ACCT90010 Strategic Performance: Maple Leaf Consulting Case Study

This case study examines the role of culture in managerial control systems within Professional Service Firms (PSFs), using Maple Leaf Consulting (MLC) as an example. MLC's organizational culture is classified as a clan culture, which emphasizes mentorship and shared values, while its structure is iden...Read More

Running Head: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
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Performance Management
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Institution Affiliation
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Performance Management
Culture is clearly defined as a strategic way of doing certain things with an aim of achieving the
set objectives and goals within a given social unit. Example is within a Professional Service Firm
(PSF) like Maple Leaf Consulting (MLF). In respect to PSFs managerial control systems, culture
has a main role of ensuring efficient and effective management control both to its internal and
external environment. Professional service firms outlines that the set of employees giving out
services to the customers are well trained to enhance both positive productivity within the firm as
well as maintain a good relationship with the customers. The services offered to the firms set of
clients should be in line with the set organizational objectives and to the level of stipulated
quality. Culture ensures that both internal and external environments of the firm are well
enhanced to ensure positive service delivery to the firms esteemed customers.
Maple Leaf Consulting adopts a clan organizational culture as clearly adopted in the narration.
Clan organizational culture means that the system followed while governing or rather managing
individuals within that organization has beliefs and values that mainly enhance mentorship and
nurturing among all the organization members other than encouraging competition between them
(Cameron & Quinn, 2011). This creates a corporate environment that positively enhances
consensus and shared common values and goals towards achieving the set organizational
objectives and goals. Adhocracy on the other hand is a form of organizational structure that is
highly flexible as it can be easily changed while need arises, it’s mainly adopted by formal
organizations with an aim of enhancing organizational profitability to ensuring development

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without following a formal structure. Unlike in bureaucracy, adhocracy operates in different
ways to enhance innovativeness within a given organization (Daher, 2016).
Both clan organizational culture and adhocracy organizational structure are consistent with MLC
vision. Clan culture ensures that all the organization employees understands their responsibility
as well as the level of control they are expected to acquire. All employees have equal rights and
experience a certain level of control to ensuring positive employee to employee relationship
(Larentis, Simone Antonello & Slongo, 2018). The organization is also able to maintain its
intellectual capital through creation of positive relationship between employees and the
management, employees and clients. Clan culture gives the employees ability to increase their
share ownership as they feel responsible towards ensuring positive organization development.
With adhocracy structure, MLC can change its employees while need arises as the structure is
flexible. Positive customer relations within the firm enhances an increased level of profitability.
This can only be enhanced by ensuring that employees deliver high quality services to their
clients to ensuring customers satisfaction. MLC adhocracy structure ensures that all senior
managers are placed in all its existing branches within the country and in the world and not
concentrated in some branches like it’s the case with other forms of organizational structures
hence strengthening its form of leadership. Employees to the organization are also partners, this
ensures that they understand the set objectives and goals to be achieved to enhancing positive
internal and external development and by exercising self-control to high levels (Lunenburg,
2012).

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References
Larentis, F., Simone Antonello, C., & Slongo, L. A. (2018). Organizational culture and
relationship marketing: an interorganizational perspective. Revista Brasileira De Gestão
De Negócios, 20(1), 37-56. doi:10.7819/rbgn.v20i1.3688
Daher, N. (2016). The relationships between organizational culture and organizational
innovation. International Journal of Business & Public Administration, 13(2), 1-15.
Lunenburg, F. C. (2012). Organizational structure: Mintzberg’s framework. International
journal of scholarly, academic, intellectual diversity, 14(1), 1-8.
Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2011). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based
on the competing values framework. John Wiley & Sons.