Burke Litwin Model

This sample essay on Burke Litwin Model provides important aspects of the issue and arguments for and against as well as the needed facts. Read on this essay’s introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

Nutrisystem Inc Throughput variables

Based on Burke-Litwin causal model, there are several variables that a company might perceive. However, the most deemed relevant organizational variables at Nutrisystem Inc include the seven transactional variables namely structure, tasks and skills, management practices, systems and policies, work unit climate, motivation as well as individual goals and needs (Burke & Litwin, 1992).

The constituents of each of these variables are as discussed below.

Structure:At Nutrisystem Inc, the arrangement of individuals’ responsibilities, functions, authorities, interactions and communications is done in the best possible way that supports the company’s strategies, goals and missions. Planning and organization is crucial for NTRI to achieve its utmost efficiency and success. In fact, the organizational structure is functional and consists of executive officers with including J.

M. Redling as firm’s CEO, chairman, and president. There are chief marketing and e-commerce officer, product development and customer management executive vice president alongside the chief information officer. From its widely embraced organizational structure, Nutrisystem Inc has grown to be a recognized global leader in the provision of weight loss products and services.

Nutrisystem Model

The organizational structure for NTRI functions, design and management significantly plays vital roles in the success of this company. As depicted from the level of commodities being offered, it is clear that this company’s functions instigates with the employees who are grouped in teams on the basis of experience and knowledge in various reporting departments such as marketing, operations, finance and human resources (NutriSystem, Inc.

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2011).

Tasks and skills:The kind of products and services being tendered by NTRI require employees and management with reputable capabilities. The skills that are eminent at NTRI are marketing skills, counseling, management, and communication proficiency. To facilitate communication with clients to maximize the weight loss sensation for its customers, Nutrisystem Inc has employees with core competencies which enable it to amicably drive its sales while building NTRI brand globally. For example, in the marketing segment, there are strong expertises in every facade of both online and offline marketing and this has considerably enhanced the company’s capability to utilize the 360 degree integrated marketing tool to drive commercial revenues from clients in an effective and efficient way (NutriSystem, Inc. 2011). Moreover, NTRI secure employees with unique skills and knowledge in both counseling and sales. For this firm to spearhead its latest ecommerce technology in boosting its returns, expertise is seen in areas like direct business sales which takes place via its website alongside telephone and call center processes.

Management practices:Nutrisystem Inc always yearns to meet all its annual purchase commitments. Nevertheless, due to immense competition witnessed in the weight loss industry, decision making in this company is seen to be centralized while individual and groups’ participation with respect to customers support is highly encouraged. In fact, the management encourages information sharing with each other through bulletin boards and hosted chart rooms. Furthermore the establishment and maintenance of sufficient internal control is under the management’s responsibility but the performance evaluation is duly conducted at individual’s participation level.

Systems and policies:NTRI accomplishes it numerous tasks that are in line with products creation and customers services more effectively through standardized mechanism and policies. The properly designed systems geared towards enhancing or facilitating work at NTRI include the online and offline marketing systems. Nonetheless, the specific information systems include the community and ecommerce websites which are primarily based on third party software tailored towards meeting the organizations daily business needs. These facilities offer outmoded network connections, fire and physical security besides diesel spawned power backups intended to provide reliable website services.

There are various security techniques put in place to protect the clients’ confidential data. For instance, when clients access their respective account information or even place orders, NTRI employees are obliged to use secure servers when transferring the information (NutriSystem, Inc. 2011). All customers’ data are therefore effectively cosseted against unofficial access. The company further utilizes CyberSource and VeriSign software to adequately secure the credit card transactions.

Work unit climate:Most business undertakings at Nutrisystem Inc involve collective responsibilities where various groups work jointly to satisfy clients’ demands. In essence, having gained a global recognition in the supply of weight loss products and services, the work climate at NTRI seem to be very conducive. High rate of business turnovers coupled with positive customers feedback make every partaking team to have a sense of belonging in this organization. In addition, the involvement of various departmental heads and employees in the decision making process augments the spirit of cooperation amongst members of various local work units and this in turn positively affects the associations between the management, supervisors and the ordinary employees. The workers who have serious issues are free to communicate with the management and this sees none of NTRI employees being represented with labor unions. Thus, the relations between the employees themselves and the company’s management are seen to be very good.

Motivation:Nutrisystem Inc employees and management behaviors towards offering satisfying clients products and services have been largely impacted by the spirit of togetherness, affection and the innovation of newly enticing products and service tools. The adoption of new marketing tools namely the online and offline marketing as well as the latest technology dubbed as ecommerce immensely arouses the employees’ feelings towards offering pleasing customers services.

The freedom to interact with management and celebrities who have significantly lost weight in addition to the training offered to both the employees and counselors considerably encourages all the working units. Employees are assigned tasks with which they are familiar and capable of carrying out without any difficulties while the spokes persons are ideally compensated based on the initial weight loss on the company’s programs and the maintenance of weight loss over time. The rewarding packages offered to the employees, the least cost and low product prices coupled with good client affiliations makes the NTRI employees to constantly yearn to provide the best possible products and services to the customers (NutriSystem, Inc. 2011).

Individual needs and goals:At NTRI, different personalities have varying needs and goals that are required to meet the company’s stipulated goals and objectives. For instance, at the heart of every business undertaking, most Nutrisystem Inc employees expect to have better rewarding packages, product and service offering experience alongside requisite skills needed to effectively tender services that please all clients. The individuals goals and needs are moreover in line with accomplishing clients demands, gaining adequate job experience, fostering the reputation of the firm’s brand, and ensuring that customers loss weight.

How Throughput Variables Interact

An organizational structure directly relates to the work group climate, systems policies and procedures, management practices alongside job skills and tasks. In fact, the interactions between structure and skills is eminent in the sense that NTRI structure stipulates the respective persons who are to be assigned specific tasks based on the level of skills possessed. The structure on the other hand dictates the type of work group climate that should be expected at NTRI whereas the policies and procedures all originate from the management’s perceived practices and the organizational structure. Thus, Nutrisystem Inc organizational structure directly correlates to all the Burke-Litwin causal model throughputs namely the skills, job match, management’s practices, systems policies and procedures and work groups climate (Falletta, 2005). However, individual needs and values indirectly relate to the structure but directly correlate to the organizational motivation, policies and procedures as well as the company’s performance. The assigned tasks and job skills only relates directly the NTRI performance and motivation whilst it indirectly interacts with management practices (NutriSystem, Inc. 2011). Finally, it is on the basis of the firm’s structure, management practices, work group climate and the NTRI systems that an indirect relationship to the company’s performance through motivation, skills and tasks in addition to individuals’ values and needs is created.

How Throughput Variables Interactions Generate Motivation in Nutrisystem Inc

The arrangement of workforce and function as depicted by the NTRI structure greatly affects individual’s perceptions about the company’s work environment. The organizational structure is most likely to influence individuals’ perceptions about the company’s climate than the job satisfaction feelings of the individuals. Within the NTRI organizational structure, climate is seen to represent the learnt environment and as such, it significantly differs amongst work units despite having a close association with NTRI’s structure. At Nutrisystem Inc workplace, the behaviors and rewards are seen to be very straightforward because even if they are positive or negative, they significantly impact on the workforce motivation, hence, increased productivity is anticipated where workers participation is merged with a performance pay reward structure. Increased workers participation in decision making coupled with their representation in NTRI meetings increases NTRI’s productivity since the work unit climate becomes positively influenced. The recruitment of employees to fit NTRI’s top jobs based on skills, individuals values and needs significantly impacts on motivation and this in turn augments NTRI performance (NutriSystem, Inc. 2011). Therefore, work unit climate, tasks and skills along with individuals’ values and needs are deemed motivational influential factors at Nutrisystem Inc.

Making a Case

Nutrisystem Inc. (NTRI) is duly recognized as a publicly traded corporation and it is amongst the NASDAQ listed companies. NTRI underpins the organization investigated in this case study and it proffers numerous weight management products and services both in the United States, Japan and Canada. The provisional weight management programs mainly entail counseling, pre-packed foodstuff programs in addition to online tools. Monthly food packages which consist of a twenty eight days delivery of desserts, dinners, lunches, and breakfast that superlatively enhance and equally complement the customers with vegetables, dairy, salad, petite carbohydrates glycemic and fresh fruit are as well provided. NTRI, Inc. is further known to sell pre-packed foodstuffs to weight loss plan partakers and participants directly through internet, telephone, and QVC, which is a television shopping-system (NutriSystem, Inc., 2011). The deemed precise issues that materialize from NTRI are as follows;

Warrant: There are various sets of organizational models that seem workable when analyzing the OD situation at NutriSystem, Inc. as proposed by Faletta. However, just a single model believed to be the best will be taken to help in the analysis of the OD situation at NTRI.

Claim: While all the OD models that Faletta presented have their specific strengths and weaknesses, Burke-Litwin causal model proves to be an effective in justifying how motivation affects NutriSystem, Inc. performance.

Grounds: The backbone of every organization’s success heavily relies on the extent of the employees motivations. This follows the fact that all throughputs variables are either directly or indirectly related to motivation and motivation sequentially affects the organizations performance level. Nutrisystem Inc employees and management behaviors towards offering satisfying clients products and services have been largely impacted by the spirit of togetherness, affection and the innovation of newly enticing products and service tools. In fact, the management practices such as information sharing through bulletin boards and hosted chart rooms as well as the establishment and maintenance of sufficient internal control help in creating positive employees perception climate which in turn creates a strong customer service orientation environment. However, any positive perception created through the management practices generates strong customer service orientation and this increases NTRI performance.

The adoption of new marketing tools namely the online and offline marketing as well as the latest technology dubbed as ecommerce immensely arouses the employees’ feelings towards offering pleasing customers services. In essence, these novel marketing tools make interactions with clients much more effective and efficient and while the employees and clients become motivated due to the ensuing ease in offering quality services, their performances become augmented. The freedom to interact with management, contribute in decision making and the training offered to both the employees and counselors considerably encourages all the working units. The perceived encouragements in most cases translate into individuals feeling of tasks satisfaction and this helps in improving NTRI’s performance. Besides, when employees are assigned tasks with which they are familiar and capable of carrying out without any difficulties, they are likely to put more efforts to ensure that the jobs are well done. Finally, the rewarding packages offered to the employees are a source of motivation which makes the NTRI employees to constantly yearn to provide the best possible products and services to the customers. Both the long term and short term desires by the employees increases performance as well.