Organizational Structure

Organizational Structure, Systems, and Implementation

Student’s Names

Institution’s Name

Date

Organizational structure is a very important component in any organization as it enables the company to achieve their set goals. This is a system which outlines the way certain activities are done for them to achieve the organizational goals. These activities include but not limited to roles, rules and responsibilities. The organizational structure makes a determination of the flow of information within a company. An organizational structure enables companies to remain focused and efficient.

My company of choice that is organized as a hierarchy is Almarai. It is a Saudi multinational company which has its specialty in food and beverage distribution and manufacturing. The company has its main offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is guided by an organizational structure to enable the delegation of roles and responsibilities among the professionals (Vinodkumar et al 2020). The hierarchical organizational structure is followed so as to ensure multiple tasks are carried out and also for purposes of proper maintenance of records. The organizational chart below gives a glimpse of the structure of the organization, how duties are assigned from the upper level downwards and the reporting of duties upwards. The reason this organizational structure is followed is to ensure the recognition of the leadership levels by the Almarai employees and the authorities and responsibility levels are thus obvious.

Specialization, coordination, cooperation, and control are practiced in the company collectively. All the departments perform together to ensure the goals and objectives of the company can be achieved within a specific time period. According to Singh & Hagahmoodi, (2017), the designing department coordinates with the production and vendor department. The capital is availed by the finance department to ensure the purchase of raw materials which are required for processing and other functions within the company.

The workforce at the same time is provided by the department of human resource to ensure completion of jobs at the required time. The sales and marketing department on the other hand focuses on the specific targets and strategies so as to achieve Almarai’s target. Finally, the finance and advertising department coordinates with each other so as to make a decision on the advertising budget to ensure specific budget allocation to the sales and marketing department (Singh & Hagahmoodi, 2017).

As indicated, it is evident that there are various departments specialized for specific functions. The personnel as well when indicated in the organizational structure have different roles and responsibilities to ensure that they deliver what is required of them. This translates to production of desirable products. Coordination and corporation goes in handy as the various departments and personnel in the organization work together to ensure service delivery.

The company’s structure and management system promotes the effective implementation of the company’s strategy in various ways. A well thought out strategy is the starting point of any organization’s design. The development of a clearly understood company strategy and structure increases the effectiveness of the management system (Grant, 2019). The company’s structure ensures that every organizational member knows what is expected of them and have well stipulated roles and responsibilities and are answerable to someone at a higher position. This keeps them on toes to ensure the company strategies are achieved. An effective management system as well ensures the success of the organization. Almarai company thus planned, discussed and assigned roles to ensure provision of a fluid leadership which is embodied in the organization’s management system. Almarai’s operation and management system has been broadcasted and documented throughout the company to make all the employees aware of the part they all play in the implementation of the company’s strategy (Vinodkumar et al 2020). The management system in this case is made up of computerized and networked systems which have central databases. These systems make it easy for the company to make use and access information from the various sources which may be required to develop plans, execute strategies and control hierarchies.

In Gore, specialization, coordination, corporation and control take place in various ways. Each member is hired according to their aptitude and qualification. As indicated by Manz et al 2009, they are assigned duties to the places where they are found to be more suited. With this, they are able to coordinate with the head of the department where they work who also reports to the CEO. The company has four divisions which include electronic products, industrial, medical and fabrics. These divisions have leaders who coordinate with each other. The human resources on the other hand work towards ensuring the recruitment of workers to make sure the organization is well equipped with personnel for efficient service delivery. The information technology section as well ensures that all their systems are in working condition to facilitate effective communication within the organization as well as the proper functioning of all the other systems. All the functions of the organization are controlled by the CEO. The departmental functions are controlled by the departmental leaders (Manz et al 2009). With this, they are able to correct any issues before it gets out of hand and thus ensuring the organizational strategies are met.

The control mechanisms in the organization are not present at Gore but the organization is able to function effectively. It is important to note that the corporation is composed of some level of hierarchy but as indicated in the case, this hierarchy is only present at the upper level. It is composed of board of directors chaired by Bob Gore and a CEO (Harder & Townsend, 2017). The company as mentioned earlier has four divisions each having a recognized leader. There is lack of positions and ranks and thus they are able to run their functions by adapting their roles to be in line with their aptitudes and skills. They are categorized into teams which are self-managing. The connection between these teams is based on lattice and not a convectional hierarchy. The concept of lattice is that organizational members are connected to each other. The communication is thus between peers and not between the superior and subordinates. Every individual at the organization has a sponsor. They help support the growth of those under them and give feedback on their strengths and help them through their weaknesses. They as well help them connect with their colleagues in organization. The company is thus able to run by use of informal procedures so as to achieve their goals.

Gore’s management system has been able to attract the top talents and as well provides an environment which inspires collaboration and creativity. The peer ranking system used in the company’s organizational structure enables the associates to rank the members of their teams and their leaders as well. The associates create a contribution list in form of ranks based on their view of who they feel is making great contributions leading to the success of the organization. This is a good form of checks and balances as it enables people to be on toes so as to rise up the ranks. This in turn ensures the proper functioning of the organization hence efficiency.

In conclusion, in order to build a management system which is effective, there is need to consider the automated systems, people and the entire business. For a business to be able to make financial growth, it needs to have successful self-control. Vital to this control system is that it needs to ensure integration of stakeholders, every section in the organization and the aspects of business functions. Company management thus needs to realize that the management system is made up of the whole business culture and has the potential of affecting the surroundings as well. Gore makes use of a unique system of organizational structure, one which is not very common around the world. They however find ways of making their systems work despite the lack of control. The peer to peer interaction also referred to an informal way of carrying out their activities has been found to work effectively. This is because the management argues that most organizations put up formal structures but end up executing their strategies by use of informal structures.

References

Grant, R. M. (2019). Contemporary strategy analysis (10th ed.) Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 9781119495727

Harder, J. W., & Townsend, D. R. (2017). WL Gore & Associates. Darden Business drafting Cases.

Manz, C. C., Shipper, F., & Stewart, G. L. (2009). Everyone a Team Leader: Shared Influence at WL Gore & Associates. Organizational dynamics, 38(3), 239-244.

Singh, A., & Hagahmoodi, S. O. (2017). Performance Measurement of Almarai Products and Customer Satisfaction. International Journal of Management Science, 4(1), 1-12.

Vinodkumar, D., Meharunisa, D., & Sulphey, D. (2020). A Study on the Growth of Almarai as a Corporate Citizen in the era that seeks Sustainable. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(2).