Cameron Mechanical & Automation Inc. Case Study

1 Cameron Mechanical & Automation Inc. Case Study Every company knowingly or unknowingly develops its system of values, which forms the basis of the moral of the organization or the organizational culture. Like any other community globally, companies seek to establish their own customs, taboos, and morality, ultimately making up the unique way each firm does its businesses. The culture embraced in or by an organization is significantly influenced by the type of organizational structure adopted. An analysis of the interrelated processes of adaptive changes in the structure and culture of an organization during a crisis is a significant, creative, and promising area in management science development and is discussed in the following paragraphs in this report.

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2 Basically, organizational structure refers to the logical relationship of levels of management and functional areas developed in a manner that promotes the successful achievement of the goals and objectives of an organization. On the other hand, organizational culture is regarded as the social climate and atmosphere within an organization, which directly affects the achievement of its goals and influences its structural design, given that the firm should be perceived as a dynamically developing object. Grensing-Pophal (2018) defines organizational culture as the shared values, attitudes, beliefs, and standards that characterize organizational members and defines the company’s nature. An organization’s culture is rooted in its structure, strategies, and goals. Thus, in general, organizational managers serve the purpose of establishing the structure that will efficiently meet the organizational goals and objectives and the internal and external factors affecting the organization.

Today, the Competing Values Framework is one of the most popular frameworks used by businesses to assess their organizational culture and organizational dynamics (Quinn et al., 2020). Two business professors developed the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) from the University of Michigan, Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron, in which they define four different types of company cultures, namely; clan culture, adhocracy culture, market culture, and hierarchy culture (Quinn et al., 2020). In turn, Nazarova and Nazarov (2017) identify four basic types of organizational structures as the matrix, project, divisional, and linear.

On the surface, it is reasonable to assume that there exists a strong relationship between the type of organizational culture and the type of organizational structure. Such an assumption results from the main assumption that an organization's primary structure leads to the development of the desired organizational culture. Hence, according to Reis, Trullen, and Story (2016), the management may tend to concentrate a lot on agility, adaptability, flexibility, or

3 conversely, predictability, stability, and control. Similarly, an organization's management may pay more attention to such external representation of the firm as image and customer relations or internal processes within the firm like integration. Therefore, it has been evidenced that the adhocracy culture focuses more on flexibility and high external positioning while the market culture on external positioning and differentiation (Quinn et al., 2020). On the other hand, the hierarchy culture on stability and control, while the clan culture on individuality, integration, and flexibility (Quinn et al., 2020).

In the case provided, Cameron Mechanical & Automation, Inc. has adopted a divisional organizational structure in which the company has been divided into different departments, headed by vice presidents, with quite broad autonomy. The organization’s divisional organizational structure matches a market type of culture. Wigmore (2014) defines market culture as a type of organizational structure that emphasizes competition between the firm and its market rivals as well as between its employees and is the most aggressive and capitalistic of the four types of company culture. Unlike the hierarchy culture in which internal control is maintained by centralized solutions, specialized tasks, and rules, this type of organizational culture operates on different principles, ad primarily focuses on the achievement of competitive advantage and operations with external customers. Therefore, the primary objective of Cameron Mechanical & Automation Inc. is a win in the competition and to dominate the market. On the other hand, the organization’s core values are individualism, aggressiveness, entrepreneurship, productivity, and competitiveness.

Organizations that have embraced the market culture and operate on such core values treat their employees as a means to an end. Further, as a characteristic of this type of organizational culture, Cameron Mechanical & Automation Inc. promoted rivalry and

4 competition between individuals and departments, which adversely affects the overall productivity in the long run. With the highly competitive working environment, the organizational departments or employees who are constantly up against each other can always end up adopting unproductive and dishonest ways of working (Quinn et al., 2020). Another challenge with this type of culture results from the need to stay in tune with the developments in the surrounding markets and industries, to keep up to date with any changes for the company to reach swiftly. Doing so requires the company to do a lot of market research, which is an expensive business requirement. Quinn et al. (2020) further point out that organizational employees who are being constantly pushed to achieve the required outcome in a fast-paced environment can become overworked, leading to severe employee burnout, and poor mental health adversely affects team morale and overall productivity.

Recommendations for Change Indeed, market culture is a type of organizational structure that has been adopted by many industry leaders across the globe who focus on innovation management, given that present conditions in market leadership largely depends on access to new innovative ideas, resources, and technologies. Nonetheless, Quinn et al. (2020) correctly point out that, in such companies, it is of great importance to pay more attention to the individual contribution of the staff to promote the successful achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization. Specifically, to increase employees' loyalty in organizations that have adopted this type of culture, it is important to develop and implement a balanced, long-term, material incentive program that can improve the employees' morale (Quinn et al., 2020). Currently, the morale of employees at Cameron Mechanical & Automation Inc. is dipping, and it is time for the organization to make some changes before they all leave.

5 For instance, the organization needs to facilitate and encourage communication in all its departments. The organizational employees should free to ask questions, share their ideas, collaborate with their colleagues, and have a clear understanding of what is expected of them in their job responsibilities. Other than open communication, the organization should also embrace a culture that encourages employee feedback. The organizational leaders can provide open and honest feedback on the employees' job performance and elicit their input on how the company can improve. Getting buy-in from the staff can help Cameron Mechanical & Automation Inc. gain new ideas and make its employees more interested in the organization's affairs.

Furthermore, to boost the employee’s morale, the organization can also create an employee recognition program to acknowledge their exceptional hard work. In addition, creating career opportunities for the organizational employees by prioritizing internal promotion before going for an external hire to fill senior positions can significantly work to boost employee morale. The postulation of the company's goals and values can also help promote commitment, given that it will help promote the feeling of belonging among the employees.

Better Works, an organization established in 2011, presents an excellent example of the relationship between organizational structure and culture. The company is located in Los Angeles, and it specializes in the development of media products like contextual advertising and well as the creation and promotion of sites. Part of the company’s organizational structure entails a special incentive system in which special algorithms are tasked with analyzing employees’ behavior and making recommendations to the management of what the employee really wants.

The company’s special software evaluates the results of the work, based on which the employee is given a broad system of bonuses, including remuneration and free from dry cleaning. Half a year after introducing this system, the organization started to produce high-quality products that,

6 by the end of its year of establishment, a larger organization called Redpoint decided to invest 8 million dollars in the company (O’Dell, 2011). Such a result signifies the strong enhancement of organizational culture that includes enhancing communication between departments, employees and the clear formulation of the organization's basic values to every organizational member.

7 References Grensing-Pophal, L. (2018). 4 Distinct types of Corporate culture – Which is yours? https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2018/04/12/4-distinct-types-corporate-culture/ Nazarova, G., & Nazarov, N. (2017). The analysis of structural configurations for implementing competitive strategies. Innovative Technologies and Scientific Solutions for Industries, (2 (2)), 132-137.

O’Dell, J. (2011). BetterWorks lands $8M for revolutionary employee perks platform. https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS178322353620110802 Quinn, R. E., Clair, L. S. S., Faerman, S. R., Thompson, M. P., & McGrath, M. R. (2020). Becoming a master manager: A competing values approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Reis, G., Trullen, J., & Story, J. (2016). Perceived organizational culture and engagement: the mediating role of authenticity. Journal of Managerial Psychology.

Wigmore, I. (2014). Market Culture. https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/marketculture#:~:text=A%20market%20culture%20is%20a,four%20common%20corporate %20culture%20models.