Good Sports

Running head: LEADING CHANGE

Leading Change

Robyn Hood

University of Phoenix

Transformational Leadership

MBA 520

Linda K. Begley

Feb 07, 2007

Abstract

This paper addresses the organizational concepts of organizational structure, organizational culture, power structures, and organizational politics. It begins with a scenario of Learning Team Bravo and then applies the concepts in the analysis of the organization called Good Sports. The paper ends by noting that the aforementioned concepts are applicable without regard to organizational size.

Leading Change

At the ending of a class at the University of Phoenix, Learning Team Bravo accepted a new member into its ranks. The members of this group were all present except for one. The decision of the group was to accept the oncoming member since his team had split up leaving for different campuses. The next day when the absent member of the group (Charlie) discovered what had transpired, he called the original members of Learning Team Bravo and expressed his concerns.

He stated that he did not want this member to join the group because of rumors that he had heard concerning the oncoming member. But he also stated that his main concern for the member's rejection was due to the fact that he was not consulted. Even though the group operated on a majority rules principle and was not trying to exclude this member, Charlie was not satisfied. Charlie sought to be included in or informed about all meetings whether it was a schedules meeting or if two team members just decided to get together. What was the cause of this conflict?

In this paper, the topics of organizational structure, culture, power structures, and politics will be discussed. Good Sport will be the company to which these topics will be applied during analysis. This paper will show how these topics are not only applicable to large corporations such as Good Sport but also to smaller entities like the team of Learning Team Bravo. It is begun with an introduction of Good Sport.

Good Sport is fitness equipment manufacturing company. It was founded by Jason Poole, an ex-basketball star, who now serves as the Chairman of the Board for the company. The company is also spearheaded by its Chief Executive Officer, Marvin Wallace, who has increased the company's performance in the departments of Sales, Production, and Research & Development. The company has a bright future with current expansion into the states of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Good Sports target audiences are clubs, hotels, and residential areas.

The first area of discussion is the organizational structure of Good Sports. According to McShane and Von Glinow, organizational structure is the division of labor, the coordination patterns, work flow, communications, and formal power that direct organizational activities (McShane & Von Glinow, 2004, 446). Organizational structure is broken into two processes and four elements (McShane & Von Glinow, 446). Of the processes, Good Sports has a coordination process that is conducted via a formal hierarchy.

In addressing the elements of the organizational structure of Good Sports, span of control, whether the company is centralized or decentralized, and forms of departmentalization are discussed. McShane and Von Glinow define the span of control and the number of people who directly report to the next level directly above them in the hierarchical status of the organization (McShane & Von Glinow, 449).

Good Sports uses a tall structure. In addition, Good Sports is centralized. Its formal decision makers are its executives. In its form of departmentalization, Good Sports has a functional structure. Its employees are centered on specific knowledge and/or resources (McShane & Von Glinow, 456.) This structure promotes a greater specialization giving Good Sports greater expertise in each area.

Next is the culture of Good Sports. Good Sports has exhibited a hybrid culture consisting of hierarchy, adhocracy, and market types. The hierarchy type of culture is exhibited by Good Sports in that each department has a head or someone to whom to report. This culture is defined as being a highly structured and formal place to work (Schoonmaker, 2006). Schoonmaker also mentions that stability, efficiency, and performance are the long term goals. In an adhocracy culture, innovation and risk taking are embraced by employees and senior management. Good Sports exhibits this type of culture in its very nature by producing cutting edge exercise equipment. In the simulation "Managing across the Organization," it states, "Fitness manufacturers have to consider the latest trends while designing and manufacturing fitness equipment."

Lastly, Schoonmaker states that in a market culture, the organization is task-oriented. He states that people are competitive and goal-oriented as noted in Good Sports when Matt Fernandez, Senior Manager of Production was passed over on the promotion to Vice President. It was noted that he was not pleased with the decision.

It can be seen from the discussion thus far that organizational structure of Good Sport and its culture are compatible and related. As stated earlier, organizational structure is the division of labor, the coordination patterns, work flow, communications, and formal power that direct organizational activities (McShane & Von Glinow, 2004, 446). Organizational culture is the shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that govern the way employees within an organization about and act on problems and opportunities (McShane & Von Glinow, 2005, 476). The two are related in a dependent relationship.

The organizational culture exists within the organizational structure. The structure acts as a container for which the culture to thrive and to be born. As labor is divided between and among teams, a culture is developed in those teams that is often unique to those teams. Again, with each team often being different from the other and with labor being divided, each team develops a certain way independent of the other teams in which to accomplish a certain task be it a job function or a way to handle conflict resolution. The organization structure also gives way for culture to influence communications. Communication within groups