Management Report: Organizational Behavior at Power Corporation Canada

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Power Corporation of Canada's organizational behavior, starting with the company's outlook, including its vision, mission, values, culture, ethics, and organizational structure. It examines the integration of the dynamic environment through reactive and proa...Read More

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Organizational Behavior
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Executive Summary:
The report aims at providing an insight into the organizational behavior of Power Corporation of
Canada. The report commences with the company’s outlook and approach by focusing on the
vision, departments, organizational structure, policies and procedures and the code of the ethics.
The report also discusses about the integration of dynamic environment by focusing on various
aspects like the type of change, approach, environmental scanning and SWOT, development and
training, employee engagement and participation, process versus functional approach and the
team concept. The report also provides an extensive analysis of the of the sustainability approach
of the organization.

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Table of Contents
I. Company’s Outlook and Approach..............................................................................................3
1. Vision, Mission, Values, Culture Ethics and its Implementation................................................3
2. Responsible Department with Key Executives............................................................................3
3. Organizational Structure of the Company..................................................................................4
4. Policies and Procedures of the Company...................................................................................5
5. Code of Ethics of the Company...................................................................................................5
II. Dynamic Environment Integration:............................................................................................6
1. Reactive vs Proactive...................................................................................................................6
2. Top Down, Bottom Up Approach...............................................................................................6
3. Environmental Scanning and SWOT Analysis............................................................................7
4. Scientific Analysis- Culture of Thinking Out of Box..................................................................8
5. Training and Development..........................................................................................................8
6. Employee Participation and Employee Engagement..................................................................9
7. Functional vs Process Approach..................................................................................................9
8. Team Concept- Coaching, Mentoring, Coordination and Synergy.............................................9
III. Organizational Sustainability Approach..................................................................................10
1. Balancing External and Internal Environment..........................................................................10
3. Power Sharing and Decision Making.......................................................................................10
4. Motivational Criteria.................................................................................................................11

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5. Continuous Process Improvement.............................................................................................11
6. Corporate Social Responsibility:...............................................................................................12
7. Innovative Corporate Culture....................................................................................................12
References:....................................................................................................................................13

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I. Company’s Outlook and Approach
1. Vision, Mission, Values, Culture Ethics and its Implementation
Power Corporation of Canada has a vision that is aimed at acting like the owner having
long term perspective and strategic vision anchored in the stronger core values1 The mission of
the company lies in enhancing the values of the shareholder through actively managing the
investment and business operations that generated longer term sustainable growth in the
dividends and earnings. The values of the company lies in achieving a prudent approach towards
risk and through a responsible corporate citizenship2. The corporation acted more like the owner
with the strategic vision and longer term perspective anchored in the stronger core values. Power
Corporation of Canada had a stronger base of integrity and ethical conduct of business that
enabled the company in generating a sustainable growth for the future. The company had code
of business conduct and ethics that reflected the core values thereby providing guidance for the
conduction of the business activities according to relevant ethical, legal and professional
standards.
2. Responsible Department with Key Executives
The Power Corporation of Canada believes in importance of a good corporate
governance and the directors plays a central role in goverance process3. The board of directors
1 powercorporation.com, in , 2019, <https://www.powercorporation.com/en/about/profile-and-mission/> [accessed
26 May 2019].
2 reuters.com, in , 2019, <https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/financial-highlights/POW.TO> [accessed 26 May
2019].
3 powercorporation.com, in , , 2019, <https://www.powercorporation.com/en/governance/board-directors/>
[accessed 26 May 2019].

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of the company comprises of the seasoned professionals who brings in diversified experience.
The balance of the compentencies and skills results in prudent and conservative oversight that
enables the corporation in delivering longer term attractive returns for the shareholders. Some of
the board of directors since 2016 have been Gary A. Doer and Christian Noyer
3. Organizational Structure of the Company
Power Corporation of Canada represents a functional organizational structure4. This
structure is basically a hierarchical organizational structure where the people remain grouped
according to the area of the specialization. In this particular structure people remain supervised
by the functional manager having expertise in same field. The expertise of the functional
manager enables him in utilizing skills of the employees that helps the organizations in achieving
the business objectives. Some of the advatages of the functional organizational structure
includes:
 Employees remain grouped based on the skills and the knowledge and this helps in
achieving a higher performance.
 Employees remain skilled and the efficiency is achieved as they remain experienced in
similar work thereby providing excellent performance
 They have a fixed roles and responsibilities that enables easier accountability of work
 Employees does not have to report to the mutiple supervisors as each of the employees
reports to the functional manager.
4 G Jones, Organizational theory, design, and change, in , Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2013.

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 There exists a lesser chance of duplicatin of the work since each of the employees and the
department have fixed responsibility towards the job.
 Employees feels secure and they are able to perform without any fear
 Employees also tends to be loyal under this structure and they have a clearer path
towards career growth.
 There exists excellent communication and cooperation with department.
 Cooperation and communication are excellent within the department.
4. Policies and Procedures of the Company
The Power Corporation of Canada has a privacy policy and a social media policy5. The
privacy policy of the company is responsible for the personal information. In this respect, the
company remains committed towards maintaiming security and confidentiality of the personal
information. The privacy policy establish guidelines according to the use, collection and the
disclosure of the personal information. As per the policy, the personal information refers to the
information about identifiable individual limited or defined by the privacy laws.
The social media policy on the other hand encourages the individuals in browsing,
leaving comments, sharing and watching videos. The guidelines of the policy includes6:
 A complete statement on the discussion of the subject matter
 Any kind of expert or professional advice
5 powercorporationcsr.com, 2019, <https://www.powercorporationcsr.com/media/uploads/reports/pcc_-
_csr_website_-_2018_update.pdf> [accessed 26 May 2019].
6 powercorporation.com , 2019, <https://www.powercorporation.com/en/other/legal/#social-media-policy>[accessed
26 May 2019].

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 An offer for selling or purchasing a service or a product or the recommendation of
selling or purchasing securities
5. Code of Ethics of the Company
The Code of Ethics of Power Corporation of Canada provides a guidance in conducting
the business activities in terms of highest ethical, legal and the professional standards. The Code
Ethics remain approved by not only the board of directors but also the CEOs7. This code
remains available to all the employees in both the French and the Englisg thereby covering a
broader range of topics that included responsible managemeny, compliance, conflicts of the
interest, anti-bribery, respect towards work, data privacy and environment.
Each of the officer, director and the employee is provided with the copy of this code of
ethics and is required for signing the annual acknowledgement for complaince. In the year 2017
and 2018, every individual belonging to the company acknowledged their compliance with their
code.
II. Dynamic Environment Integration:
1. Reactive vs Proactive
A proactive change actively involves attempts in making alternations to work place and
the various practices8. On the other hand, reactive change takes place when the organization
makes certain changes in the practice after the occurrence of threat or the emergence of an
7 powercorporation.com , 2019, <https://www.powercorporation.com/en/governance/code-business-conduct-and-
ethics/>[accessed 26 May 2019].
8 B Jones, "Making change happen: The impact of work context on adaptive and proactive behaviors", in The
Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, vol. 49, 2013, 206-245.

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opportunity9. In this respect, Power Corporation of Canada followed a proactive approach
towards change by being an internationally diversified holding and management company with
interest in asset management, financial services, renewable and sustraionable energy. The
corporation also expresses interest in various business sectors of Europe, Asia and North
America.
2. Top Down, Bottom Up Approach
Top down approach refers to breaking down of the system for gaining insight into the
compositional subsystems through the process of reverse engineering10. A bottom up approach
one the other hand refers to the piercing of the systems for giving rise to complex systems
thereby making original systems as the subsystem of emergent system11. Power Corporation of
Canada follows a top down approach in being diversified and holding multinational company
which through the subsidiary Power Financial Corporation expressses interest in the companies
within the financial sector of not only Canada but also Europe and the United States.
3. Environmental Scanning and SWOT Analysis
Environmenal scanning refers to acquisition and information aboutv trends, events and
the rekationshio within the external environment of the organization12. The knowledge of this
9 Griffin, R.W, Fundamentals of management. Cengage Learning, 2013.
10 M Asif, C Searcy & A Zutshu, "An integrated management systems approach to corporate social responsibility.",
in Journal of cleaner production, vol. 56, 2019, 7-17.
11 P Reaidy, A Gunasekaran & A Spalanzani, "Bottom-up approach based on Internet of Things for order fulfillment
in a collaborative warehousing environment", in International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 159, 2015, 29-
40.
12 N Fabbe-Costes, et al., ". Sustainable supply chains: a framework for environmental scanning practices.", in .
International Journal of Operations & Production Management,, vol. 34, 2014, 664-694.

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helps the management in planning for the course of action of the organization. The
environmental scanning of the Power Corporation of Canada refers to responsible management
that reflects the constant priority directed towards long term profitability and the value creation.
Strength
 Respected contributor to development
of Canada.
 Have higher credit rating
 Designated as one of the caring
company for its contribution towards
the charity
 Having diversified holdings that helps
in limiting the sector specific task
 Have stronger financial performance
 Have closer to 31000 employees
Weakness
Have limitation in strategic facility and
increased risk due to the cross holdings and the
complex organizational structure.
Economic fluctuations demands better
techniques for hedging
Opportunities
 Growth of the insurance market in
Canada
 Financial markets of the Canada in
attracting the foreign based companies
in raising capital
 Flexible and practical regulated
environment of Canada
 Have one of the largest catalyst
Threats
 The economic slowdown of China
acted as the threat to the Canadian
economy
 Acceleration of inflation in the weaker
environment of growth that poses as the
challenge for the pricing of the
insurance products
 Civil war in Syria and the unrest of the

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community of Canada. Egypt not only threatened the global
market and increased the oil prices.
4. Scientific Analysis- Culture of Thinking Out of Box
Power Corporation of Canada believes in a deep rooted tradition of acting in not only an
ethical but also responsible manner. The Corporate Social Responsibility reflected the core
value that guided the corporation13. The company also engages in communication with the senior
management both in a formal and informal manner on regular basis for ensuring proper
understanding of how the management teams of the portfolio companies manages corporate
social responsibility in a consistent manner with the core values. The comnpany also invest in the
companies that shares same commitment and philosophy towards acting ethically and
responsibly thereby serving larger community.
5. Training and Development
The employees of the company are firstly educated on application of policies and procedures.
The training procedure remains facilitated via web based platform that helps in conducting
mandatoryu training on the power of the Code of the Business Ethics and Conduct and the
corporate policies.
13powercorporation.com,2019<https://www.powercorporation.com/media/uploads/reports/aif/
pcc_aif_2010_eng.pdf>[accessed 26 May 2019].

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6. Employee Participation and Employee Engagement
Power Corporation of Canada attracts diverse employees and believes in maintaiming an
inclusive work culture where alh the employees remains completely engaged. The company thus
has an inclusive strategy that included driving involvement and awareness.
7. Functional vs Process Approach
Power Corporation of Canada follows a functional approach since the activities of the
firm are observed as functions that needs to be performed for achieving the goals.
8. Team Concept- Coaching, Mentoring, Coordination and Synergy
Power Corporation of Canada believes in the following team concept:
 All employees are required to acknowledge the compliance with code
 There is no reporting of any breaches of conduct code on part of the employees
 Greater clarity towards human rights, diversity and privacy of employess and the
businesss through regular review and upgradation of the Code of the Business Conduct.
 Deployment of the Third Party Conduct Code for better performance of the new and
existing business partners and the key suppliers.
.
III. Organizational Sustainability Approach
1. Balancing External and Internal Environment

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There are various risks that remains inherent not only to the investment of the securities
of Corporation but also its activities. Power Corporation of Canada balances the external and
internal environment through its investors who undertakes careful consideration before making
investment in the securities of the corporation. Besides, the corporation also has the ability of
paying interest along with paying dividends and other expenses for meeting the obligations and
completinh the desirable or the present future enhancement acquisitions or opportunities.
2. Conflict Management
Power Corporation of Canada believes in importace of the good corporate governance
and central role played by the directors in goverance process. The corporation holds the belief
that a sound corporate governance is crucial for not only the shareholders but the corporation.
The governace system of the corporation is not only appropriate but also effective to the
circumstances and have proper procedures and structures in place for ensuring proper
management of conflict and the interest of the share holders.
3. Power Sharing and Decision Making
Power Corporation of Canada comprises of Board of Directors who represents seasoned
professionals responsible for decision making and bringing in diverse experience to table. The
balance of the competencies and skils results in conservative and prudent oversight that enables
the corporation in delivering long term returns to the shareholders.
4. Motivational Criteria
 Recognition: Power Corporation of Canada puts forward a workplace where employees
are not only treated fairly but with professionalism, mutual respect and dignity.

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 Growth: The growth of the company is determined by its responsible management
having an intrinsic corporate value and guiding principle.
 Benefits and Compensation: This is determined by the responsible commitments of the
managements, disclosures and the programs undertaken by the company within
international standards.
 Reward System: Ensuring business integrity and good practices ethically.
5. Continuous Process Improvement
 Quality Circle: This involves monitoring the implementation strategies and policies of
government in relation to CSR.
 TQM: This involves overseeing the approach of the corporation towards any government
issues.
 Bench Marking: This involves recommending the practices of the corporate government
that remains consistent with commitment of corporation towards higher standards of the
corporate governance.
 JIT: This is determined by profitability, financial position, operating performance and the
creditworthines of principle subsidiaries of the Power Corporation.
 Six Sigma: Power Corporation adopts a statistical, disciplined and a data driven approach
towards constant improvement for the elimination of the process, product or service.
 Environmental Sustainability: It is underpinned by the prevention and the minimization
of the impact of the company’s activities. The company undertakes sound environmental
behavior and practice in the business activities with a focus on continuous improvement
of the practices.

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6. Corporate Social Responsibility:
 Employee: The company has responsible management philosophy for the employees to
operate effectively.
 Customer: The company strengthened commitment towards the responsible management
by becoming signatory of the United Nations
 Involvement and Engagement of Stakeholders: The company strengthens commitment
towards the responsible management through undertaking various initiatives.
7. Innovative Corporate Culture:
The Montreal based holding company, Power Corporation of Canada, that is known for
running the biggest insurer and the mutual fund companies have kept aside close to $250 million
for spending on the fintech startups in the various stages of the development. The plan lies in
competing with the older business of the company, permeate corporate culture and accelerate
transformation of the firms.
References:
Asif, M, C Searcy, & A Zutshu, "An integrated management systems approach to corporate
social responsibility..". in Journal of cleaner production, 56, 2019, 7-17.
Fabbe-Costes,, N, C Roussat, M Taylor, & A Taylor, ". Sustainable supply chains: a framework
for environmental scanning practices..". in . International Journal of Operations & Production
Management,, 34, 2014, 664-694.
Griffin, R.W, Fundamentals of management. Cengage Learning, 2013.
Jones, B, "Making change happen: The impact of work context on adaptive and proactive
behaviors.". in The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 49, 2013, 206-245.

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Jones, G, Organizational theory, design, and change. in , Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson,
2013.
powercorporation.com , 2019, <https://www.powercorporation.com/en/other/legal/#social-
media-policy>[accessed 26 May 2019].
powercorporation.com , 2019, <https://www.powercorporation.com/en/governance/code-
business-conduct-and-ethics/>[accessed 26 May 2019].
powercorporation.com,2019<https://www.powercorporation.com/media/uploads/reports/aif/
pcc_aif_2010_eng.pdf>[accessed 26 May 2019].
powercorporation.com. in , 2019, <https://www.powercorporation.com/en/about/profile-and-
mission/> [accessed 26 May 2019].
powercorporation.com. in , 2019, <https://www.powercorporation.com/en/governance/board-
directors/> [accessed 26 May 2019].
powercorporationcsr.com, 2019,
<https://www.powercorporationcsr.com/media/uploads/reports/pcc_-_csr_website_-
_2018_update.pdf> [accessed 26 May 2019].
Reaidy, P, A Gunasekaran, & A Spalanzani, "Bottom-up approach based on Internet of Things
for order fulfillment in a collaborative warehousing environment.". in International Journal of
Production Economics, 159, 2015, 29-40.
reuters.com. in , 2019, <https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/financial-highlights/POW.TO>
[accessed 26 May 2019]