Organisation Studies
Structure (Background)
Organizations are complex structures with a vast variety of people and systems that function together to achieve a common goal. As a result, the task of analzying making sense of them prove to be quite difficult. Organizational metaphors can be used to further analyze and understand organizations (Alvesson, 2011). In this assignment, we will be taking a closer look at a multinational enterprise, The Coffee Bean & Tea Life (CB&TL), using the aid of two selected metaphors which are Organizations as Machines as well as Organizations as Cultures. The metaphors of Organizations as Machines help to analyze the workings of The CB&TL with the guide of Taylor’s theory of Scientific Management and Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy Theory. Not only that, we will also be using the metaphor of Machines as Cultures with the help of corporate culture and cultural continuum theories.
Specialized coffee has become all the rage nowadays with coffee shops opening left right and center. However, it all started with the very first few entrepreneur who made the coffee industry what it is today. One of these entrepreneur was a man named Herb Hyman who brought the concept of a specialized coffee to America after visiting Europe. He opened his first coffee shop in Los Angeles California and called it The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CB&TL) in 1963 (FranchisePool.Org, n.d.). He later then expanded his business throughout to cover most of the United States and later moved on to neighboring countries. In 1996, The CB&TL expanded their market opportunities in Asia by opening its first franchise in Singapore. The CB&TL now has established corporate headquarters in several locations around the globe including Los Angeles, California, Singapore and Malaysia (FranchisePool.Org, n.d.).
The CB&TL have received many competition over the past several decades from close competitors such as Starbucks and Coffee Jean, but they remain key players in their
Organizations are complex structures with a vast variety of people and systems that function together to achieve a common goal. As a result, the task of analzying making sense of them prove to be quite difficult. Organizational metaphors can be used to further analyze and understand organizations (Alvesson, 2011). In this assignment, we will be taking a closer look at a multinational enterprise, The Coffee Bean & Tea Life (CB&TL), using the aid of two selected metaphors which are Organizations as Machines as well as Organizations as Cultures. The metaphors of Organizations as Machines help to analyze the workings of The CB&TL with the guide of Taylor’s theory of Scientific Management and Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy Theory. Not only that, we will also be using the metaphor of Machines as Cultures with the help of corporate culture and cultural continuum theories.
Specialized coffee has become all the rage nowadays with coffee shops opening left right and center. However, it all started with the very first few entrepreneur who made the coffee industry what it is today. One of these entrepreneur was a man named Herb Hyman who brought the concept of a specialized coffee to America after visiting Europe. He opened his first coffee shop in Los Angeles California and called it The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CB&TL) in 1963 (FranchisePool.Org, n.d.). He later then expanded his business throughout to cover most of the United States and later moved on to neighboring countries. In 1996, The CB&TL expanded their market opportunities in Asia by opening its first franchise in Singapore. The CB&TL now has established corporate headquarters in several locations around the globe including Los Angeles, California, Singapore and Malaysia (FranchisePool.Org, n.d.).
The CB&TL have received many competition over the past several decades from close competitors such as Starbucks and Coffee Jean, but they remain key players in their