Answer to Question #270012 in Management for abc

Question

‘Sleepy Coffee Limited’ has hired you as an HR Business partner to help them improve their organizational processes. Help them understand their organisation as a system by making them aware of its components. Also, recommend any one type of organization structure that will suit this start-up company. Justify your choice.

Answer 1

Organization as a system is made up of components which work together to achieve an overall goal. These components can be defined in any number of ways, but you could see them as different functions. So, for example, the HR team could be one component, the service delivery staff, and the volunteers and so on. Therefore, as HR business partner in Sleepy Coffee Limited I would help them understand their organization as a system by making them aware of its components. These components include;

1.     Common Purpose. Common purpose is an important element in organization because an organization without a clear purpose or mission soon begins to drift and become disorganized. A common purpose unifies employees or members and gives everyone an understanding of the organization’s direction. Ensuring that the common purpose is effectively communicated across organizations is a central task for managers. I would therefore encourage managers to communicate this purpose by educating all employees on the general strategy, mission statement, values, and short- and long-term objectives of the organization.

2.     Division of Labor. Division of labor is also known as work specification for greater efficiency. It involves delegating specific parts of a broader task to different people within the organization based upon their particular abilities and skills. Using division of labor, an organization can parcel out a complex work effort for specialists to perform. By systematically dividing complex tasks into specialized jobs, an organization uses its human resources more efficiently.

An organizational structure defines how jobs and tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated. The type of organizational structure would depend upon the type of organization itself and its philosophy of operations. Basically, the structure can be mechanistic or organic in nature or a combination of the two. Traditional organization structure could fit in this start-up. This is because traditional line organizational structure is truly the place to start for most companies, especially the smaller ones that don’t necessarily comprise a vast number of departments or require a major number of links in the chain of command.