In this assignment you are to write about the design of an organization you know
ID: 379324 • Letter: I
Question
In this assignment you are to write about the design of an organization you know well (e.g., workplace, church, volunteer group) by answering the following questions:
How would you diagram the formal structure of your organization?
How would you describe the communication and coordination among different groups/departments?
How would you diagram the informal structure of your organization?
How does your organization deal with the differentiation-integration issue?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of your organizations design?
What improvements could you suggest?
Explanation / Answer
Introduction
Organizational structure provides a direction to business and its growth. Organizational culture is the outcome of an organizational structure followed over a period of time by all the employees of the organization. Organizational structure can be in any form depending on business size, its purpose, task, and complexity. External factors and internal policies determine the structure in its best possible way (Hermalin, 2014). Internal policies can be listed as care for employees, workplace diversity, social change implications, and business strategies. The concerned presentationdepicted all these points covering performance appraisals, career planning, organizational commitment, diversity management, and social change implications. All these points are discussed along with pros and cons of their implications(Lawler, Hall and Oldham, 2010). The presentation identified the idea of performance appraisal and career planning as a way to boost employee’s strengths and confidence. They enhance the job satisfaction among employees and increase their productivity.
Organizational Culture and Commitment
Organizational commitment is defined as the relationship between employees and company which can be of three types: Affective, continuance and normative. Affective and normative commitment increases the job engagement, while continuance might affect the relationship negatively (Lieberson and O'Connor, 2012). The presentation discussed all the aspects; however, example could have illustrated these relationships in a better way. The next vital factor is diversity at workplace. Diversity not only provides the equal work opportunity to all, but also provides more resources, innovative ideas and experiences to organization. Positive effects of diversity on organizations are discussed in detail where all the aspects are covered one by one (Osibanjo and Adeniji, 2013). The strategies discussed to maintain the diversity at workplace are helpful to put a layout for all small and big organization. This will attract talented and qualified work pool for the organizations.
External factors like social media, corporate social responsibility and company branding also affect the organizational structure and its culture. Organizations invest a huge amount to gain the reputation and favoritism among its customers (Gabriel, 2014). Social media is helpful to stay directly in customer contact. Companies approach customers through these channels. The presentation discussed role of all the stakeholders for building the brand image of the organization. Corporate social responsibility if the implied responsibility of corporates to help he society to grow.
Impact on Big or Small Organization
Presentation provided a comprehensive summary of all the topics, which are applicable for small as well as big organizations. These issues can make or break the image of an organization. Smaller organizations are investing more to create visibility in the market and to attract the customer attention (Bellot, 2011). Organizational structure and culture are important for all kinds of organizations irrespective of their size, origin, and purpose. Culture provides a support to organizational policies, procedures, processes, and auxiliary systems, which helps the organization to grow in a pre-defined pace.
Implications for Human Resource Team
The presentation discussed in detail about the organizational structure with all the factors affecting it. However, role of human resource team was not discussed in detail. Human resource team plays a significant role in implementing all the strategies related to employees and organizational structure (Poelmans and Sahibzada, 2004). Performance appraisal, career planning, and diversity management are some of the direct responsibilities of the team. Along with these tasks, HR team also looks for responsibility distribution among team members to manage CSR activities, social presence or building strong relationship with customers. The presentation could have elaborated the tasks with meaningful academic argument to clarify the purpose and impact of the strategies on organizational structure.
Problem and Issue Identification
The entire scheme had several issues and problems from the beginning. Barbara who was a high achiever in her college did not analyze the company background and the role that was being offered to her. She joined the organization in spite of considerable doubt in her mind about the job and the company as a whole (Tanguy, 2012). From the company’s point of view the chief accountant Bob should have properly evaluated the vacancies that were available in the organization before proceeding with any job offer. Since Barbara was a high achiever in college it was evident that she would be expecting a challenging job at the workplace and putting her in a clerical role of data collection and reporting was completely against the basic principle of job-fit analysis(Brody, 2004).
Then moving on to the second and primary issue faced by Barbara was the tour for a management workshop. Every organization has a well-defined hierarchy and one needs to follow the defined communication channels. It was wrong on the part of chief accountant Bob to completely bypass Barbara’s immediate superior who was Peter and contacting her for attending the management workshop. Peter should have been consulted before approaching Barbara with the workshop offer. Barbara cannot be blamed for this since she must not be aware of the entire process of communication followed in the company but it has to be mentioned that Barbara should have dropped a message or e-mail for her boss although he was away. This would have covered her back even if Bob did not contact Peter which he had assured to do. Then the most important issue lies with the person Peter who over-reacted and created a mess of the entire situation for the company and the new employee Barbara as well. He had reasons for being offended but he did not behave in a professional way and also did not display any managerial skill to handle the situation (Faber, 2001). The way he reacted to Barbara’s tour was completely unwarranted and should have understood that Barbara must not know about the entire process as she was new to the company. They he threatened and maligned her intentions at work with instructions to her colleagues not to interact with her or help her out in any way were completely unprofessional and boorish behavior. He should have sat with Barbara and explained her proper communication channel so that she understands and does not repeat the same behavior again(TOYOTA, 2011). His actions led Barbara to seek help from Vernon and ask for a change of department. Bob’s role is also quite contentious since from the beginning he is making false commitments. He promised to give a role of assistant cost accountant to Barbara which was not to be the case and also at every step he promised to handle the situation but failed to do so. Finally when he was approached by Vernon also he was not able to put forward the issue in front of the senior management. Overall it can be seen that the organization had made several flaws regarding the management workshop tour intimation and also the job assigned to the new employee (Duffy, 2010)
Analysis and Evaluation
The entire situation has been messed up because of the personal attitudes and behaviors of different stakeholders. Before preceding with further analysis it should be mentioned that the three managerial persons in the organization were of different behavior, while Bob and Vernon were amicable and friendly to their subordinates or colleagues, Peter was particularly infamous because of his attitude towards other employees. Bob was seen as a soft person that is evident from his behavior as every time he was committing something and was not able to fulfil it. He was in a top position and walking the talk was an essential attribute which people would expect from him (Randolph, 2016). It would in turn instill faith and confidence among his subordinates. This is because of the emotional quotient of Bob which was a of a compliant type attitude and was not ready to take up issues with his colleagues which was hurting his organization. Peter was aggressive in his attitude and suffered from a sense of inferiority or insecurity which had driven him to over-react with Barbara. This type of attitude is detrimental for the workplace since one has to shoe team work and collaborative approach is necessary for success which was completely absent from his behavior (McCarthy, Reeves, and Turner, 2010). Moreover since he was in a managerial position Peter should have a more understanding and guiding attitude rather than abusive display of behaviors which resulted in adverse results with the new employee. Barbara being a new member was obviously anxious about the entire episode and showed signs of cognitive attitude which is expected. She also displayed spontaneity while responding to the tour offer and going for it. These are some of the attitudinal aspects of the different employees in the organization which shaped the entire scheme of things (Bartel et al., 2011).
Conclusion and Recommendation
All the adversities that originated were a result of non-availability of standardized process for communication channels (Krivis, 2006). Firstly Barbara should been given an induction about the company process and methods for the different decisions she is expected to take during her stay at the company (Metcalf, 2005). Moreover there should have been avenues for escalating the problems faced by Barbara and Peter needed counseling about the entire issue since he was over-reacting. Company should intervene with the behavioral aspects of the employees through seminar workshops, one-to-one sessions and counseling so that they are sensitized about similar events and do not take rash decisions. If proper counseling and standardized processes are established in the organization then these kinds of conflicts can be avoided with ease.