Attitude to superiority –this will vary according to individual belief, age and culture. For many employees frustrations and resentment arise from the bureaucracy that formal management structure provides. Although managers view such structure as strength in terms of achieving objectives, for many individuals in the workplace such structures act as a negative catalyst, thus impacting on low motivation and reduced productivity.
As the aging process occurs, individuals tend to become less flexible with thought and behaviour patterns, which impacts on interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Older members feel that because they hold age status that their beliefs and way of doing things are correct. They can sometime become resentful at changes or criticism in relation to their job role and indeed many take it very personal. Pg 161 chapter 9, HNC business course book Rosenberg (1960) suggests; changing attitudes are necessary to either change the underlying feeling or belief of an individual. With this is mind the management structure employs individuals of all ages in all areas to try and offset balance.
Rewards- due to the large operation of the organisation, individuals tend to be more motivated by rewards in terms of monetary values, they suggest that having such as vast hierarchy provides them with clear job roles, good promotion prospects, company pension and good holiday structures. So they tend to focus on how quickly they can gain promotion, or how much they make from customer tips.
Team Work- individuals are encouraged and indeed expected to work as part of a team, this is an essential competent to the success of the business. However, despite successful implementation of staff during the selection process in reality working with others inevitably brings conflict and differences of opinions as well as success. These differences could result from age and skill abilities, such as young immature females employed without too much working knowledge, who clash with older workers who show resentment at having all responsibility put on their shoulders.
Diversity –the organisation acknowledges the diverse range of its employees and seeks to harness these differences to foster a productive environment by ensuring that individuals are deployed to areas where their skills and knowledge can be fully utilised. This is turn assists the individual to feel valued.
However, in contrast, interpersonal relationships with in predominately female environment can be quite volatile and many individuals tend to verge on playground attitudes holding strong friendships and bonds between peers one minute and then falling out and disagreeing the next. The impact on any business could be detrimental and indeed lead to some forms of disciplinary action if it is not nipped in the bud quickly
.
Stress- stress factors placed on individuals here can be quite high due to the organisational policies which place great emphasis on individuals meeting weekly targets both in terms of client treatments for maintaining effective running costs, and also on additional selling skills for retailing products, thus ensuring good profit margins for the organisation. These pressures can lead to individuals taking on additional stress that not only affects their working environment, but also impacts on their personal life. Many individuals feel under pressure of being dismissed for not performing effectively, it could be argued that it professional skills or product knowledge is a factor in poor performance, individuals may be fearful of bringing this to the attention of management, again for fear of dismal and just tend to struggle on, sinking deeper and deeper into despair.
Conclusion
Although this organisation does indeed show positive interpersonal relationships towards its workforce through the effective hierarchical structures and use of SMART targets, the overall goal is to maintain and achieve company objectives. Inevitably internal and external factors as well as the cultural environment that the individual is subjected to, does influence behaviours in the workplace. This is something that managers at all levels have to deal with, for the benefit of both the individual and the organisation as a whole.
The Academy of beauty by contrast is a much smaller commercial business located within the bustling town of Walsall. It provides a service for the borough’s unique multicultural community. It is designed to encompass the latest technology in health and beauty. It has its own health spa area, healthy eating options, floatation room, relaxation room and treatment areas to provide members of the public with an array of well being and beauty treatments. It employs 15 members of staff. Its mission statement is –we are committed to providing our clients with the highest degree of customer service within a unique and professional setting.
Management culture and organisational structure enables staff of this establishment to focus on meeting the needs of the local community, matching individual skills with current trends within the beauty industry.
To maintain a corporate image the implementation of specific dress codes are adopted. This dress code clearly sets the boundaries of professionalism for both managers to employees and employees to member of the public.
The business operates quite informally, in that there is less formal procedure for staff to allow. However, the structure of its organisation is designed in a formal manner, which is essential in meeting objectives and ensuring the business moves forwards, adapting to the ever-changing trends with in industry.
Management culture throughout the organisation support systems and processes to ensure company objectives are met. It recognises that good leadership is essential I running a successful business and uses a wide variety of channels to communicate and consult with individuals; including newsletters, team meetings, open door policy and intranets. Its organisational structure ensures that:
- Each management structure delegates individual tasks and functions in order to promote effective teamwork.
- Multidisciplinary teams adapt to tasks and perform effectively with in changing situations in order to meet company objectives.
- The nature of all work within the company meets community needs.
The impact of management culture on business performance
A survey conducted identified that although delegation is filtered down the ranks, overall interpersonal relationships at all levels within this organisation are good; this is due to the fact each individual throughout the organisation is empowered to take responsibility for meeting the organisations objectives. This is reinforced through weekly team meetings, where all staff is actively encouraged to participate in identifying issues that impact on the business, such as positive or negative issues, influx or lack of clientele, launch of new products etc.
Because the business has a narrow span of control there is a tighter ownership with in all employees, which leaves less room for mistakes, and resentment at most levels. The advantages of a narrow span of control are:
- Managers can communicate more quickly and effectively with their staff.
- Feedback of ideas from staff are more effective and can be dealt with fairly rapidly as there are less formal structures to go through.
In a smaller organisation this type of control is welcomed because it act as motivator and a success tool for the business, however, as with most organisations resentment and de-motivation can occur no matter what the structure is.
Factors which influence individual behaviour at work
- Employers are on first name basis with both the director and the graduate manager who are often available throughout the day to answer questions and or/to respond to situations as they rise, therefore communication is fairly good and promote effective working relationships. This first name basis works well in a smaller organisation and helps employees to feel part of the business. However, to maintain professionalism and chain of command, employees are encouraged to take a formal approach when dealing with organisational issues, for example, taking things through the correct channels and working up the management hierarchical structure. These formal boundaries do, at times pose restrictions and some resentment from employees.
- For most employees within this organisation, job satisfaction is suggested as far more crucial and valuable than monetary reward. However, the lack of movement in terms of promotions can be frustrating for the more career minded individual.
- Leaders inspire individuals, yielding motivation rather than movement. Growth in terms of job promotions could be classified as low because with in smaller organisations there is very little room to move to and you normally find vacancies only ever appear at the bottom of the ladder, as one employee stated “I love my job and the people I meet and work with, but sometimes I feel as though I am in dead –man shoes, there is just nowhere to go”
- The Clear boundaries in organisational structure, helps individuals to assess cultural relationships and roles. Each manager and leader pursuing co-ordinated and structuring activities, which contribute, to an end goal (business objectives)
It is suggested that all individuals share an environmental culture even when their personal values do not entirely agree with some normative, values sanctioned within that culture. For this business the strength lies in its view of empowerment.
A value comprises of organisational rules and ideas about what is important for the success of the business and everyone despite their status within the organisation is involved. Research shows that formal structure is of the utmost importance in any organisation as it provides the anchor for success. It is therefore these rules and expectations which guide the rest of the culture.
Norms consist of expectations of how people will behave in with in the business, for this business it is to meet the needs of a multi-cultural
Conclusion
By operating on a formal structural basis this company is provided with an effective framework for success. The short chain of command with its wider span of control provides opportunities to ensure the business achieves its objectives. It relies heavily on effective leadership as a key role in the empowerment and motivation of individuals.
TASK 2
Early theorists suggest that the capacity to get others to do what you want them to do is innate. You either have it or you don’t.pg110, HNC Business course book. The situation in which managers and their teams function has an impact on what type of management and leadership styles is adopted. Several theoretical models exist which assist with organisational relationships and situations, such as Fiedler’s Contingency model. From this framework, Fiedler’s assumes the success of group performance within an organisation depends on leadership style, associated with task motivation, relationship motivation and situational favourableness. These three key elements can provide success or failure for a business depending on the adaptation of leaders. Heresy and Blanchard, theory of situational leadership also relates to direction by defining role and tasks. Both theories have positive and negative draw backs, which motivate or de-motivate an individual, they have been selected to show comparisons in management and leadership styles with in large and small organisations.
Charismatic V’s Non-Charismatic Approach
In the larger organisation leadership and management styles tends to lean towards a non-charismatic approach where managers use authority to seek skills of those who best know products or through manipulation of people to adhere to compliance. Fiedler’s Contingency model of reward and punishment also reflects this non-charismatic approach where power is given to a leader for the purpose of getting the job done. In larger organisations this power can take on the form of bullying tactics, using threats of punishment as a motivator for getting a job done. For example, the threat of losing one’s job, not towing the line in the manner that a particular manager or leader requires. It is very rare that rewards are given in larger organisations even when a job has been done well. However, the larger organisation chosen for the purpose of this unit does in fact believe in rewarding its employees. They suggest that rewards help individuals invest more time and effort into striving for more success. In returns leaders who use authority power wisely gain greater respect from their team.
Consideration (employee orientation)- leaders with in the smaller organisation adopt more concern in relation to the human needs of their employees. They seek to build teamwork, help employees with their problems, and provide psychological support when it impacts on business success. Heresy and Blanchard’s situational leadership model of Participation is based on communication and facilitation. Decision making is shared between the leader and employee. Unfortunately this form of leadership is less likely to occur in larger organisations merely because size and span of control. With in large hierarchical structures, communications merely becomes a chain of command. Decision making is made by higher management and dictated down to employees a survey conducted for the larger organisation on management culture did in fact reveal decision making is not shared, but merely enforced, leaving some employees lacking respect for their manager. (Hersey 1984)
Structure
Leaders with in the larger organisation believe that they get results by keeping people busy and urging them to generate greater productivity. This is not necessarily the case, using Fiedler’s model of task structure it is suggested that if the delegated task is clearly identified and goals are shared, then it is likely that leaders will be able to exert greater influences. Within the smaller business the span of control is quite short, thereby allowing organisational tasks to be clearly identified by employees and leaders. This provides immediate and successfully completion. In contrast with in the larger organisation, due to amount of employees and leaders, although tasks are delegated effectively and the use of SMART targets are implemented, goals and outcomes are not shared, they are enforced by power of leadership and higher management, thus in reality leaders lose their power by individuals withdrawing services and becoming un-cooperative through de-motivation.
- Additional use of Hersey and Blanchard, Telling, Selling and delegating skills also impacts on management and leadership skills with in the workplace.
-Telling, is useful for offering direction to new staff, for employees who are unable to or unwilling to meet company objectives, or where job role is repetitive and employees lose sight of aims and objectives. the application of this method in other circumstances could lead to resentment and lack of co-operation from employees. It is well documented that constantly being dictated to, especially when one is deemed competent leads to de-motivation and withdrawal of services, as well as poor relationships between employee and leader.
-Selling, ensures that direction of company goals continues to be filtered by the leader, but takes on the form of a coaching role. Leaders encourage empowerment of the individual by helping them to identify their own strengths and weaknesses within their job role and when completing specific tasks. This provides a positive leadership approach, especially for employees who are motivated. In the larger organisation leadership tends to focus on function, process and control of tasks, this could simple be because there are more employees to consider, therefore leaders have to focus on product achievement, rather than coaching.
-Delegating, getting others to take on responsibilities for completing tasks. Leaders identify what has to be done, then hands over the responsibility to the employee. This form of leadership is essential in the success of any business. However these leadership skills are implemented depends on the size of the company and the personality of the leader. In larger organisations delegation is merely the shift of responsibility with in the levels of management. In smaller organisations the art of delegation is crucial. Therefore a good leader will delegate tasks to individuals, which match their current skills and abilities. They will encourage individual to work together to from teams, sharing skills, knowledge and abilities in order to meet company objectives. Adopting this form of leadership enable individuals to identify what has to be done, as well as providing the motivation to do it.
Conclusion
By nature of the products and services offered, both organisations have managers and leaders who adopt different approaches in order to meet organisational goals. Both organisations operate in an autocratic style, delegating tasks and instructions, which must be adhered to for continued success. Leadership skills vary according to the size of the organisation, but do take into account individual self-confidence, ability and readiness to accept responsibility as well as their relevant skills and technical knowledge. When carried out effectively, this form of approach enables monitoring and measurement of business progression and success. When leaders become ineffective I identifying needs it can lead to dissatisfaction, as most people tend to resent the style of autocratic management.
It could be argued that relationships of leaders are slightly stronger within the smaller organisation because there are fewer employees to lead and therefore if respects are gained from the beginning (if the leader is one who can inspire) then bonding remains strong. In larger organisations because there are more employees, it requires more leaders to large to manage projects, therefore whilst respect may remain high, bonding is deemed low. When this style of leadership is in force it can lead to high levels of absenteeism and higher turn over of staff. However, for mangers the advantages of this type of control outweigh the disadvantages.
Task three
Task three
Theoretical beliefs of Maslow, Hertzberg and Vroom will be identified what a view to how they impact within the workplace.
Abraham Maslow developed a theory related to an individual’s needs, called Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. He believes the behaviour of an individual in the workplace id determined by their strongest need. It is therefore essential that managers and leaders adopt styles t address these needs. Maslow suggests that the base of the triangle is deemed the highest priority in terms of needs (physical and security); it is these needs that a person is motivated to fulfil first. Within the workplace, individuals seek to fulfil various needs within the triangle, for example.
Vroom's expectancy theory
This theory assumes that behaviour results from conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Together with Edward Lawler and Lyman Porter, Victor Vroom suggested that the relationship between people's behaviour at work and their goals was not as simple as was first imagined by other scientists. Vroom realized that an employee's performance is based on individual’s factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.
The theory suggests that although individuals may have different sets of goals, they can be motivated if they believe that:
- There is a positive correlation between efforts and performance,
- Favourable performance will result in a desirable reward,
- The reward will satisfy an important need,
- The desire to satisfy the need is strong enough to make the effort worthwhile.
The theory is based upon the following beliefs:
Valence
Valence refers to the emotional orientations people hold with respect to outcomes [rewards]. The depth of the want of an employee for extrinsic [money, promotion, time-off, benefits] or intrinsic [satisfaction] rewards). Management must discover what employee’s value.
Expectancy
Employees have different expectations and levels of confidence about what they are capable of doing. Management must discover what resources, training, or supervision employees need.
Instrumentality
The perception of employees as to whether they will actually get what they desire even if it has been promised by a manager. Management must ensure that promises of rewards are fulfilled and that employees are aware of that.
Vroom suggests that an employee's beliefs about Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence interact psychologically to create a motivational force such that the employee acts in ways that bring pleasure and avoid pain.
Conclusion
Unlike Maslow and Hertzberg theory Vroom’s theory serves to highlight how individual goals influence performance; therefore the employment of individuals who are self motivated is crucial to the success of any organisation. it is deemed that if an employee is motivated from within, then the leader job as a “motivator” is less taxing. It could therefore be viewed that management processes within the workplace should be sufficient enough to challenge and utilise the the full potential and ability of the individual. When an individual shows increasing levels of ability they should be given additional levels of responsibility in order to prevent dissatisfaction occurring.
Task Four
Task four
Groups from essential tools for management and come together within the workplace to meet organisational goals. They are normally made up of permanent and temporary individuals. Formal groups stem from tasks implemented by organisational structures in order to achieve a short-term purpose. Informal groups stem from the need to communicate with other departments within an organisation in order to meet the needs of the organisation or simply for additional friendships.
In response to the complexities of 21st Century business life, organisations are seeking to adopt flatter organisational structures, thereby encouraging more team oriented environments. Groups are therefore normally allocated according to specialist knowledge, use of problem solving skills, creativity and level of productivity capabilities, all of which fulfil organisational purposes and contribute to the overall success of the business under the direction of a leader or manager.
According to Adair’s Functional approach (1986) to make a team effective, managers and leaders need to concentrate on 3 main functions some of which are indicated
When groups come together they provide stimulus, protection and assistance all of which fulfil social and physiological needs. Therefore collective groups can work together in the interest of the organisation as well as individuals members.
Teamwork has transformed workplace functions individuals who cannot perform within teams often find themselves isolated and de-motivated. Working in a larger organisation in the 21ST Century often meaning participating in offsite team activities in order to encourage more effective bonding of its members. No longer is it acceptable that one person becomes responsible for a project, individuals are expected to be multi-skilled and to share those skills for the good of the company. Bales (1965) suggests that in order or groups to be successful there needs to be shared sense of purpose, communication, good interaction by all, responsibility, the use of effective problems solving skills and commitment.
For group ‘Norms and Cohesiveness’ many organisations adopt Tucker’s 4stage and Johnson and Johnson 7 stage group development model. This assists organisations with better leadership skills and group understanding as follows:
- Defining structure- Group members learn what is expected of them through leaders clarifying and organising individual roles and responsibilities.
- Conforming- Groups come together to perform the task. Team roles are flexible through strengths and weaknesses and solutions are found and implemented.
- Recognition and trust- individuals within the group recognise their own independence. They begin to build trust with other members, sharing thoughts, ideas and feelings. Whilst at the same time experiencing acceptance, support and reciprocation from peers.
- Rebelling- Tuckman (1965), referred to this as storming, where internal conflicts and disagreements occur as individual differentiate from each other.
- Ownership- dependence of each other within the group as well as personal commitment in achieving the given task.
- Function and productivity- in this phase the group provides maturity, autonomy, and production resulting in a fully functional and high performing team. Members become more committed to each other as well as to the overall goal. Each member has the ability to handle controversy in a positive and constructive manner. Problem solving is shared by the group and group harmony is enhanced through the equal division of tasks and responsibility.
Groups and indeed larger organisations do not always achieve these 6 development cycles, especially the latter stage, either because of the size of the company or the type of management style in operation. Other factors that lead to non achievement of group development are:
- Team’s that do not have the necessary group skills to function effectively together.
- Leaders who do not establish co-operate independence within the teams they manage.
- Size of the team- groups should be large enough to encourage diversity and completion of given task. However, if groups are too large then there is less opportunity for individual participation. Organisational rewards are also likely to be implemented in larger groups leading to lower staff morale and de-motivation. This occurs in area where individuals feel disadvantaged or taken for granted, for example one member of the team feeling that they are doing more than someone else. Negativity impacts greatly on team performance and mood factors of individuals are found to have a high influence on team processes. This negativity can come for many sources, such as lack of skills, too much or not enough work, resentment at management hierarchical structure and social and cultural influences. It should also be remembered that groups bring in their own beliefs, which do not necessarily meet with company expectations.
There is no doubt how important good leadership and management skills are for creating good harmony and group cohesiveness within the organisational sectors. It is clear to see to research that a number of factors need to taken into account in order for businesses to succeed, and the consolidation of teams provide effective or ineffective movement of an organisation. Within group you will always find conflict, especially in larger companies because of the diversity of its employees, culture backgrounds and ideas, expectations and experiences. Therefore, setting around rules with in groups is crucial, without those groups become disjointed. Leaders themselves should be challenged to learn and understand the importance of teamwork. Unless leaders are motivated themselves how can they contribute effectively to team development, thus the potential of cohesive teams and how they contribute to the organisation may always remain low.(pg 59-63, G A Cole, Management Theory and Practice)
Importance of technology within organisations and its effect on functional teams.
Technology has a profound impact on business in the 21st Century; in fact technology also impacts greatly on way in which individuals conduct both personal and working life. The use of technology enables organisations to trade globally; even within smaller organisations business can appear larger and effective through the use of virtual teams and development of effective website. The email act as an effective communication tool for both internal and external sources. Indeed many larger organisations also develop their own intranet sites, which assists employees in keeping up to date with company movement, as well as informing individuals about various company policies. It is claimed that teams perform better when they are empowered with access to such details.
Benefits of using an intranet system;
- Reduces printing and paper costs –particularly in relation to policy manuals, company newsletter, product catalogs and telephone directories.
- The intranet is easy to use and no specialised training is required
- Once initial set up has been undertaken, it is fairly inexpensive to maintain
- Act as a link throughout the organisation
- Reduces training, sales and marketing costs
- Reduces office administration
Evaluation
Evaluation
Undertaken this assignment has been a great challenge. It has enabled me to view and show understanding of different management styles. I have realised that being a manager is not easy and you need to wear many hats over the course of the day to meet the needs and expectations of both company objectives and individuals needs. I do find myself asking the question-Are managers ever truly trained in people skills? As I have only ever meet one manager in my working life that truly inspired me and made me feel worth something other than just an object to meet and achieve more success for the business. Research inspires me and although time is short with employment commitments, it is something I enjoy. I do have to be careful as I can go off on a tangent and lose my way somewhat.
The positive aspects of doing and completing this assignment were;
- Support given by tutor
- Finding out facts and information about both companies
- Identifying the different approaches within each group. It was surprising to see that even though the span of employed individuals differed considerably between the organisations, there were in fact many common themes that ran parallel to each other. Could this factor be that they both operate on the same business line?
The negative aspects of completing this were;
- Gelling with the final team I got seconded with. It appeared that there was n sense of urgency in anything and I felt very frustrated by this, so ended up doing a lot of research on my own, which defeats the objective of teamwork.
- Lack of time- I have found myself getting early in the morning before going to work to research and work on assignment. For me this is great because I like to get up early in the morning
- Compiling assignment. The completion of the work is not a problem, but I do intend to gather too much information, all of which I feel is relevant. This multitude of information then leads me to waffle un-necessarily. My final draft has been written four times in its formal state and several times in note information. All very time consuming, but that’s how I work. I have not yet learnt a more condensed way of doing things. Besides the more I work on it the better it becomes and the more I learn.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Class notes
September 2009- January 2010
Textbooks
Sexton, William P.(1970) Organisation Structure and Organisation Theories. Columbus, OH: Merrill
GA Cole (1996) Management Theory and Practice, 5th Edition Letts Educational Aldine Place London W12 8AW
Websites