A Broad Range of Responsibilities Including Basic Civil Protection Services - Case Study Example

Dubai Police, Municipality and Red Cross are three civil protection organisations that offer an interesting look at how organisations that respond to disaster are structured. These organisations have different management and organisational structures designed to streamline operations and achieve best results in emergencies and disasters. Each of these organisations has a broad range of responsibilities including basic civil protection services. One key difference between these organisations is that Dubai Police and Municipality are publicly sector organisations while Red Cross is an international NGO with operations spanning around the world. It thus has a significantly different organisational structure than the other two organisations under discussion. According to Mullins (2005), “The organisation is a complex social system and is the sum of many interrelated variables.” Even though, Dubai Police, Municipality and Red Cross are all civil protection organisations, they can be classified differently on the basis of distinct functions and services. According to the classifications of organisations distinguished by Webber, the Dubai Police and municipality and to some extent the Red Cross can be classified as bureaucratic organisations characterised by legal-rational authority following a code of rules in a time of crisis. In such bureaucratic organisations, the position and offices are structured in a hierarchical system in which more authority is given to some than others. However, the authority is only associated with the position and not with the individual. The positions are given according to technical qualifications which often require the individual to acquire training for the position. Salaries and wages depend upon the position and are mostly included in the contract with the position (Mullins 2005). Another method of further classifying these organisations is by the purpose they serve. For instance, Red Cross can be classified as voluntary organisations while Dubai Police and can be classified as a protective organisations whilst, municipality can be classified as a public service organisations (Twemlow & Sacco 2003). Many organisations fit into more than one category. For instance, on the basis of who benefits from these organisations, they can all be classified as service organisations whereas, on the basis of their first order functions, the municipality, Red Cross and the Dubai Police can be classified as managerial or political organisations. Public sector organisations such as Dubai Police and municipality are financed through taxation and are accountable to electorate. These organisations have a political or welfare aim instead on making profits (Police Management Development Program 2008). Red Cross is a non governmental organisation but still shares a welfare aim as a civil protection organisation. Being service organisations, all three provide services which are likely to be wasted of not stored and benefits from these services are likely to be associated with emotions rather than generation of wealth. All Red Cross, municipality and Dubai police work activities are people oriented and the measurement of performance is difficult as a specific criteria for measuring performance does not exist. The Municipality and the Dubai Police have a business culture of characterised by specific roles. The co-ordination of functional areas and specialist areas is managed by a group of senior managers. Tasks are allocated on practicality to staff following procedures and rules. The staff acquires security and predictability through role cultures. The formal aspects of Dubai Police organisation are purposely designed and crafter and concerns the coordination of activities. In this culture, the tasks are specified and hierarchical structuring is specified objectives and the association between responsibility and authority is defined (Knutsson et al. 2008). In contrast, task culture is observed in the Red Cross organisations where the authority is given on the basis of responsibilities. In this business culture, employee work comparatively autonomously despite being allocated joint responsibilities or even multiple responsibilities. The requirement of a single authority is reduced as Red Cross employees mainly have individual control or work in teams. The influence of employees is based on their expertise instead of rank. The organisation is more flexible as quick operational decisions can be made (Becker 2006). Red Cross NGO also demonstrates person culture in which individuals come on the basis of a common goal of welfare. In Red Cross, influence or the dominated role is shared and based expertise as well as mutual respect even though Red Cross organisation has a formal structure. The generic culture observed in civil protection organisations was process culture in which there is slow feedback and low risk, where the decisions and actions are buried within the routine procedures and processes of the organisation (Knutsson et al. 2008). The Dubai Police is characterised by seniority where the power structure is fragmented (Leonard & More 2006). However, in Red Cross and municipality, the power structure is based on technical expertise and skills. The municipality and Dubai Police organisations are formal and hierarchical and have a reporting structure. Whereas, Red Cross organisation does not reflect a power structure but still is formal and has a reporting structure. All three organisations have typical routines and rituals to follow. These civil protection organisations respond to disasters in their own diversified specific roles. The business cultures of Dubai Police and municipality comprise of the segmentation culture whereas, the Red Cross organisation’s business culture comprises of an integrative culture. The Dubai Police and Municipality being government owned welfare organisations has a segmented structure constituting on separate departments while the Red Cross culture has project-based or team based structure. The Dubai Police and municipality strictly follows procedures and policies whilst, Red Cross facilitates new solutions and procedures despite being a formal organisation (Becker 2006). Formal groups are organised in case of joint efforts needed for work activities in Dubai Police in which the members of formal groups have defined roles. The formal groups lack vision, may have exclusive cliques, little communication, lack of support while the new members are left to find their own place despite the emphasis on conformity (Kerzner 2001). In contrast, Red Cross and municipality exercise team building for generating productive teams instead of formal grouping. These teams facilitate discussion and are backed by support. Often work and tactical groups are combined to form a single team. These teams try to identify themselves in a collective manner in contrast to formal groups. The management and business principles of an organisation’s can be identified on the basis of the organisation operations. According to Mullins (2005), there are four approaches footing the framework of management. The four approaches of management include classical, human relations, systems and contingency approach. There are other approaches for identifying the management framework of an organisation such as decision-making, postmodernism and social action. The classical approach emphasises on the function, formal and hierarchical structure of organisation management as well on the basic principals of the organisation. The human relations approach centres on social factors such as leadership, groups and the informal behaviours of employees. The systems approach attempts to integrate both the classical and human relations approaches and signifies the socio-technical systems. The systems approach addresses the organisation in the external environment. The contingency approach involves the form of management, organisational structure, and the organisational success in terms of situation variables (Mullins 2005). The most suitable management approach for the Dubai Police organisation would be the classical approach. The three guiding principles of classical management include: the coordination principle which addresses the need for discipline, senior authority and also the need for people to act with unity and conformity. The second principle of scalar addresses the organisational hierarchy and the system of delegation as well as the grading of duties. The third principle of the classical approach is the functional principle which addresses the merit and specialisation of different duties. There are two groups of classical management: scientific management and bureaucracy. The scientific management or Taylorism pertains to the scientific training and selection of individuals as well management cooperation with employees to ensure that tasks are carried out in a desired fashion. Tasks and responsibilities are divided between employees and the management (Mullins 2005). The second group of bureaucracy pertains to management by allocation tasks as official duties between different positions. Labour is divided on a high level of specialisations whist the hierarchical authority is enforced to positions and organisational offices. In such bureaucratic organisations, conformity in decision is achieved by the implementation of formal regulations. While, the employment of staff is based on technical qualification, clients are dealt with impersonal orientation (Mullins 2005). In such bureaucratic organisations, the position and offices are structured in a hierarchical system in which more authority is given to some than others. However, the authority is only associated with the position and not with the individual. The positions are given according to technical qualifications which often require the individual to acquire training for the position. Salaries and wages depend upon the position and are mostly included in the contract with the position (Ott 1996). The systems approach to management is most appropriate for municipality organisations as it integrates the human approach as well as the classical approach. The systems approach addresses the increasing complexity of organisations and includes the socio-technical system. The socio-technical system refers to the connections between social and psychological factors at work as well as needs and demands of the workforce. The system also pertains to the technological and structural requirements of the organisation. The systems approach is of significance as it recognises that people need to be considered whilst inquiring about causes of a particular disaster. The systems approach to management also addresses technological requirements of the organisation which have significantly changed organisational work behaviours (Mullins 2005). The systems approach considers the entire organisation to comprise of sub-systems and centres heavily on the relationship of the organisation with its environment. According to the systems approach, organisational goals are achieved by the individual workings with empowering from the system. The systems approach does not select one way which most suitable for the organisation but suggests it to stay open and operate in an evolving and developing manner (Mullins 2002). The human relations approach for management is most suitable for Red Cross, as it involves a better understanding of people’s social and psychological needs at work. The human approach is appropriate for non-profit organisations and informal organisations. This approach recognises the social factors affecting the behaviours of workers. The study conducted by Elton Mayo in 1930 required the employees to work in diminished low lightening which was expected to change worker attitudes and decrease productivity. However, it was found that this had not decreased productivity. Attention to workers was found to raise morale of the workforce which increased productivity. This is called the Hawthorne. The shift from bureaucratic approach to human relations approach is said to have been led by the Hawthorne Studies. Maslow’s work on Human Relations emphasizes on creativity and self-satisfaction, for which he crafted a framework of human needs which addresses the safety and physiological needs of the worker as well as the needs of social affiliation such as prestige etc. The hierarchy of human needs also addressed the human needs of self actualization and self-realization. On the basis of Maslow’s work, McGregor demonstrated the applicability of the theory in actual organisational environments. From the findings, McGregor suggested that more emphasis should be paid to increasing job variety and job improvement in terms of discretion and skills (Osland & Kolb & Rubin 2001). The Human Relations approach to management facilitates a more considering social climate of the organization which leads to higher productivity. As Red Cross has strong team building practices and has task culture instead of power culture, human relations approach to management would be more suitable as it centres employee needs as its main emphasis (Becker 2006). The management approaches taken by these three organisations seem to fit their model and aims well. All three organisations, Dubai Police, Municipality and the Red Cross have adopted in some cases similar and in others different set of approaches to structure and manage incentives in their organisation to achieve maximum output and speedily delivery of service especially when facing emergency situations. List of References BECKER C. (2006). Red cross revamps. Charity to cut size of board, realign responsibilities. Modern Healthcare. 36. KERZNER, H. (2001). 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W., & SACCO, F. C. (2003). The Management of Power in Municipalities: Psychoanalytically Informed Negotiation. Negotiation Journal. 19, 369-388. Read More