Compare and Contrast Semco to a ‘Classical Organisation’, I.E. One Which Has a Traditional Approach to Industrial Relations.

It also characterizes Ricardo’s trust in his workers’ capabilities to make decisions, as well as his firm confidence in the autonomous process. As well, the democratic team idea enables hiring and firing of both supervisors and workers by a democratic vote.A significant part of Semco’s realization is the investment of employee’s energy via research and development process. It has adopted a radical means of employee motivation, in which employees receive approximately one-quarter of the total profits irrespective of their divisions. This profit-sharing plan has been the primary cause of the large company’s profitability and enables employees to accomplish high targets in their projects. In addition, Semco profit sharing plan involves a democratically elected committee that develop and employ the program, as well as distributing profit-sharing funds (Maresco and York, 2005). The organization is partitioned into small teams operating somewhat autonomously of others but in a coordinated manner with high productivity while keeping workers satisfied and motivated. The management style of Semco Company is re-defined, shifting from classified to business unit approach with teams as the fundamental. Teams jointly decide what requires to be done and who will be accountable for what tasks. In fact, the

The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits."

References:Paul Blyton and Peter Turnbull (2004) "The theory of employee relations" The Dynamics of Employee Relations (3rd edition) PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Printed in ChinaJohn Gennard and Graham Judge (2002) "Employee Relations Strategies and Policies: Management style" Employee Relations (3rd edition) London: Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, WilrshireEd Rose (2004) "Theoretical Approaches to employment and industrial relations" Employment Relations2nd edition Prentice HallRasmussen & Lamm, (2002) "R&L,

Page 2 - Describe 4 factors, 2 internal and 2 external, which impact on the employment relationship

Organisations must organise a structure so that their objectives can be achieved. A company will have different departments and procedures with each one having a special function. All of these organised departments and procedures are linked so the company can run efficiently. For many organisation this can be very complex has they will have offices in international countries around the world.

An organizational structure is a framework set for certain activities at the work place like coordination of activities, supervision of employees and task allocation to be organised (Mills, 2005).

M. Marchington & A. Wilkinson, 2008, Human Resource Management at Work 4th Edition, London, CIPD

According to Miles et al. (1978, p. 547), an organization is both its purpose and the mechanism constructed to achieve the purpose. It means that the concept of organization is embracing both goals and all the elements that represent unique combination. Miles et al. (1978, p. 553) draws the conclusion that structure and the processes taking place inside the organization are closely aligned; it is hard to speak about one without mentioning the other. It is important to understand the conclusion drawn by Miles et al. (1978). It illustrates how the

Alexander, M., 2003. A handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 9th ed. London: Kogan Page

As seen from figure 2, the matrix organisational structure is complex and aligns functional and divisional organisational structures merged into a hierarchical structure. The student observes that with this comes the potential to on the one hand, improve interdepartmental collaboration through avoiding silo-functioning and yet, on the other hand, blur the unity of command structure in an organisation that can be counterproductive. A critical analysis of two major advantages and disadvantages of this organisational structure here

Classical Management Theory originated in the late 19th century however it became widely popular in the first half of the 20th century. During this period, business and organizations were trying to solve issues such as reducing costs, worker relations, and increase productivity and efficiency. Additionally, many businesses and organization found themselves trying to deal with employees who did not speak English. You can say this theory came about as a means to try and find the “best” solution or way to preform and manage tasks. This theory is designed in a structural hierarchy with three (3) levels of management; top-level management such as board of directors, middle management who assist with establishing the goings-on of the supervisors and the lowest level would be the supervisors who are responsible for getting the job and tasks completed.

1.3Assessment of implication for line managers and employees of developing a strategic approach to HRM at Harrods:

Organizational structure includes, but is not limited to, power and reporting relationships such as those in organization charts, behaviors required of organization members by organizational rules, and patterns of decision making and communication among organization members. It encompasses both formal and informal aspects of relationships between members (Ambrose & Schminke, 2003). This section will discuss the aspects of the matrix, mechanistic, and organic organizational designs.

"The study of human resource management has been invigorated by the promise that there is a best-practice, high-involvement management that can guarantee superior organisational performance" (Wood, 1999).

During the 1980’s, a new management concept referred to as ‘Human Resource Management’ (HRM) became very fashionable. At that time, many academics questioned whether HMR was simply a renaming of the previously known personnel management (PM) tool, or whether it was, as some claimed, ‘a radically different philosophy and approach to management of people at work’ (1). Firstly, it seems appropriate to define HRM. However, the definition of HRM this has been widely debated, and so