Pattern, Design, and Strategy
The analysis of business approaches and strategies through non-standard assessment practices may be a productive procedure that facilitates a detailed review of a particular business and draws conclusions about its sustainability and growth indicators. As such tools, special techniques are applied, in particular, Morgan’s metaphors and the frames proposed by Bolman and Deal (2017). The organization called the Defense Media Activity (DMA) will be utilized as a target company, and its position of a senior HR specialist will be reviewed. The use of appropriate techniques and concepts can make it possible to describe this business comprehensively from the perspective of implications for both leadership and employees. The use of certain patterns and designs to promote the company in the market is part of a strategy that involves close interaction with the target audience and helps increase the credibility of the organization.
Business Patterns and Designs
Business patterns may be described as models that represent the structure of work and form the basic principles on which a particular activity is built. According to Beynon-Davies (2018), these approaches vary depending on the specifics of tasks and can include social, ethnic, product, and other directions. As a result, any business may be analyzed as an activity that takes place in accordance with a certain pattern and adheres to a particular planned model. Concerning designs applied by organizations, these are frames that form the direction of activity on the basis of available resources and the chosen tactics of work. As Fjeldstad and Snow (2018) argue, this parameter is largely determined by the values that a particular business adheres to, as well as an indicator of openness. Thus, patterns and designs determine the nature of activities and form the background of work.
Pattern Description
For the DMA that provides services to the public, its business pattern is based on a customer-oriented program. Despite the specifics of the broadcasts, in particular, the content distributed by the Department of Defense, meeting the needs of the target audience is a basic objective. The organization cannot introduce new channels of activities or change the direction of the business, which contradicts with its initial goals and plans. In this regard, the target audience has the right to count on a stable broadcast of digital content in a special format, and the coverage of this market segment allows the DMA to be a leader in its industry and offer unique services.
The main implication of this approach is an opportunity to be the only distributor covering the digital content of this profile on such a scale. The organization is responsible for informing the public about all significant decisions made by the Department of Defense, which increases its credibility and, at the same time, allows utilizing a wide range of specialists to maintain the smooth operation of the company. Due to the mechanics of its activities and the strict distribution of labor duties, the company’s work can be described in the context of Morgan’s machine metaphor that Örtenblad et al. (2016) consider. The management of the DMA is carried out in a strict manner and is not flexible or dynamic due to interaction with a serious government agency. Accordingly, such an established structure, or pattern, dictates special working conditions and defines clear actions for business development, thereby creating the image of the organization as a serious company with a scientific approach to management.
Design Description
When describing the design of the organization in question, one can note a clear structure of responsibilities distributed among employees, as well as a robust algorithm of interaction between the two interested parties. Since the DMA collaborates with the Department of Defense, the agency that has a narrow-minded work strategy, the principles of addressing assigned tasks correspond with a given structure and do not depend on individual commitment or motivation. Fjeldstad and Snow (2018) state that the goal of most organizational designs is to move towards transformation and improvement. However, in the case of the DMA, no additional interventions are required due to the well-established system of work and the narrow profile of the sphere that the company covers. Thus, reliability and sustainability are the key characteristics of the design of the business in question.
The aforementioned Morgan’s machine metaphor that Örtenblad et al. (2016) analyze, along with other approaches to the interpretation of organizational activities, is consistent with this design and makes it possible to maintain a stable nature of work. In the context of the four-frame model developed by Bolman and Deal (2017), a structural frame may be applied as a basis of the company’s business. According to the authors, if the technical quality of the work performed is an important aspect of productivity, this frame describes the organization’s activities (Bolman & Deal, 2017). In addition, there is no ambiguity or controversy in decisions made by the DMA management regarding its business, and human factors cannot influence the tasks implemented. The influence of a structural framework determines the clear structure of the business in question, and the entire process of communication between the interested parties is based on negotiations and formal patterns. Thus, a structural frame is the basis of the design applied by the DMA.
Overall Business Strategy
While taking into account the considered pattern and design of the DMA, one can argue that its business development strategy is based on stability and the lack of confusion in cooperation with the Department of Defense as the main partner. The analysis of the position of a senior HR specialist who works in the company describes valuable leadership practices from the perspective of an analyst and architect. This approach corresponds with a structural frame offered by Bolman and Deal (2017) and is expressed in the construction of a clear design without deviations and unique creative approaches. The influence of these principles of business activity determines the position of the organization in the rating of news agencies, and the official status of the company as the main distributor of the information offered by the Department of Defense proves the reliability of the promoted tactical solutions.
Conclusion
Improving the credibility of the business due to the use of appropriate patterns and designs may be seen on the example of the DMA, the organization that follows clearly established principles of interacting with its key partner and the target audience. From the standpoint of a metaphor, the company is compared with the machine due to its structural approach to the implementation of tasks, and this influences the stability of activities and the reliability of the reputation. A structural frame explains the technical quality of the duties performed and eliminates ambiguity. Following a sustainability strategy is the key objective of the DMA.
References
Beynon-Davies, P. (2018). Characterizing business models for digital business through patterns.International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 22(1), 98-124. Web.
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (6th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Fjeldstad, Ø. D., & Snow, C. C. (2018). Business models and organization design. Long Range Planning, 51(1), 32-39. Web.
Örtenblad, A., Putnam, L. L., & Trehan, K. (2016). Beyond Morgan’s eight metaphors: Adding to and developing organization theory.Human Relations, 69(4), 875-889. Web.