Management Discussion on Organizational Structures

Regardless of the industry of an organization, its success is measured with agility of the management staying one step ahead of the market. Zappos have been using self-organization and Holacracy in their organizational structure. Holacracy is a comprehensive practice for governing, running and structuring of an organization replacing top-down predict-and-control paradigm by distributing power to their junior. Zappos has used this structure to solve the situation which occurs when a company gets bigger which often leads to productivity and innovation of each employee to be down.

This model is depicted as an organization operation without the classic, control and command dogma that is present in many organizations. This is its merit which even made the CEO scrap his title followed by all the employees. However this organization structure during its implementation caused many employees to exit from their positions. This system changes from the normal hierarchy structure to a system where employees acts like entrepreneurs while self-directing their work instead of reporting to their supervisors or managers who tells them what to do.

This structure has its drawbacks as its new, and complex to many who are not willing to make decision and be responsible for their decisions. This structure is also known to create fear and anxiety to employees. However, there are recommendations that the organization can undertake like, having valuable conversations which focus on building respect and trust as well as creating a safe environment. Also, everybody should be responsible in pursuing their learning and growth.

Reference 

The Zappos Holacracy Experiment. (2016). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 9 September 2016, from https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/07/the-zappos-holacracy-experiment.html e 

Response to Rhonda Cook

How are you Rhonda? I like your discussion on organizational structure of Target organization. You have illustrated it from the top executive to the least in this hierarchy. It has demonstrated its success by achieving its goals. This achievement is illustrated by EVA which is the metric measure that determines its achievement. The advantages of the model as you have illustrated is increased customer performance, large inventory and a chic upscale discounter image. 

The organization values and respects individuality of all guests and team members. Their structure has helped them in rewarding the workplace which leads to a rewarding career. This model helps team members to be encouraged and empowered in innovations. One advantage that has led to the organization success is the believe that inclusivity and diversity which have made them better. In conclusion, can team work be used to solve challenges as well as be fun?

Response to Evette Johnson

Hi Evette. Your discussion has elaborated with this week’s issue on organizational structure. You have explained hierarchy structure in Wal-Mart, its advantages, disadvantages and recommendations required. This type of structure is very common and has helped Wal-Mart in creating a clear line of communication. It has also helped in centralization of authority and power. 

However, as this type of structure grows, bureaucracy increases which slows things like decision making, action and communication. Another major setback is lack of collaboration as it discourages people to share information across the reporting structure making employees to form cliques and later leads to competition of power. One recommendation of these disadvantages in Wal-Mart would be increasing flexibility of employees to help them in sharing ideas. As I wind up, what is the importance of organizing employees with their job category?