The Learning Organization Structure at West Farmers Corporation
Discuss about the Fundamentals Of Management Strategic Choice In Analysis.
Wesfarmers limited is an Australian multinational company, with its headquarters in Perth, Western Australia. The organization was founded in 1914 to provide services to the farmers in the Australian region. Over time, the organization was listed, and further grew into a major conglomerate in the entire region (Chang, 2016). The organization covers diverse operations such as supermarkets, convenience stores, and hotels, office supplies, departmental stores and safety products. The organization has been ranked as one of the largest private sector multinationals, with more than 200000 personnel and a shareholder base of more than 500000 individuals. The focus of this paper is on the organization design used by West farmers as a multinational entity, and how the structure benefits the organization in the fast pace-changing technology and diverse digital economy.
Continuous improvement programs are the focus for most organizations. The learning organization design used by West Farmers Corporation is highly centralized, which in turn, allow the organization to share resources and enjoy economies of scale (Sheth & Sisodia, 2015). In some cases, decentralization enhances specific output which is unique to the different needs of the diverse functional units as well. West farmers Corporation is fortunate enough, considering its partnerships with other Australian multinationals, which apply learning structures across multiple verticals for development (Chen & Zhang, 2018). This has, in turn, enabled West farmers Corporation to develop different considerations, synergies, and tradeoffs, which have helped improve best practices in the learning organization design embraced at West farmers Corporation.
The organization chart of West Farmers Corporation is flexible enough to accommodate growth and development within the organization (Chernev, 2018). The organization has the managing director as the overall head, followed by departmental heads that play a supervisory role for all personnel in the different levels in West Farmers Corporation. The learning organization design applies to the operations, management and human resource departments, as discussed in the sections explained below.
- Emphasis on information corporate training
West Farmers Corporation has mastered the fact that corporate training has hanged especially in the modern world. There is, therefore, a need to consider the fact that corporate learning is informal and the human resource aspect does not own it. In West farmers Corporation, most people learn on the job, which is not an unfavorable element in human resource (Child, 2017). For instance, the customer service department can learn through solving problems from different consumer categories. The key to success at West farmers Corporation has been related to the creation of an environment which supports on the job training, and not only the provision of formal training (Stinchcombe & March, 2017). West farmers Corporation has adopted the formalized informal training programs such as coaching and performance support tools, which has made it outperform most corporations which place a lot of content on formal programs.
- Promotion and rewarding expertise
Aspects Implemented in Operations and Management Department to Build a Learning Organization at West Farmers Corporation
West Farmers Corporation is more specialized than ever. The most talented groups have been placed in the most productive departments such as sales, and not in the management level in the corporation. West farmers Corporation is considered a high impact learning organization and is keen to unleash the potential of every member of the organization. Expertise is also rewarded accordingly at West farmers Corporation, which has helped foster increased personnel morale over the years. For example, engineers in machine operations ought to be given career progression in their specific disciplines, while personnel also, need to have time to study and improve on their skills (Claver et al. 2017). There is a need to, therefore, publicize the skills of all experts, which have not been neglected at West farmers Corporation. The organization is always willing to invest in the skills of its workforce, which makes the learning organization design thrive at West farmers Corporation.
- Unleash the power of experts in West farmers Corporation
Management in the organization allows all experts in respective functional units to share information, which is then made available to others in the organization. The entity unveiled an internal directory of all experts, which in turn, enables them to promote their experience while still working in the organization. People are, therefore, able to share what they have learned very quickly at West farmers Corporation (Cszar, 2013). Problems are also solved on the job, which is a great aspect of knowledge management and transfer at West farmers Corporation.
- Demonstration of the value of formal training
Formal training cannot be done away with especially in the modern business arena. This aspect plays a very big role especially in the development of professional networking, which is also of benefit to West farmers Corporation. Management in the organization is keen to promote such opportunities, and create time to make others learn and improve their skills and experiences. In the long term, satisfaction and higher productivity are achieved at the entity.
- Allow personnel to make mistakes.
At West farmers Corporation, individual learning which is considered the best occurs once mistakes have been made. This is the most important learning opportunity at West farmers Corporation. Participants are not punished or making mistakes, and the six sigma approaches is implemented for continuous improvement (Grant, 206). The culture of learning from mistakes has been acknowledged and embraced by top management to the lowest level personnel in West farmers Corporation.
Learning organizations provide personnel with the power to solve different problems in autonomous means, as well as benefit based on the experience from the peer in different working stations. This way, personnel will have the experience to share, as well as expand their knowledge, as evidenced by the West farmers Corporation structures (Greenberg & Baron, 2013). The West Farmers Corporation is the primary benefactor of the learning organization design that has been implemented in the entity and is identified based on five basic ways (Greenberg & Baron, 2013).
- Collaborative learning and systems thinking
Traits of West Farmers Corporation as a Learning Organization as Applied in the Human Resource Department
West Farmers Corporation is a successful learning organization and is characterized by a collaborative learning environment (Yoon et al, 2010). Every personnel and stakeholder is honored, and also take part in vital activities. Based on the principle of systems thinking, West farmers Corporation is made up of small units, which make up the entire corporation. Corporate learners, on the other hand, are expected to understand the entire system and how it functions, to ensure safety and compliance (Greenberg & Baron, 2013). Corporate learners at West farmers Corporation should also honor the ideas of other peers at the workplace, and thrive on differing viewpoints which in turn foster career growth and development.
- Personal Mastery
Learning organizations have a forward-thinking mindset, which has been embraced by West farmers Corporation to involve personal mastery. Corporate learners are tasked with the mandate to develop a lifelong perspective of earning and understand the concept of continuous growth and development. At West farmers Corporation, the primary focus is on practical skills and knowledge, which ought to be applied in real-world environments. Soft skills at the organization, for example, ensure that employees can improve the services delivered to consumers. Individuals at West farmers Corporation are also expected to display a high level of commitment and dedication to personal goals while upholding the learning objectives as proposed by the West farmers Corporation (Hatheway et al. 2017).
- Mental models
Corporate learners are required to have the ability to evaluate and access their strengths, through self-reflection. This process is meant to allow all employees at West farmers Corporation to challenge the limiting believe which are considered as a barrier to progress. Every personnel are also encouraged to participate in the application of new theories as well as approaches, for the greater good of the organization. At West farmers Corporation, risk is all part of the success process and allows personnel to improve (Leo et al. 2015). Mental models, therefore, should be acknowledged for their ability to focus beyond assumptions and behaviors of different stakeholders at West farmers Corporation.
- Shared vision
West farmers Corporation has managed to look for forwarding thinking leaders, who are mandated with responsibilities of the entity and its subsidiaries. Dedication ought to begin from the top. All managers and supervisors in the organization, as well as trained, need to be committed towards a single goal, and a shared vision (Yoon et al, 2010). The most important aspect is that assumptions hindering growth at West farmers Corporation ought to be challenged. Mistakes made by corporate leaders help build their real-world experience and are not condemned at West farmers Corporation (Greenberg & Baron, 2013). These features help the design used at West farmers Corporation to stand out, and the leadership continues to be exemplary despite global competition.
- Team learning and knowledge sharing
Collaboration is mandatory at West farmers Corporation. Every member is expected to be aware of the objectives of the learning process, as well as the desired outcomes which shape the success of the organization. Collective problem-solving approach is applied at West farmers Corporation, to help achieve set goals and objectives in the long run (Greenberg & Baron, 2013). A knowledge sharing infrastructure has thus been adopted by the organization. For instance, the West Farmers Corporation has launched an online training repository, which encourages corporate learners to share all skills through links and connect with colleagues for idea sharing. This way, colleagues are also able to deepen their comprehension through information sharing with peers, which also involved reinforcement and active recall at West farmers Corporation (Liao et al. 2011).
The learning organization structure might hinder effectiveness in competition by West farmers Corporation in the competitive market, based on three aspects. First, the learning organization design will lead to the resistance to change by most personnel. West farmers Corporation might have a hard time with organizational learning, especially where older career personnel working with them are reluctant to embrace new practices (Lie et al. 2014). The second challenge is related to the lack of direct leadership in West farmers Corporation. Based on the learning organization design, leadership is overly passive, and leaders are not necessarily directly involved in every aspect of learning in the organization.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The primary objective of Wesfarmers is to offer satisfactory returns, especially to all its shareholders. The organization aims at enhancing consumer satisfaction through the provision of service and goods. The entity is also focused on contributing towards the growth and prosperity especially for those countries in which it operates (Parente et al. 2014). Strong emphasis is placed on environmental protection, as well as an emphasis on integrity and honesty inside and outside the company. As a leader, the problem of resistance can be addressed through winning the category of personnel over at West Farmers Corporation and making them understand the importance and benefits of the learning design. There is a need to explain that changes and ideas that are brought in are not meant to intimidate those (Greenberg & Baron, 2013). The problem of lack of direct leadership should be approached from encouraging leaders at West farmers Corporation to be more involved in planning and personnel motivation, which will help resolve confidence and progress (Yoon et al, 2010).
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