Organisational structure and culture of John Lewis

This report insists on the organisational structure and culture of a private sector company named John Lewis partnership and a public sector guy’s and St Thomas hospital. Organizational structure involves activities such as task provisioning, synchronization and direction, which are focussed towards the attainment of organizational aims. This report is also stressing on the factors which influence individual behaviour at work. The study also implies the change in the performance according to the relationship in structure and culture in different organisations. (Mullins, L 2009)

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND CULTURE

An organization can be designed in various ways, clearly subjected on their goals. There are key elements which constitute the organisational structure. They are Work specialisation, departmentalisation, chain of command, span of control, centralisation and decentralisation, and formalisation. (Buchanan, D. and Huczynski 2009)

Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital

Overview:

Guy’s and St Thomas hospital is one of the demanding NHS Foundation Trusts, with around 900,000 patient associates every year. They deliver a complete variety of hospital services for the local communities in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham. They also offer dedicated services for patients from across London, the South East and further afield.

Structure:

When compared to the private sector company of John Lewis partnership, the Guy’s and St Thomas hospital as they are managed by the board of directors consisting of non-executive members and executive members. They are headed by the chairman and chief executive. They are well honoured as the busiest foundation trusts. They echoes the cultural and ethnic diversity of the groups their service.

John Lewis Partnership

Overview:

The John Lewis Partnership is an idealistic and effective way of exploiting business, confidently setting the preference to Partners at the centre of everything it ensures. It is considered as personification of the best, the effect of almost a century of attempt to generate a different kind of company, possessed by Partners devoted to allocating customers with ability and equality. The 76,500 permanent personnel is Partners who possess 32 John Lewis shops across the UK , 247 Waitrose supermarkets (www.waitrose.com), an online catalogue business, johnlewis.com (www.johnlewis.com). There is a production unit and a farm with revenue of nearly £8.2 billion last year.

Structure:

By an essential of widespread and venerable benefits, The John Lewis Partnership has an independent organization that permits staff to pass on their own view, providing management certain straightforward and reliable visions. Personnel’s are preserved as partners. The body’s independent structure embraces a surplus of employee bodies and committees where staff can have their opinions anonymously. All staffs are recognized as associates and are undoubtedly preserved as such when it comes to distribution out the company’s yearly returns. The Chairman, the Partnership Board, the divisional Management boards and the Group Executive formulates the managing body of the company. The Partnership Council, which chooses five Partnership board directors, the divisional and branch level democracy, structures the democratic frames that stretches Partners an expression and clutches management to account.

These two companies have the same fundamental organisational structures when compared to the board of directors and the executive members. There are major contrast between the organisational structures and cultures of the two companies. They are

a) Work Specialisation

John Lewis Company has a limited work specialised jobs being assigned to the employees and different activities are subjected and designed by the management. Whereas the hospital has a work specialised staffs like doctors and the rest of the medical staff.

b) Departmentalization

The John Lewis is departmentalised according to the products and functions based structures. They are also done according to the commercial activities. But the hospital is departmentalized function based in which the staffs or the employees are specialized.

c) Chain of Command and Span of Control

The John Lewis the authority also lies with the permanent staffs who own the partnership of the company. They are also in the line of authority which is being wrested upon them. They have also organised top management level that democratically makes important decisions. But the Hospital has a typical public sector structure where the top level management and board of directors are the higher authority in the organisation.

d) Centralisation and Decentralisation

Taking John Lewis into context, they have a decentralisation structure as the employees have stake in the company to make them closer to the organisation and do not have to risk in alienation. The Hospital has a centralisation structure where the decision making process is from a single point of the whole operations.

(Mullins, L 2009)

Organisational Culture:

The organisational culture was also observed and reviewed by Charles handy in 1985. He explained and divided it into four types. They are

Power Culture: It is the concept in which power is concentrated and centred to a limited figure or group. In Guy’s and St Thomas hospital the power is distributed into a few and John Lewis has a subsequent power culture.

Role culture: In role culture, people or group has a prescribed authority or power. The two companies in the report have similar role culture.

Task Culture: In this people or certain group are turned into teams to solve some major issues.

Person culture: The individuals believe themselves higher to the organisation.

Organisational Structure and Culture Impact on the Performance of the Business

In many ways the organisational structure and culture have crucial implications on the performance of business. Organisational structure and culture are both led by people. They take initiative to perplex the both. The culture reflects the attitude, belief and purpose of the whole organisation. When John Lewis is highlighted, their staffs are the owners of their whole venture which takes alienation from the staffs. This gives positive inference to the employees to work for the enrichment of the company. If this was not the case, culture that does not support with business strategy and assist the requirements of crucial stakeholders will struggle to keep complete potential and will only manage average to average show and business outcomes. (Mullins, L, Harlow: FT Prentice Hall, 2009)

There are factors which influence the behaviour at work:

Demographic Factors: The factors are socio economic background, education etc. Organisations choose individuals that fit to virtuous socio-economic background, knowledgeable and youth as they are supposed to be performing better.

Abilities and Skills: The mental capability of an individual to do rather a assigned task can be labelled as ability. Skill can be well-defined as the capacity to perform in a way that allows a person to achieve good results. A person can achieve thriving outcomes in the organisation if their abilities and skills are harmonised with the occupational condition.

Perception: The rational process destined for understanding the environmental stimuli in evocative method is signified to as perception. Each individual on the foundations of his/her indication can establish and deduce environmental stimuli.

CONCLUSION

To be precise, the organisational structure and culture is one of the main ingredients of the whole business setup. The employees or the staffs evaluate the whole concealment of the whole set up. John Lewis being a private company has vested their stakes on the employees who are considered as their partners who owns the whole organisation. They strive hard to have company in the driving seat and earn much commercial access to the international arena and domestic. They work according to a plan which inspires them to be a worthy stake owners of the company. The whole structure is a backbone to the whole future flourish of business in the company and an enlighten culture take them to new heights. Many factors contribute to the behaviour at work and they directly have implications on organisational structure and culture.