Organisational Theories of Chesterfield College

Organisational Theories

“Organisational theory is not a collection of facts, it is a way of thinking about organisations and ideas and theories about management and organisations”. (Hannagan, 2008)

Organisational theory is broken down in to 4 main areas.  These areas are:

·         Physical Structure

·         Social Hierarchy

·         Culture

o   Achievement Culture

o   Process Culture

·         Technology

Physical Structure

Chesterfield College distributes its students over three campuses.  The three campuses are at Chesterfield, Tupton, and Clowne.  The campus that I am based at whilst on my placement in Clowne Campus.  The campus itself it a fairly new build, so it attracts the eye and has some of the most recent facilities for the College.  Some of the facilities that the campus holds are:

·         An astroturf pitch

·         Three football pitches

·         A sports hall

·         Home and away changing rooms

·         A 30 machine gym

The campus has three floors, with a lift supplied to each of the floors for students that are physically unable to walk up the stairs.  There is also a ramp up to the sports field for anyone that is in a wheelchair.  The main facilities like the food hall, the library, and the offices are all located on the ground floor of the campus.  This makes access easy for, again, people that might be in a wheelchair.  All of the corridors in the campus are wide ensuring that people aren’t ‘bumping into each other’ whilst walking to lesson.

Social Hierarchy

The structure of how my organisation is formed slightly resembles a pyramid, with the head of Chesterfield College at the top of the pyramid, and the lecturers more towards the bottom.  The positive points about this type of structure are that it is consistent, co-ordinated, and is a solid structure.  This means that everyone in the pyramid know their roles and responsibilities and know who to go to if there should be a problem.  The negative points about this are that it can get very time consuming if there is a problem, and that the staff at the bottom of the pyramid are less likely to be heard and to voice their opinion. 

Achievement Culture

Achievement culture is where results are rewarded.  This means that if Chesterfield College receive outstanding grades overall at the end of the year, they will be granted more funding.  This will benefit the college in different ways.  It will show the college as a respectable ad hard working environment and would also benefit the coaching academy.  This could enable the academy to receive new equipment and kit for the squads.  This would also improve the overall presentation of the college when all of the players are in matching kits when playing, either at home or away. 

Process Culture

Process culture is how concentrated the organisation is.  This means that the organisation, Chesterfield College, must abide by the rules that the regulation government set for them.  This means that the government have a big impact on how things get run at Chesterfield College, and therefore at the football academy. 

Technology

Technology is being used in many ways at the academy.  Myself and the other volunteers use technology to communicate to people outside of the college to report on games and fixtures, keeping local media and enthusiasts up to date with how the academy are doing.  A way in which the coaches are using technology is that they are being able to get in touch with their players through mobile phones, letting them know training times, match fixtures and away game locations.  This is a much easier way to communicate because the majority of young adults carry their mobile phones around with them all day.  If they don’t, the coach could always leave the student an answer message for them to receive later on when they get the chance to.

References

Hannagan, T. (2008) Management: Concepts & Practice. Fifth Edition. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Mullins, L. J. (2002). Management and Organisational Behaviour. Sixth Edition. Harlow, Essex; Pearson Education Limited.

Torkildsen, G. (2005). Leisure and recreation Management. Fifth Edition. Oxon. Routledge.