Major Theories of Organization, Essay Example

Abstract

The paper discusses the basic corporate values and the corporate culture at Campbell-Wilson, Inc. The benefits of the matrix structure and the skill assessment methodology are described. The paper provides the general evaluation of the major organization theories as applied to the current position of Campbell-Wilson, Inc.

Introduction

The growing level of competition in international markets and increased globalization and international integration emphasize the need for organizations to reconsider their organizational and decision-making principles. The mission, values, culture, and organizational structure require profound transformation to help the organization adjust its goals and objectives to changeable external environments. With the growing importance of flexibility and adaptability, functional organizational structures are becoming obsolete, giving place to the development of new, matrix forms of organizing skills, functions, and tasks. In its current state, Campbell-Wilson, Inc. is the bright example of a well-developed matrix organization, which values team development, innovation, loyalty, and creativity, and which reflects the basic principles of the systems organization theory, with the potential to enhance its knowledge capacity and to become the bright example of a well-developed learning organization in the nearest future.

Introduction to the Corporate Values

That our company should have a clear vision of its corporate values is difficult to deny. More importantly, every employee working for Campbell-Wilson, Inc. should know and use these values when taking all organizational decisions. Our corporate values should be shared by all workers and all departments, regardless of their functionality and the tasks, which they are expected to fulfill. These corporate values include integrity, leadership, customer satisfaction, collaboration, diversity, trust, innovation, and shareholder responsibility. Integrity implies the need for every employee to keep to the highest ethical standards in workplace performance: our company expects that everyone takes personal responsibility for his (her) decisions and actions, and keeps to the principles of fairness and respect in relationships with one another. Campbell-Wilson, Inc. promotes the value of leadership in business and expects that employees at every level of the company’s structure will seek to develop excellent leadership skills, in order to achieve the major corporate goals and objectives. Team work and collaboration lay the foundation for the development of close ties between employees, based on trust, respect, equity, and fairness: by promoting collaboration and team work, Campbell-Wilson, Inc. recognizes the value of people and the value of collaboration for learning and knowledge sharing. Through diversity, we foster participation and encourage employee involvement in all decision-making processes. Our staff is represented by people from various backgrounds, with diverse personal characteristics, beliefs, experiences, philosophies, and aspirations. This diversity significantly contributes to the overall efficiency of our organization’s performance. Campbell-Wilson, Inc. values each employee’s contribution to the company’s success and positions shareholder value as the basic measure of respect toward our investors and customers. These corporate values actually shape the landscape for the development of the unique corporate culture, which is one of the basic sources of the sustained competitive advantage at Campbell-Wilson, Inc.

Corporate Culture at Campbell-Wilson, Inc.

Although culture is the critical element of any company’s corporate success, employees often fail to recognize the role and importance of culture for the achievement of the major company’s objectives and goals. In reality, “a distinct and vibrant company culture will postpone the inevitable insurgency of office politics and bureaucracy” (Want, 2006). Strong organizational cultures make it easier for employees to deal with workplace tasks and to foster collaborative efforts at improving the overall level of the organization’s competitiveness. We, at Campbell-Wilson, Inc., foster our culture through direct communication, innovation, collaboration, fairness, freedom, and responsibility. The company culture avoids utilizing traditional organizational tools and structures and relies on the benefits of flexible communication and multi-disciplinary teamwork. Communication enhances the process of knowledge generation and sharing, and makes every employee accountable to colleagues and team members. Teamwork and collaboration reinforce each other and result in lower turnover and better employee retention. Culture at Campbell-Wilson, Inc. favors and expands individual potential, and cultivates creativity: the belief that employee abilities and skills are the key contributors to the company’s success lays at the bottom of the current system of cultural beliefs at Campbell-Wilson, Inc.

Organizational Structure

It should be noted, that in the early days the company operated in a traditional manner, organizing departments along functional lines; however, it has since discovered that a matrix structure will better fit the consulting nature of the firm. Generally, organizational structure “is the formal system of task and reporting relationships that controls, coordinates, and motivates employees so that they cooperate to achieve an organization’s goals” (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). The current matrix structure at Campbell-Wilson, Inc. utilizes the benefits of complex differentiation, in which employees are grouped according to the function and the product team. That means that in our company, every employee is being simultaneously supervised by a functional manager and a product manager. The matrix structure offers several essential benefits: it facilitates product development, innovation, problem solving and team work, and creates conditions necessary to foster cooperation between managers; employees in our company are given enough autonomy to carry responsibility for their workplace activities and achievements. Unfortunately, our employees should be prepared to deal with role ambiguity and role conflicts – these are not rare in organizations that employ matrix structure, and our company is not an exception. Our managers and our cultural beliefs help decrease unnecessary stress, while the development of informal communication channels makes it easier for employees to communicate their concerns directly to managers. To enhance the quality of matrix organizational structure, our company has developed an effective skill assessment methodology, which is represented by a complex competency scale and assesses 23 different skills in groups. These include problem solving, decision making, organizing and planning, conflict management, diversity awareness, oral and written communication, active listening and feedback, as well as hiring and management practices, financial reporting, stress and time management. The competency scale form and the detailed description of the assessment process are available at the company’s website, and employees are encouraged to discuss their assessment concerns with our managers.

Organizational Theories: General Explanation

Excelling in organizational performance is impossible without having at least the basic knowledge of the major organization theories. In the current state of organization studies, organization theories are subdivided into the three major categories: classical, neoclassical, and modern. Classical organization theory is a combination of bureaucratic, administrative, and scientific management approaches: classical theorists promoted one best way to perform each task, chose workers to carefully match every task, encouraged close supervision, and used reward/ punishment as motivation tools (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). Hierarchical power and the division of labor were the distinctive features of classical approach to building organizations. It was too mechanistic to become successful and was applicable in heavily industrialized societies.

Neoclassical organization theory reflected the shift toward human relations as the major prerequisite of the organization’s continuous success. Neoclassical theory criticized the rigidity and conformity of the classical theory and positioned friendly nonthreatening attitudes toward employees as the basic source of positive change in organizations (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). The neoclassical period in the development of organization theories was marked with the growing commitment to coordination of activities and tasks and stressed the role of coherent values and goals in promoting organizational success. Through the prism of the neoclassical theory, management was given a role of maintaining an organizational equilibrium, and had to supervise and manipulate workers in ways that benefited organizations (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009).

The modern period of organization theory development comprises several critical theories: contingency theory, which shows conflict in organizations as both inescapable and manageable; systems theory that represents the vision of an organization as of a complex system of interrelated components and tasks, in which the change in one component is necessarily followed by changes in others; and the learning organization theory, which is fairly regarded as the culmination and the ultimate point in the development of the modern organizational vision (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). Campbell-Wilson, Inc. is the bright example of a systems organization, in which nonlinear relationships between tasks, functions, employees, managers, and departments add to the overall complexity of its organizational structure and require that every employee and every manager is able to foresee how his (her) actions and decisions will impact the rest of the system’s components. Systems theory shows, that “small changes in one variable can cause huge changes in another, and large changes in a variable might have only a nominal effect on another” (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). Systems theory makes it difficult to fully understand the principles and relationships between different components, but out company displays high potential for being transformed into a truly learning organization. The fact is that a learning organization, according to Senge (1994), is the one which continuously enhances its capacity to create. Our culture and corporate values signify the gradual shift away from conventional controlling toward learning, knowledge generation and knowledge dissemination. The matrix structure results in functional flexibility and relative autonomy in employee performance. Systems thinking leads employees to realize their roles in the broader system of organization’s relationships and components. The shared vision, which our company was able to build, and the reliance on the systems approach make it easier for Campbell-Wilson, Inc. to transform itself into a learning organization, and it is very possible that the coming years for our company will be marked with the growing employee commitment to learning as the basic prerequisite of their personal and the company’s continuous success.

Conclusion

Campbell-Wilson, Inc. is committed to the principles of loyalty, integrity, teamwork, collaboration, shareholder value, customer satisfaction, fairness and respect to every employee. The corporate culture is based on the principles of multidisciplinary teamwork, creativity, innovation, and collaboration. The matrix structure helps employees define their role in the broader system of organization components, while systems thinking and the emphasis on learning and knowledge reveal the potential for Campbell-Wilson, Inc. to become a truly learning organization.

References

Griffin, R.W. & Moorhead, G. (2009). Organizational behavior: Managing people and organizations. Cengage Learning.

Senge, P. (1994). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Currency Doubleday.

Want, J. (2006). Corporate culture: Illuminating the black hole. St. Martin’s Press.