FREE ESSAY ON ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY APPLIED TO THE RETAIL INDUSTRY

ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY APPLIED TO THE RETAIL INDUSTRY

PART i
Introduction
Antonio's, as it will be referred to for confidentiality purposes from here on in, is a
retail shoe store that operates in Fredericton, N.B.. It is part of an open system. This
company originated in Montreal, Quebec. The head office is now located there and retail
outlets are located throughout Canada, the United States and parts of Europe.
The market in which this company operates may be considered a division of the fashion
industry. This industry is known for being highly competitive and dynamic. Also for
obvious reasons many companies within it concern themselves with company image. 
This particular shoe company has been in existence since the early 1990's. Antonio's has
grown significantly and is currently a leader in the shoe industry, even on an
internationally level. It produces quality shoes at a reasonable price.
From its beginnings until now Antonio's has been operating in the formation stage. This
company has met with great success, though, and has grown quickly. It now faces the task
of moving into the growth stage. Antonio's must be careful in managing every aspect of
its company now in order to survive. Since the industry in which Antonio's operates is
very image oriented a key issue in moving from the formation to growth stage that must be
discussed is company culture.
In this situation "managed" (as it is referred to in its most popular definition) means
changed. In order to manage the company culture through the move from stage to stage in
the life cycle of this organization the culture within the current stage, the formation
stage, must be discussed. The culture, in my opinion, must be managed as it currently has
a negative impact on the organizational effectiveness. The organizational effectiveness
as a result of culture must analyzed in order to determine if in fact it does have a
negative impact on the company, if so, it must be managed for the sake of the company's
survival in the growth stage.
PART ii
Analysis of current company culture
The current culture existing in Antonio's organization is effective according to most of
the strict definition meanings.
It is not particularly strong, this is because most organizations which are young or have
constant turnover (Antonio's finds both of these things to be true for itself) are said
to "have weak culture because members will not have shared enough experiences to create
common meanings." Antonio's culture fits well in to the big picture of the organization
as it is aligned with company strategy, environment and technology where company image is
everything. 
This company's culture has both good external and good internal fit. It emphasizes
individual initiative, risk taking, high integration, tolerance of conflict, and high
horizontal communication. Employee input and opinion is taken seriously, Dress is of
importance while in the store and approach and attitude towards customers is very
important. These company policies fit well, given its competitive environment, resulting
in good external fit.
Good internal fit is evident when a company's culture is well matched with its
technology. Antonio's would most likely use a mass production technology according to
Woodward's contribution to technology theories in the study of Organization Theory. This
type of technology is characterized by large-batch or mass - production. The
organization's culture fits well with it's technology as it encourages adaptability to
its environment and most importantly its customers. From this we can conclude that
Antonio's has a high degree of overall complexity, a high degree of formalization and a
moderate degree of centralization. 
In this case and many others, though, formalization may be replaced, to a certain extent,
by the company culture. A strong culture increases behavioral consistency.
Predictability, orderliness and consistency are all promoted by the culture at Antonio's,
formalization could do the same. As mentioned above though Antonio's is currently in the
Formation stage and does not have the strong culture it desires, in some cases culture is
pushed and may not be seen as a reasonable move on the part of the company by some
employees. This culture promotes predictability, for example, by stressing the importance
of the Antonio's "image" as far as the way employee's should look when in the store and
the approach they should take towards customers in the store. If a customer goes into
Antonio's she could predict a well dressed, attractive employee who will do almost
anything to satisfy her needs to approach her promptly.
The ultimate source of an organization's culture are it's founders, it all begins with
them. In this case a young man came over from Italy to Quebec, Canada. He was a very good
looking man who knew a lot about style. He came from a wealthy family and is now a
millionaire. Italians are known for their high quality shoes and their taste for high
quality fashion. The Antonio's culture is very much consistent with the organizations
founder. The founder's background being what it is, is an advantage in this case, given
the industry at hand. The push for this type of company culture must be handled
carefully, though.
Antonio's sustains it's culture mainly through selection and occasionally uses top
management. 
The selection process is the main force that is keeping the Antonio's culture alive. When
an individual approaches a particular Antonio's location for a prospective employment
opportunity the staff and manager pay particular attention to appearance and personality
and in some cases is the deciding factor in employing a certain prospect. Only those who
fit with the Antonio's image will be hired. 
In some cases the top management is also used to keep the organization's culture alive.
When employees are initially hired they are shown a video of Antonio himself. He gives a
brief history of the organization and a basis of how things are run. He also states his
expectations of each employee while they remain with the company. The company culture is
evident in this video as only good looking well dressed people appear in it and back drop
for the video is lavish. Supervisors are also used to instill company culture. Each time
the supervisor for the Atlantic region came from Halifax to inspect the location in
Fredericton, while I was employed there, he would meet individually with each employee
and comment on how he thought they were performing based on their physical appearance and
how their weekly sales were with respects to each section of the store ( accessories,
bags and shoes ). This the main problem with Antonio's culture at present. All emphasis
is placed on appearance. In order to illustrate the problem with company culture a
personal example will prove useful. When I first started as a part-time employee at the
Fredericton location the manager was on the verge of either quitting or being fired. No
one was sure what would come first. He was chosen for his position as manager no more
that a year ago on the basis of only his appearance and communication skills as a sales
associate at sports store near Antonio's in the mall. John, as he will be referred to,
had no prior managing experience, did not take any responsibility for paper work or
duties for store upkeep. Many hours were allocated to part-time employees such as myself
as John did not want to work them. He was profusely late and did nothing once he arrived
at the store. He did know how to sell, though most times customers were pushed into
buying. John dressed very professionally and he was a very good looking man. He was very
socialable and knew many people that came into the store. This is the reason he was hired
in the first place but these skills alone do not make for an efficient manager.
Also, the supervisor for the Atlantic region came for an inspection after I had been
working for only one week. He meet individually with me while he was there to see if I
had memorized the company policies, etc.,which all employees are to know and to find out
a little bit about me. The first thing he proceeded to do was to look me up and down and
say " well fist thing you need to do is to get yourself a pair of Antonio's shoes but
other than that you have the image we are looking for.". This strongly illustrates my
point. I feel he should have come up with a more professional way of conveying his
expectations of me. 
Before I left the organization another part-time employee was hired. This same supervisor
told another member of our staff that " she looks like she just stepped out of Wal-Mart
and she needs to fix herself up a little bit."
According to the definitions use in the text, "Organization Theory, Structure Design and
Applications", the culture of this organization has a good fit but a happy medium must be
found as they are currently pushing it too far. The organizational effectiveness will be
negatively effected in the long run, hopefully managers will realize turnover will remain
high and efficiency within retail outlets will be low if this continues. 
Company Culture and Effectiveness
Organizational effectiveness in its broadest and most appropriate sense is defined 
as the degree to which an organization attains its short term and long term goals, the
selection of which reflects strategic constituencies, the self-interest of the evaluator
and the life stage of the organization. Four separate approaches to effectiveness are
reflected in this meaning, each being useful in different situations.
The first is the goal attainment approach. This defines an organization as being
effective to the extent that it accomplishes its stated goals. The main goals for this
organization are both profit and image oriented. The culture that exists in Antonio's
organization gives a strong company image, leads to high levels of awareness among
consumers and competitors and aids in attaining profits. The strong company image results
in high levels of awareness among consumers and competitors as people recognize Antonio's
as leader in its industry. 
Many people are aware of Antonio's low priced, high quality shoes which also reflect
trendy styles that happen to be in fashion at a particular point in time. These factors
will obviously result in high market share and in turn high profits. 
Effectiveness in terms of the Systems approach, the second approach, states that an
organization is effective to the extent that it acquires needed resources. This culture
does promote effectiveness in obtaining resources. Antonio's is now powerful within its
industry, as a result they now have control over several small design companies and shoe
manufacturing companies. Every four years they sign contracts with these companies
stating that Aldo will have the exclusive rights over specified shoe designs and the
manufacture of specified amounts of shoes. In return these companies are guaranteed a
certain level of business. Antonio's reputation, to some extent built by its culture,
entices these small businesses to be associated with them to such a great extent and give
up power to them. Needed resources are easily acquired because of their culture
indirectly.
The third approach to effectiveness is the strategic constituencies, it states that an
organization is effective to the extent that all strategic constituencies are at least
minimally satisfied. The most powerful influence on Antonio's organization and most other
organizations within this industry are the consumers. All fashion oriented organizations
must meet the demands of those in the market for a new pair of shoes or the organizations
survival will be seriously threatened. By providing up to date styles and also by
promoting a culture in which a trendy, attractive appearance is a must Antonio's responds
to demands quite effectively.
The fourth and final form of analyzing organizational effectiveness is the Competing
Values approach. This defines effectiveness in terms of the extent that the emphasis of
the organization in the four major areas matches constituent preferences. To one person
Antonio's may be very effective and it may be on the brink of destruction to another. In
analyzing three factors that determine effectiveness in this approach it is found that it
is emphasis is placed on the flexibility ( innovation and change ) versus control, the
organization versus the people in it and the means versus the ends. According to the
Eight Organizational Effectiveness Criteria this organization is flexible and is able to
adjust well to shifts in external conditions and demands.
The first aspect, emphasis on organization, reflects the culture in that most members
within it do not value others within the company enough and would say or do anything to
them to prevent organizational decline. An example of this would be the comments made by
the my supervisor. Secondly, the fact that Antonio's focuses on flexibility shows that
they are willing to do anything for the customer in order to make a sale. Numerous times
during my employment, my manager gave in to customer demands even after I may have told
them that we would not be able to do as they requested ( ie return a pair of damaged
shoes at no fault of our own ). The culture promotes this in the way that some employees
hired may do anything to make themselves "look good". Thirdly, the fact that this company
emphasizes the means to such a great extent shows that the culture stresses doing what it
takes to survive as opposed to something more important in the long run - creating
dedicated, loyal employees that will positively promote the company and that care about
it's survival. Employees will not feel good about themselves and especially about the
organization if they are constantly being criticized to such a great extent for something
so shallow as their appearance. Thus in the long run they are indirectly and
unintentionally promoting organization decline by doing this. 
PART iii
Conclusion
In my opinion the main problem that exists within this organization is the fact that
Antonio's fits into a certain aspect of the Competing Values approach mentioned above to
a greater extent than need be. They take organization culture too far despite the fact
that it is very well fitted to its industry. My experiences there as an employee were not
all negative yet many I did have made me feel very unappreciated and worthless within the
organization. 
A stress on this particular type of culture results in high turn over. This will
ultimately lessen the chances of survival for the organization as it moves through the
stages of the life cycle. If this culture persists, Antonio's will be run by disloyal
employees who purposely defy it costing them time and money in the long run. It will have
a damaging effect on their so preciously held reputation and this will not fair well for
them considering the competitive nature of the fashion industry. 
Bibliography
Robbins. Organizational Theory