1. You work for LL Company, which manufactures high-end optical scopes for hunti
ID: 435730 • Letter: 1
Question
1. You work for LL Company, which manufactures high-end optical scopes for hunting rifles. LL Company has been the market leader for the past 20 years and has decided to diversify by applying its technology to develop a top-quality binocular. What kind of project management structure would you recommend they use for this project? What information would you like to have to make this recommendation, and why? (10 points) 2. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of the functional, matrix, and dedicated team approaches to managing projects? If you had to work for a company and you could magically convert it to one of the three team approaches, which team approach would you pick and why? Which team approach does a project manager prefer? Which team approach does a functional manager prefer? (10 points) 3. Is the culture of an organization created top-down or bottom-up? Do the founders of a company have a short term or long-term impact on the culture of an organization? What happens to new hires when they do not conform the culture of an organization? Are the new hires forced to comply or challenge the status quo? Pick an example of a large public company and a past or future leader to help illustrate. (10 points)Explanation / Answer
Answer 1: As per the information provided in the question the company wants to diversify the product portfolio by introducing a new but related /similar product ( from high quality lenses for hunting rifles to high quality binoculars) in which they have some degree of expertise. This type of diversification falls under the category of concentric diversification.For the project to be successful the correct project management structure should be decided so that the team is aligned with the project objectives.
The kind of project management (organizational ) structure that would be most suitable for this kind of scenario depends on various factors like:
- Product prioritization
-Availability of the resources
- Accuracy of the estimation for budget , schedule and resources for NPD( New Product Development)
- Economies of scale and scope in the production of existing product and new product development
-Degree of Decomposition and integration required
-Amount of inter -department/disciplinary collaboation needed
-Specialization( specific skillsets) needed for NPD
-The roles and responsibilities of the team members
Considering the fact that one is a well established amd mature product and the other one is a New product development, weak matrixed project organization structure would be most suitable. Since a new product has to be developed cross disciplinary/inter departmental interaction is very important. So each project team should comprise of representation from various disciplines and should be lead by a project manager. However the project managers should report to a functional manager who would have a final say in terms of schedule, resource allocation and budgeting. The individual project managers should be responsible for allocation of tasks, managing schedule, resource allocation withing their individual teams. This will help in avoiding any conflict of interest and it is expected that the functional manager will use his/her discretion in responding to the situation promptly based on the organizational priorities rather than individual project priorities.
A projectised oranisation would be more suitable only if there is one product and the company is in its inception.
A functional organization is not the best choice as this would reduce interdisciplinary interaction and knowledge transfer and interdisciplinary interaction is quintessential for new product development.
Answer 2:The relative advantages and disadvantages of various project organizational structures are as follows:
Functional organizational structure:
Advantages:
-The resources are more skilled in their respective departments/key domains
-Responsibility and accountability is distinctly specified. If anything goes wrong ,everyone knows whom to contact
-It yields increased work productivity and efficiency
Disadvantages:
-It has a hierarchical structure
-Cross departmental communication is extremely poor
-Work becomes monotonous for the resources
-It may result in less loyalty for the company
-Decision making may not be fast and bureucracy may obstruct smooth working
Projectized organizational structure:
Advantages:
-Leads to more efficient utilization of resources a resources are freed and utilized wherever they are needed
-There is a clear and established line of authority
-It results in faster decision making and smooth working
-Communication between the resources if frequent and highly effective
-The resources get opportunity to upskill ,cross skill themselves as they get to work across multiple projects
Disadvantages:
-Resources may be overburdened at time if they are allocated to multiple projects
-Resources may not be able to catch up and communicate properly if they are busy across multiple projects
Matrix organizational structure:
Advantages:
- It encompasses the best features of functional and projectised organizational structure
-It helps in increasing the efficiency
-It adds a lot of flexibility and helps companies operate in dynamic environment
-It helps companies respond promptly to changing customer and market demands
-Clear articulation of project objectives
-Efficient inter-disciplinary communication
Disadvantages:
-There will be 2 lines of reporting and resources will be struck in between
-Increases organizational complexity
-Increased management overhead costs
-Potential managerial conflicts( especially in a balanced matrix structure)
A project manager prefers a projectised organizational structure in which he/she assumes the full project authority and has jurisdiction over budget , schedule and resources
A functional manager would prefer a functional organizational structure where authority-driven decisions on budget, schedule, and equipment shall be vested to the functional manager who would possess a significant level of domain expertise.
Answer 3: We shall take the example of Tata and Sons, one of the largest conglomerates and well known publicly traded organization. The organizational culture embedded by its past leader Jamshedji Tata has been carried forward by his successors.
In majority of the cases the organizational culture is top down. The shared assumptions, values and beliefs of the founders an top executives act as cornerstones for organization culture which guides the organizational policies towards employees and customers.The founders have a long term impact on the oranizational culture as they stand on the top of the organizational pyramid and other in the oganization take cue from their behaviour and actions. The mission and vision statement of the organization is based on the perception of the founders .For Tata the cornerstones of their organizational culture are
-values
-integrity
-excellence
-understanding
-unity and
-responsibility
Tata is known as the most ethical company in the world and has a culture based on strong ethics and values.
The past leaders including the founder has bult a strong and committed top executive team,acted as role model and reletlessly pursued their goals
Every employee of Tata including new hires are trained to never compromise on ethics. They should exhibit culturally appropriate behaviour in every country they operate and deal on behalf of the company in a professional, honest manner conforming to the hgh ethical and moral standards of the organization.
Each employee is expected to follow the code of ethics and any non compliance may even lead to termination of employment.Ethical lapses are seriously taken and thoroughly investigated.Investigations are carried out after drawing their authority from ethics counsellor/audit committee. The investigators submit their report and basis their findings disciplinary or corrective action is recommended .The ethics counsellor submits the report to the audit committee for initiating appropriate action.
Tata has also demonstrated high custmer service standards and also takes very good care of its employees through several schemes. Even the appraisal management system weighs heavily on compliance to ethics and alignent towards organizational objectives.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.