Organisations and Behaviour: Organisational Structure of Apple - Assignment Example

?` Organisations & Behaviours Assignment Basic Definitions Organisation is the systematic collection of resources to achieve some common goal. The resources are organised in a way that facilitates the performance of required function and achieves the specific goal. The arrangement of manpower in organisations for various functions and levels is known as structure. Culture is the overall environment of the organisation which is affected by many internal and external factors. Comparison of Organisational Structures The structure of the organisation depends on the functions the organisation performs. There are multiple organisational structures found both in theory and in practice. Some are rigid like public sector organisations while others are flexible like small scale private enterprises. There are many variables that affect the structure of the organisation. They include its size, age, staff, culture, geographical position and legal, commercial, social and technical environment. These factors all help to shape many organisational structures. In the basic categorisation, there are tall and flat structures. Below is the comparison of these two types. Tall Structure Flat Structure Size Usually Large Usually Medium Age Independent Independent Culture & Environment Rigid & Formal Flexible & Less Formal Geographical Position Independent Independent Hierarchy Strong Weak Span of Control Tight Loose Chain of Command Strict Loose Delegation of Authority Formal Informal Workload Reduced – Decentralised Increased Career Growth Well Defined Vague There are some other structures which are combination of these two structures. The matrix structure is an example. It has different units and each one follows the tall structure independently. On the organisational level, all units form flat structure. Many organisational structures are dependent upon functional units therefore they extract the required characteristic from all types of structures. It is important to mention here that every organisation differs from other one in terms of structure. There can be variety in tall and flat structures as well. Organisational Structure of Apple The organisational structure of Apple is quite different from the ones mentioned in the literature and found in the practice. It is more like a wheel where CEO places himself at the centre. All other departments and functional units are spread around him and he the key focal of all. This structure reflects the overall leadership and operational philosophy in which Steve Jobs believed. He gave his executive team a direct access to himself. Through close coordination with them, he established trust and involvement. The same practise was adopted down the line and Apple won loyalty of employees. Steve’s successor disagreed with this organisational structure. His management and leadership approach is quite different from that of Steve. It is more likely that the command of Tim Cook will transform Apple into an organisational having traditional tall structure. The CEP will be at the top while the Executive Team will be next in the hierarchy and reporting to him. Since the structure is the overall design of an organisation, the functional units of Apple will become tall too. In addition to the conventional pros and cons attached with the tall structure, it is also expected that structural transformation will bring certain resistance. It is because change is naturally resisted and the employees of Apple are used to the wheel structure since long. It is also possible that command of authority may be challenged by the employees and Apple may not expect the same performance as it was in Steve’s time. Comparison of Organisational Cultures The organisational structure influences the organisational culture. The rigid structure promotes strict and formal culture while the flexible structure is more likely seen in an informal culture. Below is the comparison of formal and informal culture that can exist in any organisation. In formal culture, the basic guideline followed throughout the organisation is to go by the book. Every single point is put in black and white and employees are required to consult policies and procedures in a routine manner. Out of box solutions are discouraged and the discipline is the basic requirement of every worker. Job descriptions are defined and employees are strictly evaluated against the job descriptions. In informal cultures, all the characteristics defined in the formal cultures are relaxed. There are written and approved policies and procedures but they may not be consulted on regular basis. Out of box solutions can be proposed to regard one’s creativity and efficiency. Employees are encouraged to think in favour of organisation and bypass certain rules if they hurt the organisational interest. There are certain other types of cultures as well. Powel culture keeps the power to make and implement decisions at the small group at centre of the organisation. The power is less spread among the employees. There is a small group who enjoys all powers. This culture is usually found in small organisations where the small group is in the position and capability to control all decisions and operations. It discourages employees to give their say in the decisions. Task culture is specific to the task at hand. The organisation promotes successful accomplishment of a task and supports the individual to adopt any suitable mean for it. Power comes with expertise which determines how efficiently a task is carried out. Role culture is a sub-form of tall structure in which powers lies with roles. The designation is less important as compared to role. It helps potential to grow and gives opportunities to the experts to take lead even if they are junior in the hierarchy. The disadvantages include non-acceptance by people who are supervised by the juniors. Person culture is the one which elevates individual in the organisation. The organisational processes and policies are less important than the personal emotions and preferences. Individuals focus on their own interest rather than promoting the collective organisational interest. The employee satisfaction is high but organisational performance is completely at stake. Culture of Apple Computers Steve Jobs believed that employees are an important asset of the organisations and they should be promoted to play their role in the development of the organisation. On the other hand, Steve was very particular about the performance of his organisation and he personally involved in each and every product of the business to review its development and performance. He defined clear processes. The responsibility and accountability matrix of Apple was known to all employees. The recognition given to employees exalts them at workplace and they truly believed that they are working for the organisation which is changing the world. Under the leadership of Tim Cook, certain changes are expected at cultural level. Since Cook is more towards command of authority, it is expected that the designations will be more important than the roles and executives will be a permanent designation. Unlike Jobs, who invited every rising star in the executive’s meeting, Cook will focus of power distances and keep junior staff at arm’s length. Effect of Relationship between Organisation’s Structure and Culture on the Performance of the Business Both organisational structure and culture have strong influence over each other. The formal culture is promoted in rigid and hierarchical structure. The flexible structure paves way for informal culture in which employees are motivated to think out of box. Having defined the relationship between structure and culture, it is important to define how this relationship affects the overall organisational performance. There are many factors of organisational performance and every organisation interprets them according to its own priorities. For many industrialists, the profit rate is the strongest determinant of organisational performance. The more an organisational is profitable, the better its employees are supposed to be in terms of performance and capabilities. The changing structure of Apple can bring changes in the culture as well. It is expected that the commitment of people will drop as Tim maintains distance with them. Presently Apple enjoys the portion of eminence as it has a unique structure and leadership philosophy. This uniqueness pays it in favourable terms as Apple is a dream employer and people love to stay here for generations. The transformation into traditional tall structure will lead to normal business operations and drop in employee’s loyalty and commitment. Factors which influence individual behaviour at work Organisations are formed by individuals and the major entity in running the organisation is also the individual. The individual has all cognitive, affective and behavioural components which affect his attitude at the work place. An individual is not only a worker; he has his own personal life, values and goals as well. Below are the factors which affect an individual’s behaviour at the work place, and help the individual to shape his attitude towards organisation. Organisational and Personal Goals It rarely happens that the personal goals of an individual are aligned with organisational goals, which would form a win-win relationship between the individual and the organisation. If the situation is opposite, serious clashes may occur between the two entities. The employee’s performance may go down which is ultimately reflected in the overall performance of the organisation. It is also possible that the clashes lead to termination of the employment agreement between the organisation and the individual. It is altogether a baseless argument that a person should consider organisational goals only when he is at the workplace. It is the common expectation of many employers that the sole focus of employee should be the organisational achievement. Job Design Job Design plays a vital role in determining the motivation level of the employee. It the job performed by an employee is significant, noticeable and adds value to the organisation; the employee will stay motivated and adopt positive attitude at work place. Alternatively the employee will be de-motivated considering his work as worthless. The sense of importance attributed to the presence and work of an employee is the key to boosting motivation level. Repetitiveness is the basic discouraging factor at every job role and many employees quit job because of same activities carried out over the years. Employees want control over activities in a way they should be allowed to change the standard operating procedures and bring in new methods in their functions. It does not only develop the organisation but also adds to the experience and market value of the employee. An organisation enacting new skills and methods in their functions are highlighted in the best industry practices and the entire industry tends to follow them. This feature also leads to innovation is the industry practices. Career Growth Overlooked by many organisations, this factor is increasingly becoming more important in the modern organisations. It is because, every individual is in search for better opportunity and opportunities are really scarce. Hiring a talented individual is a challenge yet retaining him is a bigger challenge. People may join an organisation believing in the job preview given to him at the time of induction. As soon as the individual becomes an employee, his own observation and experience starts which is more credible to him than the statements of HR people. If career growth is not offered to an individual, they may start looking for opportunities elsewhere. He will be least interested in the present job and would be staying there just to have another better platform. If he is talented, he will definitely get better opportunities and leave the job. It also happens that people wait for one promotion at one organisation and use it as an achievement to hunt the new career plan. Career plans are an important aspect of modern organisations which shouldn’t be overlooked. Participative Management If the organisation encourages the employees to share their idea and participate in the process of decision making, the employee’s attitude will be more positive towards the improvement of the organisation. It happens that employees get de-motivated when they feel that management makes all the decisions on their own without any input and feedback from the people who are actually performing those very functions. It appears like imposing the decision of management upon the employees who are considered responsible for the performance of the organisation. Organisational performance should be linked with the level of independence given to the employees so that they can involve themselves in the policies and decisions and develop win-win relationships. In this way, the senior employees can highlight the defects in the existing processes so that they can be improved. When the focus is only on implementing the steps, the possibility of improvement becomes minimal. When employees are owners of their processes, they enjoy the self-sufficiency and guide the juniors to bring in certain improvements on regular intervals. Stress Management Coercive behaviour by the management at the work place may lead to dissatisfaction and de-motivation of the employees, increasing stress at the work place. Other factors causing stress on the employees include severe economic conditions; higher targets while low responsive markets and too many expectations from the management. A broader challenge is work-life balance where by the organisation should give due time to employees to spend with their families and to maintain a social life. Factors Affecting People’s Behaviour at Apple Among the important factors affecting people’s behaviour at Apple, job recognition is the one. The culture at Apple promotes the employees based on their performance and the recognition is given in the form of invitation to attend the executive’s meeting. In this meeting, employee’s say in the decision making is invited. The employees are titled as rising star and each rising star is invited to the committee. Another important factor is of loyalty and commitment. People feel important being part of Apple Computers which is the changing the entire world. How Organisational Theory Underpins the Practice of Management Management theory is based on live theories which are regularly updated and new ideas are added to it, and it generally deals with a variety of subjects like social sciences, psychology, finance and technology. Another important point s the globalisation and other changes brought in recently in the field of business administration, all affecting business practices Organisations are inducting a new breed in their manpower so that fresh and innovative ideas can be promoted. The young graduates are trained on case study methods and are aware of the changes in management practices. Hence the changes are incorporated in the management practices. Many organisations which were reluctant to hire fresh people at leading positions are now proud to announce the youngest General Managers and Directors in their operations. This is paradigm shift and this shift is supposed to continue over the next years as well. Nowadays, business administration has become the most important area of research and development within every organisation; be it profitable or non-profitable, it is benefitting from the developments going on. Employee turnover is high in this industry and rich experience is adding to the overall value of the research field. Different approaches to management used by different organisations As mentioned earlier, every organisation differs from the other one in terms of its function and structure, there are multiple management approaches used by various organisations. Below is the description of these approaches and how they are used by various organisations. Classical Approach As the name shows, this approach is the oldest in nature and mainly effects the organisations which exist for more than a century. There are big governmental organisations and multinational which are operating with this strong base. The basic characteristics of classical approach include well defined purpose of the organisation and alignment of all other components with it. The structure of the organisation is defined by its functions which are established due to its purpose and objective. Human Relations Approach This approach helps overcome the drawbacks in the classical approach. The classical approach was strongly of the view of work planning and following it while the human relations view gave an edge to the individuals planning and carrying out the activities. It added the factor of humanity and emotion in the work norms. Multinational organisations serving diverse economies by diverse personnel adopt the human relations approach. An example is Telenor, a GSM company which is excelling in many countries because of its excellent human relations policies. Systems Approach The systems approach is the hybrid of both classical and human relations approach. This approach links individual’s behaviour with organisational structure. This system approach gave birth to the participative management and promoted employees to give vent to their emotions and actively involve themselves in the process of decision making. Their input and feedback gained value in the organisations adopting the systems approach. Toyota Motors follows this approach. It strongly invites participation from the employees and their performance appraisals depend upon the level and worth of their participation. Contingency Approach It is a modern approach which does not fit itself into any of the defined approaches so far. It does not give any rigid characteristic rather it allows the management to pick the best matching characteristic out of the available options. The organisation is established on the grounds of general principles like transparency, fairness, accountability, etc and the specific guidelines are left over to the concerned players and the requirements coming up from time to time. Market leaders like General Electric and Pi-Sigma Groups are working on this approach. Management Approach of Apple Since Apple is recognised as a unique employer worldwide and the employer of the choice too, it is difficult to determine any defined approach for it. Apple has a unique approach which may be categorised as the contingency approach which is based on the principles of responsibility, accountability and recognition. The approach worked wonders for Apple. In the leadership of Cook, it is expected that the systems approach will take place, however, the ground principles of responsibility will remain the same. The accountability will be shifted to the respective heads and recognition will be reduced. The creativity in the organisation is likely to decrease. References http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/rosado_managing_diversity.pdf www.wikipedia.org www.tutor2u.com http://www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/001395.pdf http://humanresources.about.com/od/rewardrecognition/a/recognition_tip.htm http://www.pim.com.pk/faq.htm Read More