Overarching Scenario
Mr Andy is the founder of a software company that specialises in developing online games, with
young adults as the target market. Customer demands for the games has increased significantly over
the past year, and the company has grown from a 3-person operation to an establishment with 16
employees. Mr Andy employed six software developers, four graphic artists, two computer
technicians, two marketing and sales personnel, and two administrative assistants. The mission for his
company, ‘FutureX’ is to create games that matter to people’s lives. The core values of his company
are focused upon the themes of Immersion (deep engagement), Innovation (refreshing ideas) and
Infinity (lasting impact).
Question 1
Mr Andy recently heard from a business partner that gamification is a sought-after solution in
organisations, and that he could expand the product offerings to include video games designed for
organisational customers. With this new offering, Mr Andy anticipates hiring 30 new employees and
he is wondering how best to manage his growing company.
In your advice to Mr Andy, critically discuss: (a) how Henri Fayol’s planning function can be used to
strategise for the new product offering (10 marks: 450-500 words) (b) how Henri Fayol’s organising
function can be used to determine an organisational design which prioritises innovation in his growing
company (10 marks: 450-500 words).
Support your reasoning using relevant organisational examples, as well as concepts/theories learnt
during this semester. Ensure that you cite at least THREE credible sources for each sub-question, in
support of your discussion.
[Total 20 marks]
Answer:
The planning function of Henri Fayol is the primary function that employees should adhere to, in
order to accomplish performance goals. Planning is when managers map out methods or outcomes
they aim to achieve before proceeding with what they are thinking (Fayol, 1988). This is because
setting objectives and ways to achieve them could guide individuals through their hard times so that
they would not feel miserable when marching towards their goals. Establishing mission and vision
statements and placing them in places that are easily visible for employees could provide bright light
for them, especially the newcomers, who tend to be more de-oriented being in an unfamiliar place so
that they are clear with what to achieve and increase the possibility of future success for the company
Page 1 of 8
, (Orhan et al., 2014). For instance, one of Nestle’s goals is to improve life quality and contribute to a
healthier future for the public (About Us, n.d.). Since 2020, Nestle has successfully reduced the waste
by 23% and increased the utilization rate of reusable products by 36% (Environmental Sustainability,
n.d.), which proved that Nestle’s employees meet their goal and lead their company to accomplish
sustainability. Hence, mission and vision statements are indeed important for employees to persist in
achieving performance goals. Similarly, Mr Andy who wants to manage his growing company should
create missions and visions statements regarding his company or a specific product for employees, so
as to avoid disputes among employees and enable them to have organized and clear objectives, that
ought to be achieved through the teamwork of employees.
Besides that, pre-listing the methods of producing products is also a vital element in planning function
(Fayol, 1988). Planning the way to realize the mission statement stated by the company would make
the process to be easier because it will help eliminate methods that could not work and provide a
clearer picture for an organization to make decisions on more suitable approaches (Mannino, 2020).
Under such circumstances, a decisive leader is undoubted of great significance to the company’s
decision-making. According to Economy (2018), Apple’s decision-maker is Steve Jobs, who made
several great decisions for his company and led Apple on the road to success. However, when
discussing with many people, the conflict of ideas is often an issue. Thus, a fair leader should always
choose decisions that are beneficial to the company. Likewise, as a leader, Mr Andy should be
decisive in making decisions, that is to say, he should consider the abilities of employees and the
resources needed for the company to achieve the expected results. Therefore, a decisive manager
ought to take into account factors that would affect the outcome of the product and then decide for the
company for a good cause.
Furthermore, the organizing function could be a means for organizations to decide on their structure.
In the research of Fayol (1988), the organizing function indicates that leaders would allocate resources
such as material, human, financial, and others to complete the planning function which is their goals.
Organizing function is critical in the determination of roles for the employees, thus preventing waste
of resources in an organization. By allocating resources for the company, the organizational design
could be determined by the company. The organizational design that gives priority to innovation
would not be realized by using a traditional organization design, which is a centralised structure
similar to a hierarchical structure. This is because the pyramid model; the top-down approach is
adopted by this structure, where decisions are made by people on top of the pyramid (CEO) and these
ideas would be passed down to employees to implement it (Organisational Structures, n.d.), which
rarely occur cooperation between employees. Without the collaboration and engagement of
employees, innovation stagnant would occur frequently and innovation may not even be realized
(Castro, 2021) due to the limited sources of an idea, which mainly come from the director of the
Page 2 of 8
Mr Andy is the founder of a software company that specialises in developing online games, with
young adults as the target market. Customer demands for the games has increased significantly over
the past year, and the company has grown from a 3-person operation to an establishment with 16
employees. Mr Andy employed six software developers, four graphic artists, two computer
technicians, two marketing and sales personnel, and two administrative assistants. The mission for his
company, ‘FutureX’ is to create games that matter to people’s lives. The core values of his company
are focused upon the themes of Immersion (deep engagement), Innovation (refreshing ideas) and
Infinity (lasting impact).
Question 1
Mr Andy recently heard from a business partner that gamification is a sought-after solution in
organisations, and that he could expand the product offerings to include video games designed for
organisational customers. With this new offering, Mr Andy anticipates hiring 30 new employees and
he is wondering how best to manage his growing company.
In your advice to Mr Andy, critically discuss: (a) how Henri Fayol’s planning function can be used to
strategise for the new product offering (10 marks: 450-500 words) (b) how Henri Fayol’s organising
function can be used to determine an organisational design which prioritises innovation in his growing
company (10 marks: 450-500 words).
Support your reasoning using relevant organisational examples, as well as concepts/theories learnt
during this semester. Ensure that you cite at least THREE credible sources for each sub-question, in
support of your discussion.
[Total 20 marks]
Answer:
The planning function of Henri Fayol is the primary function that employees should adhere to, in
order to accomplish performance goals. Planning is when managers map out methods or outcomes
they aim to achieve before proceeding with what they are thinking (Fayol, 1988). This is because
setting objectives and ways to achieve them could guide individuals through their hard times so that
they would not feel miserable when marching towards their goals. Establishing mission and vision
statements and placing them in places that are easily visible for employees could provide bright light
for them, especially the newcomers, who tend to be more de-oriented being in an unfamiliar place so
that they are clear with what to achieve and increase the possibility of future success for the company
Page 1 of 8
, (Orhan et al., 2014). For instance, one of Nestle’s goals is to improve life quality and contribute to a
healthier future for the public (About Us, n.d.). Since 2020, Nestle has successfully reduced the waste
by 23% and increased the utilization rate of reusable products by 36% (Environmental Sustainability,
n.d.), which proved that Nestle’s employees meet their goal and lead their company to accomplish
sustainability. Hence, mission and vision statements are indeed important for employees to persist in
achieving performance goals. Similarly, Mr Andy who wants to manage his growing company should
create missions and visions statements regarding his company or a specific product for employees, so
as to avoid disputes among employees and enable them to have organized and clear objectives, that
ought to be achieved through the teamwork of employees.
Besides that, pre-listing the methods of producing products is also a vital element in planning function
(Fayol, 1988). Planning the way to realize the mission statement stated by the company would make
the process to be easier because it will help eliminate methods that could not work and provide a
clearer picture for an organization to make decisions on more suitable approaches (Mannino, 2020).
Under such circumstances, a decisive leader is undoubted of great significance to the company’s
decision-making. According to Economy (2018), Apple’s decision-maker is Steve Jobs, who made
several great decisions for his company and led Apple on the road to success. However, when
discussing with many people, the conflict of ideas is often an issue. Thus, a fair leader should always
choose decisions that are beneficial to the company. Likewise, as a leader, Mr Andy should be
decisive in making decisions, that is to say, he should consider the abilities of employees and the
resources needed for the company to achieve the expected results. Therefore, a decisive manager
ought to take into account factors that would affect the outcome of the product and then decide for the
company for a good cause.
Furthermore, the organizing function could be a means for organizations to decide on their structure.
In the research of Fayol (1988), the organizing function indicates that leaders would allocate resources
such as material, human, financial, and others to complete the planning function which is their goals.
Organizing function is critical in the determination of roles for the employees, thus preventing waste
of resources in an organization. By allocating resources for the company, the organizational design
could be determined by the company. The organizational design that gives priority to innovation
would not be realized by using a traditional organization design, which is a centralised structure
similar to a hierarchical structure. This is because the pyramid model; the top-down approach is
adopted by this structure, where decisions are made by people on top of the pyramid (CEO) and these
ideas would be passed down to employees to implement it (Organisational Structures, n.d.), which
rarely occur cooperation between employees. Without the collaboration and engagement of
employees, innovation stagnant would occur frequently and innovation may not even be realized
(Castro, 2021) due to the limited sources of an idea, which mainly come from the director of the
Page 2 of 8
