Structural Analysis - Triton Inc - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxx Title : Structural Analysis Institution : xxxxxxx @2010 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Synopsis of the Company of Choice 3 My area of Involvement in the Company 4 Topic of interest for this paper 5 Description of the Organisational Structure of Triton Inc 5 Breakdown of the Organisation Structure 7 Analysis 8 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 12 Appendix 14 Fig. 1 Overall Organisation Chart for Triton Inc. 14 Fig. 2 Organisation Chart for the Finance Department for Triton Inc. 15 Fig. 3 Organisation Chart for the Marketing Team Department 15 Fig. 4 Organisation Chart for the Human Resource Department 16 Structural Analysis Synopsis of the Company of Choice Triton Inc. under the leadership of Hal Donovan is a multinational store that boasts of over 14 regional stores in Michigan, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania posing as some of its overseas outlets. The company enjoys excellent reputation in the market given its organisational culture of warm treatment of its customers and involvement in corporate activities in the society. These activities by the company have been the reason that the management under the leadership of its owner, Donovan, decided to explore technological opportunities provided through the internet thereby endeavouring to make the company virtual by creating consumer-friendly and interactive website (Brown, Durchslag & Hagel, 2002). In the website, according to Donovan, it is intended that the company starts offering online shopping where its customers are able at a click of the mouse to order items, see which items are in stock, the nearest stores with which kinds of items and compare brand names and prices in different stores. Triton Inc. is a public trading Australian company that is headquartered in Croydon Australia and its other stores are in Melbourne and Victoria and boasts of a workforce of over 17000 salaried employees. Its total annual revenue collection as per the 2009/10 fiscal year was AUD$ 1.8 billion (). Triton Inc. began out of the novelty of Hal Donovan in 1945 when he opened Franchise Ben Franklin variety stores, shot to fame and business prominence almost instantly. Its records speak volumes for the company’s dominance and business acumen. The company currently operates over 1 150 retail facilities globally being the dominant retailer in Canada, the UK and Mexico (Sandra & Scott 1994). Fortune ranks the company as the wealthiest and most powerful corporation in the world according to its total sales. Fortune further ranks it as the second most admired company in the whole world. The company generally deals in family apparel, beauty and health aids, electronics, household needs, fabrics, lawn and garden, shoes and jewelry. It also operates successful pharmaceutical business, photo processing centers and tire and lube express business (Sandra & Scott 1994). The company runs on three main policy goals as detailed by its founder, Hal Donovan: service to the consumer, respect for the individual and striving for excellence. Its corporate management strategy is to sell the highest quality product and brand names at the lowest cost possible. My area of Involvement in the Company I am involved in the marketing department of the Triton Inc. where I work as the marketing superintendent. My work mainly involves informing the marketing committee of the areas of need in the market whereupon I am charged with the specific responsibility of carrying out research on the consumer needs in the market and advising the committee appropriately. This means that there is time to time maneuvering of the company’s product in the market which is determined by the informed advice I suggest to the committee regarding market trends and requirements given the time of consideration. The department of marketing of Triton Inc. is very elaborate and requires rigorous commitment if the intended extent of the marketing is to be attained. The beauty products are very sensitive in the market since they are customer specific and the world of beauty is one that is continually changing and being transformed by modernity. In the department therefore, it is incumbent for us employees to go out there and think of ways that the products have to be most outstanding and look for ways to make the beauty products being sold by Triton Inc. to be most appealing and attracting for the target customer. Topic of interest for this paper The topic of interest for this paper is the role of organisational culture in organisational management and success. I consider this topic of great importance since organisational culture is a specificity of corporations that makes them distinct and in the same breath determines the decision-making process that is used for these corporations. Organisational culture is imbedded in company’s objectives and vision (Black, 2003). This means that organisations will be skewed to make decisions that meet their corporate objectives and vision and therefore it means that a similar circumstance may receive different decisions from different corporations depending on their culture and company vision and objectives (Bligh, 2006). This topic is deeply determined by the kind of organisational structure that is there since there organisational culture will be carried to a large extent by the understanding and its acceptance by the leadership of the corporation. The harmony of the working of this leadership is in turn determined by the kind of organisational structure that is in existent for the corporation affecting the following of protocol and pecking order to be easier and without much incidence (Amaral & Uzzi 2007). For this paper, the Organisational Structure Corporate Theory is used. Description of the Organisational Structure of Triton Inc Triton Inc. is a very big corporation that has many departments and therefore its operation is only possible when leadership and the management of the entire corporation is done at departmental level. Recently the organisation also sought to extent its business tendrils into overseas markets so as to strengthen itself. This has mainly been achieved by acquisition and mergers with other like-minded corporations. The organisation structure therefore is a detailed and is governed by one overall chart and there are other subordinate organisation charts for different departments that are considered core for the proper running of the organisation. Figure 1 shows the overall organisational structure of Triton Inc in the appendix. Given the way Triton Inc. is large, this structure was thought insufficient to facilitate proper management and running of the company and therefore there was need to change the structure of the entire company. This change brought out some of the tenets of organisational structure such as complexity, formalisation, centralisation and the make the renewed structure to be both simple and divisional. Figure 2 in the appendix shows the renewed structure that is used in Triton Inc. From this structure, owing to the extensiveness of the corporation, the leadership has taken different approaches in ensuring that the extensive corporation gets appropriate leadership and proper management. Figures 2 to 4 shown in the appendix give these structures in summary. These detailed organisation charts that have been designed for respective departments within the company that are considered important for the running of the organisation form one of the greatest strengths of Triton Inc. and the one that gives it comparative advantage over its competitors (Bligh 2006). This is because, these robust departments can be run smoothly and effectively when the level of leadership is devolved to a jurisdiction that is closest to them rather than the usual trend where leadership authority is left as a reserve of the top management (Braha & Bar-Yam 2007). Breakdown of the Organisation Structure In discussing the breakdown of the new organisation structure for Triton Inc., the figures showing the organisation charts for the various departments within the company will be referred to. From the extent of the departments found in the company, it is clear that the size of the organisation is very big necessitating the need for there to be a robust strategy that ensures that all the areas of the corporation receive effective and appropriate leadership at all times (Cummings, G, & Worley, G, 2005). This big size effectively means that Triton Inc. staff is equally big thereby making the Human Resource Department one of the most active departments in the company. Triton Inc. employs over 17 000 salaried personnel in all its outlets within Australia and in the wider European region and this large task force is due to the growing interest in cosmetics and beauty related products over time. This area of research of determining the extent to which the need for cosmetics in the market is not well exploited and that is why Triton Inc. utilizes 15 percent of its human resources to carry our research on related issues about the world of cosmetics within the region and beyond (Cummings & Worley 2005). It is owing to this robust workforce that the administration of the organisation also has to be divided in different departments to make dissemination of information to the relevant persons easier and more effective. As it is seen in the charts in the appendix, the company uses different differentiations in terms of vertical and horizontal component as its pecking order. Different departments have different forms of protocol and this is summarized in the charts in the appendix. Analysis The changing of the organisational structure is important since it has some specific advantages for the company. In summary, these successes are shown below: Decentralized reporting Flat hierarchy High transient speed High transparency Low residual mass Permanent monitoring Rapid response Shared reliability Matrix hierarchy Triton Inc has a unique organisational culture which has been thought by different authorities to the secret behind its success in its niche market. These are the things that make Hal’s Hardware Inc., a formidable company in the field of cosmetics and beauty and related services provision. The company offers classes and workshops for beauty pageants, persons and corporations in the industry of cosmetics and household goods and services (among other persons or corporations of interest) three evening in a month. In addition to these training initiatives, the company further regularly schedules seminars for professional customers on weekday mornings. Every morning, beauticians, salon keepers, wedding planners, electricians (etc), are encouraged to stop by and share in the morning coffee which the company offers every morning when the company opens at 6.00am. May be the strongest culture that makes Triton Inc stand out in its niche market is its elaborate Corporate Social Responsibility initiative where it has had a deep integration with the society in which it thrives in giving back to the society the much it gets from it. This, the company does by sponsoring a host of youth sports teams and supporting local charities that help build the society. They are these astute involvements in the community that Triton Inc., is assured of always having a soft spot in the hearts of the locals; a reality that has magnificent economic remunerations and societal acceptance (Harris 1994). From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that there is a consistent and definite corporate culture in Triton Inc that gives it comparative advantage in its market. The research question seeks to establish the extent to which corporate (organisational culture) is affected and determined by organisational structure and for this, there are authorities (Heckscher & Donnellon 1994) who surmise that the two concepts of organisational management are closely related and the latter hugely depends on the former. Elaborate organisational structures require very involving cultures which can be maintained and traced through the extensively devolved system of governance and management of a corporation (Kogut, Urso & Walker 2007). Basic concepts that are dependent on organisational cultures which make them unique include such things as employee interaction and involvement in company decision making process, CSR initiatives and societal empowerment. These concepts define the manner of decisions that are made by organisations since they are to be skewed towards realizing the specific culture that the organisation is steered towards. This means that the entire leadership has to be fully involved in them if they are ever to see the light of day in being realized (Repenning 2002). In sum, organisational culture plays such a central role in corporation’s decision-making process which makes these corporations both eccentric and unique. Group executives will therefore be implored to make their decisions based on the objectives and vision of their companies which ultimately constitute organisational culture (Raymond & Charles 1992). Conclusion Organisational structure is core to any corporation if it is to be successful in its attaining of the set objectives, mission and vision. This study has had incredible lessons of the importance of organisational culture as well as how organisational structure is instrumental to the running of corporations. Organisational structure acts as the backbone for the corporation helping in areas of decision making among other processes. In addition to this it reduces chances of the work force bumping into each other, saves them from confusion and poor judgment (Robbins & Barnwell 2006). The theory used for the study of this research paper is a creative and elaborate theory that discusses the issue of organisational structure in such a way that it addresses the functionality of the structure when implemented. The structure for Triton Inc is hierarchical run through devolved systems of leadership under different departments. Having established the impact organisational structure takes in corporate governance, the paper set out to determine to what extent organisational structure affects organisational culture. Organisational culture is that tendency of an organisation in the way it runs its business that makes it distinct and different from others. In the event that an organisation changes strategy, it is imperative that the organisation refines its vision and objectives in a way that astutely defines its culture. Strategies are usually designed to help organisations meet their goals and objectives and it is from these objectives that corporation’s culture is born (Robbins & Barnwell 2006). With this interlocking close relationship between culture and strategies formulated, it is clear that the two are mutually dependent. For example, when a marketing strategy is changed from say networking to channel distribution, it follows that decisions to be made will be skewed towards stronger CSR initiatives as opposed to the previous strategy of team building and self-sustenance (Robbins & Barnwell 2006). Triton Inc is a large corporation dealing in different products and services: family apparel, beauty and health aids, electronics, household needs, fabrics, lawn and garden, shoes and jewelry. It also operates successful pharmaceutical business, photo processing centers and tire and lube express business. This means that a change in strategy effectively means that there will be great need for coherence in the management to accommodate such change without friction and collusion in the decisions made in different departments. Every department under its management is asked to appropriately respond in kind so as the overall corporate culture is maintained even in the event of radical changes in the market and economic trends (Robbins & Barnwell 2006). The theory of my choice was instrumental in helping with the better understanding of this research and from the discussion and findings contained herein, managers and persons in authority is advised of the close relationship that is there between organisation structure and organisation culture. This effectively means that for there to be a formidable corporate culture that gives the company a good comparative advantage in its niche market, its organisational structure will play a huge role. The structure of Triton Inc- the way it is elaborate and detailed devolving leadership to manage the huge corporation to department- has enabled faster dissemination of information and general running of the corporation. This has made its complex corporate culture of being society based through elaborate CSR initiatives appear easy to integrate into the system especially given that such a culture for a profit making corporation is not so easy (Kogut, Urso & Walker 2007). The corollary of this therefore is that the research paper establishes that there is close relationship between corporate/organisational structure and organisational culture and that the former greatly determines the latter. Bibliography Amaral, L, & Uzzi, B 2007, “Complex Systems—A New Paradigm for the Integrative Study of Management, Physical, and Technological Systems” Management Science, vol. 53, no. 7, pp. 1033–1035. Black, J 2003, Organisational Culture: Creating the Influence Needed for Strategic Success, London UK. Bligh, C 2006, “Surviving Post-merger: Culture Clash-Can Cultural Leadership Lessen the Casualties?” Leadership, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 395-426. Braha, D, & Bar-Yam, Y 2007, “The Statistical Mechanics of Complex Product Development: Empirical and Analytical Results”, Management Science, vol. 53, no. 7, pp. 1127–1145. Cummings, G, & Worley, G 2005, Organisation Development and Change, 8th Ed., Thomson South-Western, USA Harris, S 1994, “Organisational Culture and Individual Sense making: A Schema-Based Perspective”, Organisation Science, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 309-321 Heckscher, C, & Donnellon, A 1994, The Post-Bureaucratic Organisation: New Perspectives on Organisational Change, Sage Publications. Kogut, B, Urso, P, & Walker, P 2007, “Emergent Properties of a New Financial Market: American Venture Capital Syndication, 1960–2005”, Management Science, vol. 53, no. 7, pp. 1181-1198. Repenning, N 2002, “A Simulation-Based Approach to Understanding the Dynamics of Innovation Implementation”, Organisation Science, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 109-127. Raymond, M, & Charles, S 1992, “Causes of Failure in Network Organisations”, California Management Review, vol. 4, no.3. Robbins, S, & Barnwell, N 2006, Organisation Theory: Concepts and Cases, 5th ed , Prentice Hall , Sydney. Appendix Fig. 1 Overall Organisation Chart for Triton Inc. Fig. 2 Organisation Chart for the Finance Department for Triton Inc. Fig. 3 Organisation Chart for the Marketing Team Department Fig. 4 Organisation Chart for the Human Resource Department Figure 5. The Renewed Organisational Structure Chart for Triton Inc. (Renewed Internal Tabulated Article- RITA) Read More