Name Vinod Gawande

AddressBlock 128 #12-04,

Bedok North Street 2
Singapore, 460128
Singapore

Email : jhangojhango@outlook.com

Leadership applications in Organization structure and culture: Applying interpretive paradigm of Employee relationships.

1.     Introduction:

The company that has been selected for analysis is “Schneider Electric”. Since it’s a huge organization, therefore concentration will be made on the delivery department of the organization. The projects therefore delivered by this department will therefore be reviewed and analyzed in this study. The paradigm that will be followed in this study will be “Employee relationship” which is an interpretive paradigm as per the Burrell and Morgan’s paradigm. This way efforts will be made to give subjective views on the experience on the organization related to organization structure and organization culture that is followed in Schneider Electric. Hence the implications in the terms of subjective data collection will help in understanding the organization structure that is applied and the organization culture that is observed.

2.     Brief background to your organization:

Schneider Electric was established in year 1836 by Eugene Schneider. The company deals in electrical equipments.  The company has its headquarters in Rueil-Malmaison, France. It has its presence around the world. In Singapore it has its manufacturing unit where employees work hard to get the most desired and expected output in the form of electrical equipment that could facilitate the present day business, home or any service sector. The various products manufactured by the company are sensors, circuit breakers, switchgear, switchboards, motor controllers etc. At present the company has approximately 175,000 employees around the globe (Schneider-Electric.com, 2016).

Schneider Electric has a corporate governance structure that has a board of directors consisting and a chairman who takes the high level decision for the company. At present the chairman and chief executive officer of the company is Jean-Pascal Trico ire. This way the board of directors confers to the decision of the chairman and CEO as per the article 1 of its internal regulations. The deputy chairman Emmanuel Bateau who is also in charge of finance and legal affairs assist Jean-Pascal in effective administration of the company in Singapore (Schneider-Electric.com, 2016).

The company is make active participation in delivering sustainability offers to the people by development climate friendly products.75% of the company earnings are coming from products that are Green premium eco-label. The company efforts resulted in avoided 120,000 tons of CO2 through proper maintenance and 7 retrofits. The x5 turnover of access to energy program initiated by the company is helping the development of underprivileged people in the country. The company applies 100% ethics through application of ISO26000 guidelines for the suppliers.

3.     Analysis/critique

A.     Organization Structure:

There are different forms of organization structure. These include the followings.

1. Functional:
2. Multi-divisional:
3. Matrix:
4. Decentralization:
5. Distancing:
6. Virtual organization:
7. Networks:

(Luthans & Avolio, 2009).

Application of interpretive paradigm of employee relationship through organization structure in Schneider Electric:

The organization structure that is applied in Schneider Electric is Matrix structure. The paradigm application is therefore applied as follows.

1. Relationship: The company has established its business operation in different countries through deployment of divisions and functional structures at various locations. Also efforts are made by the organization to develop formal and informal relationship between the employees. The employees are directed with the work place policies and procedures which applies an ideal formal business environment and supportive work culture.
2. Sensations: The participation of the company employees in various activities and functions further helps in creating informal relations. This way an attempt is made to strength the team building spirit among company employees so that they can work together easily for the achievement of target goals and objectives.
3. Emotions: Efforts are made to apply complete self-depend business system is developed in Singapore which is headed by Jean-Pascal, the Chairman and Ceo of the company. Consistent efforts are made by the company officials in the Singapore branch to achieve the target goals and objectives of achieving sustenance and growth in the long run.
4. Feelings: An appropriate work culture has been developed in which the employees work in an amiable environment. Trust is developed among the team members through regular training exercises. The education and development programs help the employees to raise their level of skills and achieve dependence of their senior and subordinates

Critical Analysis:

Although the company is following the matrix structure system in Singapore, there are still various issues and problems that are observed at the ground root levels. That is the employees in the Singapore branch are not given due powers and authorities to take the decision which is best in the interest of the company. Through the article 1 of the internal company management, the company officials in Singapore including board of management have to follow the decision taken by Jean-Pascal who is the chairman and Ceo of the company and has came from France, where the company has its head office. Therefore even with the establishment of the matrix system the legal, social, technological and human resource decisions are still in the hands of the chairman who don’t even belong to the country. This includes dealing with the employee’s issues and problems which are not getting settled due to incapacity of the local managers in authorizing the decisions without the consent of the chairman. The cultural gaps and language issues are also observed when the employees from France are transferred to the Singapore establishment. This affects the dependability of the employees and also their expectations of their future growth in career prospects.

B.     Organization Culture:

Different types of organization culture exist in different organization. These are headed by Robert A. Cooke as follows.

1. Constructive cultures:
2. Passive/defensive cultures:
3. Aggressive cultures:

In addition Hofstede also defined organization culture in different dimensions through the application of Hofstede cultural dimension theory. These include the followings.

1. Power distance:

The power distance actually applies the ability or extent to which the lesser power and authorized individuals in the company accepts the power of the influential person or high level manager.

2. Uncertainty avoidance index:

Uncertainty avoidance is actually the tolerance ability of the employees that exists in the organization culture that helps other employees feel comfortable at work. This way it indicated the degrees to which the other employees are allowed to give ahead their ideas and thoughts.

3. Individualism vs. collectivism:

Individualism vs. collectivism actually displays the culture in which the people in the company are able to integrate with each other. That is they make groups and predicate jointly towards the achievement of organizational objectives or they stay away from each other due to lack of trust between them.

4. Masculinity vs.felinity:

Masculinity vs.felinity actually defines the kind of culture that may exist in the organization consisting of the aggressive, heroic and assertive employees supported by the management or the decision accepting individuals who are blindly following the decisions of higher level management.

5. Long vs. short term orientation:

The short term orientation in the organization actually displays that the traditions are hundred and followed. However the long term orientation shows that adaption and circumstantial changes are applied for getting the most desired result for the organization.

6. Indulgence and restraints:

Indulgence and restraints actually displays the level of joy and fulfillment that the employees are achieving or just working under strict control and adherence that is holding their innovative ideas, thoughts and views.

(Hofstede, 2005)

Applying interpretive paradigm of employee’s relationship through understanding of international business:

• Relationship: The business in Singapore actually depicts 74 level of power distance as per the Hofstede report. The individualism is 20, while the masculinity is 48.
• Sensations: The uncertainty avoidance is 8 and the longer term orientation is 72.
• Emotions: The indulgence is at 46. This shows that the employees in Singapore mostly adhere to the orders of the high level management without asking any question. The employees like to work in individualism. However the masculinity in the work is observed as the employees tries to achieve the company targets through hard efforts.
• Feelings: The long term orientation shows that the company still applies traditional culture methods of dealing with the employees. Finally the indulgence is 46 which show an average level of indulgence is observed from the employees towards work.

In-depth information about the hofstede culture application in Singapore can be observed in the appendix. The outcome of the hofstede cultural reports therefore states the followings.

1. The employees in Singapore are hesitant among each other and scared of their high level management.
2. The employees in Singapore keep expectations of developing a good career prospects in the company.
3. The employees in Singapore establishment believe in development of the skills and therefore actively participate in training and development process.
4. Formal relations are given due importance.
5. Informal relations are developed in very less number.
6. Cultural aspects of the company work culture are supportive to the development of teams.

Cultural Analysis:

The organization culture that actually applies in Schneider Electric is lower power distance as employees are allowed to participate in the decision making process. Also collectivism is followed so that the group outcome brings out synergy effect into action. However felinity is observed as the directions are given by the high level management and followed without any if and but by the managers. The long term orientation is followed. The indulgence up to some level is also allowed. The various factors that are affecting the culture of the company include the followings.

1. History and ownership:

The history of the company is approximately 175 years old. The ownership of the company is in the hands of a French person. Therefore the culture of the company is affected by French culture of handling and dealing with the employees.

1. Size:

The size of the company is huge. It has its presence in various countries around the world. Therefore it really becomes for the owner to decide effectively on every single issue that arise at the local levels. This also affects the culture of the company at distant places.

1. Technology:

The technology of the company is highly upgraded. The best usage of the latest technology is made in the company which has made the culture of the company as per new age requirements.

1. Goals and objectives:

The goals and objectives of the company are to achieve profit maximization along with the preservation of the human, cultural and environmental factors. Therefore the company has recognized the various factors vital for sustenance and has been developing accordingly.

1. Environment:

The environment of the company establishment is kept as per the international laws which are clean and processed. The company made regular initiatives in conserving the environment. The company is make active participation in delivering sustainability offers to the people by development climate friendly products.75% of the company earnings are coming from products that are Green premium eco-label. The company efforts resulted in avoided 120,000 tons of CO2 through proper maintenance and 7 retrofits. The x5 turnover of access to energy program initiated by the company is helping the development of underprivileged people in the country. The company applies 100% ethics through application of ISO26000 guidelines for the suppliers.

1. People:

In Singapore it has its manufacturing unit where employees work hard to get the most desired and expected output in the form of electrical equipment that could facilitate the present day business, home or any service sector. At present the company has approximately 175,000 employees around the globe. These people are happy with their jobs and are continuing with their work on daily basis. This shows the ability of the company to deal with the human resource management in a more effective manner.

(Kuenzi & Schminke, 2009)

Evaluations:

Schneider Electric has achieved internal strength of employee commitment and loyalty towards work.  This has helped the company attain economies of scale. However the weakness is the inability to transfer complete authority of decision making to the managers. This way the company follows the new age development and application of leadership practices but maintains its conventional approach of keeping controls over the human resource (Wood et al., 2003).

The ethical values followed by the company showcases the tolerance to different cultures and their coexistence. The company offers fair chances to every single employee for developing and achieving the career growth prospects. Efforts are made to escalate any kind of tension between the employees arising out of diverse groups and teams working together in the company. The diverse groups are therefore handled by expertise and fairness methods in application that applying ethical decision making at the work place. However it is personally recommended that the company should allow the informal relation development between the employees so that the teams can be made stronger and understanding between the individuals working together in one office should develop.

The leadership that is applied in the work place is a mix of parental and democratic style. Although the company offers complete freedom of speech and expression, it does not allow the managers to participate in high level decision making.

The company considers the manager inefficient to take bigger decisions but allows them to give ideas and thoughts which the high management could apply after due consideration (Shephard, 1985).

The team effectiveness in the work place is observed. However this team effectiveness can be improved by movement of the employees from their respective positions and authorities at regular times. This way the recognition of the capability of the different human resource can be identified and the placement to a more desired position can be made (Zellers et al., 2002).

The complex issues that are rising in the company recently are due to the leadership style that is not actually dealing with the matters of human resources in an effective manner. Considering the priority of the high level management to achieve target production, the matters of human resources are not handled wisely which may in future cause the eruption of serious human resource issues and problems (Fairley & Zipp, 2007).

The company allows the managers to take decisions at the lower levels but the middle and higher level decisions are taken by the high level management only. However problem solving techniques are applied at different includes application of the problem solving strategies including fish bone diagram and CPM analysis. These are shown in the appendix as well.

Conclusions

Schneider Electric has proven its successfulness from the past century and is expected to maintain its consistent growth and development around the world. The company has achieved internal strength of employee commitment and loyalty towards work.  This has helped the company attain economies of scale. However the weakness is the inability to transfer complete authority of decision making to the managers. This way the company follows the new age development and application of leadership practices but maintains its conventional approach of keeping controls over the human resource (Henderson & Venkatraman, 1993).

The ethical values and moral is also given due importance in the company. Due to this reason the high level management guides the other level manager’s employees from time to time to maintain their tolerance to different cultures and believe in their coexistence. The company offers fair chances to every single employee for developing and achieving the career growth prospects. The diverse groups are handled by expertise and fairness methods in application that applying ethical decision making at the work place.  However the leadership that is applied in the work place is a mix of parental and democratic style. The team effectiveness in the work place is also observed. The complex issues that are rising in the company recently are due to the leadership style that is not actually dealing with the matters of human resources in an effective manner. Finally the decision making that the company follow is not a democratic style. Although the company allows the managers to take decisions at the lower levels but the middle and higher level decisions are taken by the high level management only (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2000).

The employees are directed with the work place policies and procedures which applies an ideal formal business environment and supportive work culture. Also the participation of the company employees in various activities and functions further helps in creating informal relations. This way an attempt is made to strength the team building spirit among company employees so that they can work together easily for the achievement of target goals and objectives. Consistent efforts are made by the company officials in the Singapore branch to achieve the target goals and objectives of achieving sustenance and growth in the long run. An appropriate work culture has been developed in which the employees work in an amiable environment. Trust is developed among the team members through regular training exercises. The education and development programs help the employees to raise their level of skills and achieve dependence of their senior and subordinates.

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