Chapter 6 Review essay questions
1) Structure is important for business or any venture that function with multiple different areas of expertise. In the example of universities, departments separate different areas of education (ie. Biology, Business, journalism etc.) In order to strengthen the common structure that is the school itself. By creating departments the entity strengthens its structure by organizing divisions in a way that it reduces functional duplication and enhances activities done with in departments by focusing on only that area of education. Aspects that support this structure can be seen all around us, for example our government law making process. There are three branches of law that each specializes in distinct aspects, however in order to successfully pass a law the branches must communicate and reach a mutual decisions, making them independently dependent on each other. I do not foresee the university structure changing in the near future; this is because its already organized in a way that promotes maximum productivity within department.
2)Newly hired managers are typically not put in charge of redesign or total organizational design because the manager has not yet understood the current design. Structures are usually intricate systems that depend on different areas of expertise in order to fulfill their own function. When a new manager enters the picture if he is given the ability to change part of the structure he could very well damage the system as a whole causing tremendous damage. Early in your career it is important to understand the structure of the company you work for because in order to improve a system you must understand what works well and what does not. Once a manager understands this he can more efficiently make changes that will benefit improve the structure instead of possibly defeating a core function because of an error in the way you thought the structure held up or the integration mechanism functioned.
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