Question 1
The success of small organizations and especially fast-growing technology-based companies is depended on their ability to solve managerial and control challenges in time. Achieva being a fast growing internet solutions company has weak managerial and control systems to enable effective control, coordination and direction of employees. Effective management and organizational control are realized when the top managers are able to get things done by directing and coordinating the workforce. Further, the management has the responsibility of organizing resources within the capacity of the organization to ensure that organizational strategic goals are achieved. In essence, proper coordination of organizational resources promotes and strengthens formal relationships between employees and, more importantly, optimal coordination and utilization resources. The tenets of effective management and organizational control are the ability to delegate authority, harmonize resources, entrench the unity of purpose, a span of control and build teams and consensus. This essay evaluates the challenges facing Achieva in the context of organizing resources and control mechanism.
A closer evaluation of Achieva depicts an organization with great potentials for growth and profitability but grappling with organizational and control problems. The first inherent organizational problem is the lack of a properly instituted organizational design and structure. According to Corkindale, (2011) in a journal published by the Harvard Business Review titled The Importance of Organizational Design and Structure, the author argues that a poor organizational structure and design creates a conundrum of conflicting responsibilities, confusion in roles, poor coordination of functions, inability of employees to share innovations, slow decision making and unwarranted stress, conflict, and complexities in the workplace. The author notes that top management may be oblivious of the ripple effect caused by poor organizational design and structure. This appears to be the case in Achieva because despite the fact employees are expressing dissatisfaction; the top management is not keen to realize the problem. At first, when the company had not grown to its current state, it may have survived with a weaker organizational structure and design; however, due to the effects of growth, there is need to meet customer as well as responding to employee welfare (Corkindale, 2011).
The second organizing and controlling problem is a failure to reward good performance and reprimand poor performance. One of the hallmarks of good organizational management is the ability of an organization to measure results and reward accordingly. There exists strong empirical evidence supporting the need for organizations to reward good performance as a motivator for increasing productivity, employing morale and employing retention. Formal or informal recognition goes a long way in motivating workers. As such, Achieva needs to develop a program for rewarding employees.
The third problem facing Achieva is employee turnover and low retention rates. It is noted from the case study that a number of talented employees were leaving Achieva, perhaps, to its competitors because the company lacks mechanisms for retaining workers and motivation. Employees are the most important organizational asset. An organization such as Achieva with poor retention rates loses immensely when it fails to maintain its employees in terms of training costs incurred when workers acquire skills on-job. Besides, empirical evidence shows that the cost of training new employees is always higher compared to that of retaining the existing employees. However, the reason, why employees are leaving Achieva in droves is because they are poorly managed, in terms of reward for good performance, poor workplace culture due to a weak organizational structure and a weak reporting system.
Question 2
In conclusion, I learned several concepts in chapter 1. Firstly, managing an organization requires an individual with an open mind and knowledgeable. A manager must possess a demeanor characterized by leadership skills, approachability, and technical skills to solve problems and make decisions. Secondly, employees are an infallible asset that organizations must protect and incentivize to tap their potentials. Poor human resource management has a direct effect on an organization’s productivity and growth, and therefore, must not be ignored. Finally, I learned that organizations require proper reporting structures for proper coordination, control, and direction.
References
Corkindale, G. (2011). The importance of organizational design and structure. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from http://blogs. hbr. org/corkindale/2011/02/the_importance_of_organization. HTML (02/02/2012).
Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2016). Essentials of contemporary management. Dubuque: McGraw-Hill Education
