The structural framework (Advanced) Flashcards
Explain Greiner’s theory of corporate growth
That companies in periods where the leaders have adapted to previous challenges that are interrupted by revolutions of instability where internal and external conditions change f.ex due to the consequences of the growth.
Explain Greniners growth phases
Phase 1, growth to creativity leads to a crises of leadership;
Phase 2, growth through direction leads to a crises of autonomy;
Phase 3, growth through delegation leads to a crises of control;
Phase 4, growth through coordination leads to a crises of red tape;
Phase 5, growth through collaboration leads to ?
Explain Phase 1 of Grainers growth phases
“Creativity” The founders just focus on developing the product adhoc but when the company grows people loose the ability to be aware of all the moving parts at the same time they do their task and thus they fail to cooperate and the company becomes inefficient. A crises of lack of leadership
Explain Phase 2 of Grainers growth phases
“Direction” A strong manager is introduced that introduces a machine bureaucratic hierarchy. This makes the business more internally efficient but the absolute authority of manager neglects the insights of the producers who feel hampered by the lack of “autonomy” triggering the second crises as much of the skill leaves the company.
Explain Phase 3 of Grainers growth phases
“Delegation” The company is divided into divisions that gain greater autonomy and responsibility for their own profitabillity, this decentralization leads to greater adaptability to market conditions and so external efficiency but in time different departments begin to pull in different directions and conflict over budget. It becomes difficult for top management to allocate resources which is a crisis of “control”
Explain Phase 4 of Greiners growth phases
“Coordination” Not increased top down power but more sophisticated techno structure like making divisions according to both product and market and to improve the incentive structures. However upon further growth the company reaches a limit where the group can no longer be properly managed and a lack of trust begins to build between the line managers and the maintainers of the techno-structure. A crises of inefficient “red-tape” bureaucracy.
Explain Phase 5 of Grainers growth phases
“Collaboration” replace some of the techno structure with an increase in teamwork, meetings and collaboration between the departments and more horizontal coordination. The intensive teamwork might however lead to social pressure, competition and stress which might lead to a mental health crises. This can be mitigated through support structure and an encouragement of a healthy work life balance
Explain how Thompson determines if an organizations central processes are seen as simple or complex
Through pooled/parallel dependencies, sequential dependency necessitating vertical-coordination/techno-structure and mutual dependency. If there are more dependencies it is a sign of increased complexity
What is pooled dependency
how much units effect each other nececitating hierarchy
What is sequential dependency
How much units depend on the result of others like bread store relies on bakers
What is mutual dependency
How much one unit needs to change depending on other units)which is a sign of complexity and thus necessitate horizontal coordination
What is the short comings of Mintzbergs, Greiners and Thompson’s analysis of the corporate environment in his multidimensional corporate analysis model
It only looks at the internal environment and fails to take into account external factors, thus it is good to complement his model with the PESTLE model of the external Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal conditions for uncertainty
What makes a company Lean
Continuous improvement implemented both from top down and employees to remove bottle necks, flow efficiency through removing buffer stocks and separate quality assurance department to achieve zero defects and just in time delivery. They also reduce the waiting time of customers as much as possible.
Explain Modig and Åhlströms efficiency matrix
Y axis stand for flow efficiency and the x axis stands for resource efficiency. Low in both is called an efficiency dessert, high flow efficiency is called the efficiency ocean, high resource (price/cost) efficiency is called an efficiency island, high efficiency in general is called the perfect state.
What determines if exchanges should take place on markets or in a hierarchical firm according to Williamson
Transaction costs which are determined by the amount of providers and the distribution of information. More alternatives and greater trust leads to less need for control which makes it attractive to outsource.
How does the network develop Williamson’s transaction cost model
It states that because all suppliers are different there will always be information symmetry and thus risk in open markets, to counteract this companies should invest time and effort to create networks, get to know and adjust themselves to the alternatives on the market
How can companies adjust themselves to heterogeneous resources in a network
They can create bonds by adjusting to other parties technologies, administrative processes, share knowledge, social positioning and sign legal contracts to outline the terms of cooperation. More resources adjusted will lead to lower transaction costs
What are the cons with adjusting your company to other companies resources
The lock in effect, it is more difficult and comparatively expensive to switch suppliers when you have sunk cost into the relationship
How can the Mintzberg related modles be combined with the transaction cost models
The network strategy and the low lock in strategy can be likened to horizontal coordination/adhoc and vertical coordination/machine bureaucracy. By drawing this parallel it leads to the conclusion that networks are better in uncertain environments while a more hierarchical take it or leave it approach is better when secure
When working in groups should you divide the work according to the structural framework
Yes, the structural framework encourages division of labor, the ones most suited for specific tasks should be the ones who do them. However this does not mean that everything should be done individually, some tasks may be better made in pairs and others in larger groups
Give some examples of how to coordinate teams according to the structural framework
Appoint a leader and create a schedule with meetings and deadlines. Also clearly define individual responsibilities
Explain the waterfall model of a project
Plan and research first before you start working, rarely applicable to real life
Explain the stage/phase/tollgate model of a project
A waterfall model that is divided into different subgoals with a bit more wiggle room
What is a Gantt chart
A chart that measures the duration of several parallel projects and/or their expected resource consumption and duration through time in a horizontal bar chart
What is a PERT chart
A gantt chart that includes the logical sequence that the project should follow whatever that means
What is Weber’s position on the stakeholders rights in a bureaucracy
They should only be focused on if it is agreed in a democratic process, bureaucracies should be machines for strictly defined purposes
What are the strengths of the structural framework
It describes the firms processes clearly. It is also is normatively powerful and can give clear causes of concern and offer solution like making a more horizontal coordination in periods of uncertainty
What are the weaknesses of the structural framework
It fails to account for the informal, idealistic and emotional elements of people in a company, it provides excuses to blame the system for all short comings. Furthermore reducing all to machine-like logic fails to motivate most members under the structure, they become “specialists without spirit”
What are the most important questions to ask when making a structural analysis
How does the companies organizational structure look and is the given hierarchy and complexity appropriate for the current situation
