PARALLEL structures exist not only in political parties but also in any organisation.
It is, therefore, important to monitor which members or workers have formed a parallel structure; and what purpose.
Is the purpose working for or against organisation’s objectives and goal?
Parallel structures have been reported both in political parties and in some organisations. No chief executive officer (CEO) of any organisation can stand up; and say: ‘No parallel structures exist in my organisation.’
This is because an organisation comprises many individual from different backgrounds with different objectives and motives for being in that organisation.
One can argue that it is not possible for all workers, including all top management officials to support objectives and goal of a respective organisation.
Therefore, it is not all workers or members of an organisation who execute their duties diligently  towards achieving the objectives and goal of a respective organisation.
For the sake of this article, parallel structure will mean a situation where some members or workers of an organisation have different and contradictory motives to the vision, mission, values, goal and objectives of an organisation.
While of late issues relating to parallel structures have been associated with some named political parties, parallel structures seem to exist almost in every human institution.
There can be parallel structures in a family. Some churches also develop parallel structures. But it is also true in most organisations.
It should be noted that workers or members constitute one of the most important public relations (PR) publics.
And what workers or members do in an organisation can positively or negatively affect an organisation.
While sometimes parallel structures can be created because of personal selfish and greedy objectives, depending on the situation, some members or workers; including some of the top management officials in an organisation can form a parallel structure because of what other workers or members see or hear about some of or all Board of Directors (BoDs), the respective CEO or some top management officials saying or doing against the policies, rules, objectives or goal of an respective organisation or against the laws of the land.
For the sake of this article, a parallel structure will be an structure different and with different objectives or motives from those of the official objectives, goal or position of that organisation.
While parallel structures can sometimes be overt, in some cases, such structures can be covert.
The only people who can easily discover that an organisation has a parallel structure (s) are the stakeholders who might see, hear, feel, taste or smell respectively the differences in an organisation’s performance, quality of product or services or hear rumours of such, etc.
This is because stakeholders monitor, assess and record successes and or failures of each respective organisation.
And an organisation’s success and or failures spring from many factors both internal and external.
But one can argue that, in most cases, the success or failure of an organisation is influences more by internal factors than from external ones.
This is because, to a large extent, it is the caliber of members or workers including the caliber of BoDs and that of the respective CEO in that organisation that affect success or failure of that organisation.
Each organisation has vision, mission, values, objectives and a goal. And since a management expert, Peter F Drucker when contributing to a debate on the importance of ethical decision-making practices in business said an organisation is not there to injure society; but to benefit the society in which it operates, it is assumed that the vision, mission, values, goal and objectives of any organisation are in public interest.
Therefore, each organisation’s vision, goal and objectives are also in public interest; and every member or worker; including respective all BoDs, the respective CEO and all top management officials should work and support organisation’s rules, policies, values, objectives and goal at all times.
Different and sometimes conflicting personal or official motives and objectives for or against an organisation’s goal and objectives can affect a respective organisation’s performance and image in the eyes of its stakeholders.
It is these different and sometimes conflicting personal or official views, interests, objectives and motives that are either supporting or working against an organisation’s official position that, in most cases, lead to creation of parallel structures.
Workers or members are important factors in the success or failure of an organisation because such members or workers can have personal feelings or motives for or against an organisation.
Where workers’ or members’ personal motives are in tandem with an organisation’s vision, mission, values, goal and objectives, an organisation can prosper.
But when most workers’ or members’ motives are at variance with the vision, mission, values, goal and objectives of an organisation, that organisation is likely to face challenges in achieving its objectives and goal.
It is against this background that the monitoring and evaluation functions which have been more associated with development projects should also be applied in every organisation; both the private and public ones.
This is because human beings have insatiable and dynamic needs. Situations and times can persuade a human beings to have different needs, interests and motives.
Such factors can determine and sustain unity of purpose or destroy it. This is why even in families, one finds that couple which started well with strong and supportive love for one another, slowly or suddenly, such a marriage breaks down.
Therefore, each worker or member should be put both in a pair of binoculars and under a microscope  to monitor and assess whether that worker or members belongs to a  parallel structure in that organisation or not. It is also important to continuously monitor or check whether a parallel structure (s) is or are mushrooming in an organisation or not.
It is from such a background that Digital Equipment CEO, Kenneth H Olsen once said: ‘My job is to make sure that my company has a strategy; and that everyone follows it.’
Mr Olsen’s words can be paraphrased to mean that the role of CEO is to ensure that every worker in an organisation works in consonant with; and not repugnant to an organisation’s objectives and goal.
The great challenge parallel structures create in an organisation is that instead of promoting unity of purpose in the utilisation of scarce resources, they promote divergent and contradicting purposes that, in most cases,  disappoint and disadvantage stakeholders.
This is why BoDs, CEOs and top management officials should never do or say anything that might promote mushrooming of parallel structures in an  organisation.
Always remember that parallel structures don’t happen; but are caused by statements, activities and decision that other some BoDs, some top management officials or some workers perceive to be against their personal interests or those of an organisation.
However, because of the likely negative consequences of parallel structures as a result of dividing organisation’s resources against the objectives and goal of that organisation, such structures are a PR issue which can negatively affect the image of an organisation.
Mr Cliff Ndhlovu, former Zambia National Commercial Bank Chipata Branch employee said he enjoys reading PR articles every Sunday in the Sunday Times of Zambia.
He said PR articles published in the Sunday Times of Zambia are very helpful both to individuals and to organisations; especially for those who are in top management positions.
It is from such appreciation of PR articles in this column that most of our esteemed readers have asked this writer to put such articles on his facebook so that they can easily assess then directly. Thanks for such views.
This writer and Sunday Times of  Zambia will against sit down to assess how best we can serve you better to avoid creating parallel structures in our vision, objectives and goal with Sunday Times of Zambia.
The author is a PR Trainer and Consultant.
For comments and ideas, contact:
Cell: 0967/0977 450151
E-mail:sycoraxtndhlovu@yahoo.co.uk