Compare and Contrast Essay Sample: Biogenia and Sleepeasy Organisations

Organisations are complex social systems which value people as a vital and essential resource, especially in todays increasingly dynamic, globalised and competitive environment (Mullins 2010). They possess distinct criteria system which is developed and shaped from a mix of how the organisation management can choose to create, present and market their business to the world, the type of services and goods provided and the culture that is introduced by the organisation.

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This paper consists of examining the differences and similarities in the organisational culture, structural design, the motivation and job design in Biogenia and in Sleepeasy organisations.

Organisational culture includes the expectations, experiences, philosophy, and values that the organisation create. It is thanks to the cooperation of these elements (Cole & Kelly 2011). The basics are usually common for all types of organisations: shared attitudes, believes, personal and professional moral traditions, values and customs that were elaborated over time. Such corporate culture, treats its team and its employees, clients with all due respect.

It affects the organisation's productivity and provides a certain impression on a customer, it creates specific care, safety, service, for global community (Nadler & Tushman 1997).

As a global organisation Biogenia wants to recruit the brightest and the best from all over the world, it employs people of 20 different nationalities. Thus, it is open to any kind of useful and necessary input no matter nationality and origin of its employees. It offers generous support to employees who want to further their education and training by paying fees and giving time off to attend courses. Therefore, Biogenia cares about the values of the team and tends to provide all the support needed to achieve such value as education. As it is one the organisations values. Office environments and even factories are designed to be light, pleasant places to work, with the company sponsoring a large amount of art work and landscaping to enhance the environment. Staff are encouraged to contribute to community work, and the company sponsors a number of projects working with schools in a number of countries on biological science projects. It is an evidence of another value the company follows taking care of environment and its habitats. This organisation aims to achieve harmony and balance between natural processes and human activity without causing any kinds of cataclysms and disasters.

Sleepeasy is a mid-market hotel chain aimed at the business traveler and city-break tourist. However, Sleepeasy operates in a task culture where emphasis is focused on getting jobs done rather the positions and the education level of employees. Like Bio, Sleepeasy functions by being innovative in the operation of business but unlike Biogenia, Sleepeasy believes innovation is not only about technology and enhancing personal mastery of every member of the team but of the whole team as well. It encourages teamwork, employees are separated from the other, non related to them branches to work. Unlike Biogenia, Sleepeasy leadership culture isnt flat. Only little training is provided and there are few opportunities for promotion for lower rang of employees. Housekeepers, for example, work on their own, so they are not united as a team and the contact between them is absent.

The employees do not socialize with themselves to create a bond and a sense of identity. Sleepeasy is a company that relies on its employees speed and efficiency but Biogenia relies on its employees innovation and creativity. Both organisations have a culture where all their employees are loyal to the firm without any prejudices and judgements.

Organisational structure refers to the way that an organisation arranges people and their duties so that its work can be done well and its goals can be achieved. When a team is very small and its communication is frequent, formal structure may be perceived in a wrong way. Basically it is unnecessary, but in a larger organisations decisions have to be made and delegated by a special management. Thus, the procedures established assign responsibilities to various employees. In general, companys decisions determine the organisational structure.

In an organisation of any size or complexity, employees' responsibilities and duties are typically determined by what they perform, who they report to and who reports to them (Fullan 1996). Such classifications are necessary and marked to positions in the organisation rather than to individuals. The best organisational structure depends on many factors including the work process, its size in terms of employees, profits, and the geographical location of its headquarters.

There are mainly two types of structure. The functional structure involves a formal structure where focus is on a role of employees and the divisions of duties among the departments. The functional structure is bureaucratic. The matrix structure approach involves an informal structure where emphasis is based on the completion of projects through individuals and team work (Zairi 1999). The efforts of the whole team are put together in order to achieve the organisation goal rather than the emphasis power or role.

Sleepeasy operates in a functional structure with bureaucracy which constitute of division of responsibility and task, hierarchical organisation of role, authority and rules. Sleepeasy clearly defines the role of its employees where there a pyramid from the top management to the production employees at the bottom.

Sleepeasy does not employ subcontractors to supply any of the above functions, except in exceptional circumstances all staff are employed directly.

The employees are generally expected to work invisible, they are given a demanding schedule; the staff are expected to follow a set routine. Recruitment of such staff is often informal, based on word-of-mouth. Thus, that is the evidence of informal separation and hierarchy within the company. Other staff in the hotel may be recruited in more conventional and formal ways. Aside from the owner of the company, all other employees are subordinated to another and report to someone. The chain of command and employees are encouraged only to do specific task therefore they cannot integrate within the organisation to learn other things.

In comparison with Sleepeasy, Biogenia functions in the matrix structure, which is flat, and employees work in teams that pooled into one to achieve a goal expertly regardless of what position or authority they hold within the organisation.

Although almost all employees work in one of the four functional areas mentioned above, the organisation also promotes cross-functional working in project teams. Thus it sees as an essential part to achieving constant product improvement and innovation. These teams can be large or small, short term or fairly long in duration. It recognizes that getting people from different functions to work effectively together can be a challenge and it has a big impact on the companys development.

Motivation and job design can be determined as psychological force that pushes employees to work effectively (Murphy & Willmott 2010). It can also predict the possible behavior of employees and their level of eagerness to work. Motivation is key in an organisation management as it explains why employees act and work in one certain way. Motivators are factors that feed the motivation of team such as recognition, growth, the work itself and personal and professional achievements. Based on such criteria, Sleepeasy job design and motivation is poor especially for the unskilled employees. Motivators such as recognition and achievement are absent. As it was mentioned before, the company complies with minimum wage and other labor regulations of the countries it operates in, but seeks to stay competitive by keeping wage costs to a minimum and does not recognize trades unions. Little training of stuff is provided and there are few opportunities for promotion.

Unlike Sleepeasy, Bio recruits people and offers them generous support for their further education and training by paying fees and giving time off to attend courses what eventually leads to promotion. It also offers generous perks, such as opportunities for sabbaticals or gap years and subsidizing gym membership. Staff are encouraged to contribute to community work.

In conclusion, it needs to be said that the culture of organisations is formed by founders or leaders. This will then determines the design, structure, job roles and motivation of such organisations. The cultures of organisations could differs in so many ways but their aims are always the same - productivity, innovation and profit. Though the main conceptions and values differ, two different cultures of these organisations could be united to work together in order to create a workable and profitable friendly community.

References

National Center for Professional Certification. (2002) Factors Affecting Organisational Climate and Retention. Available at: www.cwla.org./programmes/triechmann/2002fbwfiles

Daft R., Murphy J., Willmott H. (2010). Organisation theory and design. Hampshire, United Kingdom: Cengage learning, 78-89.

Fullan, M (1996). Leadership for change in International handbook for educational leadership and administration, Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York, NY.

Zairi, M (1999). Best practice: process innovation management, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

Cole, G.,Kelly P. (2011). Management Theory And Practice. 7th ed. Hampstead: Cengage learning, 52-53.

Mullins, L.J. (2010). Management And Organisational Behaviour, 9th Edition, Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.

Nadler, D.A., Tushman, M.L. (1997). Competing by Design: The Power of Organisational Architecture, New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

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