Organisation Management of Watsons Engine Components and H&M Consulting - Essay Example

?Introduction to Organisations and Management Table of Contents Introduction 3 2.Organisational design and structure 4 3.Teams and team working 8 4.Approach to leadership and management 10 5.Organisational culture 13 6.Conclusion 15 Reference 17 1. Introduction The globalisation has led to bring multiple changes in the process of the managing organisation. The intensified competition and larger organisational structure has made the task of organisation management very challenging and complex. The management in the post organisation have realized the essence the developed structure and culture of an organisation for gaining competitive advantage in the market over its key competitors. The labour force is the one of the most crucial resources for a business organisation and its productivity depends on the organisational culture, structure, leadership, motivation, communication etc. Therefore, management has to take these necessary factors into account for bringing enhancement in productivity level contributed by the labour force. Traditionally, the business owners used to perceive the employees’ related expenses as an added cost of the company; whereas, as per the post-modern organisational concepts, the managements have realised the employees as vital investments for a company which will have return in future. Therefore, the nature structure and process of for completing a task has changed significantly in comparison to the earlier periods (Sole and Costa, 2001, p.2-3). Dodgson, Gann and Salter have identified the two paradigm of managements based on traditional and modern concept. The following the table depict the old paradigm of the managements and the changed paradigm of management. Table 1: Old and New Paradigm of Management (Source: Dodgson, Gann and Salter, 2008, p.42) As per the above table, it can be observed that the organisation in the post-modern age become very flexible and growth oriented. The organisations that have successfully understood and incorporated these changes are successful in an industry in comparison to companies following old paradigm of management (Dodgson, Gann and Salter, 2008, p.42-43). This paper will attempt to discuss organisation management of the separate companies i.e. Watsons Engine Components and H & M Consulting based on two case studies. The paper will focus on comparison of the certain areas of the both companies through analyses by using models and theories. The major areas relating to organisation management of the two companies will be organisational design and structure, teams and team working, approach to leadership and management, and approach to leadership and management. 2. Organisational design and structure The first step in the successful managing organisation is to create a healthy and smooth management decision making process which is crucial for achieving the organisational growth. Senior and Fleming has described that “the structure of an organisation is the formal way of identifying who is taking responsibility for what; who is to execute authority over who; and who is to be answerable to whom” (Senior and Fleming, 2009, p.78). Therefore, the organisation structure mainly focuses on the process of the decision making and it involves the top managements who are responsible for taking critical management decisions. For designing a growth oriented organisation, a favourable organisation structure is mandatory and each of the top level management must identify the plays their responsibility considering prevailing scenario for achieving the best possible outcome. Mcshane and Travaglione have identified two fundamental essentials for developing organisational structure. These two fundamental requirements are division of labour and coordination. The division of labour is helpful in shaping the specialized skills and coordination means the relationship status among the employees and top level managements. The coordination can be achieved through “Informal communication”, “Formal hierarchy” and “Standardisation” (Mcshane and Travaglione, 2003). In organisational structure there are four basic elements which determine its flexibility and effectiveness and this has been explained in the following diagram. Figure 1: The Four Key Organisational Design Decisions (Source: Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, n.d.) As per the above figure, the organisational structure of the two organisations i.e. Watsons Engine Components (WME) and H & M Consulting (HMC) can be analysed by focusing in the above stated elements say, division of labour, departmentalization, span of control and authority. Division of labour: WME is the business of them manufacturing the motor parts and equipments; whereas, the HMC is large organisation engaged in the engineering and development consultancy business. On the certain grounds, there some business operation related similarities can be spotted in both the organisation e.g. technology and innovation. However, there are significant the difference between these two companies in terms of their size and managements structure. WME is comparatively very small scale company with 200 employees; whereas, HMC operates in the global market (in 120 countries) with more than 13000 staff. The process of managing huge number of employees in HMC seems to be more difficult than WME. However, in HMC the division of labour is more well structured which has enhanced its employees’ skills. Moreover, for further improvements of specialized skilled, the HMC has introduced better information technology. The WMC has failed to realize the importance of specialized and skilled staffs for its business and merely 20 staffs are technical and 125 staffs are semi skills which are insufficient for meeting the market demand. Departmentalization: Both the organisations maintain its multiple departments for various tasks. WMC departments are unable to counter the prevailing the issues in the organisation. For example, the Human Resource Manager, James Bacon seems to be helpless in countering the issues like absenteeism and employee retention. Moreover, the marketing department has also not been keeping a better relationship with the high valued customers. On the contrary, in HMC, there is better coordination between the multiple functional departments of HMC. Span of control: the span of control in HMC is properly defined and managements are fully aware of their responsibility. Decision making process is quite flexible in the HMC as coordination between the decision makers and other employees of the multiple functional departments is highly developed. The spam of control in WMC is very narrow, as the managing director, Gordon Watson is solely responsible for taking measures. The function authorities have very limited scope in taking crucial decisions for their respective departments. In case of HMC, its business operations are huge and multiple departments are present in more than 120 countries. Therefore, each business units have their own heads who take necessary decisions for their respective markets. Authority: The authority structure in WME is traditional which old-fashioned and hierarchical. Each crucial decision for business must come from the higher most authority in absence the managing directors, Gordon Watson. This has caused to lag in decision making process. On the other hand, in HMC, managements accurately allocate the project to the employees who have sufficient skills to hand that specific projects and they also pass the necessary authority and freedom to employees for encouraging innovation and leadership skills. The hierarchy level and central direction is minimal. 3. Teams and team working An organisation is involves a group of people whose joint efforts helps to achieve the common organisational goals. The effect of the group effort is very effective in achieving organisational success and therefore, each organisation must focus on the team development instead of the focusing on the individual. The process of team building within an organisation requires multiple crucial factors. White has defined that “team building is any activity that is carried out by a group of people that allows them to better understand both the issue as hand and each other for the purpose of reaching a business outcome more effectively and efficiently” (White, 2005). In order to build an effective team with an organisation, the management has to take multiple behaviours and key elements. As per Mitch Schneider has defined seven major elements required in effective and efficient teams. These elements are leadership, commitments, contribution, cooperation, communication, conflict management and change managements (Schneider, 2003, p.16). However, these elements are must be present in organisation who is seeking for enhancing its team for higher productivity. These elements also core necessity for shaping a growth oriented organisation culture. On other hand, there certain behavioural requirements which must be present in employees for effective team work. These six behaviours are listed below Mutual trust Interdependency Accountability Valuing individual difference Transparency Learning and recognitions (Wong, 2007, p.71). HMC have been able to maintain the above stated the key elements in organisation which has lead to create better team performance within the organisation. On the other hand, the team culture in WMC is fully missing as it follows the tradition organisational structure and there is gap among/between the employees and managements. Its management has the control over the multiple departments but staff an involvement is absent that discourages and demotivate the employees for better team work. Moreover, WMC’s employees also lack the necessary behavioural skills required to be an efficient team member. For example, absenteeism among the employees indicates a lack of commitments. Moreover, higher rate of the employee turnover also affects the team building management within organisation. It has been reports that the employees’ turnover for the technical and managerial staffs is nearly 40%, and hence, it becomes quite tough for building a team as it takes times for new employee to understand core culture of an organisation which is very necessary to be an effective team member. On the other hand, in HMC, the core business operational highly requires a team work as projects given by the client’s, needs multiple skills like technical, managerial, finance etc. The management of HMC has realized their importance of team for an excellent piece of work. Therefore, the managements properly guide a team before allocating a specific project and in this process they primarily act as adviser and coach rather than dictator. This motivates employees to be a productive team member. Another major factor required for team building is communication, and in WME the communicational process is less effectives and does not have and specific structure. In HMC, the communication is given priority in every aspect. Its values ensure the proper communications to understand the job responsibility for each team members. 4. Approach to leadership and management The previous section has focused on the team and team work culture within an organisation and for development of effective teams within organisation, the most important criteria is the leadership style of management. The leaders or the management in an organisation plays a very crucial role the in guiding the organisation and its employees to achieve the common goal of the organisation. Louise Fleming has contrasted the leadership and the management, and he explains that “leadership is the ability to influence others, through the process of communication, towards the attainments of a goal” (Fleming, 2004, p.10). Many scholars have tried to distinguish between the leadership and management. For example Joseph Clarence Rost has argued that transactional leadership style is the more custodial and managerial, but in case of transformational leadership, it is “more lofty and undertaking” (Rost, 1993, p.132). Moreover, many have also explained that unlike the leaders, managers do not have devoted follower. Instead of followers, managers have subordinates and they supervised their subordinated for meeting the common goal. However, every manager must possess some of the vital leadership traits that make them a successful manager. Many academics have presented their views in categorising the multiple managerial styles. Based on an extensive research analysis Keith Grint has defined four major types of the management styles as given in the following table. Table 2: Management Styles (Source: Grint, 1997, p.186) As per the above table, four major types of management styles are given that an organisation faces. Among the above stated managements styles the ‘towards the common goal’ is the most suitable and growth oriented style; whereas, the ‘managing from a distance’ is supposed to be less effective. Another celebrated model in explaining the managerial styles is managerial grid developed by Robert R. Blake and Jane Mouton. They identified five major types of managerial styles which can explain using the following model. Figure 2: The Managerial Grid Leadership Style (Source: Hersey and Blanchard, 1990, p.147) Using the above table the management and leadership style of the both companies i.e. WME and HMC can be analysed. The WMC’s managerial and leadership style primary belongs to the ‘improvised’ category as its managers and decisions makers have least concern regarding the people as well as regarding the task. However, due to higher market demand, WME is able to maintain its market share that does not imply WME’s better performance in the market. The managers do not have the control over the multiple departments and over their subordinated. Moreover, they have not also taken any necessary steps to the better the entire situation. The relationship between the subordinates and managers has multiple gaps for which, the tasks given to the staffs are allocated properly. One of the primary reasons for such gap is lack of commutation among the mangers and subordinates. The managing Director, Gordon Watson himself is the least responsible in the WME. He lacks the innovative and growth oriented skills as during his course of the managing directorship, he has not brought any improvements in the organisation. On the other hand, HMC’s management and leadership style is its one of the primary factors for its rapid success in the global market. Its managers and leaders have realized their full responsibilities towards its employees as well as to tasks. Therefore, as per the managerial grid its leadership styles primarily belongs to the ‘team’ category. In HMC, managers are acting as advisers and as mentors for guiding their employees that encourages the motivation level and commitments among the employees. Theo Wolf, the Chief Executive Officer of HMC is responsible person having admiring personality. He plays very crucial role in setting the organisational values and mission and his role model like figure is a key factors which motivates his staffs, subordinates etc. 5. Organisational culture With the increasing complexity in the organisational structure and design, the organisational culture has gained a wide acceptance in the global business arena. This has necessitated the importance of maintaining a healthy culture within the organisation. Stephen P. Robbins has defined that “organisational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members, distinguishing the organisation from other organisation” (Robbins, 2009, p.423). Therefore, many of the organisations create their organisational culture in according with their business operation. For example, a company engaged in gaming industry required innovative work culture that motivates and encourage its employees to shape their innovative mind. There are two popular theories explaining the organisational culture i.e. organizational culture theory and critical theory. The organisational theory tries to explain the internal factors of organisations that influence its cultures and some of these factors are shared value, mission, leadership, communication etc (University of Kentucky, n.d.). On the other hand the “critical theory seeks to bring together the logic of scientific explanation and the tradition of culture understanding into an evaluate framework which aspires to the good life and just society” (Sergiovanni and Corbally, 1986, p.209). HMC has particularly focused on nurturing a healthy and growth oriented organisational culture and hence, it has realized and defined its shared values. WME is a typically traditional and old fashioned organisation where modern concepts like development of mission and values are not appreciated. Without mission and share values, WME has lost its future directions and operating its business on a null platform. In case if HMC, the entire organisation including the top level managements and employees are fully aware of common organisational goals, mission and the share valued. The company has successfully communicated these messages to its employees. Its mission statements cover the aims of value maximisation of customers, employees and organisation. Its fix key values known as PRIDE i.e. progress, respect, integrity, drive and excellence demonstrate a growth oriented culture within the organisation. WME is heavily suffering from the disputes of the labours’ union and managements, and the union power is at an upper hand position as it plays very crucial role in employee related affairs. This has led to create a highly undisciplined work culture where employees’ absenteeism has become a regular instance. Moreover, it follows the minimum level of shared values where respect to a female employee is not entertained. As respect is the one of the basic value for HMC, every employees and management respect each other that are helpful in develop effective team performances. The higher level of cooperation is instrumental in establishing two-way communicational system among cross functional departments. Moreover, its organisational culture is also socially and environmentally conscious. HMV has incorporated the activities relating to corporate social responsibilities (CSR), and it is perceived as integral part of organisational culture. The prevailing culture of HMC helps to make its employees responsible towards their organisation, society and environmental. 6. Conclusion In the post modern organisations, the task of organisation managements have been a challenging job for the decision makers and for managers. It is one of the key factors that determine the sustainability of an organisation. This paper has demonstrated the importance of managing an organisation through two case studies that depicts the prevailing conditions of tow organisations i.e. Watsons Engine Components (WME) and H & M Consulting (HMC). These two organisations have very different organisation culture as the former belongs to the category of the traditional and old fashioned; whereas, the later has successfully maintained a healthy and growth oriented organisation. This paper have analysed the organisation management practises using the multiple theories and models and the primary focus was on organisational structure, team work oriented, leadership & management styles and organisational culture. HMC is a successful organisation and growing very rapidly as its managements has efficiently managed the factors responsible for creating growth oriented organisation. The level communication, relationship between/among employees and management, availability of necessary resources, the responsibility of the top level managements etc are critical factors for highly efficient performances organisation. However, all these factors are not present in WMC that has led to create a chaotic situation within the organisation reducing the level of seriousness among the employees and managements. On the other hand, HMC has clearly defined the common goals and objectives of the organisation, and its pre-defined shared values provide a platform where its staff can perform better in a healthier work environment. As per the above analyses, the WMC is unable to sustain for long term; whereas, HMC is expected to experience a missive growth in coming period that will sustain for a longer period. Reference Dodgson, M., Gann, D. and Salter, A. J. (2008). The management of technological innovation: strategy and practice. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. Fleming, S. (2004). Excel HSC Business Studies. Pascal Press. Grint, K. (1997). Leadership: classical, contemporary, and critical approaches. Oxford University Press. Hersey and Blanchard, 1990). Behavioural theories of Leadership. [Pdf]. 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