Organization

Abstract

The entire organizational process is geared towards transforming a given input into a productive output that clients can value. A core element of this process is departmentalization. It helps define the exact role each employee in an organization by subdividing the work into well defined communicating units like customer, product, functional, geographic and matrix. This paper answers the three questions related to a specific business scenario of departmentalization that involves a manager and a prospective employee in a fast-food restaurant.

Spade describes the role of a cashier as a demanding one that involves multi-tasking, quick analytical skills, attention to detail and customer focus. The cashier needs to ensure that the customers get their chosen order on time and have the ability and presence of mind to deal with various kinds of customers. So, it is an amalgamation of the three major techniques of ‘combining tasks’ into ‘natural work units’ with an end goal of ‘establishing client relationships.’ In the video, Spade says it involves ‘juggling’ that is considered to be metaphorical by the college graduate Lelaine Pierce (Winona Ryder). He not only talks about the job role clearly but also describes the various challenges in simple and straightforward terms. The cashier needs to have a ‘strategy’ that incorporates the essential qualities of ‘persistence’ and’ intensified effort.’ An action plan that uses the correct people and available resources in the correct time period is the main challenge a cashier faces. The plan falls under the broad realm of planning and decision making. According to Koontz and Weihrich (2006),” Aspiring managers should carefully analyze their strengths, weaknesses, and motivations before choosing their career paths.” (p. 182).

The cashier’s position is a line position. They are directly involved in maintaining the brand value and the client base of the food-food restaurant through the sale of the product, which is food here. Unlike a staff position, where the employee is viewed as a mere business expense, in the line position, they are an asset to the organization they work for. In the video, Spade instructs the cleaner to work faster. It is only in a line position that an employee has the authority and power to instruct workers. They ‘run the entire show’ and get paid more than their counterparts.

Therefore, in the context of business, in a staff management position, the employee is expected to play a support role and be a good resource for someone in the higher chain of authority and command. By contrast, in line authority, the employee themselves are a part of and form the chain of command. Keeping in view the ‘proximal’ and ‘distal’ goals of the organization, they are primarily involved in goal setting and achieving these long term and short term goals by giving their subordinates needed orders and advice to run the organization efficiently and profitably.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is one of organized chaos. Prioritization of work, keeping customers happy by ensuring the quality of food is good and the service is prompt irrespective of the type of customer like the drive through kinds or the kids on bikes are the main challenges in this specified example. Three departmental subunits are working together to ensure the business succeeds. They are the ‘function,’’ customer,’ and ‘product’ units. It involves executing quick decisions, motivating coworkers to keep the momentum going and prioritize work goals. The atmosphere is characteristic of a well-balanced business model that involves multiple departmental units constituting the staff personnel reporting to a single line authority. A specified horizontal and vertical organizational structure with clearly defined goals will always run smoothly.

There is an organizational process that has been developed and worked on, for example in this case, over a period of six months, to establish an organizational structure that suits all the employees in a particular business unit or organization, irrespective of them holding line or staff positions.

Reference

Koontz & Weihrich (2006). Essentials of management, 182.

An organization is a summary of people grouped, ordered, managed to meet a common goal.  (McNamara, 2007) Business organization is what we call a group tasked to perform business. It operates on business laws such as business contracts and integration, and property rights. (Britannica.com) There is no limit to the number of people a business organization can have.

No matter what number, all members perform activities based on expectations such as specified nature of tasks that go with a position, workflow and priorities set by the management. It works on a system. System refers to plans, processes and management. They also involve laws, strategies that can either be found in manuals or accepted as an order. (McNamara, 2007)

A business organization can have several groups working on different tasks. It can have subsystems depending on purpose. A group of people performing same tasks can be called a team. Based on functions (usually permanent tasks), they can be grouped as departments.  Work that usually involves specificities like time or people can be grouped as programs. An organizational chart is a simplified illustration of a business organization. (McNamara, 2007)

Working together, members directly or indirectly affect each other. Thus, all members of a business organization have an idea (though they may vary in knowledge extent) of a business that is doing well. When everything seems repetitive, members can view organizations as machine. Others view their organization as an organism when things look dynamic and breakthroughs are made. Business organizations that have a strong support system (either established by company or employees), can be viewed as families. (McNamara, 2007)

Some people tend to dismiss business organization as an academic endeavor. The fact is that successful businesses have an organization in which players (managers and employees) have an understanding of their individual performance and the larger business picture. Individual performance must be aligned to the goals of an organization. The more conscious the players are, the more effective the organization or the better the output. (McNamara, 2007)

Business organizations operate in a wide range of sectors. In more ways than one, even government and socio-civic groups have business organization although non-profit). Business organizations operate in the following sectors. Beside them are the listed number of entities in uk.ezilon.com.

The examples of these organizations are:

1. BioIndustry Association. It is called BIA. It deals with UK’s bioscience sector,
2. British Venture Capital Association. It is called  BVCA deals with most of UK based private equity and venture capital firms, and
3. Federation of Communication Services. It is called FCS. It deals with telecommunications services. (uk.ezilon.com)

There are different types of organizations. Based on business ownership, these are categorized as proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. (myownbusiness.org) The sole proprietorship, from the words used can be translated as one’s property and one’s operation. Since, it is a small business organization, the legal and budget requirements are also small. The management for this type of organization is flexible on a daily basis. Although sole proprietorship may have fewer worries on government regulation, it takes the full the weight of its business decisions. Problems may arise if one’s debts outweigh one’s investments. (midnet.sc.edu)

Partnership is business organization of two or more persons owning and sharing profits. Partners may be unequal in terms of roles or what it gives to a business. One may give more in terms of budget, logistics or supervision. Growth and performance facilitated. The prospect of acquiring additional capital is higher in a partnership than in proprietorship. It is because it is regarded to have wider range of capabilities in terms of management, resource, and skills. If the one of the partners cease to perform its duties (for various reasons), the partnership also ceases to exist. Business survival is likely to depend on new partnership. (midnet.sc.edu)

The corporation involves a complex structure, a capital stock and state approval. It is the most stable of the three in terms. For one, long term and additional capital is easier to acquire. It is not solely dependent on one or two persons in terms of management and skills. But forming and maintaining it is highly expensive. Taxation alone is high in corporation. (midnet.sc.edu)

For a company to be successful, it should define its strength and improve them further. The areas that are usually given stress are marketing, product innovation, and low-cost manufacturing. They are succesful because they keep their feet on the ground which translates to going into business only when they are sure they have the necessary corporate skills. (Pierce and Newstrom, 1993, p.72)

The most complex business organizations are those involving multinational corporations. The examples, according to rank, are: Exxon, General Motors, IBM, Mobil, and Ford Motor. (Certo, 2000, p., 79)

References

1. Business Ownership. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from
2.        http://www.midnet.sc.edu/smbiz/SBOWN.HTM
3. Business Ownership. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://www.myownbusiness.org/s4/
4. Business Organization. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from
5.        http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/86277/business-organization#
6. Certo, S. (2000) Modern Management. Singapore: Pearson Education Asia Pte Ltd.
7. McNamara, C. (2007). Introduction to U.S. Business Organizations. Retrieved August
8.        1, 2008 from http://www.managementhelp.org/org_thry/org_thry.htm
9. Pierce J. and J. Newstrom. (1993) Manager’s Bookshelf. New York: HarperCollins
10.        College Publishers, Inc.
11. UK Business Organizations. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from
12.        http://uk.ezilon.com/uk/business/uk/business/index.shtml

A project organization is a structure that facilitates the coordination and implementation of project activities. Its main incentive is to create an environment that encourages interactions among the project personnel with a minimum amount of distractions, overlaps and conflicts. At the start of every project, it is important to first select the organization structure. On the basis of unique characteristics of the project, each project structure various forms its own advantages and disadvantages. The main goal of an organizational structure is to reduce confusion and uncertainty that is almost certain to occur in a project’s early stages.

The structure defines the relationships among members of the project management and the relationships it has with its stakeholders. It does this by using an organizational chart. There are three organizational structures that will be the focus of this paper and they are functional structure, matrix structure and pure project structure. There are many project considerations that need to be taken into account when choosing a project management structure. The size of the project is one of the main concerns since it is an all encompassing topic that needs to be addressed early on in the timeline.

Next is strategic importance. Who or what stands to gain from the success of this project? There is also the need for innovation and technology. Projects are sometimes meant to break boundaries and existing resources might not be able to cut it. The project manager needs to see if the required technologies will be developing along side the project to ensure it’s on time completion. Also, there is the need for integration, which is if multiple departments need to be involved. Sometimes departments run on different schedules and uniting them together means some very tricky scheduling.

Having this schedule written up and agreed upon by all departments can make this much easier to accomplish. There is also environmental complexity, which is the number of external interfaces that could possibly affect the project during the course of its construction. Things like the weather, the government or people are some examples of things that need to be analyzed carefully to ensure they do not cause any significant delays. Lastly, and certainly the most important, is budget and time constraints and the stability of those resources. A project cannot go beyond just a blueprint of an idea without the time and money eeded to make it take shape. Sometimes a company needs to prepare for years in order to raise the required resources to even begin a project. It would not be hard imagine the forethought that goes into this. Also, finding the available time to dedicate to the project is a difficult task itself. How can a company allot time to a project without it hampering its everyday tasks? What good is a project if the resources going into cripple the company it is for? It is a delicate balance to maintain which cannot be decided on a whim. Once all of these concerns have been thought through, a management structure can finally be decided on.

Each structure has its own advantages and disadvantages, which makes choosing the structures a fairly complicated task. Let us go through each of them to see what they are capable of allowing managers to do. The functional structure allows employees within the functional divisions of a company to perform a set of specialized tasks. Each department is staffed with the appropriate employees. Engineers stay in the engineering department and human resources stay in HR. It is a very clear cut method to keep the right people in the right place doing the job they are suited to do.

The one downside to this structure is that there is very little communication between the different divisions. If there is an urgent change that needs to be done, it is very likely that all the divisions would be able to react at the same time. A functional structure is best suited for a producer of standardized goods and services in large volumes at low costs. Every department knows what it needs to do and how to do it. Let the divisions work on their specific tasks is basically the motto of this structure. The next structure to discuss is the matrix structure. In a matrix structure, employees are grouped based on function and product.

The employees are selected based on strengths and weaknesses so that the entire group can cover for each other and form an effective team with all its bases covered. Individuals are chosen according to the needs to of the project and the project managers of each group are directly responsible for completing the project within the agreed upon deadline and budget. There are downsides however. Since every group has its own project manager, there can sometimes be a conflict between them over the allocation of resources. One group might need more money or time to finish their tasks, but that would leave the other groups with less to work with.

Also, the independence granted to each of the groups can make it difficult to monitor them all if the need arises. Lastly, costs can increase exponentially if each group has more and more managers and sub managers. The last structure is pure project which gives the project manager total control over the project they oversee. Simply put, a pure project organization might also be termed a task force. In the case of a pure project, the leader of this task force would have to be given total authority for a limited period to solve a particular problem.

The pure project structure offers powerful advantages of clear project authority, access to special expertise, project focus and priority. This also simplifies project communications since all messages and concerns are taken directly to the leader for them to look over and decide upon. The disadvantages, on the other hand, include a duplication of effort, intercompany rivalries, uncertain reintegration of resources and unclear motivations and loyalties. If a project has an all powerful leader, the project essentially becomes their project. It can potentially steer the project on a course that the rest of the staff does not agree with.

This is another source of significant delays and can change what the project is about and affect its chances of success. All of these structures have their own strengths and weaknesses, which have to be adapted to the projects they support. A simply error in selecting the wrong one can spell disaster for a project before it even has a chance to start. A manager should look at every aspect of a project, both in the current time and in the near future; to decide which structure will give it the best chance to accomplish its objectives. After all, the structure is made to help the project along, not drag it down.

Dell Inc effectively uses the feedback collected from various sources to appraise its efficiency. The action taken over the feedback collected over the years has led to the success of Dell in the market and has increased its sales over their competitors. As any complex system, Dell is structured in various teams forming an ecological system that is symbiotic in nature. These teams have defined activities to perform. Within the team are smaller individual members who are like smaller ecosystems who co exist and co operate to bring in equilibrium.

The individual strength of these smaller ecosystems is leveraged to bring about change or perfection. Some of the teams like the sales teams or the after sales support teams are directly in touch with the clients and teams like the administration team or the human resources team are shielded from the client. But all the teams irrespective of their interaction with the clients are included in the employee satisfaction survey and the customer satisfaction survey. These surveys are a negatively balanced feedback loops. The results of the survey are analyzed and this becomes the key result area of performance for that respective team.

The survey is designed in such a way that the customer or the employee is forced to think of the weakness or negativity of a particular process or event and is systematically led to give his or her views and suggestions. This feedback is then shared with the team or individual. This approach enables and encourages the teams and the members in these teams to retrospectively take corrective actions and improve performance. There are some observations or inputs that have stimulated changes in the policies or approach enabling Dell, to consolidate its position as a market leader.

Another major contributor to Dell’s success is the appraisal and awards policy. Dell firmly believes that a satisfied and contended employee is the key to all successes. “Firms and industries are highly dynamic, complex systems managed by boundedly – rational actors” (Morecroft, John, pg 2). The people managers and team leads are encouraged to think radically. “Great managers are revolutionaries” (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999). Managers are empowered to encourage their team by positive feedback. This helps the members to keep the momentum and raise the standard bars for themselves at the same time.

The system also creates a healthy competition amongst the team members that allows the team to perform better than their team mates. By sharing positive feedback, performance standards are reinforced. In the long term, the two major factors that organizations can learn from the above feedback systems are:

1. By implementing a negatively balanced feedback loops, the organization is compelled to analyze its actions. This helps in affirming certain standards and draws a roadmap that leads to success
2. By implementing an appraisal system or in other words a reinforced feedback loop, the organization manages to bring in an equilibrium and constant efficiency and performance. Feedback and constant improvement are the factors that act as catalysts in organizational development. Organizational development is a long term effort at continuous improvement supported at all levels of the organization. References Buckingham and Coffman, (1999) First break all the rules, what the worlds greatest managers do differently Morecroft John, BW System dynamics, RBV www. systemdynamics. com/conferences/2001 Senge Peter, The fifth discipline

The advent of globalization has diversified the work force and increased its cultural differences in many companies across the globe. Publication of information on these trends has led to calls for effective management of diversity in organizations, and observers have advised that unless corporation start managing diversity, they will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

Moreover, invoking what might be termed the “Value-in- diversity hypothesis,” some writers have stated that, when properly used, cultural diversity in the work forces bring value to the organization and ultimately improves their performance. They have emphasized that managing diversity is an economic issue as well as legal & social concern. The case is about SAA pharmacy Limited, a Malaysian company started by Mr. Uruguayan an Indo-Malaysian in 1991.

The SAA Pharmacy limited worked on the alliance and merchandise with Stop and shop which is an existing apartment store in various cities in Malaysia in the earlier days. Mr. Uruguayan strategically recruited HER from Australia, New Zealand, India, Philippines and Malaysia based on cost of employees and skills available. Employees from Australia and New Zealand are at strategic positions, Indians in second level of hierarchy, Philippines are appointed as pharmacist and branch managers, and finally Malaysian in equal positions of Philippines.

The company provides salaries incentives etc. Based on hierarchy and national expatriate basis. Despite of modern HER techniques applied by the CEO, employees room different nationalities felt discriminated. So, a work force with diversified nationalities and a level of cultural differences resulting in issues is the case about.

Questions and answers

• What is the misalignment among company strategies, HER strategies and cultural issues?

Mr. Uruguayan strategically employed people from various countries based on cost of employees and skills available from various countries.

It is also mentioned in the case study that Mr.. Uruguayan adapts most modern techniques of Human resource management. When the employees feels like there is a discrimination on ultra and nationality, management should have the potential to bring out the best from the employees and end discrimination and be ethical. When the work is almost Company policy is to pay employees on their designation as mentioned in the case study, so according to the skill set and experience all the nationality employees should be given opportunity to take responsibility.

This will also reduce the cost since employees from other nations can be replaced by local employees with same skill set and experience.

• Can you identify any problem in sourcing the employees from different countries?

The company provides salaries incentives etc. N hierarchy and national expatriate basis. This led to a feeling of discrimination among the employees from Malaysia and Philippines The employees of Malaysia, particularly pharmacists, feel that they r discriminated and paid less even though they do the same Job like the pharmacists from Philippines.

On the other hand, Philippines have a strong feeling that they are also discriminated against Indian employees. They contribute the lions’ share of profit to the company as pharmacists. While all the other employees believe that salaries are not based on the nationality of the employees, but based on the significance of duties. Mr. Arranging despite of the modern HER techniques that he uses, couldn’t have this problem solved.

• What would be the possible measure to solve the problem of the company?

The following measures can be taken to solve the problem: Mr. Arranging should make the employees understand that all the departments and functions of the organization are equally important. SSP should hire more local employees with required skill sets in better designations. Care should be taken regarding employee motivation with some awards and rewards for the employees with best performances. Promotions and hikes should be considered with respect to the experience of the employees.

Shaky bridge

Mr. Arranging started the company in 1991 implies that he has very good experience in recruiting human resource.

There is no need for him to cross any shaky bridges and can handle the alignment issue in the work force. Motivating the employees to be more focused on their Job is an option but the fact remains the same that cultural differences will exists. Moreover, increasing incentives, hikes in salaries etc will increase the cost for the company. Considering the ability of MR.. Arranging to recruit, SAA pharmacy can play a gamble with the employees which might work in their favor to solve the issue. Case study mentions that the employees are concerned about the differences in their nationality and salaries of other employees.

This is a clear indication that the employees are not completely focused. Every employee should work under common interest of the organization. Salary differences should not be a problem for the employees as they have to understand it increases the attractiveness of the company to recruit globally. So, from he given situation, the following questions arise:

1. Is SAA Pharmacy limited paying to international employees more when they can have local employees with same skill set for a lower expense?
2. Promotions, hikes etc. Used for next quarter?
3. Can SAA Pharmacy take an advantage of the differences in the work force?

In the work force, Mr. Arranging will have employees that are creating the issue and employees that get influences by such employees. Depending on the performance of the employees Mr.. Arranging can lay off a few employees and increase the responsibilities of the other employees. This will make the employees more focused on their Jobs and stop poking their noses in other employees’ affairs. Employees complaining that the company is not reaching their expectation, the company can turn the tables by increasing the expectations on the employees.

As Mr. Arranging has good communication with the employees he can clearly mention this an opportunity to prove their skills and worth to get more benefits. If possible, company can mix and match the responsibilities of the employees and can conduct training programs to improve the skill set. Training programs for the employees to handle different responsibilities will not only improve the skill set of the employees but as he employees get to know the other employees Job, they will understand that lions and deer are equally important in a food chain.

Applying this change can be a success or a failure depending on the skill of Mr. Arranging and the level of commitment and efforts of the employees. Mr.. Arranging should lead them with an example by increasing his interaction with the employees and show that he is working as hard as all the other employees are. If the change is a success and the employees manage to reach the expectations then the company can give the promised benefits which can be compensated by other international employees as he company has local employees with the skill set and no longer need services of the international employees. If the change applied is a failure, at the very first alarm, Mr. Arranging should line up employees to balance the work force.

In this case, it will be practically proven that the employees are not as worthy as they claim to be. Getting back the former employees will also increase the good will of the company. This is an unguarded change that can solve the issue and the company can choose not to take the risk. But crossing a shaking bridge is always uncertain and its completely Mr.. Remonstrant’s call since a person don’t know what lies ahead of the bridge.

In the workplace, and from a business perspective, having a diverse workforce is no longer a question.

The world is interconnected and due to the huge advances in international travel and communication, people easily move and work across borders. Humans and the potential they possess drive an organization. The advantages of a diversified work force like Innovation, talent pools etc will be effective when issues like conflicts, disunity, bureaucracy etc are handle effectively. This can be assured by considering the following points:

1. Recognize & welcome cultural differences
2. Adapt to new hires instead of enforcing the traditional corporate culture on them
3. Communicate and understand differences
4. Be attentive to verbal and nonverbal cues that might indicate or create tension and customers gained or lost. We should always question and test the purpose of things and see if indeed the diversity policy or programmer is creating the results that is expected.

Perhaps the diversity initiative is compromising the business performance. That doesn’t mean to scrap diversity altogether but it might mean to go back to the drawing board and re-think the approach.

References

1. Copeland, L. 1988. Valuing diversity: Making the most of cultural differences at the workplace.

The success of an organization rests on the ability of managers to plan, organize, direct and control. ‘ The aim of this essay is to examine to what extent the above statement is an accurate appraisal of successful management? To illustrate the arguments put forward this essay will refer to the case study ‘The launch of the centaur’ taken from Paton et al text ‘Organizations, Cases, Issues and Concepts’. The case study reports on the problems that occurred when Centaur replaced Paravel car manufacturers.

This essay will include a study of Henri Fayol’s five key managerial elements in order to display whether it is essential to plan, organize, direct and control followed by practical examples drawn from the highlighted case study. Fayol’s career began as a mining engineer and then moved into research geology and in 1888 joined, Comambault as Director. The company was in difficulty but Fayol turned the operation round.

On retirement he published his work – a comprehensive theory of administration – described and classified administrative management roles and processes then became recognised and referenced by others in the growing discourse about management. Fayol categorized management into five key elements, which can be seen in appendix one. The first of the elements is planning; Fayol believes that planning ” means both to access the future and make provision for it”Fayol views the “action plan” as the most useful output of the planning process.

He notes that this plan must consider the firm’s resources, work- in-progress, and future trends of the eternal environment. Fayol also believes that a good action plan must consist of continuity, unity, flexibility and precision. Pugh and Hickson state that ” The problems of planning which management must overcome are: making sure the objectives of each part of the organisation are securely welded together (Unity); using both short and long term forecasting (continuity); being able to adapt the plan in the light of changing circumstances (flexibility), and attempting to accurately predict courses of action Precision”.

The essence of planning is to allow the optimum use of resources. The views of Fayol and Pugh and Hickson illustrate the importance of planning when seeking to be a successful manager. The second of the elements is organizing, Fayol states that “personnel is the focus of this section”He believes that managerial duties of an organisation must be realised through the use of personnel. He argues that despite the variety of business, every firm of similar employee size differs mainly in the ” nature and relative value of constituent elements”.

The task of management is to build up an organisation that allows the activities to be carried out in an optimal manner. Pugh and Hickson state, “Central to this is a structure in which plans are effectively prepared and carried out. There must be unity of command and direction, clear definition of responsibilities, precise decision making backed up by an efficient system for selecting and training managers”. The views of Fayol and Pugh and Hickson illustrate the importance of organizing when seeking to be a successful manager.

Fayol has identified that there are many key objectives of organising, which can be located on Appendix two The Fayol’s third element comes logically after the first two, plan and control his third element is to command. In relation to the question command is part of the ability to direct. Fayol states that commanding is “the responsibility of every manager”. The purpose of this is to achieve the maximum contribution from all personnel to help with the interests of the organization. Pugh and Hickson state that with the “ability to command the manager obtains the best possible performance from subordinates”.

Organisations have a variety of tasks to perform so co-ordination is needed, which is the fourth of Fayol’s elements and the other half of the ability to direct. Fayol has created a list of managerial duties/responsibilities, which are highlighted in Appendix 3 Fayol states “co-ordinating is the harmonisation of resources in their optimum proportions in order to achieve results”. Pugh and Hickson backup Fayol’s view ” essentially this is making sure that one departments efforts are coincident with efforts of other departments, and keeping all activities in perspective with regard to the overall aims of the rganisation”. Fayol identifies some of the key characteristics of a well co-ordinated organisation. These characteristics are highlighted in Appendix 4. The fifth and final of Fayol’s five elements is controlling which logically checks the other four elements are performing correctly. Fayol states that controlling “consists of the ongoing, routine verification of plan implementation, instructions issued and principles”. Controlling applies to all processes and its purpose is to identify weaknesses and problems that can be rectified and to prevent recurrences.

Fayol believes that organisations should be “cautious against infiltration of control” such as duality of command. Fayol also stresses the need for independent, objective and impartial inspection. Pugh and Hickson believe that ” to be effective, control must operate quickly and there must be a system of sanctions. The best way to ensure this is to separate all functions concerned with inspection from operation departments whose work they inspect”. This backs up the view made by Fayol. The above views illustrate the importance of the ability to command when aiming to become a successful manager.

Fayol’s managerial functions have been subject to in-depth analysis, which had led to the highlighting of various weaknesses. The main weakness is that the Fayol system is based upon assumption and clearly lacks consideration of human behaviour. One of his five elements taken from Pugh and Hickson (1996) “To forecast and plan – prevoyance” illustrates this. It is impossible to forecast every activity within the workplace e. g. arguments amongst staff, staff leaving the company and basically any emergencies that arrive.

Some might believe that Fayol’s theoretical thinking placed too much importance on observation, Mintzberg (1989) himself suggests “If you ask managers what they do they will almost likely tell you that they plan, organize, co-operate and control. Then watch what they do. Do not be surprised if you can’t relate what you see to those four words”. Mintzberg undertook an extensive study of executives at work. He categorized management into three groups that are divided into ten roles which can be seen in Appendix.

A Roles such as leadership, liaison, monitor, disturbance handler etc, which are not mentioned in Fayol’s model of management, clearly illustrate that interpersonal skill have been neglected in his management approach. This is seen, as a major weakness because interpersonal skills are essential in the day to day running of a business, as stated above it is impossible to foresee the future. Chris Argyris and David McGregor highlight other weaknesses Argyris (1957) noted that if classical principles of formal rganization are used, employees work in a certain environment (Appendix 6). This approach to organisations and their management has been subject to substantial criticism. It employs close system assumptions in order to reduce uncertainty and maximise control. Many of its principles are based on common sense “Truism” and suffer from generality, in that they lack specific guidelines for applications. It regards the organization as a machine and people as its components, organisation without people. At its best it regards the individuals as only motivated by money.

It, therefore, disregards the social and more complex needs of individuals in organizations. In the late 1950s, Douglas McGregor stressed the importance of understanding the relationships between motivation and human nature. He believed that managers attempted to motivate employees using one of two basic approaches. The first was a negative theory, labeled theory X. Theory X Followed the traditional view of management based on direction and control. It Suggested that managers were required to coerce, control or threaten employees in order to motivate them.

In contrast, the second was a positive theory, labeled Theory Y, and was based on new information about behavior. Theory Y suggested that managers believed that people are capable of being responsible and mature. Despite the above criticism the classical approach still remains influential even today. Many of its principles have formed the foundation for the development of the modern management concepts. It is advised that new managers should consider Fayol’s model of management but also consider other theories from academics such as Mintzberg.

Due to globalization, many firms have sought market beyond their normal locations. The search for markets in oversea locations is inevitable. The movement of a company and its product into new locations is rosy in the initial stages but cultural difference between the parent country and the new location presents a big problem to such organizations. The paper seeks to understand the causes and the nature of the cultural differences and how they initiate conflict in an organization. It further provides examples of multinational companies that have experienced the same problems after moving to international locations.

Cross cultural conflicts With the growing trend of globalization, many companies have found it profitable to spread their locations for expansion to overseas. An offshore business promises a lot to the parent companies. The competition at home for the parent companies may make them seek other unexploited areas that promise better chances of growth. The beginning years at the chosen places to work may be smooth but soon cultural conflicts set in as the organization experience cultural differences with the new environment.

The difference may be caused by conflicting cultures of the expatriates or the product of the organization differ with the customs and the believes of the locals. Multinational corporations, are known for their consistency in the in their style of management and products from their countries of origin. Multinational businesses being located in different countries are likely to experience cultural conflicts among its employees. Their employee especially the expatriates from the countries of origin are moved to spice the setting of operations in new locations with different cultures including languages.

This shift in working places is likely to create conflict in the organizations as these employees don’t share the same base of believes as the host country. In order to understand the conflicts caused by cultures in organizations, it is important that one knows the importance of diversity. People’s culture always shapes the way they relate to each other in everyday life. It also shapes how we perceive, attribute and judge others and also ourselves. Culture comprise of language, dressing, eating habits and food types and other customs.

Culture may be shared by people across ethnic racial and geographical locations. Cultures may be the same but it has arisen from different political social and economic backgrounds that further reshape the culture of an individual. Sex and gender also affect culture in different ways. Every working place in multinational organization has people from different cultural backgrounds. The difference in their cultures makes their believes and the way they relate to each other overlap. With nobody ready to yield ground in the competition for scarce resources when their goals are not similar. Read about The Strong Culture Perspective

The difference in the perception of goals is breed by their individual difference in culture and personal ambitions and the need to control the resources over others in the same working environment. According to Kolb and Putnam (1992) conflict is a situation where there is actual or perceived competition between people that involve emotions. The competition may be over scarce resources, different goals and manner of achievement of the set goals and the ways of acquiring the resources and the power needed to acquire them.

Individuals’ character and perceptions on life greatly play a role in creation of conflict between individuals. In a working environment, conflict may be beneficial and in some cases it is seen as total disrespect to the management decision. Conflict can improve the effectiveness in operations of a company or can affect performance. The individual perception is influenced by culture and environment. A person’s culture links with environment to shape the way people relate with others in the society. Culture plays a role in creation of universality of behavior between people living under the same culture location.

From the knowledge of conflict, as long as people live under the same environment, there is bound to be misunderstanding between them. The cause is innate to humans; it is rooted to the fight for minimum resources for survival. Culture only adds to the differences that constitute to conflict by defining the ideal behavior to its members and closing the door to others so that what is common knowledge to the members of a given culture isn’t considered so by those not subscribing to it. Culture difference affects an organization in different ways.

At one level, an organization can decide to take a single manager from the parent country. It may also decide to employ individuals from different countries to work in the same place. The other level is when the company decides to use its human resource strategies from the parent company or combine them with those from many other countries. With employees form different locations of the world, different cultural backgrounds will be represented in the company. The different cultural backgrounds mean presences of different perceptions of the world.

Each employee will subscribe to the ideal management perspective prescribed by their culture. This will bring misunderstanding on the issue of management and best policies for the company. I cases where there is difference in language from the parent company and the host location, it will present a big problem to the management in deciding the best language of operation in the new territory. Breakdown in communication is bound to happen between employees in the company and decision making will be affected by the language barrier.

The change in the locations for operations should correspond with changes in strategies of management. The ideal management strategy should be harmonized with that prescribed by the new location culture. This will go a long way to prevent conflicts that arise from people in the company having different views on the management and policies related to the company. In a study in Malaysia by Jorun Titlestad Gjelsvik, on “the Influence of Islamic culture on Scandinavian management in Malaysia” in 2001, the different cultures offer different management relations in a company.

According to the author, he notes that Malaysian employees wait for instructions from their managers on how to do a given task. The Scandinavian view is different as employees work with their personal initiative. Issues of time management also differ in the two cultures. Scandinavians do not care talking about personal things before contacting business talks. The Malay culture requires that personal talks begin before business. From this study it was also found that people in Malaysia do not work in the same working environment for a long time.

Issues like clothing, food, and general working hours of companies were affected because of the Islamic culture. Companies for example had to make an extra room for its employees for prayers. They also had to reduce working hours on Fridays to allow workers attend prayers. All these were done to accommodate the religion of the people which is part of culture. Another example of cultural conflicts affecting organizations in new territories is the case of Daimler-Chrysler merger. They realized that the effectiveness of a company needs more than just money to operate in their new territories.

The differences in the employee’s cultures had to be harmonized by extensive training and showing them how to work together for their mutual benefits. The difference in work ethics between the cultures of the two countries was a threat to the general performance of the merger. Cultures define the way people communicate and how they use different languages. Gibson (1999) “the difference in language use caused by culture breeds misunderstanding” (from Luo, Jackson, and Schuler) Luo, Jackson, Schuler, give an example of how culture difference can affect effective working.

beside careful planning by Davidson-Marley IJV the US engineers who designed the Dutch manufacturing company sent the Dutch engineers measurements in feet, inches, gallons . the Dutch locals had to convert all the measurements before they are given the contract and given the approval by the government. Cultural difference between employees in an organization also determines their level of cohesiveness. This is generated especially when the differences are demographic. The conflicts are bound to increase when there is diversity in age, sex, gender, race, education and others.

Isen and Baron (1991) show that the low level of understanding and cohesiveness between employees in an organization tends to be detrimental to bonding and corporation between employees in the same company, increased cohesiveness improves interaction between employees which will boost cooperation between them. Another example of cross cultural conflicts is the joint venture of Corning-Vitro of 1992. Vitro is a Mexican firm manufacturing drink ware and other products like automobile windshields, washing machines and other products Corning Inc. is known for ready glass.

It also has ventures into fiber optic, environmental products and also laboratory equipments. Both companies shared same corporate cultures and customer oriented philosophies. The merger was soon to be a failure because of cultural difference between the two countries. Vitro was not as aggressive as Corning Inc. thought it should be. Mexicans are too polite and the Americans thought that this was a waste of time. In terms of decision making, Corning administration made decisions jointly after general discussions while the vitro’s waited it from the top executives.

This difference led to their collapse of the merger with Corning agreeing to return Vitro its money. After the breakdown of the alliance, cultural difference were still visible, the CEOs of both companies reacted differently with Corning being frank and Vitro being protective. (from Professor Cara Okleshen- University of Georgia) Conclusion The definitions of culture Though globalization promises a ready market for organizations and also chances for expansion, this is never fully realized by those organizations that do not critically consider cultural difference between the parent company and the host location.

A lot of effort should be spent to ensure total harmony between the organizational products and management styles to that favored by the host location culture. This can be achieved through proper research and extensive cross cultural marketing training by the parent company, cross cultural awareness training of its employees, cross cultural team building, Reference Hall, Edward T. (1976). Beyond Culture. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Patric Colin. (2005). Organizational psychology in cross-cultural perspective. Silverthorne: NYU Press. Roch, E. M. (June 1996).

“Multinational Corporations- the Emerging research Agenda”, Journal Of Strategic Information Systems, (5:2) Luo Y. , Jackson S. E, Schuler R. S. (2002). managing Human Resources in cross- border Alliances. Hamdorf D. (2006). Towards Managing Diversity- Cultural Aspects Of Conflict Management In International Business Environments. Vdm Verlag. Jorun Titlestad Gjelsvik, (2001) the Influence of Islamic culture on Scandinavian management In Malaysia. Institute for Classical Philology, Russian and the History of Religions The University of Bergen, Norway.