Deck 19: Organization Design and Culture

Question 1

Give five examples of the elements of a business's organization design. Hint: a couple examples are organizational units and

Answer 1

$\bullet$ organizational units (teams, departments, functions, divisions) and how they relate to each other
$\bullet$ jobs within those units (descriptions, compensation)
$\bullet$ division of work responsibility (hierarchy, reporting relationships)
$\bullet$ policies and procedures prescribing how the jobs are to be performed
$\bullet$ people filling those jobs (qualifications)
$\bullet$ work flows defining the sequence by which tasks proceed from one job to another
$\bullet$ decision-making authority (procedures, who has the authority)
$\bullet$ rewarded employee behavior (salaries, wages, promotions)
$\bullet$ instinctive employee behavior (organization culture, personal standards)
$\bullet$ communication between units (official channels, informal links)
$\bullet$ information and knowledge flows (data pathways, learning systems, reporting requirements)
$\bullet$ other systems (information technology, control, finance, personnel) that tie all this together.

Question 2

List and briefly explain the six fundamental attributes of organizational structure.

Answer 2

$\bullet$ Work specialization
$\bullet$ Departmentalization
$\bullet$ Chain of command
$\bullet$ Span of control
$\bullet$ Centralization
$\bullet$ Formalization

Question 3

The book describes five types of organizational structure plus the matrix structure. List three of those five types, and define the matrix structure. For extra credit, describe one benefit and one disadvantage of the matrix structure.

Answer 3

$\bullet$ Functional
$\bullet$ Products or programs
$\bullet$ Market segments or consumer groups
$\bullet$ Business processes
$\bullet$ Geography
$\bullet$ Matrix: employees report both vertically and horizontally to two different managers.
$\bullet$ The advantage of this structure is that functional specialists can be brought together to work on product initiatives, such as the launching of a new product.
$\bullet$ The challenge lies with the employees who must report to two bosses

Question 4

The reason that strategic planners pay attention to different types of organizational structure is that some are better suited to particular strategies. For instance, organizations operating in less frenetic, more stable environments can afford to deploy more hierarchical structures, narrower spans of control, more centralized decision making, and more formalized job descriptions. When job tasks are not changing often, employees can be asked to follow prescribed work rules with little deviation. Choose two other types of structure and describe the strategies they are best matched with.

Question 5

How would you determine if the culture of the organization was compromising the implementation of its strategies?

Question 6

Where are some places within an organization you can look to find evidence of its culture?

Question 7

Describe the ideal culture for the following types of organization:

Question 8

Suggest five generic steps an organization could take to try to modify its culture.