Cityfitness is one of New Zealand’s largest fitness chains, founded in New Zealand in 2000. What started as a small suburban club in Porirua, has expanded to 32 clubs located around New Zealand. The companies mission statement is to provide a friendly, competitive, encouraging and innovative experience of uncompromising quality that meets the health and fitness needs of its members (Cityfitness, 2018). Although the New Zealand fitness industry is worth around $500 million, averaging 6.5% growth per annum Cityfitness has experiences a lot of competition and challenges with maintaining and enticing new customers. Cityfitness has gone through many changes in order to adapt to its environment. For example, all gyms now operate 24 hours a day, they offers four different membership options starting from as little as $7 a week to a premium membership of $20 a week, along with converting their personal training model to a franchise model, where trainers are independent contractors (BDO International, 2017).
This report will outline the definition of an organisation by using metaphors. The first theory the report will focus on is comparing and contrasting an organisation to a machine. The proceeding theory will look into how an organisation can be compared and contrasted to an organism. Further analysis will be completed to show how Cityfitness, as an organisation, highlights and conceals the metaphor of a machine and an organism. Lastly based on the analysis the metaphor that captures the true nature of Cityfitness will be revealed along with some key lessons.
An organisation is a social entity of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to achieve a collective goal. All organisations have a management structure that determines relationships between the different activities and the members. Organisations are often open systems that affect and therefore is affected by their environment (Web Finance, 2018). Compared to a metaphor which is a figure of speech that describes a subject that is applied to an object or action; that it is not literally related (Cambridge Dictionary, 2018).
The idea of organisations running like machines developed from the theory of Taylorism, which was promoted by Fred W. Taylor. Who was known as the father of scientific management. Taylor believed, the tasks for management in factories was to determine the best way for workers to do their job. By providing the proper tools, training, and offering incentives to employees for performing well. He broke down each job into individual motions, analysed them to determine which were essential, by timing the workers with a stopwatch. He made recommendations to eliminated any unnecessary motions, which for the worker meant they were to follow a repetitive machine like routine. Thus, becoming far more productive and efficient in the long run. While this theory worked rather well during the industrial resolution, companies have now advanced in terms of needing creativity and critical thinking to daily perform tasks. There’s more and more jobs where every day is different and you have to learn on the job. Contrasting Taylors scientific management theory that promotes the idea that there is only one right way to do something.
The machine metaphor emphasis’s the ‘standardisation’ processes within an organisation. How we place value on the unique parts, then break them down into smaller parts, in order to do the tasks more efficiently. However, the machine metaphor conceals a more ‘human’ approach. Such as showing no evidence of emotion, individual thought or creativity. It also doesn’t account for illness and injuries occurred by humans in the workplace.
Cityfitness highlights the metaphor of a machine, in terms of its administrational tasks done by employees. Such as member sign ups, regulating current member payments and gainin access into the gym. There is also an organisational aspect of training and pushing your body to your limits like a machine.
However, the machine metaphor conceals the freedom and diversity that is observable in a gym community. Where individuals train in their own way and the instructors teach and bring their own personality to every class. Conflicting with the machine metaphor, employees at Cityfitness do become ill or injured and need to take time off work. Similar to any organisation the feelings and emotions of the workers can impair their work performance. Resulting in peaks and falls in work performance.
The organism metaphor was modified off Darwin’s Theory of Evaluation. Especially Darwin’s theory and observable observation throughout history of natural section. Which is the process, by which organisms change over time as a result of changes in their physical or behavioural traits. These changes occur to allow an organism to better adapt to its environment, which will help it survive and have more offspring (Than, 2018). In a lot of ways this is similar and can be related to an organisation context. As organisations has to adapt to their environment in order to survive and experience birth, maturity and sometimes death. The idea of “organizational DNA”, where the individual employees are the cells, with their own individual “code” of needs.
In a business context organisations have then been compared to organism through the foundations of organisational behaviour. The three most referred to names are the work of Abraham Maslow, Doulas Mc Gregor and The Hawthorne Studies. Who’s respected theories of motivation, Theory X and Y and how workers respond to being observed in the workplace.
The Hawthorne Studies was conducted in the 1920’s on workers in an Electric Company. Where Mayo and Roethisberger discovered that workers will perform better if they are aware if they are being observed. Which is very relevant in organisation today, where workers will be more efficient if they are under supervision or have a performance review coming up. Maslow’s theory of motivation can be summarised in terms of reward verse punishment in response to a stimuli. Lastly, Mc Gregor’s theory X and Y believes what motivates employees is a self-fulfilling prophecy. That an employee’s beliefs relate to their behaviour, which if its positive will lead to a positive response. For example, if a manager shows respect to a colleague because they believe they are a good worker. The work will have positive beliefs about the manager, which will reinforce positive behaviours and responses.
Cityfitness highlights the metaphor of an organism as it is the survival of the fittest. A collection of individuals working towards their own fitness goals. As a community they are improving society as a whole in terms of health and wellbeing. Cityfitness has to adapt to the environmental factors of the 21st century where people have limited time and space to work out.
The aspects that the organism metaphor Cityfitness as an organisation conceals is its ability to change its physical appearance, such as rebranding the logo, gyms and equipment. Compared to organism that slowly evolve over a long period of time.
The metaphor I feel captures the true nature of Cityfitness the most is the organism metaphor. As it emphasises growth, adaptation and environmental relations. Mark Smith the founding shareholder, describes CityFitness’ growth journey as gradual at first. Where he focused on building a strong brand, customer base and then adapting the daily operations at the gym. “Our philosophy was to keep it simple. One of the first things we did was to discontinue sales people and introduce online sales. Removing a major cost overhead whilst allowing people to join in a safe and non-threatening environment from home or in one of our gyms.” (BDO International Ltd, 2017). Marks way of thinking suggestions he was aware of the negative effects the environment was having on the gyms future success. Thus, he made adaptions on how the gym was run to ensure future growth.
When comparing the machine metaphor to Cityfitness, employees do not operate in a repetitive, systematic heavily throughout out way. Instead they adapt depending on the interaction with the customers, on a case by case base. Employees at Cityfitness are also effected by emotions and illness which effects their performance.
The organism metaphor suggests that organisations, such as Cityfitness must adapt to grow and survive. Which is true, as there is a lot of similar competitors out there, so they have to adapt to the needs and wants of customers. If they do not adapt, they will weaken and may “die” run at a loss and end up closing down.