Organisations and behaviour - Assignment Example

ORGANISATIONS AND BEHAVIOUR Introduction This Report is about topics important to individuals and organizations. It involves around relationships, structure and culture, and how to improve businesses and organizations. We have chosen to discuss organizations Toyota, Tesco, and Southwest Airlines whose systems have been proven to be more effective than other organizations. There are many other organisations that have proven their worth in this age of intense globalisation but we cannot discuss them all due to lack of space. Task 1 Relationship between organisational structure and culture A. Organisational Structure The Functional Method One of the earliest structures used in organisations is the functional method. In this type, the organisation is divided into sectors or departments; each department has a particular specialism or function. The advantage for this type of structure is that the organisation can achieve effectiveness and success in pursuing its goals with the different departments having their separate functions. These departments or sections can enhance their expertise, while the workers are specialists in their own field. (RDI Achieve Learning Without Boundaries, n.d.) Another important advantage is that there is no duplication of functions. For example, in a car manufacturing plant like that of Toyota, they have different field of specialisation for each department – one works for engine specialisation, another group works for the other components, while another section works on the assembly of the Toyota car. There are disadvantages to this type of structure. The departments can have a narrow specialisation that may hinder the workers’ knowledge of their organisation. Another disadvantage that must be quickly looked into is the possible existence of an inter-departmental rivalry. The key is for the organisation to determine if the rivalry can result into good intentions or attain success for the organisation. There can be slow lines of communication on this type of structure, but a modification can remedy the situation. Information Technology can provide the answer. Toyota Motors Structure: Functional and Geographic Approaches Toyota Motors with its many branches worldwide has carried the traditional method up to this day although there may be some modifications. This company brings up to this day a family tradition of car making and traditional business. It uses the functional structure in the sense that the company is divided into departments, each with its own function and specialty. But it also uses the geographical approach considering that it is now a large organisation. Toyota is our choice organisation because it is a successful international firm that provides independence to its subsidiaries abroad. Its operation uses the geographical based approach while each independent subsidiary has a functional structure. The subsidiaries attain some kind of autonomy but also reports to the main headquarters in Japan. The United States branch of Toyota is under an independent management that allows quick responses whenever local branches and shops need help to solve local problems. It also allows tailoring of operations depending on local culture, such as language, customs, and laws and regulations. (Toyota, 2011) Toyota has been on the forefront of car making because of an effective strategic and operational management coupled with an efficient and competitive workforce. Their strategies involve innovations in production, marketing, sales and promotions, and branding. But to top it all, it has been able to handle knowledge management like it is a part of ordinary business. These strategies are applied to every branch despite their individual independence. In the 1950s Toyota was only a small company, averaging 18,000 vehicles per year. As years passed on, management perfected the so-called Toyota Production System – this is the Japanese way, a means of achieving mass production efficiencies with small volumes. Toyota expanded to become export-oriented and began to open manufacturing plants in many countries including the United States, operating in the same strategy. Taiichi Ohno, the chief engineer then, started experimenting to improve production. Along with a determined workforce, he introduced the kaizen and kanban concept of production. Kaizen means “continual improvement”. Toyota engineers cut or shortened some stages of production to save time and provide flexibility. (Lynch, 2008, p. 773) The Product-Based Structure There are many organisations that produce a number of products to cater to different markets. For example, in the car industry, car manufacturers produce not only assembled cars but many components for their brand of cars. In the food industry, organisations group some products together to serve different markets, while others separate meat from dairy, and so on. A product-based structure separates the departments into the kinds of products to be sold to the market. There are many advantages for this type of structure. An organisation can have its divisions concentrated on the particular products that they specialize in. This is almost similar with the functional structure, but this one concentrates on the product. The divisions can also share expertise and services as the need arises. Ford Motors: A Product-based Structure Ford Motors is best known in the United States for its cars, trucks, crossovers and SUVs. In 2008, it was adjudged by Standard & Poor’s (2009) as the world’s second largest motor vehicle manufacturer, producing cars and trucks, including plastic and glass parts of the cars they manufacturer, and other replacement parts. The company also has financial services such as the Ford Motor Credit (for automotive financing and insurance) and American Road Insurance. Ford also has acquisitions, such as the Mazda Motor Company. It has ventured in many countries, trying to have its presence felt even in China, which is the fastest growing market in the automobile industry. Ford uses the product-based structure in its many branches, although it also uses the geographical approach. The different divisions in the United States manufacture cars, trucks and SUVs handled by each division that specializes on the different kinds of products. One department specializes in SUVs, another works on trucks, and each sells them to the public. The advantage here is that the different divisions can share expertise and use selling and marketing methods also with the same process. B. Organisational Culture Tesco Culture – Organisational Relationships One of the big companies serving the UK is Tesco. How Tesco developed its culture spans years of innovations and development for its people and the customers it serves. Tesco is a major competitor in the British grocery market, competing with other big firms like Sainsbury, Wal-Mart, Safeway, and many more. Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen. Its growth could be attributed to the way it operates and the philosophy fostered by its founder - high-volume but low-price retailing. Tesco has a current strength of approximately 260,000 employees in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. (Dychtwald et al., 2006, p. 218) Tesco’s culture is characterized by how-they-do-it. The employee’ attitude at work is a unique culture of Tesco. We can clearly describe this type of culture through a literature taken from the Tesco experience. Inside Tesco, better work-life balance is a priority. Tesco developed the Employee Insight Unit (EIU), an inside survey that determined an understanding of employees and how they perceived of their job. The group charged to do it interviewed Tesco employees and people outside Tesco. They held focus groups and made studies and surveys inside and outside the organization. Management wanted to know the employee’s value of work and what they perceived of the organization they worked for. (Dychtwald et al., 2006, P. 218) Tesco employees are motivated by the social context, want to feel a sense of belongingness, value their colleagues and are more committed when they have colleagues and a manager with whom they enjoy working. Tesco employees also value the opportunity associated with a pay-and-benefits package and career advancement. They are motivated when they are provided training and development because with this, they can improve their skills. Employees value their job content; meaning what they are doing and the importance of the job to the company. The surveys found that uninteresting job content was one of the major reasons people leave Tesco. (Dychtwald et al, 2006, p. 219) Tesco culture is characterized by good and sound relationships among employees. On the other hand, the company values its employees, the mid- and low-rank employees, and set motivational factors and goals for them to be creative and efficient in the workplace. Continuous assessment of employees is also one of the activities in the organization. Southwest Airlines – Values and Beliefs Southwest Airlines is an American success story due primarily to its culture of values and beliefs. According to Freiberg and Freiberg (1998, p. 3), “at Southwest Airlines, they motivate our people crazy about the company they work for, make them extremely enthusiastic about what they do, being intensely involved, even obsessed about providing legendary customer service, making fanatically committed to a cause.” Employees are well motivated into making their own decisions and doing things which are not the ordinary. They hug, kiss, cry, or do comical things, which make customers laugh and enjoy while they are flying. This is another unique brand of customer service, a kind of company strategy making it on top of all the others. Kevin and Jackie Freiberg (1998, p. 4)) said about Southwest Airlines: ‘The company has been praised for its leadership and customer service in over a dozen business bestsellers. Management gurus like Tom Peters bring their clients to observe Southwest because they are intrigued with this wacky airline’s way of doing business.’ C. How an organizational structure and culture adopted by an organization can influence its success Structure influences success The way Toyota structures its local companies and branches in many countries influenced its success. Toyota introduced strategies to every branch or subsidiary. The geographical structure works in this global firm because it has become too large and unmanageable if managed in a vertical manner. The strategy is to manage it horizontally and give independence to the branch managers. After that, they worked on many other strategies for local use. The geographical structure has been proven effective. The branches are independent but the Japanese strategy is still in force. The functional structure is also introduced. This is one advantage of the functional type of structure. Toyota is able to enhance overall effectiveness since departments are focused on what they do best and pursue their primary function. The departments are subdivided into parts-making, for example, one department specializes in engine manufacturing. Toyota engines are one of the world’s best car engines. Another department handles marketing. Marketing innovations have been introduced in the company. Toyota’s strength is its operational and production strategies and the people behind the system. Its workforce is composed of well-trained engineers and technicians who are trained inside not outside the company thereby maintaining their unique way of building cars. Culture influences success Culture is an important factor for an organisation’s success. At Southwest Airlines, the culture makes the organisation and motivates employees. From 1990 to 1994, the airline industry was losing but Southwest was profitable each during the period, and was the only airline to earn a profit every year since 1973. The airline also maintains a considerable amount of debt and uses internally generated funds, making it not to worry too much of outside debts. This was because of the way culture shaped the employees’ attitude toward their work and how they dealt with customers. Management can make an organisation more competitive by avoiding trendy management programs. Southwest Airlines avoid formal documented strategic planning. This means by just letting the managers and employees be creative in the process of delivering services to the customers, business can become competitive and attractive to the public. ‘If you treat employees as if they make a difference to the company, they will make a difference to the company… At the heart of this unique business model is a simple idea: satisfied employees create satisfied customers.’ (www.sas.com, quoted in Firth 2002, p. 63) D. Factors that might influence individual behaviour at work There are a number of factors that influence the way workers behave in the workplace. Psychology tells us that people’s perception of work is influenced by childhood development. Changes always occur in the workplace, especially in this age of high technology, information revolution and globalisation. But the way people deal with change is also affected by their aptitude and intelligence. Change is inevitable. To manage change, organisations prepare their employees and workers in various ways: orientation, on the job training, training and development, and so forth. Some of these methods are institutionally programmed, but change is sometimes spontaneous, difficult to penetrate and encounter. In different countries where knowledge is an important product, employees have to experience continuous learning, or lifelong learning. They study and train even after college. Employees and workers have to be well-equipped in the knowledge economy with the necessary mental, physical and psychological abilities. Individuals should be ready for battle and their weapons are their knowledge, talent, capabilities, and experience to combat the multiple forces of modernity and technology. On the topic of human resource function is the term “perception”. This is defined in Needham et al. (2001 cited in RDI Achieve Learning without Boundaries, n.d.) as: ‘the process through which people receive, organize and interpret information from their environment.’ The workplace is an influential environment on the workers. It is here where people interact, express their knowledge and skill, and receive information. Work-life balance is an interaction of work and life that workers need in their day-to-day activities in an organisation. A workplace can be a complicated world of managers, employees and people that can make life harsh, difficult and uncompromising. Workers should know how to cope because global organisations are composed of peoples of diverse cultures. Multinational corporations and multinational enterprises are multi-cultured. Living with people of different cultures can make lives of ordinary employees and managers very unbalanced. Work and life balance is difficult to achieve. People’s feelings, emotions and personal lives have never been so affected by organisational activities that they tend to look at the office as home away from home. They spend their time, efforts, and knowledge for the organisation. Our errors and inadequacies, faults, perceptions are in many ways what make us human and make us unique. The world has been interpreted by theorists, thinkers and researchers who made sense of things in very different ways. Many of these issues are perceptions but are essential to handling the nearly infinite stimulus our mind receives. The more the organisation has become complicated to our own perception, the more we commit errors and mistakes; and the more our lives become miserable. Task 2 Management and Leadership A. Enterprise Rent-A-Car At ‘Enterprise rent-a-car’, they don’t take much distinction between leaders and managers, but they do value the meaning of leaders by providing the necessary milieu for good leaders. Good leaders become good managers. The principle is to provide the freedom to choose between what is good or not for the company and people. Since leaders choose the democratic and not the autocratic way of leading, Enterprise Rent-a-car is advancing as an organisation. And that makes it a successful organisation. They recruit leaders – from the beginning – and train them to be good leaders and managers. This seems to be the trend in this age of intense globalization – valuing leaders to become managers. Between McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, Enterprise prefers Theory Y, providing freedom to their employees so that they can contribute to the fulfillment of the Enterprise’s objectives. The organisation we have chosen for this topic is Toyota. Toyota’s management is flexible. The company does not believe in firing employees; they hire employees until retirement. This is the Theory Y type of management. Toyota has a management strategy known as the Toyota Production system, which has a flexible production method. It was proven effective because Toyota was able to feel the gains when it was still struggling as a small company. In the 1960s-70s, a US-trained manager Shotaro Kimaya introduced into Toyota a concept of a separate company – but under Toyota – to sell spare parts. It was very successful. With globalisation and outsourcing, Toyota outsources many of its parts, but maintains quality. With its hybrid Prius, Toyota has used tremendously one of its most valued assets – a qualified and talented workforce working inside Japan. B. Approaches to Management People always connect work with life’s fulfillment, and connect their satisfaction at work with their feelings and satisfaction of life, and happiness with their family. Satisfaction in the workplace means happiness at home and fulfillment in life. Work and life balance suggests a balance for life and what people do. There has to be a blending equality that includes work, family, pleasure, fulfillment, and satisfaction. Part of good and productive management is to motivate employees to become productive and to work for the attainment of the organization’s objectives. Motivation is an important factor in determining performance of people in an organization. It is the heart of performance management. Approaches to management have been expounded by Frederick Taylor who is known as the father of scientific management. He defined work in terms of the specified tasks designed for the workers to follow, and with no chance of freedom or judgment left on the part of the workers. There is no motivation during those early years of industrialisation, which is the basis of Taylor’s theory. Another motivational factor is the Hawthorne effect which refers to the productivity benefits that companies create when they pay attention to their employees and treat them with dignity or as equal partners. David Garvin and Norman Klein (cited in Luecke & Hall, 2006, p. 19) made their own research on this and found that work output was not simply a function of a job’s scientific design, but was also influenced by social norms, management-employee communications, and the level of employee involvement in workplace decisions. Task 3 Motivational Theories in Organisations A. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Motivation Theory According to Abraham Maslow (1943), our needs are arranged like a pyramid or ladder. At the bottom of the pyramid are the physiological needs such as food, water, oxygen and sex. As one set is met, the person moves up the ladder to the next. Next in the ladder are the safety needs such as security, stability, dependency, protection, freedom from fear, anxiety and chaos. Then we have the need for structure, order, law, and limits, and the need for strength in the protector. The next in the ladder is belongingness and love needs that include the need for recognition, acceptance and approval of others. Self-esteem needs include how we value ourselves and our love and respect for ourselves and for others. Then we have the desires to know and to understand (Maslow, 1943, p. 236). This refers to man’s quest for acquiring knowledge and systematizing the universe, or what Maslow calls expressions of self-actualization. Self-actualizing people focus on problems outside of themselves, have a clear sense of what is true and what is sham, are spontaneous and creative, and are not bound too strictly by social conventions (Firth, 2002, p. 85). Self-actualizing needs are those where we place our goals for our career. Management in the organisation has to look how it has met the needs of its employees before they can go on and be effective in their job. The need theory is focused on the acquired needs that people learn in the process of acquiring new life experience over their lifetime. The three major groups of needs that people acquire include achievement, affiliation, and power (Kopelman et al., 2006, p. 233). It is the motivations that people have for certain attitudes towards their work and their relations with their employers. The human need theory asserts that people have urges relative to the three needs: the need for achievement (the desire to accomplish a goal more effectively than in the past); the need for affiliation (the desire for human companionship and acceptance); and the need for power (the desire to be influential in a group and to control one’s environment (Firth, 2002, p. 86). Affiliation is the need that people try to satisfy in the work place as well, and organisations must provide their employees with favorable conditions for professional and personal development in the work place, encourage growth of the employees for the mutual benefit of the whole organisation. Finally, the need of power is the moving force of the career development and professional progress of an employee (Kopelman et al., 2006, p. 233). Motivating employees is a challenge to managers. Managers have to demonstrate trust to their employees otherwise they get what they expect. Ways to demonstrate trust include such actions as removing some controls, or by asking a person to create a plan or schedule, or by putting subordinate in charge of something one would normally handle. Studies have found that successful managers have stronger power motives than less successful managers. The human need theory asserts that people have urges relative to the three needs which are the need for achievement, the need for affiliation, and the need for power. The role of team leaders is to coach, that of the facilitator, not someone to play as superman (Armstrong, 1998, p. 8). B. Other motivation theory Another theory was formulated by the social scientist Douglas McGregor; it is known as the Theory X and Theory Y approach to management. Managers who embrace Theory X have two motivational tools: the carrot and stick – greed and fear. Theory X sees the boss as prodding the employees, exerting too much control in the workplace. Theory Y assumes that when people are motivated, they accomplish goals. Workers become productive when they are motivated: to be a part of the team, or to be a part-owner of the organisation, and to be creative in their work. (Fournies, 1999, p. 34) When people are motivated, they accomplish goals. Workers become productive when they feel they are a part of a team, or part-owner of the organisation; they feel this sense of belongingness and so they strive for the organisation’s improvement. These people are not easily motivated by money; work for them becomes a part of life and not distasteful. Managers in organisations who believe this principle push information and responsibility downward, explaining to workers the reasons why things should be done, assuming they have an interest in doing them and a willingness to do them. Task 4 Mechanisms for developing effective teamwork in organisations A. Difference between teams and groups within an organisation Clustering or teamwork is not something new, but the strategy is tested, innovative, and can be effective if implemented properly. Clustering simplifies the job. It is a concept performed by many organisations, which has stayed on the sideline, but performed great wonders in their own simple ways. In clustering, workers are formed in teams or clusters and functioned through teamwork and motivation. Each team is given independence, the members are allowed to function at their own utmost capacity, and are trained in the process, becoming multi-skilled, while each member is responsible to the team. A cluster competes with other clusters when it comes to skill, but they are all working for one organisation. As the workers become accustomed to it, they improve their skill significantly, becoming more professional and expert in their own respective fields. The effect is that production can improve, output can significantly increase, and we can attend now to more improvements in the workplace and other pressing issues of environmental problems and the demand of wood supplies coming in from the forest. This has to be addressed properly because of the stiff competition and complaints posed by environmental groups. Moreover, quality is of paramount importance in our production. On the other hand, groups may not be working as teams. There is a distinction here because teams are assembled to work together for a common goal. Groups, although recruited to work together, may not work as teams. Teams exist to foster camaraderie. B. Factors that could contribute to, and/or prevent, team development at an organisation of your choice and discuss how the use of technology might affect team performance The philosophy behind teambuilding is that when individual workers are allowed to work at their own pace and given the responsibility as part of the team, they become well motivated and work for the team and the company for which they work. The motivation is that each individual works for improvement and advancement of the organisation. A member becomes like a part owner of the business. Each cluster works like an independent body but each member is multi-skilled that allows the cluster members to be flexible. Cluster methods provide improvement not only as workers but as developed individuals. Statistics show that many organisations in the private and public sector have their workforce ‘subdivided’ into teams. This means they see the great significance of employees or workers working as teams, and these groups are working for one cohesive force and that is the entire organisation. We can see the evidence in many of the Fortune 2000 companies and in other successful businesses throughout the world. (Knights and Willmott, 2007, p. 118) Creating teams require some skill and real talent. This cannot be simply taken for granted. It requires some determination to put the individual talents into a single force to work for change or introduce ideas that can provide further innovations, progress and success for one objective, i.e. is the success of the organisation. The Toyota Production System encourages team working. They use this to achieve the objectives of mass production with great results. In this type, teams strive to work and improve through creative ways of building cars. The hybrid Prius was built by an effective team which applied innovative designs. Although Prius was tinted with controversy (over brake pedals), it was considered successful. Team building is effective in Toyota. Toyota depends much on technology in car making. The hybrid Prius is said to be the car of the twenty-first century. This hybrid car was built with an engine and a motor; it can run on fuel and electricity, which means it is fuel efficient. Technology has much to do with the making of this car. It is computerized and was built through years of continuous research and development. The primary objective of Toyota in building this car was to answer to the demands of environmentally-friendly vehicles. Continuous innovation, research and development, and high-technology have made the Prius hybrid the car of the twenty-first century. Conclusion The success of an organisation depends much on people and how the organisation works through its culture and structure. Culture is introduced by its founder and the people working from its beginning. Culture builds up until such time that it becomes a way of life of the people therein. Structure is also introduced by the founder of the organization and it also affects the success of the organisation. Organisations should hire good leaders or people who have the making of good leaders. These leaders will lead the organisation and eventually become good managers. References Armstrong, M., 1998. Managing people: a practical guide for line managers. London: Kogan Page Limited. Dychtwald, K., Erickson, T. and Morison, R., 2006. Workforce crisis: how to beat the coming shortage of skills and talent. United State of America: Harvard Business Press. Firth, D., 2002. Life and work express. United Kingdom: Capstone Publishing. Fournies, F., 1999. Coaching for Improved Work Performance. New York: McGraw-Hill. Freiberg, K. and Freiberg, J., 2001. Nuts!: Southwest Airlines’ crazy recipe for business and personal success. United States of America: Texere. Knights, D. and Willmott, H., 2007. Introducing organizational behaviour & management. London: Thomson Learning. Kopelman, R., Prottas, D., Thompson, C., and Jahn, E., 2006. A Multilevel Examination of Work-Life Practices: Is More Always Better?. Journal of Managerial Issues, 18(2), 232+ Luecke, R. and Hall, B., 2006. Performance management: measure and improve the effectiveness of your employees. United States of America: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. Lynch, R., 2008. Global Automotive Vehicle - Strategy in a Mature Market and Toyota: What is its Strategy for World Leadership. In Strategic Management, 5th edition (Financial Times/ Prentice Hall), pp. 767-775 Maslow, A. H., 1943. A theory of human motivation. In G. Goble, The third force: the psychology of Abraham Maslow. USA: Zorba Press. RDI Achieve Learning Without Boundaries, n.d. Module: organisations and behaviour; unit: organisational structure and culture; Lesson: Organisational structure. Toyota, 2011. Company profile. Available at: http://www.toyota-global.com/company/profile/overview/ [Accessed 10 November 2011] Read More