Organizational Structure and Culture at Parivar

This article analyzes the organizational structure and culture at Parivar, an Indian company, and discusses the influence of national culture on the company's structure. It also examines the impact of a bureaucratic structure on innovation and creativity.

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Contemporary Management
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Discussion
Based on the analysis of the case study the organic structure at Parivar might look like more
bureaucratic in nature as it has very strong organization culture and the companies which has a
very strong organization culture tends to adopt a bureaucratic organizational structure which has
a pyramidal command structure. According to van Der Voet (2014) in bureaucratic
organizational structure, the firm remains very well structured with a high level of formal
approach in the manner it functions and transparent hierarchy of power is authorised to some
highly designated executives. The organization structure of Parivar might look like bureaucratic
in nature as it was suggested in the cases study that the senior managers of the company
supervises the junior employees of the company regarding their daily work and operations and
act as mentors to the junior employees and therefore the flow of information is in a vertical top
down manner which is one of the basic characteristics of bureaucratic organization structure.
Based on the analysis of the case study it can be said that the organization would have a taller
hierarchical structure in which every employee of the organization except few such as the CEO
or the board of directors are subordinate to someone else in the organization. As opined by
Shapiro (2017) a tall hierarchical organization structure practices outline of pyramid. The layout
of tall hierarchical structure comprises of various entities that drops down the base of staff level
workforce, who lie at end of pyramid structure.
Therefore based on analysis of case it can be interpreted that the company has a very strong
organization culture with bureaucratic organization structure which remains very organized in
nature with a high degree of formality in the way it operates and the hierarchy of power is
observed among the higher managers and supervisors of the company. As stated by Nie, Müller
& Conci (2017) the organization structure which is followed in the company is tall hierarchical
structure which results in greater power distance among the managers and the junior level
employees of the company. The organization structure which is followed in the company
represents a pyramid structure in which every employee of the company except few such as the
CEO or the Board of directors are not supervised by someone else in the organization and this
type of organizational structure, though are formal in nature fails to promote a culture of
innovation and creativity of the company as the employees are always supervised by the seniors
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and therefore they do not tend to adopt the “out of the box” approach in the company which
restricts their growth and development.
The country of origin of Parivar, India, influences the organizational structure of the company as
national culture are important determinants of the organization structure followed in a company.
A culture such as Northern America and Western Europe, promotes individualism and therefore
the company belonging to those cultures tend to have a loose organization structure whereas
cultures such as Indian, Chinese, Japanese etc. values collectivism over individualism and
therefore the organization structure which are followed in these countries and culture are strong
and rigid. As opined by Vengrin, Westfall-Rudd, Archibald, Rudd & Singh (2018) power
distances in measures in a country also helps in determining the layout of organization structure
in a country as various western countries which have lesser power distances between managers
and employees and therefore the organization structure followed there is flat organization
structure where the managers and employees freely communicate ideas with each other whereas
in various Eastern and middle eastern cultures which are more conservative in nature the power
distances between the managers and employees are greater and therefore the organizational
structure which are followed in those cultures and countries are tall hierarchical structure.
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References
Nie, Q., Müller, H., & Conci, M. (2017). Hierarchical organization in visual working memory:
From global ensemble to individual object structure. Cognition, 159(C), 85–96. Retrieved
from doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.11.009 [Accessed on 28 Sep. 2018]
Shapiro, S. (2017). Structure and Process: Examining the Interaction between Bureaucratic
Organization and Analytical Requirements. Review of Policy Research, 34(5), 682–699.
Retrieved from doi:10.1111/ropr.12245[Accessed on 28 Sep. 2018]
van Der Voet, J. (2014). The effectiveness and specificity of change management in a public
organization: Transformational leadership and a bureaucratic organizational
structure. European Management Journal, 32(3), 373–382. Retrieved from
doi:10.1016/j.emj.2013.10.001[Accessed on 28 Sep. 2018]
Vengrin, C., Westfall-Rudd, D., Archibald, T., Rudd, R., & Singh, K. (2018).Factors affecting
evaluation culture within a non-formal educational organization. Evaluation and Program
Planning, 69, 75–81. Retrieved from doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2018.04.012 [Accessed
on 28 Sep. 2018]
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