Whole food is a company dealing with the production of natural and organic foods. It has numerous stores and groceries across United States of America, and this paper looks at the best organizational diagnoses model that can be used on it. This paper explores six models of organizational diagnoses methods, and thereafter identifies the best model that fits Whole Foods Company. In making a conclusion on the best model, this paper will analyze the strengths and the weaknesses of the company, and infer on a model that best fits amongst these characteristics.
The first model that this paper analyzes is the Force Field Analysis organizational model. It was developed by Kurt Lewin, in the year 1951. This model analyzes and identifies the restraining factors that hinder an organization from achieving its goals (Beech and Macintosh, 2012). It also identifies the driving factors that make the employees of an organization to successful implement the policies of the institution. For example, better pay structure can be a driving force that encourages employees to work harder within an organization, while lack of a clear organizational policy can be a restraining factor that makes employees not to work harder for the fulfillment of the organizational goals. After identifying these factors, this model then plans the strategies that the organization needs to use. The major weakness of this model is that it relies heavily on the process of change, and it doesn’t identify the manner of changing the strengths and the weaknesses identified (Falletta, 2013).
Another model under consideration is the McKinsey 7S model developed in 1982. The model has seven variables, which are staff, skills, structure, strategy, shared values, style and systems. The developers of this model denote that the seven variables are crucial for managers and owners of business organizations. Skills refers to the ability of an individual to carry out his or her functions, staff refers to the people working within the organization, style is the manner in which the managers of an organization conduct their affairs for purposes of achieving their objectives, while the shared values refers to the guiding principles that members of the organization have in common (Harrison, 1994).
The developers of this model refer to strategy as the plans put in place to allocate resources for purposes of achieving the goals of the organization. Systems are the day to day procedures followed by members of the organization. This model denotes that to achieve desired change within a company, it is important to analyze all the seven variables; and improve on them. However, one major weakness of the model is that it does not mention the influence of an external environment in a business set up. The environment where a business organization plays an important role in the manner in which it conducts its affairs and it is therefore an important variable for analysis (Harrison, 1994).
Another model under consideration is the congruence model, and was developed in 1977. Nadler and Tushman developed this model through the following assumption,
Within an environment, organizations are large social systems.
It is possible to introduce change in an organization because they are dynamic.
Behaviors within an organization occur at the systems, group and individual level.
There are imminent amongst the individual, group and systems level of an organization.
Congruence refers to the level where the goals, objectives, demands and needs of one part of an organization are, consistent with the goals, needs and demands of another part of an organization. For instance, in an organization there are financial records that require auditing, and likewise in the same organization, there is an auditor who can audit the financial records. This model analyzes the organization as a whole, and implementing it is therefore an expensive, and a long process. Another weakness of the model is that it does not outline the methodologies to use in incorporating the group, individual and systems level of interaction for analysis (Harrison, 1994).
Another model under consideration is the Burke Lutwin model. The model is based upon the following factors,
Has twelve organizational variables.
It identifies a difference between the climate of an organization, and its culture.
It identifies a difference between transactional dynamics, and transformational dynamics.
It identifies, and describes the direction and type of influence that variables of an organization possess.
The 12 variables of the Burke Lutwin model are, the individual and organizational performance, the external environment, mission and work strategy, individual needs and values, task requirements, individuals skills, motivation, and work unit climate, management practices, systems, and structure of the organization. According to the model, the external environment refers to any condition outside the company that influences its operations, e. g. government regulations, its competitors, and the target market of the organization (Beech and MacIntosh, 2012).
Leadership refers to the behavior whose purpose is to provide direction and enact policies of the company, while mission and strategy refers to the central objective of the organization, and the manner in which the organization intends to achieve its objectives. Culture refers to the entrenched values, beliefs, and ideologies of the organization, while management practices refer to the day to day action of the organizations managers in fulfilling their duties. Structure refers to the arrangement of the various departments of the organization, and levels of authority (Beech and MacIntosh, 2012).
Systems refer to the policies that facilitate how employees achieve the goals of the organization, while climate is the condition that determines how members of an organization relate with one another (Harrison, 1994). Motivation refers to the need of an employee to work harder in meeting the objectives of the organization, while skills refer to the ability of an employee to conduct a required task with efficiency. Individual needs are the values and factors that psychological make employees to work hard in meeting the objectives of the organization.
Performance is the results of an action conducted by an employee, and the organization. It is measured by looking at the level of organizations profitability, the productivity of employees, and whether the company achieves customer’s satisfaction. This model analyzes the external and internal factors that affect a business organization through the twelve variables named. However, one major weakness of the model is that it does not provide the steps and procedures that an organization should follow in solving the negative trends of a business organization (Beech and MacIntosh, 2012).
Another model under consideration is the TPC framework model developed in 1983. TPC refers to Technical, Political, and Cultural framework. The model has three variables, namely throughputs, inputs and outputs. Elements operating under the input variable in the TPC framework are history, environment and the resources of an organization (Harrison, 1994). Elements operating under the throughput variables are, the tasks, the mission of the organization, the network the organization enjoys, emergent networks, and the organizational processes of the enterprise. The Tichy model considers the elements operating under the output variable as the most important elements of an organization.
This is because the output variable determines the efficiency, and effectiveness of an organization in meeting its objectives. The output variable depends heavily on the throughputs and the input variables of an organization. This model analyzes the technical, political, and cultural dynamics of an organization, and develops four questions which are critical for an organizational diagnosis. These questions are (Falleta, 2013);
The level in which different parts of an organization are aligned with each other for purposes of solving problems that emanate from technical breakdowns.
The level in which different parts of an organization are aligned with each other in order to solves the problems that arise out of political issues.
The level in which different sections of the organization are aligned with each other to solve the problems that emanate from cultural breakdown.
The level of alignment amongst the Political, Cultural and Technical aspects of an organization.
On this note therefore, the TPC diagnoses will begin by collecting information pertaining to the four questions asked. One major weakness of the TPC method is that it does not address and specify the external variables that affect the operations of an organization. These variables include the role of government agencies in its operations, their competitors, and the market conditions of their products (Falleta, 2013).
Another model under consideration is the high performance programming model. This model identifies and categorizes performance into four different levels, namely, the reactive organization, which is level 1, the responsive organization, which is level 2, the proactive organization which is level 3, and the High performing organization which is level 4. In using this model, a survey like instrument is constructed and questions relating to time, planning, focus, management, structure of the organization, motivation, leadership, development, communication and structure are asked (Falleta, 2013). In as much as this organization seeks answers from the external and internal environment, its major weakness is that it focuses on leadership, at the expense of other variables such as market conditions, or government policies.
To accurately determine the best model for whole foods company, it is important to identify some issues that the company is facing. One of the major issues the company faces is fierce competition from retail giants such as wall mart. Wall mart has some centers that sell organic and natural foods, a specialty of whole foods market. As a result of this, the organization needs to improve its business strategies to counter the competition that emanates from wall mart. This is because wall mart has a huge capital base, and has a potential of snatching its customers away. For instance, in Dallas, wall mart controls 30% of the market share, at the expense of 1. 2% controlled by Whole Foods Market.
Another issue facing the company is its ability to open new branches, which is in line to its expansionist policies. For instance, the company opened 12 stores in 2006, and it felt that they were inadequate. This is because the market share of the company increases when new stores are opened, and in the long run, the company will get the ability to increase their profitability (Wong and Leroux, 2012). On this note, the most preferable organizational diagnostic model for Whole Foods Market is the Force Field Analysis. This is because the analysis identifies the restraining factors that hinder the organization from achieving its objectives, and the driving factors that influence the organization in achieving its objectives.
For instance, one restraining factor that hinders Whole Factors from achieving profit maximization from its stores in Dallas is fierce competition from Wall Mart stores. Wall Mart controls thirty percent of the market share, at the expense of 1. 2 percent controlled by Whole Food Markets. To achieve profit maximization, the company needs to develop a solution that will give the capability of competing with wall mart (Wong and Leroux, 2012). For example, to fight off the stiff competition brought about by Wall Mart, the organization needs to engage in fierce advertisements. The driving force of the organization can be the need to achieve profit maximization through expansion. This will make it to look for emerging markets of its produce.
In conclusion, organizational diagnostic models assess the level of functioning of an organization, for the purposes of developing the necessary interventions. It depicts an organization as a complete system, and can be used to develop the understanding of an organizational behavior, categorize and interpret data belonging to the organization. On this note therefore, Force Field Analysis of Whole Food Market will help in developing the necessary change structures that will make efficient in achieving its objectives.
