How power and politics is impacting on organization unit in terms of achieving firms goals.
Organization summary.
Zappos is an online organization, founded by Nick Swinmurn in 1999 and which deals in clothing and shoe business. Nick Swinmurn got the inspiration when he could not find a pair of brown air walks to purchase at the local mall.
The company was officially launched in June 1999, under the original domain name "ShoeSite.com. In July 2009, the company made it public that it had been involved in an acquisition by amazon.com in an all-stock deal worth 1.2 billion.
The company is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The organization has become one of the world's largest and most popular shoe stores. Numerous varieties of shoes are offered for customers to select based on their preferences.
In 2007, Zappos expanded its line of operations by adding inventory to its line of products. The company adopted the production of handbags, eyewear, kids merchandise and eye wear. Exporting clothing and accessories is the main source of revenue for the company as the clothing market is four times the size of market available for footwear products.
The company uses the most effective business models for its management; the loyalty business model and relationship marketing. My position at Zappos Company is that of a financial advisor, and deals with all departmental heads in budget drafting and formulation of financial policies.
Brief narrative description of the organizational problem I would like to research and resolve.
Organization problems are in many forms, and departmental heads as well as stakeholders need to be well aware on several solutions to the problems facing their entities(Droy, 2006). A major problem facing Zappos Company is the inability of personnel and management to work on their own accord due to political interference.
This is the cause of resistance to change in the organization from both employees and higher level personnel. Resistance to change is the major issue hindering organizational effectiveness. Most of the resistance is from the personnel, both the young and old, without bias on the levels of qualification and seniority in the company.
Managing resistance to change is challenging and this has been experienced in various departments. This problem has been clearly brought out by employees realizing that they no longer want a change, expressing their views both publicly and verbally. Through the actions taken by employees,
it has been observed that conversations and attitudes towards various activities have negatively changed and hence has had a negative effect on their performance.
Political influence plays a big role in all the problems experienced at Zappos Company. Introduction of new work machines, scrapping off of outdated technological techniques and the replacement of the new sales supervisor in the organization has all been influenced by political forces. Zappos personnel have developed a climate of negativity and organization conflict as a result of political interference. If all the employees at Zappos Company are highly encouraged to engage in honest and ethical behaviors,
organization productivity will be highly realized(Jackson, 2006). On the other hand, if employees form groups in the organization and do what they are not supposed to do organization productivity is bound to decrease. Such unacceptable behaviors may be adapted as a measure to belong to certain groups and please several individuals.
This is all in order to gain favoritism, and gain favors all for individual benefits. The other major problem is the lack of clear policies and complex hierarchies, which make political aspects, take advantage and manipulate Zappo's operational effectiveness.
As the financial advisor at Zappos Company, and basing consideration on the problem at hand, I intend to come up with several strategic measures that I believe implementation will change the employee's attitudes towards the various organization challenges. Such solutions to resistance to change and elimination of politics at Zappos include;
use of open communication channels, encouraging employees to accept facts, establishing incentives for all organization personnel without biasness, allowing the use of open door policy, and finally, making it clear that the change is inevitable and employees have no choice but to accept the changes introduced(George, 2002).
Preliminary problem statement.
The organization structure at Zappos Company should be amended to allow flexibility and eliminate complexity in operations. Communication channels should be well modified, to ensure problems can be easily communicated to the top level management without barriers. The problem at Zappos affects the entire organization efficiency, including its overall productivity. Political interference and organization politics affect employee productivity. My major concern is to find out all the organization aspects at Zappos Company derailed by the existence of political influence and politics. The textbook topic my problem is related to is 'The impact of political aspects in the organization'. I am looking forward for your response.