INTRODUCTION This report is about a company named Semco that was created back in 1950s. The company was established to manufacture centrifuges for the vegetable oils industry. With the passage of time, the company has advanced itself by diversifying its range and investing both money and r esources in other bus iness sectors, expanding majorly into the servicing area by forming associations and alliances with the global leaders. After having fruitful results in the areas of environmental consultancy area, facilities management, inventory services, mobile maintenance services and real estate consultancy, the company has become a global leader in the area of industrial equipment and solutions for postal as well as document management. But all this success and a position o f being a global l eader has been acquired by a company that follows non-traditional ideas as well as approaches of management. The company has achieved all the success and recognition without the leadership ofa charismatic CEO as the company does not believe in traditional hierarchy to perform the processes of decision making or problem solving. All the employees ofthe company are provided with complete freedom not to express their views and opinions but also to choose the way they want to work. This report is about the kinds of strategies and app roaches being followed by the company for so many years that do not go with the traditional ways of management. But the company is still placed on the position of being a global leader in its specific area of business. 1. SEMCO¶s RELIANCE OF CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT One of the most significant among the activities that are being performed by the human beings is managing. According to Koontz and Weihrich (1990) , Management can be defined as the process of designing as well as maintaining an atmosphere in which the individuals, performing collectively as teams, effectively and efficiently in accomplishing the selected objectives and aims. Some of the di fferent aspects that can be included in the definition of management are:- - Managers performing managerial activitie s of planning, staffing, or ganizing, controlling as well as leading. - Management is applied to all the managers of different lev els of organizational hierarchy - People having the management control aims at creating the surplus - Management is associated with p roductivity i.e. efficiency and effectiveness Thus from above mentioned aspects included, the management can be said as developing the bureaucracy that helps in deriving its significance from the demand of
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This report is about a company named Semco that was created back in 1950s. The
company was established to manufacture centrifuges for the vegetable oils industry.
With the passage of time, the company has advanced itself by diversifying its range
and investing both money and resources in other bus iness sectors, expandingmajorly into the servicing area by forming associations and alliances with the global
leaders.
After having fruitful results in the areas of environmental consultancy area, facilities
management, inventory services, mobile maintenance services and real estate
consultancy, the company has become a global leader in the area of industrial
equipment and solutions for postal as well as document management.
But all this success and a position of being a global leader has been acquired by a
company that follows non-traditional ideas as well as approaches of management.
The company has achieved all the success and recognition without the leadership of a charismatic CEO as the company does not believe in traditional hierarchy to
perform the processes of decision making or problem solving. All the employees of
the company are provided with complete freedom not to express their views and
opinions but also to choose the way they want to work.
This report is about the kinds of strategies and approaches being followed by the
company for so many years that do not go with the traditional ways of management.
But the company is still placed on the position of being a global leader in its specific
area of business.
1. SEMCO¶s RELIANCE OF CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT
One of the most significant among the activities that are being performed by the
human beings is managing. According to Koontz and Weihrich (1990), Management
can be defined as the process of designing as well as maintaining an atmosphere in
which the individuals, performing collectively as teams, effectively and efficiently in
accomplishing the selected objectives and aims. Some of the different aspects that
can be included in the definition of management are:-
- Managers performing managerial activitie s of planning, staffing, organizing,
controlling as well as leading.
- Management is applied to all the managers of different levels of organizational
hierarchy
- People having the management control aims at creating the surplus
- Management is associated with productivity i.e. efficiency and effectiveness
Thus from above mentioned aspects included, the management can be said as
developing the bureaucracy that helps in deriving its significance from the demand of
strategic planning, co-ordination, directing and controlling the large as well as
complicated process of decision making. Basically, the management involves
acquiring the managerial proficiency and effectiveness in the below mentioned
significant areas:-
- Problem solving
- Human resources management
- Administration
- Organizational leadership
Firstly, the approach of management is all about solving the problems and issues
that emerge while struggling to accomplish the goals and aims set by an
organization. The process of problem solving can be performed by recognizing the
problem, analysing the identified problem and executing of remedies to the problems
faced by the managers.
Secondly, the concept of administration involves performing the laid down processes
for executing, controlling, communicating, delegating and management of the crisis.
Thirdly, the approach of human resource management must be based on the
strategic incorporation of human resources, evaluation of the employees and
exchange of perceptions among the employees and shareholders.
Last but not the least, the concept of organizational leadership needs to be
developed in accordance with interpersonal relationship, self-encouragement to
perform better, teamwork, emotional strength and maturity for handling the
circumstances, individual reliability as well as general skills of management.
1.1 Necessity of Management in any Organization
The managers or leaders within an organization are provided with the responsibility
and control to take actions that will help the individuals to perform better and to make
their best contributions for achieving the aims and goals set as a team. The concept
of having a traditional management hierarchy has been followed and adopted by
majority of the organizations ranging from small scale to large scale . The situation an
organization surviving might differ from others but the concept of having an
organizational hierarchy of management has been followed from many decades and
by most of the companies till today.
The evolution of management as a necessary, a distinct and a leading establishmentis marked as a significant event in the social history. Management is supposed to
remain a dominant as well as a basic establishment that is particularly charged with
making the assets of a company productive i.e. with the role of organizing the
economic advancement, exhibiting the basic spirit of today¶s world.
This is based on the central idea of controlling people like machines. This approach
mainly postulated that the people are basically lazy and should not be trusted. This
approach has basically originated from the negative perception of human behaviour.
This approach acquired dissatisfaction of the employees and led to the emergence
of new approach i.e. human relations approach.
Human relations approach
This approach has basically originated from the research, which revealed that the
organization is a social community or group where people are human beings that
have social as well as emotional needs.
This approach was unable to explain the relationship am ong different aspects and
teams, so led to the development of Systems approach.
Systems approach
This approach has basically originated from the lack of explanation provided by the
human relations approach regarding the interrelationship of different subgroups or
aspects.
Motivation and behaviour is complex. This approach stresses in the fact that the
whole is greater than the sum of individuals. This approach has gained a lot of
recognition because the other two approaches are too intense and have not taken
synergy into consideration.
The author has taken examples of two mostly recognized theories of motivation i.e.
Maslow¶s Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg¶s Two Factor theory of motivation.
2.1 Motivational Theories
The author has mentioned tow of the widely recognized theories of motivation i.e.
Maslow¶s Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg¶s Two Factor theory of motivation
described as follows:-
M aslow¶s H ierarchy of Needs
With experience it can be said that content theory is specifically r elevant in today¶s
business environment of fierce competition and increase in globalisation. A very well
recognized follower of the content theory is Abraham Maslow who put forward themotivational theory named as Maslow¶s Hierarchy of Needs. He stated that every
human being develops a hierarchy of needs ranging from the lower level to the
higher ones. These different levels or layers of hierarchy of needs become the
drivers or motivators during the state of deficiency. Once a lower level of hierarchy is
completely fulfilled, the tendency of an individual to climb up to the next level
increases i.e. to acquire higher level of needs. The concentration of an individual
increases once the lower set of needs are acquired. Maslow (1970) proposed a set
of five different levels in his theory of hierarchy of needs that are described as
follows:-
Psychological Needs
This level of hierarchy of needs is comprised of the most basic needs that are
required for survival including food, water, clothing, shelter and many more. Oncethese listed needs are satisfied, the tendency of fulfilling the higher set of needs
increases.
Safety or Security Needs
This includes the need for safety and developing a sense of security. People
exhibiting a high concern for this set of needs may select the roles that include less
risk. This set of needs include security as well as protection from both the physical
as well as emotional harm.
Social Needs
The tendency of the social needs arises once the lower set of needs is completely
fulfilled. This includes the need for affection, love, belonging and fulfilling the
relationship with the people associated.
Esteem Needs
Maslow believed that the individuals generally need to assess themselves in an
effective manner and they also desire that others should also value and respect
them. The self confidence of an individual grows when this set of needs is fulfilled.
People generally feel inferior, weak and worthless if these needs are not completely
met.
Self-actualization Needs
Once an individual acquired all the above mentioned four leve ls of hierarchy of
needs, the highest level of needs i.e. self actualization draws the attention. This set
of needs emphasize more on the problem areas that are associated with an
individual growth and the capability to have the peak experiences.
A well known expert, Frederick Herzberg proposed a theory named as Two Factor
Theory. Herzberg (1987) described the relationship among the specific job
characteristics and motivation.
Motivation Factors
It includes the factors of job content such as responsibility, advancement,
accomplishment, recognition and the work itself. The level of job satisfaction arises
only if the motivators exist.
Hygiene Factors
It emphasizes more on the job related factors such as interpersonal relationships,
wages, working environment, policies of the company, technical supervision as well
as administration. The level of dissatisfaction increases if the hygiene factors are nottaken into consideration.
2.2 Relevance of above theories to SEMCO
SEMCO does not adopt or follow a traditional style of management structure that
includes different levels or layers of an organizational hierarchy. The company has
no traditional hierarchy present or existing within the organization to perform
processes like decision making or problem solving. The company provides freedom
to everyone who is working for the company to participate and involve him or herself
in every way. The company provides its employees with opportunities to participate
in the major decision making processes, thus encouraging them to perform better.Some of the motivational factors present in the SEMCO that are relevant to the
above mentioned theories are listed as follows: -
- Everyone associated and working in the company are provided with complete
freedom. This helps them in increasing the confidence as well as motivation
level of the employees. The employees are encouraged to participate in the
The working environment of an organization exhibits its values, objectives, vision as
well leadership style. The level of the empowerment of an employee within an
organization can be assessed by the kinds of decision making powers being
assigned to the employees and also from the working environment of a company
that motivates and accepts the new ideas and perceptions of its employees. Some of
the benefits of employee empowerment as described by Cichetti (2010) are: -
E m ployee Satisfaction
Providing appropriate powers to the employees is not only a wise management
approach but also a tool for increasing the satisfaction level among the workers. By
empowering the employees, a sense of ownership and belonging can be developed
among them that can help in yielding effective outcomes for the company. Based on
the responses of the employees a California based company Jupiter Networks has
been ranked number 6 out of 125 employers to be the best places to work in the
Silicon Valley. This exhibits the level of employee satisfaction achieved by the
company by empowering them.
Better c ustomer Service
Along with rewards and incentives from the management of a company, the
employees feel the need of acquiring a limited level of control and transparency to
solve the problems for delivering better customer services. As cited by Weiser
Security Services, when the employees are being motivated to participate in the
process of decision making, they feel more important and look forward in performing
better than before, thus increasing the productivity.
E m ployee Retention
By recognizing and acknowledging the efforts and perceptions of the employees, a
company can develop an environment of respect, honour and satisfaction. Many
experts have noticed that the companies following this kind of leadership style attract
the employees who are loyal and are willing to stay with the same company for
longer periods.
3.1 Relevance of Empowerment to SEMCO
The company provides freedom to everyone who is working for the company toparticipate and involve him or herself in every way. The company provides its
employees with opportunities to participate in the major decision making processes,
thus encouraging them to perform better. Some of the factors as cited in the case
study exhibiting the relevance of empowerment of employees to Semco are