Matrix structure seeks to add flexibility and co-ordination to traditional vertical hierarchy. One way of doing this is to create project teams made up of members drawn up from a variety of different functions or divisions. Each individual then has a dual role, as he/she maintains functional/divisional responsibilities. As well as memberships of the project .the matrix structure is sometimes appropriate for large multi product companies which have significant interrelationships between their various operating units.
Advantages of Matrix Structures
Performance accountability rests with program, product, or project managers.
Teams enable better communication and cooperation across functions.
Teams make more decisions and solve more problems at their levels.
Top managers spend more time on strategic issues.
A cross-functional team brings together members from different functional departments.
Disadvantages of Matrix Structures
Built in conflicts
Resistance to termination
Complex command and authority relationships
Complex employee recognition systems
Functional Structure
Figure 1.2- Functional structure.
The most common form of structure adopted when an organization has out grown the entrepreneurial one is the functional structure. This divides the organization up into its main activities or functions (production, sales, accounting and so on) and places a manger in charge of each function under the overall control of the senior manager.
Advantages of functional structure
Efficient use of specialized resources.
A career structure that enables people to advance within their functional specialism.
More deep working of decisions on functional directions
Disadvantages of functional structure
Built in conflicts
Resistance to termination·
Complex command and authority relationships
Complex employee recognition systems
Features of organization charts
Customers or visitors to a firm can gain an immediate impression of the overall size of an organisation
Employees can see at a glance who reports to who
Employees can see who they are responsible for
Useful for new employees to get a feeling for the whole business.
Advantages of Organization Charts
Managers of different organizational subunits.
In many instances, small firms that do rather well in the early stages of their development begin to fail when the founders can no longer manage in their personal styles.
In the absence of an organization chart to clarify relationships, illogical and confusing ones will develop.
Employees can see at a glance who reports to who
Useful for new employees to get a feeling for the whole business
Supporters of organization charts claim that they are tools that can effectively delineate work responsibilities and reporting relationships
Disadvantages of Organization Charts
Detractors point out that formal organization charts do not recognize informal lines of communication and influence that are quite vital in many business settings.
In some instances, for example, an organization chart may depict two employees as being equal in power and influence, when in reality, one of the individuals is rapidly ascending through the ranks and has the ear of the firm's principal decision makers, while the other may be regarded as steady but unremarkable.
Critics of organization charts also sometimes charge that the diagrams may paint a misleading picture of the importance and influence of various people within an organization.
Information in an organisation chart will be out of date if employees leave the firm or new employees join.
Management levels divided into 3 levels.
Figure1.3- Management levels.
Differences can be identified between these kinds of information at the various levels of the organization.
At top management level of the organization, information tends to be ill structured, informal, external and concerned with the future.
At middle management level information is more structured, formal, internal, regular and concerned with the near future.
At operational management level information is repetitive, programmable and largely internal and has a very short time horizon.
The purposes of information therefore changes according to the level at which it is aimed. the higher up organization a manager is the less he will rely on formal information, and yet still needs to be informed(at summary level)of all the organization's activities.
Top Level Management
Top managers are responsible for overall management of the organization. They establish operating policies and guide the organizations interaction with its environment
E-g
Chief executive manager (CEO)
Deputy CEO
General manager
Duties of Top level management
Establish the overall vision and mission for the organization
Preparation of strategic plans
Represents the organization to the external environment.
Recruits middle level managers
Middle Level Management
A manager who represents a specific department or a unit will fall in to this category. They are responsible for setting departmental goals, making tactical plans and acting as a mediator between top and lower levels
E-g
Marketing manger
Finance manger
Operation managers
Duties of Middle level management
Communications and coordination between top level and lower level managers
Preparation of operational /divisional plans
Setting departmental policies, procedures, strategies etc…
Recruit , train and supervise lower level managers
Lower Level Management
Lower level managers are responsible for the work of operating employees only and do not supervise other managers. They are the lowest level of managers in the organization hierarchy
E-g
Technical supervisors
Production supervisors
Duties of lower Level Management
Ensure smooth functioning of day to day activities
Provide necessary information to middle managers in preparation of plans, budget etc….
Coordinate between operating employees and top l and middle managers.
Recruit , train and supervise operating employees
Classification mangers by the responsibility
Line managers
Line managers are the managers responsible for line activities of a business or those managers directly responsible for achieving organizational goals. Line managers possess line authority.
E-g
Chief executive manager (CEO)
Marketing manger
Production manager
Staff manger
The managers who perform supportive or staff activities of a business. In other words the managers who provide line managers with advice and services. Staff manager's posses the authority
E-g
Finance manger
Human resource manger
My justification for team above these reasons
Team projects advance communication, cooperation, and decision-making.
Members of the team get to know each other as persons, not just job titles.
Team memberships boost morale, and increase enthusiasm and task contribution.
Figure 1.4 - Organization Structure for EBS.
Responses for the Roles
CEO -head of the person in the company. Where they can take own decision reguaring all thinks in the company. Normally we are calling them as a decision makers in the company.
Finanace Manager-This is the individual who is responsible for raising suitable bebt and equity finanace,allocating finanacing to otherf operations,investing surplus funds appropriately,overlookingthepreparationoffinancialstatements,budgetpreparation,etc.his\her function requires a detail understanding of finanacial management and probably accounting skills as well.
MarkertingManager-This is the individual who is responsible forplanning prommations,advertising campaigns,making pricing and distribution decissions,brand management,labeling he\she should be a good communicator,have a broad understanding of customer views and also be able to manage their requierments effectively.
Project Manager -Project manager is one of the parties that involved in construction. Project manager has their own responsibilities to make sure that the project is constructing based on schedule. He/she always spend 70% of their time by generating, managing, sending, collecting and analysis with the data The functions of project manager are:-
effective planning
cost effectiveness
cost estimating
claims reduction
site safety and construction planning
schedule control
budget control
Administrator- this is the person that have some kind of rights after the CEO in the company or organization to manage the affairs of a business. He will control most of the department in a company. He will managing the financials, benefits, and administration of the business and will be instrumental in setting up proper controls and policies for the company. Where upon they can make decision with geting permissions from the CEO.
HRM (Human Resources Manager)-This is the individual who is responsible for identfiying labour requirement selection,recuirement,appraisal and trainning of the general employees of an organiztion.he\she should be a good commuinator,have a broad understanding of employees views and be able negtiate and motivate most employees.
Secreatary-this is the person that holds all the company details with the soft copy as well as with documented hard files also. Where upon we can get all the company details from this desk place
IT Manager-This is th individual who is responsible for managing all IS related activities within an organiztion.his\her functions include.
Formulating long term straegies.
Apprasing IS systems.
Selecting,recruting and trainning IS staff.
Servic the information requirement of all aspects of the organization(most important)
Ensuring timely upgrade of hardware & software dydtems.
Trainning general staff using IS facillities.
Overlooking organizational computer & communication systems.
Making recommendations on IS related activities to the board of directors.
Functions of management
Management & Organization
Figure 1.5 - 5 Functions of Manager.
Although management recognized as a vital activity in virtually all organizations, it is in fact very difficult to obtain agreement about the precise definition of what management is. At the basic level, it is sometimes referred to as the art of getting things done through other people. These emphases the fact, the managers achieve results by getting others to perform certain tasks.
A manager performs 5 functions in an organization. They are:
Planning
Controlling
Organizing
Coordinating
Commanding
Planning-All managers constantly plan for the future planning will generally include the following stages
Setting objectives.
Developing alternatives to achieve objectives
Evaluating the alternatives
Selecting the best alternative
Implementing
Review of success
Controlling-The function of monitoring the actual event and if there are any changes from the plans,taking action to correct them.
Organizing-Dividing the work among different individuals providing the relevent resourses and seeing to that the different individuals are working towards designted tasks.
Coordinating-There may be large number of organiztions performing variety of activities if the organiztion is to be succesful,they have to work towards and there should be coordination.
Commanding-According to fayol a manager issues commands which are follwed by others.this term commanding through suitable fayol's time may not be applicable to the modren work force.a modern manager should be regarded as playing the following roles instead of commanding
Leading
Motivating
Communicating
Decision making
1.2
Strategic plan
A Strategic plan is set of decisions that provide an overall all direction for the organization & the ways of means of moving in that direction. Strategic plans are developed by the top level managers taking the organization holistically & usually have extended time horizons & a broader scope. Strategic plan addresses.
Reasons for existence
Own strengths &weakness
Opportunities & threats posed by external environments
Rules of conduct
Main characteristics of Strategic plan
Designed by top &middle level mangers
Involves a long period of time(long term goals)
Affects a wide range of organizational activities (wide scope)
Prepared for the whole organization
Benefits of strategic management
Establish the mission
Formulate philosophy
Establish policies
Setting objectives
Developing strategy
Plan the organizational structure
Provide personnel
Steps to strategic management
Environmental analysis
Establish organizational direction
Strategy formulation
Strategy implementation
Strategic control
1.2.1
The business nature
The EBS is leading IT organization and No. 1 trainer and leading global IT talent development organization, with over offers 500 trained across 5 countries which is having a turnover in excess of US$ 90 million and is also a world's largest industrial organization.
Vision
Increase consumer involvement with the technology and become No.01 Company in the IT solutions in worldwide.
Mission
To help the maximum lifetime values to customer for gain the satisfaction of the customer.
Objectives
Low cost products, high performance, ISO quality, customer satisfaction, customer care, technologies, and (Budget) cost savings.
Values
Customer care, increase in consumer involvement with technology and communications globally
Products and services
The EBS does projects such as software development for the customers.
1.2.2
Carry out a business analysis for the company using several tools.
SWOT Analysis
Boston Consulting Group Matrix
Critical Success Factor (CSF)
PEST Analysis
What is SWOT?
A SWOT analysis generates information that is helpful in matching an organization or group's goals, programs, and capacities to the social environment in which it operates.
Factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T).
It is an instrument within strategic planning.
When combined with dialogue it is a participatory process
Figure 1.6 - SWOT.
The second step in the planning process is carrying out an environmental analysis. This step is important to the organization to understand the current status of affairs. The objective of internal analysis is to identify the strengths and weakness of the organization. This understanding is also important for an organization in building and sustaining company's competitive advantage the objective of external environmental analysis is to identify opportunities and threats in the organizations operating environment.
The Strengths of EBS company
Strengths are essentially internal to the organization and relate to matters concerning resources, programs and organization in key areas. These include.
Vast capacities to supply to the domestic market.
The largest IT consultancy in Sri Lanka.
US$ 90 million turnover.
Associate with quality certified e.g.- ISO 9001 &2008
Best quality controlling system.
We have time to dedicate with customers.
Time to time Introduce latest technology
Company service is very reliability and user friendly
The Weakness of EBS company
Weaknesses are essentially internal to the organization and relate to matters concerning resources, programs and organization in key areas. These include.
Absence of strong sales/marketing expertise.
High cost of the maintained the company.
Overdependence on few key staff.
There are more competitors' related to our service.
Emerging new technologies may move market in new directions.
Bit tough to manage &guide all the employees.
More than dependent on borrowings - Insufficient cash resources.
Board of Directors is too narrow.
Lack of awareness amongst prospective customers.
Need to relocate to larger premises.
The Opportunities OF EBS
The external opportunities confronting a company can exist or develop in the following areas:
Latest technology can be adoptable.
Market segment is poised for rapid growth
Possible to widen the market range
Motivate the staffs.
Motivate the customers.
Insert some innovative thoughts in manufacturing
Reduce the operational cost
Do contracts with new importers
TheThreats OF EBS
The external Threats confronting a company can exist or develop in the following areas
Political uncertainty
Competition
Unstable tax rates
Worldwide companies newly enter to the market.
recently imposed government taxes
Major Player may enter targeted market segment
New technology may make services obsolescent
Economic slowdown could reduce demand
Table1-SWOT.
Use of SWOT analysis
The usefulness of SWOT analysis is not limited to profit-seeking organizations. SWOT analysis may be used in any decision-making situation when a desired end-state (objective) has been defined.
BCG matrix
The BCG Growth Share Matrix is a popular approach to product portfolio planning.
The matrix is defined by two factors:
Relative market share (the company's market share relative to the competition)
Market growth.
To make use of the matrix, each individual product in our companies is placed portfolio. We have included placing into one of the four quadrants and then doing the same for our competitors' products. The result has implications for brand positioning and market share.
Figure 1.7 - BCG matrix.
Question marks -Question marks are the business in the conglomerate, which is at their initial/infant stage fixed, lost per unit is very high & are loss making. But, there is room for further investments as the market growth rate is high
Stars- Now that business which were in the question marks level, have & developed. They can be future prospects to the conglomerate as both relative market share and market growth rate is high. But, needs further investments
Cash cows-Those stars have now strongly established in their markets. Their fixed cost per unit is very low. They have a very high market share, but no potential market growth rate. Therefore, they have no room for further investments. But they generate high positive cash flows to the conglomerate
Dogs-These are the dying business in the conglomerate. Their product & services are becoming outdated. No future growth can be expected, probably loss making.
BCG Matrix for the scenario
Those are the significant details about BCG matrix. But we have to study our EBS Company belong to which part of BCG matrix whether it belongs to Star, Question mark, cash cows or dogs. When we evaluate our company in the BCG Matrix Company is moving from question mark to cash cows and EBS companies will become a full cash cows affirmed company rapidly. Here market growth rate is high as well comparative market share low but future level of our company condition will be like cash cows it denotes Here market growth rate is low as well comparative market share high.
Critical Success Factor (CSF)
CSF are the areas of movement that must be performed well EBS to achieve the mission, objectives or goals for their business. By identifying Critical Success Factors can create a general point of reference to help direct and measure the success of EBS business. As a common point of reference. CSF helps everyone in the team to know precisely what is most important. And its help people to perform their own work in the right situation and work together towards the same overall objectives.
Benefits of CSF
For specifying critical information systems
To focus attention on important matters
As an management alignment technique
Identified CSF for EBS
Marketing Variables
Decision making
Product-line coverage
Skill to deliver high value to user
Managerial ability and experience
Short while to market for new products
Distribution coverage, delivery speed, and prominence
Develop human resources
Aggressive commitment when required
High product quality
Learning systematically from past strategies
Nonexistence of product-line overlap
product cost
Info system power
Unique positioning advantage
Huge marketing resource budget
Attract the best personnel
Identification and positioning to fulfill customer needs
Buyer service and feedback
Quick decision and action capability
Strong brand image and awareness
Clear protection
Marketing inquiry quality
Prevention of price wars
Sales force size and productivity
Organizational effectiveness
Consumer loyalty
Co-operative trade relations
Analytic support capability
Understanding of how and why customers buy
Sensitivity to changing market needs
Table2- CSF.
PEST analysis
Figure 1.8 - PEST analysis.
Single method of doing this is to undertake a PEST analysis every business requires to consider a collection of external forces in order to take decisions. For numerous people imagination is very limited and is colored only by their own experience and personal beliefs which can lead to wish fulfillment or a refusal to see reality or recognize the critical changes which are happening. It can also lead to grabbing short term solutions which if they do not aggravate problems, certainly ignore the long term. In the business world pressure is often applied to take decisions quickly acting on judgment and instinct rather than care full analysis
There are many driving forces in the external environment that might impact on your business. These can be categorized as:
Social
Technological
Economic
Political
Social Factors -Social factors have the demographic and cultural aspects of the external macro environment. These factors influence customer wishes and the range of potential markets. Some social factors include:
Lifestyle changes
income distribution
Customer preferences.
Population increase rate
health consciousness
Distribution of income
Social mobility
Consumerism
Levels of education
Social -Cultural factors to survive measured by EBS
Lifestyle changes and attitudes to these Social Cultural changes.
people physical condition, education and public mobility, and attitudes to these
Population increase rate
Journalist's attitudes, community judgment, social attitudes.
Technological Factors-Technological factors are able to lower barriers to entry, decrease bare minimum efficient production levels, and influence outsourcing decisions. Some technological factors include:
New discoveries and innovations
Speed of technology transfer
Rates of obsolescence
Internet
Information technology
Technological factors to survive considered by EBS
Impact of rising technologies
Impact of Internet, reduction in communications expenses and increased remote working
Research and Development activity
Impact of technology transmit
Economic Factors- Economic factors influence the purchasing power of potential customers and the firm's cost of capital. The following are examples of factors in the macro economy:
economic increase
interest charge
exchange charge
inflation charge
Economic factors to survive considered by EBS
Impact of globalization
probable impact of technological change on the economy
Inflation
Employment
Disposable income
Business cycles
Energy availability and cost
Political Factors-Political factors contain government regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules under which the firm must operate. A few examples include
Monopolies legislation
Environmental protection laws
Taxation policy
Employment laws
Government policy
