Assignment 2 group report BUSM 2301 organisational analysis

Assignment - Group Report BUSM 2301 - Organisational Analysis Lecturer: Ms Do Thi Ha Lan List of team members: Location: RMIT Vietnam, HN Le Thu Phuong s3870274 Class group number: Team number: Total word count: 3,000 (Excluding: Cover page, Table of Contents, Reference List & Appendix) Pham Chau Anh s3818771 Samiksha Mathur s3818378 Tran Duy Hai Long s3836444 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………… Page 1.1 The global mining company’s current performance & problems ……………………………………… Page 1.2 Orientation toward the report’s purpose and content ……………………………………… Page 2 PROBLEM STATEMENT ………………………………………………………… Page 2.1 The organizational culture problem……………………………………………………………………… Page 2.2 The organizational communication flow problem………………………………………………………… Page LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………………………………… Page 3.1 Concept of Organizational Culture…………………………………………………………… Page 3.2 Organisational Culture in the Post-Acquisition Process ………………………………… ………… Page 3.3 Organizational Culture in Organizational Communication …….………………………… ………… Page Page SOLUTION DEVELOPMENT AND PROPOSAL ……………………………………….………… 4.1 Process model …………………………………………………………………………………….……….… Page 4.2 Implementation of the process model ………………………………………………………… ….….…… Page DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………….….….… Page 5.1 Strength & weakness of solution drawing Functionalist & Social Relativist paradigms …………… Page 5.2 How these paradigms help? …………………………………………………………… … … … Page 5.3 How they hinder? …………………………………………………………… … … … …… …… Page 5.4 Consequences of drawing form two paradigms? ………………………………………………………… Page 5.5 Conclusion …………………………………………………………… … … … …… …… …… … Page REFERENCE LIST ……………………………………………………………………………… …… …… Page APPENDIX: GROUP REFLECTION ……………………………………………………… …… …… Page CONTRIBUTION FORM ……………………………………………………… …… ………………… Page 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The global mining company’s current performance & problems Our client is a global mining company which locates their head office in Australia with numerous operations across the globe, consisting of sites in Latin America, Alaska, The Congo, Asia and four mines in Australia In recent years, the company has faced significant growth due to acquisitions with a number of companies that operate in various phases of development However, the post-acquisition process has resulted in two main problems: organizational culture problem and organizational cross-communication flow problem These problems will be further discussed in the problem statement part 1.2 Orientation toward the report’s purpose and content The purpose of this report is to analyze the various functions of the mining company, and to construct a proposed process model that is compatible with the operation’s framework in order to address the two main problems outlined above Furthermore, this report will explicitly draw the two perspectives of Functionalism and Social Relativism in regards to the mining company PROBLEM STATEMENT 2.1 The organizational culture problem Current problems that the mining company is facing are largely due to the conflict of organizational culture affecting the company’s management of post-acquisition processes Especially when the mining company is merging and acquiring multinational firms, ignorance towards these parties’ cultural values results in resistance to the existing organizational culture of the company (Porvari 2014) While acquired firms have already possessed their own organisational culture, the mining company’s deterministic belief that their existing culture values are unaltered by that of acquired firms creates an unrealistic expectation that acquired firms have to find their own ways to adapt to the acquirer’s organizational culture (Hanson et al 2011) Rogue planning efforts from each acquired firms derives from such passive post-acquisition processes and stray the whole organization further away from reaching a common management system (Vasilaki & O’Regan 2008) The synergy of organizational culture is further challenged by the authoritarian leadership style that exists in the mining company Such culture of compliance cultivates centralized decision-making which, especially during the period of post-acquisition, causes shareholder activism (Saylor Academy 2012) Since centralized decision-making is in favor of the mining company’s top management team (TMT) in Melbourne, it creates an organizational culture that lacks collaboration and innovation from acquired companies (Fagaly 2018) Consequently, employees of acquired firms not feel connected to the conceptualized goals of top management and resist cultural changes (Grankvist, Kollberg & Persson 2004) Furthermore, authoritarian leadership lacks control over the implementation of their decisions, which results in inability to drive the economy of scale (Corporate Finance Institute 2020) 2.2 The organizational cross-communication flow problem Since the mining company has numerous operations across the globe alongside acquisitions with a number of companies that operate in various phases of development, the mining company faces the challenge of cross-cultural communication flow mainly because of cultural differences derived by rogue planning efforts of TMT during post-acquisition processes Cultural difference is a factor that alters the employee communication style and the communication process in an organization, where “the greater the cultural differences, the more likely barriers to communication and misunderstanding become” (Cheng and Seeger 2012) Studies reveal that organizations with cultural differences have different leadership styles (Ralston et al., 1993), different human resource practices (Schuler 1998) and different decision-making strategies (Cushman et al., 1985) Besides, Kitching (1967) claims that actions and behaviours of TMT plays an important role in post-acquisition performance of an organization Buono and Bowditch (1989) highlight that TMT often fails to transfer adequate knowledge about the goals and purpose of acquisitions due to lack of effective communication arised by cultural differences between the members of the acquiring and the acquired organization and it also states that TMT often fails to build shared understanding regarding the strategic goals as a whole Consequently , Mohrman and Cohen (1994) argues that when TMT builds a shared understanding of the strategic goals within various operations of an organization, it leads to effective communication between TMT with all stakeholders, easy cross-cultural communication flow for TMT, plus clear goal and role clarity for employees Thus, it is necessary for the mining company’s TMT to have frequent effective communication with each acquired firm to reduce the consequences of cultural differences as their TMT fails to transfer adequate knowledge due to lack of effective communication arised by cultural differences and fails to build shared vision among members of the acquiring and the acquired organization due to differences in leadership styles, human resources practices and decision-making strategies 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1 Concept of Organizational Culture According to Daniel and Metcalf (2001), organizational culture is shaped by voluntaristic ways of how people within the organization perceive and react to their internal and external environment Consequently, organizational culture determines values, beliefs, and the overall work system of the organization (Kotter & Heskett 1947) Groysberg et al (2018) and Hirschheim & Klein (1989) pointed out that the organization’s leaders are directly responsible for the deterministic structure of organizational culture ; hence, leaders need to be sensitive, awared, and proactive toward managing the equilibrium of the organizational culture With effective leadership and organisational structure, the creation of strong culture can drive organizational goals and objectives (Groysberg et al 2018); in the case of the mining company, are the abilities to leverage communication and scale of economy 3.2 Organizational Culture in Post-Acquisition Process Differences in organizational culture are one of the obstacles in the integration process during the post-acquisition period Especially when faced with an authoritarian leadership style, the bureaucratic organizational structure and centralized decision-making process that the top management team determined will further challenge a harmonized integration process to take place Daniel Rottig (2008) found that such lack of collaborative organizational culture is the key reason leading to failures of cross border merger and acquisition Centralized organizational authority makes it difficult for top managers to manage acquired firms’ rogue planning efforts, which often result in improper acculturation approaches that retard the integration process (Shah 2019) Though adapting a functionalist leadership culture, the mining company lacks positivism epistemology to anticipate cultural clashes that can happen with cross-border merger and acquisition This is why the mining company should try to adopt a social relativism approach in their post-acquisition integration process Solutions that a decentralized decision making process can provide will create a more effective leadership style transformational - that can resolve issues with shareholder activism (Fagaly 2018) 3.3 Organizational Culture in Organizational Knowledge Sharing According to Jian and Hanling (2009), knowledge sharing is the most important part of knowledge management Within organizations, knowledge sharing is a complex process that is weighed by value and driven by factors like culture and communication (Calderon et al., 2015) Kim (2007) claims that culture influences the way knowledge is created, shared and used When applying knowledge-based strategies, organizations underestimate the challenge of cultural differences, the key part of knowledge sharing Thus, organizations must concentrate on having more informed TMT that can handle cultural differences as knowledge sharing depends on it (Calderon et al., 2015) Hirschheim & Klein (1989) pointed out that social interaction creates unique experiential knowledge for individuals in organizations where experiences are always changing and not necessarily same for every individual, meaning that in this case, due to the unique and idiosyncratic nature of different cross-cultural barriers, it does not allow TMT in the mining company to handle certain conflicts by applying universal laws which refers to social relativism SOLUTION DEVELOPMENT & PROPOSAL 4.1 Process model Figure Process Model 4.2 Implementation of the process model Regarding the problem that has been identified above, the conflict of organizational culture, causing cross-cultural communication in the company among its functions and employees In particular, communication has been severely ignored in the organisation, allowing only a small number of individuals to gain a limited amount of experience, resulting in poor job performance as sales workers lack expertise in addressing the same problems and a lack of involvement Furthermore, as the communication problem occurs, the company's learning environment would not plan to provide resources for cultivating learning-oriented principles Amburgey et Al (1990) claimed that restructuring the organization may be risky, yet once it has been made and implemented properly, it increases the company’s wellbeing Thus, it is critical that the paper seeks to restructure the organisation of the mining company as a more appropriate working network Based on the above analysis, it is necessary to follow the functionality working process of the KSP by emphasizing the “people'' element on some of the related departments This means that increasing employee engagement here is paramount More specific, enhancing employee participation, according to Becerra-fernandez and Sabherwal (2010), necessitates the organization focusing on both formal and implicit information sharing amongst departments The recommendation for tacit information is focused on the socialization subprocess, which creates an atmosphere for the employee to communicate thier knowledge to the other As a result, the employee's engagement will rise Thus, “Employee Navigation '' is created to serve only a specific purpose: to guide employees in a unified direction by caring and finding interest among employees, as a result, employee morale, loyalty, happiness, and work engagement improve (Mahalakshmi, RR & Uthayasuriyan, K 2015) According to Figure 1, the collaboration in Business Strategy, Organizational Structure and Employee Navigation would resolve the identified problem In specific practice, after planning to merge new companies, Planning and Meeting will confirm the change in organizational structure, hence, with help from Manage Workforce Availability and Cultural Awareness and Heritage would be used as the backbone of this process, along with “Employee Navigation”, Induction and Training would have the ability to ensure Due to the merger of many small companies, the Cultural Awareness function will take care of clearly defining the culture of the new company type, and then come up with a consensus of what is suitable and what is not for the whole organization, before the procedure is merged into a unified block By providing a clear direction and a specific guide from the Employee Navigation, it will have the direct effect on the Induction and Training process, thus it is important to give employees this supporting service whenever facing issues Going through these functions each time the mining company wants to expand business (by merging subsidiaries) would ensure a unity, company culture is present right from the start Following the establishment of the fundamental bond, establishing a high-quality workplace experience for workers aids in the improvement of both physical and mental health Constantly reviewing the process is critical for the organizational structure, since employees act as a network within departments, which increases organizational morale and teamwork in the mining industry and helps increase productivity and output DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION 5.1 Strength & weakness of solution drawing Functionalist & Social Relativist paradigms As revealed from the problem statement part, Functionalism is considered as the obstacle to organizational performance On the other hand, it also contributes to making the organization go astray However, the company background is based on the concept of social regulation which triggers the fact that Functionalism still remains as the locomotive of the entire organization Overall, the system of this mining company is illustrated to be complicated with manifold different sites, Functionalism impartially detects as well as analyzes the other part to sustain its stability Furthermore, Functionalism is involved in the procedure of delivering obvious information from the top managers to the workers (Becerra-fernandez & Sabherwal 2010) Hence, this makes the solutions drawn from Functionalism become much more related to retaining the organization structure, particular order, amendment while serving the directions and offering any policies In terms of limitation, Functionalism appears to have sole focus on the whole progress rather than the connection among employees This highly puts a ceiling on their creativity and freewill which threaten the property of the system Along with those based on Functionalism, solutions drawn from Social Relativism urge the idea of sharing the information between others without any boundaries to enhance social engagements Workers are believed to attain freedom of interacting with each other, sharing knowledge to foster at work Also, the barrier between employees and managers also unravels which creates a more efficient collaboration among departments, gives support or counsel for each other during harsh situations All of those create a working culture without any absolute rule, or view Nevertheless, over sharing could lead to a harm to the organization since information could be spoiled to the business’s competitors and managers will have to confront hurdles in directing others (Beccerra-fernandez & Sabherwal 2010) 5.2 How these paradigms help? When performing the organizational analysis, two paradigms are used to define the corporate nature and a grid in employee and manager perspectives They examine and evaluate the organizational motivations, actions, and atmosphere on a theoretical basis (Hirschheim 1989) Each model, in particular, provides an unique perspective on the business environment For example, thanks to nomothetic approach in Functionalism, business could be easier to measure efficiency of the company’s structure Organizations may utilize any of those variables as a methodology to influence people’s mindsets and acquire a long-term plan to keep and expand one organization (Hirschheim 1989) Furthermore, paradigms may help in the collection of information about the problems and the understanding of how to achieve them (Hirschheim 1989) Managers, therefore, can recognise the issues and the measures to obtain the appropriate information to use in order to be fully aware of the situation 5.3 How they hinder? Despite the fact that they seem to be rational and systematic, these paradigms are still theoretical material for referencing and analytical methods for dealing with its problems, especially when it comes to the ability to effectively respond to radical changes On the other hand, it can be unreliable when used in a practical situation since it is dependent on a variety of circumstances, most notably human communication and practices To strengthen the previous statement, organizational communication is one of the initial factors influencing the quality of decision making by the top of managers (Tourish & Hargie 2004) Otherwise, in a more globalized world, it may often overlook the power of top managers, affecting the overall hierarchy, as rapid workforce growth may generate obstacles and adversities in managerial efficiency (Longenecker, Neubert & Fink 2007) Furthermore, while the environment generated by the organization is negatively criticized in the problem statement for being unmotivated for workers to improve their skills and their learning, the mining company has been operating so far that often allowing any alterations will carry over several new, drastic results that directly affect the entire organization 5.4 Consequences of drawing form two paradigms? Overall, Functionalism and Social Relativism both reveal scenarios in both objective and subjective views These are, however, just one side of a larger grid that only signifies the order or regulation part As a result, the suggested solutions might be insufficient It could be identified as unrealistic as it only attempted to fix the issues as if the company’s disordered situations did not exist The reason for this is because the confrontation does not always thwart organization In other words, conflict and collaborative work is a strong connection with each other (Carsten & Michele 2007) Thus, it is observed that conflict in the workplace is unavoidable Paying more attention to two more paradigms (Radical Structure & Neohumanism) could be needed to ascertain new solutions as well as effectively tackle issues from broader perspectives 5.5 Conclusion As previously mentioned, the company's key problems stem directly from a lack of management, and the company's organizational structure (OS) is the primary issue that leads to a slew of other issues In order to address the issues raised in this study, we have identified solutions for the company, as well as developing a new process model, highlighting the strengths and disadvantages of each approach, and demonstrating how to adapt Functionalist and Social Relativist paradigms to work best for the company's needs REFERENCE LIST Calderón, B., Roberto, J., Jiménez, D., Luis, P., Supervisor and Nair, S (n.d.) Organisational Culture Characteristics that Influence Knowledge Sharing A Case Study on Multinational Project Teams in Latin America, viewed May 2021, Corporate Finance Institute 2020, Centralization, Corporate Finance Institute, Corporate Finance Institute, viewed May 2021, Cushman, D P., & King, S S (1985) National and organization-al cultures in conict resolution: Japan, the United States, and Yugoslavia Communication, culture, and organizational process-es, 9, 114-133 Daniel, TA & Metcalf, GS 2001, Management of People in Mergers and Acquisitions, Proquest Ebook Central, viewed May 2021, Fagaly, M 2018, The Types of Leadership Styles That Can Define Your Organization’s Culture, Bkconnection.com, viewed May 2021, Grankvist, A, Kollberg, C & Persson, A 2004, Implementation of Organizational Culture Following a Merger Case Studies of Arla Foods and Stora Enso, Lulea University of Technology, viewed May 2021, Groysberg, B, Lee, J, Price, J & Cheng, JY-J 2018, The Leader’s Guide to Corporate Culture, Harvard Business Review, viewed May 2021, Hanson, T, Falck, K, Schweizer, R & 11, S 2011, The aftermath of acquisitions: challenges after an acquisition, University of Gothenburg - School of Business, Economics and Law, Jian, Y., & Hanling, L (2009) Psychological Capital as Mediator in Relationship among Organizational Socialization, Knowledge Integration and Sharing In Management and Service Science 2009 International Conference on Management and Service Science (pp 1-4) Kotter, JP & Heskett, JL 1947, Corporate culture and performance, Harvard.edu, viewed May 2021, Kim, E (2007) An Integrative Literature Review of Knowledge Sharing through Cultural Lenses Online Submission, pp 1-8 Makhlouk, H & Shevchuk, O 2008, The importance and the influence of the corporate culture in a merger and acquisition context, Baltic Business School, May, Porvari, T 2014, ‘Challenges To Organizational Culture In Merger And Acquisition Situations’, Bachelor’s Thesis, Turku University of Applied Science Ralston, D A., Gustafson, D J., Mainiero, L., & Umstot, D (1993) Strategies of upward infuence: A cross-national comparison of Hong Kong and American managers Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 10(2), 157-175 Rottig, D 2008, ‘Successfully Managing International Mergers and Acquisitions: A Descriptive Framework’, International Business: Research Teaching and Practice, vol 1, no Saylor Academy 2012, Mastering Public Relations, Saylor Academy, viewed May 2021, Schuler, R S., & Rogovsky, N (1998) Understanding compensation practice variations across firms: The impact of national culture Journal of International Business Studies, 159-177 Shah, DA 2019, ‘Impact of Culture on Mergers and Acquisitions: A Literature Survey’, Pacific Business Review International, vol 11, no 10 Tourish, D & Hargie, O 2004, Key issues in organizational communication, Routledge, London ; New York Vasilaki, A & O’Regan, N 2008, ‘Enhancing post‐acquisition organisational performance: the role of the top management team | Emerald Insight’, Team Performance Management: An International Journal, viewed May 2021, Vieru, D & Rivard, S 2014, ‘Organizational identity challenges in a post-merger context: A case study of an information system implementation project’, ResearchGate, ResearchGate, viewed May 2021, XMA Header Image APPENDIX: GROUP REFLECTION How you see the approach of the guest speaker related to organizational restructuring and change? Which paradigm(s) you think relevant based on the guest lecturer? How did the guest lecture influence your solution development? Due to the guest speaker, our group could have clear understanding the process of Deloitte’s Organizational Design It is indicated that to come up with any decision or changes, they have to pass through a whole host of steps due to the huge impact of every tiny change Based on overall performance of the company, we could see that there are elements that are directly related to Functionalism since objectivism is revealed in every label, diagram, and chart Besides, OD and D3 method (decide, design, and deliver) is also applied in the company’s organizational structure by consultant to estimate the overall performance of the company and end up with the best solution that the company called for Moreover, the fixed concepts and structure of analyzing are strongly link to functionalist’s viewpoint since it illustrates the order and disciplines that should be utilized in every case in any business Plus, due to the flexibility in the application, these approaches could be regarded as the general frame which is the main credence of Functionalism 11 Did the group tend to be accepting of different perspectives? Did the group actively encourage multiple perspectives? How so, and what effect did this have on the functioning of the group and the quality of its work? There were not many gaps between the participants' views at the start of the assignment's working process However, after spending time reading numerous academic sources and attempting to discuss the core issues and how to solve them during the working process, each team member began to have differing perspectives on how to provide the organization with the best solutions As team members began exploring how and why they have different ways of thinking about the same business, the level of teamwork improved Our team leader was the one who gathered all of the data, explained it to everyone, and tried to make the best of any situation We were able to discover each team member's optimistic insights and combine them in order to provide the best way of understanding the challenges that the organization is facing and finding the best ideas for the company by doing so We will have a greater understanding of the company's challenges and we have different viewpoints from and team members What were some of the challenges associated with reconciling different points of view? How did the group handle these challenges? There are challenges when our team reconciles differences in a cohesive vision because each member has a diverse background and personality, which directly affects how they address the problem, as they have many different perspectives Although we started this assignment quite early, the early progress was not really clear, slow to say, I determined that the most difficult challenge at first were the conflicting opinions of some people to take part in the structure of the document and, above all, solving the problems posed by this company However, once the problem had been resolved, practical coordination had gone smoothly as soon as we found a common voice by organizing meetings in person During these meetings, it is important that we try to understand and find perspectives which have as much as possible in common when dealing with the problems encountered by the company In this way we can unite the thoughts of all the members of the community in a unity While it took a lot of effort and time to reach the final agreement, our plans and strategies were very realistic As soon as there is consent in the direction of the assignment, everything has become much easier The most important thing here is that members must be able to listen and understand someone else's point of view during work on a project 12 Did a particular perspective dominate, and what effect did this have on the group and the quality of the work? Our community concludes that there is not a coherent approach in a single model, but rather to merge the two to address the pros and cons of all views We agree with more than one view that a "social relativism" perspective addresses the problems faced by this mining company Because we believe that the decentralized architecture, as well as the promotion of employees' voices and opinions, is the work environment we want This can affect how a business works, good or bad, depends a lot on how the managers run that company Therefore, the decision to choose a model when addressing the problem is vitally important, since each problem can be solved in different models will have different results, it is up to us to define the culture Where the company goes and how beneficial is it when applying the models to provide results that best match the overall vision In sum, when a point of view dominates, there will be a crisis, and we will have to change our perspective and find challenges and solutions How did group members' disciplinary backgrounds affect their input into this assignment and the overall result? In terms of teamwork’s background, others have already managed a small squad, the team on various scales Thus, after completing the task, they have a certain level of skilled expertise Each contribution is immensely useful in terms of designing the assignment and sharing valuable knowledge with others Besides, despite not having previously participated in a real-life management method, they have suggested critical thinking and analytical skills from the knowledge that is obtained from the class or observed from books About teamwork, when working on this assignment, we assigned the right job to the right individual in order to accomplish a single shared objective which has the ability to maximize their potential, skills, and experience to carry out their roles From the beginning, the feedback encountered some issues For example, their ia a conclusion may be too comprehensive while the other remained abstract in terms of ideas and structures To address the situation, we determined that the participants would collaborate in order to share ideas and concur to work under the same rubric that the team has already formed To the end, our paper is defined as a cohesive and well-organized collection of various points of view Did the theory on functionalism and social relativism influence the way the group worked? Did you apply this theory to your own group processes, in order to produce the required work? The philosophy of functionalism and social relativism influenced the way our group interacted during the writing process For example, in the very beginning of the assignment, we did take an analytical view of information Knowledge is viewed as an 13 entity that can be stored, transmitted, and manipulated by all participants utilizing and maintaining a shared annotated bibliography More essentially, each member of the group will gain the knowledge required to complete their assigned task by accessing the data and information that included in the annotated bibliography which includes the title, issue, answer, writers functions relevant to the query, keywords of the characteristic, relation, description, etc for peer-reviewed journal articles Following that, after everyone has gained the requisite knowledge by reading the mentioned peer-reviewed journal papers, group discussion, and interaction, we finally develop a logical framework for our paper Furthermore, in order to complete the necessary work we implemented Social Relativism theory to our group presentation Our community, in particular, harnesses a decentralized framework to encourage information sharing among team members, primarily through the use of two communication channels which are Messenger and Canvas On the other hand, data, knowledge and information are effectively exchanged horizontally rather than top-down As a result, our community has developed a sense of mutual understanding CONTRIBUTION FORM Given name Family name Student ID Contribution Signature Thu Phuong Le s3870274 25% Phuong Le Chau Anh Pham s3818771 25% Anh Pham Samiksha Mathur s3818378 25% Samiksha Mathur Hai Long Tran Duy s38386444 25% Long Tran 14 ... Cushman, D P., & King, S S (1985) National and organization-al... Corporate Finance Institute 20 20, Centralization, Corporate Finance Institute, Corporate Finance Institute, viewed May 20 21,