Comparison and Contrast between the Different Organizational Structures and Cultures:
Unison is the largest trade union for public sector workers in the UK. Apparently the framework of UNISON is such that it follows a centralized structure of procedural implications such that all the decisions affecting the whole union are made by individuals who are senior members & workers. However the UNISON culture is that equality, and it gives people freedom of thought and expression , and any kind of disability is in no way a disqualifying factor.
It is a known fact that UNISON has the ability to use technological know-how and cutting edge innovative techniques for communicating to its members. Infact host of modern sate of the art facilities is available at the UNISON centre like media centre, television and radio recording facilities. But in terms providing a steep contrast with the different cultures as well as the structurs of an organization, analyzing the pros and cons of a few is imperative and are as follows:
Organization Structures:
Span of Control: Broadly speaking there are two kinds of organizational structures under this broad frame work and they are namely: a) Tall & Narrow Structure and b) Flat & Wide Structure:
a) Tall & Narrow Structure :
These structures provide a brief preview of how the managers are controlling their subordinates and a , tall and narrow organizational structure entails that the manager can handle a span of five to eight subordinates . This enables better management as it is then easier to handle minimum number of people with improved communication skills a and stronger level of supervision with a reduced gap between the management at the top hierarchy.
b) Flat & Wide Structure:
This kind of organizational structure calls for a wider distribution of people under the manager and this would mean a higher level of difficulty for the manager to handle many subordinates and it is therefore just the opposite of the ‘Tall & Narrow” Structure. Interpersonal communication thereby becomes difficult and there would be a lesser amount of transparency and handling and managing people then becomes difficult down to the grass - root level.
c) Centralization and Decentralization:
This means that the organizational structure in Centralisation involves the decision-making process to be centralized and the decision is made by a single person with no interaction or participation from the lower levels of management . In the decentralization process the decision making function is distributed across the various levels of hierarchy throughout the organization and it is more of a participative mangament approach and every employee feels valued and as an integral part of the organization.
d) Matrix Structure:
This kind of the structure of the organizational is more or less a combination of the product, customer, functionality and geographic distribution. Sometimes business demands people with a various kinds of functional skills drawn from areas such as marketing, human resources, operations or finance. So an organization with a matrix structure focuses on employees’ team work with regards to the business project. The various functional departments are responsible for their particular sections and the team work for a project depends on a particular project time till the project is completed and then the team diverts its focus to another project.
The advantages thereof is such kind of organizational structures is the fact that roles are clearly well defined within the different layers of hierarchy, and this supports cooperation, develops flexibility and combines the benefits of specialization of the project structure and multi-functional working conditions.
However, the disadvantages are the fact that decision-making process could be relatively slower with the possibility of competition between dual managers to gain the upper hand which could prove to be costly.
Organizational Culture:
Organizational culture is a set of clearly defined values, rules, belief’s, attitudes and these factors act as driving forces to help the organization to know how they will work, to whom they will report and what is important in terms of the organizations priorities.
In fact the organizational behavior is concerned with the study of the behavior of people within an organizational framework or setting and it involves the comprehension of human behavior within the framework of the structure of an organization that can profoundly influence the effectiveness as well as the performance of an organization. It was rightly stated that “Organizational behavior is concerned with the study of the behavior of people within an organizational setting . It involves the understanding, prediction and control of human behavior” (Mullins, 2010).
So organizational culture is therefore a concept that has apparently been derived from the stream of anthropology as a discipline and in simple words by “How things are done around here”. (Atkinson, 2006). It is also based on notions such as values, value-based beliefs, attitude along with individual development.
Since culture has been regarded the backbone of any organization structure or framework it would be appropriate to discuss various key internal environmental factors that are responsible for the failures and the success of any firm:
Types of Culture -
a) Power Culture:
It is a kind of culture where authority and power is centralized and the basic or key elements are decision-making and business control. The individuals at the top hierarchy of management within an organization are the decision makers and are independent when making decisions with a less participative approach .
b) Welfare / Person Culture :
This kind of a welfare-oriented culture is generally seen in social activities such as charitable and non profitable organizations.
c) Task Culture:
This is a kind of task-oriented culture where the power is derived from a certain
‘Team’ who has the functional expertise to execute the task and so it is basically a team-work based approach to complete a particular task. This kind of culture is more common where the organization focuses on project based work and is keen on establishing a project team for a particular period of, time and the employees feel highly motivated because they are also involved in the decision- making process.
d) Role Culture:
The ‘Role Culture’ is most common in organizations and the organizations are split into various functions and each individual has been allocated a particular role and employees have the benefit of being able to focus their attention on their particular role as designated by the higher authorities with clearly defined job descriptions and this will enable them to be more productive.
The structure of an organization or its framework literally defines how task specific functions are further divided, coordinated, classified and allocated within a business and this normally occurs on the basis of various organizational structures which is hugely dependent on the size of the organization and the objectives.
In a structure that is functional, the division made is in regards to the basis of the functional expertise and each department focuses on its area of proficiency , and that leads to specialization , but this would also imply that the chances of increased level of resistance to change in large organizations is much higher and might prove challenging to integrate every section with the aim of attaining the best overall performance.
In structuring the is based on a product or activity however as discussed the possibility of achieving a higher degree of goal analogy is better as the main aspect to concentrate on is on the activity being undertaken and people from diverse disciplines focus on a common goal while working together. But performing structuring with regards to the geographic location has the probability of fulfilling customer expectations through improvised methods of communication.
In the research by Kinicki & Kreitner (2006, p.41), “Organizational culture is the set of shared, taken for granted assumptions of a group that determines how it perceives, thinks and reacts (p.41).” The shared insights and value based belief systems defines the culture of an organization and this is a variable factor as it differs from one organization to that of another. But if the culture of power demonstrates the concentration of power at levels that are higher in the hierarchy, the task culture values employee opinions and encourages the employees to focus on the task and every member of the team is expected to contribute equally. Another kind of culture is the person culture and here the individual at hand decides in the best interests of the person concerned and not the organization and it is not very effective for the organization at large.
Relationship between the organizational structure and culture and the impact on the performance of UNISON:
Since the organizational structure plays a prominent in role in deciding how the roles and responsibilities should be allocated and monitored it is important to have a proper hierarchial framework within organizations to manage the flow of communication between the internal and external customers . The two different dimensions of categorization can be considered ad Vertical and Horizontal . The Vertical orgainsational structures have an organizational chart with many different levels of authority with the individuals in top managerial positions having a small or narrow span of control as in comparison with the flat horizontal structure with a wider span of control i.e. (many subordinates under one manager or supervisor).
Apparently UNISON has a highly complex organizational structure due to the increasing complexities of the nature of work carried out by UNISON. It is estimated that UNISON has 1,100 staff members at its main centre in London. The task is functionally and geographically divided and employees are responsible for health, learning and development, local government and education with branches organized throughout various regions in Britain and Northern Ireland. There are 3 main functional bodies in the tall organizational structure that UNISON follows and they are namely :
The National Executive Council which is elected by members who are vested with the authority to focus on policy matters and provide leadership.
The UNISON Centre concentrates on providing a range of quality services to members and regions for issues related to legal, financial and personnel services.
Regional employees are expected to deal with issues related to their particular geographical region example when a local employer is inclined to lay off workers after announcing redundancies.
The structure of an organization could depends on the core principles and perceptions which sets the structure and the culture would follow in its operations. In this scenario the type of structure that a business has, is well reflected in the organizational behavior. UNISON, has a highly centralized and hierarchical structure and the organization is clearly run from top down and the decisions are made by the members at top level. Although the national structure of UNISON is centralized with many decisions affecting the whole union made by the senior members and workers in the UNISON centre , UNISON’s culture is one of equality and it is very keen on allowing people to express their opinions freely . So the culture gives people freedom of thought and expression and an opportunity to be part-takers in the decision making process as each of their views and viewpoints are highly valued and this approach enables UNSION to be responsive and thereby effective at all levels .
Factors which influence individual behavior at work in UNISON:
The Chief Executive Officer of Siemens, Mr. Klaus Kleinfeld remarked during a lecture in Wharton University “ In today’s world knowledge travels faster than ever before , so if you are talking about a sustainable competitive advantage, probably the only one is the quality of the people you have and the way they interact as a team”.
This means that the factors affecting individual behavior at work are directly related to the kind of work environment and culture that the organization has , and so it is thereby evident that the individual behavior at work is affected by both innate and environmental factors. Stress has been identified to be a silent killer that destroy’s an individual’s health both physical and cognitive and performance.
As rightly defined by the Chartered Management Institute “Motivation is the creation of stimuli, incentive and working environment that enable people to perform to the best of their ability. The heart of motivation is to give people what they really want most from work. In return manager should expect more in the form of productivity, quality and service” So if employees feel valued and are given the right to express their views they feel motivated.
Other generic factors that predominantly influence individual behavior is personality traits which are obviously variable and the personality of each person will invariably differ according to each person’s background, temperament , and skills. Other than that the culture of the geographical location or region will also have a great degree of influence on the individuals characteristic traits, perceptions , and behaviors.
Comparison of the effectiveness of the different leadership styles in UNISON:
Leadership can be broadly defined as a process in which individuals are able to provide direction, guide and influence and inspire others through a shared vision approach to work in congruence towards achieving a common goal. In 1939, Kurt Lewin and colleagues conducted many leadership decision experiments and came up with findings that supported three different kinds of leadership styles namely Autocratic, Democratic and Laissez-faire.
While the autocratic style is more direct in nature as the employees are directed by a higher authority and the communication path-way is one way.An authoritarian approach is more focused on giving instructions and the employees are obliged to comply.Democratic Style of leadership is more liberal towards monitoring their employees and feel that they are able to demonstrate a high quality of work by giving direction. Laisez –faire is the style of leadership which is very lenient and a lot more accommodating and prefers to follow a non-judgemental and ‘no blame’ sort of culture!
Evaluation of the different approaches to management used by different organizations:
Since the organizational theory is the discipline that studies the structure and design of the organizations, it analyzes the actual structure of organizations and thereby offers suggestions on how effectiveness can be improved.
The ‘Decision theory approach’ , of management focuses on the processes and persons making decisions. In this scenario, decision making is used as the basis for all activities within the organization and can help managers to carry out their roles efficiently and improve the line of communications.
But on the other hand, the focus is very narrow and there are a lot many aspects which are not considered. So another approach is the Systems approach which has the innate ability to view the organization as a group of interrelated parts like to organs of a body with a single purpose in lieu of goal congruence. While this approach is most useful in assimilating different parts of an organisation and integrating them into the external environment, it is not a novel concept and cannot be universally applied to any given situation.
Approaches for contingency purposes tries to incorporating the theories managementto come up with a unified plan, where managers realize that one fixed method cannot be used for every situation. It has the advantage of taking into consideration every limitation of the Scientific Management Approach.
The Impact that different ‘leadership styles’ may have on the ‘motivation factor’ in organizations:
Leadership styles have a great impact in gearing the level of employee engagement and commitment and harness a higher degree of employee motivation . In fact the success of individual careers and organizations at large is based on how effectively it being led and the style of the manager leading the team . For example if the new manager is more inclined to using a carrot and stick approach and use an authoritarian style the workers may not be able to foster a good working relationship with him. In many organizations the ‘Us & We’ factor being instilled and nurtured in the minds of workers and employees at large creates an atmosphere for collaborative work and a motivated workforce.
On the other hand an extremely lenient or laisse – faire approach would also prove to be detrimental as the employees would slack off, from putting in the required amount of efforts, in producing quality work. If the leadership approach is based on a participative/ consultative style where the input of the employees is encouraged and valued, they may start being more motivated to perform well and meet targets, as they perceive the work as 'ours'.
Comparison of the application of the Maslow’s Motivational Theory for Managers in UNISON:
Organizations today are constantly trying to find better ways to motivate their employees to increase productivity and results. There are different motivational theories in attaining this end. According to Mullins (2007), “Motivation is an individual phenomenon, multifaceted and intentional. There are many theories that are used to explain this”. One such is Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which is based on the humanistic approach that people tend to fulfill different needs at different levels, which is arranged as a pyramid-shaped model. The bottom where the bottom has physiological (deficiency needs) and the top has growth needs such as satisfaction. Finally, “the self-actualization needs of growth and development of employees could be looked into, to increase their motivation further.”
Another theory is Herzberg's theory, of hygiene and motivational factors according to which motivation is two dimensional, where each dimension comprises of distinct factors. ‘Hygiene factors’ such as safety and adequate remuneration avoid unpleasantness, while ‘Motivator factors’ such as recognition and responsibility, satisfy the need for growth. Another motivation theory is "McClelland's achievement motivation theory," according to which achievement, is critical to growth and success and so apart from Innate ability , Intrinsic drive and external pressure is also required to succeed in achieving a higher degree of employee engagement and motivation.
Usefulness of a motivation theory for managers at UNISON.
Better performance at UNISON can be gained through utilization of a motivation theory. A new manager can use Herzberg’s two factor theory to ensure that his employee's needs are being met adequately. This would increase the productivity of the supermarket due to increasing employee satisfaction. Another thing, that could be done for easier problem solving is to consider the motivational needs in the pyramidal form, to see which should come first and what should be prioritized . The remuneration could be tied to performance, productivity and extra work and new ideas could be given special recognition in line with the achievement motivation theory. A motivational theory would be highly valuable in transforming the attitudes and behaviours of the staff of UNISON and bring in even better performance.
Explanation of the nature of groups and group behaviors within UNISON:
“Work is a group-based activity and if the organisation is to function effectively it requires good teamwork. Groups exert influence over its membership, and managers must utilize this in order to achieve a high standard of work and increase effectiveness.” (Mullins, 2007) interdependence among members of a group is as a result of the common objective. “The human relations approach to management considers this social construct as an important factor. Group pressure and acceptance may be even stronger incentives than salary.” (Fox, 2006). Organizations are pluralistic in nature, and there may be different interest groups and internal and external customers who may not necessarily share the managements view on issues.
Elaboration of the aspects that can foster or inhibit the effective teamwork development in UNISON:
Apparently the interest in teamwork has increased in the recent past, and there is a high level of pressure and stress with the intention of developing teams that are directed as well as self-managed to enhance flexibility, morale of the employees and quality. A lot of factors for instance physical, psychological and social factors make people different from one another, and this may cause difficulties in team-building activities .Another root cause for differences is cultural differences and cross cultural intelligence is a must in order to induce relationships that are inter-personal. Cohesiveness among team members is fostered by the similarities in their backgrounds and interests, which then increases the possibilities of higher success within the group. Similarity in background would pave way for more empathy and understanding among the team-members but it is not in order to encourage nepotism within the organization.
But special consideration must be a taken in situation that demand social and cultural diversity as the lack of understanding may hinder the ability to achieve goal congruence. Differences in age may also inhibit effective teamwork, as people of different ages have got different approaches and perceptions to work and work culture at large.
Examination and analysis of the influence of technology on team functioning of UNISON:
With the new age technology the Information Age relies on automated systems and processes in order to get a great deal of administration work done with relatively greater ease and IT can be effectively used to manage the operations at a regional level through effective work teams. Technological advances can hinder the prospect of remaining human due to a lesser amount of interactions , but that’s how the world is progressing!
Conclusion
Organizational behavior is a multifaceted discipline which is very important in managing a business effectively in today's dynamic global environment. Motivational theories, leadership styles, and factors affecting individual behavior must be carefully studied and applied in order to be able to strike a fine balance between work and life. ‘Technology and Teamwork’ also plays an important part in the role of the management to create a work culture and structure that allows the employees to contribute their very best for the organization while not compromising on their personal prospects for growth and development!
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