Explain How Rational Organisational Design Business Essay

Explain How Rational Organisational Design Business Essay Rational organisational designs, suggested by Max Weber, rely on logic, order and authority, paying particular attention to the division of labour, promotion by merit and hierarchal control; with the belief that this provides perfection in organisations (French et al, 2009). Organisations implement this design with the optimism of increased efficiency; however, have dismissed social organisation and the impacts this can have. In this essay, rationalisation will be discussed, focusing on the effects it has on an organisation and its employees; concluding with the argument of whether a rational organisational design is desirable for Junction Hotel. Scientific management, established by Frederick Taylor, aims to simplify work by following set principles. These principles routinize work; organising it into repetitive tasks in order to achieve maximum efficiency, giving managers responsibility and a span of control, (Morgan, 2006). TAYLORISM Rational organisational designs develop depending on the size of the business they are used with in. The simple design is often used within organisations with few staff, such as small retail stores. This type of design often has one member of staff, usually the manager, in control of the majority of other employees; the hierarchy design resembling a pyramid, showing the manager has a large span of control. This span of control shifts all responsibility for the organisation of work from the worker to the manager according to Morgan (2006), meaning employees only have to implement the work which is assigned to them by the manager. BUREAUCARCY As a business grows a more complex rational organisational design has to be enforced to ensure that efficiency is still maximised. The more intricate design is known as bureaucracy. The bureaucracy design uses the same principle of the simple design, although has a larger number of managerial staff and specific working departments, developing the chain of command. Bureaucracy design uses more rules and regulations than the simple design, due to the increased number of employees which have authority over other employees. This is so that there is a clear direction of discipline, resulting in all employees knowing who is in charge. This direction is the scalar chain; showing the line of authority due to the unity of command. Also it makes clear what each worker has to achieve, due to it being established by the specific departments. This also means that training for this specific job can be completed by workers, making them more efficient. This is of importance to rational organisations ; for instance, the McDonaldization theory established by Ritzer (2008) states that efficient workers can perform their tasks more rapidly and easily. This is also achieved in bureaucracies by working like clockwork; having staff perform a predetermined set of activities, rest at appointed hours, and then resume their tasks until work is over, as described by Morgan (2006). This is a typical example of how bureaucracies are designed to function. Businesses which have these design characteristics are described by Morgan (2006) as organisations that are designed and operated as if they were machines. It is argued that rational organisational designs help to cut costs and increase control for a business, overall maximising efficiency and having a positive impact on the business; evidenced by various real-life organisations. A typical example of a business today which has used a rational organisational design to achieve this is McDonalds. Ritzer (2008) helps to highlight the effectiveness of the organisational design McDonalds has implemented by quoting Ray Krocs thoughts on the arrangement; I was fascinated by the simplicity and effectiveness of the systemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Each step in producing the limited menu was stripped down to its essence and accomplished with a minimum effortà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This statement from Kroc identifies that McDonalds streamlined processes and organisation has maximised efficiency. By producing limited number of menu choices the business is able to assign set tasks to specified departments, to be completed at a set time; routinizing work. This increases control as the higher authority staff can over-see that the departments are completing their set tasks to ensure the food is made quickly and efficiently in order for customers to receive fast food from McDonalds. Also, by off ering a limited menu, McDonalds cuts costs and as suggested by Ritzer (2008) the limited number of menu items also allows for highly efficient ordering of food and supplies; the business does not use cash buying items which will be wasted due to fall in demand from customers and there is no extension of the streamlined process meaning the employment of further staff or purchase of equipment or supplies. Hotels such as the Travelodge have used rationalisation, in terms of value engineering. Davis (2007) states that businesses, such as the Travelodge, participate in an exercise called value management to optimise their process, trim costs and enhance quality. Value engineering is a result of this activity; where businesses cut costs by taking out the frills which not all customers want. For instance Davis (2007) focuses on how Travelodges dont have shampoo in the bathroom. By following this constituent of rationalisation, the organisation cuts costs, however does not necessarily reduce value for the customer as the business, like Travelodge, will have already weighed up cost versus benefit. The above examples show how rational organisational design is present in businesses today. However, it was first derived in the 1700s by Frederick the Great. Morgan (2006) talks about how Frederick developed rational organisation to increase control amongst his military. Frederick reduced soldiers to automatons by introducing ranks and uniformsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦regulations, increased specialization of tasksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦command language and systematic trainingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ By introducing these to the army, the men were taught to fear their officers; increasing the control that the higher ranks of the hierarchy had over the lower ranks. This turned the unruly mob into machines as they now completed commands set by Frederick. This is an example of how rationalisation has increased control, even in the earliest organisations. Despite rational organisational designs evidentially showing positives for businesses, there are likewise negative impacts on both the organisation and workers. If a business implements a rational organisation design then limitations do arise. These are addressed by Morgan (2006); there is great difficulty in adapting to changing circumstances, Ritzer (2008) states that although efficiency is generally a good thing it does cause dehumanization of workers as businesses drive for increased efficiency. This is evidenced an Anonymous BBC article (2010) stating that Bureaucracy hampers social workers', with a fifth of 4,141 social workers agreeing that they had sufficient time to work effectively with the young people on their case load and 50% of those who disagreed said that their workload was simply too large. This is related to the bureaucracy that the organisation has. Staff find it harderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to spend time face-to-face with children and families due to the organisational design. This makes the workers feel dehumanized because they have too much paperwork, and not enough time to concentrate on the cases they should be dealing with. This is also supported by Morgan (2006) who states that mechanistic approachesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦can have dehumanizing effects upon employees, especially those at the lower levels of the or ganizational hierarchy and also that assembly-line work is simplyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦alienating. Mechanistic work, which stems from rational organisation also makes staff adopt mindless, unquestioning attitudes, which consequently results in some workers refusing job change, or a new responsibility because they have already a clear idea what is to be done by them due to the management and delegation rationalisation. Looking at this impact in the long term, it is likely that an organisation will find it difficult to change the bureaucracy it has already developed, causing changes in aims for the business also hard to achieve. This is another limitation of rational designs, which is suggested by Morgan (2006) when declaring those working in the organization take precedence over the goals the organization was designed to achieve. The theories and studies behind social organisation also show some negative impacts that rationalisation has. POSTIVE AND NEGATIVES ON BUSINESS/EMPLOYEES ARGUMENT USING SOCIAL DESIGNS IS IT DESIRABLE FOR JUNCTION HOTEL HOW? WHY? ENFORCING IT?

Team Building and Group

2. 1 Tuckman's forming storming norming performing model One of the most common and useful models of team management in today’s organization is Dr Bruce Tuckman’s stages of team development. This model was published in the 1987 in five stages of forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. As seen in figure 1, this model demonstrate how, as team develop skills, knowledge, and attitude over time, their productivity also increase (Barker, 2011). This part of the group report reviews the performance of our group work according to the stages of Tuckman’s model.Figure 1 Tuckman's team development method 2. 1. 1 Forming Stage This stage is the initial orientation period. The members are not fully clear about the aims and the way of achieving the goals, members do not know each other and other’s abilities yet and are not familiar with the way the team leader and other members functions. This phase is complete if the members start to see themselves as a part of a group. (Barker, 2011) Judging against other groups in this stage, there were meetings held before the activity date, For instance, one of the groups wore blue t-shirts with name badges.Our group had the first meeting at Mount Cotton before the initial activity started and some of our group members were meeting for the first time. Nevertheless, we introduced ourselves, get to know each other and discuss our work experience, study background, and interest. In this time we decided to create and form the work packages and designate responsibilities amongst each other. 2. 1. 2 Storming stage In this phase, members are sorting out their place as team members.After the first stage, members are now more comfortable to work and communicate with each other, sharing their opinion and challenging the team leader’s authority and advices. In addition, some members may become dissatisfied with working with others which may lead to some challenges. This stage of group development i s the start of intergroup conflicts. (Barker, 2011) Each member of our group is from different backgrounds which made it difficult to decide and split the tasks amongst us in order to initiate this stage.For example, we had member with work experience and study backgrounds in industrial, civil engineering and architecture. The resolution that was found was divided by work packages in relation to our interest and study background. In addition to this we separate each task into two parts and formed two smaller groups who could work with eachother efficiently. 2. 1. 3 Norming stage; When conflict is established and resolved members will feel comfortable with themselves and each member will accept each other’s wants and needs.Here norms have been developed, trust is high, individual skill can be efficiently developed, and procedures for operation are clear. (Barker, 2011) Our group consists of different culture backgrounds and ways of thinking which contributed to the difficulty of understanding each member views and using our differences in a useful way so that trust can be built. After working with the group it was found that our differences were useful and helpful to develop ideas. 2. 1. 4 Performing stage;This stage is where you can turn a work group into a team. Conflict happens when the group starts to deal with the main issues. Disagreement in a group can be desirable and inevitable. These disagreements need to be dealt with by the group to move them towards a climate where this can be useful, helpful and purposeful. When dealt with correctly the conflict allows the group to look at all the views and evaluate different points of views. The team won’t be able to progress if the conflict is avoided.Conflict is essential as it leads the group to shared solutions to problems (Barker, 2011). This stage was achieved by high performance and working well together as a group. By achieving this we had to have some ideas to know how to work together. We had to look at other groups to learn more and in some cases shared our experiences to other groups. For example, there was a group who was trying to achieve a solution in the wrong and our group helped them to change their primary ideas and suggested another idea for them.Finally, by gaining some idea and mixing with the other groups, we went back to work and could solve problems quickly without deliberations. 2. 2 How well we performed as a team and what improvements do we need to make (Recommendation) Katzenback and smith (1993) observed necessity of following approaches in successful teams. 1. Establish urgency, demanding performance standards and direction 2. Selecting members for skills and skill and skill potential, not personality 3. Paying particular attention to first meeting and actions 4.Setting some clear rules and expectations for behaviour 5. Setting and seizing on several immediate performance-oriented goals and tasks 6. Challenging the group regularly, with fresh inf ormation 7. Spending time together on work and nonworking activities 8. Exploiting the power of positive feedback, recognition, and rewards. By following the eight item stated by katesenback in figure 2 which displays the strengths and what needs improvement within the teamwork with red representing what needs to be improved and blue representing strengths of group activity.As you can see the majority of items 3 and 7 show what needs to be improved within the group. These items came at the first stages of group building and teamwork. To solve this problem we had to talk to get other inputs from other groups to ensure we were on the right track. This became a consistent problem throughout the group work where every aspect of the decisions was decided last minute. The strengths can be seen when issues were resolved as discussed earlier in the conflict stage where solutions were achieved.These strengths can be seen in setting the tasks, challenging the team with fresh information and i ssuing positive recognition and feedback. Firstly the improvements on communication between the group members are essential in establishing directions and performance standards. Secondly improving participation in group meetings is crucial to achieve the goal of the tea. Lastly, assessing, indentifying and establishing behaviours earlier are essential in order to avoid problems further into the activity. 3. 0 team thinking

Childhood Obesity Affects The Children s Emotional Health

Childhood obesity has been a crucial global concern for the past years, especially in the United States. Obesity within children has become a concern because it can develop multiple health risks. Although some of the health risks can be treated, there are many that could follow them for a lifetime. Some of the health risks could be minor, but many of the health issues are deadly. Childhood obesity has been related to affecting the majority of the child’s main body systems. For example, childhood obesity could affect the pulmonary, muscular, skeletal, and cardiovascular systems. A United States government publication called Childhood Obesity Facts, acknowledges that, â€Å"Children with obesity are at higher risk for having other chronic health†¦show more content†¦However, it is interpreted differently, because children grow and develop in very different ways as they mature. A child’s BMI is calculated with the formula used for adults, but there are no set ran ges to indicate that he or she is underweight or overweight. Instead, children’s BMIs are compared on growth charts with those of other children of the same age and gender (Loonin 3). In the article Review of childhood obesity: from epidemiology, etiology, and comorbidities to clinical assessment and treatment, Kumar states that, â€Å"Some experts recommend classifying obesity in 3 classes: class 1 obesity (BMI at or above 95th percentile to less than 120% of the 95th percentile), class 2 (BMI at or above 120% to less than 140% of the 95h percentile), and class 3 (BMI at or above 140% of the 95th percentile† (Kumar 2). There are many factors that have to be taken for granted when figuring out whether a child is obese or not. Both Loonin and Kumar state that it is important to take into consideration the many factors that could affect how obesity is measured within children. 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