The national bank of Arizona is a financial company established in 1998 by Raymond Lamb. It deals with commercial financial lending, construction lending, small business loans services, provision of banking and transition services, and mortgage services.
The bank has a considerably wide network in Arizona consisting of 15 branches manned from the headquarters in Perimeter Drive, Scottsdale. By 2007, the bank had 2200 employees of which half were Arizonans. However, this number has reduced to almost 1000. The bank commands a good market in Arizona with almost 2.5% of the states deposits in their books (National Bank of Arizona 3).
Structural Design of the Bank
The bank has assumed a vertical structure in its design. The bank activities are directed from the headquarters in Perimeter Drive, Scottsdale by the current (2012) CEO and also the president Mr. James Claffee. The command from the headquarters spread to its 15 branches in Arizona (National Bank of Arizona 4). The 15 branches have branch managers in place who receives authority from the headquarters and relay it to the junior staff.
Advantages of the Vertical Structure to the Bank
The vertical structure assumed by the bank has provided it with some advantages. The chain of command is well defined, which makes authority to flow from the top to the bottom (Bolman and Deal 69). At the same time, the rules and policies of the banks are standardized in all branches making it easy to handle them in a uniform manner.
For instance, the lending rates, ATM designs, Cheque book design, operating periods, and loan procedures among many are all standardized such that there is no difference when compared in any tow braches. As a result, customer can easily approach any of the branches and at the same time worker can be transferred to any branch with ease. Also, the bank easily makes its decision without hindrances.
Disadvantages of the Vertical Structure
In vertical structure, employees are not touched by the commands given and as a result they do not feel as part of the bank. As a consequence, personal branding techniques designed by the company may not work effectively. The system has become too bureaucratic making it hard for employees at different levels to communicate with the management. At the same time, collaboration for the effectiveness of a given function is difficult.
Recommendation for Improvement in the Structural Design of National Bank of Arizona
The National Bank of Arizona should implement some strategy its structure to improve its functioning. The organization should decentralize some powers based on its performance so as to increase autonomy in the braches to some extent. In this case, the bank should embrace performance control (Bolman and Deal 69).
In the performance control, the management from the headquarters will impose the outcome objectives for its branches in Arizona without specifying how the branches will achieve the results. The powers to define ways of achieving the results should be left to the branch managers. As a result, bureaucracies will decrease and the effectiveness of workers will improve. When imposing the outcome, the management should ensure that they are achievable.
The bank should also integrate both formal and informal meetings in its structure to increase the manager-employee touch. Although meetings form the major part of lateral coordination, they can be incorporated in the vertical coordination to increase effectiveness (Anand and Daft 329).
Formal meetings should involve periodic visits of the management to the braches on weekly basis to discuss the progress with employees. Informal meetings may involve annual retreat for all workers at a common point in Arizona. Through such meetings, important team building skills will be imparted and employees will not feel left out.
I will put this information into its due considerations. Thank you very much
Works Cited
Anand, N. and Daft, Richard. What is the right organization design? Journal of Organizational Dynamics 36.4 (2007): 329-344.
Bolman, Lee and Terrence, Deal. Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008.
National Bank of Arizona. “National Bank of Arizona.” National Bank of Arizona 2012. Web.