A systems approach to decentralising power for organisational effectiveness
Organisational effectiveness has become more and more of a prerequisite in today's demanding and ever changing business environment. The democratisation of our country and mobilisation of unions whose demands includes the implementation of workplace forums has given rise to the need for business to re-evaluate the way management practices and decisions are being carried out. These demands have placed a significant strain on our company, Howden Air Industries, the company under review. The company has been through turbulent times during the past three years with downsizing, restructuring and retrenchments being the major focus of management's endeavours to reverse the losses which have been produced thus far. The situation however further declined due to a very autocratic approach by management and a lack of long-term strategies for implementing systems and controls to achieve the desired effect of increasing productivity for long term growth. Many attempts have been made to restructure the organisation without much success. Often key employees were lost due to retrenchments as the focus has always been on cutting costs by eliminating people. Needless to say the complexity of the situation and the demands placed on us by an ever changing business climate has resulted in a review of strategy. The report essentially proposes a scientific method of inquiry to handle complex situations, which is then used in an attempt to highlight the need for the decentralisation of power within complex organisations. It follows a systemic approach which regards each department as having an effect on each other as well as the larger environment. This concept which is discussed in more detail in this report together with an investigation of the organisation on its ability to overcome its problems seemed like a possible solution given the current situation in South Africa and in particular the introduction of workplace democracy.
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