Introduction to Management Semco Company

Question: Discuss about theIntroduction to Managementfor Semco Company. Answer: Introduction The study focuses on the change management aspects of Semco. Semco is a company that deals with industrial machine manufacturing in Brazil. In 1950s, the company has come into existence. However, in 1980s, the recession has prevailed at that time. The different types of hierarchical structure are the main characteristics of the organizational structure of the organizations at that period. The hierarchical management structure is characterised by patriarchal structure of leadership. They have different types of regulations that are the cause of creation of many problems within the organization. The problems are mitigated by the owner of the company i.e. Richard Semler to the different stages of business operations within the company itself. The transformation of the hierarchical structure with the implementation of the different attributes and strategies are responsible for a substantial change in the organization itself. The study will point out different risks taken by Semler in ord er to implement different strategies of changing the nature of the workforce along with increase of productivity. It will increase the global competitive environment along with the different types of changes in the leadership style of the company. Transformational Plan It can be said that to implement the transformational plan within the organization, different types of activities of participative leadership is implemented at the different levels of operational department in the company. The new organization structure that is proposed by Semler has reduced the levels of hierarchy from 7 to 3. There are no middle level managers. The workers of the organizations are divided into different departments or groups. It is seen that the current organizational structure is simple and simpler in nature. Previously, due to presence of many hierarchies employees are not comfortable to communicate with the senior management due to lack of communication (Moriano et al., 2014). Hence, the problems between the workers remain the same. In the previous organizational structure, the junior executives face many issues in the organization in the perspective of competitive environment both within and outside the company. It is the reason of implementation of the radical change in the form of culture and it is based on trust. The liberal approach and the rich organizational culture are responsible for the acceptance of the change (Strom et al., 2014). The work culture of the company is rich to accept the proposed change by Semler in the organizational perspectives. In the new form of transformational plan, the different levels of employees are provided with power of taking decisions and overseeing the process of work they are associated with. The workers are divided into groups where the powers remains the same and the responsibility of the employees (Birasnav, 2014). The success of the strategy of transformation is responsible for the culture practiced in the different levels of operation in the organization. The uniqueness of the culture of work is responsible for improving the skills of the workers in their particular field of work. The success of the plan is depended on the different aspects of the workers of the organization as they are given the power of decision making along with the increment of salary and other compensation to them (Girma 2016). The factors that are responsible for determining the success of the transformational plan are management style, nature of work, group dynamic, interpersonal relationships, etc. Apart from that, other factors of motivation, economic factors, social factors, leadership factors, and democratic processes are responsible for the success of the transformational plan. It can be said that, one group of people are underpinning the values of the new transformational plan, on the other hand, one group of peo ple felt that they do not have the required level of importance from the different workers of junior level from the different types of Semco (Saleem et al., 2015). The middle level employees on the long run are not accepting the different changes in the organizational structure and the transformational plan of Semler, as they are not being benefitted in their particular designation of work. Hence, it can be said that the some of the mid level managers will not universally accept the transformational plan proposed by Semler within the operational department of the organization (Lam et al., 2015). Main Changes at Semco The situation before the implementation of the transformational plan was different, as the nature of the structure of the organization was different. It is rigid and patriarchal in nature. Many hierarchies are responsible for reaching to the actual problem faced by different employees at different operational departments. The senior management of the company is unable to reach to the base level of the problems of the employees as well as the organization (Maslow, 2013). Focusing on the problems and issues faced by the organization in terms of productivity of the organization and the employees and the employee relations, the initiatives of change management have been implemented in the aspect of improving employee relations, leadership structure and improved organizational structure (Healy, 2016). After implementation of the participative leadership strategies, transformational plan and working in groups is responsible for creating numerous changes within the organization. The changes are positive in nature and are considered for bringing the expected results except some risks and hindrances that are common in the case of implementation of change management strategies. The changes include group cohesiveness, increased productivity, self motivation, innovation, increased social factors, increased communication, concrete decision making of the company, improved work culture, improved employee relations, increased motivation of the employees, etc (Kaur, 2013). The radical transformational strategy is responsible for creating transformation among the minds of the employees of the organization at different organizational levels and operational departments. The new implemented organizational structure and the participative leadership strategies are responsible for increased the motivation of the different employees especially the junior level employees of the organization (Smith and Shields, 2013). In this case, the Maslows theory of motivation has worked properly. Maslows hierarchy of needs consists of few stages that satisfy the needs of a human being both in terms of personal and professional life. However, it can be said that both the personal and professional life are interrelated with each other in terms of motivation. Hierarchy of needs consists of physiological needs, safety needs, belonging needs, self-esteem needs, and self actualization needs (Band et al., 2016). Apart from that, there are other theoretical frameworks of motivation , that can be perfectly implemented while explaining the situation faced by Semco in terms of improving the productivity of the company as well as the different levels of employees. The perfect theory of motivation that can be implemented in this situation is Herzbergs two-factor theory of motivation. The two factor theory is categorised into two sections such as hygiene factors and motivational factors. Hygiene factors include different type of factors that can motivate employees in order to perform their work such as administrative policies and administrative policies, pay, fringe benefits, status, physical working conditions, job security, interpersonal relations, etc. However, it can be said that the hygiene factors are not actually considered as the motivators as the motivational factors itself is responsible for creation of a satisfaction in the minds of the people. The motivational factors include recognition, promotional and growth opportunities, sense of achievement, respon sibility, recognition, meaningfulness of work, etc. It can be said that the changed strategies are responsible for implementing all these factors in the organizational structure and the HR policies of the organization (Pinder, 2014). However, it can be point out that the changed things that Semco has started implementing are actually improving the motivation of the employees of the organization. Possible Sources of Tension Tension is related to the concept of conflict. Conflict is a common aspect whenever an organization is going on the phase of change. The people who are associated with the change and different types of other HR related strategies for employee relations and compensations must face the hindrances from different employees. It is the capability and responsibility of the different managers associated with the post of strategic management and human resource department to look after the benefit and problems faced by the employees in the process of change management (Fernando and Moore, 2015). In this context also tension or conflicts are have been arise. It can be said that the managers of the organization itself cause the tensions. It is impossible for an organization or a specific department of the organization to satisfy the needs and expectations of every employee properly. For instance, the senior management of the company cannot check or keep in track of the problems faced by every em ployee especially at junior level of the organization. It has occurred due to the rigid hierarchical structure of the organization. It is the reason of creation of a communication gap. However, the founder of the organization has pointed out the fact and has taken the initiative to change the organizational structure within the different departments of the company (Pinder, 2014). It is pointed out the fact that the newly changed organizational structure is responsible for creation of tension or conflict among the managers and executives of different levels of operations. The tension that has been created is due to the radical change of the transformational plan and the organizational structure that has been implemented. The new organizational structure is found to have immense new opportunities for the growth of the employees and companies as a whole. The theoretical frameworks that can be implemented in this context are bureaucratic organizations and adaptive organizations. It can be said that the earlier when the organization had hierarchical structure has the characteristics of a bureaucratic organizations (Kaur, 2013). The characteristics of a bureaucratic organization structure are authority is centralised, procedures and rules are many, span of control is narrow, tasks are specialised, task forces and teams are few, and coordination is impersonal and formal. On the contrary, it can be said that the new organization structure is adaptive and has the opposite characteristics of the bureaucratic organization structure. Apart from having many opportunities, the authority is decentralises along with few rules that is the reason of conflict between the middle level employees of the organization. They think that their importance and the seniority is undermined and hence they are raising the tension in the implementation of the new organizational structure that is neither hierarchical nor matrix. Moreover, the coordination is informal and personal which are not up to the mark of the different operational departments in the company (Bednarz, 2013). It can be said that there are pros and cons related to the approach implemented by the company that results into tensions and conflicts. Risks taken by Semler While implementing the new organization structure Semler has taken many risks to the employees. There are ethical practices and sustainable practices that every business has to maintain while doing business in a particular country. Some rules and regulations are to be maintained for running the business in a sound manner. The new structure does not follow any type of regulations. Many risks are prevalent in the new structure. The risks are transparency in terms of salaries, providing responsibilities to the employees in setting their working hours, democratic selection of the workers in a particular designation. These are the potential risks that can be pointed out in the current structure and the it can be improved if all the employees are eager to take a joint effort in resolving the issues. It can be seen that few employees are taking advantage of the excess freedom and are taking advantage of it (Crane and Matten, 2016). The collaborative effort of the company in forming teams that will control the advantage and work of the team may solve the problem of getting too much liberal in formulating salaries and working hours. Apart from that, the team of engineers that the organization has created for innovation is a good effort in order to check the actual work of the company in terms of growth and development of business expansion in the market. The innovation team along with the team of control will help in keeping in track of the employees who are at work (Koslowski, 2013). Conclusion The study reflects various strategies regarding to implementation of different strategies regarding to organizational structure and the other human resource processes that are essential for the success of the transformational plan. The different types of changes that the company is facing in terms of productivity of the organization and the employees are responsible for mitigating the problems that was present when the hierarchical organizational structure was prevalent in the different levels of the operational department of Semco. There are different kinds of motivators that have been playing as a crucial factor for the successful implementation of the strategies of change management. Change management is a big aspect that encompasses many factors such as hindrances and resistances and implementation problems. Innovation and freedom of working act as a self-motivator for most of the employees. Theoretically and practically it is proved that employees provided with freedom and respo nsibilities usually work more compared to employees who are not provided much freedom in their scope of work. The employers thought themselves as stakeholders of the company and work in their field of work with freedom and dignity. References Band, G., Shah, N.V., Sriram, R. and Appliances, E., 2016. Herzberg Two Factor Theory among the Management Faculty in Nagpur City. InInternational Conference on Management and Information Systems September(Vol. 23, p. 24). Bednarz, T.F., 2013. Ethics in Business.Practical Ethics for Food Professionals: Ethics in Research, Education and the Workplace, pp.75-91. Birasnav, M., 2014. 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