An Organization and Its Environment - Essay Example

Case Study: O.T Tanner al Affiliation Case Study: O.T Tanner Connections between an organization and its environment are essential as it will determine whether a company succeeds or fail to achieve its long term objective. The connections between external environment and the internal environment could be described by the manner in which a firm organizes its operations. According to Shafritz et al. (2011) a firm is described as being successful by the manner in which it organizes resources acquired and adapts to the changes within the environment. The essay will analyze the performance O.C Tanner based on organization theory concept. The ability to survive environmental factors will depend on the organizational ability of a given firm. The organizational factor of O.C Tanner transformed and enhanced its growth. The external environment of the organization is based on hierarchy. The management plays an important role in essential decision making process. On the other hand the available 1900 workers develop the internal environment. The effective nature of the internal environment will be evaluated by the amount and quality of output. In this case the nature of Tanner management to organize the sizeable staff and ensure they produce according to their ability. McAuley et al (2007) highlight the essence of post- modernity theory where the output of a given firm determines the nature of organization. In this case the transformational nature of O.C Tanner from a single production line to a multi production company and the growth in terms of labor indicate their successful organization based on the post- modernity organization theory. The levels of output and the efforts inserted by the management indicate how an organization could benefit from a stable internal environment (McAuley et al, 2007). On the other hand the experience laid down by the owner indicates the ability to use the existing environments to produce best on their ability. The availability of a stable environment implies division of labor along the environment. O.C Tanner based its organization based on managerial and subordinate basis. In this case allowing the management to coordinate the activities of the internal environment and ensure it relates well with the eternal environment. The demand of the external environment is what caused the 10% sales increased. The labor force available divided based on department would indicate the coordination and corporation needed within the environment. According to Daft (2010) the form of organization is based on mechanistic organization system. The structure indicates that during the tenure of Turner, he was involved in the management and was high in the hierarchy of the organization. The ability to coordinate functions and ensure that determine the demand of the internal environment to ensure they produce according to their ability was what attributed to the growth of the firm. The resignation of Tanner meant that management was to be handed to the deputy. Tanner is elected to the board as the chairman. In this capacity the board has the authoritative powers and an oversight role over the performance of the management. The addition of a higher level in the hierarchy meant that each department within the firm could function effectively due to the supervisory role played by both the board and the management. The firm was able to achieve Fayol’s theory. In the theory specialization, authoritative responsibility and discipline are the main components (Wren & Bedeian, 2009). The management functions analyzed based on this principle indicates the ability to ensure an organized internal environment. The essence of any firm is to achieve their set goal. O.C Tanner was able to achieve its long-term goal. This means it had realized its growth goal and was know operating on full capacity. The disciple associated with Tanner was enough to ensure the firm underwent a successful transition from a small business to a firm that employed 1400 employees. The number of employees indicates the size of a firm and in this case it represents the succesfull nature of the management and organizational system. Allowing the firm to interact with the environmental changes resulted from the set goals by the firm and the determination to achieve them within a specific period. In matters external environment the firm has excelled given the amount of output and the level of demand. The decision by Tanner to expand the firm to a corporate market place was an attempt to expand the external environment. The inclusion of the public in the right issuance indicted the firm’s determination to create an inter-organizational leakage. The partners would allow the access to large pools of capital and ensure an increased value of the firm. The public relation indicated by the internal environment indicted the diverse nature of the internal environment brought about by specialization and departmental operations. The ability to add investors through the public issuance policy was an attempt to restructure the company and allow foreign elements. The model proved effective given the amount of success enjoyed by the firm. Increased revenue would also imply increased motivation of the staff. This explains the increased output registered by the firm after the process. The inclusion of the external environment is an effort by Tanner to plan for the future of the firm. The nature in which the firm and its units related and operate within the environmental factors are essential in determine and evaluating its performance. The contingency theory outlines the need for an organization to coordinate the functions within its subsystems (Shafritz, 2011). In this case the effort by the firm to recognize employees act as an organization plan to involve the workers in matters decision making. The model deployed by Tanner indicates the ability by the firm to recognize the contribution of the internal environment and work towards stability. The subsystem in this case implies the employees. The motivation of these subunits would imply developing a mutual relation between the management and the subordinate (Hatch & Cunliffe, 2013). This will enhance communication along the organizational hierarchy hence improving efficiency. A clear communication channel created by the control of the organization would ensure increased output. This fact explains the 20million growth experienced by the firm. A stable internal environment would pave way for the expansion process of O.C. Tanner hence inclusion of external. The firm in 1974 underwent a management transition and Osler becomes its chief executive. The new CEO meant the company had fully grown and it was now giving back to society. The new mandate meant that Tanner was now performing its social responsibility. The expansive nature of the business to include the social environment was now the new mandate. The resignation of Tanner meant that the activity of Tanner was now on a personal capacity. The connection between the firm and the owner meant that the two were in separable entities. The social activities although on a personal basis were a representative of the firm. The appointment of the sales deputy to the CEO position meant that the firm was aiming at maintaining their organization structure. Up in the rankings, the firm concentrates on performance and quality delivery. The choice to pick the deputy of sales was triggered by the increased output and quality in the department. The essence in specialization was to create evaluation criteria to determine each department’s performance. The connection between the public sector is enhanced by the nature in which the firm’s executive engaging with the government organs and non-governmental organization. This is evident as Tanner as the owner of the firm has been part of commissions and boards aimed at assisting communities. The expansive nature of the firm defines the interaction with the environmental domain. According to Daft (2010) the best way to evaluate performance within a firm is to focus on the high complexity of the organization. In this case the high complexity refers to the level of control at an internal and external level. The position of the firm will be detailed by the manner in which staff members are ranked in society. As a transformational leader, Tanner was highly rated by the society. The inseparable entity between Tanner and the firm meant that his performance was the reason he was appointed board and committee member. The social environment needs to be positive. This means that recognizing the needs to the community around the firm and working with them. Daft (2010) also incite the resource dependency as a concept in positioning a company. In this case the firm needs to establish a link between the owners, suppliers, the market and regulators. These units form an integral part in a firm’s performance. The society plays as a reference to determine whether the firm performance according to expectation (Stroh et al., 2001). The government regulates performance and it is up to the management to ensure a firm complies with the regulation. The internal environment is tasked with ensuring the firm is according to plan and all units are functional. The inputs by suppliers should reflect the output to the market. The diverse nature o the firm meant that department organization was required. In this case the activity of a single unit of production should be monitored to ensure they mean the demand. The increase level of output by Tanner highlights the organization structure success. The firm basically applied a system- based approach in their organization. In analyzing its local performance, the success of the firm has been basically attributed to manner in which they interact with both environments. The environmental domain is an integral unit in any organizational structure. A firm seams stable by the level of which it operates but an analysis at its basic structure will revile its weakness and terming it as unstable (Poole & Ven, 1990). In this case the firm needs to expand its external environment to include the international market. This will imply that adjusting its organization structure to include international investors. The decentralization of functions will ensure each unit functions at full capacity. The aim of this approach will be to reduce the leakages and enhance interaction along the organizational structure. In conclusion the firm’s success is attributed to the organization structure deployed by the management. The need to focus on both the external environment has enabled it establish opportunities and identify risks. The identification process has enabled the internal environment functioning according to requirements. The level of growth has been attributed to authortitavie management systems that are tasked with major decision making. The specialization of employees has managed the firm navigate through risk and transformed a diverse firm in terms of production. The public listing is evident that the organization structure put across by the firms leadership. The interaction with the external environment has been effective give by the levels of success registered by the firm. Reference Daft, R.L. (2010). Organization Theory and Design. Mason OH: Cengage learning Hatch, M.J. & Cunliffe, A.L. (2013). Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic and postmodern perspective. Oxford: Oxford press. 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