of resources
being wasted on projects with no future - in non-matrix structures an idea
originating
in, say, the marketing department may be pursued for a long time before it
comes to the attention of production which might find that it is
simply not practical.
Disadvantages:
. The existence of a matrix structure and project teams can lead to
confusion as individuals are involved in a large number of different
relationships creating a complex pattern of authority and
responsibility.
. A line manager may resent a subordinate receiving instructions from
managers based on other departments, especially if they are at a lower
level of management.
. This also raises questions as to who has priority over the
subordinate’s time and what information arising out of the work of the
project team should also be reported through the line authority. This
can be a potential source of conflict and relations may also be
strained if the subordinate suffers from divided loyalty.
Centralised structure
Organisations are centralised when the majority of decisions are taken by a
few people at the top of the organisation and little decision making is
delegated to those further down the organisational structure.
Even if many important decisions are delegated to subordinates, some
aspects of the business are always likely to remain totally under central
control. In general, senior managers or a centralised department takes
responsibilities for: major financial issues, wages and salaries, manpower
planning and personnel records, purchasing.
Advantages:
27. Senior management have more control of the business, eg budgets.
28. Procedures, such as ordering and purchasing, can be standardised
throughout the organisation, leading to economies of scale and lower
costs.
29. Senior managers should be more experienced and skilful in making
decisions. In theory, centralised decisions by senior people should be
of better quality than decentralised decisions made by others less
experienced.
30. In times of crisis, a business may need strong leadership by a central
group of senior managers.
31. Communication may improve if there are fewer decision makers.
Decentralised structure
Complete decentralisation would mean subordinates would have all the
authority to take decisions. It is unlikely that any business operates in
either of these ways. Even if authority is delegated to a subordinate, it
is usual for the manager to retain responsibility.
Some delegation is necessary in all firms because of the limits to the
amount of work senior managers can carry out. Tasks that might be delegated
include staff selection, quality control, customer relations and purchasing
and stock control. A greater degree of decentralisation - over and above
the minimum which is essential - has a number of advantages.
32. It empowers and motivates workers.
33. It reduces the stress and burdens of senior management. It also frees
time for managers to concentrate on more important tasks.
34. It provides subordinates with greater job satisfaction by giving them
more say in decision-making, which affects their work.
35. Subordinates may have a better knowledge of ‘local’ conditions
affecting their area of work. This should allow them to make more
informed, well-judged choices.
36. Delegation should allow greater flexibility and a quicker response to
changes. If problems do not have to be referred to senior managers,
decision-making will be quicker. Since decisions are quicker, they are
easier to change in the light of unforeseen circumstances which may
arise.
37. By allowing delegated authority, management at middle and junior
levels are groomed to take-over higher positions. They are given the
experience of decision making when carrying out delegated tasks.
Delegation is therefore important for management development.
Delayered structure
Delayering involves a business reducing its staff. The cuts are directed at
particular levels of a business, such as managerial posts. Delayering
involves removing some of these layers. This gives a flatter structure.
Delayering is likely to play a major role in a policy of decentralisation
as the removal of management layers allows authority for decision making to
be shifted to a lower level in the organisation.
. The savings made from laying off expensive managers. It may also lead
to better communication and a better motivated staff if they are
empowered and allowed to make their own decisions.
. However, remaining managers may become demoralised after delayering.
Also staff may become overburdened as they have to do more work. Fewer
layers may also mean less chance of promotion.
Management style
Management style refers to the approach that an organisation takes in
setting objectives for its employees and the way it manages relations
between superiors and subordinates.
Management or leadership styles can be categorised as:
Autocratic: A manager that adopts an autocratic management style takes
entire responsibility for decisions and, having set objectives and
allocated tasks to employees, expects them to be carried out exactly as
specified. Employees are told exactly what, how and when work must be
started and finished. It is the kind of management style often associated
with a corporate culture centred almost exclusively around production.
Power is focused at the top, and the centralised decision making is geared
to getting the goods out of the factory and to customers. Little regard is
paid to any non-monetary needs of employees; they are not consulted or
involved in decision making.
Democratic: A democratic management style seeks to involve employees in the
decision-making process, either by consulting them directly or through
their representatives. This approach reflects a corporate culture which is
more human resource centred and recognises the organisational benefits from
meeting its employees’ non-monetary needs - such as a need for job
satisfaction and a sense of belonging. A consultative approach is
particularly important if an organisation is planning to change product
design or working conditions, methods and practices.
Laissez-faire style: This style gives people complete freedom to organise
and carry out their work. It is a very person centred approach. A laissez-
faire approach may still impose some constraints, such as completion dates
for certain key tasks or the earliest and latest arrival times for a
flexible hours working day. There is no formal structure for decision
making as decisions are taken by a variety of processes depending upon the
nature of the problem, the opportunity to be explored and the individuals
involved.
Consultative style: Leaders consult with others before decision are made.
There will be a group influence in the final decision, even though it is
made by the leader.
As diagram above shows, Tesco has many levels of staff: directors on the
top, and step by step to employees on the bottom, therefore I can think
that Tesco is a hieratical organisation, where each individual knows who he
must report to. Communication in a complex organisation such as Tesco will
be dependent on the organisational structure, but this will be discussed
later in my section on “Communication”.
I can see that Tesco has a centralised and decentralised form of
organisation because people on the top, who control the company, take the
majority of decisions and also the company’s Head office is centralised at
Cheshunt in Hertfordshire.
Tesco is very big organisation and has very many stores in different places
– this fact shows that Tesco is a decentralised organisation, with much
decision-making delegated on a regional and individual store level.
From the information I have managed to access I believe/consider that Tesco
has a very good democratic and consultative management style. It is a very
successful firm, as seen earlier, it is now the U.K. market leader with
positive leadership from above and a notable corporate culture.
The directors present their annual report to shareholders on the affairs of
the Group together with the audited consolidated financial statements of
the Group for the 52 weeks.
The principal activity of the Group is the operation of food stores and
associated activities in the UK, Republic of Ireland, France, Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Thailand. A review of the business
is contained in the Annual Review which is published separately and,
together with this document, comprises the full Tesco PLC Annual report
Accounts.
Culture
Culture in organisations is often described as the set of values, beliefs
and attitudes of both employees and management that helps to influence
decision-making and ultimately behaviour within them. Each organisation has
a unique culture. This is what makes studying business behaviour so
fascinating. The business culture helps to determine how things get done in
firms and defines, quite simply, how the company works. The fact that
organisations are themselves organic, composed of workers constantly
interacting with each other and their environment, suggests that the
culture in firms is not static and constant – the way firms operate can
change, either intentionally through management action or more likely
through natural evolution.
Corporate culture
Corporate culture is a set of values and beliefs that are shared by people
and groups in an organisation. A simple way of explaining corporate culture
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