Relations strategies are those concepts which collectively provide proper managing styles that lead to the success of organizations. Proper relational strategies form a strong relationship between the management and the employees. Concerning the case studies, different forms of control are discussed as follows;
The first is teamwork. It creates synergy hence lessening the effort put in achieving group objectives. This form of control aims at establishing self-managed teams to whom the manager delegates powers and duties. In the first case study, Xel Communications found it necessary to form these teams to utilize resources and take advantage of the opportunities at the company's disposal. As the vice president of Xel communication, Joe Painter says, self-managed teams can harness employees’ potential energy and creativity (Conrad, 132)
In the second case study, Stichco also applied the teamwork system to increase flexibility and manufacturing speed.
The second is decentralization of decision making to those individuals who have ample knowledge of whatever is being discussed. Delegation brings about a sense of belonging and recognition in a team endeavor. To make the teams effective, it is necessary to delegate powers to them. The impact of delegation is evident in Xel Communications where the manager delegated such powers like hiring and firing of workers, acquiring of materials, self-management of the group, and also anything to do with the manufacturing of the components. The power of delegation is a reason good enough to bring out the best performance from these teams.
The third is the inclusion of ideas from employees that might help in decision making. The voice of the employees should not be ignored as it may carry important ideas that can be adopted by the organization. For example, when the White team faced difficulties and went seeking for advice from Joe Painter, they were not contented with the answer Joe gave them and they failed to apply it. Joe obeyed the team's opinion and left them to decide on their own. This move shows that it is time managers included employee's ideas in the decision making process.
Fourth is the managerial leadership style. This form of leadership brings the managers and the employees closer towards the betterment of the whole organization. The traditional form of organization structure was a hierarchical form of control whereby the powers are exercised from top to bottom. The system means that the manager has authority over employees. The employees are categorized into departments whereby each department has a chair who gives orders to the employees.
A chain of command is witnessed in this type of structure. This form of structure differs from the flat structure in that it motivates the employees so that they can work hard in anticipation of promotion. It also brings out competition between departments hence making the company realize high returns. Finally, the employees focus on their area of work so much that they end up being experts in those areas.
Flat organization structure, on the other hand, tries to break any levels of management by minimizing any cases of supervision and entrusting the employees with decision-making powers. The good thing about this form of structure is that it improves communication, speeds up the decision-making process and brings out high level of responsibility amongst employees because of the close relationship between employees and managers. However, the flattened structure is the most preferred in today's organizations as it triggers innovation.
Teamwork provides a better quality of work life for employees while improving organizational efficiency. This assumption is not correct. The incorrectness is because, in the first case, team White members became so obsessed with rules on how to make their team run smoothly to an extent that some of its members found it difficult to remain loyal to the team. Lack of loyalty led to the members talking more about the rules other than being committed to their work in Xel Communications. In the second case study, the teamwork system failed since no members wanted to incur losses due to the mistakes made by either of the team members. The objective of letting the strongest performers motivate the weak performers therefore fails, and this leads to the failure of the teamwork system.
Interpersonal factors are aspects such as other individuals or groups that affect the performance of an individual. In the case studies, individuals within the groups affected each other as in the case of arriving late to work. One was subjected to a certain fine that the other members ensured was settled. Also, the members failed to accept mistakes made by other colleagues, and this led to the failure of the teamwork system. Some of the personal factors that led to the failure of the teamwork system include ignorance from some team members. The members felt that other colleagues were not worth associating with due to their low performance. Lack of understanding between members also brought about disagreements. These disagreements consumed most of their time as they tried to resolve their problems.
Work Cited
Conrad, Poole. Strategic Organizational Communication in a Global Economy (7th Ed.). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. 2012. Print
