NMIMS Global Access

School for Continuing Education (NGA-SCE)

Course: Management Theory and Practice

Answer 1:

Covid 19, nationwide lockdown and social distancing hit almost every business. It has
become challenging for most businesses to keep their financial wheels on track due to less
revenue and general uncertainty in the global financial environment. Similar scenario is
there in ABC Ltd. In order to bring a positive change in the business the company is
suggested to use 5S technique.

What is 5S?

5S is a management philosophy that helps to bring a positive change in business

environment. 5S is a framework, a waste eliminating technique that emphasizes the use of
a specific mindset and tools to create, improve and boost the working efficiency and value
of the organization. It is a systematic form of management that utilizes everything
including floor tapes to operation manuals. It involves observing, analyzing,
collaborating, and searching for waste and also involves the practice of removing waste.

What does 5S stand for?

These are five Japanese terms used to explain the steps involve in 5S system. Each term
starts with an S is a Japanese. The 5 S’s are

 Seiri (Sort)

 Seiton(Set in order)

 Seiso(Shine)

 Seiketsu(Standardize)

 Shitsuke(Sustain)
 Seiri (Sort): It is a process of sorting materials, keeping only the essentials needed to
complete the given tasks and eliminating unnecessary. This involves going through all
the contents of a workspace to determine which are needed and which can be
removed. Everything that is not used to complete a work process should leave the
work space.

 Seiton(Set in order):It is a process of arranging all the required items ,ensuring that
all items are organized and has a designated place. All the required tools, instructions,
supplies must be placed in ergonomic locations where people will not need to bend or
make extra movements to reach them.

 Seiso(Shine): This involves some proactive effects to keep workplace areas, tools ,
machines, equipment etc clean and orderly to ensure purpose driven work. It can
involve routine tasks like dusting, mopping etc.

 Seiketsu(Standardize): It refers to standardizing the practice i.e. to create a set of

standards for both organization and processes. In essence, this is where the first three
S’s are taken and rules are made for how and when these tasks will be performed to
avoid any kind of confusion. This can involve schedules, charts lists, etc.

 Shitsuke(Sustain): It refers to continuing the process of improvement, to sustain new

practices and conduct audits to maintain discipline. This means the previous four S’s
must be continued over time and can be achieved by developing a sense of self-
discipline in employees.

Before and after Implementation:-

Before 5S

1. Goods stacked far out of reach.

2. Unused goods.

3. Boxes placed in between the aisle.

4. Details on the boxes are not noticeable.

5. Trash and Debris allowed to accumulate.

After 5S

1. Uniform racking.

2. Date tracking.

3. Bin contents are labeled.

4. Clean and good repair of bins, racks and floors.

5. Proper lighting

6. No ladder required as the racks are easily approachable.

In short, the steps of 5S involve going through items in a workspace, removing what is not
required, organizing items, cleaning, maintenance, and making sure these things sustain
and become habits. Keeping all these things in account ABC Ltd. can get back on to track
with its performance.

Answer 2:-

Trompenaar’s seven dimensions of culture is a kind of a model which is used for

developing cross-cultural communication in businesses. Identified by Dutch theorist
Trompenaars, it concludes that what distinguishes people from one culture compared with
another and where their preferences fall together. He, views culture as a way in which a
group of people solve problems.

This model can be used to understand people from different cultural backgrounds better,
so that misunderstandings are prevented and there is a creation of better working
relationship with them. This also highlights that one culture is not necessarily better or
worse than another, people from different cultural backgrounds simply make different
choices.
As an external consultant in XYZ Ltd. I will analyze the culture of this company using this
specified model as followed.

The model has seven dimensions written as follow:-

 Universalism versus Particularism

 Individualism versus Communitarianism

 Specific versus Diffuse

 Neutral versus Emotional

 Achievement versus Ascription

 Sequential Time versus Synchronous Time

 Internal Direction versus Outer Direction

Let these dimensions are discussed in detail:-

 Universalism versus Particularism: In this universal culture, people place a high

importance on laws, rules, values, and obligations. They try to deal fairly with people
 based on these rules, but rules come before relationships. U.S. and Canada show high
universal culture. On the other hand, where particularism is high, people believe that
each circumstances, and each relationship, dictates the rule that they live by. They
believe in forming social relations and have no concern for rules. Russia is an
example for the same.

 Individualism versus communitarianism: In this Individualism culture, people

believe in personal freedom and achievement. They believe that you make your own
decisions, and that you must take care of yourself. Example of such culture is the
U.K. However, in a communitarianism culture, people believe that the group is more
important than the individual. The group provides help and safety, in exchange for
loyalty. The group always comes before the individual. Japan is the example of this
culture.

 Specific versus Diffuse: In Specific culture, people keep work and personal lives
separate. As a result, they believe that relationships don’t have much of an impact on
work objectives, and, although good relationships are important, they believe that
people can work together without having a good relationship. Germany exhibits
specific culture. In diffuse culture like in India, people see an overlap between their
work and personal life. They form bonds in their professional lives too. They believe
that good relationships are vital for any progress.

 Neutral versus Emotional: People make a great effort to control their emotions in
Neutral culture. They find it difficult to express themselves and limit their
interactions. For example U.K. and Sweden are neutral culture countries. On other
hand, people want to find ways to express their emotions in emotional culture even at
work. It’s welcome and accepted to show emotions. Italy and France follow such type
of culture.

 Achievement versus Ascription: In achievement oriented cultures, people focus

more on achieving goals and reward good performance. These cultures value
performance, no matter who you are. Canada exhibits this culture. In ascription
oriented countries, people are more concerned with the power, titles and positions
they have like Italy.

 Sequential Time versus Synchronous Time: People like events to happen in order
in sequential time culture. They place a high value on punctuality, planning and
staying on schedule. In this “Time is money”. U.S, follows this culture. On the other
hand, in synchronous time culture, people often work on several projects at once, and
view plans and commitments as flexible and do not lay emphasis on sequential
events. Argentina follows this culture.

 Internal Direction versus outer Direction: In internal direction culture, people

focus on self-control as well as on controlling environment to achieve goals. This
includes how they work with teams and within organization like in U.K. and U.S. On
the other hand, people believe that nature, or their environment, controls them; they
must work with their environment to achieve goals. As example of such culture is
China.
By studying these dimensions, the culture of XYZ Ltd. can be analyzed by applying the
model in a sensible way. Treating people as individuals, and remembering that there are
many factors that will have a bearing on how to communicate and interact with other
people, will help me as a consultant to analyze the culture of the company in a better way.

Answer 3:

(a) An Organizational structure is defined as the logical arrangement of activities

such as tasks allocation, coordination, and supervision which are directed toward the
achievement of organizational aims. In other words of Kast and Rosenzweig,
Organizational Structure is the established pattern of relationships among the
components parts of the organization. It affects organizational action and provides the
foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest. It also defines the
interpersonal relationships between individuals and their jobs.

To get effective organizational structures there are some characteristics of it that can give
a better picture to the newly set up stat up. They are as follow:

 Simplicity: An organizational structure should be basically simple. It implies that the

structure should have the simplest possible framework which will fulfil the purposes
and the objectives of the enterprise. It should have a minimum chain of command so
that unnecessary confusions can be avoided.

 Flexibility and Continuity: Organization should build the structure for the distant
future. As such, continuity must be maintained in the organization structure over the
period of time. The structure should be adaptable enough so that it provides the
opportunity to accommodate the changes where these are needed.

 Clear Line of Authority: There should be clear lines of authority running from top
to bottom or in horizontal directions. It implies that one should be clear about their
roles, they should be known whom they need to report and perform their roles and
responsibilities effectively.

 Involvement of top management: The participation of top management is important

to the development of an organizational structure because the most crucial elements,
like objectives, functions, and policies, are decided by the top management.

 Unity of Command and Direction: Unity of command suggests that one person
should receive orders and instructions from one superior only. Unity of direction
refers to the concept of ‘one plan one man”. every work in organization having the
same objective must be assigned to a single person.

 Proper Emphasis on Staff: Line functions should be separated from staff functions
and adequate emphasis should be placed on important staff activities.

(b) The six box organizational model was developed by Marvin Weisbord and
the specialty of this model is that it helps the companies to accurately assess the
functionality of their business operations and processes the factor of growth and success.
The man advantage of using this model is that it has the ability to adapt to the various
kinds of business domains and is not restricted to just one industry.

Anatomy of the Six Box Model:

Let us discuss thee six areas in detail:-

 Purpose: This box of the model harps on the fact that the management and all the key
members of the team agree and support the overall values, goals, aims, and mission of
the organization. It is concerned with the overall direction of an organization.

 Structure: This box of the model focuses on the fact that if there is a proper and
deemed fit between the internal structure and overall purposes of the organization.
Also, organization’s structure should be well fitted with the purpose.

 Relationships: This box of the model makes the management understand what kind
of relations exists between the various individuals of the company, between the
departments, and more importantly between the individuals and the nature of their
work. Effective communication and coordination are the two main tools to improve
the quality of relationships in the organization.

 Rewards: This box of the model harps on the fact that what kind of rewards do the
organization gives to its employees. It is concerned with the compensation packages
and incentives system of the organization as they act as motivating factor and
encourages employees to work better towards the goals and objectives.

 Leadership: This box of the model considers leaders as central and are responsible
for monitoring the performance of the other five boxes and create a balance among
them. They define purposes, maintain the integrity of the organization and manage
conflicts.
 Helpful Mechanism: This box of the model focuses on if the various mechanisms of
the organization help in accomplishing the objectives or works as an obstacle in the
path of their attainment.

All these boxes as a model will be helpful for an organization to work efficiently and
effectively.