The Understanding of Issues Related to Management - Essay Example

0 Introduction The understanding of issues related to management and organisations is very important especially during the current period where itcan be noted that the business environment in which the organisations operate is dynamic and is constantly changing hence the need for management to keep pace with these changes. Elements such as organisational design and structure, teams and team working, approach to leadership and management as well as organisational culture play a pivotal role in determining the extent to which an organisation can effectively operate in order to gain a competitive advantage as well as to remain viable in the face of changes constantly taking place in the environment. As such, this report seeks to critically evaluate how these concepts are implemented by two different organisations namely; Watsons Engine Components and H & M Consulting. The report starts by giving a brief description of the two organisations followed by a critical discussion of how these organisations differ in the implementation of the above mentioned concepts in their operations. Similarities and differences between the implementation of these concepts will be outlined and a conclusion to sum up the major points discussed will be given at the end of the report. 1.1 Description of the organisations Watsons is an independent, family-owned company which specialises in mass-production of engine parts for cars in North East London. The company employees 200 people in total and these comprise of 125 semi-skilled production workers, 15 clerical workers, 20 technical staff and 40 managers. On the other hand, H&M Consulting is a large global management, engineering and development consultancy which was established in 1989 when two consultancy businesses merged. The company has grown from strength to strength since then and in 2007, it bought an educational consultancy in Romania, an environmental firm in the Netherlands and a power engineering company in the USA in a bid to strengthen its market sectors in these countries. The company employs more than 13 000 employees. 2.0 Organisational design and structure Structuring the flow of work involves decisions about how the organisation as a whole is structured (Swanepoel, 1998). Basically, organisation design essentially means choosing an organisational structure that is appropriate for strategy implementation and mission accomplishment. Kleynhans (2007) suggests that there are different structural variables that come into play in the process of designing an organisation and these include the following: configuration which deals with the number of levels in hierarchies, formalisation which concerns the use of formal procedures in policy formulation, specialisation as well as centralisation which refers to the extent to which power and authority are delegated. As can be seen, all these variables hold important implications in respect of different types of organisational structures. Whilst there are different types of organisational structures, it can be noted that Watsons Engine Components has a bureaucratic organisation structure. This is also known as a mechanist approach to organisation design which is described as an “organisation design emphasising the importance of achieving high levels of production and efficiency through extensive use of rules and procedures and authority.” (Gibson & Donnelly, 1994 as cited in Swanepoel, 1998). A close analysis of the case study for this organisation shows that its structure is very old-fashioned and hierarchical. The organisation is highly unionised and has a very poor history of relations between the management and the employees. This has often led to job actions and is mainly attributed to lack of trust between the management and the employees. Another aspect that illustrates the hierarchical structure of the organisation is that the people in the Marketing Department for instance rarely speak to anyone in the Manufacturing Department given that it is the firm’s procedure that interdepartmental liaison should go through the directors. As such, communication as a result of this structure is designed in a top to bottom approach. Orders are given from the top and there is no input in decision making from the bottom. As can be noted, the shop floor employees have great ideas that can improve the operations of the department but these views remain suppressed as a result of the hierarchical structure. In other words, it can be noted that other ordinary employees have no say in the decisions that are made by the top brass in the organisation. This is dangerous given that the morale of the employees will be negatively affected. In contrast, H&M Consulting has a flat organisation structure. This entails organisational design emphasises aspects like the importance of high levels of adaptiveness, responsiveness and development through limiting the use of rules, regulations and procedures (Swanepoel, 1998). Decentralisation is the basic tenet of this structure of the organisation and it can be noted from the case study that H&M Consulting has a networked structure with project teams comprising people appropriate skills from different departments of the organisation who work together on a specific project over a specific period of time. Through coordinated efforts to decentralise the functions of different departments and teams, it can be noted that this approach has resulted in minimal hierarchy and central direction in the organisation’s operations. Employees in different departments are given the autonomy to contribute towards the decision making process unlike the situation at Watsons Engine Components where decision making is a preserve for the top management in the hierarchy of the organisation. It can be noted that H&M Consulting is an employee-owned company where employees are empowered to contribute towards the decision making of the organisation which gives the employees a clear link between meeting the customer needs and personal job satisfaction which very important in as far as the attainment of the organisational goals are concerned. In contrast to the bureaucratic organisation structure, flat structures mean wide spans of control whereby jobs are broadly defined with greater overlaps and boundaries (Swanepoel, 1998). This is the case with H & M consulting the reason for its triumph in its operations. It can be noted that organisational structure plays a pivotal role in the way decisions in an organisation are made. 3.0 Teams and team working According to Carrell et al (1995), a team can be loosely defined as a group of people collectively working together towards the attainment of a certain goal for the benefit of the team members. In an organisation, there ought to be employees who are supposed to work together towards the attainment of one goal whereby their efforts is greater than the individual efforts. Robbins (2001) suggests that synergy of individual effort is very important given that it will result in performance that is greater than the sum of individual inputs. The concept of teamwork is characterised by some of the following attributes, goals are commonly understood by all the members of the team, high degree of inter-dependence among the members, open ended communication as well as positive synergy of efforts of the team members (Werner, 2008). In as far as the attainment of the goals and objectives of the organisation are concerned, teams and team work are very crucial as they also positively contribute to the performance of the employees. A close analysis of the case study of Watsons Engine Components shows that the absence of teamwork in this organisation is a cause for concern since it has contributed to some of the problems faced by the organisation. For instance, some people are under-worked while others are over-burdened which is not the spirit of teamwork. Where there is teamwork, it is expected that synergy of the individual efforts will be greater than their inputs. This has negatively affected the quality of the products offered given that there is no proper coordination especially in the shop-floor. There is also lack of coordination among the departments which makes it difficult to have cross functional teams within the organisation. For instance, the efforts by Ahmed Khan, a qualified engineer to have the shop-floor organised into multi-skilled, self-managed teams has been hampered by the lack of effective communication channels between different functions of the organisation. It can also be noted that there is barely any coordination among the shop floor employees which also leads to absenteeism from work. The absence of teamwork is a major contributor to the problems faced by this organisation. In contrast, it can be noted that H&M Consulting has a networked structure with project teams that comprise of people who have relevant skills from different departments to work together on a specific project towards the attainment of the project goals. On the other hand, it can be noted that H&M uses information technology to ensure open communication among all the members of the team in a bid to pull their efforts towards the attainment of set organisational goals which is the essence of teamwork. In this organisation, there is harmony among the employees as they share a common understanding as well as the goals of the organisation as a result of teamwork whereby their individual efforts are synergised towards the attainment of shared objectives. It can be noted that this organisation has a competitive advantage given that the employees are motivated and they are committed to their job since they immensely benefit from team working. In contrast, Watsons Engine Components is bedevilled by problems such as absenteeism and staff turnover as a result of the fact that there is no proper coordination of the efforts of the employees through teamwork. 4.0 Approach to leadership and management Leadership is defined as the ability to influence a group of people towards the achievement of organisational goals (Robins, Odendaal & Roodt, 2001). Basically, leadership is concerned with the vision of the organisation while on the other hand, the role of a manager is to maintain the day to day operations of the organisation in order to ensure that things happen according to plan and to maintain consistency. Thus, according to Kleynhans et al (2007), management is about coping with complexity to achieve organisational goals. It can be noted that leading is a function of management hence the two are somehow related. In theory and practice, the leaders and the managers ought to work together towards the attainment of the set organisational goals whereby the leader is always expected to display positive attitude towards the employees in order for them to put optimum performance in their day to day operations. It is the role of the leaders and the managers to motivate the employees such that they will be committed to their work through promoting trust between them and the workers. However, a close analysis of the case study of Watsons Engine Components shows that there is a wide gap between the employees and the management in the organisation. Ironically, there are 40 managers in the organisation but these mainly operate on giving instructions to their subordinates and there is limited interaction with regards to sharing of knowledge and ideas. In this scenario, the leaders and managers of the organisation must clearly communicate the vision of the organisation that can be shared by the subordinates for them to put optimum performance in their operations. When the employees are given the autonomy to find solutions to problems they may encounter during their operations, they are likely to be motivated hence leaders who tend to empower their employees are often seen as effective. In this particular case, morale is low among the employees given that they are just treated like mere workers who are not valuable to the organisation. It can also be seen that there is poor communication network between the leaders and the employees at Watsons Engine Components which has negatively impacted on its operations. There is high staff turnover as well as absenteeism as a result of the poor approach taken by the managers in leading their subordinates. In contrast, it can be noted that H & M Consulting has a completely different approach towards leadership and management of the employees. For instance, Theo Wolf, the Chief Executive Officer of H&M Consulting, is regarded as a strong role model for his staff. He has managed to develop a mission and a set of values based on different ideas gathered from different H&M Consulting’s stakeholders.” This approach has earned him a lot of respect from all the members of the organisation and is widely regarded as inspirational. He also motivates all the employees and communicates with the members of the organisation where there is mutual understanding with regards to organisational goals. The other aim of the CEO is to empower the employees to be innovative in managing different projects. Essentially, these are characteristics of effective leaders in the organisation as they can positively influence the efforts of the subordinates towards the attainment of the set organisational goals. Managers at H & M Consulting also act as coaches and advisers to project teams. This is very important as it gives them the opportunity to constantly improve and monitor the performance of the employees for the betterment of the organisation as a whole. In other words, the employees directly contribute to the growth of business in this organisation as they have big roles to play in its operations which is not the case at Watsons Engine Components where it can be seen that there is a wide gap between the management and the employees. 5.0 Organisational culture Basically, the myths, traditions, practice, beliefs, values and rituals of a particular organisation are elements that make up the organisational culture (Bates et al, 2005). Values in an organisation are learned and they are shaped and influenced by the members of the organisation. Values in the organisation play a pivotal role in shaping the behaviour of the employees and these are part of the day to day operations of a given organisation. Organisational culture plays a pivotal role in defining the organisations policies, code of conduct, communication channels as well as employee support structures (Bates et al, 2005). Without full implementation, polices in an organisation as well as employee support structures are worth nothing hence it is imperative for the managers to ensure that they are aware of the behaviour of their employees. In as far as organisational culture is concerned, it can be noted that the managers ought to be skilled in communication with their subordinates and they must be better positioned to resolve conflicts should they arise. These elements form the foundation of the organisational culture. A close analysis of the cultural system at Watsons Engine Components shows that it is hierarchical and it is primarily concerned with power and authority. Communication is one sided and it follows the top to bottom channel and this shows that the subordinates have absolutely no power to contribute to the decision making process in the organisation. In other words, the junior employees are expected to get orders from the top as a result of the hierarchical structure of the organisation. Indeed, it is important for the leaders in the organisation to make the final decisions but it is also important for the junior employees to contribute towards that process. Essentially, organisational culture is meant to create shared assumptions, beliefs, values and feelings which are supportive towards the attainment of the organisation’s goals (Bates et al 2005). It can be noted that the culture at Watsons Engine Components is not supportive of the organisational goals given that the employees and the management do not share the same values and beliefs for the organisation given the big gap that exists between the two. In this case, the employees do not have a sense of belonging to the organisation which is the reason why the organisation is facing a myriad of problems such as absenteeism as well as employee turnover. On the other hand, it can be noted that culture at H&M Consulting is shared by all the members of the organisation. The organisation mainly relies on the employees to fulfil its business objectives and its culture helps the employees to be responsible for their own development which is very important for the growth of the organisation. The company also seeks to be corporately responsible as part of its culture whereby it attempts to put measures in place that are meant to create a positive image for the organisation. Sharing ideas and knowledge is a virtue in this organisation given that each employee is treated a valuable asset which is a good advantage for it given that there are high levels of employee motivation within the company. This approach has been entrenched in the culture of the organisation and it shapes the behaviour of the employees who share the same vision and goals of the company. The culture at H & M Consulting is accommodative to different views of the employees and this is the reason why there is harmony among them and this positively contributes to the growth and development of the organisation as a whole. 6.0 Conclusion Over and above, it can be noted that it is important to understand issues related to management and organisations especially during the contemporary period where it can be noted that the business environment in which the organisations operate is dynamic and is constantly changing hence the need for management to keep pace with these changes. It has been observed that elements such as organisational design and structure, teams and team working, approach to leadership and management as well as organisational culture play a pivotal role in determining the extent to which an organisation can effectively operate in order to gain a competitive advantage. The report sought to critically evaluate how these concepts are implemented by two different organisations namely Watsons Engine Components and H & M Consulting. A close analysis of the case studies of the two organisations shows that the approach taken by Watsons Engine Components with regards to these aspects is not satisfactory since it has encountered numerous problems as a result of failing to implement these. On the other hand, the triumph of H & M Consulting can be attributed to the full implementation of these concepts in its operations. Bibliography Amos, TL et al 2008, Human Resources Management, 3rd Edition, JUTA, CT. 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