Contingency Factors in Organizational Design - Jones Lang LaSalle Company - Case Study Example

Organizational Design Student’s name: University affiliation Introduction Every organization often makes frantic efforts geared toward formulating strategies and policies help it achieve its objectives. The process of formulating these strategies often requires that the strategic planners to assess various aspects of the operations of the organization. Key among these aspects includes; organizational structure, financial aspects and the projected overall performance of the organization. However, while formulating the design of the organization, there are critical elements or factors that the strategic planning team needs to focus on. These factors are called contingency factors. The contingency factors are vital because they prepare the organization for any unexpected or unforeseen circumstances that may arise and affect the operations of the organization. Thus, every organization should make an effort to take into consideration the contingency factors at the planning phase of the organization. Contingency factors often influence an organization or business in a direct way or indirectly. For instance, changes in the conditions of the environment may either lead to low customer turnout, and this often results in a decrease in the profitability of the business (Buckley, 2014). Thus, the strategic planners should consider contingent factor to mitigate any risk that the organization or the company may face thus ensuring that it achieves its full potential. Organizational design puzzle In the recent times, the management of Jones Lang LaSalle Company has managed to formulate sound policies and strategies that have propelled the real estate company to the global scene. The company has embraced an organizational design that has made it easy to increase the customer turnout thus increasing its revenue significantly. Moreover, the company’s policies have enabled it to have a competitive advantage over others in the real estate industry. However, various factors have emerged in the industry, and the profitability of the company is at risk. These factors were not considered during the planning stage of the company’s organizational design, and this made it difficult to deal with the challenges that emerged in the market. For instance, the drastic changes in key sectors that contribute to the real estate market have adversely affected the operations and the profitability of Jones Lang LaSalle Company. The company has experienced tough and challenging times as a result of the drastic changes in various sectors that affect the industry directly and indirectly. Consequently, the company is facing a puzzle in trying to restructure its strategic plans and the organizational design to overcome such challenges in the future. The strategic planners in the company have an uphill task to conduct a prior research on the environment that the organization will be operating in to ensure that any contingent factors that may adversely affect its operations are considered during the strategic planning phase. This will not only aid in mitigating the risks that are caused by these factors in the real estate market. Organization design contingency factors that JLL need to consider In its quest to make great achievements in the real estate industry, the Jones Lang LaSalle Company needs to consider a significant number of contingency factors in its organizational design. These factors will play a major role in mitigating the risks that the organization may face in its operations. In particular, making frantic efforts to consider contingency factors in the strategic plan the company will play a crucial role in making it be prepared for unexpected situations that can arise in the real estate sector. Contingency Factors in the Growth Strategy More often than not, the company has failed to consider the contingency factors during the formulation of the growth strategy. In the recent time, the organization has purely formulated growth strategies that are geared toward expanding its operations to the global scene. However, while formulating these sound growth strategy, the company’s strategic planners need to consider various contingent factors. Principal among them is the volatile economic conditions across the world. Changes in the global economic conditions may derail the plans of the company in various ways. The strategic team should make frantic efforts to consider the volatility in the world economy while formulating the growth strategy of the company. In most cases, companies formulate sound and brilliant growth strategies but hey find it difficult to realize the growth target due to economic shocks that they face. For instance, if the global economy experiences adverse economic shock, the capital markets will be adversely affected, and this will negatively affect company’s stock. Consequently, the company will face an uphill task in trying to raise the much-needed capital for expansion from trading of its shares. Moreover, any drastic changes in the global economic conditions may adversely affect the prices of the company’s inputs. For instance, increased inflation will lead to a rise in the prices of inputs. Consequently, the company’s quest to implement its growth strategy may be thwarted since the projected funds to finance the growth and expansion strategy may lose purchasing power. On the other hand, deflation may lead to a drastic decrease in the prices of the company’s products, and this may result in a significant reduction in the company’s revenues. Consequently, the company may find it next to impossible trying to implement the formulated growth strategy due to insufficient funds. Thus, considering the volatility of the economic conditions in the global market should be considered by the managers of Jones Lang LaSalle Company. Contingency factors in the environment Understanding the environment t in which a business operates often plays a crucial role in the success of the organization. The Jones Lang LaSalle Company operates an increasingly competitive environment. The real estate industry has experienced tremendous growth in the recent past, and many players are venturing into the industry because of anticipation of high returns. However, there are some contingent factors that should be considered while formulating the company’s design in the industry. For instance, the company’s strategic planners need to consider the competition level in the industry while formulating its strategic plan. This will enable it is prepared to face fierce competition in the industry thus helping it survive in the industry. Moreover, by considering the competition factor in the real estate industry, the company will be in a better position to understand various ways of developing a competitive advantage thus maintaining its market share in the property sector. Another critical contingent factor that should be considered during the company’s strategic planning is the feature of the global real estate market. It is evident that the market conditions differ from one region to another. Any quest to venture into new markets should be encompassed by a proper understanding of the features of the target market. Failure to understand the characteristics of the global real estate market may significantly reduce the success rate of the company in new markets. For instance, the pricing policy, as well as the cultural differences in various parts of the world, often affects the real estate sector. High pricing policy may reduce the customer turnover, and this may lead to low revenue streams to the company (Kämpf-Dern, 2014). Consequently, the operations of the company may adversely be affected. Hence, considering the features of the global real estate markets will be significant while formulating the company’s strategic plan because it will play a crucial role in mitigating any risk that the company may face in its quest to venture into other markets. Moreover, the strategic planners of the company should make ethical considerations while formulating the strategic plan of the company. The fundamental reason for this argument is that ethical factors often influence the reputation of the organization. For instance, if the company is linked to any corruption acts, then it may lose the reputation from the public, and this may adversely affect its operations. Hence, ethical issues should be considered during the formulation of the strategic plan of the company. Technology Every real estate companies often aspire to achieve high productivity and efficiency levels. However, a significant number of these companies have overlooked the factor of technology during the strategic planning stage. Consequently, these companies have not experienced their full potential in the real estate sector. Technology is an essential contingent factor that should be considered by Jones Lang LaSalle Company while formulating its strategic plan. The fundamental reason for this argument is because technology significantly increases the efficiency and productivity of the real estate sector. In particular, it leads to increased home buying efficiency. The fact that potential buyers of homes constructed by the company can access the information about these products significantly improves the efficiency of the company’s products. Moreover, some transactions between the company and its customers are conducted with the help of technological devices, and this leads to increased access to customers in a much more efficient manner. Further, consumer time and cost saving is achieved by embracing technology in the company. The company can access information about the prices of its inputs thus making it easy for it to select the cheaper inputs. Moreover, the use of technological devices significantly reduces the transaction time, and this enables the company to access more customers for a shorter period. Technology also plays a key role in improving the marketing of the products of the company (Holt, 2015). However, technological changes often occur frequently. If there is a drastic change in technology, the real estate sector may experience challenges that may lead to reduced productivity. Thus, the management of the Jones Lang LaSalle Company should consider technology during the formulation of a strategic plan. Human Resources The human department of any organization often plays a crucial contribution to the success of that organization. In particular, having a competent staff often helps in propelling the company to success. However, many companies often overlook some essential factors to their human resource during the formulation of a strategic plan. The act of ignoring these factors often makes it difficult for these companies to overcome various unexpected challenges that they encounter. Hence, every company should take the bold step of considering these contingent factors that influence the productivity of the human resource department of the organization. For instance, the factor of ISO certification should be considered during the strategic plan formulation (Chegut et al, 2013). The international organization standards citification may significantly play a crucial role in helping the government overcome various unforeseen challenges. The ISO certification factor may greatly help the Jones Lang LaSalle Company achieve its goal venturing into new markets in the global scene. Consequently, the company will be able to increase its market share in the real estate sector significantly. Further, ISO certification will aid the company in cost saving because the operations of the company will be optimized (Cohen et al, 2014). Moreover, ISO certification will help in enhancing customer satisfaction because of the high-quality standards that will be embraced by the company. Consequently, the sales of the company will significantly increase thus helping it generate more revenue to finance its operations. Hence, the ISO certification is a contingent factor that should e considered by Jones Lang LaSalle Company during the strategy plan formulation. The Jones Lang LaSalle Company should also consider innovation while formulating its strategic plan. It is evident that innovations have played a crucial role in the real estate industry. in particular, the companies that have made frantic efforts to innovate have made significant achievements in the industry. If the company fails to consider innovation factor while formulating its strategic plan, its operations may be adversely affected should face unforeseen challenges. The company management and its staff may not be prepared to tackle complex challenges due to lack of innovative measure to deal with these challenges. Thus, both management and personnel of the company should be encouraged to be proactive and be innovative to ensure that the company has a competitive advantage over its competitors (van Grunsven et al, 2013). Moreover, considering innovation factor will significantly help the company to mitigate the risk associated with technical issues that may arise in the industry. A team-flat structure should also be considered while formulating the strategic plan of the organization. Many competent employees are often more productive when they are directly involved in decision making in an organization. This will increase the creativity within the organization, and it will significantly aid any unforeseen challenges that the company may face because every single employee will be ready to be part of the solution to the challenges. Lifecycle The lifecycle of an organization is a very crucial factor that should be considered during the strategic plan formulation. Many companies often overlook this factor, and they end paying dearly whenever they encounter unforeseen challenges. The Jones Lang LaSalle Company should make frantic effort to consider the company’s life cycle to ensure proper and accurate implementation of the formulated plan (Moonen, 2013). A clear understanding of the lifecycle of a given project significantly helps the managers of the company to embrace appropriate actions that make it easy to achieve the set goal at the appropriate timeline. Conclusion Strategic planning plays a crucial function in any organization. It is chiefly through strategic planning that the key factors that affect the operations of the organization are analyzed and appropriate measures formulated to deal with these factors. Many organizations overlook certain factors that they perceive to be of less importance. However, these factors turn out to be essential in situations where the organization faces unforeseen challenges. The Jones Lang LaSalle Company operates in a competitive real estate sector, and its management should make frantic efforts to consider the contingent factors that may be helpful in achieving its goals in the long run. References Buckley, M., & Hanieh, A. (2014). 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