Purpose and Scope of the Business Management System - Case Study Example

Introduction Organisations have taken major steps towards effective business management and leadership in order to stay ahead in the current highly competitive business environment. Agilent technologies UK (together with its predecessor Hewlett Packard) have been applying effective business management strategies for more than forty years as stipulated by Hoovers (2010). The company provides core electronic and bio-analytical measurement equipments to improve the electronics, life science research, petrochemical, communication and environmental industries. The company has two basic businesses which are Bio-Analytical and Electronic measurement. The University of California (2008), states that bio-Analytical measurement offers measurement solutions for research and quality control applications to academic and government organisations. Electronic Measurement provides solutions, products and services to the leading customers in the communication and electronic industries. Their wide range of expertise enables them to provide quality services and products to their customers. The company has gained insight from this comprehensive and unique perspective and they are dedicated to helping their customers to make advancement in achieving business results. Purpose and scope of the business management system The main purpose of the business management system in the organisation is to maintain all the operations and groups. These include the Chemical analysis Group (LSG), Electronic Measurement Group (EMG) and Chemical Analysis Group (CAG). They also ensure that the products and services meet the regulatory requirements and customer expectations (The University of California, 2008). The business management system provides a framework whereby business operations and groups can make decisions appropriate to their organisations geographic and customer needs while ensuring that appropriate minimum standards are met. The company’s infrastructure is centrally managed and functions as internal service suppliers to the groups. The scope of the company involves development, procurement, manufacturing, distribution, sales and marketing of their products and services worldwide. The company’s organisational culture Throughout business research, scholars have established that a relationship exists between organisational culture and performance. Organisational cultures are the values which determine how the entity operates according to Mullins (2010). Businesses in the past believed that organisational culture was too hard to manage and were not keen on its importance. Today, they acknowledge that it can be used for competitive advantage. The company enjoys numerous benefits in the application of organisational culture. Through leveraging their culture of innovation towards internal processes they have been able to survive despite the tough competition in the market and even venture in new and profitable markets. In order to use organisational culture first as a strategic management tool a company needs to understand its culture first. Culture is a complex concept that includes the groups’ shared values, beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, artefacts and behaviours. Culture needs time and experience to develop in order for it to be acceptable in the organization. It can be defined as a pattern of basic assumptions that is invented, developed or discovered by a given group of people as it adapts to its problems of internal integration and external variation. The pattern should work well to be considered as being valid and to be taught to new members as the correct way to think, perceive and feel in relation to these problems (Shein 2010). The levels of organisational culture according to Schein (2010) show that it can be expressed through artefacts, espoused values and basic underlying assumptions. The forms of cultural artefacts include language, ceremonies, rituals, ceremonies, norms and workspace design (office design and layout). The diagram below shows the cultural web of an organization. The cultural web The cultural web (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2005) Type of organisational culture in Agilent technologies UK There are a number of organisational cultures that have been identified by researchers. There is the power culture where decisions are made by a small number of individuals within an organisation known as the leadership as explained by Shein (2010). The other is the power which culture is highly individualistic and decisions are fully allowed to express themselves and make decisions on their own. The other is the role culture which exists in large hierarchical organizations whereby individuals work according to their job description and work according to the rules rather than operating in a creative way. Lastly, there is the task culture that exists when teams are incorporated to complete particular tasks. These allow employees to exploit their creativity and reach the full potential of the organisation. The type of organisational structure in Agilent technologies can be described as being partly task culture and partly role. There is bureaucracy and logic rationality functions are coordinated and controlled by senior management as explained by The University of California (2008). The rules, promotion and procedures are pegged on employee performance. This happens in stable environments of scale that the company operates in. The culture is suitable for large organizations like Agilent technologies. The only disadvantage is that it is slow to change as it is coordinated and regulated by the top management. The organisational structure can be described as matrix or task culture since specific tasks and power interstices diffuse and are based on personnel expertise. These exist in a competitive market, take short periods and require constant innovation. The shortcoming of this culture is that it relies on the quality of personnel, lacks economies of scale and leads to a decrease in staff morale. Agilent technologies management meets annually to review in the annual business management system. The top management in each business group reviews their business management at regular intervals showing the culture is role structured. The management assesses opportunities for improvements and the importance of implementing any changes including customer satisfaction and quality objectives as well as conformity towards the objectives of the organization (Schermerhorn, 2008). The organisation can be described as task culture since duties are allocated to the employees based on their competence and skill. Promotion and recruitment are based on performance. The culture can also be defined as being work hard or play hard which is common for large organisations. This is mainly practiced by firms with a strong customer based and it is equipped with specialized terminologies and is qualified with multiple teem meetings. Strategic plan and diversity and leadership The company uses the leadership to communicate the importance of diversity to everyone. The company also uses the internal website INFOSPARK network group sessions, forums and coffee talks to communicate to the people as stipulated by Hooves (2010).The firm has undertaken a formal and an informal diversity programme aimed at increasing diversity in the firm. Inclusion and global diversity are an important component in the success of the company. Their global competitiveness is achieved by acquiring new knowledge from around the world and transforming this diversity into creativity and innovation in their production. The company struggles to create an inclusive environment that celebrates and respects life experiences and unique perspectives. The organisation actively recruits qualified people from under represented groups worldwide and works towards building an inclusive environment that develops and retains the diversity in the leaderships and operations. The company continuously trains the employees on organizational culture and interpersonal skills as suggested by Robbins (2009). The company often reviews the firm’s diversity results and progress on a quarterly basis. The diversity committee in the organisation establishes the achievement of results by measuring their goals and objectives. The organization seeks to harness global diversity as a competitive advantage by leveraging diversity of their customers, stakeholders, partners and employees globally and by producing, marketing and selling superior goods. How the culture determines the effectiveness of that organisational climate Organisational climate can be described as the environment quality in a business or an entity (Mullins, 2008). Organisational culture and climate can be compared to climate, mood and personality. Organisation culture can be described as permanent while the climate is a temporary state. It can be described by use of adjectives such as formal, informal, open, warm or cold. Organisational climate can last as long as it becomes like two peas in a pod with organisational culture. An example of such a situation is where the employees are in a bad mood for a long time resulting from an economic downturn that creates anxiety leading to an overall effect in the work. Theorists refer to the concepts of organisational culture and organisational climate as overlapping. Organisational climate is affected by the culture in the organization as it contains elements of leadership, job satisfaction and motivation. These factors are linked to organisational climate studies. The organisational climate can be affected by internal and external factors. A good example is where the top management is in a particular mood and affects the entire organisation. The culture determines the mood of the personnel and it has an overall effect on the employees in the organisation as explained by Mullins (2010). The concepts can be applied together for the achievement of organisational effectiveness. Conclusion The organisation has taken huge steps towards more effective organisational culture and effective business management. There have been changes in the business environment and the organisation has put in place measures to cope with them through strategic plan reviews, proper leadership, quality control procedures and an effective organisational culture. The organisation should ensure that the business management is flexible and adaptable to the inevitable change. The organization has a strong organizational culture that facilitates an effective organisational climate which facilitates the smooth operation of the activities. Agilent Technologies is a global company applying the correct organisational culture and business management and should continue with the same trend and improve on the weak areas. Personal statement The two assignments were tasking and required a great of time and commitment to complete. However, I was self motivated and determined to give the best shot in order to get excellent results in the assignments. Motivation was the major factor that kept me going in the course of the work. It can be defined as the degree or extent to which an individual wants to engage in certain specified behaviour while undertaking a particular assignment. Motivation is an individual phenomenon, multifaceted, intentional and affects the behaviour and attitude towards an assignment. I acknowledge that motivation affects performance as it is a product of my ability and the level of motivation. The diagram below shows the factors affecting the motivation level. A basic motivational model A basic motivational model (Mullins, 2008) The motivating factors can be broadly divided into two categories which are intrinsic and extrinsic. The main form of intrinsic is related to the psychological rewards whose main driving force was the sense of achievement I would feel having conquered the challenge. The extrinsic factors played an important role since there would be tangible rewards on the completion of the work in form of good grades for the assignments for this module. There are various theories that are used to describe motivation in various situations. The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs shows that motivation factors vary in different individuals. The reason behind my motivation according to this theory is to boost my self esteem when I perform well in the assignments. According to the McClelland achievement theory the reason behind my motivation would be the achievement motive. This is to attain a positive feedback on my performance and modify my self image as a conqueror of challenges. These are some of the theories that can be used to describe the reason behind my motivation. Motivation played a significant role when I was tackling the assignments. There were a few challenges and obstacles faced in the course of completion of the assignments. The surest solution I found to these obstacles is extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The most prominent challenge I faced was when handling both assignments. In doing assignments, there is a set deadline to submission and I was constantly checking it while continuing my work. The assignments were time consuming but I was motivated by the facts that if I completed the assignments well, then the marks awarded would be high. This acted as extrinsic motivation and I was intrinsically motivated by the desire to succeed in my studies. Motivation is the driving force that gave me the momentum, the mental strength and determination to finish up the assignment. There were challenges that helped me to be on my toes in completion of the assignments. Motivation is the way I decided to respond to the external and internal factors in order to achieve the ultimate goal which is to perform well by achieving good results. Apart from self motivation, I received a great deal of motivation from my fellow students, teachers and parents who encouraged me throughout the period when I was tackling the assignments. The teachers’ notes and reference materials were a contributing factor that made it possible to see the possibility of completing the assignments comprehensively. References Hoovers, 2010, Agilent Technologies UK Limited, viewed on 26 Nov. 2010, . Johnson, G, Scholes, K & Whittington, R 2005, Exploring corporate strategy. 7th edn, Financial Times Prentice Hall. Mullins, LJ 2010, Management and organisational behaviour, 9th edn, FT Prentice Hall. Mullins, LJ 2008, Essentials of organisational behaviour, 2nd edn, FT Prentice Hall. Robbins, SP 2009, Training in interpersonal skills, 5th edn, Pearson Education. Rollinson, D 2008, Organisational behaviour and analysis, 4th edn, FT Prentice Hall. Shein, EH 2010, Organizational culture and leadership, 4th edn, John Wiley and Sons. Schermerhorn, JR 2008, Management, 9th edn, Wiley. The University of California 2008, Directory of corporate affiliations. National Register Pub. Co. Read More