Organization Structure, Planning, and Recruitment - Case Study Example

Name of student Professor’s name Course name 30th September 2013 Organization structure, planning and recruitment Every organization must have a certain structure that is very different from the structure of its rivals. The basic reason for this comes from the fact that each company is unique in its own way and therefore it structure of organization must also be distinct from the others. Meyer states that the organizational structure of many organizations usually determines whether these organizations will achieve their goals in the long run or not (363). By definition offered by Milgrom and Roberts, organizational structure in a company details the way different roles are subdivided among the various departments and the various players in the industry (180). Each person in the company is given a specific role and he or she is expected to play this role clearly so that together with other team members, they can achieve the goals of the company. To be able to strategically organize themselves, the mangers of a particular company needs to look at some key factors. These factors are discussed in the paragraphs that follow. Factors to look at when creating an organization structure As mention in the introduction part of this paper, creating good organization channels and structures results in the attainment of the company’s goals faster. However, there are a number of factors that managers must put into place and practice during this process of organizing or reorganizing. These factors are broken down in form of questions; What, Why and How. By answering each of these questions in absolute honesty and openness, the managers are placed in positions where they are able to clearly understand the direction their company is taking and steer the company into new heights of growth. The ‘What’ question looks at certain paradigms such as what the company wishes to achieve from the organization structuring or restructuring, the timeframe that the managers have formulated and set aside for this exercise among other crucial parameters. It should be understood here that all the steps taken by managers either to structure or restructure their business formations are designed to ensure that the business continuity is maintained (Amit and Schoemaker, 34). The ‘Why’ question is also a very important one in this concept. Without a clear- cut understanding of why these managers want the business structure to be reorganized, it would become impossible to justify this cause (Miles et al, 548). The reasons for organization restructuring may vary from company to company based on the different dynamics that each company faces such as size, revenues among others. Therefore, in this case, the organization structure of each company must be very unique to the specific business set up. The final step would answer the ‘How’ question. The managers must come up with certain strategies that are aimed at answering this question through a clear understanding of how they would structure their organization. Most times, organizational structures are done when companies are expanding into new markets or launching new products into the market. Other times, the organization structure is created to seal a gap in the system or to solve a certain internal issue. Whatever the reason, the organization structure is meant to assist companies realize their goals. In light of this, the next portion of this paper will examine a case example of Shell upstream company by looking into its organization structure in general as well as in other international branches to see whether the discussion offered in this part has been justified. The Shell upstream company Shell upstream company is led by a CEO named Peter Voser sitting at the helm. He is the overall head of the company and everybody else acts as his subordinate, reporting to him directly. Voser announced a change in the company’s organizational structure for the future and this new structure will form the basis of this paper’s discussion. It should be noted that the organizational structure for the Shell upstream company in the future was open to consultations from the staff. The structure for upstream is discussed in the following paragraph. Malcom Brinded is the Executive director of business. His role entails integration of gas and power and exploration and production business outside the American soil. In other words, he is charged with creating a business continuity model and market outside of America. The business and organizational structure of the Shell upstream company is largely divisional. This implies that basically each subsidiary of the Shell upstream works as an independent unit though adding to the fulfillment of the overall company goals. The company has different sub branches scattered across the globe. The headquarters are in USA with other international branches in Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East North Africa, Russia, Asia and Australia. Other very crucial business segments of the company that act as independent branches are Exploration, Commercial, New Business, LNG and Safety and environment. These acts across the network of the Shell upstream international branches and they provide a very generalized service that is basically aimed at assisting these branches to achieve their goals and hence the overall goals of the whole corporation. The divisional structured organization is based along geographical boundaries. As a multinational corporation, there is an understanding among the managers of the company each geographically separated branch has its own strengths and faced by unique challenges. Therefore, formulating ideologies or modes of operation at a headquarter level and pushing them down for implementation by these branches may become hard. Each branch is designed to create its own policies based on the affairs that affect the specific branch. The heads of these branches in the other continents report directly to Malcom Brinded, who in turn reports to the overall head, Peter Voser. It is important to note that sections that have been named here but which do not fall under any branch are very instrumental for business growth and development. A good example is the EPV Commercial, Business and LNG. Shell upstream organizational structure for Asia The span of control in Asia is well distributed. Each person knows whom to report to and which department one works under, meaning that there is no confusion at all. Assuming that I am the head of human resources and corporate communication, I would formulate some functions of this department as follows. The department is tasked with the responsibility of recruiting, training, retraining, disciplining, firing, rewarding and eve motivating workers. Under this department, three job positions would be created as shown below. HR manager The holder of this position is meant to ensure that all the activities of the department are running smoothly. Every officer in this department is a subordinate to this position. For this reason, he is also tasked to report the activities of the department to the Director. HR supervisor Reporting to the HR manager, this position will require holder to ensure all the office operation are moving according to plan. He should be able to handle complaints that come from the employees through this department. Trainers These are positions for people who are qualified as tutors. They should be able and qualified enough to understand in depth the strategies of the company and they should be able to offer training to new members as well as retraining sessions to old staff. They report to the Supervisor. Conclusion From the above discussion, the organizational strategies of Shell upstream have been looked at critically. The discussion puts an emphasis on the concept of organizational strategy and its effect on business. Organizing the structure of the business allows the various business setups to work in harmony in a bid to fulfill the overall goals of the company. Works cited Amit, Raphael and Schoemaker, Paul. “Strategic assets and organizational rent”. Strategic Management Journal.14.1 (1993):33–46. Meyer, Christine. “When Radical Reforms Are on the Agenda: Managing Politics in Government.” Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 48.2 (2012): 194-224. Miles et al. “Organization strategy, structure and process.” Academic Management Review, 3. 3. (1978): 546-562. DOI:10.5465/AMR.1978.4305755 Milgrom, Paul and Roberts, John. “Complementarities and fit strategy, structure, and organizational change in manufacturing”. Journal of Accounting and Economics. 19.3.(1995):179–208. Read More

 

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