Importance of the Organizational Structure - Coursework Example

Though Carl and the other three sales personnel have been committing unfair kickback as an accustomed organizational practice, Joseph does not find it justifiable. Adding to his trouble, the vice president’s aberrant nature makes him apprehensive about the result of both; accepting the job offer, and reporting the offense.

If I am Joseph I will seek further tactics to bring the mistake to the president’s attention. However, immediate action would bring inevitable trouble not only to Joseph but also to the specific individuals. Either Carl has to be convinced of the seriousness of his mistake or the offense has to be brought to the attention of the officials, say initially to the vice president Catherine. Carl has already justified his stance that it was not a big issue and he had the reason to do it. Therefore, only the second option is now remaining. I would say that Joseph has to tell his wife to accept Catherine’s offer as the initial step of resolving the ethical dilemma. It will have long-term effects on their life; for instance, working together will ease their tension. Moreover, the job would help them gain a considerable influence over the organization especially on the vice President which might help Joseph to introduce the problem later.

Since the problem has been persisting with the organization, perhaps for several years, it indicates some serious flaws with the organization’s culture. Therefore before moving to an action one needs to identify the exact area where the problem lies and who are the perpetrators. Furthermore, I think that Joseph has to analyze the subsequent effects if he would take some actions. He should be cautious about the way he interacts with his sales personnel and vice president. As the responsible faculty of the department, he needs to study the strength, weaknesses, and personal integrity of his salespeople. Finally, he needs to go through the previous case histories to find out what actions the company had taken against a similar type of crime.

 Obviously, the major problem lies with the organizational structure. It is the ‘chain–of–command structure’ that makes the sales manager’s encounter with the vice president inevitable. As the action depends on the discretion of one individual, the result will always be relative. The previous case shows that the issue had not been effectively addressed other than firing some individuals. Although it seems that the major issue lies with the sales department, the detailed analysis would reveal that it is due to ineffective HR strategy. It is the failure of HRM that did not identify the employees who had been committing unfair business activities. Moreover, the organizational culture and inapt role assignment make young Joseph deal with older/senior personnel who might hardly bother his leadership.

Read More