Reference no: EM132325533
Methodology
In order to collect information about the organizational theory as the design of IBM, secondary sources were deemed appropriate. Secondary sources of information refer to the data collected by third parties at different times for different purposes (Broséus et al., 2016). Thus, researcher utilizing such data can refer to it as secondary data. Notably, secondary data can be written, type or may appear in electronic forms. According to Oyewobi et al. (2013), secondary data is categorized according to its source, either internal or external. Internal data is the information a researcher obtains from the organization where the study is being conducted while external data is obtained from official websites, journals, and articles. Much of the information about organizational design was collected from the external sources is it guaranteed reliability. However, the information collected from these sources was cross-checked with the official information published in the organization's website in order to enhance credibility and reliability. Also, the research was descriptive since authors of various literature responded to the main topic. Descriptive research is usually important as it gives a comparative discussion of the various literature regarding the man topic of research (Broséus et al., 2016).
Organizational Design Issues
Founded on 16th June 1911 by Charles Ranlett Flint, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is an information technology company which is based in Armonk, New York, in the United States (Paroutis et al., 2014). Currently, IBM operates in more than 170 countries and its major in producing and selling computer software and hardware. According to Longo et al. (2013), IBM also serves as a research organization. Over the years, IBM has made continuous progress in its operations by focusing on high-value products and targeting the more profitable markets. IBM has hired more than 329000 employees who work towards achieving the goals and objectives of this company. Recently, IBM has been reported to have interests in contributing to the animation industry (Paroutis et al., 2014).
As Kelly III & Hamm (2013), points out, IBM's vision is to become the leading innovative, manufacturing and development organization with the most updated technologies in computer systems, storage systems, software, and microelectronics. The value and success of IBM lie in the satisfaction of their customers and as such, it strives to offer customers the highest quality and professional services worldwide. On the other hand, IBM's mission is to find the best solutions for its wide range of customers that are using advanced technology (Grochla & Szyperski, 2018). As IBM multitasks in the provision of technological services, it is aiming to create a balance and stabilize its services in various fields including governments, business and in educational organizations. Like any other organization, IBM has an organization design through which management orders is passed for operations' effectiveness. The organizational structure of IBM aims at streamlining product development and delivery of information technology services in the market (Whelan, 2016). The corporate structure of IBM determines how the various regional offices of IBM communicate and relate with each other. Moreover, IBM's structure is a key determiner of how the employees interact between themselves as well as interacting with the customers.
According to Kelly III & Hamm (2013), IBM has a divisional type of organizational structure. Divisional structure, also known as product structure groups very function in the organization into a division.