Generic Organization Essay

A group is a well structured organization with different individuals that has different characteristics and diversity these groups can be formal or informal. In my research I have found that retail stores such as Wal-Mart and Kmart has organizational structure. Group task satisfaction describes the group-level counterpart to individual job satisfaction and represents the group’s shared attitude toward its task and work environment. Places such as Wal-Mart demonstrate these skills to make their organization. The prevalence of groups and teams in the workplace (Beyerlein, Johnson, & Beyerlein, 1995; Devine, Clayton, Philips, Dunford, & Melner, 1999) makes it important to understand their effects on group members. In this paper I will identify an industry and organization type, explain four problems that could impact groups productivity, develop and describes logical and appropriate recommendations for each of the four problems provided and its recommendation, wide training, and the conclusion. Organizational structure may be defined as the system of relations that subsist among a variety of positions and position holders. Formal structure is a blueprint of relations that has been knowingly deliberated and put into action by the organization. It includes a formal chain of command of power as well as policies and procedures and other premeditated attempts to control conduct. Wal-Mart organizational structure consists of a divisional structure. A divisional structure has three different categories in which are product structure, market structure, and geographic structure. Wal-Mart falls under market structure. This is where groups function by types of customers so that each division contains the functions it needs to service a specific segment of the market. For example Wal-Mart offers vision, pharmacy, haircuts, grocery, crafts, clothes, electronics, house wares and etc†¦ This means each department will conduct its own group within Wal-Mart this will separate each structured group such as managers, supervisors, customer service, stockers, CEO, and so forth. With so many different employees within the company each individual has their own task but it takes group structure to make sure that the task is complete. Every task that is met within the group mostly deals how Wal-Mart revenues. If the each group orks together with their task then the job can be complete and helps Wal-Mart makes money. If the groups fail then Wal-Mart fails, this leads to behavior within the group. According to Losh, S (2010), â€Å"as group members, we frequently behave in ways that we do not as individuals. And our behavior as group members may fluctuate from group to group. † Companies such as Wal-Mart want to be successful and a key component of many businesses is the creation and development of new ideas. Efficient processes or products and services, many times, come from the ideas of more than one individual and generally involve teams or groups. Although teams and groups often are mistaken as identical units because they involve multiple individuals however differ in leadership, decision-making, and accountability. Another aspect to consider with groups and teams is workplace diversity and its effects on these units and especially the dynamics of a team. According to Robbins and Judge (2009), â€Å"a work group’s main purpose is to share information and make decisions that help other members of the group. † Work groups focus is on individual goals, holding themselves individually accountable. It also provides a platform for knowledge and information sharing that would not otherwise be available to us. Group even provides an identity to its members. Still cooperative group is something that comes with lot of effort. For example a cashier’s at Wal-Mart goal is too quickly and accurately process customer’s orders. If asked, he or she will share information regarding a price or item, but his or her main concern is a balanced cash drawer at the end of the shift. The cashier is not concerned about another cashier’s cash drawer even though each cashier is a member of a work group . A team is a small group of individuals with knowledge and skills that complement the knowledge and skills of other team members. The work is interdependent. Team members actively interact together toward a common goal while holding the team aggregate accountable. Work teams create synergy. Synergy happens when a team’s result is greater than the total of the individual results of the members. Group behaviors impact group productivity, by determining the outcome of the productivity. Negative group behaviors will produce negative productivity and vice versa with positive group behaviors. There are four problems that can impact group productivity; culture, conflict, group diversity, group cohesive, and characteristics. Culture in a work group can impact a work group it can be either positive or negative. According to Sergeant J, & Laws Chapman, C. (2012), â€Å"teams that operate in stressful environments are less collaborative and more likely to make mistakes (Business in the Community 2009). Building emotional resilience, therefore, can create healthier workplace cultures, reduce absenteeism, improve teamwork and raise morale. In some ways culture can be like personality. A person personality is made of values and beliefs, interests, underlying assumptions, upbringing and habits. Culture I am sure is influenced by leadership at Wal-Mart such as a manager or executive. With Wal-Mart being a big company and having so many employees you can maybe even look at the manager’s desk and tell his culture and background. Culture may become so dominant that employees and employers alike may dismiss good ideas that seem counter to the organizational culture. Companies that do not have an open and flexible culture can find themselves losing a competitive edge because they do not adapt to the changes within in the market making it bad for the workplace. Another problem that can harm a group organization is conflict if you have an individual that disagrees with others idea then this causes conflicts. The differentiator of a successful group is that the group members share sense of trust among themselves as well as feeling of shared responsibilities however the one that is different from the rest of the group may not and this can create problems in the group. Say for instance if you have a employer at Wal-Mart that thinks that organizing food cans and meat in a different order but you have more than one employee that is okay with what is being done this brings negative impact because then others going to feel that maybe she is right then this may not be good for the employer. Diversity can take many forms namely age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, mental and physical capabilities and ethnicity and culture are the main areas of diversity and have a continuous impact throughout our lives. Managing and valuing diversity is a key component of effective people management, which can improve workplace productivity but sometimes it can create a problem. According to Diversity Takes Center Stage at Wal-Mart (2013) â€Å"Reports on the effort of Wal-Mart Stores to enforce work diversity in its stores in the U. S. Remarks from Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, on the reduction of bonuses if Wal-Mart does not promote women and minorities in the workplace; Allegations against Wal-Mart for gender bias and unfair treatment of workers; Information on the pay structure implemented by the company. If employees feel that because of their culture race or religion are affecting them then nice times out of ten it would create chaos in workplace such as Wal-Mart. Diversity can aid in bringing awareness of different cultures, races and age difference into a mix, but can have negative effects if people are not well prepared in how to work in that environment. According to MacDonald, Lynne (2010), â€Å"Companies put a great deal of time and effort in to encouraging employees to work effectively with their colleagues. † If a company finds that workers have bonded in to a cohesive group, it should be a positive discovery. However, this is not always the case and it can turn sour. While cohesive groups offer advantages in terms of social support for group members, they also present disadvantages for the employer. Low performance norms can be very detrimental to group productivity meaning they will not make much effort to meet group deadline. Characteristics can also be a problem in workplace bad characteristics from an employee can make a workplace unpleasant reducing employees moral and productivity. Some employees can’t find anything positive to say. They criticize their supervisor, the corporate office, other employees and even customers. If you have a stock person working at Wal-Mart the normally stock at night but really hate the night schedule and all the do is complain, complain this lacks enthusiasm from other co-workers around them. This can also make the group to become dishonery towards upper management in the facility. Even having an am employee that gossips can cause conflict in the group because they are the ones who are always twisting the story and only thing at this point is to put them on disciplinary action. There are many ways a workplace can address the negative impacts in a workplace by developing action plan to address the negative Sometimes enterprise-wide systems and compensation schemes need to be revamp, but more often business performance and results are affected. Using customized survey this means getting employees thoughts and idea and surveying patterns and correlations that are effecting the company. Use open minded questions asking employees if there is anything they would like to address putting everything on the table but in a professional manner. Even the company should sacrifice companywide training. Country wide training should be conducted not only for the employees but also for management such as managers CEO, human resource department, and also crew members. Despite the importance of training, a trainer can encounter resistance from both employees and managers. Both groups may claim that training is taking them away from their work. However, a trainer can combat this by demonstrating that training is actually a crucial part of employees’ and managers’ work, completing task and working well with others. These also open doors for employees to get to know other employees culture and background. Conclusion Group work is important because it helps solve problem and accomplish task in a workplace. Working in a group allows members to share responsibilities, rather than the brunt of the work falling in the hands of one person. Instead, group members can delegate tasks to individuals who possess the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to accomplish the task successfully. Because we are human beings we have our own characteristics, style, culture and diversity which sometimes can be a hindrance to a group but doing things such as companywide training can help every employee to conquer the power of being in a group in a workplace. Working in a group can help individuals build long-lasting relationships based on trust and loyalty. As group members, people learn about the common things they share and differences, which lead them to seek group members they can build relationships with even outside of the group.