An organisation structure is a formal way of presenting the management hierarchy. It’s permits the easy flows of information within the organisation. It is the lay-out or the composition of the organisation. According the orientation decided at the institutional level, 4 types of structures can be put in place. The structure can be function based, product based, geographical based or multifunctional based.
The function based structure is where the organisation is divided by functional departments or divisions.
The product based structure is where the organisation is divides by product line. For example unilever plc structure.
The geographic based is where the organisation is divided by geographical regions (continents, countries ) according to factors like climate, culture, needs, economic strength. For example clothes or automobile market .
The multifunctional structure is where the organisation is so big, that it divided in products and each product has his own functional structure. Also it can operate in different locations for the same product and have its own functional structure. Its is call also a multifunctional organisational with autonomous units.
The company framework can be centralised in decision making or departmentalised with autonomy management. Most common structures are represented by pyramidal layers; the more flat the pyramid is, the more autonomy departments the organisation has in decision making. The ideal structures are where we find the two approaches autocratic and democratic.
The culture is a set of expectations, beliefs and patterns of behaviour characteristic of an organisation or group of people. The culture in an organisation reflects the values of company’s staffs and owners, the work ethic and mentality. This culture can change at any time. When the rules, policies and procedures related to day to day tasks are relaxed or tightened. Certain companies are sale focused culture, warm work environment culture or hostile organisational culture.
In ASDA case, the company share a common culture with his American Wal-Mart . Their values are: to be in the heart of the community, lived and communicate to all colleagues in everything concerning the business and a corporate social responsibility. That means to support customers through low prices, charity activities, and health initiatives. Concerning the structure, ASDA has a flat pyramidal structure, where front line managers and staffs take part in the best way tasks execution and decision making should be done toward the goal achievement.
For British Airways case, let’s see in what sector it operates. BA stands as the biggest and one of the leading airline company in the world. The 32 millions passengers BA carry, play a huge role in commerce, business, trade and leisure industry. 80% of BA income come from travel. He employs more than 40,000 people and had 238 aircrafts in service in 2010.. To materialise his motto’’ the world favourite airline’’, BA needs to provide world class and efficient service on ground and on air.
The accomplishment of this mission requires principles or rules: honesty and sense of responsibility toward customers, safety and security of passengers and employees. In airline industry, the customer’s satisfaction is a priority and Ba try to meet their requirement. In the same time Ba improve financial performance to satisfy the shareholders. As the market is multi-places ones, Ba mergers with American airline and Iberia to expand business, improve flight connection and flight schedules; adapt his policy functioning according the environment . Ba improve movement in taking action to realise the goals by introducing new appraisal system for behaviour , introduce new bonus system, building new terminal.
The flat type structure of BA reflects the company management, leadership style and its operating environment. it has only one level of hierarchy which separate the managing directors at top management from the lower level employees.
Ba segmented management level positions into ten departments and every department has his subordinates. The management layers has been reduced between the chief executive and the front lines managers from about nine to five,. Now small groups work parallel to its formalised structure.
From the bureaucratic and inefficient system, Ba adopted a privatisation approach in which the organisational culture became a service orientated and an efficient customer focused company. The HR practice focuses in high levels of motivation, team leadership skills and positive attitude towards customer services. .
As Salama said ‘’ during the post privatisation era BA replaced the old culture by introducing new efficient training program & appraisal systems to enhance the organisational performance. The new culture concern by innovative technics and concepts, informal behaviour, customers oriented services, participative managerial activities. The mission became ‘’to be a competitive airline’’.
If I compare ASDA and BA organisation structure and culture, I think they have the same in principle although there are in different fields. Their aim is to satisfy the customers and to create a good return to the investors (owners). Their organisational pyramids are flat and the employees carry the companies’ ideal.
This is why, the progress was made in HRM department where two major types of HRM Hard and Soft HRM practices mainly takes place in organization. The Hard version normally is concern with the company’s objects while the soft version focuses further on employee’s concerns and their needs.
Explain how the relationship between ASDA’s structure and culture impacts on its performance.
The structure in an organisation helps to define a strategy and a system capable to realise the common purpose. When the structure fit the strategy and the system, it reaches to high performance of the organisation. These three elements: structure, strategy and system combine create the effectiveness (do things right in right way), the efficiency (minimum input, maximum output) which produce performance. (E + E =P).
In the past, ASDA business performance was low or employees were moving away from the organizational culture resulting in low business performance. Then ASDA, on the direction of Norman ARCHIE, learn from their mistakes and overcomes the obstacles. To do this, the ASDA direction identify the organization’s approach to management, the type of structure to provide an overall organization’s, the management style, organizational chart and the culture of the organization. To understand and to manage the implications of human relationships at ASDA’ context, it was critical for HR to develop practices and policies that foster the culture that ASDA needed.
The structure as we said is a design presentation of an organisation management. The definition of a culture is not universal. It is always function of time and space. For example the culture in an hospital is different than the one in a beach leisure centre. Both deliver service to clients, but in different way.
In ASDA, the organisation structure which give responsibility to front line managers and responsabilised employees through their colleague’s supervision, create in short, medium and long term an ownership culture. People who work in ASDA consider the company as theirs. Therefore, work in ASDA is not just accomplish the task than go, but the passion to do good and productive job. That impact in the performance of the company.
In ASDA, individual performance management system is considered as the key factor of growth. In the same time, the process of growth is a dynamic and flexible framework for promoting staff performance, high level of commitment and development. A peer recognition award demonstrate that ASDA is committed to acknowledge and reward employees for achieving tasks and their value attached to the organisation. In 2005, ASDA was the second largest supermarket store in the United Kingdom. He has positioned itself as a value for money store in the market. Slowly they expanded themselves into apparel, books, CD’s, groceries, and other various household items. In the same year they got award for the lowest price supermarket. The competitors of ASDA like Tesco and J. Sainsbury were also trying to increase the market position by expanding themselves into the financial products, newspaper, pharmaceutical products, clothes and petrol. ASDA were having the hierarchical structure. There were eight levels up to the CEO of the store. These were layered like staff members, supervisor, department manager, general store manager, regional operations controller, division director, operations director, joint managing director and chief executive.
ASDA were having the formal way of organizing culture of the organization. They were using the bureaucratic way of management. The staff members were kept in separate part of the headquarters to the top executives. The major issues were handled by the top executives only. It was seen that the communication pattern between the head office and the stores was one way with top-down management style. They were using the centralized distribution but still there customer number was declining rapidly. Regarding the quality of food they had tried their best to provide fresh food to the customers but still they were not able to convince the customer up to the expected levels. ASDA did work on recognizing their strength through using well IT, up to date effective distribution system and good operating management.
To improve the ASDA management they tried to remove the too many layers of the management and creating narrow structure to better understand the organization. They bring in many changes in the organization like: They started working on increasing the price competitiveness. Redirection the range and breaking through in store productivity. ASDA started generating the higher volumes to improve in terms of trading. Restoring the customer flows. They tried to reduce the fixed cost percentage to sales and increase the traffic sensitive purchases. ASDA creates higher volume of products with low prices to gain more customers in a competitive market. All these structural and cultural strategies have increase ASDA performance.
Discuss the factors which influence the behaviour of ASDA’s employees at work giving relevant examples.
Organizational behaviour is the way how individual or group of people act in organization. To know what people does in organization can affect their performance. Different people with different backgrounds work in ASDA. This is why managers were obliged to understand their collective’s behaviour because that is the key of success. The managers highlighted attitude, personality and perception that influence motivation and behaviour. For example if the front line customer staffs ignore the need of the clients, the department manager will set up a training session in order to equip a small group of people specialised in customer’s technics.
The variety of goods has push ASDA to build teams and groups of employees specialised in different roles and items. These group of people with complementary skills, working together to achieve common ASDA objectives. This group achievement leads to department and to the entire ASDA performance.
As Beibin said ’’Team roles are used to identify people’s behavioural strengths and weaknesses in the workplace. This information has been used to select and develop high performance teams, build mutual trust and understanding, build reproductive working relationship, raise self-awareness, aid in recruitment process of employees.’’
Leadership styles used by the CEO in ASDA and in British Airways .
In our modern world today, managing an organisation, a school, a church, a business or a nation requires a strategic management of limited resources (equipment, money, information and people).
As the organisation grown up with multi-objectives, the personnel sub department became an entire complex Human Resources direction. Its aim was not only to count staff and pay them a hazardous wages, but to recruit and select, train and equip, organise and manage, reward and look after staff well-being.
Three theories appeared in the early industrialised society: the scientific management, the Fordism and the bureaucracy organisation.
Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) developed and popularised the principle of scientific management. It’s the systematic methods of determining the best way to do a job with specific skills. The objectives of the scientific management was efficiency, standaralisation, discipline. These three new principles develop the systematic soldering concept which caused many problems in workers attitude.
They believe that increase output in a company will make them redundant; workers chose their own tools and the managers fail to plan jobs and control the execution. Frederick Taylor found solutions for these problems. In his scientific management, the solution was: clear division of tasks, separate technical and management level, scientific selection of people(right people for right job), scientific methods and tools for accomplishing jobs, helping people to acquire skills(training), encourage workers cooperation in realising common goal and reward system to stimulate workers.
The Fordism was set up by Henry Ford (1863-1947), who introduced the assembly line system, single tools and motion-time.
The bureaucracy organisation theory was develop by Lillian& Frank Gilberth(1868-1924). Their aim was to humanise scientific management. To find the best way of working, design wage system, standardisation and the time-motion(efficiency in task completion) .
In ASDA and BA, these 3 theories are applied to increase performance. That meet what Thornill said in performance management may contribute to organisational change’’. Thornill said there are several ways to make this theories’ contribution effective: communication mission in the organisation, linking employees objectives to the organisation ones, get employees involve in decision-making, close relationship, employee rewards and individual performance, reduced trade union influence.
ASDA make sure that everyone is treated fairly and given the opportunity to progress in their career . The necessity of candidate’s assessment is for demonstrate their strengths which align to Asda’s culture, belief and way of working. Once selected, the recruitment process involves providing specific training plan designed for their role. This is done in 3 steps. The first one is ‘’step in’’ is the 4 weeks induction program for the new colleague; the second one is ‘’step on ‘’which take place after 6 months recruitment and concern coaching, retails apprenticeship and further responsibilities; the third one is ‘’ step up ‘’which help colleague to seek career progression.
The BA recruitment policies target the right candidate. For that, interviews are conducted to check the skills, knowledge and attitude to fit into the organisation’s culture . The assessment procedures involves interviews, group activities, reasoning tests, psychometric.
The influence of management theories has largely influence ASDA and BA daily operations and management. For example: At ASDA, in order to have more efficiency, the cashier personnel are progressively replaced by the self-service automatic cashiers. The bar code replaces the product identification. The online department has tripled the number of customers and deals with more suppliers everywhere around the world. At BA, the automatic check in is more effective and faster . The internet booking and ticket payment are boosted the business. BA serves more people in less time with E-ticket paperless procedure.
