The Management Style at Caspian
The management style at Caspian is similar to consultative leaders because the leader listens to the views and suggestions of the group, but takes only a few of them seriously. Although the leader consults the workforce about changes, he doesn’t really listen to any of their views (another form of consultative management style). The top owners and directors of Caspian are Mike Bokaie, Stuart Rock and Kate Cazenove.
Caspian are conscious of making mistakes because the quality of the product is very important to Caspian. Being a medium- sized firm this one of the key standards on which they are judged and therefore influences performance. Their scared to make minor changes to the publications just encase they lose their readers. Cash-flow is also important, therefore, Caspian have to watch their pennies. However to keep any workforce happy they have to be consulted.
The Culture at Caspian
There are many types of culture. For example:-
- Certain firms are very orientated and the job must be done no matter what the consciences are, and there are no excuses for poor performance.
- Some firms are very innovative and workers are encouraged to try new ideas and new ways of doing things.
Changing culture can be difficult because the firm has to change the values of those already in the organisation. To do this they may have to:-
- Educate staff as to why change is necessary
- Train them in new ways of working
- Reward them for changing their behaviour
- Punish them if they do not change their behaviour
Culture is the way of life and is important to a workforce and is determined by the values, emotions, attitudes and beliefs although the culture at Caspian seems to be quite poor because we would expect a
small company of 48 workers to have a much closer relationship and be their for each others needs.
Caspian is a small company with about 48 workers, with 5 years trading and there is very little room for flexibility, so strong leadership is required at a firm like Caspian. In a small business there isn’t anywhere to hide and most people have to do a variety of jobs.
SPAN OF CONTROL
This refers to the number of people a manager is responsible for and has authority over, (a measurement of how many staff each supervisor has control over). Organisations that have a short chain of command tend to have wider spans of control. This produces a flat organisation structure because it has a hierarchy with fewer levels of management.
FLAT ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
Through flat organisational structures are generally desirable, there is a limit to the number of subordinates who can be placed under one superior. Even very experienced managers who have the qualities and personalities that promote loyalty and hard work can only be responsible for so many employees. This is because exerting control over a large number of people all of whom are supplying information for a decision, is bound to place a great deal of strain on the physical and mental energies of senior managers.
Disadvantages
- Wide span of control are out weighed by the costs of employing the extra managers needed to produce narrower spans of control.
Advantages
- The group within the span are highly skilled or talented and are given a great deal of scope to be creative and imaginative in their work.
TALL ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
Organisations with a long chain of command with a hierarchy made up of many levels of management are said to have tall organisational structures. However, the greater the number links in the chain of command, the further information must flow when passing up the hierarchy, and the
greater the number of management layers that decisions must pass through before they achieve their desired effect further down the hierarchy. Because of this, organisations seek to operate with the shortest possible chain of command.
Disadvantages
- Communication can be slowed down because of the intervening layers of management.
Advantages
- Small span of control which means fewer employees to tend to which should lead to closer bonds.
Caspian is a Flat Organisation because they don’t have many hierarchy levels.
LINE ORGANISATION
In a line structure, a company is usually organised into functional departments, each headed by a senior manager, below whom there is a chain of command. This indicates that there is a line of authority and responsibility as one goes down the structure.
Each person in the line has authority over those below, while being responsible for making sure that the work handed down to them from
their immediate manager is completed. This applies even if the subordinate does not personally undertake the actual work.
Disadvantages
- It can involve a very long chain of command instructions may take a considerable time to filter from the top and impact on production, which can be an important drawback if the organisation operates in a rapidly charging market.
- The flow of information back up a long chain to management may be a lengthy process, causing a considerable delay before problems are identified and tackled.
Advantages
- It is a hierarchical structure which is simple to understand- staff no precisely where they are in the structure, who can allocate work to them and to whom they are responsible.
- Managers have a clear understanding of the roles of people when allocating work and spend less time monitoring work because subordinates are not distracted or confused by instructions from other sources.
Evaluation
Caspian at the moment is a small company so a flat organisation suits them better but if in the future Caspian would like to expand their workforce (so that there’s more people working on the team) they should use a tall organisational structure so that they can still earn more profits.
By Corene Smickle
