What is the relationship between specialization and coordination according to the specialization-coordination dilemma?
The more you specialize the more difficult it is to coordinate the different work units
Where is it more difficult to coordinate within departments or between departments? Why?
Coordination across boundaries is where problems occur due to different values, goals, training, etc.... In contrast, coordination within boundaries is easier to achieve due to similar values, goals, training, etc....
What is the primitive/agency organizational design? What are its advantages/disadvantages?
Has one boss and a few employees. All the employees report directly to the boss and he provides the necessary coordination thru personal supervision or informal means. This type of structure is quite flexible but breaks down under conditions of complexity because of the limited information-processing capacity of the boss
What is the functional organizational design? How are activities grouped?
A functionally designed organization groups its activities into separate units or departments in which each undertakes a distinctive function, e.g. marketing, production, etc...So you have a specialization and a focused concentration of functional activities
What are the advantages of a functional design?
Lots of specialization provides the best development of expertise because of its emphasis on functional interests within specialized departments.
Results in efficient use of resources because you don't duplicate specialists and you achieve economies of scale and overhead. Also, you are more efficient because of your greater focus on specialization.
Provides a simple communication network.
Simplifies training of functional specialists.
Gives status to major functional areas.
Preserves strategic control at the top management levels.
Provides career path for specialists-functional departments help reinforce and enhance development of expertise.
What are the disadvantages of a functional design?
1)Coordination is achieved at higher levels of the organization. This causes the coordination process to take longer. In addition, the larger the number of departments the harder it is to coordinate work units.
2)No common concern for the overall mission of the organization. People identify with specialty not with overall tasks.
3)Interdepartmental cooperation is a problem due to different values, goals, etc...
4)Cost of coordination can be high (e.g. have to have a lot of conflict resolution meetings between different departments or have to hire a professional integrator).
5)Employees identify with specialty which makes changes difficult.
6)Preparation of broadly trained managers is limited. The main type of manager developed in the functional design is a functional manager.
7) Client satisfaction can be lower than with other designs because of the coordination problems associated with this design.
8) Slow to respond to environmental change.
9) Slow to innovate.
When does one use the functional design?
1. When you have a stable environment.
2. When you have one or a few product lines.
3. When efficiency and quality are your goals.
4. When the organization is small to medium in size.
What is the product design? How are activities grouped?
Each major product line is administered through a separate and semi-autonomous division
What are the advantages of a product design?
-Profit centers allow you to pinpoint problems quicker because you get measures of performance in a shorter time. They also allow you to establish responsibility for task completion-responsibility is easily defined.
-It develops broadly trained managers (i.e. general managers).
-It focuses on client needs and provides greater customer service and satisfaction due to its focus on product. It achieves better/more rapid coordination.
-It facilitates coordination between functions for rapid responses because individuals now identify with their product more than with their specialty.
-Shared concern for the task of the organization. They identify with their product more than their specialty.
What are the disadvantages of a product design?
1)Coordination between product areas is difficult. Again, coordination across boundaries is where problems of coordination occur in organizations.
2) It duplicates specialists. Remember underneath each product is a functional design. Thus, in a product design specialists (R&D, Human Resources, etc.) are duplicated for each product. They in turn may not be fully utilized which is inefficient.
3) Less expertise is developed than in the functional design. For example, in a product design you may not be able to afford to duplicate the entire human resource department you had in a functional design. You may only be able to give each of your products just one of your human resource professionals. Now, each human resource professional who was a specialist in the functional design (i.e. only doing one part of the human resource management activities) must now become a generalist (i.e. do all the human resource activities for their product). Therefore, we will have less specialization and less expertise being developed because we have less division of labor.
4) Loses economies of scale. Not as efficient as the functional design.
5) A change in product line can be disastrous because the specialist shave not kept up to date in their technical areas since they were more focused on their product than their specialty. Thus, they may not have the technical skills to produce an entirely new and different product.
When does one use the product design?
1) When you have a highly uncertain environment that requires rapid adaptation.
2) When the organization is large.
3) When the organization has multiple product lines.
4) When the goals of the organizations are external effectiveness and adaptation, multiple products, and client satisfaction.
What is a profit center and what are its benefits?
Product design allows you to set up profit centers since they have identifiable cash flows consisting of expenses and revenues. Profit centers allow you to pinpoint problems quicker because you get measures of performance in a shorter time. They also allow you to establish responsibility for task completion-responsibility is easily defined
What is a matrix design? How are activities grouped?
A matrix design is basically a product design overlaid onto a functional design. The matrix design is structured to reap the benefits of both these designs while avoiding the disadvantages associated with each. So, what you have in a matrix is employees belonging to two groups: a functional group and a product or project group. The functional group is permanent whereas the project group is temporary (once the project is completed the group is disbanded and the members return to their functional group for reassignment to another project group).
What are the advantages of a matrix design?
-Extremely flexible and responsive. It is ideally suited for fluctuating work loads and it allows the organization to respond quickly to various market segments that are critical to its success.
-High rate of new product innovation due to interdisciplinary nature of the product teams (e.g. ideas of personnel guy spurs new ideas in R&D guy).
-It allows you to achieve specialization without suffering great losses in coordination due to functional home and project teams.
-Establishes responsibility for all matters relating to a project through the project manager.
-Minimizes duplication of specialists.
Integration of project completion needs at lower levels where people have the right information and the expertise to complete the project-achieves coordination.
-Sets up career paths for both experts (functional managers) and broadly trained managers (project managers). This achieves specialization.
What are the disadvantages of a matrix design?
Lose command of control. Top management loses control over activities.
Multiple authority roles. Unity of command principle is lost.
Personal stress and strain due to ambiguity and reporting to two supervisors. (You need people with high tolerance for ambiguity and high stress tolerance).
Places a premium on teamwork. Employees need good interpersonal skills.
Power struggles within the organization between the functional and project managers).
Employee allegiance is difficult to obtain. You have conflict between technical sophistication and project completion. Employees have mixed identities. Employees experience role conflict.
Very expensive in terms of communication and control costs. You have to have a lot of staff meetings and conflict resolution meetings to resolve problems/conflicts between managers and team members.
Line-staff separation is blurred.
When does one use the matrix design?
When you have technologically sophisticated products or services with temporary multiple products. (You need experts but you have to be responsive to the environment)
When you have a dynamic, uncertain environment that exerts pressure for technical quality and different and new products.
When creativity and innovation needs to be balanced against completion deadlines.ame as product but in a more high tech industry
What is the job of a project manager in the matrix design?
The project manager is responsible for the project-its completion on time, within budget, and according to specifications
What is the job of a functional manager in the matrix design?
The functional manager's job is to keep the employees in his department technologically up to date with regard to the area of expertise or function.
Which type of manager has no formal authority in the matrix design?
Project managers
In which organizational design type, is it most difficult to replace the CEO from within the organization? Why is this the case?
Functional design b/c the CEO is the only generally trained manager there; all the VP's are functional managers; easier to replace the CEO in a matrix or product b/c both of those designs you have more generally trained managers
Which organizational design accommodates growth readily?
Product
What is scalar chain or chain of command? What functions does it serve? What structural mechanism does one use to bypass the strict chain of command in organization?
Chain of command exists whenever one individual reports to or is made subordinate to another.The chain of command refers to vertical authority. The higher the manager's level in the organization (such as top over middle or first-line), the higher the manager's formal authority. 1) Defines level of authority and 2) it routes directives and information up and down the organization-provides an information/decision network. Functional abides by strict rules, Matrix bypasses strict rule. A gangplank is often used to bypass the strict chain of command.
What is unity of command? Why does one try not to violate this principle of organizing?
Subordinates should report to one and only one boss. You try not to violate this principle because it causes employees to experience role conflict and stress.
Where is unity of command violated? In what organizational design type is unity of command violate to the greatest extent?
The unity command is violated in all 3 organizational design types (functional, product, and matrix) but it is most violated in matrix
What is delegation of authority? Why do managers delegate authority?
Authority is the right to exact action from others or to command. Delegation is the process in which authority passes from one level to another. Managers delegate because they can't do it all themselves.
What cannot be delegated when a manager delegates authority?
Responsibility cannot be delegated. A manager can delegate authority but they are still accountable.
Why do managers resist delegating authority?
The manager feels like he/she lacks trained subordinates.
The manager feels like he/she is only capable of doing the work.
The manager may fear that the subordinates will make costly mistakes.
The manager may fear that if the subordinate handles the task well then the subordinate could become a competitor. The manager might be "shown up" by the subordinate.
The manager may believe that delegating makes them look lazy.
The manager may find that it is easier to do it themselves. This is especially true when the manager has difficulty communicating directions clearly.
The manager resists delegating for fear of losing control.
What do the terms "centralized" and "decentralized" mean as they pertain to delegation of authority?
Centralized is the extent to which authority isn't delegated, but concentrated at higher levels of management. Decentralized is the extent to which authority is delegated.
What are the signs that one's organization is becoming decentralized?
1. more decisions are made by lower levels of management.
2. More important decisions are made by lower levels of management.
3. More flexibility is allowed for lower level managers in interpreting policies.
4. More autonomy is allowed for lower level managers in decision making
What are the benefits of decentralized organizations?
Lower level managers can deal with problems on the spot.
It provides opportunity for lower level managers to develop their decision making skills. EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT.
Motivation of lower level managers is boosted when they're entrusted to make decisions rather than just always following orders. Their jobs are enriched.
It spreads the organization's work load out and allows top managers more time for strategic planning.
When does an organization need to decentralize?
Decentralization becomes necessary as an organization grows in size because coordination problems force you to make others responsible/accountable for coordination. With decentralization, it allows one to be more responsive to the environment because it provides for quicker coordination
What does span of control mean?
Span of control refers to the number of subordinates/people who report directly to a supervisor
What is the relationship between span of control and organizational height?
The narrower the span of control, the taller the organization (e.g. more management levels) and the wider the span of control, the flatter the organization (e.g. fewer management levels).
What is the paradox of managerial control as it relates to span of control?
The paradox of managerial control with narrow spans of control is that narrow spans of control allow managers tighter control over their subordinates but this loosens overall control from top to bottom in the organization because there are now more managerial levels. The result of narrow spans of control and hence, more levels of management, is a greater distortion of communication traveling up and down the scalar chain in the organization. These successive management levels act as filters in the communication process. Therefore, in an organization where there are narrow spans of control, top management has less control over lower levels of management.
What is the optimal span of control?
There is no optimal span of control
What are the factors that narrow span of control? Widen span of control?
-The manager is inexperienced & has not managed before; should be given fewer
ppl...narrower
-You supervise employees that are well-trained & experience & really know their jobs causes you to fewer more of them b/c they don't really need you
-If subordinated inexperienced & not well-trained need a lot of help & you can only manage a few of them
-Teachers have wider spans of control in college b/c hopefully better trained & more experienced
-You operate in a stable environment...widens span of control...you don't need to make changes quickly; narrow if environment is dynamic & changing quickly
-You have a lot of paperwork to do & a lot of committees to sit in on...will
decrease...narrow your span of control b/c more time doing that then are managing; if given administrative assistant will widen span of control