Please according to this question “Over the past 12months there has been an increasing number of complaints lodged about the standards of the company’s and a check reveals that a large number of the complaints are from customers who have not had their initial complaint resolved as there seems to be confusion within the organisation who should actually be responsible for complaint resolution” to finish report.
Assessment Item 3
| Title: | Virtual Business Report Part A |
| Purpose | To define the organisational problem, identify and explain the underlying causes and to identify and briefly explain the functions of management to which the underlying causes relate. |
| Length: | 500 words |
| Group or Individual: | Individual |
| Due date: | Week 8 – ELECTRONIC UPLOAD to Turnitin by 5pm Wednesday 9/12/15 |
| Link to unit objectives | Objectives 2 and 3 (Graduate Capabilities AoL Goals KS 1.1, HO 2.1 and PC 3.1) |
| Weight: | Formative |
As a member of your management team, you have been asked to investigate an organisational problem in your virtual business(Panda and Mickey). Each manager of your VB has been given to same problem.Part A of your report is written as part of the final report which you are going to submit to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Panda and Mickey.
Your Task:
Recently an organisational problem has emerged in one of your branches and you are asked to address it to ensure that it does not get out of control and cause damage to the company’s performance.
- Analyse the problem by explaining and expanding the issue and relating it to the function(s) of management
- Identify and discuss three possible underlying causes of the problem and select the most likely cause
You are required to submit your work using the suggested structure available on Blackboard.
Assessment Item 3
| Title: | Virtual Business Report Part B |
| Purpose | To analyse the most critical underlying cause of the given organisational problem within the theories learnt and the functions of management that best addresses the issue identified and suitable approaches to overcome it. |
| Length: | 700 words |
| Group or Individual: | Individual |
| Due date: | Week 11 – ELECTRONIC UPLOAD to Turnitinby 5pm Wednesday 13/1/16 |
| Link to unit objectives | Objectives 2 and 3 (Graduate Capabilities AoL Goals KS 1.1, HO 2.1 and PC 3.1) |
| Weight: | Formative |
Context:
As a member of your management team, you have been asked to investigate an organisational problem in your virtual business(Panda and Mickey). Each manager of your VB has been given to same problem.Part B of your report is written as part of the final report which you are going to submit to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Panda and Mickey and should flow from Part A that was submitted in Week 8.
Your Task:
After identifying the most critical underlying cause to the given organisational problem in Part A, you are now required to continue writing Part B of your final report.
- Discuss what should have been done to avoid the chosen underlying cause within the theories learned in this unit
- Use function(s) of management to best address the underlying cause and suitable approaches to overcome it
- Consider environmental factors that may impact the underlying causes and suitable approaches
You are required to submit your work using the suggested structure available on Blackboard.
Answer
Management
1.0 Introduction
Management is required to come up with solutions to the organisational problems. Recently, it was noted that customer’s complaints regarding the standards of Panda and Mickey business have increased. Management has not addressed most of the customer complaints. If the trend continues, the brand name of the company would be spoilt and business affected negatively. The report aims at identifying the causes of the problem and how it can be adequately solved.
2.0 Organisational Problem Discussion
In Panda and Mickey, it is unclear on the person responsible for handling customer complaints. With the fact that customers do not physically visit the business premises, they cannot relay their complaints to the senior managers. They just complain without knowledge on who will handle their problem. As a result, the standards of the company have deteriorated without any action from management. The customer complaints have increased and specifically from customers that company failed to address their initial complaints.
2.1 Identification of the Causes of the Problem
Method of business
The fundamental business activities and operations typically happen in the online platforms. The workers are permitted to work wherever and, therefore, raising the questions of managing and leading virtual teams. The problem in Panda and Mickey began when the customers started complaining about the standards of the company. The virtual teams had failed to meet the standards expected by the customers. Anandarajan, Teo and Simmers (2014, p.131) noted that leading virtual teams is hard and would not be comparable to traditional non-virtual business. The managers cannot physically interact with the virtual teams, evaluate situations, gather valuable information, or develop feasible solutions. Nevertheless, leaders are expected to motivate, influence, and enable the teams to work effectively (Anandarajan, Teo & Simmers, 2014, p.131). Managers of Panda and Mickey failed to identify technological means to mediate with the teams. Therefore, they failed to meet the standards required.
Unclear communication channels
The vague communication channels in Panda and Mickey led to the difficulties in addressing the complaints of the consumers. Employees working at the virtual workplace are required to be transparent in decision-making processes, outputs and the customer response. Management by Objectives (MBO) is a valuable planning tool for setting goals and the standards of measurement. The controlling function is also important in determining whether the standards have been attained and corrective measures necessary taken. There is a need for clear communication channels through which customers can lay their complaints. The company lacks senior employees who evaluate the work of the junior employees and give feedback (Harvard Business School, 2010, p. 06) Once such systems are in existence, there will be a problem to make response to the customers and to get the feedback from the employees regarding their observance to the organisational standards.
Poor job design
The primary cause of the problem with the company is the poor job design. In the process of job design, duties and responsibilities are allocated and a plan is laid out on how they would be performed (DuBrin, 2009, p.221). The process of the job design is covered in the organising function in the development of the structure of the organisation. In the organisation, work is divided, resources arranged and activities coordinated in the right manner. In the organisation structure, there are departments with particular responsibilities that are distributed among employees. Therefore, the problem of failure to know who is responsible for customer complaints is associated with poor job design and organisation function.
2.2 Critical Underlying Cause
The job design is the most likely cause of the problem facing the Panda and Mickey. As mentioned above, job design is supposed to be covered when the organisation is coming up with it structure. The company has difficulty with the job design since it is not clear on who should handle customer complaints. It is unmistakable that there is no a department in the Panda and Mickey that has been given the responsibility to handle a customer complaint. The lack of precise duties makes it difficult for the people to communicate mainly in the virtual business.
3.0 Analysis of possible solutions
It is vital for Panda and Mickey to ensure that there is a person responsible in handling the complaints of the customers. The satisfaction of clients is paramount to realising the profit goals and attaining the competitive advantage. The management should solve the issue immediately to avoid conflict between employees as a result of unclear duties and responsibilities.
3.1 Identification of possible solutions
Ensure development of a comprehensive organisation structure
The development of the organisation structure is a critical role of in the organising function of the management. It will help in the definition of the responsibilities and duties of every individual in the organisation (Glowinkowski, 2009, p. 69). Once the organisation structure is well established the responsibilities of teams, individuals, and departments are defined and do not overlap. Moreover, there is no function or responsibility that would be overlooked. The organisation structure should be very flexible to the market changes and the customer needs. It is critical to guarantee an apparent chain of command and unity of command so that there can be a clear communication channel. With proper organisation structure, the complaints of the customers would be adequately addressed.
Employee motivation
With good motivation, employees have the ability to address the customer needs and meet quality standards that are necessary for the organisation. They would be motivated to participate in setting the objectives of the organisations. They would also be involved in the creative and innovative strategies that would make the allocations of tasks easy (Ortlepp & Hloma, 2006, p.31).Employees would not be pressurised to solve customer complaints since they would be feeling to be part of the organisation. One of the motivating plans includes the Management by Objectives (MBO) where employees jointly develop the organisational goals and the standards of the organisation (Wood & Wood, 2005, p.153). The leaders should also motivate and influence the employees towards the desired goals of the company. With that, there will be few customer complaints about standards and the few that will be there would be instantly solved.
Developing a quality control department
The development of the quality department is vital in ensuring that employees have performed their duties according to the organisational standards. The control department would determine whether the predicted standards have been attained and the corrective measures taken (Lee, 2013, p.24). The control department at the Panda and Mickey would ensure adherence to the standards of the organisation. Moreover, it would ensure that the responsible departments, teams and individuals address the complaints of the customers.
3.2 Environment
Technology changes rapidly and it has a huge impact on the operations of the virtual business (Tsai, 2002, p.123). The managers of the company need to develop better strategies that that would help Panda and Mickey in the management of the virtual teams. Therefore, the management structures and job designs in the company need to be highly flexible.
Culture is another vital environmental factor that determines how the virtual teams work. There would be cultural differences associated with the language differences and the interaction between employees from different cultural backgrounds. The job design would be impacted since managers need to consider cohesions in the teams (Kisielnicki, 2008, p.1530).
3.3 Most appropriate solution
The most appropriate solution to overcome the cause responsible for the problem in Panda and Mickey is the development of an effective organisational structure. The structure would ensure that all responsibilities are allocated to the relevant individuals and departments. The allocation of the duties would ensure that the customer complaints are responded to time. Moreover, the creation of the departments would ensure a clear communication channel that would facilitate the address of the quality effectively. Moreover, the customer complaints would be investigated and addressed by the responsible department.
4.0 Recommendations
The operations of the Panda and Mickey lacked direction due to its failure to have a well-defined organisation structure and motivation from the employees. Thus, to facilitate the adoption of an explicit direction and visions two recommendations would be made.
4.0.1 Develop a comprehensive and well-defined organisational structure
From the analysis, it was clear that Panda and Mickey had failed to address the issue of the communication and ensuring proper job design in the operations of the virtual business. It was abnormal that a customer would complain and the company would fail to address the concerns of the customers. Thus, the management needs to develop a virtual oriented organisational structure that would meet the needs of the clients and the online operations (Rao C., Rao B. & Sivaramakrishna, 2008, p. 420). A clear organisational structure ensures that there are enough employees in the company, and duties and responsibilities are clear to everyone. The communication would be clear and the employees would be aware on whom they are going to report to. More so, the functions of each department would be apparent and all the employees would focus their time and energy towards promoting a positive brand of the company.
4.0.2 Develop measures to increase the motivation of employees
The panda and Mickey should pay employees reasonable salary; involve them in the decision-making process and given the opportunities to learn. It was factual that employees lacked the motivation to build a positive image of the company as long as they were not willing to improve their performance. Customers complained frequently since workers failed to address the faults that they had done in the earlier tasks. At the same time, the complaints of the customers were not addressed by anyone. According to Frey and Osterloh (20020, a motivated employee would always seek to improve on the work done and satisfy the needs of the customers.
References
Anandarajan, M., Teo, T. S., & Simmers, C. A. (2014). The Internet and workplace transformation. Routledge.
DuBrin, A. J. (2009). Essentials of management. Mason, OH: Thomson Business & Economics.
Frey, B. S., & Osterloh, M. (2002). Successful Management by Motivation: Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Incentives. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Glowinkowski, S. (2009). It’s behaviour, stupid!: What really drives the performance of your organisation. Penryn: Academy Press.
Harvard Business School. (2010). Leading virtual teams: Expert solutions to everyday challenges.
Kisielnicki, J. (2008). Virtual technologies: Concepts, methodologies, tools and applications. Hershey PA: Information Science Reference.
Lee, M. R. (2013). Leading virtual project teams: Adapting leadership theories and communications techniques to 21st centuryorganisations. CRC Press.
Ortlepp, K., & Hloma, X. (2006). People management implications of virtual workplace arrangements. Acta Commercii, 6, 28-38.
Rao, C. A., Rao, B. P., & Sivaramakrishna, K. (2008).Strategic management and business policy: Texts and cases. New Delhi, India: Excel.
Tsai, H.-L. (2002). Information technology and business process reengineering: New perspectives and strategies. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Wood, J. C., & Wood, M. C. (2005). Peter F. Drucker: critical evaluations in business and management (Vol. 1). Taylor & Francis.
