ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR STUDY

Fall 2011

RAISING CONCEPTUAL AWARENESS OF MATRIX STRUCTURE RELATIONSHIPS IN MODERN ORGANIZATIONS

East Coast Widgets Co. Ltd. Boston, Massachusetts Dec 8th 2011

Jasbir Singh, Northeastern University

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR STUDY

Fall 2011

ABSTRACT

As we all know, the latest decision taken by the Board of Directors of East Coast Widgets to change 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 in the 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 of hierarchy 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 the companys profile in the market in a positive way.

Jasbir Singh, Northeastern University

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR STUDY

Fall 2011

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 of management 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 a democratic 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 and sustaining 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 and completed 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. The major 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
Jasbir Singh, Northeastern University 3

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR STUDY

Fall 2011

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 many years. 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, job satisfaction 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 been working 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 experienced people 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 top down 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 and allocation 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.

Jasbir Singh, Northeastern University

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR STUDY

Fall 2011

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 department and 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 or order 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 mentioned viewpoints 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 give them 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 and potential 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 themselves and 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.

Jasbir Singh, Northeastern University

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR STUDY

Fall 2011

IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

The first step before implementing the change is to conduct an anonymous survey or feedback to the proposed decision taken by the Board. Based on the feedback, action plans will be made. Based on a negative feedback or too much opposition, excellent case studies and examples 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 to train 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 disciplines and 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 work ethics for the company Through collective and constructive efforts of departments, develop a social and informal structure 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 and organizational level to reduce stress levels in the working environment. Another major factor to consider is the influx of employees coming from different backgrounds, cultures and societies. The point should be to make work with everyone towards one common goal as justified by the company or firms mission statement. They should 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 performances will 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 during interactions 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.
Jasbir Singh, Northeastern University 6