Organizational Structure Essay Example for Free

Organizational Structure Essay An organizational structure is a composition that specifies a companys hierarchical structure. There are various kinds of conformations that organizations can choose to build their business around. The organizational structure exemplifies the way in which control and business affairs have been appointed within the organization. Organizational structure encompasses the design of an organization though people positioning and responsibilities in order for organizational goals can be reached. Some of the time, a formal structure is not necessary due to a small informal business setting. In large organization responsibilities must be distributed. Hence, the reason that policies and procedures are established that assign responsibilities for numerous positions. The determination of these organizational functions (such as marketing, finance, human resources, and operations) influence and determine the organizational structure of your an organization. The three main types of organizational structures are functional structure, divisional structure, and matrix structure. Divisional Structure The structure that an organization is based around also is contingent on the enormity of the company. Divisional structure separates the faculty based on the commodity and customer demand verses geographical location. For example, each area within the organization is accountable for certain divisions. Each division has individual support systems such as finance department, marketing department, warehouse department, and maintenance department. Divisional structure is grants flexibility and is a decentralized structure. Divisional structure also grants quick adaptability to geographical changes. Divisional structure embellishes advancements in the market and industry and allows for various plans of action. However, this structure causes replication of resources due to each unit having the necessity of every resource. PepsiCo’s Organizational Design An example of an organization design around divisional structure is PepsiCo. PepsiCo is a flexible company that is constantly looking for new innovations and consistently adapts to the geographical market. PepsiCo has a decentralized organizational structure. The functional determinations are made in individual units with corporate control and direction. PepsiCo has one CEO and three division presidents. The companys hierarchical structure continues as each division is broken down into market units. Each market unit has a director. Furthermore each market unit is divided into regional units, then down the chain to sales units. Each unit has its own resources, such as marketing, finance, human resources, and operations departments. PepsiCo determines responsibilities by departmentalization. Departmentalization is a conglomeration of common duties and characterization of tasks. The influences of departmentalization are function, product, geographic, process and customer. PepsiCo maintains a span of control by making sure of correct distribution of responsibility among employees and task obligations are accounted for. For example, units are tasked with weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly forecast for sales, operations, overhead, and labor. Reports are sent weekly to account for these actions. Human resources departments are in each division to ensure control over the organization. There are guidelines and procedures in place to ensure the rules are being followed across the globe. Formalization sets the standard for the administered responsibility. Each unit at PepsiCo has management teams in place to ensure control of task performances. For example, a if a location has been tasked with a 1,000 case distribution for week one in the period and the sales teams are severely falling short on sales, management will step in to centralize the issue, reiterate the method of actions, and ensure the actions are conducted in a certain manner to achieve results. PepsiCo is multinational organization made up of three units which are PepsiCo Americas Foods, PepsiCo Americas Beverages and PepsiCo International. This structure allows the organization to focus on manifesting international markets, which will grant independence revenues, enabling focus on better product advancement. The organization is spread across the globe. However, the control is local, unlike a matrix structure that is located only in a single area (PepsiCo 2012). Matrix Structure A matrix structure formalizes line teams as well as the typical divisional hierarchy. The matrix structure is a hybrid between the functional and divisional structure, effectively creating independent business units for each product or service created or each unique market targeted. The matrix-structured organization is a project-based business that divides individual groups based on functional specializations. Variation of the matrix structure divides the authority by both functional and project areas. The functional manager heads up the functional areas of the organization. The project supervisor oversees the assigned project. This allows for management to focus on areas of proficiency. Companies such as General Motors has based its organization around the matrix structure due to the ability to specialize in specific areas, and organizational communication through other fields. General Motors believes the differentiation of ideas creates innovational determinations. The matrix structure also allows the human resources department to be shared throughout the organization. General Motors is made up of one main chief information officer (CIO) and several divisional CIOs that control the functionalities in the organization. General Motors also has process information officers that work in various areas of expertise across the organization. General Motors believes the matrix structure develops global commercialism (Daft 2007). Functional Structure Functional Structured organizations group tasks according to the target. Functional structured organizations work well for organizations that have a need for departments to rely on expertise of its faculty. A major disadvantage to a functional structured organization is the communication boundaries due to variation in departments that work individually. One company that a functional structure works well is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is one of America’s largest retailers. Wal-Mart is designed by a functional structure. Wal-Mart’s target market is a consumer with median incomes. Wal-Mart has a limited amount of functions in specialized areas with in the organization. Wal-Mart does not produce its goods, but has enough buying power to supply the demanded products. The organizational structure and large size enables the buying power to purchase goods at low prices. This buying power enables Wal-Mart to offer its target market lower prices creating a competitive edge over other retailers. A functional structured organization; such as Wal-Mart have a chief executive officer, limited executive staff, and department heads in domineering areas of expertise such as accounting, marketing, human resources and warehouse. Wal-Mart’s headquarters and executive staff is made up of a Chief of Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and Board of Directors, with supporting committees. Conclusion Determining an organizations structural design that will be the most effective for a specific company has great significance on organizational success. Using an unsuitable design structure can be consequential in communication, product development, customer service, and countless situations of other organizational issues. Organizational structure can determine the successful outcome of the organization. Reference Bateman, T. S., Snell, S. A. (2011). Management: Leading Collaborating in a Competitive World (ninth ed.). New York, NY: McGrall Hill. Retrieved May 7, 2012 (2012). PepsiCo. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from www.pepsico.com Daft, Richard (2007). Organizational Theory and Design (ninth ed.). Manson, OH: Thompson Higher Education. Retrieved May 7, 2012.

If I had it my way, I would tone down the zero tolerance act. It Essay

If I had it my way, I would tone down the zero tolerance act. It just punishes too harshly for some things. I think that it needs to distinguish the difference between minor problems, like playing with a toy gun, and major problems, like having drugs. Zero Tolerance The zero tolerance policies call for students to receive automatic suspensions or expulsions as punishment for certain offenses, primarily those involving weapons, threats, or drugs. I agree that safety is an important concern in schools, but sometimes the zero tolerance policy is taken too far. It is as if administrators don’t distinguish between minor and major discretions. I do believe that students who get in fights or who bring drugs into school should be punished. However, a third grader who shouts â€Å"b...

Economics Problems

Homework #3: Question 1. Problem and Application 4 on page 285. Please work on a, b, c, d, and e only. That is, ignore f. When you reconstruct the table in your work, please lower the space for Marginal Product and Marginal Cost by a half step. In other words, the first entries of Marginal Product and Marginal Cost should be aligned with the second entries of other columns. (50 points) Table of Costs: WorkerOutputMarginal Product Total CostAverage Total CostMarginal Cost 00–$200———– 12020 300$15. 00$5. 00 25030 400 8 3. 33 39040 500 5. 6 2. 50 412030 600 5 3. 33 514020 700 5 5 615010 800 5. 33 10 71555 900 5. 81 20 A. The table shows the marginal product; marginal product rises at first, but then starts to decline because of diminishing marginal product. B. The table shows the total costs for this scenario. C. Again, the table shows the average total cost. The average total cost will be shaped like a â€Å"U. † The average total cost declines as quantity rises when the quantity is low. When the quantity is high, the average total cost rises. D. The table shows the marginal cost. The marginal cost, like the average total cost, is also â€Å"U† shaped, but unlike the average total cost it rises steeply as the output increases. This is because of diminishing marginal product. E. When the marginal cost is falling, the marginal product is rising and vice versa. Question 2. (20 points) The licorice industry is competitive. Each firm produces 2 million strings of licorice per year. The strings have an average total cost of $0. 20 each, and they sell for $0. 30. a. What is the marginal cost of a string? Marginal cost = Change in total cost/change in quantity .30-. 20=. 0=Change in total cost .10/1=. 10 The marginal cost of one string is $0. 10. b. Is this industry in long-run equilibrium? Why or why not? No. In a long run quilibirum all firms are maximizing profits. No firms have incentive to enter or exit because all firms are earning zero economic profit. The firms in this competitive market are making a profit of $0. 10 on each string of licorice. At this rate there is no long-run equilibrium, but if more firms join this market to get in on some of the profit then there will be a long-run equilibrium; when too many firms join the market the demand goes down. This can cause firms to make zero profit. Question 3. (30 points) Consider the following table. The price of the product is $8. Quatitity Total cost 0. $8 1. 9 2. 10 3. 11 4. 13 5. 19 6. 27 7. 37 a. Calculate profit for each quantity. How much should the firm produce to maximize profit? b. Calculate marginal revenue and marginal cost for each quantity. Graph them. At what quantity do these curves cross? How does this relate to your answer to part (a)? c. Can you tell whether this firm is in a competitive industry? If so, can you tell whether the industry is in a long-run equilibrium?

The Happiness System, By Daniel Nettle - 997 Words

Happiness is something we as a human race value and treasure, but obtaining it and maintaining its presence in our lives can prove to be a difficult and exhausting task. Daniel Nettle writes that: â€Å"Most of us understand that the big issue in life is not being joyful, which is at best going to be an occasional perk, but being happy in the sense of generally satisfied overall (33).† Throughout his novel, Nettles explores the depths of happiness and what it means to experience it in all forms and aspects across generations and cultures, and how it helps develop us into the people that we are, and our success as a living species. The happiness system is designed to help us gain a better understanding of our core values, and to push us to continually strive to excel. Stagnancy is not beneficial to our relative fitness as a human race, and we must remain motivated by some force to avoid its grasp, as it has been proven over time to be a deadly mechanism of nature. Our â€Å"h appiness† will be discovered as a result of not just what we choose to pursue in life, but how we choose to pursue it, and the fact we even chose to pursue it at all. Because happiness is in itself hard to define, psychologists have developed a scale of various levels of happiness to help describe it. But to understand the levels, one must first be introduced to the idea of â€Å"flow.† As defined by Nettles, flow is a â€Å"state characterized by total absorption in a challenging activity for which the individual has theShow MoreRelatedHappiness : The Science Behind Your Smile By Daniel Nettle942 Words   |  4 PagesValenzuela November 26, 2016 PSY 104 Final Paper Happiness In the book Happiness: The Science Behind Your Smile by Daniel Nettle he states that happiness offers a remarkable portrait of feelings that poets, politicians, and philosophers all agree truly make the world go around. Nettle is currently at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom and is the Co-director of the center for behavioral and evolution. He mainly studies humans. Nettle is a behavioral biologist that that has interest in evolution