The Case of Watsons and H&M Consulting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The Case of Watsons and H&M Consulting - Essay Example The first and the foremost factor that affects an organisation in its smooth functioning is the structure that exists there. The organizational structure is â€Å"an externally caused phenomenon, an outcome rather than an artefact.† Different types of structures of organisations have been identified to exist. Classically, there are two kinds of structure— Hierarchical Structure and Flat structure. Hierarchical form of structure is referred to that organization where every entity except one, is a subordinate to one entity. Flat Structure is that organisation where there are very few or no levels of intervening management between staff and managers. Furthermore, new forms of structure have since evolved. They are Functional Structure, where employees within the functional divisions of an organization perform a particular set of tasks, leading to operational efficiencies in that group. However, it might result in lack of communication between the functional groups within t he firm, making it slow and inflexible. The other one is Product Structure where all the organizational functions are brought together into a division which contains all the required resources and functions. However, Matrix Structure groups employees by both function and product. It is evident from the case of ‘Watsons’ that their structure is strictly hierarchical with very low flexibility. The Managing Director Gordon Watson takes little interest of the activities on shop floor, and is set to be followed by current Operations Director John Smith, a long-standing friend of Gordon’s. Under this structure hardly any coordination exists between different functions of business. New and innovative ideas from Ahmed Khan, the production manager, are difficult to implement because of immobility of staff on the shop floor between different machines. Also, some of the staff is under-worked while the others are overburdened. Ahmed Khan’s proposed changes in favour o f new computerised production process and shop-floor activities to be organised into multi-skilled, self-managed teams are also lost in disrupted channels of communication. The Marketing Department that handle customer liaison hardly communicates with anyone