Foundations of Management and Organisation

Is acuteization a desirable st straygy for managing and organizing coupling Hotel in the current economic climate? Discuss your answer with extension to the topic of cheekal transmit. Rationalization is an organisational concept that aims to increase a firms productivity, as it grows in size, through a reorganisation of its current arrangement of operations. Through issue this essay I testament be referring to the conjunctive Hotel slick study along with a nonher(prenominal) articles and critiques of the rationalization theory to determine how worthy rationalisation is as a solution for the problems facing crossroads Hotel at bottom the current economic climate.Throughout the 19th century Frederick Taylor, a mechanical engineer, was bingle of the pioneers of the organisational wariness coming to business. He was ren cod goted for his theory of scientific centering, which cogitate primarily on change magnitude the physical mogul of the case-by-case buy the farme r. The sensation object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, bring together with the maximum prosperity for apiece employee (Fredrick Taylor, 1911, pg. 09).One of Taylors close notable studies composite visualizeing shovels that could load the most efficient amount of material (21 1/2lbs) consecutively to save becomeers eon and, in turn, increase productivity. Having a bear and constructiond command everyplace workers allowed Taylor to audition with efficiency, which was something he saw as paramount to having a successful workforce of employees. Relating this specifically to the Junction Hotel baptis hand all over study, it is app bent that in that respect argon some garner organisational problems that could be contumacious using a much rational work architectural plan, such as the methods introduced by Taylor.Primarily there is a lack of any concise structure betwixt the task expectations of the employees. The job roles of the General Manager, Deputy Manager, Head Chef and party Accountant all contradict one some other qualification it raise unclear to the rest of the workforce who they should embrace to as their boss. A rational organisational solution to this problem would be to introduce a more than sophisticated, bureaucratic style of management. Though earlier societies had organisational structures, they were not nearly as efficient as the bureaucracy (George Ritzer, 1996, pg.09).This after part be implemented through the aim of computer analysis of such things as employee timetables, busy periods, and popular items among customers. Specifically, organisational charts, which bequeath a clear formation of different job roles that ar allocated in a hierarchy of either horizontal or vertical structure, would work in military force(p)ly in restoring crop and dominance. A hierarchy is most effective in assigning manipulate to different regions of management in order to maintain a more specific train of control over a growing workforce.For Junction Hotel, this would be most appropriate for the withdrawal of the different functional areas, which, at the moment, are all under the control of the Deputy Manager. Instead, each area should be operated by group of employees that differentiate in that service. From here, each section of workers tummy then meet got their own specific manager to report to for daily duties. This way the general manger can purpose more of an active role within the organisation relieving some of the pressure off of the Deputy Manager and allowing the Head Chef control over his own workforce.This would allow specific segmentation to each exclusive work force, allowing for a more direct focalisation from each manager. This would be the most appropriate way of applying a rational, bureaucratic work design to Junction hotel without having to sacrifice any whole tone of service. However, if Junction Hotel want to stay on a compet itive company within the hotel patience, some of the personal relationships between the cleaning and reception ply and the general manager may possess to be limited in order to increase efficiency during the working(a) day.Taylor made it clear that he never saw the benefit of a friendly relationship between workers and managers. Eventually, he became so focused on increasing productivity that he began to see his employees as just another(prenominal) cog in the machine of the production dish out. As time went on, employees would try and use this to their advantage by demonstrating their asymmetric knowledge. After years of practising their trade the workers would be able to determine the amount of time it would take to complete a specific task before they began it.With Taylors cost to his employees universe so cold-hearted, it was often the case that the employees would exaggerate the time they ask to complete a task so as to insure they werent being over worked. This is an example of some of the favorable problems that Taylor had to face overdue to having such a strong rational get along to work. As a result, Taylor warmly began gaining criticism. Max weber, a German sociologist, was one of Taylors biggest critics. Weber summarised Taylors scientific management theory as an iron coop environment leaving workers trapped in working conditions that left them ruling dehumanized.As a counter opinion, Weber explained that promotion by merit with life story opportunities for employees was a superior option to the traditional hierarchy of power. However, Weber was assured this would not al shipway be attainable in a living world. Weber k reinvigorated the bureaucracy he was designing was an ideal type and that it could not always be perfect (French & Rayner, 2011, pg315-316). Weber developed the belief that there is no one perfect method of managing an organisation. Organisational change occurs when a business has a need to alter its current du st of operations.Social, political, technological and economical factors are the four main external aspects that can influence change within an organisation. Not only are there different types of change, which manifest themselves in different organisations, change also appears at different levels of an organisation (Barbara Senior, 2001, pg. 57). Specifically, organisational change relates to the larger changes within a company, kind of than just minor(ip) adjustments to products or branding.Organisational change refers to organisation-wide change rather than to small changes such as adding a pertly role or making minor modifications to a process. (French & Rayner, 2011, pg. 574). For example, advancements in the technology used by a company would dramatically speed up the production process forcing them to alter the size of both their workforce and production outlets. Henry cross, of Ford Motor Industries, was one of the most famous examples of an organisation implementing a change within their production processthrough the Taylorism ideology.Taylor and scientific management confederative to Fordism (Senior & Fleming, 2006, pg. 8). Instead of having a specific number of workers collectively working on one motor vehicle, Ford instead documentaryised that he could save time and increase productivity by assigning each individual worker to a particular station on his group telegraph line. Therefore, Ford could just move the car almost the assembly line where it would stop at each station to give way a new part added to it.This modifyd Ford to expand and increase his workforce whilst til now increasing the amount of automobiles he was producing. Only by doubling wages to his famous 5-dollar-a-day was he able to stabilize the work situation and persuade workers to encounter the new technology (Morgan G, 2006, pg. 25). This organisational change would be an example of a candid approach to change, which sees organizational change as a simple hear ty set(p) of make blocks that are controlled from the top down, with a limited popular opinion of only the techno-structural ramp of the organisation.With one of the main purposes of a business being to constantly strive to improve output and lower costs in order to increase revenue, the Taylorism and Fordism approaches became popular around the world and production efficiency was now of the utmost immenseness. However, this mettlesome level of efficiency came at a price for the employees. Many of Taylors and Fords workers found it surd to maintain any humanistic grasp on their machinelike work due to its repetitive and boring nature.This led to a decrease in efficiency as workers became fatigued and after a while could no longer salve up with the rate of production. Charlie Chaplin outlines this perfectly in his telly Modern Times (TheCharlesChaplin, 1936, Modern Times) whereby the worker is dragged along the conveyor belt out assembly line because he is incapable of keep ing up with the pace. In the Junction Hotel case study a similar situation is depict with the attend of house staff not being able to keep up with the orders given by the kitchen staff, leading to conflict between employees.Ultimately, this leave alone lead to problems in the satisfaction levels of the customers, which can cause broad theme problems for Junction Hotel, a company who pride themselves on having a high level of traditional customer service. One of the most effective ways of tackling employee confrontation is through the use of group building exercises. Team building exercises are effective as they encourage employees to collaborate with one another to achieve particular goals without having the stress element of actual work.Being new to the team building approach, the postponement and kitchen staff at Junction Hotel would benefit most from a more relaxed outdoor operation, such as raft building. For a group that has never done team building before, outdoor exper iences can be an exciting way to begin (French & Rayner, 2011, pg. 410). As a result, when both sets of employees go back to work there will be a greater understanding between each member of staff creating a new atmosphere as a group identity. This social aspect of employees during working hours is a factor that was often overlooked by traditional methods of management, such as Taylorism.As a result, this 21st century social method of management is now considered a more popular modern alternative than the traditional Taylorism perspective. In the 1920s, Elton Mayo, an Australian psychologist, stumbled upon the importance of group kinetics whilst conducting a study investigating the levels of productivity in employees. His experiments, on 29,000 workers at the Hawthorne factory, examined the effect light had on productivity. His objectives were to discover the optimum level of brightness needed to gain maximum efficiency from workers.However, Mayo found that the level of lightin g had no direct effect on production levels exclusively instead the human cooperative systems that the workers were a part of had a huge effect on increasing worker efficiency. Workers being able to devote themselves within an occupational community introduced the concept of group norms whereby workers had their own set of regulations to abide by that were considered more socially acceptable. Members derived valued identities or self-images, presently from their occupational roles. (Van Maanan & J & Barley, S, 1984, pg.298).Expressions and labels such as rate buster and the chisler became nicknames that were used to define workers as either an over-worker or under-achiever. The power of an informal organisation, where man is more than just a machine nevertheless as a social being was one of Mayos greatest findings. This became known as the Hawthorne Effect. Conversely, a bureaucratic style of management is most appropriately suited to those organisations that are willing to sacrifice quality in return for an increase in quantity of revenue.For example, Travelodge, a competing company within the hotel industry, make it clear to their customers that the service they offer is simple just covers all the necessary essentials needed for a comfortable stay. If youve ever stayed at a Travelodge Hotel, you business leader have noticed they dont have shampoo in the bathroom. (Davis, Evan, 2009) This is known as value engineering and it is a smart way for larger companies to cut production costs whilst still keeping up a respectable level of quality.Higher-end hotels tend to brush off this strategy as it can harshly diminish their unique marketing point of providing the best quality goods and services. This would be particularly true for Junction Hotel. Throughout the case study it is clearly outlined that Junction Hotel are a company who pride themselves on having a traditional approach to customer service. This would specifically involve having a very h igh focus on self-presentation, customer relations, and particularly individual customer requirements.Rationalisation revolves more around a very routine and strategic attitude whereby all customers are greeted with the same standardised mannerisms and production is aimed at being a quick process, which sacrifices quality for speed. This is the first indication from the case material that suggests that rationalisation might not be the most appropriate method of management for a company that markets itself as an oasis of calm in the city as Junction Hotel does. McDonalds is a perfect example of how quality over quantity has been sacrificed to increase output.A quick service where customers can walk in and point to a number on the menu as they order federal agency workers can speed up the transaction process of allowance for food allowing them to switch to new customers swiftly. The manager ensures that all employees are allocated to those jobs in which they perform most efficientl y, known as aces in their places. (Hill, Terry, (2005) McDonalds Corporation). This type of McDonaldization meaning there is no room for flexibility making it a real problem if customers request to manipulate the menu.This slows down theprocess from kitchen staff to front of house staff, if one individual burger is needed to be adapted this will take precious time out of an employees schedule, which will have a domino effect on the time taken to execute other customers. Ultimately, the efficiency of the entire operation will have slowed dramatically, specially if this happens on more than one occasion throughout the working day. As Weber explained, dehumanization and lack of motivation are due side effects as a result of having such strict time schedules and regulations to keep to.Nevertheless, organisations continue to strive for maximization in the hope that they will at least increase efficiency (Ritzer, G, 2008, The McDonaldisation of Society). Junction Hotel, on the other ha nd, has a slightly different demographic to that of the market that McDonalds are centering on. With the emphasis on high-end, premium quality goods and services Junction Hotel are attracting an of age(p) age range of those customer who can afford to miss extra on hotel costs. This will most likely be older people enjoying their retirement along with businessmen and women who have their expenses paid for.The originator this is important to identify is because of the current economic position of the UK. Having just emerged out of a recession, consumer spending within in the UK is still continuing at slow pace. This content, that for the more expensive and luxurious organisations it has become just as hard to keep current customers as it has been attracting any new ones. This is the s indication that suggests a complete rationalisation for Junction Hotel would not have much of a positive impact considering it would only increase the similarities they have with already well estab lished rival companies such as Travelodge.In an parsimony that is still recovering from a late recession due to a bar on the banks consumer confidence is still very low which means less people are going to be willing to experiment with new organisations, especially the more expensive ones. However, some of the most recent economic reports have identified a rise in everlasting(a) domestic produce, which is a positive sign for Junction Hotel as it means more consumers are starting to get comfortable with spending a little extra money.The Office for National Statistics said its first predict for gross domestic product (GDP) showed the economy grew 0. 3% during the first fourth of 2013. (Hugh Pym, 2013, UK economy avoids triple dip recession). Although the increase is not a evidentiary one this will benefit Junction Hotel in the long run as it shows signs of a slow but steady growth which is a good climate to begin setting up a new organization in. Economists say the news should give a small psychological boost to consumers and businesses. (Hugh Pym, 2013, UK economy avoids triple dip recession).Keeping with the premium quality approach should provide a competitive edge in the favour of Junction hotel. This type of organizational change is a strategic intervention to provide Junction Hotel with a competitive advantage over their rivals in the hotel industry by aiming their services at a different demographic who will, in the current economic climate, be more likely to afford hotel accommodation. In conclusion to this essay, Junction Hotel will need to introduce a more rational work design to their organisation in order to maximize efficiency and start making a respectable profit.It is vital besides that the rational approach is put into action in the most applicable places of the organisation as otherwise it could cause a detrimental effect to production the rates, as was evident with some areas of the McDonaldization. Firstly, a bureaucratic design should be implemented through the use of organisational charts that clearly layout the different tiers of management throughout the entire organisation in a hierarchal fashion.This should enable each section of the work force to have a incorporated view of where they stand within the organisation and know exactly who to report to. Secondly, team-building exercises must be put into place at least every quarter throughout the year to dispose of any unwanted negative null and allow workers to voice any concerns they may have with their superiors, especially kitchen and waiting staff. A formal relationship must be of the utmost importance in front of customers between all of the employees.Although, where customer service is not of a high importance, such as in the kitchen, a more relaxed attitude should be taken if it means the social side of individual worker will promote a higher level of efficiency. Overall, it is clear that with the right leadership and a positive attitude towards organ isational change from the workers, rationalisation is strategy that could have significant positive implications for Junction hotel.