Organization Theory and Design, Coursework Example

How do you think planning in today’s organizations compares to planning twenty-five years ago? Do you think planning becomes more important or less important in a world where everything is changing fast and crises are a regular part of organizational life? Why? 

Twenty-five years ago, projects were planned through work breakdown structures, Gantt Charts, PERT charts and other forms of work and budget projection routines. Today the same methods are used, the only difference is that these methods are automated through online tools or done with software. Most of the organizational methods, everything from posting deadlines on a calendar to budgeting time and resources is now done through programs, free online tools, social media, and third party applications. This makes the process of highly technical tasks which once required specialized professionals to be handled by mature workers.

Is changing the organization’s domain a feasible strategy for coping with a threatening environment? Can you think of an organization in the recent news that has changed its domain? Explain.

It’s hard to think of a company that recently changed its domain because the companies worth mentioning are usually shaping or re-shaping their brands in such a way that it’s difficult to identify them in any other way than what they originally startup as, unless they create an entirely new brand with an entirely new product. In most cases in business today, companies either create a business based around a product, or they brand a part of one service as a new product. An example of this can be seen with Twitter. The original product was a service being provided for AOL that involved the use old tasks and status bars, This feature failed as a product for AOL, but was based to be branded as an entirely new business based on an original platform. In most cases, it would probably not be advisable for a company to change their domain unless the brand association is tainted, or effects the success of the company in some negative way. This is due to the fact that it can have a dramatic affect on traffic performance.

Complete the Chapter 5 Workbook: Management Fads: Look up one or more articles on current trends or fads in management, Then, find one or two articles on a management fad from several years ago. Finally, use an Internet search engine to locate information on both the current and previous fads.

As the current tough economic climate has made it more difficult for people to find employment, they are going back to school and getting more technical and function specific degrees. These degrees are specifically for the purpose of attaining management positions as jobs have been cut and generic titles are at a minimum. In her Wall Street Journal article titled “News & Trends in Management,” Leslie Kwoh covers a Harvard business study that documents this current trend. The authors note that, “the trend comes as generic titles such as ‘chief operating officer’ are being edged out by more function-specific leaders, such as marketing or research-and-development chiefs, according to a new Harvard Business School working paper that analyzes data from more than 300 Fortune 500 companies (Kwoh, 2012).” The irony of this management trend is that the complete opposite was the fad about seven years ago. In his ERE Daily article Sullivan says, “As the economy turns around, candidates will have many more job choices. Convincing them to take your job will become extremely difficult (Sullivan , 2005).” As this quotes was made prior to the economic collapse, it’s clear that companies were being encouraged to pitch job titles and sell positions to potential employees as work was abundant and employees were the ones who were in high demand.

A basic internet search reveals that the market itself might see this as a trend as a search engine query for the terms, “CEO requirements” or “CEO prerequisites,” or “Manager requirements,” all produce traditional business oriented results, such as MBA programs with no real mention of technology or Engineering.

How are these fads used in organizations? Use real examples from your readings.

In the Kwoh article she notes that this trend, or fad is being used by organizations in that Engineering degree holders are getting hired more frequently for CEO positions than traditional MBA’s “According to a new study of 36 million Facebook profiles, 3,337 company founders and CEOs across all industries hold an advanced degree in engineering, while 1,016 have advanced business degrees (Kwoh, 2012).” The article from seven years ago demonstrates that this was not a trend but or fad yet, but it was being anticipated, as the author notes, “They should also expect new breakthroughs in Internet search engines, candidate assessment, strategic metrics, and resume sorting technology (Sullivan , 2005).”

Why do you think the fads were adopted? To what extent were the fads adopted to truly improve productivity and morals versus the company’s desire to appear current in its management techniques compared to the competition?

These two management fads in particular focus on the employment of managers and CEOs and the trends shown in the employment process of companies before and after the economic collapse. Another reason for this could be the expansion and trend of the internet and e-commerce. As it forced candidates to become more tech savvy. Kwoh notes that, “A Harvard Business School study found that functional and technical experts, such as engineers, are becoming more common in executive ranks, but the study didn’t specify academic backgrounds (Kwoh, 2012).” It’s clear this trend was in response to a market need and not done for any aesthetic purposes.

Give an example in which a fad did not work as expected. Explain the reason it did not work. 

The textbook points out a case where a man is identifying the internet as a fad; he says, “You can’t learn more from a computer than you can talking to a real person…He boasted that he had never visited Century’s intranet site and suggested that ‘the internet fad’ would eventually blow over anyway (Daft, 2012).” This is a prime example of how a fad did not work as expected. This man is a terrible judge of trends. A similar occurrence also happened with the stock market, as most traders on Wall Street were accustomed to trading commodities through one on one encounters on the floor, for decades they were told the system would shift online, but few prepared for this transition thinking the day would never come. When trading did move to the web, most of them were out of work and the culture of the business changed dramatically from being relationship based to predominantly chart and metric based.

Compare the description of the transnational model in this chapter to the elements of the learning organization described in Chapter 1.

The transnational model description is very different from the Learning model decryption in that the transnational model can be as more standard, or even traditional like a JP Morgan, or Bank of America. The organizational learning model is more contemporary. The nearest comparison can be seen with organizations like Facebook, Twitter, as they are very small and their business structures are based on new wave cutting edge ideas as opposed to a vertical corporate structure.

The text notes that the transnational method requires aspects that the organizational model does not, the author states that, “unification and coordination are achieved primarily through corporate culture, shared vision and values, and management style, rather than through formal structures and systems (Daft, 2012).”  When referring to the Organizational model they specifically state the standard vertical corporate structure is leveled out to be more horizontal. This makes ideas the driving factor and it evens out the playing field to be less managerial and employee based and more community based. In many transnational corporations, there is a feeling of being a small fish in a very large pond. While employees may be given stock options, this is not a benefit that can be granted to all workers, or the options are so miniscule that generating worthwhile capital would require a lifetime working with the company.

Do you think the transnational model seems workable in a huge global firm? Discuss

I do believe the transnational model is workable in a huge global firm, depending on what the definition of huge is in the discussion. Arguably, Facebook is a huge global fir especially after its latest expansion into Europe by setting up an engineering headquarters there. The problem is Facebook barely has over a few hundred employees while the standard transnational company has employees upwards in the tens of thousands. Market share wise Facebook is definitely a contender with transnational organizations and outside of the standard definition of a transnational organization, on the surface Facebook could be argued to have gained the status, but at its core the company is obviously founded on organizational learning principles. This leads one wonder if transnational organizations as a method are obsolete. I think in extremely large firms, especially those at risk of over extending resources need to have a transnational model in order to keep information and the work flow structure centralized. It keeps the company ore efficient and functioning at a higher pace. A mix between the two styles can be seen with a company like Google that is a learning organization, but also expanding rapidly to draw in and manage some of the most brilliant minds in their field, which is becoming everything.

Work Cited

Daft, R. L. (2012). Organization theory and design. (11 ed., p. 688). South-Western College Pub.

Kwoh, L. (2012). News & trends in management. The Wall Street Journal, Retrieved fromhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203363504577187243985486970.html

Sullivan , J. (2005, January 3). Recruiting and talent management trends for 2005. ERE.net, Retrieved from http://www.ere.net/2005/01/03/recruiting-and-talent-management-trends-for-2005/