Organizational Structures and Culture Assignment

Introduction

In today’s competitive and global environment it has become very important for an organization to make effective utilization of one of its most crucial resource that is human resource. Each organization has an identity of its own which is determined by how it chooses to present itself to the world. The product or type of service also matters and depending on all of this every organization comes up with a different link of work culture.

Task 1

1.1 compare and contrast different organizational structures and culture

Different types of organization structure are:

• Tall and flat organization structure: Organizations that are big in size always require taller hierarchy. A tall structure has a chain of command which is long. As the size of the organization expands it is obvious that the structure of the organization will keep getting taller. A taller structure will have more management levels than a flat structure. A flat structure has fewer management levels. Their focus is on the employee empowerment rather than adhering to the chain of command. Here each management level will control a broad group or area. Such structure encourages self direction and autonomy (wagner & hollenbeck, 2010).
• Long and short chains of command: A chain of command is the company’s manner of reporting to the managers. Who will report to whom from top to bottom this is defined by chain of command.  It basically is a company’s authority line and the way the decisions will be made. In a long chain of command the owner communicates the instructions to the manager under him who repeats the process to the next manager in the chain of command till the instruction reach to the bottom of the chain. The decisions made are slow in the long chains of command and limited initiative is taken by the managers. While in a short chain of command, there are less managerial levels. Here there are fewer levels in the organization hence wider span of control is there. More delegation is done and employees remain truly motivated as they are in direct touch with their managers.
• Broad and narrow breaths of control: the number of employees that can be efficiently managed by a manager is called a span of control. It is how relationship prevails between a manager and his employee. Narrow span means fewer employees controlled by a single manager which gives rise to a taller organization structure. A wide span of control means a single manager managing a large number of subordinates. It will form a flat category of organization. Having an idea about organization structures let’s s go through the case study we have been given:

1. Company a: city college: A private college in london which owns 19 percent of the private college market.  Its operational functions can be divided into three departments that are teaching, human resource and administration. Through detailed analysis we can see that city college has a flat hierarchy that is not many levels are there in the organization. The motto is not to adhere to the chains of command rather it aims at empowering employees. The management covers a broad area of tasks and self direction and autonomy can be seen within the organization.
2. Company b: it is a company that employees more than 75000 employees. It does not sell a product. It just provides a service that is it rents the car to the users. Here the organization structure is tall that is various levels of management but they follow a narrow span of control that means a single manager manages few subordinates. But the good part is the management is very approachable every employee can directly approach the manager. This keeps the employees truly motivated.

• Different types of organization culture:  a setup where individuals work together to achieve a common goal. For smooth functioning every individual of the organization must work in close coordination and deliver their best. It is the organization culture that decided the way employees interact among themselves and also with the external parties.

Charles handy was a well known philosopher who has mastered the field of organization structure. According to him there are four types of culture which the organizations generally have. They are:

1. Power: power remains in the hands of selected people and only these people take decisions. These people delegate the responsibilities to the sub ordinates and the employees do not have any liberty to express their views.
2. Task culture:  individuals with common interests come together for a specialized task. In these organizations teams are formed to solve critical problems or achieve any particular target. In such a culture every team member is supposed to perform equally.
3. Person culture: in such organisations people are considered to be more important than the organisation itself. In a person culture, individuals emphasize on their own self rather than the organisation.
4. Role culture: it is a culture wherein the responsibilities are assigned to the employees depending on their roles and responsibilities. Power comes with responsibility in such an organisation culture (barbuto, 2005).

 

• Edgar schein model of organization culture: He was a reputed professor and studied the field of organization management.
  According to schein there are three levels in an organization culture:

1. Artifacts :The traits of an organisation which can be easily felt, heard and viewed are known as artifacts. For example the dress code of the employees, behaviour of employees, mission and vision of the organization, office furniture etc. These things play an important role in forming the culture of an organisation.
2. Values: the thinking process of the individuals and values and attitude of the employees has a great impact on the work culture. The mindset of the individual affects the work culture of an organisation.
3. Assumed value: there are those hidden beliefs which affect the culture of an organization.  Every organisation practices few policies which are not discussed often but influence the work culture of an organization.

1.2 explain how the relationship between an organization’s structure and culture can impact on the performance of a business

In the case of city college, the culture followed in the organization is task culture that is people skilled in various tasks have come together for a common purpose. While in the case of rent a car, the culture followed is role culture which is a culture where responsibilities are assigned to the employees depending on their roles and responsibilities. Power comes with responsibility in such an organization culture.

• The relationship between an organization’s structure and culture:  Structure and culture has a codependency on each other. The organization structure determines the attitudes that form the work culture. If the company’s structure is hierarchical then the company s culture will have be such that lower levels will have less freedom for them. If the management structure is decentralized then there will be a culture where lower levels will have a chance to work independently. We can say that the way management structure and power allocation is there the employees will behave accordingly (avolio, 2009).

A good management is the biggest advantage any organization can have.  Culture and structure are the key elements in an organizations success. It becomes easy to fight competition if organizations work on its culture and structure. Organizational behaviour refers to the beliefs, values and assumptions shred by the managers and subordinates. Doesn’t matter whether a firm is big or small, if it has an effective management culture then it is bound to succeed. Similarly, structure refers to the hierarchy that is followed in the organization.   The more structured and competent it is more will be the chances for an organization to succeed. If the structure and culture of an organization is effective then the employees will have a higher level of motivation and the zeal to work towards the organization goals thereby enhancing the overall performance of the company (baron and greenberg, 2008).

1.3 factors that influence individual behavior at work

The way in which an individual handle a situation in a group or alone

The key factors are:

• Ability: qualities a person learns from environment and those he is born wit .
• Attribution: how individual behaves based on his personality and situation.
• Race and culture: people having similar features form a part of race and culture is the common traditions and customs shared by individuals.
• Perception: the manner in which we interpret something by seeing or hearing and then judging it is called perception.
• Gender: a male or a female should be treated equally by a company when it comes to promotion or demotion.

Attitude: it is the response of a person’s entire awareness over a period of time.

2.1 compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organizations

Leadership helps the employees of an organization to perform to the best of their abilities. An effective leader should have many capabilities including achieving organizational goals, beating the competitors, and take calculated risks. Different types of leadership styles exist in different organisations and each of them have its own advantages and disadvantages.

• Laissez-faire:  under this style the manager does not directly supervise the employee and fails to give feedback to them which in turn leads to poor production, increased cost and lack of control. In organisations in which highly experienced and trained employees work, this kind of style is followed.
• Autocratic:  the managers following this style make the decisions alone without consulting the employees.  They impose their will on employees thus employees who like to take initiative and are creative detest this style. In countries like cuba and north korea such style is followed.
• Participative: the other name is democratic style. Here, the leader values the views of other team members but the final authority lies with the leader. If predetermined goals are achieved then the employees are rewarded. This style works when the company needs to take decision on a short notice.
• Transactional: based on performance results managers provide rewards or punishments to the team members.  The manager has the power to review results and train and correct employees and they receive rewards when they achieve goals.
• Transformational: Under this style the managers motivate employees as there is high level of communication between leader and employee. Delegation of smaller tasks is done to the team members (miller, 2005).

2.2 explain how organizational theory underpins the practice of management

Organizational theory and management theory both are used in almost all the businesses. Many managers follow the theory to help the sub ordinates become efficient in the task but this also leads them to compromise on their personal principles.
In the financial sector, an employee or a manager has to work on set theories to achieve the goal. In the human resource sector, the manager takes decisions that will not be fixed in nature. Therefore, if an employee or a manager gets too busy trying to fit in to the organizational structure, they might ignore the other areas of business. Similarly, the management theory might hold up the personal value of some employees. For example, if the employee disagrees with some rule or philosophy formed by the company however being the manager they have to inculcate it. Thus it gets difficult to follow both organization and management theories because if the relationship between the employer and employee is not healthy then it doesn’t solve the purpose. 100 percent effort must be put by the employee and the company in order to succeed.

2.3 evaluate the different approaches to operations management used by different organizations

There are three types of approaches to organizations:

• Classical approach: such approach has concept known as classical theories of an organization. An organization is a structure where power, relationships, objectives, communication and roles co exist. The assumptions are same in the classical approach.
• Neoclassical approach: it’s an improved version of classical approach. It is also known as human relation school of thought. While classical theories focus on structure the neoclassical theory focuses on psychological and social aspects of a worker.
• Modern approach: it states that the individual, organization, suppliers and consumers as a part of the environment (balzer & gillespie, 2007).

Task 3

3.1 discuss the impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation in organisations in periods of change

We can define leadership as one person’s behavior influencing others to achieve organizational and individual goals. Leadership is about motivating, influencing and inspiring. Unless the employees are motivated human resource team cannot work properly. And for motivated individuals, an effective leadership style is needed. It also impacts the company’s work culture and determines the chances for company’s overall productivity (robbins, 2009).
Leadership style has different types and every leader chooses to follow that style which suits him and d organization the most.

• Persuasive: in this style the leader makes decisions but doesn’t take any advice from the employees. He attempts to motivate the subordinates to carry out the decisions properly.
• Participative: in this style manager takes advice and support from the subordinates but the final decision lies with the manager. It is a good way to keep the employees motivated.
• Autocratic:  these leaders take decisions without communication or consulting their subordinates. Subordinates are expected to obey them blindly.
• Democratic: leaders and employees make decisions together. High levels of job satisfaction and motivation persists in the employees.

The process of change:

• Formative period: it is the starting period of an organization.
• Rapid growth period: to sustain growth leadership styles are added.
• Mature period: in this period where market has become mature enough and thus changes will have to be made for achieving maximum profit.
• Declining period: when the organization is declining and showing a negative graph.

Impacts that these leadership styles have organization:

• Persuasive: managers make decisions and share that decision with employees.
• Autocratic: this style has many negatives in periods of change because managers do not take their employees advice and opinion. That’s why the organization suffers during the period of change.
• Participative: under this style the leader will have great impact on motivation because the manager involves subordinates in the decision making process.
• Democratic: the experience and knowledge of employees can be put to use thus during the times of change manager will be motivated.

3.2 compare the application of different motivational theories within the workplace

Maslow hierarchy of needs:

 maslow’s theory states that there are 5 levels of human needs which must be fulfilled when it comes to employees.

Two things should be taken into notice:

1. Employees must satisfy lower level of needs and then they look for satisfying higher level of needs.
2. Second, when the need gets satisfied it will not motivate them any further. Then the next level of need has to be satisfied.

In this theory people get motivated depending on to their levels. Opponents of maslow’s have stated that the theory does not hold true in certain instances. It might happen that the employee gets satisfied with his pay alone and the other needs he wants to get fulfilled outside the workplace.

• Taylor two factor theory: He states that the workers get motivated only and only by pay. He lay down that the employees have to be controlled so as to make them work efficiently. His theory was to eliminate wasted time and he introduced piece rate system where they get paid according to the quantity they produced. For instance: in service industries piece rate system cannot be adopted because service and production are two different things.
• Elton mayo human factor theory: He stated that the managers and the employees should work in teams and they must have enough interest in each other. But the flaws were that in an organisation every employee has a different set of needs and some people might not prefer to work together.

3.3 Evaluate the usefulness of a motivation theory for managers

It is very important for managers to understand the motivation theories as they help them in motivating and encouraging their employees. In an organization every employee is different than the other with varying needs. These needs if properly fulfilled by the manager can give a kick to the employees to work better.
The motivation theory that i found balanced and productive is fredrick two factor theory. According to this theory the employees will be motivated by these two factors:

• Motivators
• Hygiene factors

Under motivators, the employee will get motivation from factors like job responsibility, bonus, promotion, rewards etc.
Under hygiene factors come factors like company policy, supervision, employee’s relationship. Work conditions, relationships with peers, salary etc.

Task 4

4.1 explain the nature of groups and group behavior within organizations

Definition of group: a collection of individuals who work for a common task, become interdependent and interact with one another to achieve goals.
The nature of groups:

Normative views describe how the groups are to be divided and how its activities are to be carried out. Group dynamics has a specific set of techniques.

• Formal groups: these groups are formed to carry out a particular task. These groups are structured and are formed for a specific work. A formal group provides a sense of identity, loyalty to the group, purpose and leadership (brewerton & millward, 2010).
• Informal groups: these are not formally structured groups as they are formed by the employees only.

Formation of groups:

• Formation: the groups where individuals are supposed to know each other and the goal has to be achieved together.
• Storming: individuals challenge the task and discuss emotional issues.
• Norming: it’s a stage where conflicts are settled and new standards are made.
• Performing: team work is developed and solutions are sought.
• Adjourning: when the employees move elsewhere as the purpose of job gets fulfilled.

Key issues in group behavior: size,  purpose of the group and nature of the given task (michel & smith, 2004).

4.2 discuss factors that may promote or inhibit the development of effective teamwork in organisations

• Diversity: the more diverse a team is the more creativity and innovation will exist. Diversity in culture, talents and personalities is very important. The team which is not diverse will find it difficult to solve problems easily.
• Communication: open communication is the key to success in an organization. All the team members should feel comfortable in asking questions regarding their responsibilities.
• Leadership: leaders can motivate and discipline their respective team members which in turn increase the energy level, self confidence of the team.
• Team building exercise: through shared experience and practices an effective team can be made. Games are an effective method to bring people together.

4.3 evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within a given organisation.

It’s a world of technology and if the company’s are technologically updated then the teams can function properly. Technologies which have improved team functions:

• Emails: allows communication between team members irrespective of the place they are in.
• Mobile phones: its provides a forever access to the team members
• Groupware: it enables teams to plan meetings, delegate and collaborate (taylor and hansen, 2005).
• Personal computers: they help the teams to manage various tasks and communicate effectively. Thus technology if properly used is a boon for the overall growth of the team and organisation.

References

Wagner. A. & hollenbeck r. (2010). Organizational behaviour: securing competitive advantage. New york: rout ledge.
Balzer. K. & gillespie z. (2007). Job satisfaction. In rosenberg, s. G. (ed.). Encyclopedia of industrial and organizational psychology vol. 1 (pp. 406-413).
Michel.w. & smith. E. (2004). Introduction to personality: toward integration. New york: wiley
Taylor.s.; hansen. H. (2005). "finding form: looking at the field of organizational aesthetics". Journal of management studies 42 (6): 1211–1231.
Brewerton.m. & millward..j. (2010). Organizational research methods: a guide for students and researchers. Thousand oaks, ca: sage.
Miller, k. (2005). “communication theories: perspectives, processes and contexts.” Journal of communication theory. 2(1): 121-139
Avolio, b.j., (2009), leadership: current theories, research, and future directions, annual review of psychology, vol.60, pp.421-449
Barbuto, j.e. (2005) motivation and transactional, charismatic, and transformational leadership: a test of antecedents, journal of leadership & organizational studies, vol. 11, no. 4, 26-40