Implications of Individual Freedom and Organisational Control to the Future Organisation - Case Study Example

Discuss the implications of individual freedom and organisational control to the future organisation Contents Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Discussion 5 Implications of individual freedom 5 Case studies to illustrate the concept 7 Theoretical application 10 Implications of organizational control 11 Supporting theoretical evidence 14 Future organization perspective 17 Conclusion 19 References 21 Executive Summary The study encompasses various dimensions of employee freedom and organizational control. Implications of control and freedom have to be considered by future organizations. In future business firms, there shall be high demand towards sustaining competitive position. Organizational control is centred towards imparting consistency within business environment. Consistency enables a firm to design appropriate strategic goals or objectives and then align employees with such goals. Efficiency or effectiveness is highly dependent on organizational consistency. Controls are basically of three types such as concurrent, feedforward and feedback control. Organizations are observed to exercise maximum control during recruitment and selection stage. This is simply because management needs to select those employees who are capable enough to meet job responsibilities. Job duties usually change from one organization to another. These duties have to match with personality traits, skills and knowledge base of individuals. Organizational control helps to identify best individuals who can contribute efficiently towards corporate goals. Employee freedom is regarded as workplace flexibility. Flexibility enables employees to explore their creative ideas and apply it on different business scenarios. These two aspects have been elaborated in this particular study with respect to future organizations. Employee freedom is a vital component when it comes to outperforming in the market place. However individuals who are given excessive freedom might not efficiently address formulated objectives unless their performance is governed by management. Future organizations would take into consideration positive implications of organizational control system. Performance of employees in future organizations can be regulated through control system. Standards can be established within organizational system when management exercises control over team members. Introduction This study shall focus on implications of organizational control and individual freedom in context of future organizations. Human resource management plays an integral role within organizational operations. There are different mechanisms adopted by management in order to control wide base of individuals. This study would highlight implications of two aspects such as organizational control and individual freedom. Several behavioural implications should be taken into consideration by managers so as to analyze its impacts on organizational productivity. Productivity and employee satisfaction are two inter-related terms. In current scenario employees need to be highly satisfied in order to deliver best results. The term satisfaction is dependent on wide base of elements. It can be stated that employees feel satisfied when their performance is acknowledged by higher authority or when they are provided with desirable compensation. In this particular study individual freedom will be major area of concern. This kind of freedom denotes flexibility in workplace. Flexibility enables employees to contribute innovative ideas or opinions. At times these opinions are highly beneficial for an organization in terms of long term development. There are both positive and negative implications associated with individual freedom. To be more precise, individual freedom might eradicate disciplinary structure of an organization. An organization needs to work as per set regulations since it helps in aligning all team members with a common goal. On the other hand, organizational control is another aspect which possesses some implications in relation to future organization. The entire study shall be conducted from future perspective. Organizations have ability to transform themselves completely and efficiently address future goals or objectives. Change is an essential component for all real world organizations. In certain scenario, change is brought forth through imparting control over organizational members or giving them enough flexibility to perform specific tasks or responsibilities. Leaders need to have good convincing skills so as to make employees believe that there should be certain changes incorporated within the system. In future years, companies will be inclined towards reconceptualization of business area. There are many leadership approaches which are commonly followed by organizations in present scenario. Some organizational leaders believe in adopting authoritarian style where power is exercised on team members and final strategic decision is undertaken by the top management. Participative or democratic style is also utilized where team members are encouraged to contribute their innovative thoughts. Laissez faire approach though observed rarely in recent times but it holds significance for future organizations. This type of approach enhances flexibility level of employees. They are given liberty to perform their own tasks and take responsibility of its probable consequences. Various theoretical models would also be included in this study to show implications of organizational control and individual freedom. Discussion Implications of individual freedom Positive business practices have significant impact on organizational outcomes. The term positive business practices relate to eliminating strict regulations and promoting togetherness or team work. In 20th century the link between organizational productivity and individual freedom was seen as a challenging aspect. Worker’s trade unions initiated the approach of individual freedom through better workplace conditions, compensation requirement, shorter time period, flexibility in workers movements, etc. In current scenario, this freedom aspect is not considered to be a problem but is treated as an essential resource to trigger prosperity of organizations (Chesbrough, 2005). Critical review of bureaucratic organizations has led to growth of individual freedom within business environment. Bureaucracy unfortunately restricts individuals from performing well and does not support the concept of individual freedom. Private and professional behaviour was divided by bureaucratic organizations. The moral value of employees was split by these organizations. In earlier time period, employees were dragged into power relations. Post bureaucratic organizations outline certain commitments which need to be considered by people who desire to continue with their job role (Amos, Ristow and Ristow, 2004). The transformation into post bureaucratic organizations from bureaucratic firms has affected the degree of freedom of individuals. Bureaucratic firms basically considered freedom as autonomy but in post bureaucratic organizations freedom is regarded as an individual’s potential. Freedom is always considered to be autonomy and removal of dominance from the system. In negative terms freedom is absence of power from organizational system. However it is often contradicted that freedom protects an individual and one’s thoughts from adverse impacts of power. Free individuals are always observed to be present within the framework of power. This freedom is responsible to increase the level of employee satisfaction. When an individual is free, he or she attempts to govern oneself by maintaining required distance from others and enhancing the base of self-knowledge (Erickson, Stephenson,  Bradley and Williams, 2009). On the contrary, freedom as potential also gains importance in current scenario. When employees are given freedom to work then only can management understand the level of creative skills or knowledge possessed by workers. Employee potential should be high in order to improve upon organizational productivity. In overall context, potential drives success of employees as well as organization as a whole. There are other factors also related to employee freedom in workplace, Behavioural implications are considered by managers so as to frame best possible strategies. Employee motivation is closely knitted with the aspect of employee behaviour (Rollinson, 2008). Control system might upgrade employee motivation level but it encompasses adverse impacts on employee performance and moral values. When employees are given freedom there is possibility of misusing power. Managers exert control over team members so as to govern overall business activities. Power misuse tends to negatively affect employee morale (Bratton, 2012). Employee freedom also contributes towards social relationship within organizational structure. Social relationship in workplace enables employees to perform well and explore their diverse knowledge set. Some theoretical frameworks are able to well demonstrate the relationship between employee productivity and social perspective of workplace environment. Hawthorne effect is one such psychological phenomenon that helps in identifying psychological behaviour of individuals. This particular theoretical framework indicates that employee productivity can be enhanced when attention is received by employees from top management, customers or other team members (Mello, 2011). Employees’ productivity increases when their job duties are closely analyzed. This condition varies across individuals. For instance, some employees might prefer close scrutiny of their work, whereas others might feel it is way to restrict their growth. Employee productivity as per Hawthorne studies can be enhanced through providing them with financial or non-financial rewards. Financial rewards motivate employees who possess money oriented mindset (Stacey, 2007). On the contrary, non-financial rewards upgrade performance level of those employees who prefer being acknowledged for their job. Case studies to illustrate the concept Freedom of employees is not only based on self-conscious distance but also is inclined towards ability of individuals to be transformed into social structures. Individual’s freedom shall help in accomplishment of goals in future organizations. Freedom as described earlier is not only abolishment of power but it is about using power in order to explore opportunities. Opportunities should be accessed appropriately so as to sustain business operations for long term. More power and less freedom tends to make individuals incapable in terms of identifying business opportunities. Creative skills and internal competencies are required to convert opportunities into profitable business venture. Employee freedom leads to higher degree of satisfaction. Workplace flexibility has always improved employee productivity level (Robbins and Judge, 2012). Productivity is a central issue in many organizations. Innovative strategies are consistently designed by business firms in order to retain best talent within the system. There are many companies which gives employees the first priority. Google and SAS are two such companies that ensure employee freedom in their organizational system. As per United States Fortune, Google ranks fourth in context of best organization to work with. SAS occupies the top most position in this area. These companies not only focus on maintaining desirable compensation structure for employees but also attempt to develop the best workplace environment. Employee freedom has supported these companies to grab new opportunities and secure market position. United States in particular has witnessed increased productivity levels within employee base as shown in figure 1. Figure 1: Increase in employee productivity (Source: Kenton, 2005) As per figure 1, rate of employee productivity have increased in recent years, mainly in private sector. This is simply because organizational culture is transforming from a strict regulatory framework into a liberal system. Employees are provided with flexibility so that they can contribute their innovative ideas and drive company towards success. Today employees are not only concerned with their pay checks but also desire to do different things. Employees across the globe stated the fact that - trust in leadership approach forms the basis of motivated workforce. Appropriate leadership style facilitates employees to enjoy their work by adopting a transparent and fair organizational structure. Employee well-being is central area of focus for Google. Additional benefits are provided by the company so as to attract and retain best talent in the system. The concept of happy employees is established throughout workplace culture of Google. On the basis of this approach, employees are constantly motivated by giving them perk, free trips, family related benefits, etc. Freedom is included in the organization in terms of maintaining a proper work-life balance. In Google, employees are provided with fixed time period when they can take rest, enjoy themselves or chat with other colleagues. The intensified work pressure is not present in this organization. Management believes that employees can perform well only when they are given freedom to work. Employees are often consulted by management regarding any new business strategy or to resolve any issue faced by team members. Theoretical application Real world organizations have incorporated positive implications of employee freedom. This factor shall hold importance in future years since competition would be intense then and there would be greater requirement of retaining talented employees. Employee retention is closely knitted with mental satisfaction level of employees. When flexibility is imparted on employees one of the needs is efficiently addressed. As per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, belongingness and love is one of the essential human needs. This need is related to importance an individual holds within an organizational or social system. Freedom makes an employee feel that they are being valued by top management and other team members. The liberty towards performing tasks as per their will enhances internal satisfaction level. However in midst of positive implications, there are certain negative implications which shall be considered by future organizations. Negative implications are associated with increased degree of dominance of employees. It would be challenging for future organizations to operate as a highly flexible workplace. Freedom leads to disruption of organizational practices in many circumstances. Future organizations shall certainly require effective strategies in order to maintain their market position as well as face tough competition. Power being misused is a common trend accompanied with employee freedom. Employees are not well aligned with common goals when they are given excess freedom. Industry best practices might not be followed by team members when they are provided with freedom to work policy (Brewster, 2008). This in turn shall also give rise to workplace conflict in future organizations. Team conflicts would result due to absence of standardized workplace practices. On the other hand, all employees might not have similar potential to accomplish corporate objectives. This portrays discrimination in organizational system. Employees having high potential would be rewarded by organization whereas weaker section might not succeed in career path. In future organizations, survival is the key aspect. Survival is facilitated through completion of tasks in required time frame without affecting quality standard. Task completion becomes an area of concern when freedom is given to employees. Freedom eradicates the excessive organizational control along with time constraints for task completion. Employees eventually tends to lose interest on work in context of delivering allocated tasks in specified time frame or efficiently following orders given by higher authority (Peng, 2006). Hierarchical structure shall be eliminated completely in future organizations due to freedom of individuals. Flat organizational structure will be a common approach in future organizations. Less power being exercised by higher authority shall reduce interest towards forming a learning organization. Implications of organizational control Organizational control is another factor to be focused on in this particular study. The term ‘control’ is often negatively used in business context. Individuals consider it to be excessive pressure in workplace environment. However organizational control at times is necessary to initiate common interests and shift focus from individual interests. Control system implemented by an organization should be fair enough so as to gain acceptance of employees. Communication plays a critical role in organizational control. Organizational control is not usually structured by top management since it might result into decreased level of employee productivity. Employees should be a part of control system formulation process. It is easier for team members to accept such control if they are a part of the control system development stage. Control is also related to gathering feedback from employees regarding their work life, any particular business issue, etc. Performance evaluation and organizational control system have to be aligned with culture, goals or practices of corporate. Performance appraisal system is one of the business practices which holds and shall hold significance in future organizations. This system enables an organization to enhance skill set and knowledge base of weaker employees, and employees outperforming in the system are rewarded. There are certain behavioural implications deeply rooted with the concept of organizational control. Individual freedom is affected to a great extent by organizational control. Controls which bring forth constraints are highly restricted by individuals. Power implications are carried by organizational control. Control in an organization decreases as per hierarchical position. Individuals situated in higher hierarchical position constitute more power in comparison to those who are placed in lower hierarchical position. Intergroup conflicts are a common outcome of organizational control, when such control is totally based on personal perception. This affects performance appraisal mechanism and develops negative perception amongst employees. Creativity and flexibility is restricted to a great extent when excessive controls are introduced within organizational system. Personal development and employee satisfaction level is hindered when management is only inclined towards exercising control over team members. Employee satisfaction is triggered through collaborative work approach when top management understand issues being faced by employees. Controls that are encompassed also influence inaccurate and invalid information. For instance, middle management might set different performance appraisal standards for different departments in order to improve upon overall performance level. In particular job scenario control is an essential element since employees are not able to differentiate right from wrong. On the basis of power, organizational leaders can effectively guide employees towards set goals or objectives. Organizational control can be stated as regulating, assigning and evaluating resources. This form of control is exercised to accomplish organizational objectives. Managers can control team members only when they are able to understand performance standards (Truss, Gratton, Hope-Hailey, McGovern and Stiles, 2007). Information needs to be shared amongst employees so as to control their overall business activities. Actual performance is judged by management. These performance requirements are incorporated within strategic organizational plan. This control helps to regulate organizational activities in appropriate manner so as to obtain best possible outcomes. Managerial control helps in monitoring organizational plan along with individual performance. There are certain major objectives of organizational controls. Firstly controls are utilized to make effective plans. Progress can be measured by managers and they are even responsible for guiding team members along with obtaining feedback. Organizational activities can be made consistent with common goals only when there are controls present within the system. On the other hand, organizations can be effective for long run through implementation of controls. Controls help to align organizational members with specific goals. These controls need to be in place so as to deliver appropriate outcomes. Efficiency level of an organization is enhanced with the support of such controls. Management function does not guide efficiency level but it is facilitated through organizational controls. Decision making in current organizations and future firms are supported through these controls. Better decisions are undertaken by managers with the help of controls. This aspect is one of the key roles of organizational controls. Problems can be prevented through such controls and it even provides required information essential for decision making process (Wren, 2005). Feedback can also be obtained by exercising controls. This form of feedback is not only gained by managers but is also given to other team members. Behaviour is greatly influenced by acquired feedback. It is regarded as a vital component within overall decision making process. Supporting theoretical evidence Nature of organizations is changing and it shall affect the trend of organizational controls. Future organizations would be facing positive and negative implications of controls. Positive implications are associated with transforming organizations into an effective and efficient one. In today’s world more focus is on responsive organizations. Self-managed teams or self-organizing firms are able to adapt to changing conditions across the globe. Modern organizations exercise limited control over team members. This in turn facilitates empowerment amongst team members. Employee empowerment is a contradictory concept in relation to organizational control. It can be stated that providing empowerment to employees enhances their creativity level. Cultivating employee empowerment is a trend which was not followed in traditional organizational practices (Kouzes and Posner, 2006). In earlier years, hierarchical organizational structure was generally incorporated but in recent times focus has shifted towards flat organizational structure with limited control (Price, 2007). Future organizations might even claim there is no requirement for organizational controls. Limited organizational control shall improve upon employee productivity which would be beneficial for overall organizational growth. Employees in recent scenario are provided with extended support from management but they are given liberty to perform their tasks. Employee efforts are the most necessary element in order to initiate growth of communities and organizations. Implications in future context might be such that the term control shall be replaced with coordination amongst team members (Beer and Nohria, 2007). Coordination is one of the aspects which cannot be addressed through organizational control. Coercive incidents can be avoided efficiently only when there is coordination amongst team members. Future organizations would utilize control as a measure to eliminate coercive scenarios. On the contrary, organizations can sustain their position when there is some form of control in the management framework. Control is a medium to reduce inefficiencies in team members and direct them towards specified objective (Torrington, Hall and Taylor, 2014). Goals or objectives are critical factors for all business organizations and these factors are provided through controls. An organization can exist when it encompasses some form of control to govern performance of employees. Strategic organizational focus encompasses organizational performance, individual and group behaviours. Organizational controls are of various types such as feedforward, feedback and concurrent controls. For instance, Toyota Motor Corporation is in favour of exercising employee empowerment but certain controls are exhibited throughout the system. These controls are responsible for improving revenue margins by triggering sales growth percentage. Inspection methods are carried on by the company so as to provide high quality service to its customers. These methods are related to selection of appropriate candidates who well address job requirements. Profitable sales can be generated only when suitable sales personnel are recruited by an organization. The performance of sales personnel are monitored by the company and are a form of organizational control. This does not restrict creative skills of employees but enables an organization to remain competitive. In some firms, customers are contacted in order to evaluate their post purchase experience (Boselie, 2010). These practices also forms a part of organizational control and are necessary to sustain competitive in the market place. Feedforward controls are also known as preventive or preliminary controls. This kind of control is used to prevent any form of deviation in context of performance standards. Financial, human and material resources are regulated through feedforward controls. These controls are noticed when employees are recruited within organizational system. Job skills are identified firstly by organizations and then performance standards are incorporated so as to enhance overall performance level. Feedback controls is another type of organizational control exercised by top management. Information is reviewed with the support of feedback controls. This kind of control facilitates alignment of performance with necessary standards. Majority of organizational goals are inclined towards attainment of profit margins. Profit margins are evaluated on a continuous basis by firms to determine whether they are being able to accomplish set goals. Concurrent controls can be stated as a mechanism to analyze employee activities. This is exhibited so as to ensure that quality standards are retained by an organization. Employee behaviours and tasks can be directed through organizational controls. Controls are closely knitted with performance regulations, standards and rules. In some firms in present context standards are maintained by employees themselves. They judge their own performance in terms of whether they are being able to address set parameters. When employees discover their lacking areas it is either communicated across team managers or rectified on the basis of learning programs. Organizational controls and its implications are well demonstrated in figure 2. Figure 2: Organizational Control (Source: Pfeffer and Salancik, 2003) According to figure 3, control is a completely different dimension in comparison to autonomy and cooperation. Control eventually gives rise to local sensitivity and innovation. Innovation can be initiated through structuring performance standards and motivating employees to perform as per set standards. Local sensitivity is enhanced when management controls business operations. Future organizations can implement control as an innovation mechanism. Consistency is sustained through organizational control where all team members have a common purpose to serve. Future organization perspective Future organizations should include positive implications of organizational controls. This is simply because excessive freedom in organizational system reduces capacity of individuals. Consistency can only be established when top management exercises control over team members. Control should not be used as a way to confine innovative skills. It needs to be considered as a way to formulate goals or objectives and then aligning employees towards such goals. There are different types of organizational controls as shown in figure 3. Figure 3: Types of organizational controls (Source: Sitkin, Cardinal and Bijlsma-Frankema, 2010) As per figure 3, organizational controls can be classified into long-range plans, annual operating budget, performance appraisals, statistical reports, cultural control, procedures or policies, and strategic plans. For future organizations, the types of controls which shall be necessary are performance appraisal, corporate policies, annual budgeting and strategic plans. Corporate policies would be framed by future organizations to stay competitive. These policies are centred towards growth plans and outperforming rivals in the industry. Employee motivation is considered to be a critical element in business organizations. Motivation level is increased through performance appraisal system. This mechanism would hold significance for future organizations. Performance improvement is a necessary aspect in future organizations and shall be required in order to retain competitive position (Pfeffer and Salancik, 2003). Positive implications of organizational controls are also accompanied with negative implications. Negative implications should be eradicated in future organizations. These implications mainly correspond to employee turnover rate, lack of communication between management and team members, enhancement of creative skills, etc. Business strategies are based on organizational control. Implications of organizational control and individual freedom shall be witnessed on the degree of business performance. Performance level can be increased when employees have flexibility to contribute their innovative ideas. On the other hand, control shall regulate employee behaviour and drive team members towards a common goal. In overall context, excessive freedom tends to disrupt corporate policies. A particular proforma is essential for daily business operations and transforming it into an effective business environment. Conclusion This study indicates the need of organizational control as well as employee freedom by future organizations. Controls are of various forms and each of them possesses significant impact on organizational performance. In certain cases, organizational controls are implemented in order to maintain consistency within the system. The standardization aspect is closely related with establishing control in the system. Many individuals believe that control adversely affects innovation skills of employees. It is stated that creativity of an employee is restricted when one has to operate within a certain policy framework. However modern organizations have certain rules to follow in order to retain their position. These policies are necessary to structure corporate goals and then motivate employees to perform according to those set goals. Employee freedom has also been denoted as workplace flexibility. Flexibility makes employees feel that they are being valued by managers and are highly efficient to perform tasks. On the contrary, excess of freedom deviate team members from common organizational goals. Goal attainment is a necessary aspect for all business firms. Future or current business organizations are always inclined towards earning high profit margins. These profit margins can be acquired when a firm encompasses high employee productivity. Employee productivity is dependent on wide array of factors. Motivation is one of the important factors which drive employee productivity level. A highly motivated employee is expected to deliver best work results in comparison to those employees who are not motivated. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs briefly classifies various human needs. These needs are greatly linked with motivational level of team members. The need of belongingness is well addressed by an organization when it provides required flexibility to team members. Employees through such freedom feel that they are capable enough to address corporate objectives. Organizational control encompasses collecting information from employees and then implementing it to upgrade level of corporate performance. Control indicates establishing standards to evaluate performance, measuring real time performance of an organizational system, comparing employee performance with set standards and undertaking corrective actions in due course of time. In future organizations there lies a need towards staying competitive and gaining high profit margins. Control shall facilitate competitiveness and ensure employee retention in future organizations. References Amos, T., Ristow, A. and Ristow, L., 2004. Human resource management. (2nd Edition). Cape Town: Juta. Beer, M. and Nohria, N., 2007. Breaking the code of change. UK: Harvard Business School Press. 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