Excellence Theory
When looking at the growth avenues for the Al Habtoor Group, one should take into consideration models that can help it overcome challenges identified. Excellence theory was developed in 1985 by James Grunig following a study that was funded by the International Association of Business Communication. The theory holds that public relations help organizations to become more effective. In the competitive business environment, companies are struggling to come up with ways of offering superior products are the lowest cost possible. They are keen on ensuring that they can offer top quality products are the competitive price in the market. That is why the concept of excellence has become critical in most of these organizations. However, excellence is a product of so many factors.
One of the most important factors is public relations as explained in the Excellence Theory. A firm should be capable of engaging the public regularly to popularize the brand and develop a close relationship with the customers. Constant engagement with the public creates trust. When such a firm is hit by a crisis, it becomes easy to explain and convince the public because the trust had already been created. On the other hand, when public relations become important only when there is a crisis, it may not be easy to pass message effectively to the public. Grunig says that successful organizations have developed fully independent public relations department instead of having it as a unit in the marketing department. The role of such a department is not just limited to engaging members of the public. It should also be used to engage employees on internal issues relating to their performance, progress of the company, major plans ahead, and many other relevant pieces of information.
Matrix Organizational Structure
According to Burford, different companies choose different management structure based on organizational culture and practices. Some organizations prefer strict and formal hierarchical structure where information flows from the top leadership to the bottom. Others prefer a system where top leaders can easily interact with junior officers in what most organizations call the open-door policy. Other organizations use a blend of the two extremes. In the United Arab Emirates, the formal hierarchical structure has always been common, but as the market is increasingly exposed to the global forces, other models are becoming acceptable. The matrix organizational structure is one such model that is increasingly becoming popular. The fig. 1 below shows how matrix organization system is structured.
As shown in the figure above, a matrix organization structure focuses on pooling together people who have similar skills. In most of the cases, the structure is adopted when undertaking a specific project. The matrix structure can be used in different divisions of a firm under three different classes. Under the product structure, employees are pooled together based on the type of goods produced. As shown in the figure above, if a company is producing three products (A, B, and C), then employees will be pooled in the three different categories based on their skills and experience. Under this structure, employees can report to more than one manager depending on the circumstances prevailing at a given time. However, in each division, there will be a line manager or a project manager who is in charge of all other employees working in that group.
Under the market structure, employees with similar skills are grouped based on the markets in which a firm operates. For a firm like Al Habtoor Group that operates in various markets such as automobile sector, real estate sector, insurance, education, hospitality, and publishing, employees will be pooled based on their skills in these different markets. Experts in the automobile market will form a team while those specialized in the real estate sector will work as another unit. The goal of this form of division is to ensure that people with similar skills are allowed to work as a unit to enable them helps one another while at work.
The matrix organizational structure also allows for geographic classification. The Al Habtoor Group operates in various countries outside the United Arab Emirates. It hospitality segment has specifically been very successful over the recent past. Under the geographic structure, the firm brings together employees to work in a given location based on their ability to be physically present in these places. In each region, such as in the United Kingdom, a manager is assigned to oversee all the operational activities. All the employees within that region are answerable to the manager who, in turn, is answerable to the head of that department at the company’s headquarters in Dubai.
Reference List
Burford, D., Project Management for Flat Organizations: Cost Effective Steps to Achieving Successful Results, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Ross Pub, 2013.
Child, J., Organization: Contemporary Principles and Practice, Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2015.
Griffin, R., and Moorhead, G., Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, London, UK, South-Western Cengage Learning, 2014.
Grunig, J., Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management, New York, NY, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013.
Hoffmann, A., Co-Operative Workplace Dispute Resolution: Organizational Structure, Ownership, and Ideology, London, UK, Gower Pub, 2012.
Kortmann, S., The Relationship between Organizational Structure and Organizational Ambidexterity: A Comparison Between Manufacturing and Service Firms, Wiesbaden, German, Springer Gabler, 2012.
Wrench, J., Workplace Communication for the 21st Century: Tools and Strategies That Impact the Bottom Line, Santa Barbara, CA, Praeger, 2013.