Managing Organisations in a Global Environment
Answer All FIVE (5) of the following questions. The questions come from the pre-recorded tutorial
questions from Week 7 to Week 11.
- From Week 7 Pre Recorded Case Study (10 marks)
(a) Describe rational decision making. (4 marks)
Rational decision making is based on logic, objectivity, and evaluation rather than being subjective intuitive in addressing a problem or setting goals. The rational decision-making process has seven steps, which include defining the problem. The problem that needs to be addressed clearly defined. The next step is studying and brainstorming potential solutions. At his stage, finding many solutions to the challenge and listing it down is essential. Another step is setting the standards of failure and success of the probable solutions. The limits of the solutions to succeed or failed should be established to ensure working within acceptable limits. Followed by deliberating on the impacts of the solution. The effects of the solutions should be determined to prevent implementing a solution with many negative consequences. Then the selection of the best solution and testing should be made. Solution testing should be monitored and evaluated to determine its viability. Then the best solution is implemented based on the success of the trial, and if not viable, another solution can be tested (Carteni et al., 2020).
(b) Cite three reasons for and three reasons against rebuilding Greensburg as a “green town.” (6 marks) The ideas for rebuilding Greensburg as a green town comprises of attaining sustainability in the city to ensure the livelihood of the future generation is secured. There will also be fewer wastes on the building materials. Another reason is bettering the town and giving it the status it deserves as per the city’s name Greensburg. To save the future generation, the burden of the present generation has committed. Besides, they have to put up new city buildings, museums, parks, and schools that cannot be destroyed easily. The reasons against building Greensburg include substantial financial requirements, which the town cannot manage to raise within a short period. Rebuilding the town green will take a long time to have the funding and also the high taxes they will be charged for going green.
- From week 8 Pre Recorded Case Study (10 marks)
(a) What is horizontal communication? (6 marks)
Horizontal communication entails sending and receiving information among the employees in an organization that is operating at the same organizational level. An organization may have a rigid organization structure with departments existing as separate entities; however, sharing information among the departments is paramount in ensuring efficiency and effectiveness of the organization activities. Horizontal communication can also be referred to as lateral communication, and it is more informal compared to other forms of communication such as vertical communication, for example, communication between procurement and finance or procurement and production. It is instrumental in coordinating activities and tasks within the organization. Horizontal communication provides effective avenues for solving organizational problems and conflicts that may arise. Horizontal communication enables the departments to work together through the formation of cross-departmental teams (Kim, Magnusen & Andrew, 2016, pp. 625-636)
(b) How is the horizontal form of communication more prominent in Intermountain Healthcare? (4 marks)
Intermountain Healthcare employs horizontal communication among healthcare providers, physicians, nurses, and patients. This form of communication is prominent as it helps the hospitals in developing work teams that ensure the best practices are adopted quickly for the welfare of the patients. This also contributes to the standardization of the care process across the healthcare facilities enabling the care services to be continuous. For example, if a patient is referred to a tertiary health facility, the previous protocols of caregiving will proceed as the hospital adapts to the continuous care model. Besides, the nurse leaders and doctors willingly participate in committee meetings where challenges are identified and discussed (Kim, Magnusen & Andrew, 2016, pp. 625-636).
In intermountain Healthcare, many projects are implemented because there is an efficient sharing of information. Healthcare has 26 projects that are ongoing such as Tele Critical care and Tele Psych. The horizontal communication has enabled Healthcare to be very innovative as people contribute and share ideas on how to improve healthcare services. Healthcare recognized that information sharing is fundamental in their organization, and it is the rationale behind developing horizontal communication.
- From Week 9 Pre Recorded Case Study (10 marks)
(a) Where does Hewitt’s leadership fall on the Managerial Grid discussed in the chapter? (5 marks)
Hewitt’s leadership falls (the managerial grid is 9,9) on the sound or team leadership style. Hewitt designs the goals of rebuilding Greensburg as a green city. Although Hewitt looks cold-blooded, he is concerned about getting the work done and about the people he is working with. Hewitt communicates information to all the people as he knows information gives everyone the power to act and work. Hewitt believes in the employees and delegate to them work to discharge and does not strictly supervise them to complete the tasks. Hewitt values the interest of the people he works with and perceives them as his teammates. He encourages the employees to be committed and contribute towards the success of rebuilding Greensburg as a green city. The employees, in turn, are motivated to work behind Hewitt, and they even come back from their leave days to work together with Hewitt. This makes them dedicated and committed to rebuilding the city. Hewitt creates an environment that is sound for the employees that promote respect and make the employees feel to be an essential part of a project. The leadership is the best type of leadership in any given organization.
(b) What deficiencies or shortcomings would you identify in Hewitt’s leadership? (5 marks)
The shortcomings of Hewitt’s leadership is giving authority to the employees in discharging the delegated responsibilities is that some employees might abuse power. Or they may take control of the tasks and discharge them through their own ways and timeliness. This may lead to a delay in completing the project. The leadership style will lead to delayed decision making as all the team members must deliberate and reach a consensus on issues. It is through an agreement that projects will be implemented. the team goals may also overshadow the overall organization goals leading to conflicts. (Zaccaro, Rittman & Marks, 2001, pp. 451-483).
- From Week 10 Pre Recorded Case Study (10 marks)
(a) Based on this case study, what issues with China-based suppliers require Numi’s managers to
use influence and persuasion tactics? (4 marks)
The issues China-based suppliers need Numi’s managers to use influence and persuasion tactics comprise of preservation of the environment. Numi’s managers should ensure their suppliers are engaged in initiatives of protecting the environment through recycling 85% of the consumer wastes in the production of attractive packaging products for the company (Genovese et al., 2017, pp. 344-357). Involving environmental protection initiatives in helping the organizations in reducing their costs and, in turn, will maximize the profits. Another issue is engaging in sustainable business activities. The company will need to influence its suppliers in carrying out their business activities sustainably to ensure continuity of their businesses in the future. Numi’s will also need to persuade its suppliers on the measure of decreasing the climatic changes. Besides, fair treatment of the workers in the factories is another issue managers in Numi will need to be persuasive and influence the Chins Based suppliers to adopt.
(b) How does Numi get suppliers to comply with its policies? (6 marks)
Numi’s policies include maximization of profits, safeguarding the planet, and people. The company goes a long way to help the suppliers in ensuring their workers are treated fairly. The factories are assisted in getting the right people for the work. The company also provides that the factories are producing products of high quality for the consumers. The company also ensures that the working conditions in the factories are favorable to the workers to ensure they participate in the economic activities sustainably and ethically. In protecting the planet, Numi encourages and supports the suppliers to adopt measures of safeguarding the environment from any contamination, such as recycling consumer wastes into packaging materials. The company also has to reduce costs of production and operation to ensure they achieve economic profits. The company provides that it implements an enterprise resource planning (ERP), which ensures that the suppliers are effectively managed through an integrated system (Costa et al., 2016, pp. 659-671).
- From Week 11 Pre Recorded Case Study (10 marks)
(a) Does Honest Tea have more of an organic or mechanistic structure? (4 marks)
Organizational structure is a laid out framework in an organization that outlines the levels or hierarchies of management, definition of roles and responsibilities, demonstrates the chain of command, and the communication channel within the organization. An organization can adopt organic or mechanistic organization designs depending on their business needs and the environment the company operates within. In this case, Honest Tea has more of an organic organization structure. Honest Tea is working in a very dynamic environment, which makes it suitable to operate with the organic organization structure (Bai et al., 2017, pp. 621-629).
(b) How can you tell (Justify)? (6 marks)
Honest Tea has an organic organization structure as it operates in an external environment that is rapidly changing. The organic structure helps the company to be flexible in adapting to the changing environment. Honest Tea is also a small company with a handful of employees, which does not necessitate the development of many hierarchal levels. Honest Tea is at the expansion stage, which needs an organic structure in helping the organization achieve its mission and objectives. For instance, the company started with one product. However, it has expanded to five products, and the company looks forward to expanding through innovation on differentiating its products (Bai et al., 2017, pp. 621-629). This can be achieved through the organic structure where the employees and the management shares information and ideas. The company has an integrated system for its departments where information is shared. Everything is done in a transparent manner, where resources are shared, such as finances. There is no specialization of labor, which makes it easy for an employee to fit any task. For instance, the CEO easily does accounting, marketing, sales production, and tea filtration, as there are free flow and available information to any employee and can be easily accessed on the company website. This makes it easy for any employee to adapt to changes in case the tasks can be redefined (Bai et al., 2017, pp. 621-629).
References
Bai, W., Feng, Y., Yue, Y., & Feng, L. (2017). Organizational structure, cross-functional integration, and performance of the new product development team. Procedia Engineering, 174, 621-629.
Cartenì, A., Henke, I., Regna, M., Bartolomeo, M. I. D., & Francesco, L. D. (2020). A Stakeholder Engagement Process for a Rational Decision-Making Process in Transportation Planning. International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), 11(3).
Genovese, A., Acquaye, A. A., Figueroa, A., & Koh, S. L. (2017). Sustainable supply chain management and the transition towards a circular economy: Evidence and some applications. Omega, 66, 344-357.
Kim, S., Magnusen, M. J., & Andrew, D. P. (2016). Divided, we fall: Examining the relationship between horizontal communication and team commitment via team cohesion. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 11(5), 625-636.
Zaccaro, S. J., Rittman, A. L., & Marks, M. A. (2001). Team leadership. The leadership quarterly, 12(4), 451-483.