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What is the organisational culture that is associated with Lizard Beachs current form of organisational design? Now that Terry has decided on a new competitive strategy (differentiation), what effects will this have on the type of organisational culture the company should adopt?
There are four main organisational levels; Top management (CEO Terry Lamb), 5 departmental managers, the line managers (supervisors), then the non-managerial employees. Terry has now realised that the policies that were initially set up to ensure employees' compliance to standards is now a hindrance as it slows down the ability for employees to make quick decisions and be more flexible. Running Case Study Organisational structure and managing human resources Since we last heard from Terry, he now has a better understanding of the newly chosen competitive strategy for the resort; differentiation through marketing the resort as an eco-tourist destination. However, he now has to ensure that the business is 'arranged' in such a way that it will facilitate this strategy. The rigid organisational structure and stringent policies at the resort were initially set up to suit a small organisation. The right to make decisions and allocate resources within Terry's position but the responsibility of accomplishing tasks is on the shoulders of the departmental managers. This has resulted in poor/slow response time in relation to addressing guest requests and needs. Terry is therefore considering giving more decisional rights to his middle managers thereby facilitating more flexibility in the company. In order for the resort to be successful in achieving differentiation strategy, Terry realises that the organisation will need to be structured in such a way that it can identify and respond to both environmental and internal (guests) factors quickly and swiftly. He understands that establishing a competitive advantage is not enough and that a sustainable competitive advantage calls for a firm to continually learn, innovate and respond swiftly to environmental changes. In addition, Terry is considering offering additional services/products to further enhance the resort's attractiveness to guests. He is considering launching a spa retreat, a health and fitness facility and a nutrition centre. Ideally, Terry is considering hiring a senior manager for each of these new outlets to be responsible for their operations and performance. **The End** Currently, there is a very strong division of labour at the resort. There are five main depart Food and everage, Front Office and Rooms department, Finance, Human Resources and the Marketing department. Out of the 75 employees, 30 work in the Front Office and Rooms department and they all perform specific routine tasks (front desk guest relations officers, telephone operators, room reservations officer etc). Each department is overseen by a Manager and each employee has one supervisor to report to. Although work roles are relatively narrow and repetitive, Terry has found this organisation to be most efficient in terms of accomplishing routine tasks. Although the resort runs efficiently, the employees within each department are only focused on their assigned jobs and meeting their departmental goals without having the common purpose toward winning the Green Star award. Terry recognises that this is a problem because the employees are too preoccupied with meeting their individual and departmental goals and therefore lack the coordinated effort toward winning the Green Star Award. Terry realises that the clear division of labour in the organisation is too rigid and inflexible to allow the various departments to coordinate their effort toward the common organisational goal of winning the Green Star Award
