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Archives of Business Research – Vol. 8, No. 8
Publication Date: August 25, 2020
DOI: 10.14738/abr.88.8911.
Cudjoe, K. F. (2020). Fostering An Effective Organizational Relationship Between Management And Employees: A Co-Operative
Arrangement Would Promote The Achievement Of Goals, And The Delivery Of Projected Products And Services. Archives of Business
Research, 8(8). 321-333.
Fostering an Effective Organizational Relationship Between
Management And Employees: A Co-Operative Arrangement Would
Promote The Achievement Of Goals, And The Delivery Of Projected
Products And Services
Dr. Francis Kwadade Cudjoe
FBCS, FIMIS, PhD, MBA, BSc (Hons)
Senior Lecturer, Knutsford University College
Adjunct Lecturer, GIMPA Business School, Accra, Ghana
ABSTRACT
A good relationship between management and employees within an
organization has always been the best ingredient every entity should
aspire for. Management alone cannot run the organization, and
similarly, employees. There is therefore, the need for good rapport to
exist between them for a successful management of the organization.
The functions of management are quite distinct from employees, and
similarly that of employees. When an organization is not able to achieve
its goals / objectives, both management and employees would suffer, as
they would lose their jobs. Management, as leaders of the organization,
must make sure there is harmony within the organization for the
achievement of goals. It is good idea for a union to be set up within the
organization to enable good communication amongst the employees,
but not to coerce management for unnecessary demands. Similarly,
management should not threaten the employees with unnecessary
dismissals. There is the need for good formulation of policies,
strategies and conditions of service for effective administration of the
organization.
Keywords: Management, Employees, Cordial Relationship, Union, Policies
and Condition of Service.
INTRODUCTION
Management has been defined as the act of running and controlling the activities of a business
(Hornby, 2001). Furthermore, according to Dessler (2004) and Hitt, Black and Porter (2004),
management is about efficient planning, organizing, directing, controlling and governing (OECD,
2004) organizations. Moreover in view of Daft (2003), management is the attainment of
organizational goals / objectives in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing,
leading, and controlling organizational resources.
According to Daft (2003), there are four (4) management functions, which are explained below:
a. planning – defining goals for organizational future performance, deciding on tasks and
resources needed to obtain them;
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Cudjoe, K. F. (2020). Fostering An Effective Organizational Relationship Between Management And Employees: A Co-Operative Arrangement
Would Promote The Achievement Of Goals, And The Delivery Of Projected Products And Services. Archives of Business Research, 8(8). 321-333.
b. organizing – the efforts the organization puts in to accomplish the plan, i.e. the assignment
and distribution of tasks to departments, assignment of authority and allocation of
resources to departments;
c. leading – the use of influence / encouragement to motivate employees to achieve the
organizational goals; and
d. controlling – monitoring employees’ activities, keeping the organization on trajectory
toward its goals and making modifications when needed (Daft, 2003).
Management, therefore takes charge of the activities within the organization; it makes sure the
resources of the organization are effectively and efficiently utilized to create a conducive business
environment to enable the production of specified products and services to clients, and for the
achievement of business goals.
It should be noted that management does not work in isolation, as there are other important
stakeholders within the organization (OECD, 2004) to interact with management. One of such
stakeholders is the employee, who carries out the day-to-day workings / tasks, and has a stake in
the business of the organization. Hornby (2001) defines employee as a person who is paid to work
for somebody and has a concern in the company’s success.
Since management and employees work together within the organization, a good rapport between
them would greatly lead to the achievement of organizational goals. This paper would examine the
important / necessary events needed to happen within the organization to make the achievement
of maximum results possible within the organizational set up.
WHO ARE ORGANIZATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS?
Stakeholders are interest groups or persons with concern in happenings, especially within the
business environment (Hornby, 2001). There are many stakeholders involved in an organizational
set up, and these may include, amongst others:
a. employer – a person or an organization that pays money to people to work for them;
b. employee – as stated above;
c. management – as stated above;
d. director – a senior manager who is in charge of the organization or a department within
the firm;
e. customer – a person or an organization that buys something, normally goods (products or
services or both) from a shop / store / business;
f. consumer – a person who buys goods or services of an entity for personal use;
g. creditor – a person or firm that somebody or an entity owes money;
h. supplier – a person or firm that provides materials or goods;
i. union – a society or association formed by people with a common interest or purpose.
Union gives workers the power to negotiate for more favourable working conditions and
other benefits through collective bargaining;
j. government – the group of people with the authority to rule a country or state in which the
organization is established; and
k. shareholder – an owner of shares (money or property) or investor in a company / business
(Hornby, 2001).
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Stakeholders come together and make a business whole. The various functions played by the
stakeholders of an organization determine the profitability and sustenance of the business, as all
of them have vested interest in the entity.
CHARACTERISTICS OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES
The attributes that constitute the relationship between management and employees in an
organization are so vital, as the production of goods and services is determined to a large extent by
the association that exist between them. There are three (3) main features of relationship that may
exist between management and employees of an organization. According to Daft (2003), these are:
a. good (cordial) – this is the pleasant and friendly relationship between them, that may
engender a conducive atmosphere within the organization; this would surely lead to a
productive business, where products / services would be produced to specifications, and
finally to the achievement of organizational goals / objectives.
b. strain – there is tension in the relationship between them, which would lead to pressure
and stress between the management and employees; this would lead to standards of
production and organizational goals becoming difficult to achieve; and
c. poor – there is bad and deficient relationship between them, which may lead to the collapse
of the business.
FACTORS THAT EXPLAIN THE CHARACTERISTICS / NATURE OF THIS RELATIONSHIP
There are many factors that may result from the type of relationship that exist between
management and employees of an organization. However six (6) factors would be discussed and
analyzed to indicate the importance of these elements. These include, amongst others:
Recruitment
The first factor that explains the nature of the cordial / co-operative relationship between
management and employees within an organization is recruitment. It is the act of finding new
people to join an organization (Hornby, 2001). However, Daft (2003) defines recruitment as the
activities or practices that outline the desired characteristics of applicants for a specific job.
Recruitment may be done internally or externally, or both approaches may be adopted depending
on the style of the organization. The type of newcomers recruited into an organization play a major
part in shaping the nature of relationship between management and employees.
The first goal of the Human Resource Management (HRM) Department of the organization, the
custodian for recruitment, is to attract individuals who show indication of becoming valued and
productive employees (Daft, 2003). This involves HR planning, in which managers and HRM
professionals predict the need for new employees based on the categories of vacancies that exist.
The model of recruitment should be to attract employees with a matching prototype, in the areas
of, for example, needs, interests and values that the employee would offer to the organization. This
would surely be determined from the skills and expertise needed from the employee, in order to
add value to the organization.
Normally, recruiting employees from external is advantageous, as there are a variety of outside
sources to pick the newcomer from. These include: advertising, state / city employment sources,
private employment agencies and job fairs (Daft, 2003). However, most unions would prefer
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Cudjoe, K. F. (2020). Fostering An Effective Organizational Relationship Between Management And Employees: A Co-Operative Arrangement
Would Promote The Achievement Of Goals, And The Delivery Of Projected Products And Services. Archives of Business Research, 8(8). 321-333.
management to recruit from within, so as to give opportunity to employees already in the
organization, especially if it would lead to the promotion of the employee. Since it is advantageous
recruit from outside, based on the points raised above, management should be able to thoroughly
explain to the union the reason to go external, as this could create a serious problem between
management and employees.
It is always important to recruit the right employees, so the interview time is very important, to
solicit a lot from the interviewee. The team of experts that form the panel to conduct the interview
should be abreast with current trends in business, to enable them select candidates with good
knowledge about the activities of the organization.
Furthermore, checks on the background of the newcomer to make sure that, s/he has a good
character, and would also, not be redundant, based on the projections and strategies of the
organization are equally important. This would secure the employee within the organization to
contribute his / her quota, to enable the organization achieve its goals.
Communication
The second factor that explains the nature of agreeable / co-operative relationship between
management and employees within an organization is communication. It is the activity / process
of expressing / imparting ideas and feelings by speaking, writing or use of other medium (Hornby,
2001). Daft (2003), on the other hand, defines communication as the process by which information
is exchanged and understood by two (2) or more people, usually with the purpose to inspire
behavior.
It is a two-way process and can take place vertically and horizontally. For an effective
communication, there should always be a sender and receiver, and a feedback from the receiver to
sender, to make sure the message is effectively communicated (Daft, 2003). According to Lynch
(2003), the key criterion in measuring communication strategy proposals is cost-effectiveness –
the cost of obtaining an effective communication with the customer, the effect usually being
measured as the sale of the product or service.
In an organization, communication is the means whereby people exchange information on the
operations of the business. Face-to-face meetings with teams and groups are the preferred channel
of communication (Coulson-Thomas, 1993). It could be durbars (face-to-face, as used by some top
executives, downward communication and upward movement, horizontal, team channels and
informal communication channels (Daft, 2003).
See appendices 1 and 2 for the model of communication channel and pyramid of channel richness
respectively.
However, when communication is poor, barriers to communication are created, which every
management should try, as much as possible, to avoid (Daft, 2003). These include:
• individual barriers, and
• Organizational barriers.
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Individual barriers
Interpersonal barriers, involving problems with emotions and perceptions held by employees. For
example, selecting the wrong channel for sending communication and use of semantics, i.e.
meaning of words and the way they are used (Daft, 2003). However, to get around this problem, it
is important to do active listening, where questions are asked, showing of interest, paraphrasing
what the speaker has said to ensure that one is interpreting correctly and providing feedback to
complete the communication loop (Daft, 2003).
Organizational barriers
This pertains to the problem of status and power differences within the organization. Low-power
people may be reluctant to pass bad news up the hierarchy, and higher-power people may think
that low-status people have little to contribute (Daft, 2003). To overcome this problem, managers
should create a climate of trust and openness, as this could encourage people to communicate
honestly with one another (Daft, 2003).
Chain of command
The third factor that explains the nature of the affable / co-operative relationship between
management and employees within an organization is the unbroken line of authority, which links
all persons in an organization, and specifies who reports to whom (Daft, 2003). It has two (2)
underlying principles:
a. unity of command – each employee is held accountable to only one supervisor, and
b. scalar principle - there should be a clearly defined line of authority in the organization, as
all persons in the organization should know whom they report to, as well as, the successive
management levels all the way to the top (Daft, 2003).
The chain of command illustrates the authority structure of the organization; the four (4) aspects
are:
• authority,
• responsibility,
• accountability, and
• delegation.
Authority
It is the formal and legitimate right of a manager to make decisions, issue orders and allocate
resources to achieve organizational desired results.
It is distinguished by three (3) characteristics. These are:
a. it is vested in organizational positions, not people. Managers have authority because of the
positions they occupy;
b. it is accepted by subordinates, and it flows top down through the organization’s hierarchy.
Subordinates comply because they believe that managers have a legitimate right to issue
orders; and
c. it flows down the vertical hierarchy. Positions at the top of the hierarchy are vested with
more formal authority than are positions at the bottom (Daft, 2003).
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Cudjoe, K. F. (2020). Fostering An Effective Organizational Relationship Between Management And Employees: A Co-Operative Arrangement
Would Promote The Achievement Of Goals, And The Delivery Of Projected Products And Services. Archives of Business Research, 8(8). 321-333.
Responsibility
The duty to perform the task / activity an employee has been assigned. Typically, managers are
assigned authority commensurate with responsibility. When managers have responsibility for task
outcomes, but less authority, the job is possible, but difficult to perform (Daft, 2003).
Accountability
the mechanism through which authority and responsibility are brought into association. It means
that the people with authority and responsibility are subject to reporting and justifying task
outcomes to those above them in the chain of command (Daft, 2003).
Delegation
the process managers use to transfer authority and responsibility to positions below them in the
hierarchy. Organizations encourage managers to delegate authority and responsibility to the
lowest possible level to provide maximum flexibility to enable the enterprise meet customer needs
and adapt to the environment (Daft, 2003).
Every organization is supposed to have a well set-up chain of command, as a properly arranged
authority within an entity is very essential, to allow the smooth flow of command for the
enablement of the achievement of organizational goals.
Management of Change
The fourth factor that explains the nature of the friendly / co-operative relationship between
management and employees within an organization is change management. It is a systematic
approach to dealing with a new circumstance, whereby there is a movement from one position to
another; e.g. transition of an organization’s goals, processes, policies or technologies. This can
occur both from the perspective of an organization and on the individual levels (Rouse, 2019).
At the organizational level, some managers normally re-structure their organizations without the
knowledge of employees. This situation has created problems for many organizations, as
employees would want to be involved right from the beginning the idea of introducing change is
conceived by management (Rouse, 2019).
Change is an integral part of any leader’s approach to adding value to the organization, be it internal
or external. To realize benefits in change management, it is imperative that the leader and followers
understand the reason for the change (Huntoon, 1998).
A plan for the change should include an orientation for the change, a powerful and credible leader,
a vision and communication with empowerment for the change, creation of quick wins (rewards
in the short-term) and consolidation of improvement to sustain the change. Change must be
embraced, adapted to, and used positively to impact one’s situation. No organization has a choice,
but the leader has a choice to face and manage the process for success or leave it to chance and
possible failure (Huntoon, 1998).
For an organization, change management means defining and implementing processes, policies,
methodologies, and / or different technologies to dealing with modifications in the business
environment and to profit from the varying opportunities. To survive and prosper, businesses need
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to be able to change and adapt to internal and external environmental pressures, but there are
issues around managing the process of change (Rouse, 2019).
Adaptation to change might involve establishing a structured methodology for responding to
changes in the business environment, e.g. threat of fluctuation in the economy, or establishing
coping mechanisms for responding to changes in the workplace, e.g. introduction of new policies,
strategies, guidelines, processes, methodologies or technologies (Rouse, 2019).
In the world of business, change is inevitable. Nobody would seriously argue with that, especially
at a time when Information Technology developments are sweeping through all areas of work and
changing how things are done, and who does them. But when change does come, not everybody
agrees on what it means. How one views change depends on his / her position in the organization,
and managers and employees usually have very different perspectives (Rouse, 2019).
Since managers are usually the advocates of change, they tend to be more enthusiastic about it.
Management normally focuses on results, so they see the change as the best way to realise them,
especially if results were not being realized initially. Management is more aware of the business’
overall goals, objectives and targets, the financial state of the company and its position with regard
to competitors and market share. However, if one deals directly with customers, the people issues,
the focus is more on the immediate task of getting the job done. The frontline personnel seldom
are involved by management to consider how their work fits into the overall scheme of things; they
do not therefore, share the broader perspective of the company directors, are usually less
enthusiastic about it, and may rebel (Cadle & Yeates, 2004; Coulson-Thomas, 1993).
With such differences about change within the organization, it is not surprising that innovation
often fails. Planned changes in the organization are very costly and difficult business, and therefore
need to be carefully thought out and managed well. If not, morale will suffer as employees may feel
that they are being forced to change against their will. There will surely be resistance, and some
highly valued employees may even decide it is time to leave. It therefore, behoves on management
to be very circumspect when dealing with change, so that the organization does not suffer and come
to an abrupt halt, which may even lead to collapse of the company (British Council, 2011).
Motivation
The fifth factor that explains the nature of an amiable / co-operative relationship between
management and employees within an organization is motivation. Motivation refers to the
influences, either within or external, to a person that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue
a certain course of action (Daft, 2003). Hornby (2001), on the other hand, describes motivation as
the reason why somebody does something or behaves in a particular way.
It is important to know that employee motivation affects productivity, and it is the manager’s job
to channel motivation toward the accomplishment of organizational goals (Daft, 2003).
Furthermore, when an employee is motivated, there is an accompaniment of commitment.
Commitment is the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity or pursuit (Thompson &
Strickland, 2001; De Wit & Meyer, 2004).