BA 495.
009
Chapter Eleven
Organizational
Structure &
Controls
Todays Agenda
Organizational Structure & Controls
Evolutionary Patterns of Strategy & Structure
Simple
Functional
Multidivisional
Matching Domestic Structure to Strategy
Matching International Structure to Strategy
Wrap-up
112
Organizational Structure and
Controls
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Organizational Structure and Controls
Organizational structure specifies:
The firms formal reporting relationships, procedures,
controls, and authority and decision-making
processes
The work to be done and how to do it, given the firms
strategy or strategies
It is critical to match organizational structure to
the firms strategy.
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Organizational Structure
Effective structures provide:
Stability
Flexibility
Structural stability provides:
The capacity required to consistently and predictably
manage daily work routines
Structural flexibility provides for:
The opportunity to explore competitive possibilities
The allocation of resources to activities that shape
needed competitive advantages
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Organizational Controls
Purposes of Organizational Controls:
Guide the use of strategy.
Indicate how to compare actual results with expected
results.
Suggest corrective actions to take when the
difference between actual and expected results is
unacceptable.
Two Types of Organizational Controls
Strategic controls
Financial controls
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Organizational Controls
Strategic
Controls
Organizational
Controls
Financial
Controls
Strategic Controls: Subjective criteria
Are concerned with examining the fit between:
What the firm might do (opportunities in its external
environment).
What the firm can do (competitive advantages).
Evaluate the degree to which the firm focuses on the
requirements to implement its strategy.
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Organizational Controls
Strategic
Controls
Organizational
Controls
Financial
Controls
Financial Controls: Objective criteria
Accounting-based measures include:
Return on investment
Return on assets
Market-based measures include:
Stock price
Market cap
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Matching Control to Strategy
Relative use of controls varies by type of
strategy:
Large diversified firms using a cost leadership
strategy emphasize financial controls.
Companies and business units using a differentiation
strategy emphasize strategic controls.
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Relationships between Strategy and
Structure
Strategy and structure have a reciprocal
relationship:
Structure flows from or follows the selection of the
firms strategy but
Once in place, structure can influence current
strategic actions as well as choices about future
strategies.
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Evolutionary Patterns of Strategy
& Organizational Structure
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Evolutionary Patterns of Structure and
Organizational Structure
All organizations require some form of
organizational structure to implement and
manage their strategies
Firms frequently alter their structure as they grow
in size and complexity
Three basic structure types:
Simple structure
Functional structure
Multidivisional structure (M-form)
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Strategy
and
Structure
Growth
Pattern
Simple Structure
Efficient implementation
of formulated strategy
Sales Growth
Coordination and Control Problems
Functional Structure
Efficient implementation
of formulated strategy
Sales Growth
Coordination and Control Problems
Multidivisional Structure
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Strategy and Structure: Simple
Structure
Owner-manager
Makes all major decisions directly.
Monitors all activities.
Staff
Serves as an extension of the managers supervisor
authority.
Matches well with focus strategies or simple
business-level strategies (typically in small
companies)
Commonly compete by offering a single product line in
a single geographic market.
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Simple Structure
Growth creates:
Complexity in relative competitive and external
analysis
Managerial and structural challenges
Owner-managers
Commonly lack organizational skills and experience.
Become ineffective in managing the specialized and
complex tasks involved with multiple organizational
functions.
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Strategy and Structure: Functional
Structure
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Limited corporate staff
Functional line managers in dominant
organizational areas of:
Production
Marketing Engineering
Accounting
R&D
Human resources
Supports use of business-level strategies and
some simple corporate-level strategies
Single or dominant business with low levels of
diversification
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Strategy and Structure: Multidivisional
Structure
Operating divisions function as separate
businesses or profit centers
Appropriate for corporate-level strategies with
moderate to high levels of diversification
Three Major Benefits:
Corporate officers are able to more accurately
monitor the performance of each business, which
simplifies the problem of control.
Facilitates comparisons between divisions, which
improves the resource allocation process.
Stimulates managers of poorly performing divisions to
look for ways of improving performance.
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Matching Domestic Strategy to
the Organizational Structure
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Using the Functional Structure to
Implement
a Cost Leadership Strategy
Focus is typically on primary activities of the
value chain.
Efficiency is key.
Formalized procedures guide actions.
Job roles are highly structured.
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Using the Functional Structure to
Implement a Differentiation Strategy
Marketing is the main function for tracking new
product ideas.
New product R&D is emphasized.
Formalization is limited to foster change and
promote new ideas.
Job roles are less structured.
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Corporate-Level Strategies and the
Multidivisional Structure
Diversification strategy requires firm to change
from functional structure to a multidivisional
structure.
Different levels of diversification create the need
for implementation of a unique form of the
multidivisional structure.
Cooperative form
Strategic Business Unit (SBU) form
Competitive form
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Cooperative form: Related Constrained
Strategy
Sharing divisional competencies
facilitates development of
economies of scope.
Leverage firms core competencies.
Centralization of some
organizational functions
Specific product or market
divisions have their own
business-level strategies.
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Cooperative form: Related Constrained
Strategy
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SBU form: Related Linked Strategy
Strategic business unit (SBU) form is a structure
consisting of three levels:
Corporate headquarters with shared support services
Strategic business units (SBUs)
SBU divisions
Typically, used with larger firms
Divisions within SBUs develop economies of
scope and/or scale by sharing product or market
competencies.
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SBU form: Related Linked Strategy
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Competitive form: Unrelated strategy
A structure in which there is complete
independence among the firms divisions
Divisions do not share common corporate strengths.
Limited shared corporate functions.
Because strengths arent shared, integrating devices
arent developed.
Organizational arrangements emphasize divisional
competition rather than cooperation.
Creates specific profit performance expectations
for each division to promote internal competition
for resources.
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Competitive form: Unrelated strategy
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Summary of Organizational Structure
versus Corporate-level Strategy
Overall Structural Form
Cooperative M-Form
SBU M-Form
Competitive M-Form
Structural
Characteristics
(Related Constrained
Strategy)a
(Related Linked
Strategy)a
(Unrelated Diversification
Strategy)a
Centralization of
operations
Centralized at
corporate office
Partially centralized
(in SBUs)
Decentralized to
divisions
Use of integration
mechanisms
Extensive
Moderate
Nonexistent
Divisional
performance
appraisals
Emphasize subjective
(strategic) criteria
Use a mixture of
subjective (strategic)
and objective
(financial) criteria
Emphasize objective
(financial) criteria
Mixed linkage to
corporate, SBU, and
Linked to divisional
performance
Divisional incentive Linked to overall
compensation
corporate
performance
divisional performance
Strategy implemented with structural form.
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Matching International Strategy to
the Organizational Structure
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Worldwide Geographic Area Structure:
Implementing a Multidomestic Strategy
Multidomestic strategy decentralizes strategic
and operating decisions to:
Business units in each country
Product characteristics tailored to local preferences
Firms counter global competitive forces by
competing in industry segments most affected by
differences among local countries.
Requires little coordination between different
county markets: integrating mechanisms arent
needed.
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Worldwide Geographic Area Structure:
Implementing a Multidomestic Strategy
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Worldwide Product Divisional Structure:
Implementing a Global Strategy
Global Strategy
Allows firm to offer standardized products across
country markets.
Headquarters coordinates and integrates decisions
and actions among divisional business units.
Integrating mechanisms are important:
Direct contact between managers
Liaison roles between departments
Temporary task forces as well as permanent teams
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Worldwide Product Divisional Structure:
Implementing a Global Strategy
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Combination Structure: A Transnational
Strategy
Transnational Strategy
Combines multidomestic strategys local
responsiveness with global strategys efficiency.
Combination structure draws characteristics and
mechanisms from both:
Worldwide geographic area structure
Worldwide product divisional structure
Appropriate integrating mechanisms for the
combination structure are less obvious.
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Combination Structure: A Transnational
Strategy
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Wrap-up
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Wrap-up
Organizational Structure & Controls
Evolutionary Patterns of Strategy & Structure
Simple
Functional
Multidivisional
Matching Domestic Structure to Strategy
Matching International Structure to Strategy
Questions
1137
