jasbir emgt 5300 f11final

8/3/2019 Jasbir EMGT 5300 F11Final

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ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR STUDY Fall 2011

Jasbir Singh, Northeastern University 1

RAISING CONCEPTUAL AWARENESS OF

MATRIX STRUCTURE RELATIONSHIPS

IN MODERN ORGANIZATIONS

East Coast Widgets Co. Ltd.

Boston, Massachusetts

Dec 8th

2011


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ABSTRACT

As we all know, the latest decision taken by the Board of Directors of East Coast Widgets tochange the working principles of the organization by incorporating a new management system, it

is clear to say, the transition will not be smooth. With so much pride and prestige that is set up in

the working culture of a business organization for many years, it is easy to oppose change, but inthe best interests of the company, it is necessary so as to be competitive in the globalized world

and be a step ahead in a rapidly changing economy.

This proposal would reflect on the importance of a matrix based knowledge infrastructure in an

organization and how it would work effectively on a much broader scale to the lowest level

within the organization. As an organized firm, there are many departments and levels ofhierarchy within which knowledge is processed. In the current structure i.e. hierarchical

organization, information can be misled and not channeled properly to the lowest level and could

have negative consequences. This can all be avoided with the help of a matrix structure based

organization which has cross functional teams working together for a common goal towards thecompanys profile in the market in a positive way.


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INTRODUCTION:

In the modern world of globalization and liberalization of economies of developing countries,competition between organizations has reached a new level. There has been tremendous business

practices tried and tested and implemented and the traditional form of managing an organization

has taken a back seat which was pre-dominantly hierarchical. The parenting based style ofmanagement limited creativity of individuals across all disciplines within the company thereby

reducing the potential of the company considerably.

Our recent experience at Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Ltd. suggests the importance and

effectiveness of a matrix structure based organization and should be implemented in all kinds of

industries and firms which involve knowledge processing and sharing of bulk of information

across various levels of hierarchy within the organizational structure. Based on this experience,we would like to propose our ideas and seeing it being successfully implemented before, we are

pretty confident to act as a consultant for your esteemed company and smoothly help you phase

in a new chapter of organizational structure for the betterment of your business practices.

In a more political sense, cross functioning departments within an organization is analogous to ademocratic system where in employees within this structure have their say, can stand up against

any attrition from higher authority and have rights which in return again only benefits the

company and its image across other organizations. Generally, people to tend have more freedom

of thought and creativity in such a system which is proven by the fact that most successful andsustaining economies are from democratic countries with satisfied employees and the standard of

living and lifestyles in such systems.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

Our main task is to change a medium-sized business firms organizational structure from a

traditional hierarchical based to a new-look modern cross functional team based system to carry

out the core work more systematically and effectively.

Our research shows that the current organization system is a one dimensional monotonous

system where the system acts more in the form of an open loop system with no chance of

feedback to improve the cycle or relay modifications or changes to the original decisions that

were made. This works well in a military styled ranked systems wherein orders are passed andcompleted without any questions asked, but at a medium sized business unit it can have long

term side effects and losing out to competitors in terms of profit and market share value. Themajor drawbacks of such a system are noted below:

Attitude problems between employee & their boss

This can create friction between an employee and his boss if they do not have the same

working relationship or have different opinions on matters. If there is a difference of

opinion, it can lead the employee to ignore his boss or even act lazy and this generates

unethical work related issues all around


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Stereotyping opinions based on an individuals past experience

If the person at higher authority has experienced before some kind of prejudice and

discriminatory behavior from within the organization, he may try to get a payback with

his new formed attitude that develops subconsciously but surely over a period of manyyears. This is a regular and most common feature prevalent in modern day organization

firms which can only be highlighted and removed using the cross functional mode of

organization systems.

Job satisfaction

One of the most important and negative implication of hierarchical structure is for a

person to be happy and satisfied with the job he is doing. As a research shows, jobsatisfaction is declining in the US over the last two decades which just means and proves

that the old styled structure needs to be changed and something new needs to be

implemented to keep the employee interested and at the same time satisfied. In this high

tech age with mobile communications and internet data services, a firm should be upbeat

and ready to incorporate within their structure these modern innovations.

Motivation

We have seen in our research at Godrej & Boyce, that experienced people who have beenworking for 15-20 years, when no one respects their judgment or considers their opinion,

they seem to lose motivation for further talk and hide and shy away all their knowledge

which in hindsight is a massive loss of potential in any firm. Many times experiencedpeople who are not qualified as per the degree requirements develop fear for their lack of

job safety which hampers their progress within the department as well the creativity that

is lost for the company. Once motivation suffers, work ethics go out of the window,

employees feel lazy or stressful and nothing new or creative input is generated.

Abuse of Power

One of the most concerning and hard hitting fact of a hierarchical structure is its topdown approach can sometimes lead to an autocratic form of decision making and where

there is a possibility of abuse of power at higher ranks corruption and greed rules the

roost. This breeds in a lot of indifference and usually leads to formation of coalitions and

firm loses its unity which is supposed to work in the form of a family idealistically.

PROJECT PROPOSAL GOAL

As an organizational design consultant, our major role is to allow a smooth transition andallocation of new roles depending on past experiences of people working there and incorporate

new ideas and creative minded people to support the existing infra structure and give an

instantaneous added impetus to companies changeover so that there is no lag in its work and

everything is on schedule. A few major points we would be addressing are noted below.


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Transition to a team based cross functioning departments in the organization structure

As per the decision to form a new organization structure to have a positive impact across

all departments, we propose a flexible model of change involving a matrix sub-structure

at the middle level of the organization where the communication flow is smooth and with

effective feedback systems to be traced back and forth to the upper level hierarchy.

Work force composition and allocation of labor

As in all organization structures, major decisions and information pass out is done at the

upper level of hierarchy. But the major output of work is done at the middle level with

the aid of highly skilled and trained engineers and managers to fulfill the demands. Hence

to properly allocate qualified individuals as leaders and managers within a departmentand to maintain balance of trained skilled workers in each department is a necessary must

to avoid any differences between departments due to work load.

Strategic change in work culture and new ethics

It is necessary to update current employees of the changes and train them accordingly for

a smoother transition between all departments across all disciplines. In the matrix based

system of organization structure, information and knowledge sharing is the key which in

turn would be greatly beneficial to the company during critical periods of release dates ororder completion. Experienced professionals who have been working in a fixed system

for more than 10-15 years need to adjust to the new system quickly and to learn to be

flexible. Sometimes as we all know, it is easy to oppose change but the above mentionedviewpoints surely needs no convincing that change is a necessary must to compete in this

modern business environment. Young recruits should take the lead in understanding the

principles as fresh minds in industry are always willing to learn more and have an open

mind. They should in turn share their view points with senior employees in order to givethem a modern perspective of things and keep them abreast with modern innovations and

technologies.

Innovation & creativity

Matrix based cross functioning departments will also definitely lead to competition

within the organization but which is very healthy for the company overall. The major

plus point of this very situation is free flowing of ideas and recognizing of talent andpotential which would have remained hidden in the old monotonous structure. Healthy

competition within a team or organization definitely brings out the best in individuals

which is a proven fact when you relate it to sports teams and clubs where players need

constant motivation to be in the starting line up all the time thereby, pushing themselvesand maximizing their potential. As a result, with creative individuals in a team, comes

innovative concepts and ideas which once ready to implement, keeps the organization

motivated across all levels which could end being the next big product or idea.


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IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

The first step before implementing the change is to conduct an anonymous survey orfeedback to the proposed decision taken by the Board. Based on the feedback, actionplans will be made.

Based on a negative feedback or too much opposition, excellent case studies andexamples should be presented to the employees for better understanding the modern

business practices.

Basic education and training features should be incorporated over a period of months totrain each member of all departments collectively so that there is no loose end and

everyone is on the same page with the process.

Identify potential leaders and managers to allocate them respective department disciplinesand ask them to involve employees for change efforts at the root level of organization.

Incorporate ideas and support of selected leaders and managers and build on their workethics for the company

Through collective and constructive efforts of departments, develop a social and informalstructure where information and knowledgebase is freely shared to remove all

possibilities of egos and hate to develop.

Consider anonymous feedback sessions from employees every month at a personal andorganizational level to reduce stress levels in the working environment.

Another major factor to consider is the influx of employees coming from differentbackgrounds, cultures and societies. The point should be to make work with everyonetowards one common goal as justified by the company or firms mission statement. Theyshould be prepared and properly trained with specific programs designed to ease their

way into the new working culture and ethics.

Concerns about downsizing would not be considered immediately and all performanceswill be taken in to account after the change is complete and implemented successfully.

This is the basic proposal that we have setup to begin with. Once we are ready to implement it,further modifications and changes with the addition of new ideas that come across duringinteractions with employees will be incorporated so as to keep the employee satisfied and the

organization motivated throughout.

We hope that our proposal would give you more insight into the field of organization

development and for us it would be another learning experience, another development phase to

incorporate within your esteemed company.

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