Semester Assignment - Organisational Behaviour

People and Organisations

MBA 7000

Corning Glass
By Waheed Akhtar
Student ID: 20162451

Total Word Count: 6983

Table of content

Table of content 2

Organisational culture 7
Types of organisational culture 8
1. Clan 8
2. Adhocracy 8
3. Market 8
4. Hierarchy 8
Competing Values Framework 9
Culture Alignment Framework 11

Creating an innovation culture 11

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) 13

Seven steps of SHRM 14
1. Develop a comprehensive knowledge of the goals of the company 14
2. Evaluate HR capability 14
3. Analyze current HR capacity 15
4. Estimate the company’s future HR requirements 15
5. Determine the necessary instruments and tools to fulfil the task 16
6. Implement a plan for human resources management 16
7. Assessment and corrective intervention 17
Why does strategic management of human resources matter? 17
Traditional HRM vs Strategic HRM 17
Human Capital Planning @ Corning SHRM 18
Corning’s Discovery Stage 19
The Four-Stage HCP Method 19

Organisational Behaviour 20
Goals of Organizational Behavior Study 21
Major Contributing Disciplines to the field of Organizational Behavior 22
Importance of Organisational Behaviour 24

Models of Organisational Behaviour 24

The Supportive Model 26

Leadership Approach 27
Where Supportive Mode is more effective 27
 The objective of the Supportive Model in OB 27
The Manager 28
The Employee 28
The Workplace 28
Performance Excellence - The Corning’s Journey 28

System Model 29
Components of System Model 30
The “System” 30
Management Role 30
In complicated vibrant environments, management takes into account the ever-changing
requirements of job structures and organization’s social needs. 31
Employee Needs 31
Impact on Performance 31
System - The Understanding Layers 31
Subsystems 31
Blackbox 32
Transformation 32
Boundary 32
Components of a System 32
Input 32
Processor 33
Output 33
Feedback 33
Control 33

The Fruit i.e. Personal Learning 33

Learning Theories 34
Elements of Learning Theories 34
Modern Learning Theories 34
Behavioural Learning 34
Cognitive Learning 34
Constructive Learning 35
Transformative Learning 35

Kolb’s Learning Theory 35

The Experiential Learning Cycle 35
1. Concrete experience 36
2. Reflective Observation 36
Reflective Observation at Corning - The Design Thinking Approach 37
3. Abstract Conceptualization 38
4. Active Experimentation 38
Kolb’s Learning Styles 38
 Corporate culture and its impact on learning 39

Final Words 40

References 41
The glass, one of man’s ancient romances!

Colourful, gorgeous, elegant, that’s how people describe it.

The legend has it that the glass is the finest work of a wizard with the purest heart from
prehistoric times. He mastered himself experimenting with time. During one of his experiments,
he took a pinch of sands of time and heated it on a high flame taken from his inner self. On such
a high temperature, the finest particles of sands of time started melting forming a liquid portal
between multiple dimensions. It was an extremely delicate experiment which could mess up all
dimensions of time leading into a catastrophe. At the verge, the wizard sprinkled the coldest of
his emotions and a pinch of stardust on the fire and let the liquid time to settle its inner bonds.
While it was still crystallizing, the wizard kept chanting, “Now I see you, now I don’t. Be a riddle,
be glass!”.

Every time he chanted the mantra, a freshly born star from the centre of Milkyway submerged
into the crystallizing liquid giving a part of it dozens of unique colours.

And then he infused his last breath into the dimensions of liquid time and everything immortality
crystalized into a large transparent sheet with hundred of colours frozen between the layers
time!

O’ that state of the art wizardry, he managed to capture the moments of his final breath into that
giant sheet of frozen crystals from the sand of times.

The sheet of those frozen crystals, the glass was born!

Centuries passed seeing series of wizards who brought further innovations to glass. Talking
about the wizards, Corning Glass is the finest of all!

A company, a legend!

The year was 1851 when Amory Houghton, in Somerville, Massachusetts, founded a company
named Bay State Glass Co which later moved to the city of Corning, New York, in 1868. under
the leadership of Amory Houghton, Jr. and got a new name Corning Glass Works which we
know Corning Incorporated today (Referenceforbusiness.com, 2019).

Since its inception, the 168 years of the company has been at the forefront of innovation and
now valued at $27 billion (Anon, 2019). The company started its journey as a glass
manufacturer, Pyrex and Corningware now manufacture very advanced kind of glass materials
for automobiles, fibre optic cables and smartphones and computer tech industry.

Corning’s history is all about innovations and most of its innovations involve glass. People may
think of glass as a single material, but for Corning’s Research and Development team, it’s not.
They treat glass as a platform that can be tuned and modified as per the need and application.
One of their earlier innovations was the bulb-shaped glass encasements for great Thomas
Edison’s incandescent lamp. The beauty of that simple droplet shaped design was that it was
able to tolerate the atmospheric pressure equally at every point with a vacuum inside. Later,
with the popularity of electricity, Corning’s innovative technique to mass produce the bulbs
brought light to the world.

Later, in the early 20th century, they discovered a way to make glass stronger and heat
resistant which into innovations like Pyrex and Corning Ware, which is still the industry standard
in glass cookware even after more than 100 years.

They produced glass for everything from Mercury Program to space shuttle, including lamps,
doors, television panels and spacecraft tasks (Cmog.org, 2019).

In 1964, they developed a unique method called fusion forming involving lava hot glass pouring
seven floors down mid-air forming a lengthy uniform layer sliced later into required shapes and
sizes (Corning.com, 2019).

They even have invented a ceramic emission filter for automobiles to catch pollutants before
they escape the vehicle's exhaust pipe. This innovation is now an industry standard worldwide.

Corning is a company which is constantly evolving since it’s early days.

In the 1960s, Charles Kao published a paper stating that laser could be used to carry
information if a highly sophisticated clear glass pipe or wire with certain features could exist
(NobelPrize.org, 2019). That could help to overcome the bottlenecks that copper or other metals
offered for communication which could lead to a high-speed data transfer. Corning saw this as
an opportunity and took it as a challenge resulting in the innovation of low-loss fibre optic cable
in the 1970s which used glass instead of copper. It was capable of carrying 65,000 times more
information than a traditional copper wire. This was a revolution and quickly became the
backbone of modern high-speed internet. If there is a company who is wrapping around the
globe with a physical spider web of fibre optic cable, it’s Corning.

A few months before the iPhone's release, Apple approached Corning in 2007 with a need to
build a scratch-resistant glass that can also survive drops (Aamoth and Aamoth, 2019). Corning
reacted instantly and created Gorilla glass, which is now an international standard in the
smartphone sector.

If it was not Corning, the modern tech industry would have been very different.
 Corning’s journey, a bird's eye view

Organisational culture
The values, behaviours, contributing towards building a distinctive and quirky social and
psychological environment of a company lay the foundations of its organisational culture which
is extremely unique, particular and special to that organisation.

The organizational culture is the key to influence the way people interact within as well as
outside of that organisation. A healthy organisation culture plays a key role in neutralising the
resistance people may have towards certain changes.

Organisational culture also defines the context of acquiring, sharing and securing the knowledge
as a fundamental asset for an organisation.

It is a representation of collective values and principles which the members of an organisation

strongly believe in. It constantly evolves over a period of time and throughout all of the life
stages that organisation undergoes. These stages include:

● Development / Seed Stage

● Startup Stage
● Growth / Survival Stage
● Expansion / Rapid Growth Stage
● Maturity Stage

Ravasi and Schultz describe organizational culture as a set of shared assumptions and patterns
that develop desired behaviours (Ravasi and Schultz, 2006). Culture also help to seed the
pattern of such collective behaviours and assumptions into new members of the organisation to
them perceive and share the vision of leadership as well as feel it. It has a very strong impact on
the way employees and different groups interface with each other as well as with clients and
stakeholders (Schrodt, 2002).

According to Deal, Kennedy (Deal and Kennedy, 2002), Kotter (Kotter, 2011) and Schein
(Schein, 1988), even though organisations may have their own unique culture but they often
have a set of subcultures as well which are primarily a result of different organisational units as
well as geographical locations. These co-existing subcultures are sometimes are conflicting
since each subculture is offspring of a different management team, geography, organisational
unit and client needs.

Flamholtz and Randle (Flamholtz and Randle, 2011) define organizational culture as "corporate
personality" that consists of the values, beliefs, and norms influencing the behaviour of people
as members of an organization.

Types of organisational culture

When we talk about organisational culture, there are 4 types, as defined by Robert E. Quinn and
Kim S. Cameron at the University of Michigan:

1. Clan
A clan culture has a higher degree of flexibility and internally focused. It focuses more on
mentoring, nurturing and teamwork. Organisations with such a culture tend to establish a
family-like work environment.

2. Adhocracy
Adhocracy-oriented cultures have a greater degree of behaviour-control and are
internally concentrated. Such a culture is vibrant, entrepreneurial, focusing on risk-
taking, creativity, and first-doing.

3. Market
Market-oriented cultures are externally concentrated and have a greater degree of
monitoring conduct. Such a culture is outcomes-oriented, focusing on the rivalry,
accomplishment, and completion of work.

4. Hierarchy
Also, hierarchy-oriented cultures are externally focused with greater flexibility. Structured
and regulated, this sort of organizational culture focuses on effectiveness, stabilization
and doing stuff right.
While adopting a culture for an organisation, nothing is right and wrong. The right culture is the
one best suited to the vision, direction and strategy of a particular organization since each
organisation has its challenges and issues which are unique to it and must have to be dealt with
in a certain timeframe. There is a higher possibility that adopting one single culture will not be
beneficial for an organisation, so most of times organisations tend to demonstrate the
characteristics of multiple cultures at the same time.

When it comes to Corning’s organisational culture, Corning demonstrates characteristics of all

four organisational cultures depending on the exhibited behaviours:

● Hierarchy and Market: When it comes to the principal focus on stability a Hierarchy
culture based on the control leads to incremental changes and incremental changes are
very important for an old company like Corning to stay relevant even after 160 years.

● Clan and Adhocracy: When it comes to flexibility and adaptability, Adhocracy culture
typically leads to breakthrough change which has helped Corning leading the innovation
in the industry throughout its life span.

Competing Values Framework

Competing Values Framework is an instrumental method to assess organizational culture and
produces assessment results of the now and future state of an organisation.
Developed by Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron, the Competing Values Framework, gives a
birdseye view of how a company operates, how employees collaborate and the corporate
values among all four corporate cultures.
 Factors of Organizational Cultures

Culture Alignment Framework

Its a uniquely powerful tool for aligning strategy and culture since the organization's culture can
support or undermine its business strategy. This framework is rooted in two critical dimensions
of organizational dynamics:

● Attitude toward people: From independence to interdependence

● Attitude toward change: From flexibility to stability

Creating an innovation culture

The Corning Way

Glass i.e. transparency!

It’s very strange and fascinating to observe something transparent demonstrating different
colours when putting to light. This is truly magical. We see the colours in the glass which are not
really present there. When looked through from certain angles, glass tends to bends the light
rays of different wavelengths to different amounts resulting into spectral colours appear to
appear like magic. (Explain that Stuff, 2019)

That’s exactly how the organisational culture works. It makes people believe in the vision of the
company.

For example, if a company has the vision to produce and sell blue bananas and blue oranges,
it’s their organisational culture and corporate branding that will make its employees believe in
the concept and share the same vision.

It is one of the wizard’s fundamental tools.

A vision is one of the most beautiful things that an organisation can seed into its employees and
great vision is always much bigger than individuals.

The Corning is no exception. Its innovations are a journey to excellence spanning over three
centuries.

How Corning went from Pyrex to Gorilla Glass, it’s not a mystery, it’s a dedication towards the
constantly evolving vision. Today, they are no more described as glassmakers but as a technology
company that specialises in making speciality materials for industrial and scientific applications.

Corning has 108 manufacturing facilities and employes more 55,000 people in 15 countries.

Corning is not just a company, it’s a vision and a revolution… And for a company to become a
revolution, it must have a very strong Organisational Culture and strongly rooted values. In the
line below, we will have a closer look at the organisational culture and its values that make
Corning... The Corning, the greatest wizard of all times.
Strategic human resource management (SHRM)
An organisation always has a connection between its human resources, strategies, objectives,
and goals. That connection is defined as Strategic human resource management which
primarily deals with:
 ● Make advancements in flexibility, innovation, and competitive advantage.

● Develop an organizational culture that is in keeping with the vision of the organization.

● Help improve company efficiency through SHRM’s scientific methods.

For many businesses, human resources problems can be hard to overcome; there are various
elements that could upset company owners and create unnecessary choices that delay
activities for their staff and businesses.

Strategic HR includes examining how staffing can have a significant effect on the development
of a company. HR staff must use a strategy to develop and retain their staff to address the
requirements of a company's long-term intentions.

Seven steps of SHRM

Since, strategic human resource management is the link between a company's human
resources and its policies, objectives, and goals, the ultimate goal of strategic human resource
management is to:

● Improving company efficiency

● Develop a suitable organizational culture

● Flexibility, creativity and competitiveness

Strategic management of human resources i.e. SHRM has a seven-step process to guide
human resource leadership to achieve this.

1. Develop a comprehensive knowledge of the goals of the company

The success of strategic human resource management depends on how well it is connected
with the objectives of your company, you need to thoroughly examine and understand those
objectives.

You must also be prepared to formulate your short-term and long-term development goals for
the appropriate HR staff through a well defined and clear communication to make it easier for
HR personnel so that he can formulate it to an effective resource management strategy.

2. Evaluate HR capability
Evaluation of your HR skills will allow you to know your staff and how they help to achieve your
goals and goals. Carrying out an inventory of abilities for each worker is also a very good idea.
Inventories of expertise assist you to find out which staff are specialists in specific fields. It also
enables you to recognize staff who are interested in being educated in a specific part of your
business.

3. Analyze current HR capacity

An HR capability evaluation will assist you to identify obstacles and execute an intervention
scheme that takes advantage of possibilities and efficiently address risks. SHR staff examines
the number and skills of employees and work with senior officials to identify ways of improving
the equipment available to staff to meet the business's needs.

4. Estimate the company’s future HR requirements

Following an assessment of your company's staff and expertise in regards to your goals, it is the
right moment to predict your HR requirements.

The forecast should be made with regard to:

● Demand
A forecast should be produced regarding the amount of staff with the related abilities
needed to meet the potential of the company.

● Supply
Look at the staff and abilities accessible to assist the business to attain its global
objectives.

In addition, the forecasting of prospective HR needs of your company determines:

● The company's future needs for employment and functions.

● The ability of current staff to assess their capacity to carry fresh tasks and roles duties.

● Whether the knowledge and expertise of the staff are adequately used.

● Whether existing human resources staff and procedures can support the development of
the company.
5. Determine the necessary instruments and tools to fulfil the task
HR staff need to work with the relevant agencies to determine how the instruments employed
affect their capacity to fulfil their responsibilities.

For example, in order to recognize differences in instruments that will enable the more
structured workforce, joint hardware or software audit can also be conducted with the IT
department.

It is equally important to keep the staff driven by frequent reviews on results using adjoining
journals.

6. Implement a plan for human resources management

After analyzing and forecasting the HR demands of the business, it is the time to start hunting
for new talent and preparing the current staff for the potential growth of the company. The
implementation plan also includes the actions and steps required to implement Human Capital
Planning i.e. HCP.

In order to get the new human resource management strategy implemented, the following steps
are taken care of:

● Define a clear Human Capital Planning

Creating a comprehensive Human Capital Plan and set up a timeframe and deadline for
its implementation is required at this stage.

● The recruitment stage

At this stage, HR experts start looking for applicants with abilities recognized during the
strategic planning phase.

● Define the selection process

Interviews and other selection criteria take place at this time

● Begin the hiring process

A job offer is made to successful candidates after all appropriate checks and scanning.

● Design onboarding and training

Onboarding is the main determinant of whether an employee continues with the
company. To boost staff longevity, a comprehensive onboarding and coaching system
must be established.
7. Assessment and corrective intervention
HR staff should decide on a timeline to conduct a strategic review of SHRM Strategy with HR
leadership which will help to track the progress also help to identify areas for improvement. It is
then should be measured against the company vision and goals. Corrective measures are
needed if strategic management of human resources does not fulfil its objectives.

Why does strategic management of human resources matter?

Companies are more probable to succeed if all groups work towards the same goals and vision.
Strategic HR sets out employee assessment and determines the measures necessary to
improve their importance to the company. The findings of this assessment are also used by
strategic human asset leadership to create HR methods to solve staff faults.

Some of the benefits of strategic human resource management are given below:

● Better job satisfaction

● Improved work culture
● Enhanced rates of customer satisfaction
● Effective resource management
● A proactive employee management strategy
● Increase productivity through efficiency

Traditional HRM vs Strategic HRM

The key difference between Traditional HRM and Strategic HRM is the pro-activity and planning
ahead of time. Traditional human resources management reacts to employees only when
someone makes a request or shows symptoms of any problem, then only HR steps in and takes
care of it.

On the contrary, Strategic HR involves accessive planning. A strategic HR department always

needs to look ahead of time foresee the problems. The SHRM staff is also responsible to look at
the company's future and develop strategies to meet them.

The following chart shows a brief comparison between Traditional HRM and Strategic HRM:
Human Capital Planning @ Corning SHRM
More than a Head Count

According to company experts attending a session during the Talent Management Strategies
Conference sponsored by The Conference Board, Corning does not so much discuss
"individuals," but "procedures," in analysing its potential future skill requirements (SHRM, 2019).

With the rapidly changing market and needs, more than ever, the organization's efficacy relies
on its capacity to tackle problems such as knowledge management, change management, and
capacity building.

Unlike conventional workforce planning, HCP helps Corning to spend time, cash, and energy in
procedures that are more critical to securing that the business always has the correct quantity,
sort, and performance of expertise. It is no longer aimed at an exact headcount, instead, HCP
relies on segmentation as the basis for efficient planning (HCP at Corning, 2019).
Corning’s Discovery Stage
As said Christine M. Pambianchi, Corning’s vice president of human resources, Corning is
perhaps better regarded as a leader in glass and ceramics, and its competitive advantage is
due to intellectual property and being first in the market.

However, leadership at Corning understands that the problems with its skill base can influence
its capacity to perform:

● The price system, the cash flow and the capacity to provide products or facilities may be
affected by over or under understaffing the production units.

● The incorrect combination of skills contributing to poorly qualified workers can imply lost
business chances.

● If employees are overqualified, price becomes a drag on profitability.

● The failure to employ individuals in a quick manner can also imply a lack of business
chances and/or bad client delivery and eventually a revenue erosion.

● The capacity of the organization to implement strategies and company schemes can be
immediately affected by an ill-equipped supply of skilled executives and technical
specialists.

Corning introduced a four-stage HCP method to address the HR problems and assist HR
leadership concentrate on the company's ever-changing requirements. Every Spring, the five-
year business cycle undergoes a profound dip.

The Four-Stage HCP Method

Corning’s four-stage HCP model consists of the following four stages:

● Determine your strategic position

● Develop a strategic plan

● Execute and manage the plan

● Review and revise the plan

 Illustration of Four-Stage HCP Process

Organisational Behaviour
The academic study of how individuals behave in a group is called Organizational Behaviour
(OB). The concepts of OB are mainly implemented in efforts to improve the efficiency of
business and companies.
Organizational behaviour research has its origins in the early 1920s, when the Western Electric
Company introduced a series of research on worker behaviour at its Hawthorne Works in
Cicero, Illinois.

These original results motivated wide-ranging research between 1924 and 1933. They included
impacts on job shifts productivity, loneliness, and brightness, among many other variables.

The best-known outcome is the Hawthorne effect, which shows how the behaviour of the
subjects can change if they know that they are being observed.

The study of organisational behaviour involves research fields that aim to increase employee
efficiency, enhance work fulfilment, promote creativity and encourage leadership in the pursuit
of innovation. Each of these fields has its own suggested activities, including the reorganization
of organizations, the amendment of reward systems or the change in performance
measurement techniques.

Goals of Organizational Behavior Study

Organizational behaviour is the study of how people behave within groups and makes the
foundation of modern businesses.

The fields of organizational behaviour are the social elements of organisations, such as how
ethnicity, category, and gender roles impact team construction and productivity, and how
ethnicity and history influence decision-making.
 The nature of organisational behaviour.

Major Contributing Disciplines to the field of Organizational Behavior

Behavioural science ate the major contributing disciplines to the field of OB:

● Psychology - How people respond to a stimulus.

● Sociology - How people connect to each other and organizations.

● Social Psychology - How people and organisations interpret dispute, risks and stress.

● Anthropology - Interpreting people's customs and cultural traditions since the

organisation is a manifestation of the large community.

● Political Science - Critical thinking skills to understand the power, authority, and
corporate politics.

● Economics - Appreciate financial and non-monetary rewards for staff to motivate them
and to produce loyalty.
The way behavioural sciences contribute towards OB
Importance of Organisational Behaviour
Some of the key benefits that Organisational Behaviour brings to a company may include:

● OB helps to provide a career roadmap to individuals in an organization.

● Using scientific research and methods it helps to predict how people will behave under
various circumstances.

● It also helps to predict if and when a certain incident will hit the organisation and what
will be the pros and cons of that incident.

● It helps the individual working in an organisation to understand themselves in a better

fashion.

● It empowers managers to manage human resources effectively through motivation.

● It enables organisations to maintain friendly working practices.

Models of Organisational Behaviour

Organizational behaviour model is a fundamental framework that demonstrates organizational
relationships between factors at different levels. Models are methods that assist us to
comprehend complicated stuff and thoughts clearly. Models constitute patterns or probable
explications as to why individuals do so at the job.

The organization analyzes employee behaviour in three fundamental levels i.e. Individual Level,
Group Level and Organizational System Level

Fundamental levels of organisation analyses

A typical Organizational Behavior System

Different outcomes across organisations are triggered by variations in organisational behaviour

designs that's why there are so many models as many organisations. All organisational
behaviour models are widely categorized into five kinds i.e autocratic, custodial, supportive,
collegial and system (Ebrary, 2019).
 Four Models of Organizational Behaviour

The Supportive Model

The supportive organizational behaviour model originated with the concept of positive
interactions. It relies on management, not power or money. Through governance, management
offers a climate to ensure staff develop and achieve the goal in the best interest of the
organization.

The foundation of this model is support-oriented leadership. The staff, in effect, are geared to
work with better efficiency and involvement. The employee needs are met and recognized.

The model is based on leadership, not cash or power. In reality, the organizational leadership
style offers an atmosphere to assist staff develop and effectively achieve their duties. The
executives acknowledge that the employees are not by definition idle and completely
uninterested in organisational requirements, but an inappropriate leadership style does.
Managers think the employees are willing to distribute accountability, create a push to contribute
their mite and enhance themselves, provided a sense of owing through suitable modifications.
Under a positive strategy, management's approach is to promote the work output of the
employee to meet both organisational and personal goals.

Leadership Approach
The leader believes that employees are not, by definition, inactive and driven to organisational
requirements, but are created by an inadequately friendly working climate. They'll hold
accountability, create a desire to participate, and enhance themselves if they're given an
opportunity by leadership.

Here management's focus is to foster the work efficiency of the worker rather than merely
promote the benefits transfers of the worker as in the custodial strategy. The employees talk
"we" and not "they" when relating to their organisation.

This model dictates that the notion of management is provided with an organizational point of
perspective, where the manager effectively guides the staff by creating excellent examples,
being accessible and engaging in different duties.

In simple words, the manager seeks to build the employees ' friendly operating environment.

Where Supportive Mode is more effective

The supportive model of organizational behaviour is discovered to be more helpful and efficient
in developed nations and less efficient in developing countries because of employee more
proactive and aware in developed nations since they know their rights, responsibilities towards
organisation better.

The objective of the Supportive Model in OB

Given that the supportive model is founded on the assumption that staff are self-motivated and
take pride in their role and wish the organization to achieve excellent outcomes, the constructive
system seeks to use this self-motivation by support and participation of the immediate
leadership of the staff.

These objectives of Supportive Model can be achieved through three “The” i.e. The Manager,
The Employee and The Workplace.
The Manager
The manager must be seen as a favourable supporting facilitator for employees, in order to
achieve that, the manager must work with all staff in order to make the most of every employee.
This strategy of leadership should lead to a strong level of staff satisfaction, which would
enhance efficiency over a period of time.

The Employee
The supportive model approach creates a notion that staff are self-motivated and that they have
importance and knowledge to add beyond their everyday roles to the company. The entire
concept of management is constructed around it. Unlike autocratic style, it suggests staff are
motivated by themselves and can create importance that extends beyond their day-to-day
activities or roles.

The Workplace
The question is, how to get the employees self-motivated?

The answer is simple. That's by establishing a favourable environment where they're motivated
to offer their thoughts, and there's some sort of "buy-in" in organizational behaviour
configuration and the route it follows.

Performance Excellence - The Corning’s Journey

Corning’s performance excellence is a journey of innovation spanning over three centuries. One
of the most successful companies of all times, Corning has accomplished its results through its
performance excellence model which is an extension of Supportive Model and focuses on
corporate and employee values, collaboration, execution, and improvement.

The model endorsed customizing performance instruments and preparation of employees within
the modern approach.

It’s Corning's quality culture and homegrown scalable strategy that enable its staff in all roles to
engage in improvements and innovations. At Corning, innovation is a process that promotes the
creation of fresh products and technology. The innovation process included five phases, from
original knowledge building to leadership life-cycle.

The key values to guide the company are quality, integrity, performance, leadership innovation,
independence and individuals. The diagram below gives a better understanding of Corning’s
Performance Excellence Model.
 The Corning Performance Excellence Model

System Model
The system model seeks to create emotions of shared confidence where employee
performance is guided by the embedded strategy, corporate culture, function of the worker and
apparent importance in the organization.

The organization examines the overall structure and team environment in the system model and
believes that individual people have different objectives, abilities and capability.

As a result, an organization receives several inputs from its environment which are then
analyzed and integrated into the final product or services.
 The figure shows the relationship clearly

Components of System Model

In today's working environment, the system model is comparatively prevalent. The system
model aims to incorporate staff and their know-how into the procedures and tasks of the
organization, rather than look at staff isolated.

This model is, therefore, a change back from the traditional strategy, in which workers were
driven mainly by economic and other advantages. There are three key components of System
Model which make it a more relevant model today.

The “System”
The term "system" emerges from this perspective that the director is accountable for keeping
the group together, just as one system, through the sense of common respect and an
embedded ongoing process.

Management Role
System design managers are looking to solve any job problems that affect the process as a
whole and the number of staff. Managers function to a big level as facilitators or solvers.
In complicated vibrant environments, management takes into account the ever-changing
requirements of job structures and organization’s social needs.

Employee Needs
The system model considers staff requirements in a wider sense than just an economic
exchange: the model sees staff as seeking a healthy operating atmosphere that is backed by
instruments, procedures and a logical organisation.

This model dictates that the staff will attempt their utmost to satisfy the requirements, and to
achieve successful outcomes for their organization if the organization recognizes and trusts its
staff and gives them suitable duties. It also suggests that staff should be benefited from
enhanced employment skills, knowledge and teammates.

Impact on Performance
When the staff feel confident and satisfied with the organization and understand that they
perform a precious role, they will become more engaged. This is because they feel owning the
positions and even portion of the organization's leadership.

System - The Understanding Layers

Subsystems
Each system consisting of sub-systems that, in turn, consisting of other sub-systems, is marked
by its limits. Interconnections between sub-systems are known as interfaces. Interfaces take the
form of inputs and outputs at the boundaries.
 The system, subsystem and environment

Blackbox
A sub-system at the lowest level for which Inputs and outputs are defined, but not the
transformation process, may not be defined as a processor. Such a system is called Blackbox.

Transformation
A system gets and generates outputs when inputs are transformed. The conversion method is
controlled. Feedback regulation is used in many processes.

The feedback control involves estimation of the inputs, i.e. contrast of the yield to a norm,
indicating the production of the scheme and a monitoring mechanism that can change the
system process to draw the output closest to the standard.

Boundary
There is a boundary to each system. Anything outside that boundary is called the environment.

Components of a System

Input
Input involves machinery, workforce, commodities, cash, time etc.
Processor
A processor is a component of a system that includes transforming input into output and it's a
system's functional element Processors may change input completely or partly, based on
performance requirements. This implies handling as the output criteria alter. In some cases, the
input is also modified to enable the transformation processor.

Output
This is the correct data, transmitted to the correct person at the correct moment and location.

Feedback
Feedback is efficiency information about a system. Feedback controls performance against a
norm in a cybernetic operation involving communication and control. After the output is
contrasted to quality norms, modifications can lead to feedback or handling and thus output.
Feedback may be good, bad, regular, or informative.

Control
It involves handling feedback and adopting the intervention. Management assistance is needed
to secure monitoring and promote the suggested shift in goals.

Operating system and associated software impact scheme behaviour in a computer system. In
system analysis, understanding the behaviour of the person controlling the region for which a
machine is regarded can create a distinction between success and failure of a setup.

The Fruit i.e. Personal Learning

Personal development planning begins by asking questions, questions like what I am now and
who I want to be in the future. Personal development planning includes answering questions like
these and using the responses to decide where to go and how to get there.

That journey is one we'll focus on at particular moments to make sure we're heading in the
correct path and consider whether to create any adjustments to what we're doing or how we're
doing it and that’s done through research development frameworks in combination with learning
theories which we will discuss below.
Learning Theories
Learning is a process through which people gain the knowledge and understanding that they
can apply in the future.

Learning Theory describes how learners acquire, process and conserve the knowledge.
Cognitive, emotional, social and previous expertise factors all take a role in acquiring or
changing insight, the understanding and abilities of the world.[1][2]

Learning theories are classified into two main categories, Classical theorists and Modern
Theorists.

The classical theories of learning, The Theory of Plato and The Theory of Locke, also known as
Blank Slate Theory, try to provide an answer to the fundamental question i.e. How does an
individual learn something new when the topic is brand new to that person? These theories are
the basis of all modern learning theories.

Elements of Learning Theories

The elements that define a learning theory include:

● Motivation - Unfilled needs lead to motivation

● Cues - Stimuli that direct motives

● Response - Consumer reaction to a drive or cue

● Reinforcement - Increases the likelihood that a response will occur in the future as a
result of a cue

Modern Learning Theories

Behavioural Learning
Based on observable behaviours (responses) that occur as a result of exposure to stimuli

Cognitive Learning
Learning based on mental information processing and often in response to problem-solving
Constructive Learning
Constructivism as a paradigm suggests that learning is an effective, positive method and that
helps to build the knowledge (Learning Theories - Constructivism, 2019).

Transformative Learning
Transformative learning theory suggests the "perspective development" method has three
characteristics: psychological (variations in self-understanding), convictional (modification of
belief systems) and cognitive (shifts in lifestyle) (Clark and Wilson, 1991).

Kolb’s Learning Theory

“Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of
experience” (Kolb, 1984).

In 1984, David Kolb published a paper describing his learning style model which we now know
as Kolb’s learning Theory. He later used that model to develop the inventory of his learning
styles.

Kolb’s learning theory is based on his experience and observation and connects with the
learner’s self cognitive processes. According to Kolb, learning includes acquiring abstract ideas
that can be implemented flexibly in various circumstances and new encounters provide
motivation for developing fresh ideas. The theory works on two levels:

● The Experiential Learning Cycle - A four-stage cycle of learning

● Kolb’s Learning Styles - Four separate learning styles

The Experiential Learning Cycle

Kolb's experiential learning cycle is based on a four stages Concrete experience, Reflective
Observation, Abstract Conceptualization and Active Experimentation which are discussed below
(Anon - Simply Psychology, 2019).
 Kolb’s The Experiential Learning Cycle

1. Concrete experience
Concrete experience is the first stage in Kolb's experiential learning cycle. This is a stage in
which an individual, team or organisation are assigned a task. Practical or activity is a faster and
efficient way to learn. A person or a team can not understand by merely observing or reading
about something, they should carry some experiment or activity around it in order to learn
efficiently.

The activities could include, ice breakers, energisers, team games, problem-solving, discussion,
practical exercises, e.g. making a presentation and debates etc.

2. Reflective Observation
During this stage, the key of particular importance is to observe any inconsistencies between
experience and understanding which can lead to the New Experience (The Interaction Design
Foundation, 2019).

That implies getting back from doing and examining what has been accomplished and what has
been witnessed. Many questions are raised in this phase and lines of communication are
unlocked for other group participants.

The activities could include, paired discussions, interviews, personality questionnaires,

observing activities, workshops, surveys etc.

Reflective Observation at Corning - The Design Thinking Approach

Design thinking is a modern way of understanding customers, their needs and gaps in the
market and based on Kolb’s Reflective Observation. It is one of the key traits at Corning which
has kept Corning innovating over the last few decades.

Design Thinking is a method in which we try to comprehend the customer, question

expectations and redefine issues in an effort to recognize alternatives that could not be
immediately visible with our initial amount of knowledge.

Design Thinking offers simultaneously a solutions-based strategy to problem-solving. It's a way

of reasoning, operating and a series of hands-on techniques.

An overview of Design Thinking

3. Abstract Conceptualization
Reflection creates new ideas or alteration of a current abstract concept we may have gained
from our knowledge, so at this point, we compare what we have accomplished and drawn upon
theory from textbooks for framing and explaining events.

At this stage, the activities may include presenting models, establish theories, present facts and
data etc.

4. Active Experimentation
This is the final stage where we put the findings and concepts established in previous stages to
a test through various activities or methods which may involve creating POC (Proof of Concept),
and role-playing etc.

According to Kolb, we can join the process at any point and pursue it through its logical
progression, but efficient teaching only happens when a learner can perform all four phases of
the model.

Kolb’s Learning Styles

Various factors may influence a person's preferred learning style e.g. social environment,
educational experiences, or the basic cognitive structure of the individual. That’s the basic idea
behind Kolb's learning theory sets out four distinct learning styles. These learning styles are
based on a four-stage learning cycle as discussed above and are a combination of two axes
(continuums) formed each between what Kolb calls 'dialectically related modes' of 'grasping
experience ' and ' transforming experience' where grasping experience is doing or watching and
transforming experience is feeling or thinking.
Corporate culture and its impact on learning
Leadership comes hand-in-hand with strategy, and most leaders comprehend the basics.
However, culture is a deeper level, as a lot of it is embedded in implicit behaviour, mentalities
and cultural models.

The strategy clarifies and concentrates group intervention and decision-making. It is based on
plans and decisions to mobilize individuals and can often be rewarded both for tangible
objectives and for attempting to achieve them. Ideally, it also includes active components that
can monitor and evaluate the internal atmosphere and feel when it requires modifications to
keep continuity and development.

Culture is an organization's tacit cultural command: it forms attitudes and conduct in a broad
and long-lasting way. Cultural standards describe what within a community is promoted,
discouraged, adopted or dismissed. Culture can unleash huge quantities of energy for a
common purpose and promote an organization's ability for prosperity if correctly matched with
its privacy principles, fuels and requires.
In reaction to altering possibilities and requirements, culture can also develop flexible and
autonomously. While the approach is typically determined by the C-suite, style can fluently
combine top officials ' plans with frontline workers ' understanding and expertise.

Final Words
Companies need to change and adopt different strategies during different stages of their life
span, these stages include:

● Development / Seed Stage

● Startup Stage

● Growth / Survival Stage

● Expansion / Rapid Growth Stage

● Maturity Stage

Corning is a company with a history spanning over three centuries and has a lifespan of 168
years. As a company, it is at the Maturity Stage for many decades. Surviving this long in the
industry and still remain relevant is no magic. It is a result of continuous evolution of process,
organisational culture and manufacturing methods.

While working on this paper, I got a chance to have a closer look at Corning in relationship with
different leadership and organisational models which lead me to understand the fact that how a
great leadership keeps an eye on changing environment and picks the opportunities from the
changing environment and adopt the new behaviours to turn the effect of the changing factors
into their favour.

Corning has a very strong Organizational Culture with its roots back in the 19th century and
strongly tied with innovation. Its leadership has been bold ever since the early 20th century
when Corning joined Eddison and created an innovative glass for his bulb experiments and later
helped him to bring the bulbs to mass public through their state of the art and innovative
production process.

The company's 168 years have been the innovations leader since its founding and are now
estimated at $27 billion. The firm began its voyage as a glass, Pyrex and Corningware maker,
are now manufacturing very sophisticated glass products for automobiles, fibre optics,
smartphones and software technology.
Corning's past involves inventions, and most of its inventions involve glass. People may think
glass as a single material, but not for Corning's Research and Development team. They
consider glass as a platform that can be adjusted and altered as needed.

Following are some of the key factors behind Corning success:

● Strong and state of the art R&D Department

● Leadership is spot on the opportunities
● Leadership is able to work for hand in hand with the top management of other
companies
● Leadership is not only focussed on revenues, but they also plan and find out a way to
make the technology affordable so that it can reach the public
● Able to create market needs
● Respond to the market change quickly
● Adopt the new trends fast

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