Tarnopol Learning Services (TLS) offers tutoring to high school students, college students, and adults returning to school. TLS also bids on government-sponsored contracts. TLS's major product offerings include academic tutoring, standardized test preparation, and admissions consulting. Its operations spread over many geographic regions. Currently, the company is deciding whether it should change from its current approach of organizing by geographical area. A senior manager has predicted that if TLS is not profitable this year and fails to develop any new products, the company will switch to either a functional approach or a product approach. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen the argument that TLS should change its organizational structure?
A) TLS values corporate social responsibility as well as profitability.
B) New product offerings have been neglected as divisions have focused on traditional revenue sources.
C) TLS division managers have focused on short-term revenue at the expense of developing profitable relationships with long-term customers.
D) The markets TLS serves have different requirements in different geographic areas.
E) The expected revenue of some of the regional divisions is higher than that of some of the other divisions.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The senior manager has predicted that if TLS fails to develop any new products, the company will switch to either a functional approach or a product approach. Choice B strengthens the argument that TLS should change its organizational structure by stating that new product offerings have been neglected as divisions have focused on traditional revenue sources. This shows that a change in organizational structure may be necessary to shift the focus towards the development of new products. None of the other options provide support for the argument that TLS should change its organizational structure.

Tarnopol Learning Services (TLS) Offers Tutoring to High School Students