Reference no: EM133407218

Question: Symptoms of structural deficiencies: Explain at least TWO structural deficiencies that exist in the companies and suggest ways to correct them. Symptoms of structural deficiency Senior executives regularly assess the organization's structure to determine if it is adequate for changing needs. Managers try to achieve the best fit between internal reporting relationships and the needs of the external environment. As a general rule, when the organization's structure is not aligned with the needs of the organization, one or more of the following symptoms of structural deficiency appear. There is an absence of collaboration between the units. The organization's structure should encourage collaboration when and where it is necessary to meet the organization's goals. It should enable the resolution of conflicting departmental needs and goals into a single set of goals for the entire organization. When departments act at cross purposes or are under pressure to achieve departmental goals at the expense of organizational goals, the structure often fails. Horizontal linkage mechanisms are not adequate. Decision making is delayed or lacks quality. Decision makers may be overburdened because the hierarchy funnels too many problems and decisions to them. Delegation to lower levels may be insufficient. Another cause of poor quality decisions is that the information may not reach the right people. Information links in the vertical or horizontal direction may be inadequate to ensure decision quality. The organization does not respond innovatively to a changing environment. One of the reasons for the lack of innovation is that the departments are not horizontally coordinated. The identification of customer needs by the marketing department and the identification of technological developments by the research department must be coordinated. The organization structure also has to specify departmental responsibilities that include environmental analysis and innovation. Employee performance declines and goals are not met. Employee performance may decline because the structure does not provide clear goals, responsibilities, and mechanisms for coordination and collaboration. The structure must reflect the complexity of the market environment and, at the same time, be simple enough for employees to work effectively.