Shaping the organizational architecture for SME survival : a case of nascent small restaurants in Durban

Abstract

This study explores how planning, leading and organising activities shaped the organisational architecture of the nascent small restaurants that survived the first five years of operating in Durban in South Africa. Twelve owners of nascent small restaurants in Durban were selected using purposive sampling and interviewed to gather data. Themes of how planning, leading and organizing shaped the components of the Mc Kinsey 7-S model in the restaurant were delineated using thematic analysis. The study reveal that the organisational architecture of the nascent restaurant relied on emergent and entrepreneurial planning in the creative use of staff and skills to exploit opportunities and contain disruptions to service. Engaging employees to model the desired values but also using them as an instrument to achieve specific goals depicted an ambidextrous style of leadership. Multiskilling of staff enhanced resilience to operational and customer changes while the empowerment of employees was undermined by trust deficit in the organisational architecture of the restaurant. Critical changes are imperative to re-align the organisational architecture of the restaurant and ensure that it enhances survival.