Viacom owns Nickelodeon,TV Land,VH1,and Nick at Nite.Viacom's managers of these cable networks are allowed a fairly high degree of autonomy in their operations,yet they coordinate their activities as needed.Purchasing is highly centralized,but many other functions are quite decentralized.Viacom uses a ____ organization design.

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The M-form (multidivisional) structure is a type of organizational design that allows separate divisions or business units to operate with a high degree of autonomy while still benefiting from centralized functions such as purchasing, finance, and strategy. In the case of Viacom, the managers of the cable networks have a high degree of autonomy in their operations, but still coordinate activities as needed. This decentralized approach is characteristic of the M-form structure. Additionally, the fact that purchasing is highly centralized suggests that Viacom uses a hybrid organizational design that blends elements of both centralized and decentralized structures, but the M-form label is more specific to the autonomy-coordination balance being used.

Viacom Owns Nickelodeon,TV Land,VH1,and Nick at Nite