقار" بدلا من ملاكه أو ساكنيه ولايستطيع أحد أن يتخلص منه أو حتى استبداله بغيره دون مشاكل .. فى نقاش لى مع بواب العقار الذى يقع به مكتبى حول كثرة اختفائه طوال النهاروبالذات بعد أن  قام الملاك ببناء حجرة إضافيه فى جراج العقار لسيادته على نفقتهم الخاصة ففوجئت به يقول : " ستة أطفال وأنا وأمهم، هل يمكن أن يعيشوا فى حجرة واحدة؟ إحسبها سيادتك بقى."  ولم أتمالك نفسى طبعا من الرد قائلا: " واحسبها أنا ليه ؟ هو أنا اللى خلفتهم" .. بهذا المنطق من عشوائية التفكير تفسد النخبة بسطاء الناس والعوام بدلا من ترشيدهم وتوعيتهم واستغلال حاجاتهم لكى ينظموا حياتهم وربط المساعدات التى نقدمها لهم بالتزامهم فى أداء أعمالهم وإخلاصهم واحترامهم لتلك الأعمال.

حادث عابر أطلق العنان لتفكيرى وخاطب فضول الباحث داخلى لعقد مقارنة بين أسلوبنا فى الشرق فى تربية أبنائنا وبين أسلوب الآباء والأمهات فى الغرب، وانعكاس ذلك على تكوين شخصية الأبناء وعلاقتهم بوالديهم .. الوالدين فى الغرب يعودون الأطفال مبكرا على الإعتماد على أنفسهم، ويضعون حدودا واضحة لالتزاماتهم تجاههم من توفير الحاجات الأساسية من مأكل وملبس وتعليم حتى مرحلة معينة طبقا لإمكانات كل أسرة بالتعليم الجامعى مكلف جدا عندهم لمن لايحصلون على منح التفوق ، ويعدون أبناءهم لقبول وظائف بسيطة أثناء عطلاتهم الصيفية للصرف على أنفسهم وتوفير باقى احتياجاتهم او لتغطية نفقات الترفيه عن أنفسهم .. يصارح الأباء أبناءهم بحقيقة أمكاناتهم المادية ويعودون الأبناء على سماع كلمة "لا" لكثير من الطلبات التى يعجز الوالدين عن توفيرها، وبهذا ينشأ الأبناء ممتني شاكرين لوالديهم ماتحملوه من أجلهم ويستتبع ذلك بالضرورة إحساسهم أنه مدينين لهم بالفضل فى تربيتهم وتنشأتهم وتعليمهم فلا يتركون مناسبة تمر لمجاملتهم أو الإحتفال بهم أو شراء هدايا بسيطة تعبر عن هذا العرفان بالجميل.

أما نحن فنحيط أبناءنا بكل الرعاية والحماية فى كل مراحل عمرهم ، نخفى عنهم الأخبار السيئة، ونوفر لهم "كل" مايطمحون فى تنفيذه وأحيانا دون أن يطلبوا أو قبل أن يطلبوا، ونعطيهم إحساسا زائفا بأننا لانعجز عن توفير شيئ يريدونه مما يرفع سقف توقعاتهم باستمرار ويعطيهم إحساسا زائفا بأننا لم نقدم لهم كل ماكان يمكن أن نقدمه .. الآباء فى الشرق يتحولون إلى "مشروع" بالنسبة للأبناء ووسيلة لبلوغ أهدافهم فى الحياة ويعتبرونهم مايقدمه الآباء واجبا وضرورة ومن ثم فإنهم غير مدينين لهم بشيئ .. الأبناء عندنا يتعجلون الإستقلال ولكن على حساب الآباء ولايجدون غضاضة فى تحميلهم مسئولية تربية الأحفاد والعناية بهم ويظلون يلجأون إليهم فى حل مشكلاتهم المالية والإجتماعية حتى بعد أن يتزوجوا ويستقلوا بحياتهم، وحين يتحثون عن نجاحاتهم فنادرا مايأتى ذكر الوالدين كرافد من روافد المعرفة التى أدت إلى هذا النجاح .. ويبدا الأبناء بالتدريج فى نسيان المناسبات السعيدة فى حياة الوالدين أو حتى اختلاقها لتكريمهم وإدخال السعادة على قلوبهم ، وسوف لاأخوض هنا فى أمثلة لجحود الأبناء فذلك مجاله البحث العلمى وليس المقال الصحفى ولكنى أؤكد على الصدمة التى يمنى بها كثير من الآباء فى الشرق من جحود الأبناء ونكرانهم لفضل الآباء والأمهات وتجاهلهم للتعبير عن عرفانهم بالجميل حتى حين تتاح الفرص لذلك وتفاخرهم بأن ماحققوه من نجاحات فى حياتهم إنما مرده إلى مواهبهم وجهدهم الشخصى وحده.

 

المصلون رهائن ,, والمتسولون برخصة؟!

ظاهرتان أعتبرهما قمة التخلف فى مصر، يشينون حاضرها وينسفون أى إدعاء بتحسن الأحوال الإقتصادية والإجتماعية فيها .. الظاهرة الأولى موجودة وتتزايد وتنتشر إنتشارا سرطانيا أصبح يتطلب التدخل الجراحى بالبتر وتسهم فى زيادة تخلف الناس وجهلهم ويقوم بها مجموعات ذوى هدف واحد ومصلحة شخصية عليا وتستميت لكى تصبح الظاهرة أمرا واقعا يستحيل تغييره ويستغلون الفوضى الدينية التى نعيشها وغياب أى جهة مسئولة تنظم وتحاسب وتضبط رغم وجود وزارة للأوقاف المفوض أن تتبعها كل مساجد مصر وزواياها ولكنها يعمها الفساد والتناحر بين قياداتها الذين – لو صح مايتداول عنهم لوجب أن يحجز لهم عنبر كامل فى طره على غرار أمثالهم من المنحرفين والأفاقين ومدعى التدين - وانحسار دور الأزهر وكفاحه المجيد والشرس لكى يظل مجرد رمز وشعار يرفعه أهله للتباهى بتاريخه وعلمائه دون أن يكون له دور فعلى فى ضبط إيقاع ومسار الإسلام ومايمارس باسمه فى مصر على أرض الواقع ويكتفى بين الحين والحين بإصدار بيان أو إعلان موقف من قضية هامشية مطروحة، إلى جانب المجاملات التقليدية فى الأعياد والمناسبات الدينية وينتهى الأمر عند هذا الحد. 

المجموعات التى أتحدث عنها من "مختطفى المصلين" هم من الجهال وأنصاف المتعلمين وبعض موظفى المساجد من أئمة ومقيمى شعائر يحتلون المساجد والزوايا باتفاق ودى بينهم لاتعلم عنه وزارة الأوقاف شيئا، ويستغلون المناسبات الدينية مثل شهر رمضان ليكثفوا وجودهم بتنظيم وتقسيم للعمل بينهم ويمثلون إرهابا للمصلين الذين يؤخذون رهائن لاضطرارهم للذهاب إلى تلك المساجد لأداء شعائرهم .. أدواتهم فى الإرهاب الدينى أن يظلوا يصرخون هستيريا فى الميكروفونات المنتشرة على أسطح العمارات وفى الشوارع المحيطة بتلك المساجد والزوايا ليل نهار بكلام غث سطحى ساذج لايفيد الناس شيئا ويبتدعون أفعالا وأقوالا لاتمت للإسلام الصحيح بصلة مثل الخطبة التى يلقيها أحدهم بين ركعات التراويح والقصائد الدينية فى مدح الرسول .. كل همهم أن يبقوا المصلين "محتجزين" لايفرجون عنهم لأطول مدة ممكنة بينما يتبادلون الأدوار ويتفننون فى إجهادهم نظير مكافآت يحصلون عليها من صناديق الزكاة بتلك المساجد والجمعيات الخيرية التى من المفروض أن تصرف ماتجمعه من اموال على الفقراء والمساكين ومستحقى الزكاة .. لقد صعقت حين عرفت أن أحد هؤلاء يؤم المصلين نصف الوقت ويتقاضى 6000 جنيه من المسجد أى عن 30 ساعة عمل بافتراض أنه يؤم الناس ساعة كل يوم خلال شهر رمضان، أى أن ساعة سيادته بمائتى جنيه مثله مثل أى خبير عالمى فى أى فرع من فروع العلم .. واللافت للنظر أن أئمة المساجد المعينين من قبل وزارة الأوقاف يختفون أثناء رمضان ليظهروا فى مساجد أخرى نظير مكافأة ويتركون مساجدهم لغيرهم فى إطار خطة متفق عليها كما قلت لتبادل المنفعة ويقال أن ذلك يتم بالإتفاق مع مديرى الأوقاف الموزعين من قبل وزارة الأوقاف على الأحياء نظيرحصولهم على جزء من الكعكة ويقال أن بعضهم يتقاضى رواتب شهرية من الأئمة لكى يخصصوا لهم كبرى المساجد ذات الموارد المجزية حيث أن هؤلاء الأمة يتقاضون كذلك رواتب من تلك المساج إلى جانب رواتبهم من وزارة الأوقاف.. إلى هذا الحد بلغ الفساد فى الوزارة المسئولة عن الدين فى مصر والتى ينبغى أن يحيل النائب العام المسئولين فيها للتحقيق إذا لم يبادر الوزير الجديد بذلك من تلقاء نفسه.

الظاهرة الثانية هى جيوش جامعى القمامة اللذين يقطعون الطريق على كل رائح وغاد يحملون مقشات ويجرون عربات لايفعلون بها شيئا ويرتدون زيا عليه إسم الجهة التى يتبعونها وهى إما "هيئة نظافة القاهرة" أو أحد الشركات الخاصة التى تعاقدت معها الحكومة .. هؤلاء تحولوا إلى متسولين برخصة ويزداد عددهم ويتكاثرون دون أن يلفت ذلك نظر المسئولين عنهم فيتدخل ليمنع تلك المهزلة التى تسيئ إلى سمعة مصر واسمها وتنغض على الناس حياتها وتمثل إهمالا جسيما فى أداء الواجبات الوظيفية فى الإشراف على جيوش من العمال يتقاضون أجورا عن عمل لايؤدونه، ويفضلون عليه التسول والبلطجة وقطع الطريق .. أصبح رمضان والعيد مناسبات لابتزاز الناس والإساءة للإسلام ولشعب بأكمله تسبب فيه عدم أداء المسئولين عن انتشار تلك الظواهر المسيئة لعملهم وعدم تعرضهم لأى حساب أو جزاء واستمرارهم فى أعمالهم وتقاضيهم رواتبا لايستحقونها.

سوف أعتبر ذلك رسالة موجهة لرئيس وزراء مصر الذى يعلم صحة ماأقول من واقع معايشته للناس فى الشارع وذلك شيء يحسب له، وبلاغ للنائب العام للتحقيق مع المسئولين فى الجهتين: مديريات الأوقاف التابعة لوزارة الأوقاف والذين تتبعهم المساجد فى الأسس التى يتم على أساسها تعيين الدعاة أو "تدويرهم" بين المساجد والمؤهلات المطلوب توافرها فيهم، وعما إذا كانوا جميعا موظفون يتبعون وزارة الأوقاف ونظام الأجور والمكافآت التى تصرف لهم نظير عملهم ونوع الرقابة التى تمارسه تلك المديريات على أداء تلك المساجد، ثم المسئولين بهيئة نظافة القاهرة وهى الجهة المسئولة عن جامعى القمامة الذين تحولوا إلى متسولين يلبسون زى الهيئة ويستغلون الأدوات التى تصرفها لهم لقطع الطريق على المارة للتسول وليس لأداء عملهم ، وعما إذا كان هؤلاء معينون بالهيئة على كوادر وظيفية ونوع الرقابة المفروضة على أدائهم لعملهم والوسائل المتبعة لتوقيع الجزاء على المخالفين وذلك حتى لاتتحول مصر تدريجيا إلى "مشحتة" كبيرة تسيء إلى شعب بأكمله.

خواطر مصرى يصدمه الواقع

والواقع الذي يصدمني لا يقتصر علي السياسة وحدها وقد رأيت ورأي جيلي فيها مسارح ولاعبين بعضهم أمين مخلص صاحب مبادئ وكثير منهم «مسجلون خطر» نصب وتحايل علي الجماهير، وإنما يمتد ليشمل نواحي أخري من حياتنا في مصر تنعكس علي سلوكنا وطريقة تفكيرنا وقيمنا التي أصابتها الشيخوخة فلم يعد يتمسك بها سوي العواجيز من أمثالي.

< حين نتحدث مستقبلاً عن «أمن مصر القومي» أرجو ألا يغيب عن الأذهان كيف أن جهة ما استطاعت أن تعبر الحدود تاركة خلفها 15 قتيلاً وسبعة جرحي وتسرق أسلحتهم لتعود بها حيث تستكمل إسرائيل باقي الفيلم وتقوم بدور البطل الذي يطارد الجناة ويقتل بعضهم.. أما آن الأوان لكي نفكر في حلول غير تقليدية تمكننا من تعمير سيناء بتسكينها وتمليك أرضها مجاناً للشباب، أو حتي بالتهجير القصري لسكان العشوائيات، بهذا نقضي علي العشوائيات ونشكل مع المصريين دروعاً بشرية تحمي بوابة مصر الشرقية وتصد مؤامرات احتلال سيناء وترويع شعب مصر التي لن تتوقف طالما ظل علي الناحية الأخري من حدودنا عدو فاجر وحلفاء خونة أكثر فجراً.
< مدينة زويل للعلوم أصبحت واقعاً يجمع خيرة علماء مصر والخارج في صرح علمي يتوقف عليه مستقبل مصر كله.. إذن مصر سوف تصبح يوماً ما قبلة يتوجه إليها العالم ويربط اسمها بأحدث الاكتشافات العلمية التي لا تفيد مصر وحدها وإنما البشرية بأسرها.. لذلك حين أحضر أي منتدي أو اجتماع داخل مصر وأطرح رأي العلم علي شكل أفكار أحرص دائماً أن تكون قابلة للتطبيق تراعي الظروف والإمكانات المتاحة ثم يخرج علي من يقول «ده كلام نظري أكاديمي»، فإني أجاهد لكي أمنع نفسي من ألا أقوم بفعل يضعني تحت طائلة القانون، اهتديت أخيراً إلي حل أتبعه مع مثل هؤلاء المتنطعين في كل منتدي الذين يرون دورهم مقصوراً علي إلقاء خطبة أو الاعتراض دون أن يعرضوا بدائل لما يعرض عليهم.. أسأل من يقول ذلك منهم سؤالاً بسيطاً غبياً يتناسب مع قدراته العقلية وخبرته الضئيلة: «وسيادتك عرفت منين إنه كلام نظري أو أكاديمي»، وأصبحت استمتع بنظرات الضياع والارتباك علي وجه من أسأله هذا السؤال فهي أو هو يعلم أنه لكي يجيب لابد وأن يشير إلي مرجعية علمية تتناسب مع الموضوع المطروح، وحين لا يكون لدي أي منهما تلك المرجعية يصبح الصمت أكثر احتراماً للنفس وستراً للجهل.
< هناك فرق بين «أدب الحوار» و«أدب الحمار»، في الأولي يكون الكلام هو أداة الحوار حيث تطرح الأفكار وينصت كل طرف للآخر باهتمام ثم يطرح فكرة ويوافق أو يعترض موضحاً الأسباب ثم يقنع أو يقتنع، أما الثانية فأداة الحوار فيها «النهيق» حيث الكل يتكلم ولا أحد يسمع أحداً، وتتعالي الأصواق وتتداخل، وتكثر محاولات فرض الرأي علي الآخرين، وكثيراً ما ينتج عنها عداوات تستمر حتي بعد انتهاء النقاش بفترات قد تطول.. في الأولي الكل يكسب فهناك هدف من وراء الحوار والمشاعر إيجابية بناءة تهدف للتوافق والانجاز والعمل معاً بروح الفريق، أما الثانية فهي معركة لإثبات الوجود وفرض الإرادة والاستعداء والكسب الشخصي ورفض الآخر والسفسطة بلا هدف.. هل وصلت الرسالة؟
< تشكل الإنذارات المركبة علي السيارات جزءاً مهماً من «التلوث السمعي» في الشارع المصري تتفوق فيه علي بائعي أنابيب الغاز والكلاكسات بلا سبب وأغاني وسائل النقل التي هي عبارة عن «نعوش طائرة» تجري علي عجلات، ولا يفوقها في التلوث سوي ميكروفونات الزوايا التي انتشرت كالسرطان في وسط الكتل السكنية، بعض تلك الإنذارات ضبطها أصحابها علي أعلي درجة حساسية بحيث تنطلق لو مر بجانبها سيارة أو لمسها أحد مجرد لمس، وتري الشارع طوال النهار والليل تنطلق منه تلك الأصوات النشاز في إصرار وعناد يحرض حتي العقلاء من أمثالي علي أن ينزلوا إلي الشارع فيفرغوا غضبهم في تكسير السيارات التي تصدر منها تلك الأصوات ليل نهار فتحرم الناس من الراحة وتشتت تفكيرهم وتمنعهم من التركيز في أعمالهم.. أغرب ما في الأمر أنه حين ينطلق الإنذار من سيارة فالمفروض أن يهب صاحبها مسرعاً لضبط من يحاول أن يسرق سيارته، ولكنك تفاجأ أن أحداً لا يفعل ذلك مهما تكرر الإنذار.. وحين أثار ذلك فضولي كباحث ورحت أتقصي سمعت أغرب رد يمكن أن يخطر علي بال أحد إذ قال لي صاحب سيارة من تلك «حين أسمع الإنذار أطمئن أن السيارة لم تسرق».. ولا تعليق!
< المظهر المذري لبعثتنا في الأوليمبياد جريمة مكتملة الأركان لتشويه اسم مصر في العالم بين الدول المشتركة في الأوليمبياد والمليارات من المشاهدين لحفل الافتتاح.. والصفعة التي وجهتها إلينا الشركة العالمية صاحبة العلامة الشهيرة التي دافعت عن اسمها ورفضت أن ترتدي فرقنا ملابس «مضروبة» تقلد علامتها وتبرعها لهم بأطقم الملابس مجاناً درس ينبغي أن نعيه ونستوعبه لكي لا نسمح للصوص والمرتزقة أن يستمروا في مناصبهم التي يحتلونها منذ أيام حكم الفساد.. كل البعثات تسابقت في عرض أزياء تعكس ثقافة شعوبها وألوانها المفضلة «ليس بالضرورة لون العلم» وواضح أنهم قد استعانوا بمصممي أزياء انتقوا لهم الأقمشة والألوان والتصاميم.. أما نحن فنصر علي العشوائية ولا نجد حرجاً في تصديرها للخارج علي أنها اختراع مصري!

اقرأ المقال الأصلي علي بوابة الوفد الاليكترونية الوفد - خواطر مصري يصدمه الواقع

جريمة إفساد الذوق العام

من أين أتى إلينا هذا الطوفان الهائل من الفن الهابط الذى نجح إلى حد كبير فى إفساد الذوق العام للناس ، وساعد على انتشار قيم ومبادئ مريضة منحرفة يرددها قطاع كبير من الناس ، والشباب منهم على وجه الخصوص ، ويقلدون سلوكياتها على اعتبار أنها تعبر عن روح جديدة تساعدهم على الهروب من الملل والإحباط والضياع الذى يعيشونه ؟ هل هو إدمان من نوع جديد يغزو عقول بسطاء الناس بالتكرار حتى يعتادوا عليه ، ولا يستطيعون الاستغناء عنه كمخدر يغب الوعى ويسلب الإرادة فيظلوا يرددون كلاما تافها أجوفا مسف يصل بهم أحيانا إلى مرحلة البله والعته فينعكس ذلك على مظهرهم وسلوكهم وتفكيرهم ؟ من هى الجهة التى أزالت كل الحواجز بين من يفتقدون الموهبة والحس وبين خشبات المسرح فتحولت إلى كباريهات مسفة ، أو ميكروفونات الإذاعة والتليفزيون لكى يلوثوا أسماعنا دون استئذان بأصوات نظلم الحمير لو قلنا أنه نهيق ، ونسيئ إلى الكلاب حين نقول أنه نباح ؟ هل يستطيع كل من يملك أو يدبر الإمكانات المادية – ولابد أن يكون الكثير منها غسيلا لأموال قذرة- أن يصنع شريطا ويطرحه للبيع سواء قبل أو بعد أن يسمح له بالصياح " وتسليك " حنجرته المشروخة أمام ميكروفونات أجهزة الأعلام الرسمى فى مصر فيصبح بين يوم وليلة " مقررا " نسمعه مرغمين من مكبرات الصوت وفى المقاهى ووسائل المواصلات ؟ هل ألغيت لجان الاستماع التى كانت مهمتها إجازة الأصوات الجميلة قبل أن يصرح لها بالخروج إلى الناس ، وأين ذهبت الرقابة على المصنفات التى نعلم القانون يلزمها القانون بمنح تراخيص التداول – قبل وليس بعد – تداول المصنف أيا كان نوعه ؟ وإذا صح أن الفضائيات قد ساعدت تلك " السعرة " الغنائية على الانتشار باعتبار أنها تتعامل مع صاحب الأغنية على أنه سلعة إعلانية تتقاضى عنها أجرا مرتفعا يزيد من دخلها ، فهل يصح أن يفعل الإعلام الرسمى للدولة نفس الشيئ ويشترك فى جريمة إفساد الذوق العام للناس نظير أجر يتقاضاه ممن يريد أن " يغنى بفلوسه " ؟ هل صحيح ما يتردد عن أن واحد من هؤلاء المدعين يستطيع أن يذيع أغنياته بأى عدد يريد لو سدد الرسم المقرر لذلك وهو 300 جنيه عن كل مرة نلوث بها أسماع الناس كما جاء فى مقال الأستاذ اسماعيل النقيب فى يومياته بأخبار 24/7 ؟ هل هذا – لو صح – يعد عملا يلتزم بأخلاق المهنة التى تحتم أن يشار إلى المادة الإعلانية على أنها كذلك حتى لاينخدع الناس فى حقيقتها ويظنون أنها مختارة بواسطة الجهاز الذى يروجها وينشرها بين الناس ؟

أعلم أن الرد الجاهز سوف يكون : إن أحدا لا يجبر أحدا على سماع أو مشاهدة مالايحب ، وأن المستمع أو المشاهد يستطيع أن يغير المحطة لو أراد. وهو جدل خائب مسطح يستحق مناقشته فى حلقة من حلقات " على القهوة " الناجحة لجارى فى هذه الصفحة ، خفيف الدم إبراهيم عيسى الذى يفضل أن يناقش مشاكل الشارع المصرى بأسلوب إبن البلد الناقد الذى يستفزك ويجعلك تضحك على نفسك وسلوكياتك ولكنك تظل تحبه وتنتظره لتسمع منه وترى بعينيه المزيد عن أعاجيب الشارع المصرى بكل متناقضاته. إن أصحاب هذا المذهب يكونون كمن يرى فعلا فاضحا على قارعة الطريق فيتظاهر بأنه لم ير شيئا ، وهم أيضا من أنصار أن الغايات تبرر الوسائل : أى أنهم فى سبيل زيادة حصيلة الإذاعة والتليفزيون لايهمهم أن ينشروا عن طريق أجهزتهم تلوثا وسموما سمعية وبصرية تؤذى مشاعر الناس وتفسد أذواقهم كما قلت. وإذا كانت الحجة الثانية البالية المستهلكة هى أن الجمهور عايز كده ، فإننا نقول لهم أنكم إلى جانب كل ماذكرنا فإنكم تتعاطون الكذب وتمارسونه أداة للوى عنق الحقيقة وترويج أفكار ظاهرها الرحمة وباطنها العذاب ، وإلا فما قولهم فى أن أم كلثوم وعبد الوهاب وعبد الحليم ونجاة استطاعوا أن يجعلوا بسطاء الناس يغنون أشعار شوقى ونزار قبانى واحمد رامى وعبد الله الفيصل وصلاح جاهين وعبد الرحمن الأبنودى وكامل الشناوى وأحمد شفيق كامل ، وأنها على امتداد مايزيد عن نصف قرن الآن قد شكلت وجدان الناس ومواقفهم وعانقت أحاسيسهم فى مناسبات فرحهم وحزنهم ووطنيتهم وثورتهم وشجنهم بألحان عبد الوهاب والسنباطى وسيد مكاوى وزكريا أحمد وكمال الطويل والموجى وبليغ ؟ لايمكن أن يكون هناك تبريرا واضحا لما يدعونه من أن أذواق الناس قد تغيرت من النقيض إلى النقيض ، ومن كلمات راقية مرهفة إلى الكلمات الفجة المنتقاة من قاموس السب العلنى، ومن مطرب " يغنى " فيطرب إلى مدع فتوة يدب برجليه ويشوح بيديه "يأمر" المستمعين أن يصفقوا له حتى يستطيع أن " يجعر " على راحته. وإذا كانت الحجة أن غالبية شعبنا من الطبقات الشعبية وأبناء البلد هم المستهدفون من هذه الموجة الجديدة البشعة ، فما رأيهم فى أن هؤلاء أنفسهم هم من استمتعوا بأصوات محمد قنديل ومحمد عبد المطلب وكارم محمود ومحمد فوزى وعبد الغنى السيد ومحمد العزبى الذي يتمسح بهم أصحاب الأصوات النكراء حاليا فيعيدون افتراس أغانيهم الجميلة لعل وعسى أن تكون واسطة تقربهم من المستمعين أصحاب الحس الراقى ممن يتحسرون مثلى على زمن الفن الجميل الذى سكن " بلابله " وجداننا تغرد فتشجينا ، حتى جاءت " الغربان " غازية فى هجمات تتارية مسلحة بأصوات جهورية وعضلات مفتولة ومكبرات صوت عملاقة وأجهزة إعلام ترتزق من راء بيعهم لبضاعتهم الفاسدة .. هربت البلابل وأصبحت ذكريات جميلة نعيشها كلما أردنا أن نهرب من الواقع المر، وعششت الغربان تطل علينا بوجهها القبيح تنعق فى تحالف ووئام مع البوم فتشيع جوا من الكآبة وترفع من معدلات التلوث البيئى الذى يحاصرنا أينما ذهبنا ...!

Managing Transition in TQM

Steps in Managing the Transition
Beckhard and Pritchard (1992) have outlined the basic steps in managing a transition to a new system such as TQM: identifying tasks to be done, creating necessary management structures, developing strategies for building commitment, designing mechanisms to communicate the change, and assigning resources.
Task identification would include a study of present conditions (assessing current reality, as described above); assessing readiness, such as through a force field analysis; creating a model of the desired state, in this case, implementation of TQM; announcing the change goals to the organization; and assigning responsibilities and resources. This final step would include securing outside consultation and training and assigning someone within the organization to oversee the effort. This should be a responsibility of top management. In fact, the next step, designing transition management structures, is also a responsibility of top management. In fact, Cohen and Brand (1993) and Hyde (1992) assert that management must be heavily involved as leaders rather than relying on a separate staff person or function to shepherd the effort. An organization­wide steering committee to oversee the effort may be appropriate. Developing commitment strategies was discussed above in the sections on resistance and on visionary leadership.
To communicate the change, mechanisms beyond existing processes will need to be developed. Special all­staff meetings attended by executives, sometimes designed as input or dialog sessions, may be used to kick off the process, and TQM newsletters may be an effective ongoing communication tool to keep employees aware of activities and accomplishments.
Management of resources for the change effort is important with TQM, because outside consultants will almost always be required. Choose consultants based on their prior relevant experience and their commitment to adapting the process to fit unique organizational needs. While consultants will be invaluable with initial training of staff and TQM system design, employees (management and others) should be actively involved in TQM implementation, perhaps after receiving training in change management which they can then pass on to other employees. A collaborative relationship with consultants and clear role definitions and specification of activities must be established.
Institutionalization of TQM
Ledford (cited in Packard & Reid, 1990) has proposed a model including four processes which are forces which determine whether a change will persist through the phases of institutionalization. These processes are concerned with congruence among these variables: the change (TQM) with the organization, the change with other changes initiated at the time, the change with environmental demands, and with the level of slack resources in the organization. TQM needs to be congruent with the organization's current culture, and with other changes occurring in the organization. In this period of diminishing resources, organizations are likely to be trying to cope, by downsizing or other methods. In some organizations there are increasing demands for quality or client service improvements. Many such changes are likely to be driven by environmental demands, and TQM may be more likely to be successful than at times of less environmental pressure. Unfortunately, the fourth element, slack resources, is less likely to be present: under current conditions, extra resources (money and staff time) are less likely to be easily available. The challenge is to find a way to make the initial investment outlay to start a process which will pay off in the long term.
Institutionalization may also be enhanced by overlaying another, but compatible, change model: the learning organization (Senge, 1990). This involves, at both the micro and systems levels, staff always learning how to do better and management learning how to be more responsive to staff and the community. Leaders help staff develop their own visions and align these with the organization's vision of quality.
Beckhard and Pritchard (1992) emphasized top management commitment to the change, and Cohen and Brand (1993) apply this specifically to TQM by recommending finding and nurturing a core group which is interested in organizational change. They also emphasize the importance of personal leadership and example: managers need to apply TQM in their daily work and to get people to think about and use the concepts and tools. Ongoing monitoring, and action research to make changes as needed, will be required. And, once again, the systems perspective must be noted: TQM must be built into other systems, particularly those involving planning and rewards. Leaders should expect a long term process, including a transition period. They will need to be persistent, using constant reinforcement, for example, through continuous training. Cohen and Brand suggest that TQM should eventually be made an "invisible" part of the organization, permeating all areas and the responsibility of everyone. TQM may be instituted organization­wide or started in one unit or program and then expanded. Diffusion occurs as TQM is spread from its initial application to other units. Dynamics of resistance mentioned earlier will have to be addressed at this stage.
Some Do's and Don'ts
Following are some miscellaneous do's and don'ts which are based on experiences with TQM in the public sector and the human services. Many are drawn from Cohen and Brand (1993), Hyde (1992), and Chaudron (1992).
First, don't "do TQM": a canned approach is likely to be met with skepticism and ultimately fail because it is not adapted to the uniqueness of a particular organization. TQM is particularly susceptible to this phenomenon, because some adherents adopt almost a religious fervor, (they have been described by one observer as "Deming lemmings" (Reid, 1992). "Deming as demigod" is another way this phenomenon has been described: a statement takes on an added aura when prefaced by "Dr. Deming said..." (Chaudron, 1993). Don't copy any particular model but use relevant basic principles such as an emphasis on quality, continuous analysis of tasks to improve performance, and work with suppliers to enable the organization to start with high quality supplies. TQM should be seen as a process, not a program. It should be integrated into ongoing agency operations, and the focus should be on how an organization can better accomplish its goals and objectives. At the tactical level, don't overemphasize techniques such as statistical process control and the use of charts. Focus instead on the systems ­ the analysis and improvement of processes ­ not on statistics or individual variations.
Whereas some large­scale organizational change efforts are often driven by a centralized steering committee or group of executives, in TQM it may be best to not centralize the effort and establish a separate quality management bureaucracy ("qualiticrats", according to Hyde). Don't believe that top management support is necessary at first, as is axiomatic in organization development. While an organization needn't start TQM at the top, successes in particular units or programs should set the stage for diffusion in other directions. Change from below may be appropriate for those at lower levels who want to initiate TQM. It may work best to start TQM with a temporary task force and then hire trainers, expose staff, and hope that managers will be motivated to learn more. People responsible for leading shouldn't devote full time to TQM; they should maintain their regular work as well. Cohen and Brand believe that TQM is best taught by people doing it day to day in their work. Implement it gradually to ensure meaningful culture change, and use frequent feedback to ensure that change isn't just superficial. There is no need for a "grand plan" (a quality council, etc.); just start where the organization is.
Perhaps the most important "do" worth repeating is to involve employees in the decision making process, at whatever stages and levels possible. As a specific aspect of this, advance negotiations and discussions with any unions present should occur. Create "atmosphere of amnesty" (Cohen & Brand, 1993, 202) so workers and managers feel free to share improvement needs. Tell people what the quality standards are so that inspection and review isn't necessary. Emphasize client feedback and both quantitative and qualitative performance tracking. Make sure quality teams have the necessary tools and resources, such as training, facilitation, and time to meet. In large organizations, regional offices in particular will need lots of support in order to keep the process alive and thriving.
Several suggestions may be offered to managers. First, understand the direct service work of your organization. "Management by walking around" is a useful way to stay in touch with direct service workers and their needs. Practice what you preach: use TQM on your own processes. Meet frequently with middle managers regarding their personal efforts to use TQM. Focus on the nature of the work and try to establish in employees' minds excitement about a new way of working. TQM training will be needed for all involved work groups. Also, horizontal and vertical communication training may be useful to get groups communicating with each other. Team building is a core element of the process, to ensure employee involvement and effective problem solving. Build analysis into the culture: "stop and think about how we work," according to Cohen and Brand. Insist on objective measures of results. Look for visible improvement, but not optimization; and try to generate some quick results in terms of time or money saved. Constantly check with employees to assess their comfort with the process. If people are feeling threatened, slow down. Human resources aspects such as team functioning and analysis must be kept in balance. Prevent or watch for schisms between TQM and human resources functions or other parts of the organization.
Summary
In summary, first assess preconditions and the current state of the organization to make sure the need for change is clear and that TQM is an appropriate strategy. Leadership styles and organizational culture must be congruent with TQM. If they are not, this should be worked on or TQM implementation should be avoided or delayed until favorable conditions exist.
Remember that this will be a difficult, comprehensive, and long­term process. Leaders will need to maintain their commitment, keep the process visible, provide necessary support, and hold people accountable for results. Use input from stakeholder (clients, referring agencies, funding sources, etc.) as possible; and, of course, maximize employee involvement in design of the system.
Always keep in mind that TQM should be purpose­driven. Be clear on the organization's vision for the future and stay focused on it. TQM can be a powerful technique for unleashing employee creativity and potential, reducing bureaucracy and costs, and improving service to clients and the community.
References
Beckhard, R. & Harris, (1987). Organizational Transitions: Managing Complex Change. (2nd ed.) Reading, MA: Addison­Wesley.
Beckhard, R. & Pritchard, W. (1992). Changing the Essence. San Francisco: Jossey­Bass.
Bennis, W. (1989) On Becoming a Leader. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
Bennis, W., Benne, K, & Chin, R., Eds. (1985). The Planning of Change. 4th Ed., New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 98­105.
Bennis, W. & Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders. New York: Harper & Row.
Brager, G. & Holloway, S. (1992). "Assessing the Prospects for Organizational Change: The Uses of Force Field Analysis." Administration in Social Work. 16(3/4), 15­28.
Chaudron, D. (1992). "How OD can help TQM." OD Practitioner. 24(1), 14­18.
Chaudron, D. (1993, June). Organization Development Does not Equal Total Quality Management. Presentation to the San Diego Organization Development Network.
Cohen, S. & Brand, R. (1993). Total Quality Management in Government. San Francisco: Jossey­Bass, Inc.
Ezell, M., Menefee, D., & Patti, R. (1989). "Managerial Leadership and Service Quality: Toward a Model of Social Work Administration," Administration in Social Work. 13(3/4), 73­98.
Gilbert, G. (1992). "Quality Improvement in a Defense Organization," Public Productivity and Management Review. 16(1), 65­75.
Hyde, A. (1992). "The Proverbs of Total Quality Management: Recharting the Path to Quality Improvement in the Public Sector," Public Productivity and Management Review. 16(1), 25­37.
Kanter, R. (1983). The Change Masters. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Martin, L. (1993). "Total Quality Management: The New Managerial Wave." Administration in Social Work. 17(2), 1­15.
Milakovich, M. (1991). "Total Quality Management in the Public Sector," National Productivity Review. 10, 195­213.
Nanus, B. (1992). Visionary Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey­Bass.
Osborne, D. & Gaebler, T. (1992). Reinventing Government. Reading, MA: Addison­Wesley.
Packard, T. (1989). Participation in decision making, Performance, and job satisfaction in a social work bureaucracy. Administration in Social Work. 13(1), 59­73.
Packard. T. & Reid, R. (1990). "OD in a Fire Department: Lessons in Using Parallel Structures and Institutionalization," Consultation. 9, 167­184.
Pruger, R. & Miller, L. (1991). "Efficiency," Administration in Social Work. 15(1/2), 42.
Rapp, C. & Poertner, J. (1992). Social Administration: A Client­Centered Approach. New York: Longman.
Reid, R. (1992). Personal communication.
Robey, D. (1991). Designing Organizations 3rd ed., Homewood, IL: Irwin, p. 42.
Senge, P. (1990). The Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday Currency.
Sugarman, B. (1988). "The Well­Managed Human Service Organization: Criteria for a Management Audit," Administration in Social Work. 12(2), 17­27.
Swiss, J. (1992). "Adapting TQM to Government," Public Administration Review. 52, 356­362.
Tichey, N. (1983). Managing Strategic Change. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Vroom, V. and Yetton, P. (1973). Leadership and Decision Making. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

TQM As a Tool to Affect Organizational Change

Introduction
While Total Quality Management has proven to be an effective process for improving organizational functioning, its value can only be assured through a comprehensive and well­thought­out implementation process. The purpose of this chapter is to outline key aspects of implementation of large­scale organizational change which may enable a practitioner to more thoughtfully and successfully implement TQM. First, the context will be set. TQM is, in fact, a large­scale systems change, and guiding principles and considerations regarding this scale of change will be presented. Without attention to contextual factors, well­intended changes may not be adequately designed. As another aspect of context, the expectations and perceptions of employees (workers and managers) will be assessed, so that the implementation plan can address them. Specifically, sources of resistance to change and ways of dealing with them will be discussed. This is important to allow a change agent to anticipate resistances and design for them, so that the process does not bog down or stall. Next, a model of implementation will be presented, including a discussion of key principles. Visionary leadership will be offered as an overriding perspective for someone instituting TQM. In recent years the literature on change management and leadership has grown steadily, and applications based on research findings will be more likely to succeed. Use of tested principles will also enable the change agent to avoid reinventing the proverbial wheel. Implementation principles will be followed by a review of steps in managing the transition to the new system and ways of helping institutionalize the process as part of the organization's culture. This section, too, will be informed by current writing in transition management and institutionalization of change. Finally, some miscellaneous do's and don't's will be offered.
Members of any organization have stories to tell of the introduction of new programs, techniques, systems, or even, in current terminology, paradigms. Usually the employee, who can be anywhere from the line worker to the executive level, describes such an incident with a combination of cynicism and disappointment: some manager went to a conference or in some other way got a "great idea" (or did it based on threat or desperation such as an urgent need to cut costs) and came back to work to enthusiastically present it, usually mandating its implementation. The "program" probably raised people's expectations that this time things would improve, that management would listen to their ideas. Such a program usually is introduced with fanfare, plans are made, and things slowly return to normal. The manager blames unresponsive employees, line workers blame executives interested only in looking good, and all complain about the resistant middle managers. Unfortunately, the program itself is usually seen as worthless: "we tried team building (or organization development or quality circles or what have you) and it didn't work; neither will TQM". Planned change processes often work, if conceptualized and implemented properly; but, unfortunately, every organization is different, and the processes are often adopted "off the shelf" ­ "the 'appliance model of organizational change': buy a complete program, like a 'quality circle package,' from a dealer, plug it in, and hope that it runs by itself" (Kanter, 1983, 249). Alternatively, especially in the under­funded public and not­for­profit sectors, partial applications are tried, and in spite of management and employee commitment do not bear fruit. This chapter will focus on ways of preventing some of these disappointments.
In summary, the purpose here is to review principles of effective planned change implementation and suggest specific TQM applications. Several assumptions are proposed: 1. TQM is a viable and effective planned change method, when properly installed; 2. not all organizations are appropriate or ready for TQM; 3. preconditions (appropriateness, readiness) for successful TQM can sometimes be created; and 4. leadership commitment to a large­scale, long­term, cultural change is necessary. While problems in adapting TQM in government and social service organizations have been identified, TQM can be useful in such organizations if properly modified (Milakovich, 1991; Swiss, 1992).
TQM as Large­Sale Systems Change
TQM is at first glance seen primarily as a change in an organization's technology ­ its way of doing work. In the human services, this means the way clients are processed ­ the service delivery methods applied to them ­ and ancillary organizational processes such as paperwork, procurement processes, and other procedures. But TQM is also a change in an organization's culture ­ its norms, values, and belief systems about how organizations function. And finally, it is a change in an organization's political system: decision making processes and power bases. For substantive change to occur, changes in these three dimensions must be aligned: TQM as a technological change will not be successful unless cultural and political dimensions are attended to as well (Tichey, 1983).
Many (e.g., Hyde, 1992; Chaudron, 1992) have noted that TQM results in a radical change in the culture and the way of work in an organization. A fundamental factor is leadership, including philosophy, style, and behavior. These must be congruent as they are presented by a leader. Many so­called enlightened leaders of today espouse a participative style which is not, in fact, practiced to any appreciable degree. Any manager serious about embarking on a culture change such as TQM should reflect seriously on how she or he feels and behaves regarding these factors. For many managers, a personal program of leadership development (e.g., Bennis, 1989) may be a prerequisite to effective functioning as an internal change agent advocating TQM.
Other key considerations have to do with alignment among various organizational systems (Chaudron, 1992; Hyde, 1992). For example, human resource systems, including job design, selection processes, compensation and rewards, performance appraisal, and training and development must align with and support the new TQM culture. Less obvious but no less important will be changes required in other systems. Information systems will need to be redesigned to measure and track new things such as service quality. Financial management processes may also need attention through the realignment of budgeting and resource allocation systems. Organizational structure and design will be different under TQM: layers of management may be reduced and organizational roles will certainly change. In particular, middle management and first line supervisors will be operating in new ways. Instead of acting as monitors, order­givers, and agents of control they will serve as boundary managers, coordinators, and leaders who assist line workers in getting their jobs done. To deal with fears of layoffs, all employees should be assured that no one will lose employment as a result of TQM changes: jobs may change, perhaps radically, but no one will be laid off. Hyde (1992) has recommended that we "disperse and transform, not replace, mid­level managers." This no layoff principle has been a common one in joint labor­management change processes such as quality of working life projects for many years.
Another systems consideration is that TQM should evolve from the organization's strategic plan and be based on stakeholder expectations. This type of planning and stance regarding environmental relations is receiving more attention but still is not common in the human services. As will be discussed below, TQM is often proposed based on environmental conditions such as the need to cut costs or demands for increased responsiveness to stakeholders. A manager may also adopt TQM as a way of being seen at the proverbial cutting edge, because it is currently popular. This is not a good motivation to use TQM and will be likely to lead to a cosmetic or superficial application, resulting in failure and disappointment. TQM should be purpose­oriented: it should be used because an organization's leaders feel a need to make the organization more effective. It should be driven by results and not be seen as an end in itself. If TQM is introduced without consideration of real organizational needs and conditions, it will be met by skepticism on the part of both managers and workers. We will now move to a discussion of the ways in which people may react to TQM.
People's Expectations and Perceptions
Many employees may see TQM as a fad, remembering past "fads" such as quality circles, management by objectives, and zero­based budgeting. As was noted above, TQM must be used not just as a fad or new program, but must be related to key organizational problems, needs, and outcomes. Fortunately, Martin (1993) has noted that TQM as a "managerial wave" has more in common with social work than have some past ones such as MBO or ZBB, and its adaptations may therefore be easier.
In another vein, workers may see management as only concerned about the product, not staff needs. Management initiatives focused on concerns such as budget or cost will not resonate with beleaguered line workers. Furthermore, staff may see quality as not needing attention: they may believe that their services are already excellent or that quality is a peripheral concern in these days of cutbacks and multi problem clients. For a child protective service worker, just getting through the day and perhaps mitigating the most severe cases of abuse may be all that one expects. Partly because of heavy service demands, and partly because of professional training of human service workers, which places heavy value on direct service activities with clients, there may be a lack of interest on the part of many line workers in efficiency or even effectiveness and outcomes (Pruger & Miller, 1991; Ezell, Menefee, & Patti, 1989). This challenge should be addressed by all administrators (Rapp & Poertner, 1992), and in particular any interested in TQM.
Workers may have needs and concerns, such as lower caseloads and less bureaucracy, which are different from those of administration. For TQM to work, employees must see a need (e.g., for improved quality from their perspective) and how TQM may help. Fortunately, there are win­win ways to present this. TQM is focused on quality, presumably a concern of both management and workers, and methods improvements should eliminate wasteful bureaucratic activities, save money, and make more human resources available for core activities, specifically client service.
Sources of Resistance
Implementation of large­scale change such as TQM will inevitably face resistance, which should be addressed directly by change agents. A key element of TQM is working with customers, and the notion of soliciting feedback/expectations from customers/clients and collaborating with them, perhaps with customers defining quality, is a radical one in many agencies, particularly those serving involuntary clients (e.g., protective services). Historical worker antipathy to the use of statistics and data in the human services may carry over into views of TQM, which encourages the gathering and analysis of data on service quality. At another level, management resistance to employee empowerment is likely. They may see decision making authority in zero­sum terms: if employees have more involvement in decision making, managers will have less. In fact, one principle in employee involvement is that each level will be more empowered, and managers lose none of their fundamental authority. There will undoubtedly be changes in their roles, however. As was noted above, they will spend less time on control and more on facilitation. For many traditional managers, this transition will require teaching/training, self reflection, and time as well as assurances from upper management that they are not in danger of being displaced.
Resistance in other parts of the organization will show up if TQM is introduced on a pilot basis or only in particular programs (Hyde, 1992). Kanter (1983) has referred to this perspective as segmentalism: each unit or program sees itself as separate and unique, with nothing to learn from others and no need to collaborate with them. This shows up in the "not invented here" syndrome: those not involved in the initial development of an idea feel no ownership for it. On a broader level, there may be employee resistance to industry examples used in TQM ­ terms like inventory or order backlog (Cohen and Brand, 1993, 122).
Dealing with Resistance
There are several tactics which can be helpful in dealing with resistance to TQM implementation. Generally, they have to do with acknowledging legitimate resistance and changing tactics based on it, using effective leadership to enroll people in the vision of TQM, and using employee participation.
A useful technique to systematically identify areas of resistance is a force field analysis (Brager & Holloway, 1992). This technique was originally developed by Kurt Lewin as an assessment tool for organizational change. It involves creating a force field of driving forces, which aid the change or make it more likely to occur, and restraining forces, which are points of resistance or things getting in the way of change. Start by identifying the change goal, in this case, implementation of TQM. Represent this by drawing a line down the middle of a piece of paper. Slightly to its left, draw a parallel line which represents the current state of the organization. The change process involves moving from the current state to the ideal future state, an organization effectively using TQM. To the left of the second line (the current state), list all forces (individuals, key groups, or conditions) which may assist in the implementation of TQM. These may include environmental pressures leading to reduced funds, staff who may like to be more involved in agency decision making, and the successful applications of TQM elsewhere. On the other side, list restraining forces which will make the change implementation more difficult. Examples may be middle management fear of loss of control, lack of time for line workers to take for TQM meetings, and skepticism based on the organization's poor track record regarding change. Arrows from both sides touching the "current state" line represent the constellation of forces. Each force is then assessed in two ways: its potency or strength, and its amenability to change. More potent forces, especially restraining ones, will need greater attention. Those not amenable to change will have to be counteracted by driving forces.

The High Return on Valued Employees

Sam Walton of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been quoted as having said it takes just seven days for new employees to start treating customers the way they are treated at work. All the customer service skills and training in the world can be undone in only one week if an employee is treated poorly by his or her co-workers or boss.
Companies spend countless amounts of time and resources on developing quality customer service techniques. Employees are taught that the customer is always right. They are taught to do whatever it takes to get and keep a customer's business. What is often overlooked is internal customer service. Companies talk the talk to the outside world, but don't walk the walk with their own people.
Do you give your internal customers a positive or negative service message? Ask yourself these questions:
How do managers react when there's an external customer service problem? A manager's job is to be sure his team is providing good service externally, but does he support them when there's a problem? Some managers place blame, become angry and step in with the customer, making it obvious to everyone that the person on the line did a poor job. Better managers support their people and provide whatever backing the employee needs to make the customer happy. Instead of finding fault, they help find solutions. In the end, the customer is happy, the employee maintains his dignity and, ideally, the employee learns how to do better the next time.
Is your staff empowered to make decisions? The classic scenario of no empowerment is a car salesperson constantly checking with the sales manager to obtain approval during negotiations. This type of environment teaches employees that they have little or no say in the decision and it sends a message to the customer that he is dealing with the wrong person. As a customer, don't you wish you could just talk directly to the sales manager and save the hassle? If employees are empowered to make decisions and solve problems on the spot, the customer will go away satisfied most of the time.
Do co-workers support each other? Most people don't work alone; they rely on others to help them get the job done. When someone needs information from a co-worker, is it delivered on time? If people don't deliver on deadline internally, the end product will be late to the customer. When that happens, co-workers start the process of covering their own skins and placing the blame on others -- nobody takes accountability for the missed deadline.
Do your employees have the tools to do the job? Perhaps that car salesperson had to keep running to his manager because he didn't know enough about the dealership's negotiation policies to make the deal on the spot. While you're training the staff on how to satisfy customers, also consider training on team-building, time management and other techniques to help the staff work as a cohesive unit.
How do you match up against your competitors? Is your competition using your weaknesses against you in a sales pitch? If your staff feels like they're getting beat up by the competition, their attitudes can slip quickly. Poor morale around the office leads to lower incentives to do a good job for the customer, making the situation spiral downward. Don't just sit back and let the competition tell your story, work on problems internally so your employees feel confident out on the street.
Do your employees think service is important? Top management needs to send the message that service is a priority, both internal and external service. People must be accountable for their actions and must be motivated to do their best work. Some companies think tactics such as "Employee of the Month" recognitions are corny; but for many employees, that internal recognition goes a long way in goodwill -- goodwill that is passed on to the customer.
How are customers treated behind the scenes? If your top customer was a fly on the wall in your office, would he or she still be a customer? Companies that allow employees to bad mouth customers are breeding an environment of mistrust. If a junior employee hears a top executive trashing a customer, he is going to lose sight of the fact that the customer is your company's livelihood. Employees in that environment are more likely to talk bad about their co-workers and engage in back-stabbing behavior.
A company's culture is set by top management; employees learn what's acceptable by watching what those at the top say and do. Therefore, if you set a tone for support and service, it will pay off in satisfied customers, inside the company and out.

GE Style of Change Management

Culture is often described as "the way we do things around here." In fact it is more complex. It is also feelings, underlying beliefs, values, history, and assumptions about an organization. Those are rooted in experiences, stories, and behaviour patterns sometimes decades or centuries old. The culture tells people what is and is not okay. Culture is enduring, difficult to develop or reshape.
Despite that, fundamental culture change is necessary for the reforms envisaged in Results for Canadians.
Governments everywhere are undergoing basic management reform. Canada has one of the finest public services in the world; its excellence is the legacy of generations of dedicated public servants and over three decades of reform initiatives. But the process of modernization is never complete.
New initiatives underway all seek Public Service renewal. In the words of the Clerk of the Privy Council, we are poised for an even more aggressive assault on management excellence. Modern Comptrollership offers preparation for this assault. It focuses on the fundamentals in order to build a strong foundation for modern management.
At the heart of Modern Comptrollership is a commitment to delivering results for Canadians, based on a culture of shared Public Service values and ethics. Strong leadership, a motivated workforce and clear accountabilities enable managers to make sound decisions, viewing actions through a lens of risk management and performance measurement.
Modern Comptrollership is the latest in a continuum of management improvement efforts in the Government of Canada. It complements other initiatives and provides the foundation for them. For example, improved reporting to Parliament depends on integrated information systems and the ability to explain the results and true costs of services provided to Canadians.
All the reforms seek to promote excellence. But they raise questions: How do we change management culture? What steps should deputy ministers / head of agencies and their executive teams take to promote real, lasting change? Who within our departments and agencies should be involved? Since the reforms are complementary, how can we implement them in an integrated fashion? How can we ensure that managers are not themselves overwhelmed? In response to such questions, this document provides a tool kit for managing cultural change.
Purpose
The guide presents a step-by-step approach to managing change, one that deputies/heads and their executive teams can follow when undertaking management reforms. The pursuit of management excellence has many labels - reform, renewal, modernization, transformation, re-alignment - but all are about changing the behaviours that characterize Public Service management culture. For purposes of illustration this guide focuses on Modern Comptrollership, but it is generic in nature and its approach can be applied to any effort to change management culture.
Approach
Three activities contributed to the preparation of this guide:
a symposium with change management specialists from academia and former/current senior public servants;
an extensive review of the literature; and
interviews with key deputies and assistant deputy ministers, as well as provincial public servants and leading academics.
The symposium findings, literature review and interviews have been published separately, along with an annotated bibliography of the literature on management change.
Based upon these sources, the various models of change found in the literature were summarized into a single five-stage model with three basic approaches: top-down, transformational and strategic. Each of these approaches is described below. The three were combined in developing the approach adopted within the guide. Nevertheless, circumstances may dictate choosing a particular model, or elements of it, over another.
Change models
No single approach can fit all. Instead, every organization needs its own model of change corresponding to its needs and issues. When change efforts fail, it is common to blame organizational resistance but this is an inadequate explanation. Change goes wrong for systemic reasons: poor vision, inadequate communications, insufficient planning and resources, failure to make a compelling case, and inconsistent messages with leaders not following through.
Change models fall into three types: top-down; transformational leadership; and strategic approaches. Overall experience shows that with careful and appropriate application, each of the models presented here can be (and has been) used successfully in the public sector. Each model is described in more detail within the research report entitled Changing Management Culture: Models and Strategies, produced as part of this project and published separately.
Top-down models emphasize leadership. The CEO can orchestrate relatively rapid change by developing a vision, communicating it and involving employees. The leaders set goals, clarify desired outcomes, provide feedback, give rewards for desired performance and take action when goals are not met. They do not ignore the human factor - they care about people and want to see them grow - but they focus on performance driving cultural change, not the reverse.
Transformational leadership: In his latest book, Managing Politically, McGill University Professor Henry Mintzberg looked at three federal departments. He has long argued that change bubbles upward. "You can't drive change down an organization," he says. "You facilitate the situation so that change can come up. Create a climate where people can individually and collectively think for themselves, take initiatives, and build interesting things. Change grows from the grass roots, where people know what needs to be done."
Transformational leadership works by influencing the values and priorities of followers, thereby motivating them to achieve more. Leaders inspire followers through the mission, optimism, enthusiasm and emotional appeal. They provide personal support and encouragement, show concern and offer coaching. They set a personal example, sacrifice for the group and show good ethics. They challenge people to view problems from new perspectives and to find new solutions, while making it safe for them to express negative emotions and business concerns. Followers then connect more to the mission, seek ways to improve their performance and thus enhance the organizational culture.
Of course, despite the cover stories in magazines, not all great leaders are larger than life. Many prefer responsible, behind-the-scenes actions. They lead by quiet example and by working through others.
Strategic approaches: Perhaps the best-known author on change is Professor John Kotter. He lays out an eight-step strategy:
Establish a sense of urgency.
Create the guiding coalition.
Develop a vision and strategy.
Communicate the change vision.
Empower employees for broad-based action.
Generate short-term wins.
Consolidate gains and produce more change.
Anchor new approaches in the culture.
Notably, his model does not start with vision. That only comes after an organization's leaders have established a sense of urgency for change and built a coalition to help them push for it. Skipping the first stages, warns Kotter, will lead to failure.
And although cultural change is critical to long-lasting change, Kotter puts it at the end rather than the start of the process. "Culture changes only after you have successfully altered people's actions," he says, "after the new behaviour produces some group benefit for a period of time, and people see the connection between the new actions and the performance improvement."
Find a change model to fit the situation
A top-down approach apparently can be effective, but only if the leader controls the levers of recruitment, promotion, incentives and dismissal - and at the same time pays attention to the people factor and is open to feedback. New behaviour will eventually be accepted and become the culture.
In another view, culture change comes through changing the way things are done in an organization so that, over time, people will change as well.
A third view holds that if you change how individuals feel and provide them with new experiences, they will eventually adopt the new behaviours, leading to the emergence of a new culture.
What matters is to find what works best in the specific situation, given your understanding of all the factors.
Stages of culture change
Common themes emerged from the interviews with executives and the review of management literature, advising that significant change in complex organizations requires:
strong leadership, a vision, and a change team or guiding coalition charged with implementation;
perseverance and commitment to follow through;
understanding of the current culture, where the resistance will come from; and
the courage to tackle resistance head-on.
The chart presents a roadmap for changing management culture.
Stage 1: Before anything else, leaders must build an understanding of the organization's current culture by collecting information on the types of behaviours being practised. In other words, they have to understand their own leadership style, the organization's culture and where it is now.
Stage 2: Next is developing a vision of where the organization should be, and performing a gap analysis; this reveals where the organization falls short of the vision. To fill the gaps, design a strategic plan that articulates the vision, outlines priorities for improvement and establishes measurable targets with an eye to early successes. A team must be established, trained and mandated to implement the change. Ultimately, the whole organization must be involved, although specifics will vary according to the scope of the plan and the nature of the organization.
Stage 3: Next comes implementing the plan: The deputy/head and the guiding coalition must make the case for change, communicate again and again (and again), and build capacity.
Stage 4: At the same time, there is a critical transitional period in which people "let go" of one set of behaviours as they move to another. This is the stage where many change initiatives begin to lose momentum. It's important to celebrate wins and early successes, communicate widely and often, and find innovative ways of motivating people to adopt the new behaviours, processes and systems.
Stage 5: Finally, following up. It's important to keep measuring progress, seek feedback, and continue to adjust and improve. Over time, the leadership must build a deeper understanding, update the strategy and get better at implementation

Examples Of Strong Corporate Cultures

Corporate culture has become increasingly important to firms in the past 20 years. Despite its intangible nature, its role is meaningful, affecting employees and organizational operations. And while culture is not the only factor guaranteeing success, positive cultures offer significant competitive advantages over rivals.
Corporate culture has become increasingly important to firms in the past 20 years. Despite its intangible nature, its role is meaningful, affecting employees and organizational operations. And while culture is not the only factor guaranteeing success, positive cultures offer significant competitive advantages over rivals.
Dominant set of norms
People come from diverse social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, with different personalities and experiences. In a work environment, these factors manifest themselves in a wide variety of ways, and over time a dominant set of norms arise which guide the way work is accomplished. Deal and Kennedy popularized the notion of developing positive corporate cultures in their 1982 book Corporate Cultures, and since then the concept is seen playing as a central role in corporate strategy.
Corporate culture has many definitions as it is heavily influenced by the industry in which it operates, geographical location, history, employee personalities, etc. Some formal definitions have arisen, but essentially a corporate culture has several key elements: it offers a clear corporate vision; it is supported by corporate values consistent with the aims of the company and aligned with the personal values of organization members; a high value is placed on employees at all levels and there is extensive employee interaction across many levels; and the culture is adaptable, adjusting to external conditions, and consistent, treating all employees equally and fairly. These characteristics cannot exist without widespread employee support. And even though there may be strong sub-cultures within the company, the dominant culture must be strong enough for sub-culture members to embrace it.
Cultural categories
But how to categorize culture? In 1988 Sonnenfeld defined four types: the academy (exposing members to different jobs so they can move within the organization), the club (which is concerned with people fitting in), the baseball team (with its well-rewarded stars who leave for better opportunities) and the fortress (concerned primarily with survival). Goffee and Jones’ (1996) model takes a different route, suggesting a corporate culture is determined by levels of sociability (friendliness among community members) and solidarity (a community’s ability to pursue shared objectives) and developed a survey that quickly slots companies in on this scale in four categories: networked, mercenary, fragmented and communal.
High-sociability, low-solidarity network culture individuals feel like family and socialize often, with promotions and work achieved by informal networks or internal sub-cultures (similar to Sonnenfeld’s club culture). Mercenary cultures have low sociability and high solidarity, with workers united in support of business aims (like the baseball team). The fragmented culture’s low sociability and solidarity tend to work with office doors shut, like a law firm or a downsizing company (the fortress). A communal organization has high sociability and high solidarity, often seen in small start-up firms, where colleagues are close socially and professionally, identifying closely with the corporate culture (the academy).
Categorizing cultures helps managers in several ways: it gives a better understanding of the pros and cons of that particular culture, helps managers to recruit the most suitable applicants and helps managers determine what cultural changes are necessary.
Cultural benefits
Organizations able to maintain positive cultures enjoy many benefits. Morale is improved, and the work environment more enjoyable, with increased teamwork, openness to new ideas and sharing of information. This activates learning and continuous improvement because of the free flow of information. It also helps attract and retain good employees.
Examples of companies benefiting from the positive effects of corporate culture include:
Wal-Mart. Founder Sam Walton’s concern and respect for staff from the foundation of the company creates an environment of trust that persists to this day. Walton met staff, calling them by their first name and encouraged change to maintain the competitive edge. To this day, staff think about “how Sam would have done it”.
Southwest Airlines. Its relaxed culture can be traced back to unconventional CEO Herb Kelleher, who encourages informality and wants staff to have fun at their jobs. Employees are valued, with Kelleher acknowledging births, marriages and deaths by notes and cards. Staff are encouraged to pitch in and help out, especially at check-in, giving Southwest turnaround times less than half the industry average.
Hewlett Packard. Problems several years ago encouraged HP to change its culture; staff are required to formulate three personal and three professional goals each year, and are encouraged to cheer those that meet them, such as getting away early to be with family. Two years into the program, HP reports no loss in productivity despite staff working shorter hours and there is an increased staff retention rate. The program has been marked by the extent to which managers bought in, and modeled it in their personal lives.
It is obviously easier to model a corporate culture during a firm’s infancy, but in practice culture can be changed for the better. This can be done by surveying employees, meeting staff outside their departments and learning what they really think is going on. This helps managers identify the existing culture and identify areas of improvement.
Then, managers should institute cultural change by modeling the behavior they wish to encourage, then reinforce the desired culture with visionary statements/slogans, celebrating employees’ successes or promotions, distributing newsletters, hiring culture-compatible staff, etc.
Positive corporate culture is now a prerequisite for success rather than a competitive advantage; it allows the hiring and retention of top-quality staff. Ideally established at a company’s infancy, it can be changed over time as the authors’ example show. If a corporate culture is lowering morale, a top-down approach is needed, setting out the vision from the top and demonstrating acceptable behavior. Improving workplace culture makes employees’ experience happier and this in turn leads to improved profitability (or, in the HP example, no reduction in profitability!).
A well-structured study, combining a sound theoretical base with three case studies involving corporate culture change in top US companies, the article is of use both to academics and managers as it charts the concept of corporate culture and its positive and negative effects on organizations.
Comment
This is a review of “Developing corporate culture as a competitive advantage,” by Golnaz Sadri and Brian Lees of California State University, which first appeared in the Journal of Management Development, Vol. 20 No. 10, 2001.

Leading Through Technology

When one’s team members are halfway across the world, working together effectively is no small achievement. Start with minimal or no face-to-face interaction, add differences of expertise, geography, time zone, culture, and perhaps language, and one ends up with, to put it mildly, a leadership challenge.
How to navigate those challenges, especially in projects requiring complex innovation, is the subject of a February, 2007, article in the journal Academy of Management Perspectives. “Leading Virtual Teams,” authored by Arvind Malhotra, Ann Majchrzak, and Benson Rosen is a tidy compilation of techniques and suggestions for making distributed teams work well together.
Two of the authors, Malhotra and Rosen, are in close proximity to each other at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The third author, Majchrzak, is across the continent and three time zones away at the Marshall School of Business, of the University of Southern California. Together they constitute a virtual team, so they speak from experience.
Six Ways to Strengthen Ties
When team members are separated by hundreds or thousands of miles, even the simplest of leadership tasks requires careful thinking, as Malhotra, Majchrzak and Rosen discovered through their research. The authors followed a virtual team at Boeing-Rocketdyne through its entire life cycle, and then did a large-scale follow-up study in which they attended meetings of 55 successful virtual teams in 33 different companies and interviewed team leaders. Finally, they boiled down their observations and conclusions into six clusters of recommendations, which are briefly summarized here.
1. Establish and Maintain Trust Through the Use of Communication Technology
Just as in face-to-face teams, two of the biggest trust builders in virtual teams are having members do what they promise and “show up” at the meetings they are expected to attend. But virtual teams require additional up-front maintenance. Project leaders, for example, must establish initial common norms and procedures about how communication technology should be used. In “eRooms” or other electronic discussion forums, team members need a common understanding about what to post, when to post, who owns documents, and how to inform others of documents’ whereabouts; in addition, all members must subscribe to an electronic etiquette and similar “tone of voice.” In audio-conferencing, norms have to be established, such as whether or not members identify themselves before commenting. These up-front norms and procedures may have to be modified as the group members gets used to interacting with each other. For example, e-mail attachments may be OK at the beginning at the project but then become outlawed midstream as members discover that their inboxes start overflowing. “Virtual get-togethers,” such as conference calls or e-mail exchanges, allow members to iron out these minor process issues along the way.
2. Ensure That Team Diversity is Understood, Appreciated, and Leveraged
Team members show up with a diverse array of skills, expertise, and life experiences. A leader can take three actions to make sure this diversity is fully understood and utilized. First, a leader can post an “expertise directory” at the beginning of a project, which could take the form of a skills matrix, collection of C.V.s, or list of articles written by the members. Second, the leader can pair diverse members in common tasks and rotate members throughout the project, both practices that enhance bonding and feed the creative fires. Third, the leader needs to establish an interplay between synchronous and asynchronous communications. Topics brought up during the synchronous, real-time audio-conferences or “webinars” can be later dissected in asynchronous forum discussions or e-mail exchanges. Team members who may be shy about speaking up in the presence of senior team members during conference calls may be more willing to unwind in a later series of written discussions.
3. Manage Virtual Work-Cycle and Meetings
Successful real-time, virtual meetings are, by definition, highly choreographed events. Virtual team leaders must oversee an interlinking set of practices prior to, during, and after the meetings. Time between meetings should be spent on idea divergence and exploration (asynchronous idea generation.) Meetings should be used for idea convergence and conflict resolution (synchronous idea convergence.) Together, these two modes of communicating optimize the work cycle.
Before a meeting begins, team pre-planning is crucial. Have electronic discussions before the meeting and post these discussion threads. Identify areas of disagreement to discuss during the meeting. Circulate a clear agenda in advance with time allocations. Post progress on the repository, linking them with project timelines, action items, and responsibility charts.
During the meeting, ensure through "check-ins" that everyone is engaged and heard from. Electronic voting is one way to quickly take a group’s pulse, with results displayed instantly on screen. Some teams reported using "minutes on the go" during the meeting, that is, rough minutes logged in a virtual room side window. Only results are recorded, not debates and discussion.
At the end of the meeting, make sure the final polished minutes and future work plans are posted to the team repository. Also, between meetings, encourage idea generation divergence and discussions through threads, instant messaging, e-mail exchanges, and auto-notification of postings.
4. Monitor Team Progress Through the Use of Technology
Team leaders found it helpful to scrutinize asynchronous and synchronous communications closely to monitor team progress. That progress was made visible to team members through shared project timelines and balanced scorecard measures, in a simplified dashboard or one-page summary format – another helpful practice.
Leaders frequently reported their monitoring of technology and procedures evolved over time. One team leader put it this way:
Our database matured. We initially had a discussion database. Then we added IM. Then we added change request capability. Then we added a call tracking database. Then we added an issue log. Then we created a view called “management view” with schedule, costs spent to date, and project status. Then we added a working section view just for the team. We tried videoconferencing but stopped using it when the team did not find it helpful.
While not all leaders may be comfortable with this rapidly changing management style, such fluid evolution of oversight was a common story among virtual team leaders.
5. Enhance External Visibility of the Team and Its Members
The study’s authors observed that leading a virtual team requires parallel processing. While focusing on internal activities, team leaders also had to continuously and clearly represent the team’s work to external stakeholders including project sponsors, local executives, and internal and external customers.
This external reporting function was handled in a variety of ways. One leader organized a steering committee of departmental managers and client organizations and then regularly briefed this committee. Another leader expected each team member to “report out” to his or her sponsoring manager. Regardless of which approach was used, leaders usually asked team members to approve reports intended for managers and external audiences to encourage buy-in for the report-out process.
6. Ensure Individuals Benefit from Participating in Virtual Teams
Part of any good leader’s job is making sure team members get the rewards and recognition they deserve. Virtual leaders had the same goals, although they achieved them in different ways, including:
Having virtual reward ceremonies, including sending gifts to each individual;
Starting each virtual meeting with recognition of specific successes;
Suggesting to high level executives pleased with team members’ briefings to pass on the good word to the members’ respective managers.
Some team members respond more to intellectual challenge and fun, so it’s important to provide them with opportunities for lectures, conferences, and other avenues for personal growth. The key is to understand what makes each individual tick.
Concluding Observation
Imagine a carbon-epoxy jetliner with gracefully curved wings slipping through the clear blue sky at 35,000 feet. Contented passengers are sipping their beverages and tapping softly on their laptops. The pilots are chatting quietly about World Cup soccer in a serene cockpit brimming with sophisticated avionics. This scene is from a jetliner project with effective virtual teams.
Contrast this scene with another jetliner project literally stranded on the ground. It’s over budget, past deadline, and hopelessly mired in controversy. Engineers from two different continents are scratching their heads over why body module components made in twenty-five different countries don’t fit together and why the wiring panels don’t match. Discussions in the back offices are getting heated and loud. The managers of this project have yet to master the art of leading distributed technical teams.
When innovation and creativity are called for, the crucial factors for success are increasingly the virtual ties that bind.

On The Burger Culture

The fast food industry originated in the United States as "hamburger joints," but has become a global industry. As the industry has grown, so has the menu of a typical fast-food outlet, in number and variety of items. This trend has produced an opening for a fast food chain that concentrates on preparing a few items well, offering those items with superior quality at a competitive price. For purpose of discussion, this concept has been called Basic Burger.
Competitive Analysis of the Industry:
The fast food industry is an important and growing segment of the broader food-service industry, which can broadly be defined as providing ready-to-eat meals, as distinct from food items to be prepared at home, or snack foods requiring no preparation before eating. Fast food in some form is as old as sidewalk food vendors, but in the form we know it now it appeared in the United States in the 1950s, as particularly suited to drive-up or drive-through service.
Originally provided by individual stand-alone outlets or small local chains, since the 1960s it has been dominated by nationwide and then global chains, of which McDonald's is dominant. The primary advantage of large chains is branding (Bodine). Branding in turn implies a reliability of experience. A stand-alone outlet might well be better than any chain, but is at least as likely to be worse. At a McDonald's or KFC outlet, customers know what they can expect.
In addition to competing with one another, fast foods face competition from two sides. On one side, they are challenged by convenience stores or grocery stores offering food, sometimes heated. On the other side, they are challenged by the lower-priced and simpler-service end of the conventional restaurant spectrum, which (particularly in the United States) itself includes chains, such as Coco's, often located along highways.
This second group of restaurants have been a particular point of competition for the fast-food industry, which originated from "burger joints" appealing especially to teenagers. As the industry has grown it has broadened its scope, particularly in variety of items offered. Some of this growth has come in the form of chains that emphasize items different from the traditional hamburger-centered menu, such as KFC, which concentrates on chicken. The hamburger-centered chains, such as McDonald's, however, have tended over time to greatly increase the number and variety of their menu items, for example fish items and salads.

The Basic Burger Concept:
The expansion of fast-food menus has had important implications for their operations. As the menu grows, the kitchen operation becomes more complex. The imperatives of operating with a small and generally low-skilled kitchen staff have tended to push preparation back along the supply chain, so that handling and preparation within the outlet is minimized. The end result, for the customer, is blander and more "synthetic" food.
Fast food was never intended or expected to be a gourmet dining experience. However, Americans old enough to remember the earlier, simpler "burger joint" experience remember it fondly, while younger Americans have a sense that they are missing something. In other countries where American-style fast food has penetrated, the comparison is drawn to traditional local forms of convenient informal dining. Fast-food chains such as McDonald's are widely viewed as symbols of "globalization" in its negative sense, even while people around the world eat in them.
At the heart of the Basic Burger concept is menu simplification, and exploitation of the resulting simpler kitchen operation to provide a tastier, higher-quality product at a price point equivalent to existing fast-food items, particularly the McDonald's Big Mac. This, and its counterparts at other chains, along with a few other items such as french fries, continue to account for a large share of all fast-food items sold.
The center of the fast-food industry remains the United States, and the concept (including the name "Basic Burger") has been formulated with the American market in mind. However, the same concept could well be applied elsewhere, and if originating in a different national market, could draw on local casual-dining traditions rather than the American-style hamburger.
Assuming that the concept is first applied in the American market, subsequent global expansion might seem to be hampered by recent international consumer resistance to American-identified brands (Emling). Much of this recent resistance is due to US foreign policy, specifically the war in Iraq. As American public opinion has now also turned against the war and the Bush administration, however, this point of resistance can be expected to be a thing of the past before a new brand, having established itself in the American market, is ready to extend a global reach.
Returning to the Basic Burger concept, the trade-off, naturally, will be in having fewer items offered. Customers not interested in the handful of menu choices offered will have to go elsewhere. However, by offering popular items of superior quality at a competitive price, Basic Burger will still be positioned to capture a substantial proportion of fast-food customers, providing a substantial market niche that is in less competition with other segments of the food service industry such as conventional restaurants.
The Basic Burger Operation:
By selling only a few key items, the outlet can concentrate its effort on them. The kitchen and storage areas, not requiring provision for a large variety of items, can be designed with emphasis on the core competency. Less preparation at distant central distribution centers will be required, allowing greater emphasis on on-site preparation, in turn allowing delivery of fresher, more "natural" meals to the customer.
It should be noted here that some menu variations have minimal impact on operational complexity. For example, small, medium, and large hamburgers are made the same way, so this type of variety can be offered without substantially increasing the overhead of operational complexity.
Funding Mechanism and Price. The central concept of Basic Burger, as outlined above, is to reduce complexity of kitchens and supply chains, and apply the resulting savings to provide superior quality within a given price point. From the customer's-eye point of view, this can be expressed simply by saying that the offering of Basic Burger would most likely be about the size of a Big Mac, and offered for the same price, but tasting noticeably better, and in particular more natural.
It may be found in practice that a somewhat larger or smaller offering is the optimum, and as suggested above, offering two or even three sizes imposes minimal overhead. Larger sizes are generally advantaged, since the labor input is more or less identical for all sizes. It may also be found that the quality is sufficient to allow for a modest price premium as compared to other chains' similar-size offerings. However, the Basic Burger concept is not dependent on being able to charge such a premium.
Employee Management. Employee training can likewise focus on the core competency, simplifying operations. Cashiers, for example, will only have to deal with a few items. Moreover, smaller kitchen staffs will allow higher pay, at least in some positions, for example drawing cooks with a higher skill level. Additionally, though the number of items is restricted, some scope for individual skill will be available in these positions, making the outlets a reasonable entry level for cooks intending to move on to general restaurants, something that is not the case with conventional fast-food outlets today.
A reputation for quality will also tend to foster employee morale. The Basic Burger operation will not be a radical departure from fast-food operations. Thus it can draw on well-established management procedures for ensuring consistancy of quality in the product. At the same time, the focus on core competency will open the potential for pushing a bit beyond the standard, e.g., in allowing some scope for skill in cooking. The whole operation will be distinctly on the high end of the fast-food spectrum, with all the advantages that this can convey in employee management and relations.
Customer management. Customers are familiar with fast-food characteristics and operations. Thus, the Basic Burger concept is not requiring them to learn how to respond to an experience that is new to them. The customer will place orders and pick up food in the same way as at other fast food outlets. The one element of customer education required is with respect to the available variety of offerings, which will be considerably smaller than at McDonald's or other similar outlets.
In large part, this education will be handled by the advertising and overall branding, as in the proposed name, Basic Burger. People have an intuitive grasp that if you only make a few things, you probably make them better. Moreover, in a world where they are bombarded with choices, people will respond to "old-fashioned" quality and simplicity. These will be at the heart of the Basic Burger message.
Likewise, for customers who are unfamiliar with the offerings, the simplicity of the menu will simplify their task. They will see at a glance whether they want what is offered; if it isn't, their time and energy won't be wasted. More often than not they will want what is offered, and the quality of the product will bring them back.