Organisational Structural Issues - Case Study Example

The new management versus the old organizational structure always comes in clash with each other. The Regency Hotel Case is an example that depicts the issues arising in an organization after it has been acquired by a different group of investors. The Regency Hotel is shown to be a successful entity in the hotel business along with its eastern culture and a bureaucratic structure. The employees of the organization are satisfied and adhere to the management’s set standards and practices. Becker, the new manager, however, has different and more westernized thoughts of empowerment and risk taking.

The major structural issue faced by the Regency Hotel is the transition from pure bureaucracy to complete empowerment. The old employees believe in supervision where as the new manager believes more in delegation and team cohesion. “Team cohesion is an extent to which team members band together and remain committed to achieving team goals.” (Lussier and Achua, 2010) Different organizational behavioral model can be used to explain the structural issues in the case at hand. “Management researcher Douglas McGregor proposed possible assumptions that managers make about workers.

” (Bagad 2008) His theory X and Y are well evident in the management perceptions of Becker and the previous managers of the Regency Grand hotel. Becker was a proponent of participative management style also of known as McGregor’s Theory Y while the old management believed in the authoritative style of management known as the Theory X. Becker’s behavior can also be explained through McClelland’s Achievement Theory of Motivation also known as the acquired needs theory. McClelland believed that a person’s needs are a resultant of life experiences and cultural background.

He explains three categories of needs as need for achievement, need for affiliation and the need for power. In our case, Becker agreed with the acquired needs theory and believed that people have needs to achieve goals and are motivated to perform in a more productive manner if these needs are catered for in an organization. Also, the need for being affiliated made Becker keep rapport with the front line staff, He empowered them so they control their environment and their need for power is fulfilled.

Another theory that helps us understand the case in a better manner is the Vroom Theory. “One of the greatest attractions of the Vroom Theory is that it recognizes the importance of various individual needs and motivation.” (Koontz and Weihrich, 2007) The Vroom theory advocates management by objective, the concept that Becker wanted to introduce in the Hotel work environment. The all the above mentioned theories and their application to the case suggests that Becker was more team oriented and believed in the fact that motivation and risk taking leads to greater employee satisfaction and better results for the organization.

He wanted to introduce the element of self efficacy in the newly acquired hotel. “Self efficacy refers to ones belief in one’s capability to perform a specific task.” (Gist, 1987) The case showed that Becker was going by the theories when it came to the organizational structure as he believed in the modern principles and the new paradigms of organizational behavior. The new shift in the field of organizational behavior advocates a flexible organization that continuously learns and adapt.

As Daft and Lewin (1993) explained in their essay “the trend appears to be moving away from the paradigm within which