Contemporary Organizational & HRM Studies - Assignment Example

Contemporary Organizational & HRM Studies Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecturer Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 23rd July, 2012. Abstract The organizational design been used by Airstar is an outdated one. The former president of the company and the one who succeed him have been operating the company under the assumptions of a conventional business environment. Airstar is experiencing problems related to how communication takes place within the organization and also based on the job description. Most tasks in the organization are assigned superficially and job responsibilities are not eloquent enough. The cross functional communications within the organization is not at its best and the employees are said to work up to their own job description. Based on this, the achievement of the organizations goals becoming outdated and the decisions regarding the company are made on the basis of practicability. Also, Airstar is facing numerous threats from its competitors such as the General electric as well as from Pratt & Whitney. Also most of the company managers have been in the organization for over twenty years which has led to stagnation and has ultimately led to chaos within the organization. To achieve maximum efficiency the organization need to have a clear guide and statement to the duties and responsibilities that each of them is supposed to perform. Contents Abstract 1 Key problems within Airstar as demonstrated in the case study 5 Organizational design and strategic direction 5 Executive organization 6 Competition 6 Low backlog 7 Overlapping of responsibilities 7 Communications are atrocious 8 Current organizational structure and why it doesn’t work 9 Recommendation 10 Conclusion 11 Introduction This report sets out to analyze Airstar inc. case study and recommend solutions to the CEO of the company. This will be done by first giving a detailed outline of the key problems been faced by Airstar inc. and this will be done from an organizational design perspective. This section will be closely followed by a definition of Airstar Inc. current structure/ strategy as well as a development of some key arguments as to why the current organizational structure in the company is not working effectively. The other section will be based on the development of a list of solution or recommendations on a new organizational structure or strategy that can be implemented in the organization this is be coupled with arguments that will be in support of the change been recommend. Airasia Inc. is a company that is mainly involved in the manufacturing, repairing and overhauling of jet engines as well as pistons for the smaller aircrafts which were at times previously owned. Airstar Inc. has been the leader in this industry for the longest time possible and the greater number of the manager working in the organization currently have been there for almost twenty years. The company’s competitive advantages is derived customer loyalty as well as from the wide recognition of the organization. The industry upon which the company operates is changing drastically and with the change of company presidency, the organization managers have started to experience lot problems. The company has been in the industry for almost twenty years and they have been striving to offer the best to their customers and they have achieved a customer loyalty as well as loyalty from the employees, the company is currently been faced by a threat in that new competitors have emerged in the industry and a lot of changes have occurred in the industry as well as in the business. The company’s current president Roy Morgan is of the view that he can still run the organization as it was been run twenty years ago, though the business environment have really changed. Since its inception the company’s decisions were made on the basis of practicability of the decisions and they were not used to evaluating the business environment. Key problems within Airstar as demonstrated in the case study Most industries and companies operating in today’s business world are faced by a number of challenges or problems when undertaking their day to operations. Almost every industry is changing and industry within which Airstar operates is also changing. After the death of the president Roy Morgan took over the leadership of the company. When the change in presidency is coupled with the change in the industry Airstar is seen to be experiencing a number of problems. Airstar is been faced by a number of problems as demonstrated in the case study, the challenges facing the organization are mainly related to the organizational design and the strategic direction, executive organization within the organization, low backlog, lack of clear communication competition and poor definition the tasks and duties that individuals are supposed to perform. All these issues are discussed below form an organizational design perspective. Organizational design and strategic direction The current organizational design as well as the strategic direction of Airstar is seen as a major issue facing the organization. With the ever changing business environment and the changes occurring in the industry within which the company operates the current organizational design does not fit. According to organizational design books, organizational design is commonly viewed as the process through which strategic plans are administered and executed. By the administration and execution of the strategic plan most organization are able to achieve their outlined goals and missions. Organizational design also tend to look at aspects related to the human resources policies, linkages of a particular organization with others, the company’s organizational culture and the types of production technologies been used in the organization. In relation to the case study Airstar does not have any existing organizational goal in place so as to make the company competitive. The company has never experienced any form of threats and since they currently have some this has led to a more chaotic environment as well as frustration amongst the company employees and the managers in the organization (Eskildesn & Nussler 2000, pp. 583). Executive organization Executive organization seems to be another common issue that is facing Airstar. It is evident from the case study that Airstar Inc. does not have a good organization of its manager and departmental heads working in the company in such a way that there is no clear outline of the duties that they should perform or oversee. This has eventually led to overlapping of duties and tasks and this has led chaos to arise within the organization. Competition Another issue that is facing the company is the entry of new competitors in the industry. Ever since when it was founded the company have for the longest period of time been the leader in the industry and like any other companies operating in a certain industry there are certain competitors have emerged over the years. Competitors at times act for the benefit of both the consumer and also for the benefit of the company (Kotter, Cohen & Krauss 2002, pp. 57). Airstar is facing stiff competition from its competitors in the market. The major competitors of the company include but are not limited to general electric and Pratt & Whitney. These companies have brought about a lot of competition in the industry in that they have even established factories in other countries thus augmenting the competition. Low backlog As compared to the other years, the company has started to experience low back log. Since its inception the organization had been performing well until recently and they had a greater number of customers who contributed favorably to the high back log (Kotter, Cohen & Krauss 2002, pp. 56). The low backlog shows that there are some issues within the organization that need to be solved. Low backlog in organization depicts that both the customers are not satisfied and they employees are not performing their duties as expected. The managers need to assess the reason behind the low back log in the organization and solve it so as to continue enjoying profits from their business. The customers are with time losing their loyalty with the company and this has over time contributed to the low back log been experienced in the organization. Overlapping of responsibilities Overlapping of responsibilities is another major problem been experienced in Airstar. Overlapping of responsibilities mainly occurs if the duties to be performed by each individual are not clearly outlined and hence one tends to perform the duties that he feels like. Most effective organization has distinct description of the duties that each employee is supposed to handle at a given time and each thus ever employee is aware of the duties which he is supposed to perform (Beer 1997, pp. 57). In instances where there is overlapping of the responsibilities to be performed most organization tend to have chaos and there is also inconveniency since some tasks may even end up undone. Communications are atrocious Based on the case study communication in the organization is atrocious. Most effective organization has clear communications channels and they act as the basis through which the management and the employees communicate (Beer 1997, pp. 55). Communication plays are important role in the success of an organization and managers ought to ensure that there is a good communication between them, the employees and the customers. In the case study it is evident that Airstar have atrocious communication when Morgan comments that he did not even get a copy of the export finance until the secretary made an effort to find one for the president. Thus it is evident that there are no clear communication channels in the organization. Tasks are assigned superficially in an informal manner Assignment of tasks is another issue that is facing Airstar. In most effective organizations tasks are assigned in a logical and systematic manner and it is usually added to the company’s records that a certain manager is the one who is supposed to deal with certain aspects of the business (Anand 1997, pp. 67). Airstar is faced by this problem in that some of the tasks within the organizations are assigned superficially and in an informal manner thus leading to inconveniency within the organization since no written evidence is available to show which tasks were assigned to a certain individual Morgan comments that he may be part of the problem that exists in the organization. Current organizational structure and why it doesn’t work Airstar inc. is seem as one of the organizations that have developed to a superior degree but it is evident that the founder of the organization had no clear objectives and goals that were supposed to be followed in the organization. Also Airstar does not have any strategies that are outlined to help the organization in dealing with any threats that may face the organization and they did not also have any strategies to deal with weaknesses that they would face when performing their duties. Based on the fact that there were no clearly set strategies to be followed, it is evident that the founder of the organization did not encourage team work. Team works in organizations tend to play vital roles in ensuring the organization succeeds (Werr, Stjernberg & Docherty 1997, pp 37). Managers in most organizations need to encourage team work so as to ensure that they work on a way that the organization will benefit. Since there is lack of team work Airstar seem to be falling. With the death of the manager, the managers are faced by a lot of problems ranging from lack of clear definition of duties and lack of clear communication patterns. By the lack of clear definition of duties chaos arises such as the one between the marketing vice president and the controller over acquisition and merger opportunities. This is of course due to many overlapping of duties which meant that employees are trying to outmaneuver each other instead of working towards the increase in level of output and the general benefits to the organization. It is also unclear in the organization who is supposed to report to who. Organizations need to have clearly stated who a certain employee is supposed to report to in instances he need to talk to someone in matters related to her duties (Kotter 1995, pp. 63-66). For instance, it is from the case it is evident that it is difficult for the company’s president to acquire information about exports finances until the secretary gets the documents for him. Recommendation Based on the issue facing the organization it needs to come up with a new way of setting the direction of the company so as to move forward and to succeed. The new process of setting the company’s direction will offer the company an end goal that they will strive to achieve and a direction so as to stay in the business and been competitive in the market in spite the entry of new competitors in the business and in the industry (Walker 2001, pp. 8). The organization also needs to constantly assess the business environment for any available opportunities as well as threats that the industry may be facing. Mr. Morgan also needs to measure the amount of change occurring in the industry, the uncertainties and the resources that are available for the organization to exploit. Also in the aim of solving the existing problems in the organization the president will need to measure the internal weaknesses and strengths so as to define clearly the company’s idiosyncratic capability with that of other firms operating in the same industry. The company also needs to come up with a clear mission statement and other guiding principles for the organization that will be followed by both the managers and the employees. The guiding principle and the mission of the organization ought to be based upon a clear and distinct cut in the leadership structure. Also the roles of all managers need to be distinct in that the top managers roles ought to be differentiated form the roles of the lower level managers and also from the roles the middle level managers. Through the clear definition of the roles to be perfumed by the each level of managers they will be no conflict since everyone will only be performing the tasks and duties that he is supposed to perform and thus avoiding any conflict that may tend to occur (Kotter & Schlesinger 1991, pp. 27). The president can also come up with a precise and flexible business policy. The formulated business policy will enable various changes to be made without the business policy affecting the daily operations of Airstar (Kotter & Schlesinger 1991, pp. 26). Airstar managers need to adopt strategic planning and they need to formulate an effective strategy for the company. Through the strategic plan the company will be able to overcome the threats been posed by the competitors. Conclusion Based on the findings of this report on the existing problems been experienced in Airstar inc. it is evident that there are certain issues that need to addressed in the company and this need to be done in a concurrent manner so as to move the company in the right direction and for it to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. One of the elements that need to be addressed is the company’s organizational design. When doing so a lot of emphasis should be placed on the development of a clear and concise mission of the company. The other element is the task organization within the company. In relation to this the manager ought to place a lot of emphasis on the strategic direction that the organization needs to follow. The president of Airstar ought to assemble all the key managers in his organization to discuss the organizations current situation, define a mission that the company needs to follow and demarcate responsibilities amongst themselves. References Anand, K. 1997, ‘Give success a chance’, Journal of Quality progress, pp. 63-64. Beer, M. 1997, ‘The transformation of human resource functions: resolving the tension between a traditional administrative and a new strategic role’, Human resource management journal, vol. 36, no. 1, pp 49-56. Eskildesn, J. & Nussler, M. 2000, ‘The managerial drivers of employee satisfaction and loyalty’, Journal of total quality management, pp 581-90. Kotter, J. & Schlesinger, L. 1991, Choosing strategies for change. Harvard Business Review, pp.24-29. Kotter, J. 1995, Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, pp. 59 – 67. Kotter, P., Cohen, D., & Krauss, E. 2002. Rethinking Organizational Change The Public Manager, Vol. 31. Walker, J. 2001, ‘Perspectives’, Human resource planning, Vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 6-10. Werr, A., Stjernberg, T., & Docherty, P. 1997, Functions and Methods of Change Management consultation, Journal of Organizational Change Management. Read More