Organizing for Performance: Four Vignettes Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

Organizing for Performance: Four Vignettes Case Study Solution

Recommendation:

Supply chain and coffee procurement, global consumer product and finance department should be retained at Starbucks corporate center. Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee retailer so it should supply coffee to all its regional stores, it will decrease per unit cost of product. If each region will have its own supplier it will increase the complexity and overall cost of production. There are some special products of the company which people like and want the same taste so, the global consumer products department should standardize that product to keep the customer’s perception same. Each region’s finance department will increase the complexity because company will not have a clear idea of its financial performance, position and value.

Store development, store products management, corporate affairs and human resource department should be managed by regional stores. Regional management works according to local consumer preferences. Regional management better knows that what should be done for the development of stores, what measures they can take to increase the revenues and create value in products. If the corporate center will manage the human resource department it will increase the cost of operations while on the other side regional department will decrease the cost. Employees should have a clear understanding of region’s culture and people’s preferences etc. therefore, regional management must perform all the human resource department functions such as: hiring, firing and training. Regional manager can better implement policies and regulations of the organization and design employees’ benefit and compensation plans.Every region has different laws, rules and regulations for organizations so; the legal or corporate affairs department should be managed by regional management. The Starbucks provide customized products so its interaction with customers is very important. It should work on responsiveness to customers. Moreover, the Starbucks should spend more on its market-facing units than core operating units as it will increase the value proposition for customers.

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School established in 1908 with the mission to make the difference in the world with educated leaders. It is known for its world’s best MBA but it is also the world’s largest publisher of case studies. Its faculty has a huge contribution to articles, books and academic journals and researches.

Organization Chart:

In my opinion, the second chart of Figure 4 serves best for HBS as department heads are more defined in this chart. Heads are defined according to the programs they are offering and which faculty will be needed for particular program. More departments will decrease the complexity in organizational structure and each department will be more focused on its goal. Although, it will increase the overall cost but on the other hand flexibility in operations will increase the performance of each department. It will be easy for respective department heads to manage operations of the particular department. Moreover, it will decrease the confusion of faculty and management that who will report to whom.

Primary Customers:

According to the information available in the case study’s figure 4, in my opinion, organization’s first structure’s primary customer is its faculty unit as faculty of each department use research articles, case studies and other course material to deliver the knowledge to its students of different programs. In my opinion, second structure illustrates that HBS primary customers are its students of doctoral program, MBA program and the executive education program as it is the best business school known globally so, large number of students would be registered in their school. Moreover, to keep their knowledge up to date they will be purchasing research articles, books and case studies.

The best source to know the primary customers of the organization is their revenue basis. The segment which generates more revenue is organization’s primary customer.

Google

Google established in 1998 with the aim to provide information worldwide. In 2015, company formed a conglomerate called Alphabet. Google has different product portfolios such as: operating system and platforms, search, hardware products, enterprise and advertising. Google generates almost 88% of its profits from advertising services. Google generates almost $90 billion revenue.

Alternatives for Organizational Structures:

Different organizational structures for the Google have been described below

Functional Organizational Structure:

Organizational structure based on its departmental functions can increase the efficiency in the organization. The Group based organization on the basis of their skills and knowledge. Every department will have their own estimated goals and they will focus on those goals. Employees will be more motivated as they see clear path and directions.(Simons, 2017)

Flat Organizational Structure:

Another alternative is the structure with no or few levels of management. This structure allows employee’s involvement in decision making process. This structure will create highly flexible environment which will bring new and innovative ideas. It allows clear communication so employee can easily bypass middle management and communicate with upper management.

Team-based Organizational Structure with Centralization:

Google can go for team-based organizational structure with same traditional hierarchy. The Employees report to the supervisor, supervisor reports to the manager and manager report to the top management. Top management will take all the decisions and all the employees will work according to those orders. Google has almost seventy offices in fifty countries therefore;Centralization will decrease the complexity in organization and increase the efficiency. Moreover, each employee should take part in decision making as innovation is very important for tech-based businesses.

Divisional Structure:

On the basis of geographies or products, Google can structure its functions according to its division.  This structure will increase the efficiency as the divisions will have all the necessary resources to support the geography or product line and will have their independent operational flow.

Recommendation:

On the basis of above alternatives, it is recommended that Google should make team-based organizational structure with centralization. Central administrative control will establish the uniformity in the organization. Different teams should be made according to the skills, knowledge and projects and allow their involvement in decision-making process as it bring new idea, improve the quality of the work and enhance better coordination among managers and employees. Although it can create conflicts amongst team members but it will increase the creativity and productivity. Therefore, team-based organizational structure is best for Google.

Exhibit-1: Brief Analysis of Four Vignettes

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