Two Management Systems and Differences with Respect to Three Management Areas - Essay Example

? People, Organizations and Management People, Organizations and Management Instruction The key objective of running an organization is to make profit. This can only be achieved through reduction of expenditure, and at the same time improving or maintaining output of the firm. This can be achieved through many ways. Some of the ways include the use of favorable management systems, and adopting policies that will guide the organization to attain organization’s objectives. An organization, therefore, should choose the above ways carefully, depending on the objective of the firm. The strategic management of human resources has been a rapidly growing area, in research, within human resources. There have been numerous links between the HR and the firm’s performance. In choosing of an effective managerial structure, and setting of an organization structure, teamwork and team working are the fundamental areas that should be observed. This should also include organizational design and structure, and organizational culture. No management system can work effectively if these fundamental areas are not effectively analyzed, since they play a significant roles, in the making of a good management system, which is crucial to the achievement of organization’s objectives. This paper seeks to compare and contrast two management systems, and discuss the differences with respect to the three fundamental areas of management. Teamwork and team working Effective teams, which continue to work towards a unified objective, are the foundation of every organization’s success. Every team member should create a culture of trust and positive energy. For any team to achieve its objective, its members should set aside their personal differences and interests. If the success of an organization is largely influenced by the quality of its leaders, the level of teamwork displayed by a team is influenced by efforts of the people who compose it. Therefore, any team that wishes to be successful should encourage its members to be active in the planning stage, and be open to ideas and positive feedback. All management systems have unique teamwork and team working approaches. Designing team-based organizations addresses issues concerning the implementation of teams, and the focus is on the design that is required to support the attaining of organization’s objectives (Stewart et al,2001 p320). A team is a group of people who are brought together to serve a common interest. Each member of a team should have relevant skills required to achieve the targeted task. As organizations become more complex, the team-based methodology of solving problems becomes more common than old systems of management (Stanford, 2007 p58). Organizations may choose to use the team approach, in their organization, or to use the one-man one problem approach. The two study cases provided involve two organizations involved in different fields of business. Biogenia is a world-leading business that is involved, in the production of crop-protection products. This organization has a workforce of 15,000 employees, and has branches, in over 80 countries. Sleepeasy, on the other hand, is a mid-market hotel chain that involved in the business traveler and city-break tourist. The company also has branches in different countries. In the area of teamwork, the management of these two organizations display different approaches to teamwork and team working. Biogenia is an organization that promotes cross-functional working, in project teams. It sees teamwork as an essential management system of achieving constant product improvement and innovation. On the other hand, Sleepeasy has a policy, which the management does not show reliance on teamwork. In this case, members of the hotel staff are employed to fulfill certain functions in the hotel. These organizations employ different teamwork approaches, which best suit their business. For instance, Biogenia organization uses a number of projects that require the use of teamwork to come up with their products. In contrary, Sleepeasy hotel does not require the use of teamwork for effective production. The hotel focuses on fighting competition by the use of tactics that reduce the business’ expenditure, and increase the profitability. Biogenia’s management chooses the use of the team based working model, since the organization is involved in the production of goods, which require the involvement of people with different knowledge in that field. These people have to team up and work together to come up with proposals for better products. They, therefore, have to work together to come up with the final product. Teams can be counter active, however, not always necessary. The management has to consider the needs of the organization, and the impact that a team can produce, in the organization. The management has to incorporate policies that support team-based, problem solving, approach, if a team proves to be necessary (Parker, 2008 p40). It is also essential for all members to be conscious of their respective roles in the team. After all, the achievement of team goals is highly dependent on the level of appreciation members have, regarding their responsibilities to the team. Organizational design Organizational design is a systematic methodology, which identifies dysfunctional aspects of workflow, procedures, structures, and systems, realigns them to fit current business goals, and then develops plans to implement the new changes. The process focuses on improving both the technical and employees’ side of the business. For most companies, the design process leads to a more effective organizational design, significantly improved results (profitability, customer service, internal operations), and employees who are empowered and committed to the business. The hallmark of the design process is a comprehensive and holistic approach to organizational improvement that touches all aspects of organizational life. This is the second fundamental area that affects the management methodology applied in an organization. Organization design is the creation, or the changing of an organization structure. The organizational design, of an organization, reflects the efforts to respond to changes, ensure collaboration, integrate new elements, and allow for flexibility (Worren,2010 p50). Organization design is a process that involves decisions on the following key elements; i. Work specialization: This type of organizational design deals with the idea that a job is not completed by a single individual, but is broken down into steps, and different people completes each step in the process. Individual employees have specialized in adopting part of the job and not the entire activity (Worren, 2010 p51). ii. Departmentalization: This is a basis within, which jobs are grouped. The organization will group jobs by the functions performed. Depending on the goals, all kings or organizations can apply this design approach that each wants to achieve (Worren,2010 p52). iii. Chain of command: This is a design where there is a continuous line of authority. This line extends from the upper organizational levels to the lowest levels, and gives good clarification on who reports to whom (Worren, 2010 p53) The two case examples show a clear difference in this area of organizational design. The Biogenia organization shows the combination of two key elements of organizational design. It implements the departmentalization aspect, since it is organized into four areas of functionality, which includes departments, namely research and development, manufacturing, sales and marketing, and support. The Biogenia organization also shows use of chain of command aspect of design. The organization has different managers on its different branches. In teams of projects, a leader is responsible for leading the team, and reports to the appropriate people above them. The Sleepeasy organization also incorporates two key aspects of organizational design. The company, through employing individuals to perform specific functions in the hotel, displays the aspect of work specialization. The hotel displays the chain of command aspect of organizational design by having managers, in each hotel, who then report to superiors above them. Organization culture Culture is an observable and powerful force in an organization. The cultures that are found, in an organization, are the symbols, beliefs, and shared believes among the members, who can have great effects on the organization’s well being (Black, 2004 p78). No culture can be said to be better than another is. Most organizations adopt cultures that support their business goals. Therefore, organizations may have different cultural attributes. However, similarities may be evident in different organizations cultures (Black, 2004 p90). Researchers have established strong links between an organization’s culture and the organization’s performance. The key, to using culture, is to improve the performance in matching of the culture to an organization’s goals (Brown, 2003 p103). Organizational culture, as the workplace environment, is determined by the interaction of the employees, in workplace. Organizational culture is the life experiences, strengths, weaknesses, education, upbringing of employees. While executive leaders play significant roles, in defining organizational culture by their actions and leadership, all employees contribute to the organizational culture. An organization’s culture is measured in the context of how the organization attends to matters relating to education of employees, employment procedures, training of employees, employee motivation methods, organization-community relationship, among others (Kumar, 2000 p100). Each organization has its unique approach of working, which contributes to its culture. Today, organizational leaders are confronted with many complex issues during their attempts to generate organizational achievement. Managers’ success depends on how much they understand organizational culture. Importance of Organization Culture; A healthy culture encourages employees to stay loyal and motivated towards management. Culture of workplace is aimed at promoting healthy competition, in the organization (McNamara, 2000 p78). Organizational culture is what differentiates an organization from other organizations. It gives an identity to the organization, since an organization is recognized by its culture (McNamara, 2000 p79). An effective culture gives employees an opportunity to form diverse backgrounds and ethic settings, and a sense of unity at workspace. The work culture promotes healthy relationships among the employees. An organizational culture is what extracts the best out of each team member. Culture develops a habit, in the workers, which makes them succeed at work place (Achua & Lussier, 2010 p30). Comparison of organization cultures between the two case studies. Biogenia is an organization that is committed to innovation, since it has a strong culture of recruiting extremely able, highly motivated, and highly educated staff, many of whom are educated to doctorate level. The organization then offers numerous in-house training courses that cover both technical and personal development issues. In contrary, Sleepeasy uses its branch managers to recruit new staff members. The hotel aims at employing staff, who are committed to provision of high-level customer service. Some staff, in the hotel, is recruited in more conventional and formal ways. They have different working conditions and career prospects. The chain also offers good experience and training for ambitious people like receptionists, who are often highly educated, and aspire to become managers. The chain also encourages the appointment of students, on short-term seasonal contacts, while they are studying. The two organizations also display a major difference, in the way they employ their employees. The Biogenia organization employs highly qualified staff to fill their positions. However the hotel chain (Sleepeasy) has a casual approach to employment by employing people informally. Biogenia’s employees are encouraged to contribute to community work, and the organization sponsors a number of projects, while working with schools, in a number of countries, on biological science projects. The organization promotes cross-functional working, in project teams. The seaways hotel chain has no mention of community work; therefore, it is evident that the two organizations have different approaches, in the way they relate to the community. These organizations approach the employee motivation techniques differently. The Biogenia organization offers generous benefits, such as opportunities for sabbaticals or gap years, and subsidising gym membership. However, the hotel chain only offers its managers bonuses based on achieving of demanding occupancy, and customer satisfaction targets set individually for each hotel. The Biogenia organization has a culture of recruiting staff from all over the world, thus creating a cultural diverse environment, where employees can learn from the others. However, in the hotel chain, the employees are majorly local people who are from the local ethnic group, thus the organization does not explore the benefits of diversity. The two companies have shown a distinct difference, in the way they approach the organization culture. Each organization has chosen the best organizational culture that suits the proper functionality of the organization. Conclusion Employees are significantly the most important resource in any organization. Human resource is managed and organized according to the different managerial styles and experiences. The management has to understand the effects of motivation, reward systems, job design and group influence for effective management of people in an organization. The two organizations have shown great differences, in the way managers approach maters that relate to teamwork, and team working, organization design, and in organization culture. These differences are due to the type of businesses, which the two organizations operate. Each organization chooses conditions that will ensure realization of the organization’s mission and vision. Organizations have to analyze all the fields carefully to make sure that they get the best out of the structure that they adopt. A company’s mission must be accompanied by the employees’ motivation and reliability to achieve an effective management system. The employees are only motivated and reliable when they are treated, in a manner, such that each employee is comfortable with the role that are supposed to play and in the manner that the organizations show support and recognition to the effort that each employee puts. There are several managerial structures, which an organization can choose to adopt and implement, and each has different stands on the three topics discussed above. However, each organization chooses a management system that helps an organization to achieve its objectives and aspirations. References Achua C. F, Lussier R. N. LEADERSHIP:Theory, Application, Skill Development. maison: South-Western/Cengage Learning, 2010. Black R.J. 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