Devices Its Employees Need example essay topic

Where I WORK (Case #1) By: Ivy E. McKenzie The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was established as a place for people to buy or sell stocks. It was started in May of 1792 underneath a buttonwood tree on Wall Street. The expansion of the ideas and dreams of the 24 men is the reason why I have a job today. I would like to share with you the inside of the NYSE from an employee's point of view. At the NYSE there is a division called Securities Industries Automation Corporation (SIA C), I am an online lead operator. I am responsible for the monitoring, troubleshooting, and resolving of online issues pertaining to the many host system (other computers) that interact with the New York Stock Exchange.

I work in the Switching and Order Processing section, whose sole purpose is to maintain zero (0) down time for all of the equipment of the exchange. By this I mean making sure all the computers, printers, handheld devices, overhead screens, etc. are all connected to its proper ports and they are up and functioning properly. In addition to that the department has to keep track of all the orders that are handled through the exchange and check the orders integrity as governed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The NYSE must also meet the operational requirements of the member firm (the companies that trade on the NYSE floor).

The organizational culture of my company is set by the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Due to the SEC's constraints it is difficult to change the culture. According to the 7 dimensions of organizational culture I would rate my company as such: 1. Innovation and Risk Taking - (rating 1) Due to the restraints and standards set by the SEC there is little room for this. 2. Attention to Detail - (rating 5) This is the platform on which the organization is structured.

3. Outcome Orientation - (rating 5) the organization is "Procedure Driven" but the wrong outcome could affect the entire investment community. 4. People Orientation - (rating 2) Due to the rules and compliance's.

5. Team Orientation - (rating 5) This is a very important dimension of the organization. For a project to succeed it needs the contribution of different resources. 6. Aggressiveness - (rating 3) As in most organization there is a need to climb the corporate ladder. 7.

Stability - (rating 5) Because of the ever-increasing demands of the many customers. As an employee of the New York Stock Exchange for over 13 years, I have observed much of the organization's culture. The NYSE has a strong culture. The factors that lead me to think so are as follows: Size- The company has over 4000 full time employees, and over 2000 temps / consultants. Age - The company is 208 years old. Employee turnover rate- 25% have been there over 20 years, 50% have been there 10 years, there is a low turnover rate.

Intensity of original culture- the same basic policies and rules that were established over 200 years ago are the ones the organization adheres to today. I have heard many stories within the company about employees that were fired for not wear a tie and jacket to work. Shirts, ties and jackets are an unwritten requirement for the men in my organization. The people who are on the "fast track" are expected to attend all the social events given by the organization. Not attending could "slow down" their pace.

It is also excepted that you know the president as well as all the vice presidents of the company by sight. You must also recognize the sound of their voice over the telephone, and never put them on hold. As crazy as all this might seem, every employee adheres to these unwritten rules. Also, the chain of command in each and every department is never broken. Doing so would make your experience with the company very unpleasant. The NYSE is a dynamic and complex environment.

Every aspect of the business world affects the performance of my organization. The general and specific environments are as follows: General Environment: Economic and technological conditions affect my organization everyday. With the concept of online trading, influxes in the interest rates and the stock market indexes trading in such large volumes, the management of the NYSE has to keep online systems up for longer periods of time. As a result of that the normal after-hour processing of the days activates (this is where the integrity of every order is checked and reports of all the trades are verified) are delayed.

One delay can lead to several delays in other departments. Delays in other departments can create delays in the whole investment community. Managers must be proactive in this situation. Specific Environment: The Securities and Exchange Commission (agency created by Congress-government) and the Member Firms (customers) are the two specific groups that are directly relevant to the achievement of the NYSE's goals. The organization must adhere to every rule and regulation of the SEC and is subject to many audits by the agency to make sure procedures are followed. Manager must follow every rule and regulation it is given to the letter with no exceptions.

The member firms, which are the sole reason for my organization. The NYSE exists to provide services to the trading community. Whatever the member firms need, for example faster processing of orders or the need for less paper transactions is my organizations responsibility. The NYSE organizational structure provides strong guidance to the managers. The rights view of ethics and the integrative social contract theories are the status quo for the organization. The reasons for this could be because of SEC's constant intervention and the prestige that comes with the name (New York Stock Exchange).

Whatever the reason the company as a whole has very high shared ethical values. Every new employee must participate in employee orientation. This is a week long training process where they are informed about sexual harassment, dress code, and the general way NYSE employees should carry themselves on and (depending upon their level in the company) off the job. A refresher course of employee orientation is given to all employees every 4 years as long as they are with the company.

The organization tries very hard to respect all employees' rights, and I think, by having the orientations, it is achieving it's goal. There was an occasion when one employee in my department would change his personality when he went to lunch. He was like Dr. Jec kyl and Mr. Hyde. He would leave out as a nice quiet respectful person, but come back a loud, obnoxious, disrespectful person. He would insult the women in the department and make most of us very uncomfortable. The manager was informed of this employee's behavior and monitored his actions after lunch.

The manager witnessed first-hand what this employee was doing and immediately called the human resources department, which in turn had a meeting with this employee. Because of employee privacy, the manager could only reassure the department that the matter was being worked on and that the employee would never have the opportunity do that again. The employee never came back. The department could only assume the employee was fired or transferred, management never told us exactly what happened. The shared value of employee privacy was followed in this instance. The people of the department felt assured that management cared about their need to work in an environment where they felt comfortable.

I believed management handled that situation well. To help describe the decision making process in my organization I call upon Troy Elliott. He has been with the company for over 15 years. He is the manager of the switching and order-processing department, and he is responsible for the first shift (online) processing of orders and maintaining connectivity with the all computer related devices on the floor of the exchange.

Mr. Elliott states, "due to the increase in trader activity and the high demand for new technology, the decision making process has changed over the years". Well-structured problems that were once handled with programmed decisions are a thing of the past. Ill-structured problems are occurring every day making the decision making process one that requires intuitive judgments with bounded rationality. The trading floor had just upgraded several of the hand-held devices its employees need to make trades.

Normal procedures were used to test the devices. Weekend testing was done to verify the connectivity of the devices to the host systems. Everything tested great. On the day when the devices went online, the trades were not processing. Step by step procedures were use to try to rectify the problem but to no avail.

The problem had escalated to the next level. From an operational and programming level, everything seemed correct. After an hour of following all the procedures, Mr. Elliott had a communications technician check the firewall (used to block unwanted users). It was then discovered that the firewall was enabled. The problem was resolved because Mr. Elliott's experiences as an online manager lead him to make an intuitive decision.

It was a risky decision because the traders needed the equipment right away. He could of waited for a high-paid consultant to handle the problem later, but he didn't. He used all his skills and job know-how to get a workable solution. Because of all the different and challenging problems he deals with, he uses the behavioral style of decision-making with a touch of the analytic style. He believes it makes working with other department much easier. Through my years of experience and observation I could only conclude that the company has been in existence for so long because of the culture the founders established over 200 years ago.

It is an organization that is reared with high standard and values. Even with the ever-increasing demands of the investment world, the NYSE has never faltered and is revered as one of the most prestigious companies in the world today. It is a company of high standards and principles.