Decision Making and Structure

Organizational Planning and Goal Setting

Why the older, original planning and goal setting process will no longer work for H2o Solutions

Today, an organization can adopt any of the three types of organizational structures; the centralized, top-down planning, and the decentralized models. Initially, H2o Solutions followed the centralized and top-down planning model. However, the model became ineffective as the company grew. H2o Solutions now needs to integrate the very employees it has hired into the planning and goal-setting process. This cannot be achieved by the original top-down approach because it puts all the decision-making powers exclusively in the hands of the senior management. The company needs a new model, which will enable the senior managers to disseminate decision-making powers to low-level and middle managers. With the old model, H2o Solutions suffers from adverse impacts of multiple management layers which stretch from the senior leadership down to frontline employees. The senior leaders responsible for making each and every decision at H2o Solutions may need more time to achieve these tasks. This may result in sluggish business operations. In contrast, decentralized companies are likely to struggle with multiple individuals holding varied opinions on a particular business decision. Therefore, such a business can face challenges trying to get everyone on the same page during the decision-making process (Dyck, & Neubert, 2008).

Based on the current management efforts to make companies more responsive and flexible, there is a marked trend towards decentralizing planning and goal setting. In big companies, lower-level managers are closer to the action thus they have detailed knowledge about problems, unlike senior leaders. Therefore, H2o Solutions is among the organizations, which require a decentralized structure because a company of such a scale can have several departments.

Recommended Planning and Goal Setting Approach to the Executive Management

I would recommend a decentralized approach to planning and goal setting. Decentralization has occurred out of necessity due to the company's expansion and the increase in the number of employees. Most importantly, the very employees H2o Solutions have hired now need to be integrated into the planning and goal-setting process. This implies they must also be included in the decision-making process. This is the cornerstone of the decentralized model. A decentralized model is one whereby the senior leaders shift the power of some decision-making over to the other organizational members at the lower levels. This model allows managers at various departments and levels to come on board and determine the strategic goals. Later, discussions concerning the company goals and objectives are decided upon by incorporating the supervisors and lower-level managers (Cassidy, Kreitner, & Vanhuss, 2014). What follows is that individuals are allowed to contribute to the process through defining their operational objectives and goals. I recommend this approach because it can promote more rapid-fire and informed decision-making at H2o Solutions.

Appropriateness of the Approach to H2o Solutions and Their Priorities

H2o Solutions has grown and the centralized and top-down planning model originally used the by leadership team is now ineffective. The very employees H2o Solutions has hired now need to be integrated into the planning and goal-setting process. Because their business operations have grown, it is difficult for the senior leadership to manage the company effectively. They may experience challenges finding the time to focus on underperforming areas. By decentralizing, the senior leadership can delegate some of the mundane day-to-day decisions and responsibilities to some capable employees. From the case study, we can see that H2o Solutions hired people who demonstrated a high level of emotional intelligence from its inception. Therefore, the company has the most skilled associates since they are smart, innovative, highly collaborative, relational, and team-based (Daft & Marcic, 2010). These people can offer insightful opinions and bring on the table some of the best decisions that can lead to business success. In the end, the senior leadership will have more time to commit to pressing matters such as developing ways to expand the business or increasing revenue (Dyck, & Neubert, 2008).

How the Approach Will Respond to Market Trends

The current business field is intensely competitive; therefore, response and speed have become critical. How companies respond to stakeholders including customers in the market defines the extent of success when implementing a strategy given that time is a premium. Companies that can adapt to changes in the market faster are expected to survive the competition. With this in mind, to maximize response time, H2o Solutions must flatten its hierarchies and structure, for instance by implementing a decentralized approach to planning and goal setting. Decentralized companies make decisions faster because each employee is closer to the ultimate decision-maker. The fewer management levels mean employees are empowered to make decisions; the decision-making process becomes decentralized.

By following a flat structure, H2o Solutions will mirror, the efficiencies of networks which enable them: more responsive, more innovative, more flexible, it will be faster and more resilient. Moreover, the employees will feel energized and empowered as they do not have to concentrate on the command chain. The key to a decentralized H2o Solutions' success is its responsiveness. This approach makes sense because the decentralized operations will often respond to the needs of the business (Cassidy, Kreitner, & Vanhuss, 2014).

Benchmarks to Show That the New Approach is Working

Key performance indicators (KPIs) refer to methods employed to assess the performances of the decentralized structure periodically. In this section, I present two of the most important KPIs of the decentralized structure. The first KPI is Employee Turnover Rate (ETR). When measuring the success of the new structure, the company will take the number of workers who have quit and divide it by the average number of workers remaining in the company. If the outcome is a higher ETR, then H2o Solutions must revise its work environment and employee packages. Another KPI that can be used to measure the success of the proposed decentralized structure is employee satisfaction. Many employees will feel threatened by the new structure. Therefore, they may feel unhappy and dissatisfied. H2o Solutions should measure their feelings and satisfaction through surveys; this is vital for the new structure, as well as the overall organizational health.

Points of Resistance When Implementing the New Planning and Goal-Setting Strategy

The organizational structure change is inevitable because of the constant change in customer and markets, as well as political and social pressures (Sinofsky & Iansiti, 2009). The executive management team of H2o Solutions must understand that resistance to change is a behavioral and emotional response by the affected individuals to imagined threats to an established work routine. Therefore, they must expect resistance at the following points: