Management and Organizational Behavior - Report Example

Management & Organizational Behavior - The Change is coming Management & Organizational Behavior - The Change is coming Introduction Tracy Food Production has been in existence as one of the leading producers of specialized food products, mainly under the management of Mr. Browne. He brought in expertise and knowledge from his previous work place which greatly boosted revenue returns during his tenure. His experience and mode of management has earned Tracey Food production a lot of good reputation. However, nobody is perfect. Under him, the plant has struggled to sustain its two plants located in different cities, Dublin and Mullingar, with each having its own General Manager with five other managers heading different business functions, among them being food production, sales and human resource. As an incoming Chief Executive taking over from Mr. Browne at the helm of the company, one’s plan should be to reduce expense and cut unnecessary budgetary allocations and monetary aspects which will necessitate the amalgamation of these plants. Question 1: In light of the current changes, employee and management motivation could be affected. Identify one motivation theory which could be practically used to ensure motivation is not affected. 1. Need for Increasing Motivation Motivation is the key to increased employee productivity. A highly motivated employee puts more struggle than a normal one to achieve the tasks assigned to him/her. Therefore, it is imperative for the management of a company to take effective steps to continuously build employee motivation. Williams (2010, p. 1) states, “Motivating people to do their best work, consistently, has been an enduring challenge for executives and managers”. However, employee and management motivation could be affected due to the changes that are brought within an organization due to the variability in internal and external environments. The investors of such companies need to use some suitable motivation theory to build and sustain employee motivation level instead of letting it affected due to changes. 2. Douglas Mcclelland Theory of Needs Douglas McClelland theory of needs can be used to build employee motivation. According to this theory, there are three main needs that play their role in affecting or shaping the behaviors of people. Those human needs include need for power, need for affiliation and need for achievement. 2.1 Need for Power One of the needs of employees is power. Employees want to be included in decision-making matters, as well as in other managerial affairs to some extent. To build employee motivation, companies can share some management power with the key employees; involve the employees in decision-making matters to make them feel valued. Also, consulting employees in making different business strategies as well as in setting employee benefit strategies can also really help. It would help to take them in confidence before implementing the changed employee benefit strategy. Such steps would definitely help in building the level of employee motivation. A good example of this theory application is Google. Their employees are actively involved in decision making and strategizing. This has led to increase in innovation and performance. 2.2 Need for Achievement The need for achievement requires an individual to accomplish his/her personal and professional goals. People make a lot of struggle in their lives to accomplish their goals. In this world, every individual has the aim to excel and to accomplish this aim, he/she makes efforts. Being the chief executive, steps to make employees aware of the importance of achieving company’s goals in a timely manner will be taken. The main aim is to motivate the employees to work hard to get better job positions which can play a significant role in the accomplishment of their personal goals which will drive Tracey Food Production in a more profitable direction. Moreover, employees would be motivated to work with full commitment and dedication remaining part of the company even in downsizing situations. 2.3 Need for Affiliation The third need of any individual is the need for affiliation. People want to make durable relationships with others in order to remain active in the society. An urge for a responsive and helpful environment motivates an individual to form sociable interpersonal relationships. Management (investors) can take steps to create a friendly and supportive work environment where employees and managers can talk to each other openly and discuss the effects of changes. Organizational changes affect the motivation level of employees because they start worrying about the nature of their jobs in the changed environment. In the changed organizational culture, employees would be able to consult with the top management regarding the need for implementing any expected change, thus it will be a priority to convey the reasons to them in a friendly manner in order to make them feel secure in the changed organizational environment. This step would definitely help the new management in increasing employee motivation. Question 2: How would you communicate effectively with staff in order to achieve the necessary changes? 1. Need for Effective Communication Effective communication with staff is a key towards improved employee performance and productivity. When a member of top management communicates with employees in a friendly manner, it puts a positive impact on the performance of employee because he/she feels owned by the company. Communication between employees and top management always puts a wonderful impact on overall productivity of a company. Steps will be undertaken to take care of the need to communicate with employees in a friendly but influencing manner. In the Forbes fortune 500 companies effective communication was a major contributing factor to their success. 1.1 Communicating Amalgamating of Plants The first change to be brought about by the new management regards amalgamation of the two plants. A factor to be greatly considered is reducing the costs of operating two plants at a time, thus, the decision to merge both plants. To communicate all changes to employees, there will be a special work retreat to discuss and listen to their contributions regarding the future of Tracey Food Production. This should make the employees feel valued when the top management actively involves them and communicate every decision to them in a professional and courteous manner. It is understandable for employees to feel insecure after hearing this news thus making them know that they are priced assets of the company and that none of them will be adversely affected since there will be compensation plan and allowance scheme for the ones who will be laid off. A strategy to retain well-performing employees will be incorporated. Those whose work performance will be viewed to be well above average will be retained. A major reason why former HP CEO Mark Hurd was widely admired on Wall Street was his ease in cutting costs – and laying off of employees. His largest lay off came after he bought IT consulting firm EDS. Once he sealed the deal, he laid off 24,600 employees whom he felt would be redundant once the two companies were amalgamated. This is basically the same case scenario with Tracey Food Production. Redundancies will not be tolerated since it weighs down on the company’s finance. 1.2 Communicating Team-Based Approach The working approach of employees will be changed in such a way that it becomes more effective and efficient for the company. For this, the new management has planned to introduce the team-based working approach for the employees. This plan will be communicated to employees to prepare them mentally to work in teams in future. Some form of incentive will be put up in favor of employees regarding any change in order to retain the level of their motivation. Therefore, employees will be informed that their teamwork will be associated with various rewards and benefits that they will be able to achieve on showing superior team performances. 1.3 Communicating Change of Culture As far as the culture of the organization is concerned, the new management will create a supportive culture in which employees should help each other regarding any job related difficulty. Employees will be informed that there should be a supportive relationship between every two employees. As they will have to work in the form of teams, the new management will make sure that employees properly collaborate with each other. Therefore, the formation of collaborative and supportive work environment to prepare the minds of employees accordingly will be announced. Question 3: In restructuring the functions of the business, what advice would you give about the most effective span of control for a manager? 1. Span of Control As Juneja (n.d., p. 1) states, “Span of Control means the number of subordinates that can be managed efficiently and effectively by a superior in an organization”. A wider span of control is less costly as compared to the narrow span of control. In the narrow span of control, there are a large number of managers who have to supervise the employees who work for them. Such approach not only gives rise to workplace conflicts between managers, but also increases the cost of communication between the managers of different departments according to Juneja (n.d., p. 1). Since the company is already facing shortage of money, it cannot afford to implement such span of control. A wider span of control is one in which a manager manages a large number of employees and takes care of their issues. This is a flat organizational structure and the number of conflicts arising in such structures is usually less as compared to the number that occurs in tall organizational structures. A narrow span of control also means that there will be a large number of managers working for the company. The company will also have to give salaries to those managers which will put extra burden on the finance of the company. Therefore, a wider span of control will be suitable for the company as there will be less number of managers and the company will not have to use much money on salaries. However, the company will have to hire highly skilled and professional managers to work for the company because they will have to look after a wide range of activities to be performed by a large number of employees. This method has been effectively applied by Starbucks which grew to be one of the largest corporations in the world (Richards, n.d). 2. Benefits of Wider Span of Control A wider span of control is one that allows greater flexibility for employees, as well as a certain level of self-management which also results in increasing the level of employee motivation (Kingsford, 2012). Some of the main benefits of the wider span of control for the company will include prompt decision-making, improved employee interaction, increased level of motivation, increased flexibility, reduced operational and salary costs, and increased use of communication technologies. Moreover, the company employees are not widely scattered, so the need to hire more managers to work at different locations is also eliminated. The company will be amalgamating both of its plants already, so there is no need for a narrow span of control. A wider span of control will work best for this company as it will have all of its employees working under the same roof. Looking at these benefits and the inappropriateness of the narrow span of control for the company, it is evident that the wider span of control or flat organizational structure will work best for Tracey Food Production. Question 4: What would be the benefits of introducing a matrix style of organisational structure? 1. Matrix Organizational Structure A matrix structure is an organization design which groups employees by function and product. This structure is differentiated into whatever functions required so as to accomplish certain company goals. A worker reports to their head though not directly working under their supervision but under the project manager. Thus each employee will be having two superiors, who jointly make sure the work progresses. The benefits of introducing a matrix style of organizational structure in the company are as follows: 1.1 Efficient Exchange of Information One of the main advantages that a company can get from matrix organizational structure is the efficient exchange of information between employees and managers. In this structure, all departments of a company such as information management department, marketing department, and HR department work in proper collaboration with each other, which reduces the chances of information loss and helps managers in formulating efficient strategies (Johnson, 2012). Such approach also helps companies in quick decision-making, as well as in increasing the level of productivity. 1.2 Increased Motivation In a matrix organizational structure, input of employees in decision-making purposes is considered necessary. Such approach results in increasing the level of employee motivation because employees feel nice when managers consider their input important for the company. 1.3 Enhanced Collaboration between Employees and Managers Another advantage of matrix organizational structure is enhanced collaboration between employees and managers of all departments. People work closely to each other and are able to share information effectively. Moreover, a creative and friendly work environment is created when people work in a collaborative manner and share information and other issues with each other consistently. The new management of Tracey Foods will look into incorporating this structure since it will ease the amalgamation procedure that will be undertaken especially due to its collaborative nature. Conclusion Tracey Foods decision to change its management was geared to achieve competitive advantage. In this paper, various organizational tasks and management procedures that help in cutting costs and managing the available resources in such a way that there is accountability of company expenditure have been learned. This equips one with the necessary knowledge and skills in managing company funds and how to prioritize for the continued profitable survival of a company. References Johnson, R., 2012. Advantages & Disadvantages of Matrix Organizational Structures in Business Organizations. Viewed 26 November 2012, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages- disadvantages-matrix-organizational-structures-business-organizations-26350.html Juneja, H., n.d. Span of Control in an Organization. Viewed 26 November 2012, http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Span_of_Control_in_an_Organization.html. Kingsford, M., 2012. Organizational Structure of a Business. Viewed 26 November 2012, http://ezinearticles.com/?Organisational-Structure-of-a-Business&id=7289870 Richards, L., n.d. Why Is Change Important in an Organization? Viewed 26 November 2012, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/change-important-organization-728.html. Williams, R., 2010. How to motivate employees: What managers need to know? Viewed 26 November 2012, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201002/how- motivate-employees-what-managers-need-know-0 Read More