Organizational Structure, Culture, Impact, And Changes For Improvement

MOD004054 Health Care Environment

MOD004054 Health Care Environment

Discussion

The managerial principles of ‘organizational structure’ highlight the direction of various tasks and designations performed by various departments of a business, with the sole purpose of fulfillment towards common organizational objectives. The organizational structure of any industry or venture also emphasizes elaborately and effectively, the direction in which the required information must flow across various sub-sections for the purpose of data dissemination and task completion. Hence, a recognition of an organizational culture is of utmost importance for the identification of essential organizational responsibilities, duties and roles (Varpio et al. 2017).

The following paragraphs of the report, aim to shed light on the structure of organization of the selected example, along with detailed explanation of the organizational culture followed. The report also highlights how the structure of this particular organization aims to impact the selected organizational culture, along with identification of essential changes that can be implemented for the purpose of organizational improvement and enhancement.

As observed from the selected example, it can be identified that a centralized organizational structure is utilized. An organizational structure which is centralized emphasizes the importance of using a structured command chain of communication, with specific emphasis on hierarchical organizational departments where superiors will have influence the decision-making process and performance of the subordinates. This kind of organizational structure is prevalent amongst military based organizations (Van der Voet 2014) and can be observed clearly in the example where Frank seems to be the only superior leader, upon whom the final decision of subordinate activities remain. Another category of organizational structure which can be identified with the selected organization is a ‘functional organizational structure’. This type of structure is identified by the presence of beaureacracy seen in the prevalence of a vertical or top-down form of communication involving a one way transmission of information from the hierarchy to the subordinates. This type of organizational structure can be prevalent in most organizations, which consists of specific departments performing independent functions (Deen et al. 2014). As observed in the example, there are individuals performing specific functions evident in the presence of a cleaner, a nurse, support workers, assistant support workers, employment workers, a team leader who are all headed by Frank. As observed in a functional organizational structure, only Frank holds sole responsibility in decision making with no form of communication amongst the various associated subordinates. Another organizational structure which can be identified in the selected example is a ‘line organizational structure’, which is known for its mere usage of vertical communicative relationships which are direct and unidirectional. Hence, as observed, all the workers engaged in the selected organization only engage in direct communication with Frank, without any communication amongst each other. Such an organizational structure aims to present a simplified goal of merely task fulfillment and is widely prevalent in many small-scale organizations (Kim, Sting and Loch 2014).

There is a need for the establishment of principles, beliefs and foundational policies which will help in the goal fulfillment and adequate occupational functioning. The principle of ‘organizational culture’ lays emphasis on the principles of values of an organization required for the development and maintenance of sound psychological and social functioning in the working environment. Emphasizing on organizational culture, influences the interactive processes conducted amongst organizational members, the process of sharing knowledge, the resistant forces applied as against a situation of organizational change as well as the organizational context influencing the creation of knowledge (Hogan and Coote 2014). A hierarchical culture can be identified in the selected example. A hierarchical organizational culture focuses upon an occupational environment which is structured as well as formal, where leaders and mentors focus on the direct fulfillment of goals for which clear rules and communication channels are established. There is further emphasis on structured rules and policy which will clearly define the work of every employee for the strict fulfillment of goals (An and Kang 2016). In this example, decisions and directions from Frank seem to be the only governing factor, with the team leader ensuring complete adherence of the same foe the sole purpose of completing the activities of the organization. An additional organizational culture whose some aspects can be identified in the selected organization is the prevalence of a ‘market culture.’ Such an organizational culture on task completion and achievement of goals, which can be observed as Frank undertake active participation in the provision of feedback to the subordinate employees in the improvement of activities to continuously meet the organizational demands. However, since there is a prevalence of competitiveness and focus on rival organizations in this culture – which are clearly absent in the example – it can be safely said that the primary identified organizational culture is a hierarchical one (Naranjo-Valencia, Jiménez-Jiménez and Sanz-Valle 2016).

Structure of the Organization

The organizational culture of any business identifies the salient principles and policies which directs the functioning and information dissemination amongst the various departments. The organizational structure highlights the key roles, duties and responsibilities to be followed by all members of the organization along with emphasizing on the flow of communication amongst the various departments (Chu, Feng and Lai 2018). Hence, it can be stated that there lies a direct influential relationship since the organizational structure will define the organizational culture within which the principles and policies required to be followed will further influence the functioning in the future (Soomai 2017). For the selected organization, it has been observed that the organizational structures which have been followed are centralized, functional and line-oriented. The organizational cultures which are followed in the selected example, involve hierarchical culture. The centralized and functional organizational structure entails the usage of bureaucratic structure where the hierarchical superior is the sole decision making body, using top-down mode of communication, as can be observed with Frank being primarily responsible in conducting the activities of the employees of the organization. Such an organizational structure is similar to a hierarchical organizational culture, where the fulfillment of goals is the sole purpose resulting in clearly specified task completion, as observed in the selected example (Brettel, Chomik and Flatten 2015). Hence, it can be clearly observed that the usage of a centralized and functional organizational structure has influenced the creation of a hierarchical culture in the selected organization, where Frank is the only superior involved in the decision making process along with improvement of employee activities, due to lack of interdepartmental communication. A functional organizational structure is concerned with the specific tasks of every department without further communication amongst them. This has also influenced the creation of a hierarchical organizational culture in the example, where every employee possesses their own specified set of tasks without any interaction (O’Neill, Beauvais and Scholl 2016).

The selected example uses centralized and functional organizational structure for its functioning. While these types of organizational structures have been highly efficient due to their sole concentration of goal achievement and specified task characteristics, there is prevalent use of autocracy which does not take into consideration the need and interests of the subordinate employees (Lee, Kozlenkova and Palmatier 2015). Hence, a key change which can be undertaken is the adoption of a decentralized organizational culture, which is considers each organizational department as independent, hence granting them the freedom to participate in the decision making process. Hence, undertaking this organizational structural change, will allow the subordinate members such as cleaners, team leader, nurses and supporting workers to also voice their opinion resulting in a shared decision-making process along with Frank. This can also be implemented with the usage of ‘flatarchy organizational structure’ – a change which will result in interactive, horizontal departmental communication and the resultant employee autocracy instead of solely favoring the hierarchy (Yinan, Tang and Zhang 2014).

The organizational culture which is utilized in the above example, entails that of a hierarchical culture which focuses solely on fulfillment of organizational goals and a structured working environment with very little scope for changes. The second change which can be conducted in the selected organization is the adoption of a ‘clan organizational culture.’ This type of culture emphasizes strongly on the creation of a well-knit family in the organization where the leaders will focus on the involvement of the entire team as a whole as act as father figure for directing their activities. Greater importance will be given on human resource development comprising of considering the unique needs of the employees and inspiring them for betterment (Aasi 2018). Undertaking such a change will not only make Frank a better empathetic leader by consideration of employee needs, but will also focus on employee growth further resulting in organizational improvements.

Identification and Explanation of Organizational Culture

Conclusion

Hence, from the above report it can be concluded that the organizational culture as well as structure of any venture or business, is of utmost importance for its optimum functioning as well as fulfillment of organizational objectives. From the above example, it can be identified that the selected organization utilizes a centralized and functional mode of organizational structure along with the usage of a hierarchical organizational culture. Considering the bureaucratic, restrictive and goal-oriented shortcomings of these structural and cultural features resulting in reduced employee freedom and participation in the decision-making process, further amendments have been highlighted in this report. Hence, to conclude, changes such as the usage of a decentralized and flatarchy organizational structure along with clan organizational culture will lead to beneficial improvements in the selected organization. 

References

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