OZAlpha Company: Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of management functions (planning, organizing, leading, and controlling) for OZAlpha Company. The report explores the advantages and disadvantages of virtual and self-managed teams, recommending the implementation of self-managed groups to enhance productivity, customer satisfaction, and ease of management. It outlines short-term and long-term goals, and conducts an environmental scan using the PESTEL framework to identify factors influencing the business. Furthermore, it suggests a divisional organizational structure with a mechanistic structure, democratic leadership, and strategies for motivation, reward, and recognition. The report concludes that the effective adoption of the four management functions is crucial for establishing effective regional division groups.

Fundamentals of management
Name
School

Abstract
Conducting effective analysis of management functions including planning, organizing,
leading and controlling determines how OZAlpha Company will operate. Planning function
involves outlining of the objectives, goals, targets and analysis of macro environment.
Organizing function covers organizational structure and culture for the company. Leading
function covers the leadership style appropriate for OZAlpha Company and controlling includes
managing all operations and how resources are managed. After weighing both advantages and
disadvantages of virtual and self-managed groups the paper recommended the OZAlpha’s
executive board of director to implement self-managed groups as it will increase productivity,
easily managed and also enhance customer satisfaction at the same time. The company short
terms plan or goals is to recruit clients with an income of $100,000 while long-term plans is to
set up divisional region and recruit suitable staff. The environmental scan was done using
PESTEL framework that classifies the factors influencing the business in terms of political,
economic, social, technological, ecological and legal. The report recommended OZAlpha to
adopt divisional organizational structure as it with be easier to monitor performances of self-
managed teams. The new divisional organization uses mechanistic organizational structure.
Democratic or participative leadership style is appropriate for managing regional division. The
motivation, reward and recognition strategies include bonuses, promotions and salary
increases. The controlling assists the managers to measure performances and turnover rates.
The paper concluded that effective adoption of four management functions helps the
organization to set up effective regional division group.

Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
PART A: DIVISIONAL STRUCTURE.....................................................................................................4
Virtual teams (work groups)........................................................................................................4
1.1 Advantage of virtual teams (work groups).......................................................................5
1.2 Disadvantage of virtual teams (work groups)...................................................................5
1.3 Advantage of virtual teams (work groups).......................................................................6
1.4 Disadvantages of virtual teams (work groups).................................................................8
1.5 Recommendations............................................................................................................8
PART B: PLANNING, ORGANIZING, LEADING AND CONTROLLING..................................................8
PLANNING........................................................................................................................................8
1.1 Regional division goals......................................................................................................8
Short term goals...........................................................................................................................8
Long term goals............................................................................................................................9
1.2 Environmental Scan..........................................................................................................9
1.3 Operations/ divisional management..............................................................................12
ORGANIZING..................................................................................................................................13
1.4 Divisional structure or design.........................................................................................14
LEADING.........................................................................................................................................14
1.5 Leadership style..............................................................................................................14
3.2 Reward, recognition and motivation...................................................................................15
3.3 Communication....................................................................................................................15
4. CONTROLLING............................................................................................................................16
References.....................................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Effective analysis of all management functions including planning, organizing, leading and
controlling are very important for OZAlpha Company to determine the best divisional structure
to adopt between virtual and self-managed work groups. In planning phase, OZAlpha
management need to outline the objectives, goals and targets of an organization and further
conducts macro environment analysis to determine the external factors that may influence
operations of the company. Zwikael and Ahn (2011 p.25) stated that “effective planning
involves advanced decisions on what to do, how to do and when will it be done” and therefore,
it is only through effective planning that OZAlpha will be able to expand its operations effective.
In organizing, OZAlpha must organize its operation by coming up with organizational structures
and culture that cooperates and directs diverse departments through the optimization of
available resources. In terms of leading, OZAlpha need to strategize on a leadership style that
involves encouraging, inspiring and motivating employees to achieve their personal and
professional goals in an organization. Through effective leadership the company would be in a
position to provide effective operations and performances from all the regional divisions. In
terms of Controlling, the companies need to controls operations and activities taking place in
the organization.
PART A: DIVISIONAL STRUCTURE
This section of the report provides a comparison between virtual and self-managed
groups and recommends the best work group that should be adopted by OZAlpha Company.

Virtual teams (work groups)
According to research conducted by Lizano and Barak (2012 p.1769-1776) more than 60%
of companies around the globe offers telecommuting services with on-demand economy
contributing to rise of contractors and freelancers. This is an indication that majority of
companies around the world are shifting to virtual teams. According to Hoch and Kozlowski
( 2014 p.390) virtual teams (work groups) is defined as a collection of individuals working from
diverse geographical locations and relying on communication technologies like Skype, voice and
video conferencing, FAX and email in order to collaborate
1.1 Advantage of virtual teams (work groups)
 Lower office costs due to elimination of computers equipment’s, lease, electricity and
other capital resources required in self-managed groups or an organization.
 Pooling of talents as there are no restrictions on hiring the available talent pool in a
specific local area.
 Retention of skilled employees as there are majority of people who feels comfortable
working and earning from home
 Lower employee’s costs as an organization is able to access countries with same talent
level but lower living standards.
 Reductions in time as staff do not travel every day to their offices.
 Increased in production as there are no office distractions and travelling. A research
conducted by Ayoko, Konrad and Boyle (2012 p.156) there are 13% increase in
productivity when employees works remotely.

 Access of multiple markets as an organization can hire sales people in multiple location
without significant costs.
 Great team flexibility as an organization can scale up or down team easily as compared
to
1.2 Disadvantage of virtual teams (work groups)
 High cost of technology due to use and maintenance of multiple communication
technologies like video-conferencing, instant messaging and other forms of
technologies.
 Lack of collaboration, trusts and conflicts due to lack of face-to-face interactions, cold
relations and non-verbal cues.
 Poor leadership is often experienced as many managers are incapable of managing
many initiatives and virtual employees while still providing clear visions and goals
 Other challenges include differences work ethics, misunderstanding and poor
communication or coordination, lack of direction and clarity, incompatible
communication preferences, mismatched needs and skills, hidden incompetence,
difficult in task delegation, inability to ask right questions, deficient commitment and
sense of productivity and lack of personal connection and empathy.
 Differences in time zones pose a problem of scheduling of diverse operations as it
becomes difficult to plan for virtual meetings and the actual time between the team
members
 Managing diverse multicultural teams in virtual and self-managed work groups remains
a key problem. With self-managed groups consisting of individuals from diverse

cultures, each with its own work habits, values and customs, the workforce conflict is
significantly experienced
Self-managed work groups
Self-managed work groups are groups of employees who come together, combine different
talents and skills and work towards a common goal without usual managerial supervision
1.3 Advantage of virtual teams (work groups)
 Innovations as team members have freedom to improve and review working practices.
 Increased in production as compared to virtual teams because teams are usually
responsible for their actions and they work towards a common goal. A research
conducted by Littlewood, Malliaras, Mawson, May, S. and Walters, (2014 p.54-60)
shows that self-managed groups are 15-20 percent productive than virtual and fixed
location teams.
 Improved customer satisfaction as a result of effective customer service and improved
sales figures as research from diverse scholars have revealed that there are less
complains and customer returns arising from self-managed groups.
 Engagement and commitment is very high as teams are more involved due to increased
responsibility and autonomy. In terms of flexibility, autonomy and flexibility are usually
applied to time management which leaves employees in charge of their individual roles
and they choose the schedule that fits are flexible for them to achieve organizational
goals.

 Increased compatibility between employees and employers as self-managed teams are
able to release stress from leaders and focus on their roles. In addition, through self-
managed teams learn from each other.
 Other benefits for self-managed teams includes effective decision making, improvement
of efficiency, problem-solving, freedom to travel, flexible working time, extensive
training.
 Self-managed work groups enable job satisfaction because employees are more
independent and directive involved in the daily activities of an organization.
Furthermore, the direct involvement derives a sense of satisfaction as employees are
working as part of the close-knit team, making effective decisions and solving diverse
problems.
 self-managed teams are sensitive to customer needs and have a wide range of skills
because they come from diverse backgrounds
1.4 Disadvantages of virtual teams (work groups)
 Difficult to interact with other part of organization as a result of work practices
differences.
 Redundant communications due to lack of clear structure of communication, making
decisions and obtaining guidance.
 Freeloaders problem because lack of one member to hit deadline or target impacts the
work of other teams.

1.5 Recommendations
Both virtual and self-managed work groups use their company’s mission statement to
create purposes that are beneficial and meaningful to an organization. The purposes include
things like productivity, increasing sales and problem-solving. After weighing both advantage
and disadvantage of virtual and self-managed groups, I can recommend to OZAlpha’s board of
directors to adopt self-managed teams as it will be easier to manage and productive the same
time.
PART B: PLANNING, ORGANIZING, LEADING AND CONTROLLING
PLANNING
Planning is a management function that is concerned with outlining of organizational goals
for future directions and determination of resources and missions that are essential to achieve
targets. In order to meet the objectives, managers develop short and long terms goals.
1.1 Regional division goals
Short term goals
 To recruit clients with an income of $100,000 within a duration of 6 months.
Long term goals
 To set up regional division that will provide both face-to-face interaction and technology
based advice through Skype as a way of increasing sales and production.
 Operate regional division over extended hours (7 days in a week) in order to attract
farmers and other regional workers with varying working time.

 To employ 24 fulltime employees including 1 dedicate system network specialist, six
administrative support staff, 2 team leaders and 16 planners without changing divisional
structure but with ability of upscaling staff as the business grows.
1.2 Environmental Scan
PESTLE is a tool that is used to analyses the external factors that impact how an
organization conducts business. The factors include political, economic, social, technological,
legal and environmental.
Political factors play a significant role in the profitability of the financial service industry in
Australia. The political conditions that affect how financial service industry operates include the
current trends of political instability and increased corruption levels as research conducted by
Gong and Wu ( 2012 p.192) shows that corruption has consumed 3% of Australia GDP every
year. Other political factors include:
 Trade regulations and tariffs
 Risks of military invasion
 Anti-trust laws related to financial service industry
 protection of intellectual property
 Increased in taxations and incentives
 Government favoring some trade partners
 Product labeling
 Industrial safety regulations
 Mandatory benefits of employees
 Work week regulations

 wage legislation (minimum wage and overtime)
 Price regulations
 Legal framework for contract enforcement.
Economic factors, a macro environment like interest rates, saving rates, inflation rate and
foreign exchange rate affects the demand and investment of the financial service industry in
Australia. Other economic conditions that influences how the financial service industry of
Australia does business include:
 stability of the currency
 exchange rates
 efficiency of financial markets
 Unstable interests rates
 Changing gross domestic product (GDP)
 inflation rates
 Unemployment rates
 Government intervention in the free markets related to financial service industry
 Levels of workforce skills
 Discretionary growth rate
 Economic growth rate
 Business cycle stage
 Labour costs and productivity in the economy and levels of education.
Social-cultural conditions that are impacting the way financial servicing industry operates
include:

 Shared beliefs and attitudes of the population in regard to financial industry.
 Culture (social convections, gender roles)
 Leisure and interests
 Attitudes (such as health and environmental consciousness)
 Entrepreneurial spirit (the way people are willing to invest in the financial industry)
 Demographics power
 Hierarchy and class structure.
Technological conditions that are impacting the way financial servicing industry operates
include:
 Competitors’ levels of competitions
 Rate of technological diffusion
 Technological impact on product offering and impact of value chain structure.
 Cost structure in the financial servicing industry.
Environmental factors that impact the operations of the financial service industry in
Australia include:
 Laws regulating environmental pollution
 Recycling laws
 Weather and climate change affecting consumer patterns
 Attitudes towards ecological products and support of renewable energy.
Legal factors that impact the way Australian business operates include:
 anti-trust laws that have been imposed by the government in the financial servicing
industry