Discussion 6

docx

School

University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

610

Subject

Management

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by MajorMoleMaster406

Name of Business & Industry 1 Chesapeake Spice Company Food Manufacturing 2 Amazing Glaze Paint/Pottery Studio 3 University of Maryland, Baltimore University Recreation & Fitness (URecFit) Employee Contacted Job Title Ellen Gaeta Controller Elizabeth Miller Regional Manager Jimmy Mszanski Senior Assistant Director Org Goals/Mission Sales of a product – Manufacture and deliver quality seasonings and tastes to customers Sales of a product/experience – To deliver high quality painting experiences to customers University Mission: Service – “To improve the human condition and serve the public good of Maryland and society at- large through education, research, clinical care, and service” URecFit Mission: Service – “To enrich the academic experience as well as encouraging the physical, mindful, cultural, spiritual, emotional, and social development of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) community” Type of technology using Admin – Proprietary software (batching, scheduling, invoicing, purchasing), Microsoft Excel; Plant – automatic baggers/shrink wraps, Radiation Gamma Red Rays (for sterilization) Point of sales – Clover system; Workshops/Marketing – Facebook, HTML URec Fit Admin – Mindbody business software (scheduling, check-in), Microsoft Excel; URecFit Fitness – Zoom (live classes during COVID pandemic), Exercise equipment Organization structure Geographic Structure Functional Structure University: Divisional Structure URecFit: Matrix Structure Team vs. Individual Team Team Team Interdependence Yes; all positions are necessary for overall function Yes; all positions are necessary for overall function University: No; each department has a separate overall mission/goal and function independently

URecFit: Yes; teams within URecFit need to work together for overall function Tasks: Routine vs. non- routine Routine Routine Routine Specialization of tasks by employee Plant employees are responsible for first- line work such as: - Manufacturing - Food processing - Line safety Administrative employees are responsible for: - Accounting - Budgeting - Customer relations - Sales - Product recipe design - Hiring Store employees are responsible for first-line work such as: - Customer sales - Customer relations - Workshops The regional manager is responsible for administrative tasks such as: - Hiring - Accounting/budget - Sales tracking - Product orders - Marketing All employees have basic CPR/first aid skills but each team member has a specialized role. Fitness classes are taught by specialized instructors, life guards are responsible for pool safety, floor staff have cleaning and patron safety obligations, and the administrative staff is responsible for management of these teams within URecFit. Standardization of products/services Service to customers and general products remain standardized but adjustments must be to customize products for each food processing customer (e.g. Boar’s Head Provisions Co, Inc. requires different spice requirements than Utz Quality Foods, Inc.) Service to customers and general products remain standardized and many products remain consistent throughout the year, but adjustments must be made to account for changing seasons and holidays University: Specializations for each department and roles within each department URecFit: All employees have basic CPR/first aid skills but each team member also has a specialized role. Fitness classes are taught by specialized instructors, life guards have Decision making Centralized/Decentralized Centralized Centralized University: Decentralized URecFit: Centralized Type of market focus Customers – Food Processing Companies Customers – General Public Students and Staff of University of Maryland, Baltimore What surprised you and why? Recommendations? It was surprising to learn that although this is a geographic Within this company, the administrative roles are heavily weighed on the It was surprising

structure, the company is still small enough that the decision making remains centralized. The owners are able to work closely between both the east and west coast plants. Typically, with a geographic structure, the worry may be that the decision making becomes decentralized (Black & Bright, 2019). I would recommend building a work plan for future growth. How will the company respond if growth continues to the point where the owners are no longer able to maintain a centralized decision-making role? regional manager only. That is surprising considering the background managerial functions are so pivotal to success of the company. It should be imperative that these job functions can be completed even if the regional manager is unavailable for some reason (leaves for a new job, injured in an accident, etc.). Therefore, it is my suggestion to ensure store managers learn the functions of the regional manager and can assist in the event that the regional manager is unavailable. Although all three of the employees interviewed work for companies that use three different organizational structures, all three also had common themes including team environments, centralized decision-making (Company 3’s subunit) and routine tasks. Team work is a growing trait in many companies and therefore it is unsurprising that each other three interviewees indicated that a team environment was utilized in their workplace. Also, the thought of routine tasks can be very much associated with a mechanistic structure. A mechanistic structure and centralized decision-making can be associated with the phases of organizational life cycle that each company is in. Company 1 is in a sustained success or maturity phase of the organization life cycle. Company 2 is in phase 2, survival and early success of the organizational life cycle. Company 3 is in the fourth phase of the organizational life cycle, renewal. As such, the overall institution does not maintain centralized decision-making. But, the subunit that the interviewed employee operates within, URecFit, is associated with a sustained success life cycle. Therefore, all employees indicated the centralized decision making approach used within their working environment. It is interesting how three very different companies still have overarching themes that are similar approaches to the function of the organization. But, as stated previously, each company also uses different organizational structures. As Sandhu and Kulik (2019) suggest, as the goals and sizes of each organization evolve, the organization structure should also evolve. This is true for the three companies identified for this assignment. Company 2 utilizes a functional structure. The business is smaller and

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

employs fewer workers than Company 1 or 3. Its goal is to sell their products/experience to the general public as customers. As such, Company 2’s top-down structure contributes to that goal and ensures front-line workers completing the bulk of the customer experience. Company 1 utilizes a geographic structure. This company is evolving from a small-business into a larger company. Their goal is to sell quality food products to food processing customers (other companies). This means that the structure differs from Company 2 or 3 to ensure success. Company 1 needs to ensure quality products with the front-line worker teams within each geographical location. But the organization differs for each location when it comes down to the sales teams and other administrative roles. This is true because of the differing locations and cultures surrounding each location. Finally, Company 3 is a University and therefore implores a divisional structure. The goal of the University is to serve the general good of its students and staff. The students and staff require many services, including health, fitness, research, education, etc. Therefore, the institution as a whole operates with many subunits that operate as their own entity majority of the time. For example, the associate interviewed from Company 3, is a part of a subunit. That subunit then utilizes its own matrix-style structure. References Black, S., Bright, D. (2019). External Environments and Industries… Sandhu, S., Kulik, C. (2019). Shaping and Being Shaped: How Organizational Structure and Managerial Discretion Co-evolve in New Managerial Roles. Administrative Science Quarterly 64 (3), 619-658. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839218778018 University of Maryland, Baltimore. About UMB. https://www.umaryland.edu/about-umb/ University of Maryland, Baltimore. URecFit: About URecFit . https://www.umaryland.edu/urecfit/about- us/

Discussion 6

Related Documents