Discussion question

  

Discuss how organizations are designed. How are responsibilities delegated? 

175 word min.  with scholarly Reference in APA 7 format 

Discuss how organizations are designed. How are responsibilities delegated?

Lussier, R. N. (2017). Management fundamentals (8th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Organizational Considerations and PrinciplesManagers design formal structures to organize a company’s resources,1 and structure influences innovative entrepreneurial orientation2 (Chapter 6). Organizing, the second function of management, is defined as the process of delegating and coordinating tasks and resources to achieve objectives (Chapter 1). When designing an entire organization, there are some things to consider and principles to follow. These are the topics of this section.LO 7-1Explain the difference between mechanistic and organic organizations and the environments in which they are more effective.Organizational ConsiderationsHere are some things to consider and questions to answer when organizing the entire company.Mechanistic Versus Organic Organization and the Environment.As the structure of the firm must align with the environment in which it operates,3 overall there are two major forms of organization that are more effective in different environments—stable and dynamic4 (Chapter 3). Mechanistic organizations are bureaucratic, focusing on following procedures and rules through tight controls and having specialized jobs, with decisions being made by top managers. This model tends to work well in stable environments, in which uniformity and the traditional command and control are important.5 Conversely, organic organizations are flexible, with minimal focus on procedures and rules, broadly defined jobs, and decisions made at lower levels. This model tends to work well in the current trend of more dynamic environments.6mechanistic organizations Bureaucratic organizations, focusing on following procedures and rules through tight controls and specialized jobs, with top managers making decisions.organic organizations Flexible organizations with minimal focus on procedures and rules, broadly defined jobs, and decisions made at lower levels.Exhibit 7-1 Organizing QuestionsAlthough there are two forms, they are really on a continuum between being mechanistic and being organic. Many companies are organized somewhere between the two extremes but can be more identified overall with one form or the other. It is also common for some parts like manufacturing to be mechanistic, whereas research, design, and marketing are organic. Tesla (IOM 1) is closer to the mechanistic side of the continuum, as Tesla organizational structure takes a traditional form, considering the company has limited approach to its production facility development. Tesla uses its corporate structure to facilitate extensive control of the organization.Strategy, Size, and Technology.As discussed in Chapter 5, companies develop strategies, and thus, company organizational structure must be designed to achieve the strategic objectives.7 As companies change strategies to align with the external environment, they tend to change their structure.8 With innovative growth strategies in a dynamic environment, organic structures tend to work well, whereas with a stability strategy in a stable environment, mechanistic structures tend to work well (see Chapter 1). Generally, the larger the firm, the more mechanistic it becomes, but highly innovative companies can be organic. Companies that use mass-production technology tend to use a more mechanistic organization, whereas firms with more custom-made products tend to be organic. But again, most companies are between the two extremes.Organization Questions.There are at least six questions that you need to answer when organizing. The questions are listed in Exhibit 7-1. The answers are discussed in more detail in the indicated topic sections of this chapter.Principles of OrganizationExhibit 7-2 lists the organizational principles generally followed by companies that we discuss in this section. Note that not all companies follow all of the guidelines. You will learn that there is a difference in their use by organic and mechanistic organizations.Unity of Command and Direction.The principle of unity of command requires that each employee report to only one boss. When there are two bosses, you can often get two conflicting messages. Recalling the importance of being goal oriented and setting objectives9 (Chapters 1 and 5), the principle of unity of direction requires that all activities be directed toward the same objectives. Unity of command and direction is more closely enforced in mechanistic organizations than in organic ones.Chain of Command.Chain of command, also known as the Scalar Principle, is the clear line of authority from the top to the bottom of an organization, forming a hierarchy,10 which is illustrated in the organization chart.11 All members of the firm should know whom they report to and who, if anyone, reports to them. The chain of command is clearer and more closely followed in mechanistic organizations.Exhibit 7-2 Principles of OrganizationWORK APPLICATION 7-1Follow the chain of command from your present position (or one you held in the past) to the top of the organization. Start by identifying anyone who reported to you; then list your boss’s title, your boss’s boss’s title, and so on up to the top manager’s title.Span of Management.The span of management (or span of control12) refers to the number of employees reporting to a manager. The fewer employees supervised, the smaller or narrower the span of management, and vice versa. The trend is to increase the span.13 The span of management in an organization is related to the number of its organizational levels, which determines its organizational height. In a tall organization, there are many levels with narrow spans of management. In a flat organization, there are few levels with wide spans of management. Mechanistic organizations tend to be taller. In recent years, many organizations have flattened14 by cutting out layers of management, including Zappos, which eliminated all managers.15 ContextMedia has 12 department heads creating a management team as the only layer of management in the 160-person company.16Division of Labor.With division of labor, employees have specialized jobs. Related functions are grouped together under a single boss. Employees generally have specialized jobs in a functional area such as accounting, production, or sales. Mechanistic organizations have a greater division of labor.WORK APPLICATION 7-2Identify your boss’s span of management, or your own if you are or were a manager. How many levels of management are there in your organization? Is it a flat or a tall organization?Coordination.Coordination and collaboration ensure that all departments and individuals within an organization work together,17 and coordination increases both team and firm performance.18 Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch coined the terms differentiation and integration.19 Differentiation refers to the need to break the organization into departments, and integration refers to the need to coordinate the departmental activities,20 it’s a balancing act.21 Coordination is generally easier in mechanistic organizations that have formal structures that facilitate coordination.22Balanced Responsibility and Authority.With balanced responsibility and authority, the responsibilities of each individual in the organization are clearly defined in mechanistic firms. Each individual is also given the authority necessary to meet these responsibilities and is held accountable for meeting them.23Responsibility is the obligation to achieve objectives by performing required activities. When objectives are set, the people responsible for achieving them should be clearly identified. Managers are responsible for the performance of their units. We need to take responsibility for our behavior,24 and don’t deny or blame others for our actions when justly criticized.25Authority is the right to make decisions, issue orders, and use resources. You should be given responsibility and authority for achieving objectives. The CEO is responsible for the results of the entire organization and delegates authority down the chain of command to the lower-level managers, who are responsible for meeting operational objectives.Accountability is the evaluation of how well individuals meet their responsibilities. Managers are accountable for everything that happens in their departments. As a manager, you delegate responsibility and authority to perform tasks, but you should realize that you can never delegate “your” accountability.span of management The number of employees reporting to a manager.responsibility The obligation to achieve objectives by performing required activities.authority The right to make decisions, issue orders, and use resources.Delegation.Delegation is the process of assigning responsibility and authority for accomplishing objectives. Responsibility and authority are delegated down the chain of command. Delegation is important to success26 and will be covered in detail later in this chapter. But for now, you should realize that delegation only takes place when you give an employee a new task. If tasks are already part of employees’ job and you ask them to do a task, it’s not delegation. Delegating tends to be used more often in organic organizations, as jobs are not as clearly defined and employees are expected to do a wider variety of tasks.Start-up organizations often use organic structures that allow for more flexibility.©iStockphoto.com/kupicoodelegation The process of assigning responsibility and authority for accomplishing objectives.Flexibility.Employees in mechanistic organizations focus on following company rules;27 they fear getting into trouble for breaking or bending the rules. Organic organization employees are allowed to be more flexible and make exceptions to the procedures and rules to create customer satisfaction.28 Employees are expected to be flexible and come up with quick solutions to problems.29 With flexibility comes accountability for producing results.30 Are you willing to be flexible and seize unexpected opportunities?31WORK APPLICATION 7-3Does an organization you work for or have worked for emphasize following the standing procedures or being flexible? Explain your answer.AuthorityIn this section, you will learn about formal and informal authority, levels of authority, centralized and decentralized authority, and line and staff authority.7-1 Applying the ConceptPrinciples of OrganizationIdentify which organizational principle or principles are represented by each statement.unity of command and directionchain of commandspan of managementdivision of laborcoordinationbalanced responsibility and authoritydelegationflexibility____ 1. “Tom told me to use his computer to get some information for him. But when I got to the computer, it was turned off, and when it booted up, I didn’t have Tom’s password, so I couldn’t get the information.”____ 2. “Tonya handles all the accounts receivable transactions, and Ed does all the accounts payable transactions.”____ 3. “I know it will be difficult to supervise 19 employees reporting to you, Brenda, but after cutting two managers, we all have to take on more employees.”____ 4. “He is a good customer, Helen, so make him happy. Ignore the rule and give him a cash refund without the sales receipt.”____ 5. “To make your job more interesting, Sean, I’m going to assign a new task to you.”____ 6. “My department manager, Rick, tells me to do one thing, but my project manager, Betty, tells me to do something else at the same time. Whom should I listen to?”____ 7. “I need Carlos to do some research for me, but as a middle manager, I can’t give an operative employee a direct order to do it. I have to have my supervisor, Chris, give Carlos the assignment for me.”____ 8. “The ambulance is on the way. Anita, call Dr. Rodriguez and have her get to emergency room A in 10 minutes. Aaron, prepare emergency room A. Juan, get the paperwork ready.”Formal and Informal Authority and Scope and Levels of AuthorityIt is helpful to distinguish authority from power, to distinguish between formal and informal authority, and to understand the scope and level of your authority for a given task.LO 7-2Contrast formal and informal authority, centralized and decentralized authority, and line and staff authority.Authority Versus Power.Managers hold positions of power and authority,32 but authority is different from power structure;33 power is broader in scope. The organization gives managers and employees formal authority to do the job, and managers are given positions of hierarchical power.34 However, power is the ability to influence others. So you can be a manager without any real power, and you can have power without being a manager. We will discuss power in Chapter 10.Formal and Informal Authority.Formal authority (or structure) is based on the specified relationships among employees. It is the sanctioned way of getting the job done. The organization chart (see LO 7-3) illustrates formal authority and shows the lines of authority. Informal authority arises from the patterns of relationships and communication that evolve as employees interact and communicate.35 It is the unsanctioned way of getting the job done. Formal authority is common in mechanistic organizations, whereas informal authority is more accepted in organic organizations.Exhibit 7-3 Scope of AuthorityScope of Authority.The scope of authority is a hierarchy that narrows as it flows from the top down through the organization.36 A president has more authority than a vice president, who has more authority than a manager. Responsibility and authority are delegated37 and flow down the organization, whereas accountability flows up the organization, as Exhibit 7-3 illustrates.Levels of Authority.The levels of authority are the authority to inform, the authority to recommend, the authority to report, and full authority.The authority to inform. You inform your supervisor of possible alternative actions. The supervisor has the authority to make the decision.The authority to recommend. You list alternative decisions/actions, analyze them, and recommend one action. However, you may not implement the recommendation without the boss’s OK. The boss may require a different alternative if he or she does not agree with the recommendation. Committees are often given authority to recommend.The authority to report. You may freely select a course of action and carry it out. However, afterward you must report the action taken to the boss.Full authority. You may freely make decisions and act without the boss’s knowledge. However, even people with full authority may consult their bosses for advice.WORK APPLICATION 7-4Identify and explain your level of authority for a specific task in an organization.WORK APPLICATION 7-5Describe the type of authority (centralized or decentralized) used in an organization you work for or have worked for.levels of authority The authority to inform, the authority to recommend, the authority to report, and full authority.centralized authority Important decisions are made by top managers.decentralized authority Important decisions are made by middle and first-line managers.Centralized and Decentralized AuthorityThe major distinction between centralized and decentralized authority lies in who makes the important decisions.38 With centralized authority, important decisions are made by top managers. With decentralized authority, important decisions are made by middle and first-line managers. Decentralization pushes authority and accountability further down the line.39 It contrasts controlling versus empowering employees.40Which type of authority works best? There is no simple answer, as it depends on the situation. The major advantages of centralization are control and reduced duplication of work. The major advantages of decentralization are efficiency and flexibility. Mechanistic organizations tend to use centralized authority, whereas organic ones tend to use decentralized authority. Tesla (IOM 2) is more centralized and uses this type of organizational structure to effectively control its global operations. The minimal regional divisions support not just financial reporting and analysis but also possible future regionalization of strategies and tactics in the automotive business. These advantages empower Tesla to use its organizational structure for further international growth. Berkshire Hathaway has more than 60 operating units, and each one has its own decentralized authority.41Authority is a continuum, with centralized authority at one end and decentralized authority at the other. Most organizations lie somewhere between the two extremes but can be classified overall. On the continuum, McDonald’s is closer to being centralized; however, it is now giving regional managers the authority to offer new food items to meet local consumer tastes and preferences.42 The key to success seems to be having the right balance between the two extremes. Gap now realizes it has to change faster with fashion trends, so it is now more decentralized.43Micromanagement.Micromanagement is a management style generally used as a negative term for when a manager closely observes or controls the work of his or her employees. They are also called old-fashioned bossy managers.44 Rather than giving general instructions on tasks and then devoting time to supervising larger concerns, the micromanager monitors and assesses every step of a business process and avoids delegation of decisions. Allowing employees to make decisions and act without having to get permission all the time clearly increases the speed of getting the job done. Micromanagers need to learn to trust employees and delegate more.45 Cofounder and CEO Jeff Greenfield of C3 Metrics says that since he stepped back from being a micromanager, he has time to focus on long-term strategic thinking and has pursued opportunities that have grown the business.46 Micromanaging is more common with centralized authority.micromanagement A management style generally used as a negative term for when a manager closely observes or controls the work of his or her employees.WORK APPLICATION 7-6Identify one or more line and staff positions in an organization you work for or have worked for. Also, indicate whether the staff positions are general staff or specialist staff.Line and Staff AuthorityThere are differences between line and staff authority, and staff can be generalist or specialist.Line Versus Staff Authority.Line authority is the responsibility to make decisions and issue orders down the chain of command. Staff authority is the responsibility to advise and assist other personnel. Line managers are primarily responsible for achieving the organization’s objectives and directly bringing revenue into the organization, and staff people provide them with services that help them do that. Operations and marketing are usually line departments. Human resources management, public relations, and data processing are almost always staff departments. The line departments are internal “customers” of the staff departments.Exhibit 7-4 Types and Levels of Authorityline authority The responsibility to make decisions and issue orders down the chain of command.staff authority The responsibility to advise and assist other personnel.7-1 Join the Discussion Ethics & Social ResponsibilityBreaking the RulesSuppose you are a sales rep for a major pharmaceutical company. You get paid by commission, so the more drugs you sell to doctors, the more money you make. You know that sales reps in your company have been visiting doctors and telling them that if they prescribe your company’s medication, they will receive 5% of the sales revenues. This arrangement can bring in thousands of dollars each year for both the sales reps and the doctors. You know the names of a few sales reps who are allegedly giving these kickbacks, but you are not sure how many sales reps are involved. You also don’t know if sales managers know about the kickbacks or are receiving payments from the reps.Is it unethical to be flexible and break the law against kickbacks?Why are kickbacks illegal? Who benefits from kickbacks, who gets hurt by them, and how?What would you do in this situation? (Would you start giving kickbacks yourself? Blow the whistle on sales reps to their managers? Blow the whistle to an outside source like the government or the media? Do nothing?)General and Specialist Staff.General staff work for only one manager and help the manager in any way needed. Specialist staff help anyone in the organization who needs it. Human resources, accounting, public relations, and maintenance offer specialized advice and assistance. Line managers use the services of staff departments such as printing and human resources. Exhibit 7-4 reviews types and levels of authority. Mechanistic organizations tend to have more specialized staff than do organic organizations.Organizational DesignStrategic management (Chapter 5) is about selecting activities to engage in and how to configure them,47 and top-level managers create and design formal structures for the entire firm.48 Organizational design is the internal structure of an organization, or the arrangement of positions in the organization into work units or departments and the interrelationships among them. As you’ll learn in this section, organizational design is illustrated in the organization chart and is determined by the type of departmentalization.LO 7-3Define what an organization chart is, list the four aspects of a firm that it shows, and describe the four traditional departmentalization designs.Organization ChartFormal authority is illustrated in the formal structure of an organization (org) chart.49 An organization chart is a graphic illustration of the organization’s management hierarchy and departments and their working relationships. Each box represents a position within the organization, and each line indicates the reporting relationships and formal lines of communication.organization chart A graphic illustration of an organization’s management hierarchy and departments and their working relationships.7-2 Applying the ConceptAuthorityIdentify the type of authority referred to in each statement.formalinformalcentralizeddecentralizedlinestaff____ 9. “I like your creative idea for a new product. I’ll talk to the boss, and if Jamal likes it, he’ll let us present the idea to his boss, Ginna.”____ 10. “When I recommend good sales rep job candidates to the marketing manager, I get angry when Sam does not hire them.”____ 11. “Everyone throughout the organization is encouraged to share information and knowledge with everyone else to get the job done.”____ 12. “Hu, it’s time to stop making pencils and start making pens.”____ 13. “Being a manager here is great because we have the autonomy to run the department the way we want to.”____ 14. “Don’t forget—-don’t take any action until you check with me for my approval first.”Exhibit 7-5 Organization ChartExhibit 7-5, an adaptation of GM’s organization chart, illustrates four major aspects of such a chart:The level of management hierarchy. The org chart is a top-down structure50 showing the levels of management.51 At GM, the CEO and division presidents are top management, the vice presidents and managers are middle management, and the supervisors are first-line management.Chain of command. By following the vertical lines, you can see who reports to whom, as the GM division presidents report to the CEO. Within each division, vice presidents report to a president. The managers report to a vice president, and supervisors report to a manager. The assistant to the CEO is a general staff person, and the finance and human resources departments include specialist staff.The division and type of work. GM divides work by type of automobile: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC (trucks). Each vice president within a division is responsible for a function, and the managers serve as linking pins coordinating the divisions’ work.52Departmentalization. An organization chart shows how the firm is divided into permanent work units. GM is organized primarily by product divisional departmentalization.You should also realize what an organization chart doesn’t show, including day-to-day activities performed. A typical firm has three org charts: the formal one on paper discussed here, the real informal one in terms of knowing who to talk to and politics and influence (discussed in Chapter 10), and the org chart that the firm wants to be to perform better.53Traditional DepartmentalizationDepartmentalization is the grouping of related activities into units. Traditional departmentalization tends to have a simple structure. Departments may have either an internal or an external focus, as discussed here.departmentalization The grouping of related activities into units.Functional Departmentalization.Functional departmentalization capitalizes on functional expertise,54 as it involves organizing departments around essential internal input activities, such as making/selling and financing products and services. It can also be called process departmentalization when the focus is on work or customer flow, such as at a Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) with departments to “flow” you through the process of getting or renewing your driver’s license or auto registration. Functional departmentalization is illustrated in the top left portion of Exhibit 7-6. The functional approach is the form most widely used by small organizations, including Table Group consultants.55 Large organizations tend to use external focused departmentalization, our next three structures. Tesla (IOM 3, part 1) possesses a global hierarchy that is functional in nature in that it has the following officers directing the entire operation of the firm: chairman & chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief technology officer, vice president—vehicle engineering, vice president—powertrain operations, vice president—North America sales, chief designer, vice president—manufacturing, vice president—autopilot hardware engineering, vice president—worldwide services & deliveries and general counsel.Product (Service) Departmentalization.Product (service) departmentalization involves organizing departments around goods (or services). Companies with multiple products commonly use product departmentalization. Retail chains like CVS and Best Buy use product departmentalization within their stores. The org chart at the bottom left of Exhibit 7-6 is by product.Customer Departmentalization.Customer departmentalization involves organizing departments around the needs of different types of customers. The product or service may be the same or slightly different, but the needs of the customer warrant different marketing approaches. SAGE Publications focuses on selling books to different customer groups: research books, textbooks, journals, and reference books.56 Some not-for-profit organizations use it, such as Jones Counseling Center, offering individual, family, and drug/alcoholic counseling. The org chart at the top right in Exhibit 7-6 illustrates customer departmentalization.Territory (Geographic) Departmentalization.Territory (geographic) departmentalization involves establishing separate units in each area in which the enterprise does business. Virtually all MNCs, including Ford and Coca-Cola, have some form of territory structure. The org chart at the bottom right of Exhibit 7-6 is by territory. Tesla (IOM 3, part 2) is expanding fast globally, so it is secondarily departmentalized by territory—United States, China, Norway, and other.Exhibit 7-6 Types of Traditional DepartmentalizationContemporary Organizational DesignIn this section, we expand on organizational design to using multiple departmentalization and contemporary issues and designs.MANAGEMENT IN ACTIONTraditional DepartmentalizationMultiple DepartmentalizationMany organizations, particularly large, complex ones, use several types of departmentalization to create a hybrid structure.57 Any mixture of types can be used. For example, some organizations have functional departments within a manufacturing facility, but sales are departmentalized by territory, with separate sales managers and salespeople in different areas.Exhibit 7-7 Matrix DepartmentalizationLO 7-4Discuss the two multiple forms of departmentalization and five contemporary organizational designs.Matrix Departmentalization.Matrix departmentalization combines functional and product departmentalization. With matrix departmentalization, an employee works for a functional department and is also assigned to one or more products or projects. The major advantage of matrix departmentalization is flexibility. It allows the enterprise to temporarily organize for a project. The major disadvantage is that each employee has two bosses—a functional boss and a project boss—which violates the unity-of-command principle and makes coordination difficult.Professor Lussier became a two-time intrapreneur at Springfield College—first when he started a consulting business and later when he opened a branch in Israel. He had split responsibilities, with a department chair supervisor for teaching for both ventures and the dean supervisor for starting and managing the consulting business and branch. The use of matrix departmentalization will continue to increase as a contemporary design.58 Exhibit 7-7 illustrates a matrix structure.Home Depot uses functional organizational structure at the global level and also uses geographic divisions.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesDivisional Departmentalization.As part of the corporate-level grand strategy (Chapter 5), a divisional structure is based on semiautonomous strategic business units. It is sometimes called multidivisional or M-form.59 In essence, this structure creates coordinated companies within a company with their own departmentalization, which may be different. Divisional structure is common for large, complex global businesses that offer related goods and services. PepsiCo uses divisional departmentalization for its Pepsi beverages, Tropicana juice, Gatorade sport drinks, Frito-Lay snacks, and Quaker Oats cereal and granola bars. These and other PepsiCo-brand products are sold through six global divisions based on territory departmentalization.60 Smith & Wesson restructured by adding new divisions for outdoor sporting goods as a growth diversification strategy (Chapter 5) to add to its firearms division.61The conglomerate (holding company) structure is based on autonomous profit centers. Companies with unrelated diversified business units use the conglomerate structure. Top management focuses on corporate-level strategy business portfolio management (Chapter 5) to buy and sell lines of business without great concern for coordinating divisions. Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 60 operating units with no companywide budgeting or strong central controls for a conglomerate with 340,000 employees.62 Google created a parent63 or holding company called Alphabet.64 It restructured to separate its core businesses from its newer unrelated businesses, such as Nest, Google Life Sciences, and Fiber.65divisional structure Departmentalization based on semiautonomous strategic business units.WORK APPLICATION 7-7Draw a simple organization chart for an organization you work for or have worked for. Identify the type of departmentalization and staff positions, if any.Contemporary Organizational Issues and DesignsChallenges to New Organization.Staying innovative (Chapter 6) over time is challenging,66 as organizations need to continually redesign their structures to align with environmental changes.67 MNCs need to be agile and change quickly today, but sound mechanistic bureaucracy features are slowing them down.68 Amazon, Facebook, and Google are successful to a large extent due to their ability to stay innovative and change quickly.69MNCs need to blend the best of mechanistic and organic advantages. They are breaking the unity of command with matrix structures while keeping unity of direction, as they use more informal authority and bypass the chain of command and increase the span of management by cutting layers of middle management. Jobs still need to be specialized, but employees are being empowered more through decentralized authority to do the job their way as managers delegate more responsibility. McDonald’s restructured to minimize its bureaucracy with too many layers of management, redundancies in planning and communication, competing priorities, and barriers to efficient decision making.70Reengineering.Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed. As defined, it’s about radical big improvement, not incremental change. You start by throwing out the old organization chart and methods and reengineer new, radically better ways of getting the work done. Michael Porter says we need to reengineer the U.S. national health care system and its organizations. It needs to be organized around the needs of the patient—not insurance, health care facilities, and doctors.71 An entire company, department, or job can be reengineered.Digital-marketing firm Fathom’s CEO Scot Lowry shredded his organization chart and reorganized everyone into teams dedicated to specific accounts and listed himself at the bottom of the new chart.72 Founder and CEO Tony Hsieh reengineered Zappos.com into what he calls holacracy. Hsieh eliminated all management positions and dropped the hierarchy of people into a hierarchy of purpose to foster collaboration. It has multiple circles. There’s a general company circle. Then each circle has roles in it and subcircles. Each circle and each role has its own purpose. Employees can fill multiple roles in multiple circles, and they are free to move around different circles to work on different projects.73Contemporary Organizational Designs.Here are five commonly used designs. Note, however, that MNCs are still departmentalized by the six structures we presented already. The five contemporary organizational designs we present here are generally embedded within the existing departmentalization but change the structure, and they are not shown on an organization chart unless the organization is reengineered to do so.Team Organization. Many companies are organizing based on teams, and networks of interdependent teams that pursue shared goals are called multiteam systems.74 Team members are commonly viewed as leaders, as they participate in self-management.75 Zappos’s circles are essentially teams. You will learn about work teams later in this chapter and Chapter 8, titled “Managing Teamwork.” General Foods, P&G, Sherwin-Williams, and the University of Oregon Ducks football coaching staff76 have all developed team structures.Network Organization. Networks are boundaryless interrelationships among different organizations.77 A network firm may be viewed as a central hub surrounded by a network of outside specialists that change as needed. Networks create multiple kinds of relationships,78 as firms share information and resources.79 Networks use cross-functional and cross-firm teams.80 Facebook and Google’s power comes from the size of their partnership networks.81 These two firms partner and compete in different lines of business, and are so-called frenemies. Modular and virtual organizations are types of boundaryless networks.Modular Organization. Nike and Reebok design and market their footwear and outsource manufacturing to contractors that change over time. Some companies, including Dell and RCA, either purchase products ready made or buy all the parts and only assemble the product.Virtual Organization. A virtual organization is a continually evolving network of contingent workers (temporary, freelance, or contract—not full-time employees) and companies that unite temporarily to exploit specific project opportunities or to attain strategic advantages. Second Life hired contingent programmers to develop its software to create a virtual world of colorful online avatars. Unlike the more stable modular organization, the virtual organization has no central hub; it’s more like a potluck dinner, as each independent worker or company selects which companies it wants to network with to meet a specific objective.The Learning Organization. As discussed in Chapter 2, work is becoming more based on knowledge.82 In a learning organization, everyone in the firm is engaged in identifying and solving problems to continuously improve and achieve the firm’s objectives through knowledge sharing within and outside the firm.83 There is no agreement about how the learning organization looks or operates, and you don’t see it on an organization chart.Platform Organization. One of the newest structures is platforms that are used to connect buyers and sellers.84 Platforms utilize the shared economy. Uber connects riders and drivers, and Airbnb connects renters and home owners through the use of sophisticated technology.Visa is facing discontinuous innovation (Chapter 6) from virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and alternative online-payments systems like PayPal that can bypass credit cards and new methods for enabling mobile phone transactions. Thus, Visa is fighting for survival as the world’s largest payment system by creating a team-based, network-learning organization partnering with frenemies Apple Pay and Google Wallet by giving them and other developers of payment systems, such as Square Inc. (which helps small businesses accept cards), access to Visa’s systems. Visa is also investing in firms like LoopPay Inc. (whose software allows customers to store credit card data on their phones).857-3 Applying the ConceptDepartmentalizationIdentify the type of departmentalization illustrated by each organization chart.functionalproduct (service)customerterritory (geographic)matrixdivisionalAs discussed in this section, firms are changing the way they organize. Complete Self-Assessment 7-1 to determine your organizational preference. Knowing your preference can help in job searching.Lyft functions as a platform organization, connecting drivers and customers.Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for LyftJob DesignJob or work design is about doing what must be done to accomplish objectives.86 Tasks or activities to be performed by organizations are grouped into functional departments, and the tasks are further grouped into jobs for each employee with a job title to describe responsibilities.87 Job design is the process of identifying tasks that each employee is responsible for completing. Job design is crucial because it affects job satisfaction and productivity.88 Tesla (IOM 4), as a major producer of fully electric automobiles, uses its corporate structure to facilitate extensive control of the organization including job design. Tesla, given its traditional organizational structure with minimal regional divisions, designs jobs focusing upon the individual work the employee performs within their specific functional area (i.e., manufacturing versus worldwide services and delivery) regardless of his or her physical location.As we will discuss in this section, jobs may be simplified, or they may be expanded. You can use work teams and a job characteristics model to design jobs.job design The process of identifying tasks that each employee is responsible for completing.LO 7-5Classify each of the nine job designs under the three job design option categories.Job SimplificationJob simplification is the process of eliminating or combining tasks and/or changing the work sequence to improve performance, making jobs more specialized. It is based on the organizing principle of division of labor and Taylor’s scientific management (Chapter 1). The idea behind job simplification is to work smarter, not harder. A job is broken down into a work-flow process to improve it.89 It creates steps (flowchart), and employees analyze the steps to see if they can eliminate, combine, or change the sequence of activities.Eliminate. Does the task, or parts of it, have to be done at all? If not, don’t waste time doing it.Combine. Doing similar things together often saves time.Change sequence. Often, a change in the order of doing things results in a lower total time.Simplification doesn’t have to make the job repetitive and boring. GE has Workout sessions at which employees present ideas for eliminating pointless tasks.90 Companies including McDonald’s and Costco stopped requiring paper signatures for small credit card sales to speed up service and eliminate paperwork, as well as electronic signatures.Uber’s (IOM 4) primary job design for its drivers is job simplification, as the job is simply to pick up clients and drive them to where they want to go following the mapped route. Related to its drivers, a very important part of Uber’s organizational structure is that drivers are not employees. They are contingent independent contractors, so Uber doesn’t have to give them a paycheck with the legal requirements of paying and withholding multiple types of employment taxes. Drivers get paid per ride, and they are responsible for paying the taxes on the 1099-MISC (Miscellaneous Income) form received from Uber for the tax year. The IRS gets a copy, so don’t even think about not paying taxes if you get a 1099 from any firm.WORK APPLICATION 7-8Describe how a job at an organization you work for or have worked for could be simplified. Be sure to specify if you are eliminating, combining, or changing the sequence of the job.Job ExpansionJob expansion is the process of making jobs less specialized. Jobs can be expanded through rotation, enlargement, and enrichment. The trend is toward organic structure, giving employees more job autonomy.91Job Rotation.Job rotation involves performing different jobs in some sequence, each one for a set period. For example, employees making cars on a GM assembly line might rotate so that they get to work on different parts of the production process for a set period, which is used in teams.92 Many organizations develop conceptual skills in management trainees by rotating them through various departments, including Bank of America and Target.Related to job rotation is cross-training, so employees learn to perform different jobs so they can fill in for those who are not on the job. Jumpstart:HR consulting company’s CEO Joey Price says you need at least two people trained on every single function.93 As skills increase, employees become more valuable to the organization.Job Enlargement.Job enlargement involves adding tasks to broaden variety. Although you can add more variety of tasks to a highly repetitive, boring job, once the new tasks are mastered, the job is still rather boring. AT&T, Chrysler, GM, and IBM have used job enlargement.Job Enrichment.Job enrichment is the process of building motivators into the job itself to make it more interesting and challenging. The goal is to get employees fully engaged at work so they are satisfied and productive.94 Job enrichment works for jobs of low motivation potential and employees who are ready to be empowered to do meaningful work. A simple way to enrich jobs is to delegate more responsibility to employees to make a job satisfying. Monsanto, Motorola, and the Travelers Companies have successfully used job enrichment.job enrichment The process of building motivators into a job to make it more interesting and challenging.To enrich jobs, firms are using more flexible work arrangements, includingtelecommuting, in which employees work remotely, connected to the office through the Internet;flextime, in which employees can select their working hours within certain hours;compressed workweek, in which employees work more hours per day and fewer days per week—commonly four 10-hour days, allowing a three-day weekend; andjob sharing, in which two or more employees split one full-time job—commonly two working half the shift each.7-1 Self-Assessment: Organizational PreferenceIndividuals differ in the type of organizations in which they prefer to work. To determine your organizational preference, evaluate each of the following 12 statements, using the scale below. Place a number from 1 (I disagree) to 5 (I agree) that represents your level of agreement with the statement.____ 1. I prefer having just one boss telling me what to do rather than multiple people.____ 2. I prefer to just perform my job rather than being concerned about organizational objectives and being involved in setting them.____ 3. I prefer knowing the reporting relationship, who is whose boss, and working through proper channels rather than just working directly with a variety of people based on the situation.____ 4. I prefer to get information from my boss rather than multiple sources.____ 5. I prefer having a clear job description so I know just what I need to do at work rather than the ambiguity of not being sure and doing whatever needs to be done.____ 6. I prefer being a specialist rather than a generalist.____ 7. I prefer doing my own thing that contributes to the organization rather than coordinating the work I do with that of others in teams.____ 8. I prefer to make excuses and blame others rather than accept responsibility for my shortcomings.____ 9. I prefer having my boss make decisions for me at work rather than making my own decisions.____ 10. I prefer routine at work rather than being delegated new tasks to perform.____ 11. I prefer having job security rather than knowing I could be let go.____ 12. I prefer that people get promoted based primarily on seniority rather than based on performance.____ TotalScoring: To determine your preference, add up the numbers you assigned to the statements; the total will be between 12 and 60.The higher your score, the more you prefer to work in a traditional organizational structure, often referred to as mechanistic. The lower your score, the more you prefer to work in a contemporary organizational structure, often called organic. Review your answers knowing that the opening statement applies to traditional organizations and the opposite statement (after “rather than”) applies to contemporary organizations. Most firms tend to be organized somewhere between the two extremes.Job Characteristics Model.The Job Characteristics Model (JCM) was developed by Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham to be a method that uses a complex model to guide the job designer to make the job more interesting and challenging based on the job itself (core job dimensions), the characteristics of the employee doing the job (critical psychological states), and the employee’s interest in having an enriched job (employee growth-need strength). Correctly used, jobs designed with the JCM have been found to increase motivation, increase job satisfaction, and improve job results.95 Due to its complexity and need for training to use the JCM correctly, which is beyond the scope of this book, it tends to be used by consultants, such as YourCoach, or large organizations with a JCM specialist, such as GE.WORK APPLICATION 7-9Describe how a job at an organization you work for or have worked for could be expanded. Be sure to specify how the job is changed.Work TeamsThe traditional approach to job design has been to focus on individual jobs. But the trend is toward designing jobs for work teams—or, to be more accurate, teams are redesigning members’ jobs. Having teams design their own jobs is a form of job enrichment. Two common types of work teams used to design jobs are integrated teams and self-managed teams.Integrated Work Teams.With integrated work teams, the manager is primarily responsible for job design of team members, and the manager can use job simplification or job expansion. Teams are used at Boeing and HP.WORK APPLICATION 7-10Describe how an organization you work for or have worked for uses or could use teams. Be sure to specify if the teams are integrated or self-managed.Self-Managed Work Teams.Self-managed work teams are assigned a goal, and the team members plan, organize (design their jobs), lead, and control to achieve the goal. Usually, self-managed teams operate without a designated manager; the team is both manager and worker. Teams commonly elect their own members and evaluate each other’s performance. W. L. Gore and Associates, 3M, and more recently Zappos have used self-managed work teams.Exhibit 7-8 reviews the job design options we have discussed, and it clearly answers LO 7-5.Organizing Yourself and DelegatingNow that you understand how organizations and jobs are designed, it’s time to learn how to organize yourself by setting priorities and delegating work. Productivity isn’t about how many brutal hours you work; it’s about how effective you are at accomplishing the important things (priorities) and delegating effectively so you don’t burn out.96 You need to prioritize results over busywork97 and hours worked.98 But do realize that you must work and manage within the organizational structure.99Successful managers are effective at using judgment to set priorities100 and delegating work.101 Recall that planning entails setting objectives and that organizing is the process of delegating and coordinating resources to achieve objectives. Thus, prioritizing objectives is important, because some objectives are more important than others.102 As a manager, you get the work done by delegating it to employees.103 Start by completing Self-Assessment 7-2 on prioritizing to determine what is important to you personally (your values).LO 7-6Explain how to set priorities by answering three priority-determination questions, and list the four steps in the delegation process.7-4 Applying the ConceptJob DesignsIdentify which job design technique is exemplified in each statement.job simplificationjob rotationjob enlargementjob enrichment/Job Characteristics Modelwork teams____ 21. “Elan, I’d like you to learn how to run the monthly budget reports so that you can fill in for Kramer while he is on vacation.”____ 22. “I’d like you to work together to come up with ways to improve how your jobs get done.”____ 23. “Jamal, would you like me to delegate a new task to you to make your job more challenging?”____ 24. “When you travel, you will be given $25 per meal, so you no longer need to provide a receipt.”____ 25. “Waneta, I want your job to be less repetitive. So you will be trained to add a couple new tasks to your job responsibility.”Exhibit 7-8 Job Design OptionsSetting PrioritiesPrioritizing is about figuring out the few key things that are most important in your role and accomplishing them rather than doing less important busywork.104 As a manager, you’ll be faced with several tasks to get done at any given time. How you select the priority order in which these tasks will be completed will affect your success.105 To prioritize successfully, make a to-do list of tasks that you must perform and then assign each task a priority;106 then focus on accomplishing only one task at a time to avoid errors and save time (time management and multitasking; see Chapter 5).Managers understand which objectives to prioritize in order to allocate resources accordingly and delegate tasks appropriately.©iStockphoto.com/monkeybusinessimagesPriority-Determination Questions.107 As a manager, answer “yes” or “no” to the following three priority-determination questions about each task that needs to be completed:Do I need to be personally involved because of my unique knowledge or skills? Often, you are the only one who can do the task; if so, then you must be involved.Is the task my responsibility, or will it affect the performance or finances of my department? You must oversee the performance of your department and keep finances in line with the budget.When is the deadline—is quick action needed? Should you work on this activity right now, or can it wait? The key is to start the task soon enough so that you will meet the deadline.Assigning Priorities.After answering the three questions, you can assign a high, medium, or low priority to each activity to determine the level or sequence for completion108:Delegate (D) priority: If the answer to question 1 is no, the task is delegated, and it is not necessary to answer questions 2 and 3. However, planning how to delegate the task now becomes a priority.High (H) priority: Assign the task a high priority if you answer yes to all three questions. Try not to have too many Hs, because you will lose focus on what is really important.109Medium (M) priority: Assign the task a medium priority if you answer yes to question 1 but no to one of the remaining two questions.Low (L) priority: Assign the task a low priority if you answer yes to question 1 but no to both questions 2 and 3.The Prioritized To-Do List.Exhibit 7-9 is a prioritized to-do list that you can copy and use on the job. Follow these steps when using the prioritized to-do list:Write the task that you must perform on the task line.Answer the three priority-determination questions by placing a Y (yes) or N (no) in the relevant column. Also place the deadline and time needed to complete the task in the relevant column. The deadline and time needed are used with lower-level priorities that change into high priorities as the deadline approaches. You may want to write in the deadline for starting the task rather than the completion deadline.Assign a priority to the task by placing the letter D (delegate), H (high), M (medium), or L (low) in the priority column. The top left of the prioritized to-do list shows how to determine priority based on the answers to the priority-determination questions. If you write D, set a priority on when to delegate the task.Determine which task to complete now. You may have more than one high-priority task, so follow the rule of “Do the most important thing first.” When all high priorities are completed, go to medium-priority tasks, followed by low-priority tasks.Exhibit 7-9 Prioritized To-Do List7-2 Self-Assessment: Personal PrioritiesRate how important each of the following is to you on a scale from 0 (not important) to 100 (very important). Write the number you choose on the line to the left of each item.____1. An enjoyable, satisfying job____2. A high-paying job____3. A good marriage____4. Meeting new people, attending social events____5. Involvement in community activities____6. My relationship with God, my religion____7. Exercising, playing sports____8. Intellectual development____9. A career with challenging opportunities____10. Nice cars, clothes, home, etc.____11. Spending time with family____12. Having several close friends____13. Volunteer work for not-for-profit organizations____14. Meditation, quiet time to think, pray, etc.____15. A healthy, balanced diet____16. Educational reading, self-improvement TV programs, etc.Below, copy the number you assigned to each of the 16 items in the space next to the item number; then add the two numbers in each column.ProfessionalFinancialFamilySocialCommunitySpiritualPhysicalIntellectual1. ______2. ______3. ______4. _______5. ______6. ______7. _______8. _______9. ______10. ______11. _______12. _______13. ______14. ______15. _______16. _______Totals ____________________________________________________________________________The higher the total in any area, the higher the value you place on that particular area. The closer the totals are in all eight areas, the more well rounded you are. Think about the time and effort you put into your top three values. Are you putting in enough time and effort to achieve the level of success you want in each area? If not, what can you do to change?Update the prioritized to-do list and add new tasks. As time passes, the medium- and low-priority tasks become high-priority tasks. There is no set rule for how often to update, but do it at least daily. As new tasks come up, be sure to add them to your to-do list and prioritize them. In doing so, you will avoid the tendency to put off a high-priority task to work on a lower-level task. The so-called emergencies and urgent things can often wait.Every day, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty asks herself if she only did the things that only she could do. If she did things others could do, she wasted time and should have delegated those things.110 You should also delegate things you are not good at or really can’t do.111 Complete Skill Builder 7-1 at the end of this chapter to develop your skill at setting managerial priorities using a prioritized to-do list.WORK APPLICATION 7-11List three to five tasks you must complete in the near future and prioritize them using Exhibit 7-9.DelegatingDelegation is the process of assigning responsibility and authority for accomplishing objectives. Telling employees to perform tasks that are part of their job design is issuing orders, not delegating. Delegating refers to giving employees new tasks. The new task may become part of a redesigned job, or it may simply be a one-time assignment.Benefits of and Obstacles to Delegating.When managers delegate, they benefit by having more time to perform high-priority tasks,112 and they can spend more time away from the job and the work gets done.113 Successful managers delegate to draw on others’ abilities to get the job done,114 so they accomplish more things like growing the business.115 Delegation trains employees and improves their self-esteem;116 it is a means of enriching jobs.Unfortunately, there are some obstacles to delegation, as managers become used to doing things themselves. They don’t want to give up power and fear that employees will fail to accomplish the task or will show them up.117 Managers might believe that they can perform the task more efficiently than others.118 You should realize that delegating is an important management skill; don’t let these or other obstacles stop you from delegating.Delegation Decisions.Successful delegation is often based on selecting what to delegate and to whom to delegate. Exhibit 7-10 suggests what to delegate and what not to delegate, because knowing what to delegate is important to your success.119Tesla delegates the responsibility of sales and vehicle services to its 208 stores and services locations throughout North America, China, Norway, and its other locations. The primary issue of delegation faced by Tesla (IOM 5) is that although it has regional offices, its global centralization is a structural characteristic that limits the ability of overseas offices to readily respond to issues they experience in their respective regional markets.WORK APPLICATION 7-12Describe an obstacle to delegation or a sign of delegating too little that you have observed.The Delegation Process.After determining what to delegate and to whom, you must plan for and delegate the tasks. Most managers haven’t been taught how to delegate successfully, so they aren’t good at it and are reluctant to delegate, but they realize its importance and their own need for improvement.120 Delegating tasks quickly without details may seem expedient, but it tends to result in the task not being done the way you wanted or needed it done to meet your objective.121 If you follow the steps in Model 7-1 and explained here, you will improve your delegation skills.Exhibit 7-10 What to Delegate and What Not to DelegateModel 7-1 The Delegation ProcessStep 1. Explain the need for delegating and the reasons for selecting the employee. It is helpful for an employee to whom you delegate a task to understand why the assignment must be completed and to realize the importance of the task. Telling employees why they were selected should make them feel valued. Don’t use the “it’s a lousy job, but someone has to do it” approach. Be positive; make employees aware of how they may benefit from the assignment. If step 1 is completed successfully, employees should be motivated, or at least willing, to do the assignment.Step 2. Set objectives that define responsibility, level of authority, and deadline. The objectives should clearly state the result the employee is responsible for achieving by a specific deadline (use Model 5-1, “Objective Writing,” in Chapter 5, page 145).Define the level of authority the employee has. Does the employee inform you, recommend action for you to take, do the task and report it, or have full authority to just do it without your approval?Setting clear deadlines (e.g., Tuesday, May 22, by 2:00 p.m.) is critical because it creates pressure to get the job done.122 Saying “Do it when you have time” is not a deadline, and having no established deadline leads to procrastination or the task not getting done.On a personal note, if you can’t meet a deadline, tell your manager or customer as soon as you know it—don’t surprise the person at the deadline, and be sure to set a new realistic deadline, and meet it.123 If you want to impress your boss and get good performance reviews that can lead to raises and promotions, follow Professor Lussier’s motto: “I don’t meet deadlines—I beat deadlines.”Step 3. Develop a plan. Once the objectives and deadline are set, a plan is needed to achieve them. The level of autonomy for developing the plan to accomplish the task should be based on the employee’s capability level. (Refer to Skill Builder 1-4, “Management Styles,” and Model 1-1, “Situational Management,” in Chapter 1 for details on selecting the management style appropriate for the employee’s capability level.) Make sure instructions for completing the task are clear; writing them down helps.Step 4. Establish control checkpoints and hold employees accountable. For simple, short tasks, a deadline without control checkpoints is appropriate. However, when tasks have multiple steps and/or will take some time to complete, it is often advisable to check progress at predetermined times (control checkpoints). This approach builds information flow into the delegation system from the start. You and the employee should agree on how (text, email, phone call, visit, or detailed report) and when (daily, weekly, or after specific steps are completed but before going on to the next step) the employee will provide information regarding the assignment. When establishing control, consider the employee’s capability level. Don’t micromanage unless the employee really needs you to frequently check up on their progress. The higher the capability, the less frequent the checks (again, use Model 1-1). All parties involved should note the control checkpoints on their calendars.The four steps of the delegation process are summarized in Model 7-1. In Skill Builder 7-3 at the end of this chapter, you will practice using the delegation process so you can develop your delegation skills.7-2 Join the Discussion Ethics & Social ResponsibilityDelegating Destroying DocumentsArthur Andersen, a consulting company, was taken to court for destroying evidence that could have been used in court to support allegations of illegal activities. Arthur Andersen destroyed evidence related to the auditing of Enron to protect both companies from being found guilty of engaging in illegal business practices. Arthur Andersen claimed that it was not trying to destroy incriminating evidence but was simply destroying records, which is done periodically. Destroying documents is, in fact, routine. The key question is this: “What is being destroyed, and why is it being destroyed?”Is it ethical and socially responsible to delegate the task of destroying documents that may potentially be used as evidence of wrongdoing?What would you do if your boss asked you to destroy documents and you thought the goal was to cover up evidence of wrongdoing by the firm? (Would you just do it? Say nothing but neglect to do it? Question your boss’s motives? Look closely at what you were asked to destroy? Check with your boss’s boss to make sure it’s OK to do it? Tell the boss you will not do it? Tell the boss to do it him- or herself? Blow the whistle to an outside source?)If you were charged with destroying evidence, do you believe it would be a good defense to say, “I was only following orders”?Trends and Issues in ManagementWe are living through a radical shift in how business is organized in the US and globally. Many MNCs engage in nearly continuous restructuring. MNCs are spinning-off into separate companies (HP, Time-Warner, DuPont, Alcoa, Abbott Labs, Sony, Kodak), going private (Dell), radically restructuring (GM, GE), or going out of business (Blockbuster, Borders, Circuit City, Lehman, Countrywide).124 Also, recall that there are differences in Western and Eastern countries.125 Some country governments own companies, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), creating unique hybrid organizational structures different from the U.S. MNC. More than 10 percent of the world’s largest MNCs are SOEs.126Being a global MNC clearly brings a wide diversity of people and challenges we discussed in Chapter 3. Facebook embraces inclusion and actually prefers younger workers. The majority of its 8,000 workers are millennials under 30, and the company has crafted management techniques around them. Google and Apple prefer youth as well, with a median age of 30 and 31, compared to Facebook’s 28 years.127Tesla (IOM 6) is making a disruptive change through technology by designing, manufacturing, and marketing high-performance, technologically advanced electric cars and powertrain components. The fuel-efficient, fully electric vehicles recharge their lithium-ion batteries from an outlet, and, depending on a driver’s speed, are capable of approaching 300 miles per charge. Other technological advances in the automotive industry include Ford’s self-driving cars and its use of big data from sensor-equipped cars of 650 employee volunteers to better inform its ride-sharing pilots in cities around the globe.128 Google is also working on driverless cars, but it is also developing flying cars. There are working prototypes of the Terrafugia TF-X, E-volo Volocopter, and AeroMobil 3.0 and others.129Facing a fast-changing, turbulent environment and the need to continually innovate, Coca-Cola, GE, IBM, Tyco, and others want to be more entrepreneurial and are reorganizing to be more flexible.130 Big data are being used to create learning organizations, as data create knowledge that is easily shared and helps coordination and collaboration among network teams internally and externally.131 Big data are also helping to flatten organizational structures through decentralized authority by pushing decisions all the way down the hierarchy; some call big data the “new middle manager.”132