Understanding Organisation and Theory Practice: Thinkmoney Company - Case Study Example

Organisation Theory By I.D Introduction and of Organisation. When a group of people is structured and managed to attain collective goals they are said to be in either an organisation that can be a profit making, non-profit, or a government organisation. They usually follow certain theories of practice in this case I will focus my discussion and study on Thinkmoney Company. I will evaluate it using themes such as the human resource strategy and performance management (Bohlander 2004). Thinkmoney is a financial company, which was founded twenty years ago based at Trafford Park in Manchester. It offers innovative products to customers who have money management problems including a personalised account, which was uniquely designed to have a built-in budgeting service that ensures customers never miss a bill. It initially started with fifty employees, and it currently has 1063 employees. It has successfully maintained 100,000 customers issuing one card for all transactions done thus limiting chances of fraud. It has a charity programme where all employees contribute a percentage of their salary to support the charity works in Musanze Rwanda (Longenecke, 2003). The themes I have selected will be explained through the organisation theories that help companies such as Thinkmoney, which deal with financial issues to stay in business while ensuring customer satisfaction. Organization theory analyses the whole organisation as a unit, for instance, the difference in behaviour and structure at an analysis level, which promotes its efficiency and effectiveness. Organization theory has evolved over the years that it now has a classical perspective and a modern perspective (McAuley et al. 2013). I will focus my attention on two main theories, which are Administrative principle and contingency. The reason I chose the two is that they cover both the internal and external factors that affect a business. 2. Selected Theories for Analysis of Thinkmoney Company Limited Administrative principle: This theory analyses the whole organisation in terms of its structure and functioning. It is the chain of command in any organisation that offers direction and gives command to the operations on a daily basis. Henry Fayol developed it in 1916. This theory experiences a lot of change due to factors like globalisation, digital innovations, speed and responsiveness and supporting diversity. This will help to identify how the administrative practices have led Thinkmoney Company limited to its current state of success ( Tsoukas & Chia, 2011). Contingency theory: This theory focuses on the external factors that affect an organisation. The environment affects open organisations systems, and they too affect the environment. Thinkmoney Company has diverse departments, and this theory will discuss in detail how they carry out their operations to suit their external environment (Lynch & Cruise, 2005). 3 Seminal Papers and Analysis of Thinkmoney Company Limited Donaldson T. And Peterson (2006) It offers a cooperation model that is instrumental in providing a performance framework and the practise of shareholder management. This seminal paper lies more on contingency theory which gives a directive on how to interact with the external factors. It has challenges in its literature but offers organisations with an opportunity to have innovative strategies. For instance, Thinkmoney Group has made innovations in the banking and finance sector by having one card that caters for all the diverse needs of their customers. Ziethalm and Ziethalm (1998) In understating of contingency theory, it explained the two views of management and external factors that affect it. For instance, Thinkmoney Group should have a specialised development strategy it has to evaluate and critically analyse the external environment. When Drucker (1954) He first articulated that the marketing concept was not separated from the management function since the marketing functions defined the organisation culture, which is closely related to the administrative theory (Wartzman, 2012). Thinkmoney should set their marketing structures well since it is the first reflection of their company to their customers. They suggest that the administrative theory does not give considerable attention to organisational issues, for example, organisational behaviour and marketing guidance and consumer behaviour. Ruekert and Walker (1987) They suggest that the top level managers should archive strategy implementation, but conceptual and theoretical approaches make it difficult to access a holistic framework (Weissbrich, 2009). This many variables make up the marketing strategies of an organisation. This helps managers know how to organise marketing activities, which can be instrumental in Thinkmoney group. 4 Organisational Issues with the Lens of selected Theories Administrative principles, its focus is on management and it is helpful in evaluating managerial problems of an organisation. Managers are currently put in the limelight to perform and deliver in this highly dynamic world. This theory has been functional in the effective management of Thinkmoney Company Limited since most of its success has been attributed to its management systems. This is evident in that almost 70% of the managers in high ranking positions started from the lowest positions in the company (OConnell, 2015). The personnel are encouraged to learn and grow, the managers learn how to perform appraisals for fellow colleagues, and offer training to support development given an 83% by the Sunday Times top 100 companies. The growth opportunities are not limited to this company because employees are enabled to gain skills and are clear on areas that need improvement. Contingency Theory is used to measure the effects that are brought about by external factors such as the community, the government policies and how the organisation gives back to the community. Most big companies use the Corporate Social Responsibility to show appreciation to the community for the support they give to their business. Contingency theory is used to evaluate the performance of the organisation in the context of how the managers communicate with shareholders openly and regularly. Organisations must have an appreciation for the new trends in the external environment connect to the core business. Thinkmoney has had a lot of external pressures to deliver quality, and honest work that follows the ethics and principles of the Finance profession since dealing with monetary issues require the highest level of integrity (Colin, 2007). 5. Limitations of Theories for Analysis of Thinkmoney Group Administrative principle, in its management oriented theory it does not address the problems of the works. It is more on how they should be led and not how their needs should be taken care of. In relation to Thinkmoney, it does not apply since the relationship between the personnel and managers is at a 50-50 point, thus does not give a solution to its managerial issues. Most of the concepts in this theory were borrowed from Military science where Henri Fayol emphasised on the need of “commanding and not “directing (Curlee & Gordon, 2010). Contingency Theory, it suffers an adequate literature since it has not spelt out what measures can be taken under different situations, thus making insufficient to tackle managerial issues. This theory should offer an ‘if’ action when a situation arises, but since then it cannot offer much in practical management of Thinkmoney group. Considering it is expanding to other regions where the are not well vast with the environmental factors that affect a financial establishment ( Collier and Agyei-Ampomah, 2006). 6. Different Stakeholders’ Perspective Stakeholders form the background of any organisation if it is a profit-making goal oriented organisation. Thinkmoney Group has an ethical responsibility when conducting its business. Its stakeholder Service Transitions and continually develop and review roles and responsibilities, which is to meet the financial needs of its clients. However, sometimes the clients have greater expectations from them but as long as they fulfil their legislated obligations their business will still meet its profits target (Anbuvelan, 2007). The managerial structure is in a way that the low-level employees are taken care of in terms of their salaries and other benefits such as health insurance. Thinkmoney has so far fulfilled the moral obligation to its employees. They have taught their employees the art of giving back to the community, this fulfils the Corporate Social Responsibility. 7. Way forward for Managers in Development Management is a critical area in a profit-making organisation, which has stakeholders involved. To realise this goal, managers need to adapt to the rapidly changing business world to reaffirm their success since the organisation theories have a theoretical limitation that does not offer practical solutions to managerial problems (Morden, 2004). Thinkmoney Group should re-evaluate their performance strategy in relation to the operations strategy. If these two are dealt with hand in hand, they will reach the potential of their development goals since they have practical solutions that can be implemented when need arises. References Anbuvelan, K. 2007. Principles of Management MG-1351. S.l.: Firewall Media. Copyright. Bohlander, G. W. 2004. Managing Human Resources, 13e. s.l.:Arizona State University. Colin, D. 2007. Management and Cost Accounting. s.l.: Cengage Learning EMEA. Copyright. Collier, M. P., & Agyei-Ampomah, S. 2006. Management Accounting: Risk and Control Strategy: Strategic Level. s.l.: Elsevier. Copyright. Curlee, W. & Gordon, R. L. 2010. Complexity Theory and Project Management. s.l.: John Wiley & Sons. Copyright. Longenecke, J. C. 2003. Small Business Management: s.l.: Baylor University. Lynch, D. T., & Cruise, P n.d. Handbook of Organization Theory and Management: The Philosophical Approach. s.l.: Tylor and Fransis Group. McAuley, J., Duberley, J. & Johnson, P. 2013. Organization Theory: Challenges and Perspectives. s.l.: Pearson Education, 2013. Morden, T. (2004). Principles of management. Aldershot [u.a.], Ashgate. OConnell, D. 2015. Sunday Times top 100 companies. Sunday Times. Tsoukas, H. & Chia, C. H. R., 2011. Philosophy and Organization Theory. s.l.: Emerald Group Publisher Limited. Wartzman, R. (2012). What would Drucker do now? solutions to todays toughest challenges from the father of modern management. New York, McGraw-Hill. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=44135. Weissbrich, D. (2009). The marketing-sales-finance triangle an empirical investigation of finance-related interactions & managerial challenges among marketing, sales, and finance actors. Wiesbaden, Gabler Verlag / GWV Fachverlage. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8349-8415-9. Read More