Discuss about the Team organizational structure at Woolworths.
Team structure refers to the composition of an organization under which the management makes individual teams or multi-team system for the proper functioning of the organization. The team based lateral organizational structure is regarded as one of the best organizational structure that helps the business process to flexibly make changes in the system and work effectively as well. The team organizational structure is a structure under which all the functions are performed by the group of members created by the organization. This structure provides adequate opportunities to the employees of the company to take effective decision related to their process (Lee, Kozlenkova, & Palmatier, 2015). The team structure initiates effective decisions by engaging the employees in the activities of the company. Further, the below mentioned essay explains the organizational structure of the company Woolworths and the ways in which the company make use of the team organizational structure in their business. Further, it also explains importance of this structure and the benefits derived to the company with the use of this structure. The latter part of the essay explains the disadvantages attained to the company with the use of this system in their business and the recommendations with the help of which the organization can change their system and improve its activities. More, details about the essay are explained below:
It should be noted that the company Woolworth’s group is an Australian company that performs extensive retail services in the market Australia. The company is second largest organization present in the Australia in terms of revenue. Thus, it should be noted that the company adequately make use of the available resources to attain success in the target market. The Woolworths group is involved in various industry including supermarket, petrol, liquor, clothing etc. Thus, it should be noted that in order to initiate and maintain the effective flow of work in the organization, the company needs an effective structure that co-operates with business functions and increase the share of the company in the market (Johnson, Leenders, & McCue, 2017). With respect to which the company make use of team organizational structure in their business process. Further, the below mentioned is the organizational structure used by the company Woolworths
Source: (Weebly, 2018)
Looking at the above mentioned organizational chart of the company Woolworths, it should be noted that using the team organizational structure, the company segregates the employees into different teams on the basis of which they implement actions for the growth of the company. Also, it should be noted that this type of structure supports the business model of the company and helps them maintain competence in the target market. The company under this process divides the employees at same level but in different organizations, all the employees are given specific functions that they have to perform in the organization and they are not allowed to work for another department or team rather than theirs (Eva, et. al., 2018).
This type of structure initiates the organization to combine low-overhead, minimal management structure of lateral structure with the efforts of the team just like a hybrid structure. The company Woolworths gains numerous advantages of this process as the company has divided the work in different segments (Van der Voet, 2014). Woolworths is known for providing best quality products and services in the target market, ever noticed that how the company provides such services to customers; the company efficiently make use of their organizational structure to eliminate confusion and issues in their system and adequately provide services to the customers according to their expectations. The organization hires the employees according to the requirements of their team and they initiate specialization in their service (Mihalache, et. al., 2014). As the employees present in a particular team are required to work for that team only due to which repetition of work increases the specialization of work and make the employees efficient as well. Further, it should also be noted that the company effectively make use of this structure at all the branches of their organization due to which similarity in the actions of the company at all levels is increased. Also it should be noted that this system is best suited for the companies like Woolworths that initiates its actions on large scale in the market. Every team is given their respective work on the basis of which they work in the team to achieve success for their department; success in every department subsequently helps the organization to gain overall fulfillment of their objective (Evans, & Eys, 2015).
As the team based organizational structure filters the decision making down at all level of the management that makes the decision making process more effective as the employees participate in every action of the company. So, this structure provides the advantage to the company initiate its actions with effective decision making process in the system. This system also satisfies the employees at higher level due to which they contribute efficiently in the growth of the company in the external market. Thus, it should be noted that with the help of this team based structure, the company gained competitive advantage in the market and managed their activities effectively (Carayannis, Sindakis, & Walter, 2015).
Furthermore, talking about the advantages that the structure, it should be noted that the company gained the advantage of effective organization of the activities of the company with the help of this system. Under this type of system, the employees work to achieve the common goal but differently. This system of the organization is centralized yet decentralized as every employee works according to the objectives of their team and the fulfillment of the objective of the team ultimately results in achievement of the organizational objective as well (Lee, Kozlenkova, and Palmatier, 2015). Further, it should also be noted that type of system enhances the productivity of the company as they management follows the bottom line approach. Under the team organizational structure the management asks the employees to contribute their share in the target market due to which their satisfaction increases. Asking for suggestions from the people who are directly related to the activity positively influences the actions of Woolworths due to which growth is achieved (Burns, 2016). This system eventually reduces the extent of issues and errors in the system. As every person is involved in initiating activities according to their team due to which they do not face big issues or complex problems, and engagement of all the employees in the system implements a problem solving approach for the business (O’Neill, Beauvais, & Scholl, 2016). Another advantage that the company Woolworths gain with the use of this system is the successfully implementation of the objectives of the company. This system reduces the barriers in the organization and eliminates multiplication of works as well due to which efficiency is also achieved by the company. At Woolworths, the organization implements actions in such a way that all team get to work collectively with facing any barrier in implementing functional actions (Plouffe, et. al., 2016).
Further, it should be noted that the company has defined different departments for solving different problem connected with the activities of the organization. The best feature of this system is that issue in one process does not impact the overall functions of the company so easily. Like, the problems faced by the human resource department do not directly affect the production department of the company. Also, the production department is not liable to solve such issues as that department’s employees and head collective solve the problems. Further, talking about the use of this system in the organization, it should be noted that all parts of the company make use of this structure like production, sales, human resources, operation etc. The act of globalization requires the organization to co-operate with each other and initiate actions collectively without facing problem (von Bonsdorff, et. al., 2015). This system helps the company in providing advantages and effectiveness to the company in the global market.
Apart from the above mentioned advantages, the company also faces difficulty many times in managing the team based organizational structure in their business. The biggest disadvantage of this system is the employees face recognition issues in the system (Ashkenas, et. al., 2015). Every employee wants to get recognized in the organization for the work performed by them, but under the team organization structure there is no person recognized individually. Instead the team is being recognized collectively for the work performed by them. Resulting to which, the employees feel insecure that even after working hard for the growth and survival of organization they are not being recognized in the organization. Also, if a team is unable to match up to the expectations of the company and fails eventually then the employees who performed well in the team are also penalized irrespective of their positive contribution (Hambrick, Humphrey, & Gupta, 2015). As recognition is one of the biggest motivators present in the corporate environment due to which lack of this feature in the system makes it difficult for the employees to survive. Apart from this, the team based organizational structure is decentralized rather than hierarchical due to which the teams are obliged to work effectively for the growth and survival of the organization. Thus, in cases when teams underperform, the employees (team) face the penalties. Also, it should be noted the team structure of organization makes the organization to face difficulty in managing command in the organization, as there is no proper supervision in the organization by an adequate leader due to which the company many times faces lack of focus in the organization. The teams formed in the organization are managed itself due to which there is no person in the team who has adequately experience to solve the managerial issues of the organization (Harper, 2015).
The above mentioned are the disadvantages or the issues in implementing the team organizational structure in their business. Further, with the help of some suggestions the company Woolworths can effectively manage the team organizational structure in their business. Initially, before segregating the employees into groups, the management of Woolworths should employ experienced employees in the organization. These employees should lead the team on the basis of their past experiences. This aspect will enhance the activities of the organization as now the leader with the help of their understanding will effectively resolve the issues in the organization. Further, conflict resolution techniques should be adopted in the organization, no team should overrun the activities of other team (Albers, Wohlgezogen, & Zajac, 2016).
The organization should aim to initiate integrity in the activities that they implement in the environment. Lastly, the organization should adequately understand the need and importance of the employees in the organization and work effectively to satisfy them with their activities. The employees are the most important people at Woolworths who work effectively to help company to achieve success in the market. Thus, the company should adequately recognize the talent and hard work done by the employees to help the company to achieve success in the market. This will satisfy the employees with the activities of the organization to the greatest level. Thus, in this way the company can make changes in their business to achieve greater success in the global market (Clegg, Kornberger, & Pitsis, 2015).
Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events, it should be noted that the company Woolworths being a retail chain store present in the international market adequately use the team organizational structure to achieve success in the market. The team organizational structure is the best structure for the organization as this process segregates the employees of organization into different teams and work accordingly. With the help of this individual targets of the team along with organizational objectives are effectively fulfilled. The above mentioned essay explained the advantages as well as disadvantages of the use of this team organizational structure at Woolworths and recommendation to the company to improve effectively. Thus, with the help of this the company can easily succeed in the global market
References
Albers, S., Wohlgezogen, F. and Zajac, E.J. (2016). Strategic alliance structures: An organization design perspective. Journal of Management, 42(3), pp.582-614.
Ashkenas, R., Ulrich, D., Jick, T. & Kerr, S. (2015). The boundaryless organization: Breaking the chains of organizational structure. John Wiley & Sons.
Burns, P. (2016). Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Carayannis, E.G., Sindakis, S. & Walter, C. (2015). Business model innovation as lever of organizational sustainability. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 40(1), pp.85-104.
Clegg, S.R., Kornberger, M. & Pitsis, T. (2015). Managing and organizations: An introduction to theory and practice. Sage.
Eva, N., Sendjaya, S., Prajogo, D., Cavanagh, A. & Robin, M. (2018). Creating strategic fit: Aligning servant leadership with organizational structure and strategy. Personnel Review, 47(1), pp.166-186.
Evans, M.B. and Eys, M.A. (2015). Collective goals and shared tasks: Interdependence structure and perceptions of individual sport team environments. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 25(1).
Hambrick, D.C., Humphrey, S.E. & Gupta, A. (2015). Structural interdependence within top management teams: A key moderator of upper echelons predictions. Strategic Management Journal, 36(3), pp.449-461.
Harper, C. (2015). Organizations: Structures, processes and outcomes. UK: Routledge.
Johnson, P.F., Leenders, M.R. & McCue, C. (2017). A comparison of purchasing’s organizational roles and responsibilities in the public and private sector. Journal of Public Procurement, 3(1), pp.57-74.
Lee, J.Y., Kozlenkova, I.V. & Palmatier, R.W. (2015). Structural marketing: Using organizational structure to achieve marketing objectives. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), pp.73-99.
Mihalache, O.R., Jansen, J.J., Van den Bosch, F.A. & Volberda, H.W. (2014). Top management team shared leadership and organizational ambidexterity: A moderated mediation framework. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 8(2), pp.128-148.
O’Neill, J.W., Beauvais, L.L. & Scholl, R.W. (2016). The use of organizational culture and structure to guide strategic behavior: An information processing perspective. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 2(2).
Plouffe, C.R., Bolander, W., Cote, J.A. & Hochstein, B. (2016). Does the customer matter most? Exploring strategic frontline employees’ influence of customers, the internal business team, and external business partners. Journal of Marketing, 80(1), pp.106-123.
Van der Voet, J. (2014). The effectiveness and specificity of change management in a public organization: Transformational leadership and a bureaucratic organizational structure. European Management Journal, 32(3), pp.373-382.
von Bonsdorff, M.E., Janhonen, M., Zhou, Z.E. & Vanhala, S. (2015). Team autonomy, organizational commitment and company performance–a study in the retail trade. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(8), pp.1098-1109.
Weebly, (2018). Management Structure [online]. Retrieved from https://orreconomics.weebly.com/management-structure.html.
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