Question

In this case GM employed a traditional centralized structure with strong functional silos. The vignette that opened this chapter suggested that many organizations are now employed team-based structures that cut across functions. How might this approach have helped prevent some of the problems illustrated in this case?

Answer 1

Answer: Here, the GM wants to commit towards the role of safety but the organization is committed to reducing costs. The GM is aiming for safety, so he will design the work flow accordingly. On the other hand, the work flow made by the organization will be according to their aim of reduced price. Here, the individual interest is not same as the organization interest. It will be difficult to make work flow. So in somewhat way, it is important to turn the individual GM interest towards organization interest. As the organization wants to reduce the cost and GM want safety. If there will be safety obviously it will reduce the expenses spend for the damages, which can occur because of ignoring safety. The difference between 2 can be that firm wants to reduce the cost of overall firm, but GM wants to focus only on the safety. The firm’s goal is for large scale for whole firm but the GM wants to focus on small.