Evaluation of Organizational Culture of the Pennine Center - Case Study Example

Cultural Analysis Models: Evaluation of Organizational Culture of the Pennine Centre Name Course Name and Code Instructor’s Name Date Executive summary Evidently, opening a building an entertainment and leisure centre in a part of the universe that he adores had been the dream of William for such a long-time. In 1998 he was able to purchase an ideal site and two years later he got the support to make his dream a reality from the backers and the financial institutions. This report will focus on evaluating the organizational culture of the Pennine Centre in order to recognize the prevailing cultural issues as well as provide appropriately supported advice for effectively managing the changes needed. Such problems as marketing problem, leadership problem and logistics problem have been identified. In order to address the issues such recommendations as the improvement of the infrastructure to ease the movement in and out of the centre and setting specific sales targets in order to identify particular areas where they need to emphasize their marketing plan to lead to measurable differences in their service uptake have been given. Using the cultural models of Harrison and Handy and Johnson and Scholes, the implementation of the changes needed have been discussed. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Introduction 4 Pennine’s culture 5 Pennine’s problems 5 Marketing problem 5 Leadership problem 6 Logistics problem 6 Solutions to the problems 7 Pennuine Center’s leadership 7 Strategy and how to make improvements in Pennine Centre culture 9 Harrison and Handy 9 Johnson and Scholes 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction Centre project was established in the year 1998 by William Carroll. However, the completion and the opening of the facility were done in October, 2002 (Train, pp. 1). Evidently, opening a building an entertainment and leisure centre in a part of the universe that he adores had been the dream of William for such a long-time. In 1998 he was able to purchase an ideal site and two years later he got the support to make his dream a reality from the backers and the financial institutions. Pennine Center is located to the edge of Pennines, next to a certain artificial lake that is within the reach of Leeds, Manchester, Bradford as well as a majority of other mid northern towns and cities. The Center has a good motorway networks (Train, pp. 1). However, their roads are narrow and susceptible to severe congestion. In addition, the roads have recently faced flooding a result of the heavy rains experienced in the last few years. The closest railway station to the station is about 10 miles away. The center has a bus service that operates twice a day. The Pennine Center of an all-purpose sports stadium, a crèche, swimming pool as well as leisure centre cinema among others (Train, pp. 1). This report seeks to analyze the organizational culture of the Pennine Centre in order to recognize the prevailing cultural issues as well as provide appropriately supported advice for effectively managing the changes needed using the two culture models which are the Harrison and Handy and Johnson and Scholes. Pennine’s culture Pennine Center is run and operated by the Pennine Management enterprises. Carroll is the chairman of the center. He has a tightly knit group of about 70 managers and staffs who manage the Pennine Management enterprises owned outlets such as the leisure center, sports stadium, hotel, crèche and cinema among other facilities (Train, pp. 2). The run cleaning and franchises, car parking as well as the operational maintenance of the Pennine Center are managed by contract. The other retailers are overseen by external management. Within the center, all the operations such as the recruitment of the employees, staffing and promotion and training are entirely the responsibility of the managers of the hotel, sports, crèche as well as cinema facilities and sports. Cleaning maintenance on the other hand is a responsibility of the service manager who is a Pennine Management enterprise employee (Train, pp. 2). Besides this he also offers other services to the center on a matrix model. The retailers of the center are contractually denied the opportunity of getting their own cleaners. This service is provided to them on the basis of how much they can afford to pay. All managers within the Center directly report to the chairman as he deems this right. In addition the general manager also meets twice every month to discuss the issues at hand (Train, pp. 2). The Titanic Food Court everyday management is outsourced to a contract company, the Northern Hospitality. Apparently this contract is expiring and is being retendered. Evidently, Pennine center has both a weak and strong culture (Train, pp. 2). Pennine’s problems Marketing problem It is apparent that the Pennine Center contemporarily lacking an effective and suitable marketing strategy pp. 3-10. According to studies, it is of paramount that any organization sets out a plan to ensure that their product is appealing the customers (Bhuiyan and Baghel, 2005). This lack of suitable marketing limits the hotel from being a desirable venue despite its advantage of being new the major cities v. Leadership problem Moreover, the center is experiencing the problem of leadership (Train pp. 3). Apparently, Carroll’s determination and vision was to develop a center which has a lot of potential. According to past researches, such leadership trait as being envisioned contributes to the success of an organization (Train, pp. 3). Evidently, Carroll’s has benefitted from this. However, not empowering the staff to enable them achieve the goals of the organization passionately contributes negatively to the organization. Evidently this is a major problem to the Pennine Center. In addition the mangers of the center have a challenge of becoming dynamic leaders to enhance the success of the center (Train, 3). Logistics problem Evidently, the location of the center is not presenting an appealing panorama for the potential clients and consumers visiting the site (Train pp. 3-10). The center is well served by the by the motorway networks. However, despite the strategic location of the center between the major cities of the United Kingdom, the roads leading to and out of the center are quite bad limiting public’s visit to the center (Train, pp. 3-10). As a result of this there has been regimented schedule that inconveniences the clients and visitors. For this reason the center requires a more flexible timetable to allow more visitors to the site. Solutions to the problems Evidently the above named problems are a disadvantage to the center. The is due to the fact that the Pennine Center is at the risk of losing their development competitive advantage as a result of poor sales as well as customer attendance (Pfeffer, 1995) This in return will serve as poor publicity for the center. Immediate solutions need to be implemented or otherwise the center will face great losses which could result to ultimate closure. Possible solutions to the above named problems include the improvement of the infrastructure to ease the movement in and out of the center. This in turn will enable more visitors to the center. In addition the center should adopt a culture that will make their employees feel important and valued. This is because they will be persuaded to perform effectively towards the achievement of the organizations goals. Studies indicate that the staff is of paramount to the success of the company and persuading them will encourage them towards aiding the development and growth of the Pennine Center. To address the marketing issue, the center ought to set specific sales targets (Bhuiyan and Baghel, 2005). This is so as to identify particular areas where they need to emphasize their marketing plan to lead to measurable differences in their service uptake (Bhuiyan and Baghel, 2005). The center should adopt the advertising strategy in order to enhance the occupancy of the hotel as well as the use of the facilities (Bhuiyan and Baghel, 2005). Pennuine Center’s leadership The Pennuine Center is led in an autocratic leadership style (Train, 3). The significant numbers of the staff of Pennuine Center is very much resented by Carroll. According to Johnson and Scholes cultural model, not motivating the employees to help them feel appreciated might hinder the adoption of a new change (Train, 3). Besides, Carroll has not ingratiated to the retail outlet managers s they have to deal with him only through contractual matters as well as in the provision of services. When dealing with people he expects a commitment of a very high level. In addition he has instilled a climate of fear as well as distrust through his excesses such as his unending questioning of a pregnant woman on their monthly sales as she went to premature labour. Evidently, Carroll often berates his employees publicly for their lack of commitment as well as drive (Train, 3). This creates much embarrassment for the employees. Due to the issue of flooding, Carroll criticized Claire Simpson, his General Manager, at a management meeting for not addressing the situation as quickly as possible (Train, 3). Despite his autocracy, Carroll relates well with his company secretary. Upon any shortfalls, he puts all the blame on the British culture. He perceives this culture as being very complacent as well as lacking adequate aggression in service and retail management (Train, 3). Evidently, the leadership style used by the Pennuine center is not a strong culture to warrant the success of the company (Ricky et al, 2011). According to Hardy and Harrison, a strong culture should take into consideration the external constraints demands of the organization. In our case this is not the case. Carroll is more concerned about the performance. Moreover, this kind of Leadership cannot warrant change as the staffs are not consulted in the running of the business (Pfeffer, 1995). As a result bringing change to them will be difficult as they can easily resist due to their being attached to their normal operating methods. Strategy and how to make improvements in Pennine Centre culture Harrison and Handy Apparently, according to the scholars, one main factor that an organization must put in mind is that the various operating units in the organization each structure requires a different structure (Martin and Fellenz, 2010). In our case the Pennuine center should ensure that all its departments adopt different structures operating in different environments. The center should adopt an employee led culture (Martin and Fellenz, 2010). Handy indicates that this is usually in the favour of the organization. It is apparent that this kind of model will not only address the external needs of the clients but also the internal needs of the staff. As a result this will see the center maintaining a competitive advantage as more customers will visit the site due to enhanced customer service (Martin and Fellenz, 2010). In addition the employees will contribute towards the attainment of the organizations goals. Johnson and Scholes Johnson and Scholes developed a strategy that helps an organization look at changing its organization’s culture. By using this approach, an organization will be able to expose their cultural assumptions as well as their practices (Truch, 2004). The Pennuine Center should ensure that they analyze their culture as at present. This way they will be able to help them identify such problems as their logistic problems, marketing issues, as well as their weak leadership skill. Moreover, they should analyze the way they want their culture to be (Truch, 2004). This entails picturing the culture that will enhance their operations to attain success such as the type of leadership that will promote success (Truch, 2004). In addition, the center should compare the two cultures to identify the differences. This way they will be able to identify the factors hindering their achievement. For example, the poor infrastructure as well as weak leadership skills. As a result they will be able to know what factors to implement. Lastly, the center should prioritize the changes and develop a plan to deal with them (Truch, 2004). The use of the cultural model will enable the Pennine Center create a cultural environment that encourages success, supports the organization's objectives and, all-in-all, makes for a better place to work (Truch, 2004). Conclusion This report has focused on the evaluating the organizational culture of the Pennine Centre in order to recognize the prevailing cultural issues as well as provide appropriately supported advice for effectively managing the changes needed. Such problems as marketing problem, leadership problem and logistics problem have been identified. In order to address the issues such recommendations as the improvement of the infrastructure to ease the movement in and out of the center and setting specific sales targets in order to identify particular areas where they need to emphasize their marketing plan to lead to measurable differences in their service uptake have been given. In conclusion the implementation of the changes and how to handle the change management have been discussed using the Harrison and Handy and Johnson and Scholes cultural models. References Bhuiyan, N., and Baghel, A. 2005. An overview of continuous improvement: from the past to the present. Management Decision, vol. 43, pp. 761‐771. Martin, J., and Fellenz, M. 2010. Organizational Behaviour & Management, 4th Ed. London: Cengage Learning EMEA. Pfeffer, J. 1995, Producing sustainable competitive advantage through the effective management of people. Academy of Management Executive, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 55-69. Ricky W., and Gregory, M. 2011. Organizational Behavior, 10th Ed. London, Cengage Learning. Train, R., The Pennine Centre, A case study. Truch, E. 2004. Leveraging corporate knowledge. London: Gower Publishing Ltd. Read More