Week 5

Question 1

What is departmentalisation

Answer 1

Grouping jobs together and defining units so that similar or associated tasks and activities can be coordinated

Question 2

Describe the different types of departmentalisation

Answer 2

Task : based on the primary functions performed
Product : based on the goods/services produced or sold
Geographic : based on the geographic segmentation or organisational units

Question 3

Describe the FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE

Answer 3

Divides work by type. Tends to be centralised as it is only at the senior level that the melding of the activities of the various functions occur

Question 4

List the STRENGTHS of the FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE

Answer 4

1. Allows economies of scale
2. Enables in depth knowledge and skill development
3. Organisations accomplish functional goals
4. Best with only one or a few products

Question 5

List the WEAKNESSES of the FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE

Answer 5

1. Slow response time
2. May cause decisions to pile on top (hierarchy overload)
3. Poor horizontal coordination among departments
4. Less innovation
5. Restricted view of organisational goals

Question 6

Describe the DIVISIONAL STRUCTURE

Answer 6

Individuals and functions are grouped together into divisions according to the specific demands of products and geographic markets.
Divisions are usually responsible for their own business from start to finish

Question 7

List the STRENGTHS of DIVISIONAL STRUCTURE

Answer 7

1. Suited to fast change
2. Leads to customer satisfaction
3. High coordination among groups
4. Allows units to adapt to differences in products, regions, customers
5. Best in large organisations with several products
6. Decentralised decision-making

Question 8

List the WEAKNESSES of DIVISIONAL STRUCTURE

Answer 8

1. Eliminates economies of scale
2. Leads to poor coordination across product lines
3. Eliminates in-depth competence
4. Makes integration and standardisation across product lines difficult

Question 9

Describe a MATRIX STRUCTURE

Answer 9

There are different types of grouping at the same time
Top: functional grouping
Left: project grouping

Question 10

What do the functional manager and the project manager hold respectively? What is a team?

Answer 10

Functional manager: manpower + talent
Project manager: money

Team : basic building block for the matrix (principal mechanism for coordination and integration)

Question 11

List the STRENGTHS of a MATRIX STRUCTURE

Answer 11

1. Coordination
2. Flexible sharing of Human Resources
3. Suited to complex decisions and frequent changes
4. Opportunities for both functional and product skill development
5. Best in medium-sized organisations with multiple products

Question 12

List the WEAKNESSES of a MATRIX STRUCTURE

Answer 12

1. Participants experience dual authority
2. Participants need good interpersonal skills and extensive training
3. Time consuming
4. Won’t work if participants DON’T understand it and DON’T adopt collegial rather than vertical type relationships
5. Requires great effort to maintain power balance