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Guangdong University of Business Studies

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BTEC PROGRAMME:

Unit Title: Organizations and Behaviour

Unit No: 3
Assignment Title: Analysing and evaluating the structure and culture
in organisations
Assignment No: I
Delivery Date: 31tH March, 2014
Submission Date: 5th May, 2014
Student Name:.
Student No:.
Assessor: Liu Lou
Internal Verifier: Wang Yu
NOTES TO STUDENTS
Check carefully the submission date and the instructions given with the
assignment. Late assignments will not be accepted.
Ensure that you give yourself enough time to complete the assignment by the due
date.
Do not leave things such as printing to the last minute excuses of this nature
will not be accepted for failure to hand-in the work on time.
You must take responsibility for managing your own time effectively.
If you are unable to hand in your assignment on time and have valid reasons such
as illness, you may apply (in writing) for an extension.
Failure to achieve a PASS grade will results in a REFERRAL grade being given.
Take great care that if you use other peoples work or ideas in your assignment,
you properly reference them in your text and any bibliography.
When you refer to the work of other authors in your assignment,
you must practice citation by following Harvard System for
Referencing.
I am aware that plagiarism is a serious offence and certify that the contents of this
assignment are my own work. Where I have referred to ideas other than my own I have
acknowledged this with a referenced bibliography.
All grades are subject to confirmation by the external verifier

STUDENT
DATE

SIGNATURE:

Learning Outcome and Grade allocation Form

Assignment
No
Assignment
I
Grades
awarded
Overall
Grades

1.1

1.2

1.3

2.2 2.3

M1

M2

M3

D1

D2

D3

OUTCOMES & ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Outcome(s)/
Possible evidence
Assessment Criteria

Feedback

Assessors
decision

L01 Understand the relationship

between
organizational structure
and culture
1.1 compare and contrast different
organisational structures and culture

The main similarities and differences of the

organisational structures and culture of the two
organisations in Scenario 1 and 2 have been
identified and explained in a reasonable way.

1.2 explain how the relationship

between
an
organisations
structure and culture can impact on
the performance of the business

The impact of the relationship between the

structure and culture of the organisation in
Scenario 1 on its performance has been
explained in a reasonable way.

1.3
discuss the factors which
influence individual behaviour at
work

The factors which influence the suicide

behaviour mentioned in Scenario 1 have been
identified and analysed in a reasonable way.

Outcome(s)/ Assessment
Criteria

Possible evidence

Feedback

Assessors
decision

L02 understand different approaches

to management and leadership
2.2explain how organisational theory
underpins
the
practice
of
management
2.3 evaluate the different approaches
to management used by different
organisations

Grade descriptors

The organizational theories underpinning

the practice of management in Scenario 1
and 2 are identified and explained in a
reasonable way.
The different approaches to management used by
the different organizations in Scenario 1
and 2 have been identified and
evaluated in a reasonable way.

Possible evidence

Feedback

Assessors
decision

Merit
M1
Identify and apply strategies
to find appropriate solutions

M2
Select/design
and
apply
appropriate methods/technique

M3
Present
communicate appropriate
findings

and

1
2

Relevant theories and techniques

have been applied when analyzing the
two cases in the assignment.
Effective judgments have been made
during the case analysis.

A range of sources of information

have been used to support the
analysis.
Complex
information
have
been
synthesized and processed.

Appropriate structure and approach

has been used in the final report.
Logical and coherent arguments have
been presented.

Grade descriptors

Possible evidence

Distinction
D1
Use critical reflection to
evaluate
own
work
and
justify valid conclusions

2
D2
Take
responsibility
for
managing
and
organizing
activities

D3
Demonstrate
convergent, lateral
creative thinking

1
2

1
and

The validity of the results has been

judged
to
ensure
that
the
suggestions
are
effective
and
appropriate.
Self criticism of the analysis has
been taken place.
Independence has been demonstrated
during the case analysis.
Substantial investigation have been
planned, managed and organized to
support the judgment and analysis.
Ideas have been generated and
decisions have been taken relating
to explanation of the cause and
effect in the case analysis.
Convergent and lateral thinking have
been applied in the case analysis.

Feedback

Assessors
decision

NOTES TO STUDENTS

Use an appropriate answer structure. Please attach the individual cover

sheet and sign it.

Word process the report, print out in A4 papers, Times New Roman, font 12,
one and half line space, with 2.5cm page margin

Write approximately 4,000 words for the report; tables, table of content,
references list and appendixes are excluded in the word count.

Complete the title page and sign the statement of authenticity.

NOTE: if you are caught plagiarising, you could have your grade
reduced to zero, or at worst, you could be excluded from the course.

Suggestions
1) You may need to search for more materials to support your
analysis. Try to find more information concerning the two
organizations in the following two scenarios from their corporate
websites. You may also search references by Google, or from some
professional sites, e.g.,
Financial Times (http://www.ft.com),
Business Week (http://www.businessweek.com),
McKinsey Quarterly (http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com),
Harvard Business Review (http://www.hbr.org).
2) Keep the report concise and original. You can refer to other
business reviews, but please write your report by yourself.

3) For all articles you cited, please use the correct format of
referencing in Harvard system.

Scenario 1
The following media reporting concerns management issues of Huawei.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd

Source: From Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen,
Guangdong. It is the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world,
having overtaken Ericsson in 2012. Huawei was founded in 1987 by ex-military
officer Ren Zhengfei and formed as a private company owned by its employees. Its
core missions are building telecommunications networks; providing operational and
consulting services and equipment to enterprises inside and outside of China; and
manufacturing communications devices for the consumer market Huawei has over
140,000 employees, around 46% of whom are engaged in research and development
(R&D). Huawei is organized around three core business segments:
1. Telecom Carrier Networks, building telecommunications networks and
services
2. Enterprise Business, providing equipment, software and services to enterprise
customers
3. Devices, manufacturing electronic communications devices
Huawei was founded by Ren Zhengfei sometime in 1987, with an initial registered
capital of RMB21,000. Established in Shenzhen, Huawei started off as a sales agent
for a Hong Kong company producing private branch exchange (PBX) switches. By
1990, Huawei began its own independent research and commercialization of PBX
technologies targeting hotels and small enterprises. After accumulating knowledge
and resources on the PBX business, Huawei achieved its first breakthrough into the
mainstream telecommunications market in 1992, when it launched its C&C08 digital
telephone switch, which had the largest switching capacity in China at the time. By
initially deploying in small cities and rural areas, the company gradually gained
market share and made its way into the mainstream market.
Huawei classifies itself as a "collective" and does not refer to itself as a private
company. Richard McGregor said that this is "a definitional distinction that has been
essential to the company's receipt of state support at crucial points in its
development." McGregor argued that "Huawei's status as a genuine collective is
doubtful."

In October 2007, 7,000 Huawei employees resigned and were then rehired on shortterm contracts, thereby apparently avoiding the unlimited contract provisions of the
Labour Contract Law of the People's Republic of China. The company denied it was
exploiting loopholes in the law, while the move was condemned by local government
and trade unions.
Huawei's treatment of its workforce in Guangdong Province, Southern China also
triggered a media outcry after a 25-year-old software engineer, Hu Xinyu, died in
May 2006 from bacterial encephalitis, as a result of what is believed to have been
work-related fatigue.
In its 2010 Corporate Social Responsibility report, Huawei highlighted the importance
of employee health and safety. In 2010, Huawei provided annual health checks to all
full-time employees and performed 3,200 checks to employees exposed to
occupational health risks.
Also, in 2011 Huawei initiated a Scholarship program, "Huawei Maitree Scholarship",
for Indian students studying in China.

Huaweis Culture
Is corporate wolf-culture devouring Chinas over-worked employees?
Adapted from China Labor Bulletin 27 May, 2008
On 6 March 2008, Zhang Liguo, a 36-year-old employee at a Huawei Technologies
plant in Shenzhens Bantian Industrial Park, jumped off the third floor of the
companys cafeteria; he died on the spot. Just nine days earlier, another Huawei
employee, Li Dongbing, had jumped to his death from the companys research and
development centre.
The violent deaths of two of its employees in close succession were a public relations
nightmare for Huawei. The companys aggressive and predatory wolf culture and
mattress culture, which compels overworked employees to sleep in their workplace,
became the focus of heated debate. Particularly since Zhang Liguo was the sixth
Huawei employee to have died of unnatural causes in recent years, and allegedly the
38th to have died of unnatural causes since the company was founded. Is there
something about Huawei that leads so many young people to end their lives
prematurely?
Before Huawei employee Zhang Rui committed suicide in 2007, CEO Ren Zhengfei
wrote a letter to a member of the Communist Party committee which began with the
following admission: At Huawei, employees are continuously committing suicide or
self-mutilation. There is also a worrying increase in the number of employees who are
suffering from depression and anxiety. What can we do to help our employees have a

more positive and open attitude towards life? I have thought about it over and over
again, but I have been unable to come up with a solution.
Because Huawei has yet to grant an interview to answer questions about the suicides,
we dont know how serious Ren Zhengfei considers this problem to be. The only time
Ren has ever mentioned wolf culture was in the early 1990s, in a conversation with
a manager from a well-known American consulting company. Ren said that if
multinational corporations were elephants, Huawei was a mouse in comparison and
argued that because Huawei was no fighting match for an elephant, it had to have a
wolf spirit, a keen nose, a strong competitive instinct and a spirit of cooperation and
sacrifice.
Huaweis current success is widely thought to be the result of its corporate wolf
culture. Were it not for its wolf culture, it is likely that if Huawei, a privately
owned company that faced a fiercely competitive market from the start, would have
never pulled ahead of the pack. However, as Zhang Liguos death has shown, it can
also drive its employees to the edge of a cliff.
Almost half of Huaweis employees work in the research and development division,
which is the companys biggest division as well as the one that pays the highest
salaries. But the high salaries also mean higher pressure and higher performance
demands on the employees. According to one employee who wishes to remain
anonymous, competition has become more intense throughout the IT industry and all
companies are under pressure, but Huawei employees are particularly stressed out and
just about every Huawei employee thinks that his fate is closely bound up with the
companys. Consequently, no one thinks that he can relax for one moment.
Most Huawei employees who agreed to answer journalists questions acknowledged
that they dared not lag behind their colleagues. Not that this is peculiar to Huawei
employees; it is true of the IT industry in general and arguably also of contemporary
society as a whole.
The wolf culture has a broad social base in todays fiercely competitive
environment, as is evident from the fact that business books about wolf culture sell
like hot cakes. People thrive in adversity and perish in soft living. Its the survival of
the fittest out there. Its like rowing upstream; not to advance is to drop back,
explains one employee.
Ren Zhengfei has a stated policy of weeding out five percent of the worst-performing
employees. Within the company, employees have been told by managers that in
practice only one to two percent of the worst performing employees are laid off. But
that is small comfort to this employee, who sums up his feelings as follows: I still
feel like somebody is cracking a whip behind me.

The phrase Mattress Culture was first coined to describe Huaweis fighting spirit
during the companys early days. Company managers regularly put their health on the
line for the company, and this policy continued and was even lionised until 28 May
2006 when Hu Xinyu, a 25-year-old employee at a Huawei plant in Shenzhen, died of
viral encephalitis. Before his death, Hu had frequently worked overtime and spent
nights sleeping on a mattress in his office. After Hus death, Huawei issued a rule
stipulating that employees had to get permission from their supervisor to work
overtime past 10 p.m. and forbidding employees from spending the night at the office.
However, the implementation of this policy has not particularly effective. Everyone at
Huawei, from top to bottom, understands that hard work is rewarded. As one
employee put it, If theres a job to be done, you cant drag your feet and let down
your colleagues.
Scenario 2
The following media reporting concerns management issues of Foxconn.

Foxconn faces Management Problems

By Huang Beibei, Oct. 9/ Nov. 4, 2010, People's Daily Online
Foxconn Technology Group is the world's largest professional manufacturer of
electronics. It has factories in Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, Chengdu and other places
on the Chinese mainland. As of May 26, 2010, there were 12 incidents where people
jumped from buildings in Foxconn factories on the Chinese mainland, leaving 10
dead and 2 injured.
Guo Jun, minister of Democratic Management at the All-China Federation of Trade
Unions (ACFTU) said Foxconn violated laws, and the management system has
serious problems, while talking about the series of suicide incidents at Foxconn.
According to the Shenzhen Institute of Contemporary Observation (ICO), in 2009
Foxconn employees' overtime hours totaled 117 hours per month up to 140 hours
for some.
China's labor law implemented in January 1, 2005 said workers should not extend
working hours more than three hours per day and overtime should not exceed 36
hours per month. "Working overtime more than 100 hours per month, is this not
against the law?" Guo said.
Guo Jun said that Foxconn's problem is not just working hours or wages. The biggest
problem lies in its management. Foxconn adopts the Ford-style business management,
which optimizes all aspects of production and maximizes efficiency. Its employees are
like Charlie Chaplin in the film "Modern Times," and their freedom outside of
working hours is not guaranteed.

In addition, Foxconn also has "quasi-military management" features. A survey report

by 60 teachers and students from 20 universities in mainland, Hong Kong and
Taiwan- including Tsinghua University and Peking University, pointed out that
"Foxconn's labor system is characterized with highly-intensified workload, low
payment, violent training, all at the cost of the workers' dignity". "Although the
company has made some managerial adjustments, no improvements have been made
for its employees." The company had, in June, announced a 30-percent raise for
employees, while based on the survey, employees saw a rise no higher than 9.1
percent and were deprived of many of their welfare terms like subsidies, bonuses and
so on.
Also, a list with 127 rules liable to severe punishment reigns within the firm.
According to the report, 38.1 percent of all workers at Foxconn have experienced
having their privacy invaded by management personnel or the safeguards; 54.6
percent are indignant towards its management and 16.4 percent have been subject to
some kind of corporal violence by the same. The company's strict monitoring makes it
resemble a prison, the report said. Even in the same plant, employees from different
departments are forbidden to communicate with one another, and mobile phones, as
well as any metal object are not allowed into the facility.

The Asian tycoon with a one million robot vision

By Kathrin Hille, Financial Times, Aug. 11, 2011
Terry Gou clearly enjoyed himself last week, when joining a crowd of break-dancing
young workers who man the factory lines at Foxconn Technology Group, the
company he built into the worlds largest contract electronics manufacturer. Rather
than leaving it at just dancing, however, a radiant Mr Gou went on to announce plans
to equip his factories with as many as 1m new robots, some of which would replace
human beings. His audience was shocked.
The stunning numbers, combined with the bizarre tactic of announcing automation
plans in a workers pep talk, were typical of this charismatic and unpredictable
Taiwanese entrepreneur, as he looks to enlarge the company he has built over the past
37 years. But for Mr Gou the move is personal too: it will decide whether his own
Asian rags-to-riches story culminates in the creation of a truly world-class company.
Foxconn controls close to half of the worlds market for outsourced technology
products, from iPads and game consoles to personal computers. Throughout his
career, Mr Gou has ruled his business like an empire, rarely consulting others, relying
instead on his own considerable powers of persuasion. At shareholder meetings he is
known to enjoy lecturing investors from the podium, breezily dismissing challenges
with an authoritarian air.
In his industry he became famous for once offering a Dell executive a lift to the
airport, before abducting him for a factory visit to convince this potential

customer of his superior manufacturing techniques. Now, armed with his new robots,
Mr Gou wants to move up the technology ladder. We are a high-tech manufacturer,
not a traditional contract manufacturer, he says of a company that made $80bn in
revenues last year.
Delivering this vision will be far from easy, especially given that rising wages and a
dwindling supply of workers are pushing up costs in China, where most of Foxconns
factories are based. But it also comes after an event that introduced Mr Gous
company to the world in tragic circumstances, when 11 Foxconn workers last year
took their own lives, by jumping from buildings in the Shenzhen plant.
Initially Mr Gou dismissed the suicides as statistically insignificant and indeed,
measured against the companys 1m headcount, the numbers were below the national
average. But the image of overworked and poorly paid Chinese factory employees
slaving over iPods destined for wealthy consumers struck a chord around the world
and the company found itself facing a huge public relations crisis. I believe it was the
first time Terry Gou started seriously thinking about the workers as human beings,
says Qing Tong, a former Foxconn employee who has written a book about her life as
a migrant worker.
Over the past three decades Mr Gou has built a record of flexibility and adaptation to
new challenges and having finally taken the problem seriously, he responded firmly.
Bright yellow nets were installed around each high-rise dorm building, to catch
anyone falling off, while panels of psychologists and other experts were drafted in to
explain the suicides. For the Foxconn chief it was nothing less than a highly personal
defence of the business he had spent a lifetime building.

Task 1
1)

Please write the main similarities and differences of the organisational

structure of Huawei and Foxconn. (1.1a)

Organizational Structure
Introduction:
In Chapter 1,we introduced the organisation,in general termes, as social arrangements
for the controlled performance of collective goals.We suggested that those social
arrangements were formalised in an organisation structure.In tis chaoter,we look in
more detail at what that involves.
My objectives:
In this chapter you will learn about the following:
(a)The nature of and influences on both formal and informal organisation
(b)Different organisation structures and networks,and organisation charts

Organisational structure
Forma stucture
Informal stucture
What influences the
structure?
Types of organisation

Organisation and
departmentation

Authority and power

Organisational
networks and
linkages

The new organisation

Organisation chart

Table1: Organisational structure

Foxconn
Huawei

2)

Please write the main similarities and differences of the organisational

culture of Foxconn and Huawei (1.1b)

Organizational culture
Definitions
Foxconn
Huawei

3)

Please explain how the relationship between Foxconns organizational

structure and culture impacts the performance of its business. (1.2)

Task 2
Please discuss the main factors leading to the suicide behavior of some
employees of Huawei and Foxconn. What are the different factors of the two
corporations?(1.3)

Task 3
Please identify and evaluate the same and different approaches and theories
of management underpinning the practices of management in Huawei and
Foxconn. (2.2, 2.3)