Examining Fred Luthan's 12th Edition on Organizational Behavior - Book Report/Review Example

Organizational Structure Student Name Lecturer Date Introduction The behaviors that employees exhibit are influenced by the core values set in an organization which in turn dictates the organizational culture that the employees will adapt to or rather, the organizational behavior and the way it affects organizational performance. Teamwork should be a part of an organizational culture that each and every employee embraces to optimize performance. The answer to this efficiency in teamwork and collaboration lies within the organizational structure that the management sets for the employees (Edmondson, 2012). The article therefore expounds and outlines how organizational structure can be used to facilitate the collaboration, speed, and teamwork needed in an organization; the research will also examine the way traditional bureaucratic organization structures can employ viable strategies to enhance teamwork, collaboration, and speed in organizational operations. The research will use an evidence-based approach by examining Fred Luthan's 12th Edition book on "Organizational Behavior" among other researched literature works on organizational behavior. Organizations are profit-oriented premises or non-profit oriented entities that deal with a considerable number of employees. Apparently, the organization that a group of people work under single or multilayered management there has to be enhanced teamwork if performance is to be put in effect. Informal organization tends to form the basis of a social structure used to govern how employees work collaboratively with each other thus enhancing a strong team work. Teamwork refers to the ability of different departments to collaborate with each other, as well as the employees in an organization to work as a unit helping each other where necessary for the achievement of the core objectives of the organization (Scandura, 2016). Using multiple organizational structures can help an organization adapt to changes that could foster teamwork and speed of executing tasks. The decision of which structure to employ solely lies with the top management; however, the core determinant of the structure would be the size of the organization. The taller the organizational structure, the bigger the organization (Luthans, 2011). It is the role of the top management to liaise with the various management levels in place to ensure that the subordinates work collaboratively. It is appropriate for small organizations to flat organizational structure so as to mitigate the costs that come with running the business and give room for faster decision making. The utilization of flat organizational structures is the most ideal for speeded completion of tasks and projects as decision making is faster since no bureaucracy is involved (Edmondson, 2012). The contemporary Community Policing and Problem-solving Model (COPPS) tends to have power decentralization. It is an organizational structure that requires a participatory role. However, when it comes to the traditional bureaucratic model, it is designed to enhance control and rigidity in the management of an organization. A centralized body make all the decisions, and the subordinates follow without question. The managers set in each hierarchical division are given a set number of employees who cannot be reduced or increased as it is believed that the organizational management system would be interfered with. In both structures, the COPPS would prove to be the most effective in enhancing collaboration and teamwork plus speeded implementation of activities. However, among the two, various aspects can be factored in to ensure that teamwork and collaboration are enhanced. Therefore, each structure suits the size of the organization in question (O'Connor, 2012). In both the formal and informal organizational structures, the collaboration between the management and the employees has to be enhanced for collaboration to be put in effect. The organization has to set up interaction channels that will speed up performances through effective brainstorming sessions before team members embark on any mission. To optimize speed, collaboration and teamwork, there some things that both the informal and formal organizational structures adopt; first of all, the management should never be distant itself from the employees (Luthans, 2011). A hierarchical structure, that is, traditional bureaucratic model, tends to have a vertical structure that makes employees hard to collaborate with their superiors. However, there are aspects that such a structure can adopt to enhance teamwork, the collaboration between departments and final optimization of efficiency concerning speed on how things are carried out (Scandura, 2016). The alignment of organizational structure around markets together with the employees in a flattened organizational structure ensures that efficiency is enhanced. Most importantly, gridlocks that impede collaboration and priority conflicts tend to be eliminated. The bureaucratic structure that is market oriented creates the focus for the employees and thus with conflicts and gridlocks out of the way, the process of decision making becomes faster as it is achieved unanimously through consultations. Each and every organization must have flexibility in readapting its structure according to the market forces so that employees can get engaged through a teamwork approach (Luthans, 2011). Secondly, a structure that empowers employees in decision making is liable to enhance collaboration and teamwork. As a result, a team that works together have little lead time in their operations. Sometimes, the people at the top of the management chain do not make viable decisions on issues affecting the organization (Scandura, 2016). Therefore, involving the employees and other stakeholders in decision making means that a pool of ideas is enhanced thus creating collaboration and teamwork. In such a scenario, there is usually little resistance from the employees, and thus organizational operations and decision making tend to be speeded up. It is in such an empowerment approach that the same team members are prepared for the future roles of managers in the organization (Edmondson, 2012). An organizational structure that focuses on solutions in their strategic planning is liable to enhance collaboration and teamwork in its structure. The management must focus on pooling of ideas from the employees on the focus of strategic plans rather than spend a lot of time sitting down as top management while the solution lies with the rest of the employees. Therefore, the building of consensus in solving problems will make the employees feel like a part of the organization. A structure that alienates the rest of the employees does not get informed on the issues on the ground, which ends up bring the organization to its knees (O'Connor, 2012). The Brainstorm Prioritization Technique (BPT) should be adopted in both the formal and informal organizational structures. With a smart team, any problem that occurs will be brainstormed, and the process of getting a solution will be speeded up. In the same way, such a team sitting together and coming up with a solution only calls for collaboration which will be cemented. An employee should be regarded as the most valuable asset of the company and the way they relate with each other or with the management, will be dependent on the structure that has been set up by the organization (O'Connor, 2012). The communication system or channel used in any organizational structure has everything to do with the speed at which clients served, and the way internal and external factors affecting the business are solved. Organizations must adopt a structure that has no room for bureaucratic red tape. This involves the aspect of many routine procedures that must be followed before any organizational decision is made. It leads to wastage of time, complaints from the employees and dissatisfied customers (Edmondson, 2012). The communications system should be narrowed to the bottom employees, and departmental collaboration should be enhanced so that issues from the employees can be responded to as quick as possible. An active communication channel ensures that departments can coordinate efficiently and feedback and prompt actions to an issue are fostered thus speeding the way issues are addressed. Bureaucracy is the killer of business performance in any organizational setting (Scandura, 2016). Another approach that organizational structure can promote teamwork, collaboration and speed of doing things is the introduction of teamwork enforcement activities. These would include games, social and community programs aimed at giving the employees a chance to give back to the community. Teamwork is a platform for creating teaming, which involves the team members nurturing skills, networks and even knowledge on how to perform various tasks. Teamwork is catalyzed by collaboration which means a group of people coordinating so as to achieve a common goal (Luthans, 2011). It is only through fostering teamwork that the management can note the weaknesses and strengths of employees and thus group them in such a manner that they can sharpen each other's skills. The horizontal organizational structure is the most appropriate in cultivating teamwork and speeded organization operations. To ensure that activities are not time-consuming, an organizational structure must set up a system that utilizes inputs and interactions of activities as management of technical issues should involve the sorting of tasks, ensuring that boundaries for each activity are structured and scoping for any probable challenges that the team may face. Horizontal management has been known to foster such kind of an approach that will speed up the way the organization executes its activities. This approach acts as the hardware of the organization's structure in fostering collaboration and speeded execution of duties (Edmondson, 2012). Setting up an organizational structure that puts emphasis on purpose by clearly outlining what is at stake to the team members and what they are expected to do makes them feel valued and informed. It is a platform to mitigate room for miscommunication and eventual errors in execution of duties. Teaming must have focus and goals on what is to be done so that the team can decide on the best approach to handle the problem through BPT. The management must keep on reminding the team of what is required of them so as not to deviate from the core business of the organization. Purpose puts focus on the organization and determines how it will be run (Luthans, 2011). Enhancing teamwork and collaboration works better in an organizational structure that has room to embrace failure. Failure is usually seen as a negative factor in the growth of an organization, but it is an aspect that fosters teamwork (Scandura, 2016). Not all failures lead to the destruction of an organization, but rather, a good structure should create room to help employees embrace failure and use it as a stepping stone or rather a lesson to work together and help the fallen to their feet so that the organization can remain objective. It is a way of cultivating collaboration. Such a structure is not focussed on sacking those who show failures but rather retraining them and putting them under teams that can help them acquire problem-solving skills. Embarrassing a team member only makes the performance of the entire organization weak (Luthans, 2011). Conclusion In conclusion, an organizational structure plays a crucial role in enhancing teamwork. It is upon the management of an organization to determine the type of structure that suits their organization best so as to improve collaboration and efficiency. Employees are the most important assets of an organization and setting up structures that can make them work collaboratively, and as teamwork so as to see to it that efficiency in performance and speed are enhanced, especially in decision making, it would mean that that organizational structure suits the system set in place. With a viable organizational structure, Communication is improved, departmental coordination is made efficient, the duplication of resources is eliminated, and most importantly, weak team members are assisted in catching up. Bibliography Edmondson, A. C. (2012). Teamwork on the Fly. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/04/teamwork-on-the-fly-2 Luthans, F. (2011). Organizational Behavior: An evidence-based approach. Boston [u.a.: McGraw-Hill. O'Connor, K. (2012). 9 Ways Great Companies Organize Their Teams For Success. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/3000584/9-ways-great-companies-organize-their-teams-success Scandura, T. A. (2016). Essentials of organizational behavior: An evidence-based approach. Read More