Response 1
For centuries, organizational structure has been in a form of a hierarchical system ranking from low level employees to management. This system puts authority in the hands of managers in terms of decision making, policy implementation and general supervision of work procedures. Although this organizational structure and production process has enormous merits, many companies are shifting from this concept because of the dynamic and diverse nature of the present day workforce.

Work teams have been found to increase work productivity if effectively and efficiently implemented. Robbins & Judge note that, “… work teams generates positive synergy through coordinated efforts. The individual efforts result in a level of performance that is greater than the sum of those individual inputs” (p.323, 2009). The most vital aspect of every organization is increased productivity or profits with the most minimized input, and work teams just does that. Robbins & Judge therefore defines work teams as a group whose individual efforts results in performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs. (p.323, 2009).

As many companies have combined work teams with the traditional hierarchal production process, other organizations such as Zappos (Las Vegas, NV), Pantheon enterprises (Phoenix, AZ), Office of the Chief Officer of Washington State (Washington State, USA), Kahler Financial Group (Rapid City, SD) and the likes have eliminated the latter system totally. An organization focused on work teams without managers is termed “holacracy”. “Holacracy is a system of organizational governance. In holacracy, authority and decision making are distributed throughout a holarchy of self-organizing teams rather than in management hierarchy” (2016). Though holacracy is new to the business environment, some organizations find it to be a better way of removing power from management hierarchy and sharing the responsibilities and roles among team members which can then be accomplished unconventionally. The major work teams as defined by Robins & Judge are problem solving teams, self-managed teams, cross-functional teams and virtual teams.

In the news article “Why Holacracy”, Michael DeAngelo formerly the Deputy CIO; now with roles like Lead Link and Holacracy Implementation of the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Washington State explained that the implementation of work teams is the only way that government can be able to compete with the private industry while maintaining high productivity with limited resources and remuneration for government employees. He emphasized that;

State government will probably never be able to compete on salary, but I believe state government can create a value proposition for prospective hires that is compelling and extremely competitive.

DeAngelo further explain that for decades, private organizations and governmental agencies have trained and tried to implement a more empowered culture in government using the current hierarchical model without much success. This he attributes to the weak foundation of the hierarchal style. On the other hand, DeAngelo affirms that work teams is one of the models which stands out as being the most structured and defined framework that may actually work in government.

John Bunch, technical advisor to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh explains that work team empowers employees in three areas, accountability, Authority and leadership.

Accountability:

In a team environment, team members clearly understand their roles and responsibilities as an individual and as part of a team whiles on the other hand in a traditional hierarchal company, only the manager has that responsibility. Employees are not accountable or have little accountability. This affects productivity when managers are inefficient.

Authority:

Every employee in the work team has the authority to make a decision in order to accomplish their daily job responsibilities. Each employee has a voice in the team settings. None is superior than the other.

Leadership:

In a team setting a leader works together with other team members to reach organizational goals. leaders in a work teams get involved in problem solving and distributes authority.

Biblically, we can associate work teams to the twelve disciples and Jesus Christ. All the disciples had their various occupations and with Jesus as their leader, they worked together to fulfill the Gospel. When we look at Jesus as a leader in the team, he served all mankind and His twelve apostles. In Matthew 20:28 It is written, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (King James Version)

References

Fischer, K. (2012). BMAL 500 Audio Lecture Series, Group Behavior, Lesson 6. Lynchburg, VA, US.

King James Version. (1973). The Holy Bible . Hazlewood, Missouri: Word Aflame Press.

Leadership in Holacracy. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2016, from https://www.zapposinsights.com/blog/item/leadership-in-holacracy

Robbins, S., & Judge, T. A. (2009). Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ, US: Prentice Hall.

Response 2

“Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations” (Robbins, Judge, 2009, p. 551). The text, Organizational Behavior, suggests 7 primary characteristics that capture the essence of an organization’s culture: Innovative and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome oriented, people oriented, team oriented, aggressiveness and stability. These seven attributes of an organization and their priorities to specific characteristics define the culture of the organization. My experience within different organizations, performing the same task for each, found that the culture can either make the working experience pleasant or not. The larger corporation core values were of an aggressive, outcome oriented culture. This culture led to high turnover and, very unhappy and tense employees. The ability to find employment elsewhere, at a higher salary, was a welcome change. We will take two concepts concerning culture: culture as a liability and culture’s function in an organization.
The functions culture plays within an organization are endless. Culture as a liability in the first company above became evident almost immediately. The employees were always on edge. The demand for outcome created an over aggressive culture that was detrimental to the relationships within and between the working teams. This aggressiveness led to many verbal exchanges of the not so pleasant nature.
“For over two centuries and across the globe, American business models have been admired and thought to facilitate prosperity through sound business practices. Despite cultural differences, countries in Asia, Europe, and Latin America have enthusiastically and with creativity applied American approaches and models. These models are products of a culture that once valued hard work, integrity, market transparency, and accountability.
The current credit and mortgage crises and the multiplication of various forms of fraud point to a troubling era where public faith in corporate ethical conduct has reached its lowest level. Fortune magazine (June 9, 2008) has labeled this era, “the wink-and-nod” where senior mangers “want results,” at any expense and with no details. Faced with persistent pressures to perform and motivated to boost their year-end bonuses, employees are tempted to engage in questionable practices and overlook risky consequences”
(Ali, 2008).
“Creating a positive culture, Integrity of leaders, builds on employee strengths, reward more than punish, and emphasize vitality growth and learning (learning organization) (Structure and Culture Presentation, Slide 7). This company did not have an acceptable positive culture and many employees moved on as soon as able.
The company that I moved to was the opposite of what I had just left. This people oriented, family first business, created a positive culture. This enabled the employees to work and do their best for a company that put the family needs first. This positive culture helped for me to grow as an individual and realize unknown potential. The character of a company emanates from the leader. The leader of this company created a culture that not only functioned for the employee but for the business as a whole. The working teams within this organization were confident in the ability of each team to accomplish their particular function on time. Individuals that did not fit into this culture found themselves looking for employment elsewhere. These individuals were non-team players and would naturally find themselves uncomfortable within the culture of the organization and wanting to leave. Character is the most important trait of any leader. “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a ditch?” (Luke 6:39 NKJV) This speaks of the leaders not knowing how to create a culture to lead those employees to the desired outcome. Organizational Behavior depends upon the culture of the organization. This culture is determined by the character of the leader and the relationships that are created within the organization. The outcome desired in any business endeavor is the revenue generated by the organization. The culture of that organization is directly responsible for the final outcome; whether on the road to prosperity or the ditch.

References
Ali, A. J. (2008). Rethinking business culture. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 18(3), 205+. Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA188642529&sid=summon&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=7b9d2d6b13929d717b9c726f6db529d4
New King James Version
Robbins, S. Judge, T. 2009, Organizational Behavior, Pearson Education Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ
Structure and Culture Presentation, Slide 7

Provide 2 thoughtful replies to the threads of classmates, or your instructor. Each reply must include an analysis of your classmates’ threads, based on any experience from your own professional career (if applicable) that might be relevant. All replies must be 200–250 words. Also, be sure to integrate the required reading in a logical and relevant manner.
You must cite:
The textbook or at least 1 peer-reviewed journal article,
1 passage of Scripture, and
The audio lesson presentation.

David and Harvey