Football Federation Australia for Organisational Structure

Question: Discuss about theFootball Federation Australia for Organisational Structure. Answer: Introduction The organisational structure essentially refers to the rules of engagement inherent within an organisation pertaining to manner in which business decisions and functioning is carried out within that organisation. It signifies the working relationships which exist among the employees and how the power and authority is distributed within an organisation. The organisational structure can be categorised into four different types and they include the simple organisational structure, matrix organisational structure, bureaucratic organisational structure and team organisational structure (Clauset et al., 2008). Simple organisational Structure This is the default organisational structure which is followed by the majority of the smaller business enterprises where the decision making authority is vested with the owner of the business. By centralising the process of decision making, the simple organisation structure minimises the need for having different departments and levels of management which ensures a faster and more simplified decision making process (Henttonen Kettunen, 2011). Bureaucratic organisational structure In this organisational structure there exist a long chain of command (business hierarchy) in the way the business functions and decisions are carried out. There is a high level of formality in which the business operations and decision making is carried out within a bureaucratic organisation. The organised decision making process helps in ensuring accurate and effective decision making. Matrix organisational structure In this organisational structure, the reporting relationships are in the form of a grid as opposed to the traditional hierarchical structure. The employees working under this organisational structure maintain dual reporting relationships first to their department manager and secondly the product manager (Boyle, 2007). Team organisational structure This is a relatively new organisational structure wherein the employees are usually grouped into teams. The teams are formulated in such a manner so that the team members can complement each other with their set of skills and this enables an organisation to realise their business goals and objectives by ensuring that each and every worker is working towards a common goal. Football Federation Australia (FFA) follows a bureaucratic organisational structure which is segmented into different federations which represent the nine different states of Australia. This is illustrated in the organisational chart of FFA. The board at FFA comprises of the members from the nine different federations and they undertake decisions for promoting and popularising football in the nine states of Australia. The managers of the different federations report their duties and actions to FFA. The managers of the local zones and associations report their duties and actions to the managers of the respective federations in which they belong (Henttonen Kettunen, 2011). This bureaucratic structure has played a vital role in helping the FFA to ensure a lot of transparency in their activities and operations. This bureaucratic structure has enabled FFA to carry out their activities in a more organised and structured manner and thus FFA has been able to popularise football at the grass-root level by providing the necessary financial and infrastructural support to young and talented footballers who would represent Australia in the coming years (Clauset et al., 2008). Governance and Decision Making The governance and decision making plays a very important role in helping to popularise sports among the young generation and this goes a long way in ensuring the creation of talented and quality sportsperson who can represent their respective countries at the international sporting events and make a mark for themselves. Good governance in sports organisations plays a very important role in the creation of talented and quality sportspersons by providing them with the necessary opportunity and guidance to succeed in their chosen sporting fields. It also helps to ensure strict guidelines and regulations (sports policies) which would promote discipline and ethical values among the athletes which plays a very important role in their self development process (Bebchuk et al., 2009). To understand the roles of the governance and decision making in FFA a scenario can be considered where a player belonging to the one of the popular football clubs has been found to be in possession of prohibited substances like performance enhancing drugs. In such a scenario, it is extremely embarrassing for the football club to be involved in such a scandal and this will invariably tarnish the image and reputation of the club. The situation will also have serious legal consequences for both the footballer as well as the football club that he/she represents (Spitzeck Hansen, 2010). The football club would have to pay a heavy penalty or fine for promoting unsporting and unethical behaviour among their players and they could be suspended from participating in future domestic football events in Australia. The footballer could be banned from participating in professional football by imposing a life ban on them. Ascertaining what kind of punishment is to be imposed on the footballer is largely dependent on the way the FFA views the seriousness of the crime. If the footballer is a first time offender and there are no previous proven records of use of performance enhancing substances then the governing body at FFA might show a little compassion and decide on handing out a lighter punishment such as banning the player for one season and imposing a financial penalty on the player. This would go a long way in acting as a deterrent which would eliminate the future occurrences of such events (Van Ees et al., 2009). It would satisfy the main goal of FFA which is to promote ethical behaviour among the players which is normally expected from a sportsperson. They would be able to also prevent the career of a talented footballer from coming to a sad and unfortunate end. Thus the role of governance is decision making is extremely important and it enables FFA to provide a level playing field wherein footballers coming from diverse backgrounds can showcase their football skills and talents (Bebchuk et al., 2009). Strategic Management and Strategy Analysis The strategic management in sports plays a very important role in the planning process which enables the sports establishments to realise their main goals and objectives in an effective manner. This enables the sporting establishments to undertake an effective roadmap through which they will be able to popularise and promote the sports among a greater section of the general population. There are different facets of strategic management which enables the sporting establishments to identify their main purpose in the market. The sports establishments are able to determine their direction and scope of activities by evaluating the market environment and identifying their main strengths and weaknesses. This enables them to satisfy the interest of their market stakeholders and thus provides a long term direction to the sporting organisation (David, 2011). SWOT Analysis of FFA with Summary INTERNAL FACTORS STRENGTHS (+) WEAKNESSES (-) 1) The organisation has a strong corporate governance structure which enables them to promote and popularise football among the Australian masses in an effective manner. 2) The organisation has been continuously striving to provide equality of opportunity to talented and budding footballers and this has played a very important role in helping them to create a good reputation in Australia. 3) The organisation imposes strict guidelines and policies on the different football clubs in Australia and this helps them to ensure better discipline and sportsmanship among the players. 1) The bureaucratic organisational structure invariably delays the process of decision making within FFA. 2) The organisation has been trying to create a level playing field for footballers coming from diverse social and racial backgrounds but little success has been achieved in this regard as incidences of racism in football is widely prevalent. 3) The organisation has been struggling with lack of funds and the increasing financial expenses arising out of their business operations are preventing them from effectively achieving their corporate goals and objectives. EXTERNAL FACTORS OPPORTUNITIES (+) THREATS (-) 1) Football in Australia is steadily gaining popularity as a sport and there are many corporate enterprises which are willing to invest in football. FFA can capitalise on this opportunity to further popularise and promote football among the general population. 2) The increase in corporate sponsors would play a very important role in helping FFA to provide better football infrastructure and facilities to the players and this would help in creation of world class footballers in Australia. 1) The increase in corporate spending will invariably lead to more corrupt practices and this will eventually undermine the quality of corporate governance in FFA. ANALYSIS SUMMARY The FFA is working in a commendable manner to promote football among the general population and they have been able to provide equal opportunities to talented footballers coming from different financial backgrounds. This has played a very important role in improving the standards and quality of football in Australia. However, increasing business expenses have put a lot of strain on the organisation and this has played a very important role in preventing FFA to realise their business goals and objectives in the market. FFA needs to capitalise on the interest generated among the corporate entities regarding football as a sport and this will enable them to obtain the necessary financial funding in order to enhance the quality of football infrastructure in Australia (Brunninge et al., 2007). FFA might face difficulties in applying the principles of strategic management due to the following reasons: 1) Increased business expenses are posing a major threat to the smooth business functioning of the organisation and this will pose a major challenge towards the sustainability of the organisation (David, 2011). 2) Increased corporate spending in the form of sponsorships will invariably lead to more corrupt practices and this will compromise the corporate missions and visions of FFA. 3) The bureaucratic organisational structure is causing a lot of delay in the decision making process and they are unable to undertake appropriate measures in a timely manner in order to improve the standard of football in Australia. This is having a negative impact on the market reputation of FFA (Furrer et al., 2008). Conclusion FFA needs to streamline their organisational structure which will enable them to undertake effective decisions in a faster manner and this will go a long way in helping them to realise their organisational goals and objectives. The organisation needs to ensure strong corporate governance within their business and this will enable them to ensure a high level of transparency in their business activities. This will help FFA to create a positive impression among their market stakeholders by promoting ethical and moral code of conduct among their members. Finally the organisation needs to work on their weakness and identify the business opportunities in the market and this will enable them to realise their corporate goals and objectives in an effective manner (Grant, 2016). References Clauset, A., Moore, C., Newman, M. E. (2008). Hierarchical structure and the prediction of missing links in networks.Nature,453(7191), 98-101. Boyle, S. (2007). Impact of changes in organisational structure on selected key performance indicators for cultural organisations.International journal of cultural policy,13(3), 319-334. Henttonen, P., Kettunen, K. (2011). Functional classification of records and organisational structure.Records Management Journal,21(2), 86-103. Spitzeck, H., Hansen, E. G. (2010). Stakeholder governance: How stakeholders influence corporate decision making.Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society,10(4), 378-391. Bebchuk, L., Cohen, A., Ferrell, A. (2009). What matters in corporate governance?.Review of Financial studies,22(2), 783-827. Brunninge, O., Nordqvist, M., Wiklund, J. (2007). Corporate governance and strategic change in SMEs: The effects of ownership, board composition and top management teams.Small Business Economics,29(3), 295-308. Van Ees, H., Gabrielsson, J., Huse, M. (2009). Toward a behavioral theory of boards and corporate governance.Corporate Governance: An International Review,17(3), 307-319. Helms, M. M., Nixon, J. (2010). Exploring SWOT analysiswhere are we now? A review of academic research from the last decade.Journal of strategy and management,3(3), 215-251. David, F. R. (2011).Strategic management: Concepts and cases. Peaeson/Prentice Hall. Grant, R. M. (2016).Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley Sons. Furrer, O., Thomas, H., Goussevskaia, A. (2008). The structure and evolution of the strategic management field: A content analysis of 26 years of strategic management research.International Journal of Management Reviews,10(1), 1-23.