BMGT 364 PROJECT 2 correction
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ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND STRUCTURE
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ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND STRUCTURE
Organizational culture and structure of Dysfunctional Software
Evelyn Serrano
Professor: Bethany Torres
BMGT 364 6982
Introduction
This is a report prepared for Mr. Harry Harried, the manager of Dysfunctional Software company. More specifically, this report is based on both the organizational culture and the organizational structure of the company. This report is meant to help entice potential employees to work for Dysfunctional Software company. In addition to that, this report is meant to paint Dysfunctional Software as a company with a positive corporate culture while at the same time being strongly committed to its employees. Having said that, this report will kick off with a discussion of the organizational culture of the company where the seven dimensions of organizational culture will be dealt with in detail. At the same, the Zendesk organizational culture will be described. The discussion of the organizational culture will give way to discussion of the competitive advantage. More specifically, this section of the report will discussion how Zendesk uses its corporate culture in the creation of its competitive advantage. Immediately after discussing the corporate culture, this report will also discuss organizational structure. Under this section, Zendesk's organizational structure will be identified and discussed as depicted in the provided video. Towards the end of this report, a concluding paragraph summarizing the key points covered in this report will be provided. That said, this report progresses as follows.
Organizational Culture
Seven dimensions of culture
Communication
One of the dimensions of culture in a company is communication. It should be understood that communication in the workplace is about the message being communicated in as much as how often that message is communicated (Lumen, n.d). Apparently, communication serves a number of things in the work. It allows for innovative problem solving with less stress and or anxiety. At the same time, communication helps employees feel that they are not only appreciated but also that they are involved in the decision making in the company. Also, it is through communication that managers are able to actively understand the real experiences of employees in the workplace.
Effective leadership
Effective leadership helps create a healthy working environment for workers. Effective leadership contributes to organizational culture in different ways. One of those ways is that it fosters respect between team leaders and members of those groups. At the same time, effective leadership fosters productivity as workers cooperate with one another. Effective leadership also helps leaders set good examples that workers can emulate (Lumen, n.d).
Team spirit
Another dimension of company culture is team spirit. Team spirit means that employees collaborate in the workplace and when there is collaboration, productivity increases. There are several ways that team spirit contributes to the culture of a company. One of those ways is that team spirit encourages cooperation of all employees' purpose to the common mission and vision of the company (Lumen, n.d). Equally, team spirit aligns tasks with the meaning and bigger vision of the company. At the same time, team spirit encourages teams of employees to support one another in solving problems on their own or in taking initiatives when necessary.
Balancing work and life
With work-life balance, employees have the flexibility to handle personal interests while making sure they stay engaged to their work. Apparently, this balance between work and life contributes to company culture in a number of ways, one of which is that employees get to build connection with their workplace. Another way is that it encourages positivity among employees and in turn it builds on high team spirit, positive work climate, and good moods among employees. When employees enjoy good balance between work and their life, they will be highly predictable when they need time off. Also, conflict in the workplace is greatly reduced.
Work climate
A good atmosphere at work contributes positively the experiences that employees enjoy while in their workplaces. Employees tend to reciprocate the atmosphere they feel in their workplace. It determines the effectiveness of leadership in the workplace, whether or not employees could work together, and the effectiveness of the communication in the workplace. If the overall feeling in the workplace is bad, then it negatively influences how employees view other aspects of the workplace (Lumen, n.d). If there are problems in other dimensions of culture, then such problems will be reflected in the feelings of those employees.
Working condition
"The productivity of employees are often influenced by the physical conditions" (Lumen, n.d) with which they work. Poor working conditions in the workplace create stress and anxiety among workers. This in turn affect such aspects such as team spirit, and mood. The negative effects of these aspects in the workplace also contribute to poor communication as we all as working climate.
Interesting challenges
Interesting challenges present learning opportunities for employees. They eliminate monotony while at the same time keeping employees motivated. When employees are presented with interesting challenges, they not only feel appreciated but also, their confidence and trust in self increases as well. Since employees are yearning for growth, managers can provide mentorship which could ensure such growth (Lumen, n.d). While mentoring them, these managers could the guidance that these employees need. This contributes to company culture because it lifts team spirit while at the same time contributing to positive work climate because employees will feel motivated to work even more.
Zendesk's Video Facts
Communication
One example of communication as a dimension of organizational culture at Zendesk is where the CEO is seen wearing head hat with Zendesk logo and is seen laughing with other employees. At this point, the CEO is seen as projecting warm to his company employees (Zendesk, 2012).
Effective leadership
An example of effective leadership in Zendesk is reflected in the engineering team, where some team members are managers while other are not. However, it does not matter who is a manager and who is not because all work in one team.
Team spirit
In the video, there are several examples portrayal of team spirit. The different teams such as the executive team, IT, sales, documentation, finance, and HR seem to collaborate in their work. The pictures show camaraderie among these team members.
Balancing work and life
An example of balanced work and life is seen where the pop-up basket game appears in the office. It shows that workers can engage in recreational activities in the workplace as they connect with their workplace (Zendesk, 2012).
Work climate
An example of good work climate in the video is seen where two people are hugging. It only means that they feel good with each other such that they can share a hug as they get along very well.
Working conditions
An example of working conditions in the video is where two employees of working with their laptops. They appear to have good working conditions because the next picture shows another group of Zendesk employees having fun.
Interesting challenges
A good example of interesting challenges as depicted in the video is where the narrator says that Zendesk employs interesting people with interesting backgrounds. With these different interests, the company ensures too provide each one of them interesting challenges to keep them motivated while at the same time to maintain them in the company (Zendesk, 2012).
Competitive Advantage
One of the ways that Zendesk uses its corporate culture to create a competitive advantage is through volunteer work. It should be understood up front that "Zendesk hires interesting people with interesting backgrounds" (Zendesk, 2012). Since it is the company's culture to present interesting challenges to its employees to keep them motivated, it encourages the employees to volunteer in San Francisco city. By engaging in volunteer work, the company not only ensures that they draw the interest of the city to business of the company, but also, it is another way of keeping employees motivated. Even the CEO himself makes friends with the mayor of San Francisco (Zendesk, 2012). All these activities are meant to build on the reputation of the company with the city. If other companies are not doing so then, Zendesk is creating a competitive advantage with the community members and city management.
Organizational Structure
Apparently, Zendesk has functional type of organizational structure. This is because in the video, the audience is show the different departments or teams of workers ranging from the support team, to the creative department to finance, to HR, to IT, to documentation, sales, marketing, service departments, and finally to the executive team. Employees in these different departments specialize in specific function (Zendesk, 2012). The executive deal with decision making, and the other teams undertake specialized functions based on the name of their team.
Conclusion
Different dimensions of organizational culture contribute differently to the culture of the organization. Work climate determines how employees feel and perceive about different aspects of the company. And so, is working conditions. If the company culture includes effective communication, then it could be seen in the way employees cooperate and collaborate with one another on the teams. Companies often use their corporate culture to create competitive advantage by undertaking in such things such as volunteer work or partnering with management of the communities in which they operate. In conclusion therefore, Zendesk has effectively used its corporate culture to create a compelling competitive advantage because they value friendship with their community.
References
Lumen, (n.d). Module 11: Motivation. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-principlesofmanagement/chapter/why-it-matters-motivation/
Lumen, (n.d). Module 11: Motivation. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-principlesofmanagement/chapter/what-makes-an-effective-leader/
Lumen, (n.d). Module 11: Motivation. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-principlesofmanagement/chapter/needs-based-theories-of-motivation/
Lumen, (n.d). Module 11: Motivation. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-principlesofmanagement/chapter/reading-managers-role-in-motivating-employees/
Zendesk, (2012, May 16). [Video]. This is Zendesk. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0uaSU6IVN4