Foundations of Work Place Success and Culture

FOUNDATIONS OF WORK PLACE SUCCESS AND CULTURE
May 25, 2018

Introduction
Philips Financial Services company deals with the provision of financial services such as
accounting and tax, self-management super funds and general advisory to businesses. Nick
Philips is the sole owner of the company and he makes all the decisions for the company since
there is no other director. The firms’ staff consists of marketing manager, chief financial officer
and employees only. This team comprised of individuals from diverse places like India, UK,
Brazil and New Zealand among others with majority of them being Australian.
In addition to this, the staff members are of different cultures and religions. Men workers
constitute 65% whereas female workers are 35%. Both of them age 23-68 years. This essay
outlines and suggested the organizational structure to be implemented by the firm, the
organization work place culture, leadership style and strategies to implement the same,
workplace bullying causes and prevention strategies.
Philips Organization Structure
The organization structure of Philips Financial Services comprises of one shareholder, one
marketing manager, chief financial officer and employees only. I would propose and recommend
an organizational structure with the following elements;
Command Chain
According to Clark & Polesello (2017), this refers to chain of authority from top management to
the lower management. It helps identify who reports to who in an organization to ensure smooth
running of processes. This chain usually starts from the chief director officer at the top and
employees at the bottom. Philips Financial Services company has a short chain of command
consisting of the sole owner, marketing manager, chief financial officer and employees only.
Centralization and Decentralization.
This deals with who makes decisions for the company (Erwin & Garman, 2010). Centralization
involves concentration of decision making at one level whereas decentralization involves
decision-making inclusive of staff members like employees. The Philips Financial Services
should implement decentralization structure whereby all staff members contribute ideas in
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decision making process. This helps promote democracy in the organization. Employees would
love working in an environment where they can be heard and their contributions relating to the
workplace acknowledged. This will increase their morale resulting to increase in the companies’
profits.
Formalization of Jobs
Consistent with Giles & Yates (2014), this refers to how jobs are structured and distributed in an
organization. It also entails how employees’ tasks are governed by regulations and procedures set
by the management. This in some way involves job rotation whereby the position remains the
same and the holders are changed. The firm should employ this structure because it reduces work
pressure and job stress unlike the informal structure.
Departmentalization
This refers to forming job groups in relation to common tasks or activities (Jason & Pauline,
2015). This helps increase interactions and relationships between the co-workers. The Philips
Financial Services company should implement this structure to reduce work stress and bullying
among workers as well as increasing employees’ morale. It also enhances collaboration among
the staff members and this leads to increased productivity and profitability levels.
Workplace Culture
Jim & Annelie (2014) argue that this refers to the general culture, values, beliefs and attitudes of
an organization.
Philips Financial Services Current Culture
The Philips company is a multi-cultural firm. The staff members are of diverse culture and
religions. There are some from India, New Zealand, Brazil and UK among others. However,
majority of them are Australian. The firm employs both male and female workers with the male
being 65% and female 35%. Moreover, the firm promotes religion diversity. Around five of the
staff members were gay, there is also a lesbian and a married man with six-year-old twins. The
firm acknowledged diverse cultures of the employees from different countries (Kapoor &
Solomon, 2011).
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