The organisational structure of MG Rover
The organisational structure of a company has a large influence on the way the work is performed. MG Rover has its own unique structure, which influences its workforce. There are few layers in the structure between the workforce and the executives at the top. This creates an environment, which has lots of communication between many different people with different roles in the company.
For example: Many of the people on the track building the cars have many meetings with managers and directors to share ideas and come up with new ideas for old problems. This way of communication is very popular with the workforce and has resulted in a fine product being produced. This type of management is very consultative.
Management styles and control
People in different departments need more or less management control. People with less responsibility would need less managing and people with more responsibility would need more managing. In MG Rover people on the track who build the cars would need less managing and people with higher paid, more responsible jobs like engineers would need much more managing. This is due to the training and experience they both have. A track worker has less pressure under him/her so they would not take their job as seriously than a high grade manager. If a manager did something wrong then they would be in more trouble than the track worker so they do their work carefully. This means they need less managing. A track worker would need more managing because his job changes each day and problem occur so he/her needs to be managed and told what to do.
Person or Machine Company?
There are two types of company, a person company or, a machine company. A person company is a company who communicates well with its employees and shares ideas. They are much more flexible than a machine company and the workforce has much more influence on decisions. A machine company is much less flexible and the workforce has much less influence on decisions. A machine company would be somebody who is not in the press much. For example: chemists.
Mg Rover is a person company and has many examples of being one. Mg Rover’s workforce has many influences on decisions and has their say when problems occur. The entire workforce who works on the track, managers on anybody else, all wear the same uniform. This reduces the image of a manager in the workforce. If everybody wears the same clothes everybody is treated the same. In a machine company this would be different. Mg Rover wants people to like them and this idea of keeping the workforce is an example of this. If the workforce is happy then the product made is likely to have much more quality than if the workforce was on strike all day! Mg Rover also has a good relationship with the public and this creates a good image for the company. A machine company would have no relationship with the public. This is done by raising money fro charity, for example at the motor show. Charities events such as the children in need netball match make MG Rover have a good image in the public’s eye and this achieves some of the objectives like providing services to the community.
Spans of control
Choosing the right span of control means striking the right balance between control and trust.
MG Rover has a wide span in the workforce because of its culture and management style. There is a wide span of communication and effectiveness in meetings with managers and workers. This would not be the case in a company with a narrow span of communication. There would also be less effectiveness in meetings. Because of the lack of input from the workers, meaning less ideas put forward.
MG Rover has a huge budget of Ј9 million for training of the workforce and employing new young employees on apprenticeships. This is why the workforce is so flexible and could shift and more when needed to. A narrow spanned company has little training and a less flexible workforce.
MG Rover has effective interaction between superior and subordinate. This is common across the entire company and makes the workforce happier. This would not be the case in a narrow spanned company.
Due to the type of culture at MG Rover there has been a particular type of person employed there. People who work at MG Rover all have similar qualities and way of working. All employees look out for each other and share views. This results in a quality product being produced. After all this is what MG Rover is aiming for and I believe they have produced a very successful culture in the workforce which hopefully will continue. MG Rover is a fine example of a person company. This type of culture has been made because of the way the company has been run from the start. The company started with standards and ways of working. The codes of conduct and uniforms were made at the beginning and have been the same ever since. This type of culture has been made to keep the workers happy making the product of a higher standard because moral is high in the workplace.
Organisational configuration
When the company expands or reduces you need to increase or decrease the workforce accordingly. For example: if MG Rover expanded there would be a need for an increase in the workforce and more management. This would be the opposite if MG Rover reduced in size, and then there would be a need for redundancies and a reduction in the workforce and management.
MG Rover has decreased since it was sold from BMW in the year 2000. There was a reduction in the workforce and many people were made redundant. This was due to the reduction of income so the workforce needed to drop I size. Now MG Rover has brought out some new models and had a new image, sales have increased and many new apprentices have been employed as a result. The Ј9 million training budget shows MG Rovers employees how much hope and the owners have and confidence that it wont all be a waste of money. This also boosts moral.
MG Rover’s management style
There are three types of management style, autocratic, consultative and democratic. Autocratic management is when the workforce is only to do what they are told and does not improvise at all. The company does not seek any input from the workforce. Consultative management is when the company has lots of input from the workforce and employees get their say. They discuss with subordinate and make decisions based on ideas from the workforce. This type of management is concerned with the feelings of the employees. Democratic management is when the wishes of the workers is equal to that of the managers. This style of management caters to the wishes of the individual workers.
MG Rover shows all three types of management but concentrates on one. They discuss all problems with workers and are influence by their views. They try to make the workforce happy and are very flexible. MG Rover is very open and is shown in the quality of the product. But MG Rover has some qualities of a democratic workforce also. MG Rover caters for all individual needs and everybody has equal say to managers and workers fore example. So MG Rover id mainly a consultative workforce but has some qualities of a democratic workforce.
An example of an autocratic workforce is a factory which has under age workers who are paid very little to work. These companies are usually in third world countries and the employees are treated very poorly. The workforce has no say at all, whatever they say does not matter at all and they probably will never move up by promotion. MG Rover is the opposite of this; everybody has the chance of promotion and most of the managers were track workers when they begun.
