Problems at Pluto Company

Problem identification

I was introduced as external OB consultants to analyze Pluto Telecommunications Company’s acute problems. Three functional departments, Sales, Customer service and Marketing seem to have been working isolated without having the necessary interaction with each other. As a result, different subcultures evolved in the company of which goals are not adequately aligned to the company’s ultimate objective. The consequence is lack of integrity and increased customer dissatisfaction in a highly competitive environment. If the problem persists, falling demand and market share drop may occur in such turbulent, external environment.

Analysis

I will apply the SOGI method to analyze the root cause of the problem.

Society level

The “specific” environment is very critical variable: Pluto Telecommunication is operating in the telecommunication sector which is a highly competitive and frequently changing, turbulent environment. As per the typology of Emery and Trist, “Turbulent-field” environment is the most dynamic and having the highest uncertainty. It requires the company’s continuous adaptation to the environmental changes in order to continue to grow and increase market share. Continuous product and service development needed to provide more value for the clients and improve customer satisfaction. One of the most effective ways to deal with such environmental uncertainty is the amendment in the organization’s structure for better adaption.

Organization level

Research suggest that there are four major factors which influences how an organization is structured; these are the organization size, technology, strategy and the environment in which the company operates. The two main factors considered by most of the scholars are the technology and the company size; however there are debates on which one has the superiority to the other.

Structure

Size

Strategy

Environment

Technology

Figure 1: Factors shaping organizational...