Organizational Structure Responses
Responding to Charles Baldwin’s Post
Hello Charles,
This is a great post. You have done a great job highlighting information flow as the primary factor that affects an organizational structure. I also liked how you linked information flow to different organizational structures. The post mentions Coca-Cola as one of the companies that operate divisional structures. The head office has given five continental divisions to run operations independently. These divisions are headed by presidents who make many operational decisions without referring to the head office.
In addition, the post elaborates that the Coca-Cola Company uses a matrix structure. A matrix structure combines functional and divisional structures to make an effective team. Such a structure facilitates collaboration in problem-solving, teamwork, innovation, and creativity (Dess & Sauerwald, 2021). An excellent example of how a matrix structure works is when Coca-Cola’s research and development team collaborates with Coca-Cola Africa to penetrate the market. In that case, the R&D (research and development) team is the functional team, whereas Coca-Cola Africa is the divisional team. You have used the Coca-Cola Company to satisfactorily show how organizational structuring works.
References
Dess, G. G., & Sauerwald, S. (2021). Strategic management: text & cases. Mcgraw-Hill Education.
Response to Julianne Whittock’s Post
Hello Julliane,
This post is quite insightful. It explains how the two traditional organizational structure models are exhibited in contemporary organizations. In a centralized structure, a central command/office controls all decisions and operations (Ga; Law & Walker, 2009). The military is an excellent example of an organization with a centralized structure since all decisions are made from one command center. On the other hand, in a decentralized structure, functional or divisional segments of a business can make autonomous decisions. I agree that a decentralized system offers the much-needed flexibility to facilitate organizational growth.
The post also highlights the organizational structure in your current workplace as a centralized one. Despite the nature of a centralized system, you have explained that members of departmental teams have embraced democracy, such that the organization’s focus groups operate with democracy. Such open communication triggers creative thinking as members share ideas (Ga; Law & Walker, 2009). I agree that even in companies that still pursue the traditional centralized structure, individual employees are so ambitious to stick with that. As a result, the employees embrace democracy even if one person will make the final decision.
References
Ga, Law, J., & Walker. (2009). Title Centralization, organizational strategy, and public service performance. RM Citation Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(1), 57–80. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/37896169.pdf.
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Question 
Organizational Structure Responses
Julianne Whittock
Q1) What are the advantages of each of the organizational structures discussed in the readings? There is centralized and decentralized organizational structure with centralized organizational structure being the most widely used. The military is a good example of centralized organizational structure because of their very clear responsibilities for each role and who reports to who. However, decentralized organizational structures are widely popular in start up companies because it provides flexibility while the organization grows.
Q2) What kind of organizational structure does the organization use? The organization that I currently works for uses the centralized organization structure as a whole. Within different departments, you will see the decentralized organizational structure at work especially in our focus groups. People think outside the box with their creative ideas but still have to report to someone before final decisions are made.
Q3) What other structures might allow the organization to operate more effectively? The matrix structure is an open teams type of structure that reports to multiple leaders with lots of open communication between teams and allows companies to have more creative, innovative products and services.
References
1. Kenton, Will, Investopedia-“Organizational Structure for Companies with Examples of Benefits”. July 26, 2022: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/organizational- structure.asp
2. Team Asana, “What is a Matrix Organization and how does it work”. August 26, 2021: https://asana.com/resources/matrix-organization
Charles Baldwin
According to Bizfluent (2022), “There are a few factors that can determine the effectiveness of a business’s organizational structure. The first and most obvious deals with information flow. Can all employees access the information that they need to do their job and quickly find an internal hierarchy if they need it? If they cannot, then you have a problem with your organizational structure.” (effectiveness of organizational structures).The Coca-Cola company is an amazing corporation. This organization has a Separate International Division Structure because its international staffs operate separately and in isolation from the head office. It has different divisions in all continents around the world with presidents that control each continental division, and this company has 5 continental divisions. The other structure might Coca-cola used to operate more effectively, I choose Matrix Structure Combines Functional and Divisional Models might be the best this structure focus on increases the productivity of the team, promotes greater innovation and creativity and allows managers to cooperatively solve decision-making problems through group interaction. This structure allows multiple departments to easily communicate and collaborate on a project and this is more advantageous to Coca-Cola because they have lots of branches worldwide and because of this employee’s answer to multiple managers as opposed to just the functional manager, issues are resolved more quickly, and company-wide interaction is increased.
Bizfluent. (2022). Effective Organizational Structure. https://bizfluent.com/about-7217149-effective- organizational-structure.html