Management at Ace Security and Multiboost - Essay Example

Management at Ace Security and Multiboost Different approaches to management In accordance with the conditions of Ace Security Manufacturers, here was a greater need to have creativity and innovation in the company as the employees were not satisfied and were lacking behind in motivation. The reason behind the low level of motivation was that employees were given payment on the basis of their performances and the targets that the achieved. This concept was unwelcomed by the employees. This led to a fall in the level of productivity of employees and this was hampering the position of the company. So the need is to adopt a management approach that provides greater level of motivation and satisfaction to employees that would ultimately have a positive impact on their performance and productivity. In this case the company should adopt an approach to management that aims at providing benefits to employees and rewarding them for their performance. These rewards are paid in addition to the basic payments received by the employees (Schenk 479). The term total reward is used to define what employees get in return for the work done by them in addition to the compensation and benefits. This total reward system consists of four components that include an increase in the pay or compensation in cash, benefits, and opportunities for learning and development along with career advancement and succession of career. In the case of Ace Manufacturers the company should shift its existing framework to a new system. The company is required to change its strategy and goals of business, its philosophy of management and its human resource strategy for the purpose of attracting and retaining the pool of talent. The company should ensure employees that their system of rewards is well developed and managed. This reward package would pay and reward employees on the basis of their performance (Thompson 41). With the help of a total rewards system the employees are ensured that they are valued by the company and in this manner, the company would gain competitive advantage in the market. So, it is required that people are happy, appreciated and recognised in the company and a fruitful work environment should be provided to them. The company should take the decision of restructuring the compensation needs of employees and this decision should be communicated to employees in a clear manner. In the case of Multiboost, there have been problems of change and the specialisation and division of labour is lacking in efficiency that has led to lower level of motivation for employees. There are also the situations of conflict between the management and the staff in the company. Therefore, the company is required to change its strategy in order to be compatible with the changing scenario. It is important for the company to manage this change as well. For this purpose, it is important for the people to understand and handle the change that is undertaken by the company. For this purpose, the company is required to bring organisational change and Lewin’s model of change should be adopted by Multiboost. For the purpose of managing this transition, the company should generate motivation among employees for accepting the change. Lewin’s model has provided three stages of undertaking change within the organization. These stages start from unfreezing change and freezing. The first stage of change that starts with unfreezing that identifies preparing the organisation to accept the change that is necessary. This stage involves breaking the existing situation before the change for a new system of working is adopted. For this purpose an important step is to be taken by the company that is to make the people understand the need of bring the change within organisation. In this manner, the employees will be prepared to accept the change. The second stage is the stage of transition. In this stage the people move towards the process of change. In this stage, people start moving in the new direction, which takes time as people start a proactive participation towards the change. For this purpose, the change curve is used that focuses on the specific issues that arise in the transition process. For this purpose, it is important for the people to understand the way in which change is beneficial for them. It is important that the change should be effectively communicated with the people. The last stage is the stage of refreezing in which people have accepted the new ways of managing the system. At this stage, it is important to ensure that the changes are used all the time within the company and the new ways of working are adopted by employees. For Multiboost, this change had a positive impact on the people and the organisation. This change provided a new and organised way of working and enhanced the productivity and performance of employees. This had resulted in an organised and well defined structure of working for employees. In this manner, the organisation should induce new methods and approaches of working so that employees feel happy and motivate to work. They should be given challenging tasks to use their talent in achieving those targets. This would motivate them to provide an extraordinary performance and there would be fewer situations of fights and conflicts between the management and employees (Simms 124). This would make employees feel that they are valued and appreciated by the organisation and would give their best efforts for achieving organisational goals. The specialisation and division of labour would made efficient and organised that would enhance the productivity of employees. In the future the company should adopt a motivational approach that provides motivation to employees for improving their performance and achieving the targets of the organisation. This is done effectively by ensuring that the satisfaction level of high by providing an effective environment of working that aims at attracting and retaining the talented pool of employees and achieve an excellent level of performance. Along with this, the company should provide a happier and satisfied workforce. The employees should be provided genuine appreciation for their positive behaviour and ensure employees that they are performing well in the organisation. Functional structure v/s divisional structure Functional structure is defined as that form of organisational structure that is formed on the basis of the functions performed in the organisation. This type of organisational structure is formed when a business departmentalizes on the basis of the activities performed the individuals and groups in within the business (Willmott 128). This type of organisational structure consists of productions and operations department, finance department and a marketing department. This type of organisational structure provides a clear chain of command in which the top level executive acts as the primary decision maker. The functional structure of the organisation consists of specialists who have great influence on the operations and activities of the individual departments. This type of organisational structure is more towards technical orientation and less towards product orientation and business orientation. It is more skilled in the decision making situations in their functional areas. This type of organisational structure implies maximisation of the functional performance. In this type of organisational structure, the valuable expertise is shared by the superiors and the subordinates. The functional units are managed and handled by the leaders and these leaders have are expert and have deep knowledge and experience and are able to manage the department in an effective manner. Organisations that have a functional structure lead to the promotion of career development of the individuals who are working in the organisation (Daft 316). These organisations have effective performance management systems that promote the visibility of individual skills and help them in enhancing those skills thereby moving high on the hierarchical ladder of the organisation. There have been certain disadvantages with this structure of the organisation. Firstly, it provides a restrictive organisational view, because each of the functional unit is specialised and expert in its own filed whereas it lacks efficiency in handling the issues and activities of other departments and functional areas. This acts as an obstacle for the functional managers to occupy top positions in the organisations. Secondly, these functional units are not being able to respond to the changes occurring in the organisation in a fast manner. the reason behind this incapability is that only the top management people have broad and expert knowledge about the activities and they are the one who have their say in the decision making authority. Along with this, this type of organisational structure results in poor accountability because of the weak and ineffective link between the product units and the functional units. On the other hand, divisional structure of the organisation provides the division of structures on the basis the divisions in which each division relates to the end product or services that are provided by the organisation. Each single division works with its own functional units that provide research, manufacturing, marketing and so on. This type of organisational structure is less hierarchical that the functional structure of the organisation. This type of organisational structure is formed by breaking down the functional structure along the product lines. The divisional organisational structure is more skilled along the product business and is less efficient in the technical aspect. This type of organisational structure provides clear accountability and provides effective coordination among the department (Harrison 143). It leads to the developments of the skills of employees and provide them with new opportunities for learning and developing new skills and expertise in different areas. Some demerits to this organisational structure provide that there are resource duplications found and this inhibits the growth of the career of the specialist and experts. This ultimately makes the integration of products difficult and the products might not be used together. The employees feel more connected and affiliated towards their own departments and lack in being the part of the entire organisation due to which they lack behind in understanding the goals and objectives of the organisation. Task culture The term task culture defines the culture of the team and is emphasized upon completing a specific task. The task determines the way in which work is being organised instead of the individuals and rules of the company (Naoum 167). The culture of the organisation is mostly Task which is very project-oriented, being about bringing together the right people and the right resources. There are various types of task cultures in the organisation. They are project oriented, fulfilment oriented, power oriented and role oriented. The project oriented task culture is also known as job oriented task culture. The emphasis of such a task culture is on getting the job done and the teams that are being created for the purpose of fulfilling the needs of the organisation. It is defined as a flexible culture in which teams are formed for the purpose of working on certain projects and then are dismantled. Teams have the power to make decisions and this gives the members of the team a feeling that they have control over their work and an influence on the organisation. This type of task culture works effectively in such a marketplace where intensity of reaction and creativity are high and valued. There is one drawback with this type of task culture and this is that if the resources become scarce and limited the organisation starts struggling with political power taking the lead role as all the leaders of the team starts competing for the resources (Lucey 102). This may tend to change the culture of the organisation and managers start asserting their authority. Individuals become the team members of different projects at the same time. Job oriented or project oriented task culture is represented by a net that defines drawing the resources from different part of the organisation in order to focus them towards a particular problem or project. This culture tends to bring the resources together in an adequate manner and with the right people at the right level so that the relevant resources are assembled for the completion of a particular project or job. On the other hand, power culture is defined as a web with a powerful and influential leader who leads in an influencing manner. The people who are closer to this central figure of the influential leader have more power (Dransfield 24). It is a political structure that provides control directly from the centre. People outside this political influence compete for the purpose of getting the role in the balance of power. This type of power culture is dynamic and able to adopt to change in an effective manner. The organisations in which power culture prevails there may be a problem of struggle for sustaining themselves as the organisation expands in size. Along with this, the competitive atmosphere may be demotivating for some employees and motivating for other employees. This type of culture is based on centralisation of power and it prevails in small entrepreneurial organisations in which control lies in the hands of a single individual. The source of central power is the most influential and decision making authority is also in the hands of people who have high status in order to make the decisions quickly (Stephens 115). The organisation may also face the problems of lack of motivation because of the various challenges faced by the company and may be suppressed by the individuals who have power. There may also be a problem related to the large size of the organisation as the web like stricture may breakdown is it is required to provide support to too many diverse activities and responsibilities. In this manner, the companies that are small in size are appropriate for the adoption of power culture and would work effectively with such an organisational culture. Motivational theories Motivation is force which is used by the company for initiating, guiding and maintaining goal oriented behaviours in context of the organisation. This is the main cause of all human actions and continuously persuades them towards achievement of goals and targets. The major forces that are behind motivation include biological, social, emotional or cognitive. All the organisations make use of motivational theories on the basis of requirements of their workforce (Jelencic 9). The organisations Multiboost and Ace security also employ motivational theories for improving the performance of the organisation. Ace security has also been making use of motivational theories for improving the performance of the company. The company makes use of goal setting theory for positively influencing the performance of the employees. This theory explains that the main focus is on the desire to achieve the goals of the organisation. The goal setting theory is extremely straight forwards and targeted toward the ultimate goals of the organisation. Though the company makes use of improving the performance of the employees but the strategy adopted by the company needs to be moulded in order to maximise their performance. The strategy of the company is influenced by the management ideas of 1930. In order to make a positive impact on the performance of the employees it is very important there is a need to refine the motivational theory and understand the requirements of the employees and fulfil them. The main target of the company is only its goals but it is important to understand that expectations of the employees are also equally important and required for the company. It makes clear that motivational theories adopted by Ace security is useful but needs to refined to meet the requirements of the employees. The employees have also highlighted that the major focus of the company is on the goals of the company and no importance is given to employees. It is very important that the company understands the changing requirements of the employees and accordingly mould their motivational philosophy in order to maintain the organisational effectiveness and efficiency (Jelencic, 9). Paul needs to understand that the employees are very vital asset of an organization and their needs and expectation must be fulfilled in order to improve the performance of the organisation. Multiboost makes use of Positive Psychology model for motivating its employees. The company makes use of both monetary and non-monetary rewards for influencing the performance of its employees. In this theory, the employees of the company are motivated by making them happy (Miner). For this purpose the company makes use of environment, rewards personal space, etc. The employees of the company have been able to understand the initiative of the company and make a positive change in their performance. The chief executive of the company Kaffina Ray has been very careful and highly active toward understanding the needs of the employees and took it as a base for developing the motivational philosophy to improve the performance of the employees. The management of the company has been highly active in understanding the needs of the employees and goes beyond the simple pay and benefit strategy. Along with this the importance that is being given to non-economic rewards is also carefully understood by the company and has also been incorporated in its motivational philosophy. The motivational theory adopted by the company has been highly beneficial in generating higher productivity from the employees. The strategy adopted by the company has been highly active in improving the effectiveness of the employees. The highly motivated employees prove to be a major asset for the company in positively influencing its organisational effectiveness and efficiency (Hollyforde et al. 13). The strategy adopted by the company is highly fair in nature and helps in bringing out the desired results by employing the right resources at the right place at the right time. The use of motivation by both the companies is the strategy adopted for improving the performance and effectiveness of the employees. The aspects that have been discussed above have played an important role in analysing the functional patterns of both the companies. Overall, the above discussion has been very helpful in getting clear and detailed understanding of the strategies that are adopted by the company. It has also been useful in expanding the knowledge base in relation to motivational theories, task culture, organisational structure, etc. References Daft, Richard. The New Era of Management. Cengage Learning EMEA, 2008. Dransfield, Robert. Advanced Business. Heinemann, 2000. Harrison, Jeffrey. Foundations in Strategic Management. Cengage Learning, 2009. Hollyforde, Sarah and Whiddett, Steve. The Motivation Handbook. CA: CIPD Publishing, 2002. Jelencic, Marina. Motivation Theories - An Overview. Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2011. Lucey, Terence. Management Information System. Cengage Learning EMEA, 2004. Miner, John. Role Motivation Theories. US: Routledge, 2012. Naoum, Shamil. People & Organizational Management in Construction. Thomas Telford, 2001. Schenk, Heinz. South African Human Resource Management: Theory & Practice. Juta and Company Ltd, 2008. Simms, Helen. Organisational Behaviour and Change Management. Select Knowledge Limited Stephens, Tina. A Handbook of Management and Leadership: A Guide to Managing For Results. Kogan Page Publishers, 2005 Thompson, Paul. Total Reward. CIPD Publishing, 2002. Willmott, Murphy. Organization: Theory and Design. Cengage Learning EMEA, 2010. Read More