Organizations Purpose of Southern Cross Enterprise - Assignment Example

Leader vs. Manager Paper Organization’s purpose and goals Southern Cross Enterprise is a business established in Finger Lakes, New York. The companyoperates in the business of manufacturing products like labels, wine bottles, wine accessories, synthetic corks etc. The company operates as a profit oriented business through the sale of the above mentioned products that are manufactured in the factory of the company. Southern Cross Enterprise is a family owned business. It is currently managed by Ted Baker, who is the President of Southern Cross Enterprise and his younger brother Jacob Baker who is the Vice President of the company. Southern Cross Enterprise has been in the business for more than 30 years and is a fairly profitable business. The production of synthetic corks is a profit reaping segment of the business. The company takes orders for different widgets like wine bottles, labels and corks. Customized orders of labels and bottles are also taken. The custom ordered products are manufactured in the factories of Southern Cross Enterprise in which batch run production systems with specifications for custom orders are used. The company caters to about 100 different types of orders in a period of 7 days. These orders are of different sizes and volumes. However, the company gives priority to high volume orders due to the higher profit margins associated with these orders. The Southern Cross Enterprise has been following the tradition prioritizing the orders according to volumes. For secondary orders, a first come first serve approach is used to serve the customers. Also, the company has an established base of loyal customers which helps the company to continue its operations in a profitable manner. Mission and Vision Statements The mission statement of Southern Cross Enterprise would be to operate the business in a profitable and sustainable manner with the aim of providing goods and services to the customers while encompassing the rich diversity of its internal and external customers in a positive way. The vision of Southern Cross Enterprise is to continue the business in a profitable manner and carry forward the legacy of the family business. The company also aims at maintaining an effective balance between its male and female employees and to establish itself as a trusted equal opportunity employer. Southern Cross Enterprise is already the employer of a diverse workforce comprising of people from different backgrounds, ethnic origin and races. Also, the business has been a renowned family business in New York. It aims to maintain its reputation and foster a positive environment for the business in the city while providing opportunities for employment and creating value for its customers. The major goals and objectives that can be identified at the current position for the business are to enhance its profitability and processes and manage its employees and customers through the maintenance of a diversified and skilled workforce under the effective management of the owners. Organizational structure An organizational structure is a system that is used within an organization to optimize the productivity and effectiveness of the employees as well as the business processes. The suitable organizational structure for Southern Cross Enterprise can be identified to be the democratic organizational structure. The democratic organizational structure is considered appropriate for Southern Cross Enterprise because the prevailing work culture and work environment in the company seems to be supportive of this organizational structure. The democratic organizational structure would employ a horizontal structure in which all the team members and managers would be involved. This also calls for the equal access of rights and a similar level of involvement of all the employees of the company. The Southern Cross Enterprise consists of a diverse workforce with employees coming from different racial backgrounds. The workforce of Southern Cross Enterprise constitutes of 125 employees including Asians, African Americans and Hispanics. Since, there exists a diverse workforce; the organizational structure should be designed such that it supports the maintenance of diversity in the company while minimizing conflicts among the workers. A democratic organizational management structure would foster a positive and non-conflicting work environment in which all members would be involved in the organizational processes. Also, it would facilitate an open door policy which would foster a positive environment of compliance and innovation. This would help Ted Baker to collect ideas and information from his employees but the ultimate decision making power will rest in the hands of Ted himself. Organizational culture The organizational culture prevailing in the Southern Cross Enterprise is positive but it has scopes of change. There are some conflicts noted among the workers and managers on the basis of their diversified backgrounds. The attitude of non-acceptability of the African American, Hispanic and Asian employees towards each other and towards the managers from other ethnic backgrounds often leads to conflicts in business meetings and workplace. (Source: Black, 2003) The hierarchical organizational culture can be identified to be appropriate for Southern Cross Enterprise. A hierarchical organizational culture would help to maintain stringent regulations. This type of organizational culture is more controlled and structure oriented. Therefore, it would help Ted Baker to have extended control on the operations and people of the organization. This will help him to manage the company more efficiently through monitoring and managing the diverse workforce in the company. Market organizational culture is not considered to be suitable for the Southern Cross Enterprise because this type of culture is likely to be stressful for implementation in a diversified company like Southern Cross. The market organizational culture is more result oriented and focuses on results, competition and getting a job done. This would become pressurizing for the work environment of Southern Cross enterprise. The Clan organizational culture is more family oriented with focus given on nurturing, developing, mentoring and doing things collectively. However, it is difficult to be implemented in a multi-cultural family business like Southern Cross Enterprise because this may ultimately lead to the leaders losing control over their employees. The adhocracy organizational culture focuses on innovation and risk taking with the features of entrepreneurship and dynamism. However, this culture will not be suitable for Southern Cross Enterprise because the business is profitable in the set business domain and has no immediate plans of innovation and expansion. Thus, the hierarchical organizational culture is suitable for Southern Cross Enterprise because of the stability factor associated with this culture which would help Ted Baker to implement his leadership abilities while maintain the people and processes of the business. Assessment of the environment The environment in the Southern Cross Enterprise has many positive factors. But the issues of conflicts among workers, conflict of interest among mangers and the lack of a stringent control over the activities of the people are some issues in the business that need to be addressed on an urgent basis. The presence of a diverse group of employees creates the need for proper workforce management, diversity management and motivation. The presence of lesser number of female employees may act as a hindrance in establishing the company as an equal opportunity company. The hindrances in the smooth operations in the production facilities of Southern Cross Enterprise caused by the fluctuating supply of raw materials from the suppliers are also a concern for the company. This is creating an inhibiting environment for the future growth and success of the business. Ted Baker should focus on implementing suitable managerial practices to improve harmony and motivation among his employees. He should implement conflict resolution and diversity management approaches so that the issues with conflict and diversity among the managers and the workers are resolved. This would help Ted Baker to develop an organizational culture and organizational structure that would support Southern Cross Enterprise to meet its short term as well as long term goals and objectives. Reference Black, R. J. (2003). Organizational Culture: Creating the Influence Needed for Strategic Success. Stamford: Cengage. Read More