Depending on their objectives, organisations can be structured in many different ways.
The companies performance is determined by the manner in which it operates. Structure within a business in fundamental and allows roles to be clearly allocated to different employees within different departments.
The Organizational structure can be influenced by a number of different factors. As a business increases, so will its the chain of command and the span of control will widen. Applying the wrong organisation structure can severely disrupt the success of the business. An effective organisational structures aim is to maximize the success of the organisation and to make it easier to create a working relationship between various departments within of the organisation.
ABL Ltd should consider converting to a Matrix organisational structure. The matrix organisation is an structure in which the work is divided in projects. This combines the advantages of a functional structure and product structure. Each project consists of employees from different departments with certain specialist skills and who provide different functions. Within ABC ltd, each project the company is involved with would have a project manager. It would be the project managers responsibility to ensure their projects progress satisfactorily often running several projects at once. Functional managers would be responsible for managing functional staff, ensuring communication is established and quality is maintained and project managers who would be responsible for managing projects, budgets, time keeping etc.
If the project manager at ABC Ltd encounters a problem it must be resolved. Either between the project managers , the functional managers, the the individuals involved.
There are many advantages to this structures such as:
Disadvantages are:
1b
Changing an organisations culture is a very difficult task. Organizational cultures form for a reason. It may be because the organisation is following the companies principles when it was first established. Managers hiring new staff will generally hire people with principles matching their own or the companies, hence reinforcing the organisational culture.
In order for an organisation to realize that their current organisational culture needs to transform, there usually has to be an event that starts the ball rolling. An event such as loss of custom, loss of profits, threat of bankruptcy or union action. In the case of ABC ltd, the company, as stated in the previous unit is set up using a hierarchal structure, this structure however does not appear to be working for the company. Customers have complained that ABC Ltd employees do not appear to be working as part of the same team.
This may be evident for many reasons.
Sales and Marketing may be contacting current customers and asking them if they wish for help with their company.
Finance may be sending duplicate bills to companies or to companies that have already paid.
Operations may have been given the wrong information about the company
Once the organisation realizes it needs to change, it is for the management to decide how the desired changes must be created. The organization must plan a strategy of where it wants to go, what it want's to accomplish, before making any changes in the organizational culture. Understanding what changes need to be made, the organisation can plan what path it want's to follow.
Changing the culture of an established organization is more difficult than trying to create a culture in a new organization. Within an organizational culture that is already established, employees must start anew, forgetting the old values and behaviors before learning the new ones.
The organization must clearly define what is expected of its employees and explain how they are to behave, once they have been defined. A good way to communicate these expectations and new behaviours is with group training.
Gain information form the employees using employee focus groups, listening to what the employer / employee. This exercise gives all employees an understanding of the culture that must reflect in the actions they must commit to their jobs. Explaining to employees what is expected of them is important for effective cultural change within an organizational.
A change in the physical structure of the company may be needed to bring it up to date with the desired culture. For this example, a change from a Functional structured business to a Matrix structure would completely change the level of communication between the departments.
Looking into reward schemes, promotions, and performance management. Reward the team rather than
individuals in the team.
2a
There are many different leadership styles used throughout modern business . The effectivness of these styles depends on the managers personal preference and the type of work performed by the employees. The most popular and widely used leadership styles are :
Authoritarian Leadership (Autocratic)
Participative Leadership (Democratic)
Delegative (Laissez-Faire)
Authoritarian Leadership (Autocratic)
Authoritarian leadership is best suited to situations where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group. Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently and there is a clear
divide between the leader and the followers. Authoritarian leaders state clearly what is expected to be done, when it should be done and how it should be done.
Benefits include
Tight control over projects
Fast decision making.
More productive team due to diligent leadership.
Participative Leadership (Democratic)
Democratic leaders participate in the group and offer guidance, but also encourage group members to participate in decision making. Managers seek advice from specialists on all major issues, welcoming feedback, but retain the final say over the decision-making process.
Benefits include:
Employees are given responsibility and are able to give feedback
Employees feel more appreciated.
Feedback results in better decisions and more creative thinking.
Delegative (Laissez-Faire)
Within this style of leadership, usually made up of highly qualified experts, the employees are allowed to make the decisions themselves. However the leader is still responsible for the
decisions that are made.
Disadvantages include:
Lack of motivation.
High levels of stress.
During the culture change at ABC Ltd, it would suit the company best if they assumed an authoritarian style leadership. This would allow the directors of the company to implement change as quickly as possible. With regards to later development within the company and also between the managers and teams a participative leadership style would be more effective. This would allow skillful employees to make decisions together making them less competitive and the more committed to their goals. However this all depends on how much free-reign, ABC Ltd wish to give to their employees.
2b
Scientific Management is a theory of management developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 1880s and 1890s which analyzes the process of workflow and results in enhancing the labor productivity by removing unnecessary or wasted effort using precise procedures rather than more traditional approaches.
Taylor's scientific management suggests that a standard method for each job should be developed, that workers are chosen who are capable of performing job and that the workers to enable them carry out the standard method. Providing incentives to increase outputs.
However, this approach has its own problems;
Workers are only human and therefore have personal needs.
The workplace can become so efficient that relaxation for the employees is minimised to the piont where the workers become resentful and dissatisfied with their jobs.
The most efficient way of working for one person may not work for another.
ABC
Science text about ABC
2c
The Hierarchy of Needs model was developed in the 1940-50's, USA, by Abraham Maslow to understand human motivation, management training, and personal development. According to Maslow, human behavior is motivated by a set of basic needs. A person will start at the bottom of the hierarchy (pyramid) and will initially seek to satisfy basic needs (e.g. food, shelter). A person does not feel the second need until the demands of the first have been satisfied, nor the third until the second has been satisfied, and so on. The individual moves up to the next level and begins to be focused on security and social needs e.g. protective clothing, mortgage protection, life insurance, loss of income through sickness etc). Social needs recognise that most people want to belong to a group, want to belong and be loved. Within the workplace, this would include working with colleague who support you at work, teamwork, communication). The final needs include esteem and self-actualization, the former, a feeling of worth and the latter, fulfilling their potential, personal growth and creativity.
For ABC Ltd to implement this motivation theory, they too need to start at the bottom.
Biological and Physiological needs - Introduce a canteen with subsidised meals, drinks, fresh fruit and snack machines within easy access, rest brakes and holidays easily available and gym memberships or an in-house gym which employees can use.
Safety needs -Health and safety training to all employees, health awareness and health /dental insurance would be a good option. Regular fire drill and safety checks so employees know they are safe. Reassure staff of job security.
ABC Ltd could look into team building events, organising christmas, valentine parties. Casual fridays and team competitions. Discounts to local clubs and bars where staff can gather after work and socialise. To build esteem work bonuses could be paid as thanks for hard work, compliments from customers of managers posted on walls. Finally, Self-Actualization needs - Promotion for deserved staff, offering further study.
3a
The Tuckman and Jensen model was based on the four stages of group development. Tuckman (a respected educational psychologist) studied the behavior of small groups in a variety of different environments and recognised that groups went through distinct phases and that they needed to work their way through all the stages before they achieve maximum effectiveness.
Tuckman refined the model In 1977 (in association with Mary Ann Jensen) and added a fifth stage
