Question.3141 - BUREAUCRACY
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CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. BAT AND CONTROVERSIS 4 3. BUREAUCRACY ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONALITY 6 a. FUNCTIONALITY 7 b. STRATEGIES 9 c. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 12 4. CONCLUSION 13 5. REFERNCES 14 1. INTRODUCTION This paper is going to focus on some items related to people and organization. In particular, the paper will highlight the problem of bureaucracy that is facing the company to be selected in this paper. Bureaucracy is about management. Therefore, when the management of any organization is undertaking a particular action or is making decision on a number of organizational aspects, they may do it in away that would affect the organizational behavior. For instance, the management can undertake some actions violating the company’s ethics, and hence this may not go well with the people. This paper is therefore, going to focus on the British American Tobacco in terms of several aspects related to people and organization. Among the things to be highlighted in the British American Tobacco are the history of the organization, the workforce, and its human resource strategies. After highlighting these areas, the paper will go ahead to focus on the at least two important aspects related to bureaucracy. These are the violation of the codes of ethics, and the ineffective human resource management. As far as the code of ethics is concerned, the management is expected to conduct itself in a manner that is conducive for the operations in the company. On the other hand, the human resource implies that all the employees must strive for the success of the company. British American tobacco (BAT) is an international tobacco company with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. British American tobacco is the second largest selling tobacco products after Philip Morris international. BAT has the largest market share in over 50 countries and seconds operations in 180 countries globally. The company gains much in its four leading brands which are; Dunhill, Kent, Pall Mall, and lucky strike with others include Rothmans, Benson & hedges and Kool. British American Tobacco Company was formed in 1902 through the agreed joint venture between the United Kingdom’s imperial company and the American company. The two companies agreed under the chair of James duke, that each company to assign its trademarks and not to trade in each other’s domestic territory. 2. BAT AND CONTROVERSIES Many controversies have risen over the years about the use and effects of tobacco and other related products. Governments and many health agencies have filed lawsuit against the leading tobacco companies’ in their efforts to do away with tobacco products. Taking for instance the issue of Nigerian federal government in 2007 where the state lawyers seek a petition against the BAT Company. The Nigerian government is seeking $42.4 billion from the BAT Company in claims of future cost in treating Nigerian youth for tobacco-related illness. The same government has further gone a step forward seeking $1.04 billion, the money termed as fine for the companies marketing and advertising tobacco and other related products to Nigerian youths. The company further faced another challenge in 2008, in which Duncan Bannatyne forwarded a BBC2 documentary which investigated the company’s marketing practices. In his research, Duncan Bannatyne argued that the company uses informal advertising practices to win their consumers. He asserts that the company uses branded music events, sale of single sticks and competitions to lure young Africans. Increasingly, many worlds’ major public concerns are connected to the goods produced and marketed by large companies such as tobacco, alcohol, and chemical industries. It worth understanding how companies influence policy which forms an important part in undertaking public health research. A research carried on the effects of tobacco has been extensively facilitated by the release of the internal corporate documents. Tobacco –products is widely recognized as the source of the tobacco epidemics and the works of internal corporate has seen a challenge to the tobacco company. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the action whereby controversial companies try to restore their social respectability by adopting a different image. Mostly, this only deals with public relation and has no clear changes in policy. Corporate social responsibility over the years has been pioneered by tobacco company to present themselves as transparent and environment friendly, resulting to so much accusation of abuse to environment. The company suffered a big loss in the late 1990s with the courts defeat which cost them billions of money. This suffering led to Tobacco Company introducing CSR policies to enhance its reputation which was slowly letting a win to the health organizations and governments. Since then, corporate social responsibility has set a foundation to be used strategically by companies in pre venting government regulations to lower tobacco consumption. This method is increasingly gaining power for companies trying to uplift their reputation. However, the used criteria by Tobacco Company have created a very comfortable room for any kind of corporation to present itself social responsible and use the CSR to win the hearts of many ordinary citizen. Even though the tobacco company is clearly known as the course of preventable deaths, the company has been allowed to develop CSR programs giving them a path way to continue pocketing more money and planting more risks in the society. A survey recently done indicates that tobacco related deaths are expected to rise higher from 5.4 million people in 2005 to 8.4 million people by 2030 due to spread marketing and advertisements of tobacco products to developing countries. As far as people enjoy taking tobacco products, it is clear that there are many risks diseases attached to tobacco products. Serious diseases such as respiratory diereses, lung cancer, and heart disease, are some of the fatal diseases caused by smoking cigarettes. For a long time of study in effects of smoking, consistent answers have proved that smoking people experience a lot of incidence in tobacco related diseases compared to non-smoking people. The report also explains that the risks are lowered after quitting, and recommends quitting earlier for the best effect on reduction of risks. A very important key to note is the scientific knowledge and ceremonial use of policy in relation to major health and environmental concerns. The research suggests that the British American tobacco and other tobacco companies failed to comply with the health management and many other governmental policies by making their business orient mandatory. This portrays the likelihood that the international bodies like world health organization produce policies that are of interest to such companies including companies producing products that are destructive to health, rather than in the wellbeing of its citizens. 3. BUREAUCRACY ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONALITY Another thing, which was suggested to be the same, is organizational structure. In this case, it is true that organizational structure is important in determining the channels through which decision-making and roles allocation use. Therefore, one will find such administrative processes as decision-making, motivation, authority, and leadership to be evident in British American Tobacco. 3.a. FUNCTIONALITY Organizations function either through closed or open systems. These systems are evident in British American Tobacco. Under closed and open systems, organizational management practices and design have undergone a transformation over time as a way of responding to changes seen in market and society. The emergence of new organizations brings in the discovery of fresh needs. These new organizations also make new technologies be available. Organizations also die or undergo transformation when the needs they were satisfying cease to exist or get replaced by other new needs. Organizational theory, therefore, comes in to analyze and examine British American Tobacco more intensely and precisely. The basis of this analysis is the trends and patterns in organizational behavior and design. British American Tobacco can be characterized using various models. These models aim at viewing the organization scientifically. These models are the basis through which organizational events can be explained. The broad categories of these models are open systems and closed systems. This classification is done on the basis of their starting presumption Open systems The focus of open-system models is on the events that are external to the organization. These externally occurring events are indispensable since they have an influence on the changes occurring within organization. According to a systems view, an organization is a set of functions that interact by acquiring inputs from the environment, processing them, and then releasing them output as outputs back to the particular external environment. Closed systems Under closed system models, there is the presentation of three principal subfields regarding classical perspective. These subfields are the bureaucratic management, administrative management, and scientific management. On the other hand, open-system models bring together behavioral and humanistic perspectives. Briefly, closed-system models take into consideration the external environment, which brings such things as technological advancements demographic and cultural characteristics of the community, political decisions, and legal decisions together. The models take these areas of the external environment as being predictable and stable, with the assumption that these models make no intervention nor cause problems for the organizational functioning. In this case, closed- system models have no dependence on the external environment when it comes to solutions or explanations to managerial issues. Rather, these systems are sealed and enclosed off from the external world. The closed systems, therefore, depend primarily on internal processes and dynamics of the organization when it comes to accounting for individual, group, and organizational behaviors. The key management objective that these models address is the efficiency in running of the organization. Theoretically, closed systems can be dealt with easily as compared to open systems. The focus of scientific management is on individual worker’s productivity. On the other hand, the focus of the administrative management is on the management functions. Lastly, the focus of bureaucratic management is on the entire organizational system. Within this organizational system, there is an interaction of management and workers. People are taken as rational beings in all these models. They are believed to have the capacity of acting correctly and logically when a given situation is facing them The theories that every public organization Manager, directly affect the operations in the British American Tobacco. Therefore for, the management of British American Tobacco to be able to achieve, it must take up several roles that include inter personal abilities and different theories. By this, it means the management has to use theories that have been tried out and found working on other past organization. Below are some of those theories. The models of organization may differ from one organization to another, but they may all result to the same thing, the objectives of the organization. Some of the common models are: According to Gortners, British American Tobacco employs Classical bureaucracy. This kind of bureaucracy is directed to those who are actively heading departments. The head of these people is the chief executive, who uses rules, different structures, and job descriptions, regulations to coordinate the organization and ensure it is operational. Then we have pseudo team which help handle the minor issues. The other model is the matrix organization, which gives equal priorities to those departments, which highly affect the organization performance such as the sales, administration marketing, finance and production. Law and legal authority are described as management where an organization’s ruling authority is highly linked to the legal legitimacy, bureaucracy and legal rationality. Power, as used in an organization, is defined as the use of influence, which is seen in actions and behavior, to protect one’s interest. It overlooks the feelings of many others. 3.b. STRATEGIES Over years, Organizational theory was believed to be at par with the public administration but when they both began to develop, they took a different angle leading organization theory to rise on as heterogeneous since it looked more scientific based. The management of the British American Tobacco has employed a number of strategies that make the organization to function. Gerstner, in coming up with his strategies, realized the degree to which human resource management can be utilized to accomplish competitive advantage in business. Currently, the contribution of HRM to enhance an organizations performance is being emphasized. First, there is the strategy of fit. Fit as strategic integration recommends that strategies should be in tandem with business approaches. The expectations of the employees should also be in alignment with where the company is heading to through communication of organizations values and vision, transforming approaches into routine management and creating a consistent business culture, one that recognizes the needs of both the employees and the entire business. Organizations can therefore come up with strategies that fit the size of the organizations. Smaller business for instance cannot adopt comprehensive and demanding approaches such as having an excessive number of employees. Strategic integration guarantees that human resource administration is completely unified into strategic development, rules are comprehensible, and line managers utilize human resource practices as a portion of their daily operations. According to Guest, if an integrated set of human resource practices is utilized in a comprehensible manner with an aim of achieving dedication, quality and suppleness, personal achievement will surely be realized. Under commitment the employees might feel connected with the organization hence behave in a way that fosters high achievement. Organizational employees that are flexible may adapt quickly to the business structure and exhibit several skills at the same time. The employees may also provide high quality products and services. The second strategy employed by the organization is that of fit as contingency. The fit as contingency ensures that internal practices of an organization change the setting of the business and its policies. The “best fit” method is founded on the notion that there is no one particular way for strategy. Appropriate tactics must therefore be carefully chosen to fit particular requirements through the analysis of the organization’s setting internally for instance opportunities, limitations and threats, and externally for instance process, culture and technology. This model concentrates on the fit between organizational processes and the features of the circumstance. This approach does not allow the use of worldwide management strategies in all circumstances. This model does not con concur with the one best model as stated in past theories hence provides supple theories for business project and structure. This approach also shows the association between the external environment of the business, size, objectives and structure of the organization. According to this model, managers must therefore understand the environment and setting to the business before coming up with the right structure. In addition, the British American Tobacco understood the strategy of fit as an ideal set of practices. Fit as an ideal set of practice proposes that internal organizational practices should mirror “best practice”. This approach is founded on the belief that adopting particular widely human resource management practices will enhance business performance. Various best practices such as employment security, self-governing teams, and reward associated with performance and continuous development have been created. A company may for instance may consider training options and analyze the kind of believes that can improve or bring down the organization. Organizations can therefore motivate their employees by compensating those who exhibit better performance for instance through promotions . Lastly, the British America Tobacco understood the strategy of fit as bundles. Fit as bundles propose that unique bundles of human resources practices can be created and executed. These practices may include appropriate management and competences which can be utilized in various settings to develop coherence across several functions guaranteeing that they balance and reinforce each other. For instance, if the general human resource approach is to enhance performance the sourcing tactics for competence founded staffing can be combined with progress strategies for capability- training alongside incentive policies to offer proficiency based pay. Employees may also have their own believes for instance and these are chief motivators in the way individuals behave. Recruiting competent individuals through personality tools and group interviews can be a good strategy but understanding and appreciating their beliefs can be another way of identifying other strategies. 3.c. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE In British American Tobacco, there is the need for the improvement of the organizational structure. This means that the organizational structure of British American Tobacco should be redesigned in such a way that that it complies with some of the common approaches to organizational structure. There are five approaches to organizational structure. The first one is functional structure. This is straightforward and can improve the amount of production. However, its perspective is narrow thus making it hard for decision-making. The second one is the Divisional structure. This involves creation of several departments. The third one is the Matrix structure. This combines both the functional and the divisional, organizational structures, and makes their operations more flexible. Every worker is accountable to a given manager. Lastly we have the network structure which major in performing the various essential functions on a contractual bases. 4. CONCLUSION The decision making process is a fundamental item in the British American Tobacco. These are because the decisions made will affect the organizational goals and performance. British American Tobacco Company is argued that the behavior of the people working in the organization as well the organization itself should be aligned in the same direction. Proponent observers argue that, in both public agencies and Private Corporation, the basic management concerns do not differ at all. They are the same thing. Therefore, in either way, for issues of authority and power the manager must deal with them hence courses learnt from one setting can be transferred to another easily or these lessons can create a general theory in an organization. The formal theories of public organizations are those values of understanding that help British American Tobacco in governing its business organization and they guide the organization to react to any situation it faces as clients or members of a given organization, with wisdom and compassion. The implicit theories that the organization has are highly considered in decision making. At the same time, the response it gives to these situations sharpens its response ability hence they need to be considered carefully.Looking at the theories that have been captured by Dehardt, it is true that British American Tobacco has expanded substantially on the organizational theory that was described by Gortner et al. (2007). REFERENCES Who Are We, British American Tobacco. Retrieved from http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO52ADCY?opendocument &SKN=1 Introduction: Understanding Bureaucracy, University of Texas, Retrieved from http://www.utexas.edu/research/cswr/survey/surveyresources/Admin/Hummel1.pdf Olse, J. P. (2005). Maybe It Is Time to Rediscover Bureaucracy, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 16 (1): 1-24. http://jpart.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/1/1.abstract Introduction to Sociology, Mark Weber – Bureaucracy, Coser, 1977:230-233. http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/undergraduate/introsoc/weber12.html Bureaucracy - I: Characteristics of Bureaucracy, Max Weber, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, part III, chap. 6, pp. 650-78. http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/undergraduate/introsoc/weber14.html Ingram, D. What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Bureaucratic Organization Structure?, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-bureaucratic-organization- structure-2761.html Burton, B. and Roswell, A. (2002). British American Tobacco's Socially Responsible Smoke Screen, PR Watch, Fourth Quarter 2002, Volume 9, No. 4. http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2002Q4/bat.html Cummings, M. K., Brown, A. and O’Connor, R. (2007). The Cigarette Controversy, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev June 2007 16; 1070. http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/16/6/1070.long Grinyer, P. H. and Yasai-Ardekani, M. (1981). Strategy, Structure, Size and Bureaucracy, The Academy of Management Journal Vol. 24, No. 3 (Sep., 1981), pp. 471-486. http://www.jstor.org/stable/255569More Articles From Human Resource
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