Organizational Structures

Organizational Structures

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Organizational Structures refer to how tasks are allocated, coordinated, and supervised; and are meant to facilitate orderliness and enforce procedures. This has the consequence of enhancing efficiency; and efficiency in this case is defined by comprehensibility and cost-effectiveness. The cost has such categories as time, financial, and labor (Nardia, Dowin, & Walker, 2015). Since firms and teams alike do not wish to spend beyond certain limits, there are trade-offs to balance. For instance, does the team cut on the time by increasing the cost in order to achieve as per the already defined scope? Could the scope be downgraded to enable the team to save on the costs? These are some of the questions and issues, which have to be addressed by the stakeholders (Dyogo, Maurício, & Emerson, 2017).

Organizing and Implementing Fundraisers

In most cases, fundraisers are organized after other options have been considered and determined to be unworkable or inadequate. It, therefore, means that this is mostly a desperate measure; and the process must cost as little as possible since the same financial resources are required to aid the family. Studies have concluded that whenever there are duplicated roles or imprecise systems, success becomes elusive. This is why it is common to find firms under new management endeavoring to undergo reorganization, and the whole idea is to enhance their efficiency (Smith, 2014).

When researchers talk about efficiency, they are referring to the ways and means of eliminating or mitigating wastefulness. Businesses have identified three major types of wastes, and they do apply such a case as fundraisers for needy families. They include Muda, Muri, and Mura. Muda in this case would refer to engaging in an exercise that is futile. It is synonymous to investing in an activity for which no gains can be achieved. The organizers have to know the kind of well-wishers they are targeting, and if they are reliable. Otherwise, the entire activity would be wasteful in the sense that it would be yielding little or nothing at all (Dyogo et al., 2017).

Muri refers to the act of engaging in an activity for which they have little or no powers to achieve. For instance, if the organizers plan to broadcast adverts on TV, they need to be sure that they have the resources to do this and that the potential gains outweigh the cost. Excessiveness would be judged as wastefulness since there is a point beyond which no marginal utility is determinable. The idea is that adverts or any other activity directed towards the occasion ought to be moderate and have their value ascertained (Nardia et al., 2015).

In business, Mura refers to unevenness. For example, when the message that the internal stakeholders send to the outside world keeps on changing, this variation means that the outside stakeholders do not even know what to believe at all. Such improbability could result into a scenario where the needed amount of money is not attained through the fundraising exercise. Fundraisers are voluntary contributions, and hence people can simply decide not to give if they do not trust the message. This is why the message needs to be consistent (Seo, 2016).

Subsystems in the Team

Some stakeholders discourage the idea of having structures, and they argue that structures kill innovativeness. Nonetheless, structures are important, and they define the composition of the teams along the foundations of effective communication, situational monitoring, leadership, as well as mutual support. Without an appropriate structure, it would be challenging to achieve coherence and a sense of direction. In order to facilitate the realization of the envisioned goal, there should be a system that facilitates trust among the members; and this can be achieved with effective communication and timely feedback (Maciejczyk, 2016).

The second system ought to be situational monitoring so that the team can realize where it is headed and also to make sure debates are centered on credible ideas. Disagreements tend to lead into conflicts, and it is important to appreciate that most of the conflicts emerge since the members are having varied viewpoints on the same issue. If there were constant situational analysis, the team engaged in fundraising would be in a position to know if it is headed in the right direction and if the targeted amount will be attained (Seo, 2016).

Leadership is also important, and this is why it has been recognized as a subsystem in this project. A leader has to be informed, as well as able and willing to motivate their followers. After the ideas have been tabled and debated, it is the leaders who are left with the task of helping the team members to commit and also stick to the plan (Smith, 2014). If some of the members are being inconsistent with their activities and commitments, the leaders remind them of their value towards the overall goal and that they are the key towards the success or failure of the entire team (Maciejczyk, 2016).

The fourth subsystem is mutual support. After effective communication, situational monitoring and analysis, as well as leadership have been addressed, the next question is how the team members themselves will be able to cooperative and support each other as much as possible. One way mutual support comes in handy is where the members are holding each other accountable in a friendly manner in a bid to coordinate actions between the various stakeholders. This reduces Mura, or inconsistencies. It means that the message that the team of fundraisers is sending out to the world is the same and can be trusted (Nardia et al., 2015).

Conclusion

In order to achieve the fundraising goal, the team leader has to come-up with a means of organizing a dependable structure. This is one that reduces waste, for instance, in time and other resources, and also ascertains success as much as possible. The first question is, “is the fundraiser doable?” If not, this kind of wasted resources is what businesses call Muda (Nardia et al., 2015). The next question is whether the stakeholders are overdoing some things, and hence spending more resources in areas, which add no extra value. If this were the case, the members of the business community would regard it as Muri. There is also the idea of ensuring that the team is united and the message it sends to the outside world is the same in order to reduce or eliminate Mura, or inconsistencies (Dyogo et al., 2017).

This is why the best structure has to include effective communication, situational monitoring and analysis, leadership, as well as mutual support. Communication enhances trust and everyone is motivated to work hard without withholding any efforts or resources. Situational monitoring and analysis is meant to get all the facts right and bringing them to the negotiating table in a properly packaged manner (Seo, 2016). Leadership is geared towards reminding the stakeholders about what they committed to do, and hence enable them to focus. Mutual support is where the ordinary team members themselves help each other in their respective responsibilities towards making the fundraising a success (Maciejczyk, 2016).

References

Dyogo, F.N., Maurício, F.P., & Emerson, A.M. (2017, Sep/Oct.). Strategic planning process and organizational structure: Impacts, confluence, and similarities. Brazilian Business Review (Portuguese Edition), 14(5), 479-492. DOI: 10.15728/bbr.2017.14.5.2

Maciejczyk, A. (2016). Challenges of control in functional organization structures: Example of outsourcing sector. Journal of Economics & Management, 25(3), 48-62. DOI: 10.22367/jem.2016.25.04

Nardia, H., Dowin, K.E., & Walker, J. (2015). Hybrid organizations as shape-shifters: Altering legal structure for strategic gain. California Management Review, 57(3), 59-82. DOI: 10.1525/cmr.2015.57.3.59

Seo, J.W. (2016). Resource dependence patterns and organizational behavior/structure in Korean nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 27(2), 219-236. DOI: 10.1002/nml.21235

Smith, M. (2014, Jan 8). Organization structure. YouTube. Retrieved from