...September 28, 2013 Organizational structure by definition consists of activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. This structure determines how the roles, power and responsibilities are assigned, controlled, and coordinated and how information flows between the different levels of management. A structure depends on the organization’s objective strategy. My employer, Rainforest Café, uses a centralized structure. Landry’s Incorporated is the owner and operator of more than 450 properties including McCormick & Schmick’s, Chart House, Bubba Gump Shrimp, Claim Jumper, Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino and Rainforest Café just to name a few. As one of America’s largest dining, entertainment, gaming and hospitality companies, Landry’s guarantees the moment a guests walks into one of the properties, the ambiance will solidify that they are in for something special. Landry’s renowned reputation is upheld by an unwavering commitment to customer service and satisfaction. When it comes to Rainforest Café centralized structure, the top layer of management has most of the decision making power and has tight control over departments and divisions. The decisions made by the higher management are typically communicated to lower organizational tiers who are then expected to accept and move forward in a way consistent with those decisions. In contrast, decentralized organizational structure has several individuals...
Words: 1050 - Pages: 5
...A centralized company is a company which relies on one individual, central person to make all the decisions of the company and direct the company. This is more commonly used in small companies as there is a small amount of people therefore control is very easy with only 1 person. Advantages - Efficiency when making decisions Objectives are set and there is only one leader, so it is easier to decide on things. Disadvantage - Stress on the leader So many decisions coming to the leader puts a lot of stress on the leader Short Term Effects Decisions will be easy and efficient, and the company can expand fast Long Term Effects Employees might not be happy to be under control of one person, as evident in the testimonies from ex-Microsoft workers A decentralized company is a company which implements several individuals which help to make all the decisions, not just one person who does all the decisions for the company. A very good example of a company that utilizes the decentralized organizational substructure is Apple. Advantage - Broad Based Knowledge A broad base and many different groups and people make it easier to acquire different kinds of knowledge. Disadvantage - Conflicting opinions Decisions can be hard to make because of the different people making decisions. Short Term Effects There will be a lot of innovation as different kinds of ideas help provide a variety. Long Term Effects Slow decisions have a possibility of making the company...
Words: 412 - Pages: 2
...Organizational Theory – Organizational Systems Analysis Organizational Theory – Summary Paper Today’s organizations draw upon the concepts of social and cultural anthropology, political science, strategic management, and organizational behavior. To become a successful manager in today’s organizations, mangers must understand and adjust to organizational concepts, implementation and management of change within organizations, concepts of systems of theory problem solving and decision making. As a manger in my current organization, this course has taught me how to improve my managerial skills through recognizing and understanding the concepts mentioned above. The following is a complete system analysis of my company based on the Six-Box Model. Within the six-box model I will demonstrate how the following factors: (1) Boundaries and Environments; (2) Organizational Structure; (3) Formal and Informal Systems; (4) Reward Systems; (5) Power; (6) Force Field Analysis, (7) Organizational Interventions; and (8) Reactions to Proposed Changes affect a managers management style. Organizational Boundaries and Environments Boundaries in organizations can be defined as “the umbrella under which rules are implemented to shape their purpose and goals.” (Ware, 2005). Boundaries are in place to determine the sphere of influence for the internal activities of an organization and to govern the reactions to external environments...
Words: 3882 - Pages: 16
...2. What, in your opinion, is the difference between a decentralized architecture and a centralized architecture? What is an example of a business decision that would be affected by the choice of the architecture? Centralization implies having one center of control. One may have two DNS servers in each bureau of an organization, yet they all may be controlled by a solitary element. Then again, decentralized frameworks appropriate control to numerous parts. In our DNS case, each of those offices may keep up and control its own particular DNS server, being in charge of keeping up the ability set to keep focused of the innovation as it changes, to modeler the frameworks as it sees fit, and to screen the administration. Organizations can structure IT in a centralized or decentralized way. Centralization is an attempt to enhance proficiency by taking advantages of potential economies like enhancing the average; it might also reduce the occurrences of any mistakes. Decentralization is an attempt to enhance speed and adaptability by redesigning to build neighborhood control and execution of an administration. Decentralization implies splitting against the disappointing bureaucratic methods of old and giving access to everyone. For example, it implies somebody has turned out to be so disappointed with an incorporated administration that "do it yourself" has the capability of being better. In the current environment decentralization is regularly an intentional reaction to the quicker...
Words: 425 - Pages: 2
...Corporate Strategy Through the Multidivisional Structure • Functional or product structures are not sufficient when a company enters new industries • Multidivisional structure innovations – Divisions (operating responsibility) – Corporate headquarters staff to monitor divisions (strategic responsibility) – Each division may be organized 13 - 2 Multidivisional Structure 13 - 3 Advantages of a Multidivisional Structure • • • • Enhanced corporate financial control Enhanced strategic control Growth Stronger pursuit of internal efficiency 13 - 4 Problems in Implementing a Multidivisional Structure • Establishing the divisional-corporate authority relationship • Distortion of information • Competition for resources • Transfer pricing • Short-term R&D focus • Duplication of functional resources 13 - 5 Structure, Control, Culture, and Corporate-Level Strategy • Unrelated diversification – Easiest and cheapest strategy to manage – Allows corporate managers to evaluate divisional performance easily and accurately – Divisions have considerable autonomy – No integration among divisions is necessary 13 - 6 Structure, Control, Culture, and Corporate-Level Strategy (cont’d) • Vertical integration – More expensive than unrelated diversification – Multidivisional structure provides necessary controls to achieve benefits from the control of resource transfers – Must strike balance between centralized and decentralized control – Divisions must have input regarding...
Words: 783 - Pages: 4
...Organizational Structure of Angel Alce March 18, 2013 MGT/230 Monica Frechette The selected organization for this topic is Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH). MGH delivers excellence in patient care, which is advanced through innovative research and education of the diverse communities it serves. A description of MGH’s organizational structure will be provided. Two other organizational structures will be selected for the use of contrast and comparison to MGH. Lastly, the organizational functions of the various structures will be identified to determine influence on the organizational structure. MGH has most recently been ranked as the top hospital overall in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. It is ranked nationally in all adult specialties as well as for pediatric specialties. MGH was the original teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School (HMS) and is currently one of over a dozen hospitals affiliated with HMS. MGH is owned by Partners HealthCare, which was formed by MGH and Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1994. With the opening of the Lunder Building in 2011, MGH is now the largest hospital in Massachusetts with 1,051 beds to service its community. Additionally, MGH has most recently been ranked as the top hospital overall in the United States by U.S. News & World Report 2012 – 2013 – a spot previously held by a different hospital. All these progressive decisions moving the hospital forward must begin somewhere. ...
Words: 910 - Pages: 4
...culture itself comes from the Latin term pronounce as cultura, which is related to cult or worship. In general, the term refers to the feedback of human interaction. Culture is knowledge that acquired that people use to interpret experience and generate social behaviour. This knowledge forms values, creates attitudes, and influences behaviour. Somehow, culture also has the characteristics of being learned, shared, trans-generational, symbolic, patterned, and adaptive. There are also many dimensions of cultural diversity, which is focus on centralized vs. decentralized decision making, safety vs. risk, individual vs. group rewards, informal vs. formal procedures, high vs. low organizational loyalty, cooperation vs. competition, short-term vs. long-term horizons, and stability vs. innovation area in this assignment. This assignment will focus on central and decentralized decision making, individual and group reward, high and low organizational loyalty as well as cooperation and competition in US, German and Japan. Start with Unites State culture. US is a well develop country that merely focus on effective and efficient strategy in their business. They have developed a culture that high in confidence and respect....
Words: 2242 - Pages: 9
...Challenges Instructions: Fill in the blanks and turn into Blackboard as indicated by the instructor. Please use full sentences in your answers and correct grammar. You will be providing definitions in the top portion of the document and answers to learning goals in the bottom portion. Word | Definition | Organizing | A management function that includes designing the structure of the organization and creating conditions and systems in which everyone and everything work together to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives. | Division of Labor | Determining what work needs to be done and then dividing up the tasks among the three of you. | Job specialization | Dividing tasks into smaller jobs. | Departmentalization | The process of setting up individual departments to do specialized tasks. | Organizational structure | Consists of devising a division of labor; setting up teams or departments to do specific task; and assigning responsibility and authority to people. It also includes allocating resources, assigning specific tasks, and establishing procedures for accomplishing the organizational objectives. | Economies of scale | The situation in which companies can reduce their production costs if they can purchase raw materials in bulk; the average cost of goods goes down as production levels increase. | Unity of command | Each worker is to report to one, and only one, boss. | Esprit de corps | A spirit of pride and loyalty should be created among people in...
Words: 926 - Pages: 4
...AMBA 610 Question 1 Week 4 University of Maryland University College 1. What are the differences in the design models? Compare and contrast the standard airline organizational functional structure model with the hybrid structure based on independent business units Functional Structure: • All functions report directly to a CEO (centralized authority) • People with the same set of skills are group together (individual specialization) • Characterized by horizontal differentiation • Peers in the same function can supervise each other (as per Jones, chapter 15) • Likely to develop norms to increase effectiveness and develop core competencies, and to use standards as a measure of productiveness. • As business becomes more differentiated, the functional model can develop problems with effective communication, measurements, locations, new customer groups, and strategic problems. Hybrid/Business Unit Structure: • Each “unit” reports to a manager, who is then responsible to the corporate center and CEO (decentralized authority) • People are grouped into “functions” according to market/customer demands, and work to achieve goals together (joint specialization) • Characterized by an increase in both vertical AND horizontal differentiation from the functional model. (vertical is 3 levels instead of 2, horizontal is 12 functional groups instead of 9) • Tasks are coordinated through mutual adjustment, with the different business units working together to increase efficiency...
Words: 466 - Pages: 2
...What is Organizational Development? Organizational Development An organization includes any situation in which two or more persons are involved in a common pursuit or objective. Based on this informal definition then we would like to start our discussion with an assumption that organizations, just like human beings, have cycles of development, each characterized by its specific problems, crises and ways to overcome them. In essence then, Organizational Development is a planned system of change in pursuit of the organization staying relevant to the evolving stakeholder’s needs and environment of operation. Organizational Development is the future readiness of an organization to meet change and a thus a systemic learning and development strategy intended to change the basics of beliefs, attitudes and relevance of values, and structure of the current organization to better absorb disruptive technologies, shrinking or exploding market opportunities and ensuing challenges and chaos. Organizational Development deals with improving a company’s performance and individual development of its employees. Organization development is an ongoing, systematic process of implementing effective organizational change. Organization development is known as both a field of applied behavioral science focused on understanding and managing organizational change and as a field of scientific study and inquiry. It is interdisciplinary in nature and draws on sociology, psychology, and theories of...
Words: 1584 - Pages: 7
...E-compensation Dr. Dana Richmond HRM 520 March 6, 2013 Strayer University Assess the advantages and disadvantages of using a Web-based compensation tool versus a client-server based or stand-alone PC-based system and then give your opinion on which system would provide the most value to an organization’s stakeholders. Include three (3) facts to support your opinion? A few advantages of using the web compensation tool are, first web compensation tools can increase access to critical compensation information without the need for sophisticated or dedicated IT staffs and sophisticated technology infrastructures. Information can be accessed electronically or on an as needed basis. The second advantage is that e-compensation tools enable round the clock availability of meaningful compensation information to senior managers, Human Resources (HR) managers and employees, Whereas with a client based server applications are installed on a user's computer or workstation, and interact with data and programs on a server and this information is not readily available round the clock. The third e-compensation tools can streamline cumbersome tasks through the introduction of workflow functionality and real-time information processing, (Gueutel, 2005, p. 167). A disadvantage to the web-based compensation tool in comparison to a client based server is you have to constantly deal with security issues which include breach of information. The system that would essentially...
Words: 1661 - Pages: 7
...Centralization In a centralized organization all of the commands come down from one head individual. Centralization is a popular business model in small organizations because the owner is in charge of all the companies operations. The owner's decisions are then passed down a chain of command. There are many benefits to centralizing an organization. The strict chain of command helps to keep the organization systematized. In turn the processes can help to reduce cost, improve coordination, the quality of work and communication. Like everything centralization also has its downfalls, which include the formation of a bureaucracy where all decisions need to be passed back up the chain of command causing the owner to burdened with decisions a lower level employee could handle them self. Due to the structure of a centralized organization it allows for the company to potentially cut cost in its operations. Since the managers delegate tasks and policy they have a strong knowledge about what is going on inside the company. They know the strengths and weaknesses of the business and how things should operate. In addition to this they also have strict control of the budget and their products. This knowledge helps them to make smart and safe decisions when it comes to taking on new projects, and not allowing unauthorized employees to make such decisions without their knowledge. Having the owner make the final decision on expenditures makes frivolous spending nearly nonexistent. Another...
Words: 804 - Pages: 4
...Network Structure and Inter-organizational Knowledge Sharing Capability ABSTRACT This paper examines how the structure of a supply network can affect the inter-organizational knowledge sharing capability, which is expressed by absorptive capacity and shared identity. The supply network structure is analyzed by two dimensions – formality and centrality. Propositions about the relationships between network structure and knowledge sharing capability are suggested at the end. Subject Areas: Supply chain management, Inter-organizational knowledge sharing, Absorptive capacity, Shared identity, Network structure. 1 1. INTRODUCTION Historically, individual organizations have tried to improve their own performance in an effort to gain competitive advantage. Today, the success of an individual organization depends largely on the performance of its suppliers and customers [1]. Consequently, supply chain or supply network management is one of the critical success factors in today’s marketplace [2]. As organizations increasingly connect with and rely on partners and suppliers in their supply networks, interdependencies among these organizations naturally increase. This increase, in turn, makes today’s supply networks more complex [3], and members of such complex supply networks face many sources of uncertainties – internal as well as external1. Fisher [4] argues that the strategy of the supply network – lean vs. responsive – should be aligned with the product types – functional vs. innovative...
Words: 4801 - Pages: 20
...the term culture? In what way can measuring attitudes about the following help to differentiate between cultures: centralized or decentralized decision making, safety or risk, individual or group rewards, high or low organizational loyalty, cooperation or competition? Use these attitudes to compare the United States, Germany, and Japan. Based on your comparisons, what conclusions can you draw regarding the impact of culture on behavior? Ans:- culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization. Culture is the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behavior. This knowledge forms values, creates attitudes, and influences behavior (Hodges, 2005). Centralized versus decentralized cultures are different in which the top managers or leaders make all the important decisions in a centralized culture and in a decentralized culture, the decisions are made throughout the levels. Safety and risk in some cultures are frowned upon because the results are unpredictable yet other cultures are “riskier” and encourage risk taking on all levels. The same can be said about individual versus group rewards. Some societies or organizations reward individually and other only based on the group effort. High or low organizational loyalty in cultures are different in which the high loyalty in an organization is where the person identifies himself...
Words: 3304 - Pages: 14
...Based on the case study titled Disney Design, we would like sharing how The Walt Disney Company can be so successful in till today in the entire world mainly due to its successful organizational management. Walt Disney was established in the year 1923. As each and everyone know Walt Disney is the 11th world most valuable brand with a market capital net-worth of USD 179.5 billion by May 2015, according to the Forbes Magazine. It was stating from 1923 at California and it is still so popular in movie, TV program, theme parks, resorts and destination, entertainment, and games. The Walt Disney Company is a diversifies worldwide entertainment company with operations in four major business parts which are studio entertainment, parks and resorts, media networks and consumer products. They have 11 theme parks around the world, cable television network like Disney channel and ESPN. After precisely doing several research and analysis towards the Walt Disney Company, we would like to discuss three major topic regarding about what environmental factors that influenced its management style, what type of organizational structure it is, and how and where might the informal organization be a real asset at Disney? Management style is particularly important during crisis. There are some significant environmental factors constantly affecting the management style of a business, including Disney. Disney has to operate in an extremely complex environment on account of the internationalization of...
Words: 3022 - Pages: 13
