Question

1. Assume you have just started working for a company that does not have an organizational chart that shows reporting relationships. How would you go about determining to whom your boss reports and where your department fits in the overall organization structure?

2. Describe managerial skills and behaviors that would be required to manage effectively in a functional department. Are these skills and behaviors different from those required in a product department? Please explain.

3. For what type of an organization would you prefer to work? Organic or mechanistic? Please explain.

4. Assume you are starting your own business, and want the organizational structure to be a virtual one. What are the advantages and disadvantages of creating such a virtual organization?

Answer 1

1 My first step in determining whom my boss reports to would be to speak to my boss. They should be able to provide the information of whom they report to and other members of the team. My boss should also be able to give me a general understanding of the overall organization structure, but more investigating on my part would be needed to get a good understanding. Knowing who my coworkers, I would set up time to meet with the most senior workers as they could provide me with a better understanding of the overall organization structure. Speaking with senior coworkers, they could provide me with an understanding of what other groups we interact with. If my boss or coworkers were not so helpful or clear, another option would be to speak with Human Resources. Human Resources could also provide this information.

2 Managerial skills and behavior that would be required to effectively manage in a functional department are for the manager to be the subject matter expert in their function. As they are structured on a functional basis it is important for the manager to be the most knowledgeable, but to also have a vision for the overall departmental goals. The skills and behaviors do not differ from those requiredin a product department. In a product departmentalization, such as a functional one, the skills and behaviors of the managers are to be authorities, responsible, and accountable for their product/function.

3 Personally, I would prefer to work for an organic structure organization. As the book states, “the mechanistic model seeks to maximize efficiency and production, the organic model seeks to maximize satisfaction, flexibility, and development”. Since I have been a student prior to being full time at DTE, I had the opportunity to know that DTE is mechanistic organization. There are plenty of opportunities for advancement, work-life balance, and your opinions matter and are considered. I would much rather continue to work for an organic organization versus a mechanistic one, where there is no confidence or trust.

4

The advantages of a virtual organization are:

· Efficiency and flexibility, exploit advantages of the mechanistic and organic organization designs.

· Outsource noncore processes and the production of component parts and services to take advantage of the latest technologies and to control costs.

· Enable the principal organization to rely upon the smaller, closer-to-the-market partner to sense impending changes in the environment and to respond at the local level, which relieve the parent organization on that necessity.

The disadvantages of a virtual organization are:

· Lack of quality control of suppliers.

· Due to distance, the inability to collaborate, work in teams.