Organisational Structure, Behavioural Factors and Performance Management - Research Proposal Example

Organisational Structure, Behavioural Factors and Performance Management Abstract The aim of this study is to establish how variously organisational structure influences organisational performance; the dependent variable is performance management effectiveness, while the independent variables in this study include the organisational structure (OS) and its constituent variables, as well as organisational behavioural factors such as the style of leadership and type of communication. The OS dimensions such as centralisation and decentralisation would also be the major areas of focus in terms of how they affect different performance management variables such as allocation of resources and coordination of organisational activities. This study seeks to establish the nature of relationship that exists between the dependent and the independent variables. Introduction Armstrong & Armstrong (2009) define organisation structure as a process through such activities as coordination, task allocation, and supervision are directed and choreographed towards the achievement of the objectives of the organisation. An organisation structure is fundamentally a perspective or viewing glass through which the organisational members can see their organisation and its environment. The organisational structure (OS) is an important aspect of the organisation, since it determines the mode in which such an organisation would operate and perform. Champoux (2010) reiterates that the importance of organisational structure is also based on the two basic ways it affects the organisational action, and they include the fact that it provides the foundation on which routines and standard operating procedures rest, and secondly it determines the individuals would participate in the decision making process and shaping the organisational actions. Performance management, on the other hand, constitutes all the activities in the organisation that ensure that the goals of the organisation are consistently being met in a manner that is efficient and effective. Fundamentally, as Aguinis (2009) puts, performance management is the process through which a company aligns its systems, resources, and human resources (employees) to its strategic priorities and objectives. Behavioural factors in the organisation are some of the key contributors to a coherent work flow and efficiency in an organisation, taking into account the fact that human resource are the core of any organisation’s ability to sustainably meet its goals and objectives. Some of the important behavioural factors include effective communication, accountability, the relationship between the management and the junior employees, and leadership style among others. The aim of this paper would be to establish the relationship between organisational structure and performance management. Performance management constitutes variables such as performance measurement, goal setting, and monitoring, and what this study would seek to achieve is to determine how variously organisational structure and its dimensions affect the different performance management processes, taking into account the influence of the aforementioned behavioural factors. Overall aim This study would aim at establishing how different behavioural factors in the organisation are influenced by the organisation’s organisation structure, and the influence resultant of resultant behavioural factors on the performance management process. Literature Review 1.1 Conceptualisation Performance management, as implied previously, is one of the key components of an organisation’s ways of determining how effectively its strategies are working as far as its goals and objectives are concerned. In this study, performance management (PM) is the primary dependent variable, where PM would mainly be in the context of a manufacturing company. The independent variable in this study would be the organisational structure (OS) as well as its constituent dimensions. In other words, this study would seek to determine the impact or effect that the type of OS has on the effectiveness of the performance management process in an organisation. There are other factors in the organisation that might affect the effectiveness of performance management systems and implementation processes apart from OS, and these are the behavioural factors, or the human related factors in the organisation. These factors include the ability to communicate effectively, the style of leadership, the relationship between management and subordinates, and accountability among others. Concisely, this study assesses the effect of OS on PM, with behavioural factors as the intermediate variables. This section critically analyses the different theoretical and analytical perspectives of this of this apparent relationship. 1.1.1 Conceptualisation of Organisational structure The organisational structure forms the whole organisation of activities carried out in the organisation with the objective of achieving the bottom line goal, and these include coordination, supervision, and task allocation among others. From the definition, the type of organisational structure an organisation decides to implement is certainly vital to its overall success. Theorists have argued that organisations need different types of structures to control their various activities, and this is for the sole purpose of allowing the company to adapt, as well as react to the changes and uncertainties that might result in the business environment (Armstrong & Armstrong, 2009). This study examines two OSs; mechanistic and organic structure. According to Champoux (2010), companies that are generally facing a turbulent, uncertain, and/or dynamic environment may have to maintain or develop an organic organisational structure, while, on other hand, companies that are operating in a relatively stable environment may prefer maintaining or developing a mechanistic organisation structure. Eppinger & Browning (2012) reiterate by arguing that organic OSs generally has the ability to process and distribute knowledge and information faster within the company. This would then result to an enhanced ability to respond and react to any business environmental changes that the organisation might face at any time. As far as the mechanistic organic structure is concerned, Spillane et al (2013) note that the may, in many cases, act as effective and efficient OSs, especially for those organisations that are in a stable, as well as certain environment. This is because companies that operate in environments that are considered stable do not entirely need to make quick decisions (Fiabane et al, 2013). Organisation structure dimensions also significantly influence the type of OS a company has, and some of the dimensions include standardisation, formalisation, centralisation, formalisation, and traditionalism among others. These are the factors that shape the type of organisational structure a company has, and certainly, its efficiency depending on the nature and objectives of the company. Champoux (2010) argues that the type of OS dimension a company has could mean the difference between its success and failure. Since the type of OS or the type of OS dimension in place can define the capability of an organisation to formulate and execute its strategies, then there has to be a way that OS affects the performance management systems (Eppinger & Browning, 2012). By definition, PM is constitution of all the activities in the organisation that see to it that the goals of the organisation are consistently being met in a manner that is efficient and effective, and therefore, whether or not a company has the correct OS dimension in place could determine how well, efficiently, or effectively the goals of the company are met. A centralised OS dimension, for example, could be best suited where there is need for control to be held centrally and allow the seniors to make all the decisions, which would allow for common, as well lockstep action, but would be disadvantageous in a situation where local conditions, as well as customers demand or require alternative courses of action. This is made difficult if the OS dimension is centralised, and a decentralised one would be preferred. Conceptualisation of behavioural factors affecting PM Organisational behaviour is basically how people in the organisation behave as they carry out their various duties, and how this can affect the ability of the organisation to achieve its objectives. How people behave and their attitudes towards organisational gaols is fundamental to coherence and effective performance, and some of the activities that constitute organisational behaviour include, among others, the leadership style, communication, and accountability. Leadership style, for example, will determine how well activities are coordinated, as well as how motivated and committed employees are to their jobs. Good leadership could significantly contribute to effective resource allocation, better strategy formulation and execution (Fiabane et al, 2013). Since performance management is fundamentally the ability of company to align its resources, systems and human resources to strategic priorities and objectives, the leadership style has a direct impact or effect on PM. This is because with poor leadership style, the resources of the company, and more so, the human resources would not be utilised optimally, and thus, the company would lose such an ability to a significant extent. Communication is yet another behavioural factor in the organisation, and this could be communication amongst employees, or communication with the senior members of the organisation. The inability of the employees to communicate effectively with each other, or the communication amongst departments, or even from managers to employees, could lead to major mistakes and low work efficiency. This will also, therefore, affect the performance measurement, goal setting, and the decision-making process, all of which are constituents of PM. Communication basically exchange of ideas. Constructive information that is formal and regular is very crucial in performance management since goals and objectives have to be communicated to the employees. It is an on-going process between the employee and the supervisors that involves establishing clear expectations (Tuffley, 2013). This means that without communication or effective communication for that matter; then there can hardly be anything effective in the organization. The management style applied needs to encourage open communication between the supervisors and the management, and most importantly, the frontline workers. Their relationship, however, needs to remain formal and guided by respect for each other’s position. About attitudes, relationships influence the employee’s attitudes toward performance management. The most important thing is to gain the commitment of line managers in the manufacturing firm having ensured that they have what it takes to manage effective performance. Good line managers can make an unreliable performance management work, or simply put, they have the capability of influencing positive change in the organisation. Performance management’s success certainly relies on the capability of superior managers to bring the management policy to life and use it to foster commitment and ultimately improved performance (Tuffley, 2013). Eppinger & Browning (2012) points out that an OS also has a huge impact on organisational behaviour. In other words, how people behave in the organisation is influenced by how activities such as coordination, task allocation, and supervision are directed and choreographed within the organisation. Organisations with different organisational structure dimensions could influence different organisational behaviour s or attitudes, for example, a company that has a centralised OS dimension has most of its decisions and policies made by the top managers only and in the company’s headquarters. This means that some of the employees might feel left out, or as lesser members of the organisation. This would affect their work morale, and negatively affect their commitment. The result would be workforce that is not exactly enthused by anything that goes on in the organisation, and this can significantly affect some of the fundamental constituents of performance management such as goal setting and optimal utilisation of resources (Aguinis, 2009). Concisely, different behavioural factors, in one way or the other, have a significant impact on the PM processes and systems, and most of these behaviours are influenced by the type of organisational structure in place. In order to have an effective PM system and implementation process, therefore, it is imperative that the management establishes the suitability of the organisational structure in place, as well as the dimensions. 1.2 Theoretical models Many theoretical models relate to organisation performance and performance management. One of these is the systems theory. This theory suggests that numerous areas within the organisation are interrelated in different ways. Sometimes small changes within a given segment could result into a huge change, while a small organisation change could have little or no effect. Systems theory represents the trans-disciplinary relationships between organisational phenomena, whether temporal, or spatial (Patton & McMahon, 2014). The goal setting theory is a very critical area of organisation and is the most used theory in many organisations. There is a relationship between setting goals and the overall improved performance within a firm Siegert & Levack (2014). Therefore, managers need to ensure that they set clear and achievable goals before pursuing performance management. The organisational theory is a set of explanations that attempt to explain how an organisation functions. The theory has models, themes, questions, methods, and explanations that vary and are diverse. This is because no single model can explain how an organisation functions as a whole. Performance management systems and implementation Performance management is one of the most critical areas of functioning in an organisation. This area supports the human resource sector, which is the linking element with all other functional areas within an organisation. Without employees, a firm would not be able to run its operations, but most importantly, the employees need to have a high standard of performance in order to ensure that the whole organisation performs. Performance management cannot function significantly without performance management systems. The performance management systems involve performance appraisal and employee development, all of which are crucial to developing skills and talent, as well as monitoring the progress. The implementation of programs such as performance management systems has become very hard in many organisations due to various reasons. Some managers consider it too expensive and time consuming. However, the consequences of not having such systems are far greater than having them. Numerous managers and employees also continuously complain of the ineffectiveness in performance systems in their organisations. In various studies conducted by researchers, Aguinis (2013) found that only three out of every ten employees in various organisations understand and admit that the organisational performance management systems put in place are useful in improving the performance of the employees. Very few employees interviewed in this research admitted that the organisational performance systems in place followed established guidelines. For example, about 40% of the respondents explained that their performance management systems had honest feedback, utilised clear goals, and had technological backing to streamline the whole process. According to Hutchinson (2013), the use and implementation of performance management systems is not influenced by poor design of the systems or poor management of the whole process, but rather by the nature of the systems in that they are personal and that managers and employees find it a threatening process. Managers are reluctant about following up the performance of employees after job placement in order to rate their performance, while employees feel that the managers are unskilled and unqualified to do such work. There is overall complaining that performance management systems are cumbersome and do not, however, with the right implementation, these systems would function excellently. For proper performance management systems, there is need for proper implementation, which includes having clear goals and objectives, ensuring feedback and communication, as well as have a specified period of operation for each objective. The managers should also identify the strengths and weaknesses of each employee for the implementation process to be successful; otherwise, the systems would fail. Of most importance to implementation after identifying the relevant capabilities of each employee is giving each employee the relevant education, training, and development, and then linking all processes to technology for support. 1.2.1 Conceptual/Analytical Framework for Study 1.2.2 Theories of variables 1.2.3 Theoretical premise of the study 1.2.4 Variable prediction framework 1.3 Hypotheses This study proposes a number of tentative solutions to the fundamental questions, and by using the right evidence; this study would test and conclude the hypothesis. The following are the hypotheses that would be tested in this study: H1= lack of effective communication leads to poor and ineffective coordination and resource allocation processes in an organisation H2= organisations that use a centralised OS would most likely be effective in coordination of different organisational activities H3= a decentralised OS fosters accountability in resource utilisation and allocation to different organisational activities. H4= good leadership style has a significantly positive effect on the effectiveness of PM activities such as performance measurement and alignment of resources to the company strategies H5= organisations with decentralised OS are generally more efficient compared to those with centralised OSs. H6= Organizations that use the decentralized structure are more prone to commit errors of commission compared to the centralized organizations References Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance management. Boston: Pearson. Armstrong, M., & Armstrong, M. (2009). Armstrong's handbook of performance management: An evidence-based guide to delivering high performance. London: Kogan Page. Aguinis, H. (2009). Performance management. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Champoux, J. E. (2010). Organizational Behavior: Integrating Individuals, Groups, and Organizations (Revised ed.). London: Routledge. Eppinger, S. D., & Browning, T. R. (2012). Design structure matrix methods and applications. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Fiabane, E., Giorgi, I., Sguazzin, C., & Argentero, P. (September 01, 2013). Work engagement and occupational stress in nurses and other healthcare workers: the role of organisational and personal factors. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22, 2614-2624. Tuffley, D. (January 01, 2013). Engineering Organisational Behaviour with Design Research. Hutchinson, S. (2013). Performance management. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Patton, W., & McMahon, M. (2014). Career development and systems theory: Connecting theory and practice. Siegert, R. J., & Levack, W. M. M. (2014). Rehabilitation Goal Setting: Theory, Practice and Evidence. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Spillane, J. P., Oyedele, L. O., von, M. J. O., Konanahalli, A. O., Jaiyeoba, B. E., & Tijani, I. K. (April 01, 2013). Critical Factors Affecting Effective Management of Site Personnel and Operatives in Confined Site Construction. International Journal of Information Technology Project Management (ijitpm), 4, 2, 92-108. Read More