Role of Individuals and Teams within Organization - Case Study Example

1.0 Outline of case study 2 2.0 Analysis of role of individuals and teams within organization 2 2.1 Individuals within organisation 2 2.1.1Learning 2 2.1.2 Communication 3 2.1.3 Perception 4 2.1.4 Personality 4 2.1.5 Motivation 5 2.2 Teams in the organisation 5 2.2.1 Group information 5 2.2.2Group structure 6 2.2.3 Team working 6 3.0 Definition of roles in organisation 6 3.1 Work design 6 3.2 Elements of structure 7 3.3 Strategy 7 4.1 Organisation development 8 4.2 Organisation change 8 4.3 Organisation culture 9 5.1 Leadership 9 5.2 Decision making 10 5.3 Conflict 10 5.4 Power and politics 11 6.0 Recommendation 11 7.0 Conclusion 11 1.0 Outline of case study Abu Dhabi civil defence force organisation deals with fire engineering. This is a public organisation. It has approximately one hundred employees in total. This organisation carries out inspection on buildings in regard to fire and safety. This is a middle sized organisation. (Stacey, 2006) 2.0 Analysis of role of individuals and teams within organization 2.1 Individuals within organisation 2.1.1Learning Organisational learning is carried out at Abu Dhabi civil defence force. This is through formal training programs planned by the management. Learning organisation is that has employees who enhance their overall capacity on a continuous process so that they achieve goals. Any learning organisation has a philosophy where change is always responded to. Behaviour in organisation can be changed through training, guiding and counselling. Learning can be measured through analysis of change in behaviour. It can be controlled by putting in place various control measures. Reinforcement and punishment works in a corrective manner pushing the culprits to do their overall best. In behaviourist approach there are strategies to study behaviour and learning. This approach also is based on observing the environment and the impacts it has on behaviour. All this play a big role in the entire process of learning. Cognitive learning on the other hand focuses on the whole and not just parts. This is where all required resources are put together in order to solve the issues at hand. The difference between the two is that in behaviourist learning, stakeholders operate on stimulation. Cognitive learning performs tasks based on various considerations. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 2.1.2 Communication Internal and external communication is very important in any organisation. Analysis of Abu Dhabi civil defence force organisation shows that there is both external and internal communication. Internal communication includes that carried out among employees and management in Abu Dhabi civil defence organisation. This organisation communicates to clients and contractors. Individuals in this organisation have both direct and indirect communication. Direct communication is carried out on face to face basis. Indirect communication is carried out through use of internet, telephones and letters. There are various barriers of effective communication. They include language barriers- where stakeholders do not speak the same language. Another barrier includes misunderstanding of written communication. One party can also use terminologies that are not easily understood by the recipient. Communication can also be hampered by improper tools of communication. This includes poorly maintained telephones etc Communication with other people by the organisation is carried out both directly and indirectly. Direct communication occurs when the clients visit the organisation or when the officers go to the field. There is also indirect communication where letters phones and emails are used. Communication is important in this case because clients get to know various requirements that need to be incorporated at the premises. Through communication, there is also overall understanding of various issuers that pertain to the job profile. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 2.1.3 Perception Each every organisation has perception. This could either be positive or negative perception. There can actually be perception on anything. This includes like the employees perception on the job etc. Analysis of this organisation shows that employees have positive perception to their jobs. There is however negative perception to change as they would prefer to carry on with responsibilities as they have always been done. Perception at any workplace is very important. This is due to the fact that it has effect on the overall output of the organisation. Positive perception of employees towards work always results in success and great profits. It also positively affects the quality of work or services carried out. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 2.1.4 Personality Employees in Abu Dhabi civil defence force have got different personalities. Some are sanguine while others are melancholies. Personality can be measured by carrying out a personality test where individuals’ characteristics are grouped. They are then identified with the various types of personalities. Personality assessment is useful because it makes management to understand the employees and other stakeholders better. It helps in knowing what motivates the individual. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 2.1.5 Motivation Just like any other organisation, there are moments when employees in Abu Dhabi civil defence force organisation are demoralised. This usually calls for motivation from the management. There are different motivators of employees at workplace. Some people are motivated by financial rewards. Others by time off while others by incentives like medical insurance for their family members. Some just need a simple word of encouragement or a pat on the back. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 2.2 Teams in the organisation 2.2.1 Group information Group formation is quite common in many organisations. They include both informal and formal groups. Formal groups are normally known by the authorities in the region. Informal groups are in most cases not known to the authorities. Groups form by individuals identifying with each other and putting clear their common goal. They then co-work in goal achievement as they report to their leader. There are various stages of group development. They include; Forming- During this time the members try to know each other. It is characterised by minimal accomplishments Storming- In this stage, terms are negotiated. Norming-This is where team members share information freely and accept their individual roles Performance- Decisions are made and implementation of plans carried out. There is high interdependence among members. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 2.2.2Group structure There are different group structures in Abu Dhabi civil defence force. Some are concretely structured with different levels of operation while others are not. Many of the teams have roles clearly defined. They also have a common leader who the rest of the members are accountable to. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 2.2.3 Team working A team can be described as a group of people who have common goal. They also have a common person to report to. They normally have interactions on a face to face basis. They highly depend on each other in the accomplishment of tasks. In Abu Dhabi civil defence force, there are teams that work together in accomplishment of different goals. There are both advise and action teams in this organisation. The advice team consists of architectural engineers. They generally give advice on the endeavours in the organisation. The action teams are responsible for implementation of plans. They consist of officers who go to the ground. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 3.0 Definition of roles in organisation 3.1 Work design Abu Dhabi civil defence force as an organisation has incorporated taylorism. This is where the jobs are divided into that that intellectual based and those that need manual labour. Fordism involves production on mass basis. In this case not all sectors within a business organisation are directly involved in the production. In this model, there is separation of control and ownership in an organisation. This model also emphasises on division of work. It encourages work specialisation. Taylorism on the other hand identifies the difference between manual and intellectual duties at the workplace. In this case intellectual employees put in place ideas while manual workers implement. There is high emphasis on control and management of organisations. Taylor asserts that there is a big difference between manual and intellectual labour and therefore the two groups should have different salary scales. (Rampton, 2003) 3.2 Elements of structure Abu Dhabi civil defence force as an organisation also has elements of structure. There are different job profiles within this organisation. They include developers, consultants, head of departments, warrant officers, lieutenant, inspectors and engineers. All these co-work towards goal achievement. This organisational structure is designed in a hierarchy order. The roles in this organisation are designed in such a way that there are planners and executers. Each role is generally specialised in relation to the relevance of the job profile. 3.3 Strategy Abu Dhabi civil defence force incorporates different strategies in the accomplishment of its goals. Organisational strategy affects structure because the strategy influences the number of people that need be involved and also departments. (Rampton, 2003) 4. Organisation process and development 4.1 Organisation development Organisational development is also carried out at Abu Dhabi civil defence force. Organisational development usually involves strategies to train employees. This is carried out in a formal way. Organisations develop when there is enhancement of skills, professionalism and behaviour change. This is however not implemented in all levels of structure. (Stacey, 2006) 4.2 Organisation change Abu Dhabi civil defence as an organisation has undergone various changes. This includes change in management and also other organisational strategies. Change in a work place is normally initiated by an organization in order to improve its service delivery. Change in management requires a thorough planning and responsive implementation, most of all, consultation need to done involving the people who are going to be affected by the planned changes. If change is forced to the people usually it brings problems. Change has to be realistic, attainable and measurable, these factors are important especially when considering personal change in management Human being are habitual creatures who will resist change even if it is good, a person don’t like changing the way he has been operating, this resistance is shown both in personal life and at place of work. Organisations can be resistant to change in very many ways. One of the ways is through the employees failing to be part and parcel of the change. This is especially in the case where an organisation has to change its strategies. This normally happens when the management does not clearly communicate to the employees on the need for change. Resistance to change can therefore be overcome through incorporating of proper communication. The other strategy includes carrying out organisational training and learning. (Stacey, 2006) 4.3 Organisation culture This includes values, experiences and attitudes within an organisation. Organisational culture is simply the way an organisation carries out task. Different organisations have different cultures in line with solving issues. Schein’s three levels of culture are as follows; the first level includes visible aspects. This includes dressing, furnishings and offices. The next level includes mission statement and organisation’s slogan. The third stage includes assumptions that are tacit in nature. These elements are normally invisible. Included in this category are rules that are unspoken within an organisation. (Stacey, 2006) 5.0 Organisation management 5.1 Leadership Leadership is all about influencing other people in the organization to accomplish a task. It involves directing an organization in that it becomes more coherent and cohesive. Leadership is also evident in Abu Dhabi defence organisation. Various styles of leadership have been incorporated. They include authoritarian, democratic and delegative styles. Through blending of these styles at different levels, progress is witnessed in Abu Dhabi civil defence organisation. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 5.2 Decision making Decision making is part and parcel of organisation. Analysis shows that Abu Dhabi civil defence force organisation has to make decisions on a daily basis. There are two types of decision making. This includes the quantitative and the qualitative. Quantitative uses numbers while qualitative does not. There are various levels of decision making. They include definition of the problem, level two is where alternatives are identified, criteria determination, alternatives are evaluated and finally one of the alternatives is chosen. Group decision making always takes a much longer period. With different inputs and criticism from members, viable decisions are made at group levels. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 5.3 Conflict Conflicts in organisation can be described as inevitable. Abu Dhabi civil defence as an organisation has not been exempted from conflicts. Conflicts can actually be destructive or constructive. This normally depends on how the conflicts are resolved. In Abu Dhabi civil Defence organisation, the management has come up with various strategies to solve conflicts. There are proper communication channels put in place where employees can easily report conflict issues. The management then carries out research on the conflict and the two parties are given a listening ear. The management helps the stakeholders in identifying solutions to the conflict. In this organisation, it is highly recommended that conflicts be solved very fast as they may negatively affect the employees output. (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004) 5.4 Power and politics The twenty first century has seen diverse changes in organisations. Abu Dhabi civil defence force shows aspects of power as stakeholders strive to be among the top echelon. Politics and power are known to be twin brothers. That explains why management cream in many organisations try their luck in politics with the aim of gaining power. 6.0 Recommendation Abu Dhabi civil defence force organisation needs to make some few improvements. This includes the number of inspections they make when a building is in progress. They need to be more than one. Records of inspection also need to be put in digital format and not just on a paper based system that can easily be tampered with. Organisational training and development need to be improved among the engineers. Analysis shows they carry out learning at their own cost. Engineering staff need also be increased. 7.0 Conclusion Abu Dhabi civil defence force organisation deals with fire engineering. The roles of individuals within the organisation are clearly defined. They are defined in line with job profiles. Various teams have been put in place to ease task accomplishment. Organisational development in Abu Dhabi civil defence force needs to be enhanced to incorporate all levels therein. Organisational management within this organisation needs to be improved by incorporating control measures that are technologically advanced. Read More