Benjamin H. S. Scott, Jr
HRDV 5630
Chapters 14, 18, 20

Chapter 14 dealt with restructuring organizations. There are three traditional organizational structures. These three structures are “functional departments that are task specialized, self-contained divisional units that are oriented to specific products, customers, or regions, and matrix structures that combine both functional specialization and self-containment” (Cummings, T., & Worley, C. p. 315). Due to accelerated changes in technologies and more intense competition, organizations have retooled their structures to be more holistic and flexible. “These more recent innovations include process structures that design subunits around the organization’s core processes, customer-centric structures that focus attention and resources on specific customer or customer segments, and network-based structures that link the organization to other, interdependent organizations” (Cummings, T., & Worley, C. p. 316) . The two restructuring interventions, downsizing and reengineering, were discussed for the rest of the chapter. Downsizing, according to Cummings, T., and Worley, C. (2009), decreases the size of the organization through workforce reduction (layoffs) or organizational redesign. The results of downsizing are mostly negative. The "negative productivity and employee consequences" (Cummings, T., & Worley, C. p. 337) couple with less than expected results and "reduced trust and loyalty" (Cummings, T., & Worley, C. p. 337). With reengineering, again, according to Cummings, T., and Worley, C. (2009), is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business process to achieve dramatic improvements in performance. It seeks to transform how organizations traditionally produce and deliver goods and services. A typical reengineering project prepares the organization, rethinks the way