Background/Situation
Organizations require strategic planning whenever they are preparing for major restructuring. This is especially so when firms are ready to expand or have increased business operations. In such incidents, the organizations have to reconsider their management and operation structures and evaluate if they fit or change is needed. This helps business entity maintain its competency and have their brands empowered. Fox Relocation Management Corp. is not exceptional in this case since the organization expanded and is offering relocation services to clients not just in Boston but also in Portland, New York, Maine, and Washington D.C (Zedeck 50).
Key Individuals
On the other hand, the Fox way remained unchanged. Gretchen Fox, the founder and CEO of Fox Relocation had laid a structure where all employees were not given positions and were considered as role players in any assignment that the organization acquired. In addition, Fox had embarked on employing professional women to offer the services. Another practice that is considered as the Fox way is the employment of staff, which initially occurred through an hourly compensation method. However, later the system was changed to have all employees under salaried terms. Moreover, the workers had no titles and were given roles to lead teams. The project managers were not accorded privileges and their compensation was equal to that one of their colleagues and junior members that they were leading. All the workers are contracted using similar terms. This can be considered to be one of the ills that the organization is using. Team leaders or project managers need to be considered in terms of salaries and privileges. This is because of the fact that they spend most of their time supervising and guiding employees. This places them at a better position to manage workers while empowering them to lead (Zedeck 48).
Structural Arrangement at Fox Relocation
The organization had the CEO at the helm of leadership. The other employees were subordinates with a selection of them being placed as project managers. Fox Relocation had a culture of decisions being made by the CEO with the staff providing major contributions. A sample organization structure could appear as follows.
Organizational Structure for Fox Relocation Management Corp
Issues/Problems
Fox Relocation’s culture treats all employees equally. This may make some employees unable to identify their leaders because the terms are similar for all regardless the level of experience an employee has. Gretchen appoints Projects managers to oversee the running of projects. Each work is allocated a project manager in order to direct and oversee the team during relocation activities. With the expansion, the organization wants to liaise with other service providers in order to reach an expansive market share. Venturing into new geographical markets means that the entity demands more comprehensive restructuring.The project managers will always replicate whenever a new project is acquired. The CEO remains fully in control of every strategic move that the organization adapts. In another aspect, gender disparity is evident in the institution. The CEO hires and favors female employees. Considering that the relocation duties are tasking, the CEO ought to reconsider getting male employees to be able to handle relocation services in a more efficient manner. The intended expansion as well would demand a strategic streamlining of the roles in terms of gender balance (Fox and Reiss 76).
Burke-Litwin Change Implementation Model
Causes
The concept of organizational change as per this model is highly applicable in the fox’s case. This is because the concept looks at both the climate and the culture in an organization when implementing change. In evaluating the climate, the concept stipulates that an organizations marketplace is important in determining the effectiveness of any strategy aimed at improving the standards of the service delivery. According to Burke-Litwin model, the second aspect of an organization is culture. When an organization’s culture is changed, the human behaviors and the organization social and relationship systems change. Apparently, when the culture has to be reorganized to fit in the climate of an environment, a strategic interaction is necessary to be able to generate a complete fit.
The theory applies to Fox Relocation business scenario because of the two aspects. These aspects include the culture and climate that affect the transactions and interactions within and without an organization. When it comes to culture, the organization’s culture has concentrated on the employment of ladies only. The CEO has controlled it and she has had the sole influence on the direction the organization takes. Considering that she has decided to enter business agreements with other service providers in various locations as a means of expansion, a strategic fit between Fox’s services and the systems in the secondary company are necessary. As a way of creating change in the company, it would be essential for the CEO to appreciate the importance of having a transformative environment in the field of the human resource and aspect hitherto in business (Fox and Reiss 88).
Future of Fox Relocation
Decisions/Alternatives
The model implies that there must be some distinguishing change in both transformational and transactional changes. Initially, Fox has been operating as a sole proprietor business for a long time. Through its business life, new recognitions on the importance of engaging and incorporating other service providers are envisioned to enable the organization enter into new markets as well as regions. In addition, the firm will increase its work force and employee population. This facilitates having a complex human resource structure. The reason behind this is that organizations have access to both direct employees and indirect employees. The indirect scenario will occur when the organization enters into an agreement with other producers and active providers. However, the other partners might help cover some of the costs but still will need Fox to incur the costs culminating from the engagement transacted on their behalf (Fox and Reiss 67).
Recommendation
The Organization requires implementation of tremendous changes in the management and operational structures. Gretchen needs to adapt a hierarchical system of management to be able to handle the increasing business and number of employees. The evaluation of both climate and culture will aid the company in dealing with the external-environment box and the internal operational structures also regarded as culture. With a history of gender bias, a transformational agenda would be the most appropriate strategy to implement in order to make the organization human resource management viable and become compatible to the external environment. Nonetheless, mergers and outsourcing at different geographical regions will give Fox an edge in its operation. This will assist fox tackle the challenges of venturing into new and undeveloped markets. The firm can also diversify its services for better opportunities and in expanding its business line.
Works Cited
Fox, Jeffrey J, and Robert Reiss. The Transformative Ceo: Impact Lessons from Industry Game Changers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
Zedeck, Sheldon. Apa Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Washington: American Psychological Assn., 2011. Print.