Scenario

 

Scenario

Different areas within organizations work together to achieve organizational goals. These areas are often referred to as functional areas and typically include:

• Human Resources.
• Sales and Marketing.
• Information Technology.
• Production and Operations.
• Finance and Accounting.

Suppose leadership in the organization where you currently work (or have worked) is considering changes to organizational structure—in particular, to the functional areas it currently has. Before making any changes, the leaders have asked several managers, including you, to develop a white paper that outlines the manager’s recommendations for three functional areas that he or she believes to be essential to the success of the company. Based on the recommendations of each manager, as well as the strength of each manager’s arguments and supporting references, leadership will make final decisions.

Instructions

Based on the scenario above, select the three functional areas that you believe to be essential to the success of the organization. For each functional area, describe the primary purpose of the area and explain how that purpose works to promote and support the organizational goals.

Based on the scenario above, use the

Week 6 Assignment Template [DOCX]

to develop a white paper with the following sections.

• Title page.
• Introduction.

  Explain the type of organization the assessment is based on and its primary goals.
  Identify the three functional areas you believe are essential to the organizational structure.

• Functional Area 1.

  Explain the primary purpose of the functional area of an organization and why it is essential in supporting the overall organizational structure.
  Explain how the purpose of the functional area supports the organizational goals in terms of continued organizational success.

• Functional Area 2.

  Explain the primary purpose of the functional area of an organization and why it is essential in supporting the overall organizational structure.
  Explain how the purpose of the functional area supports the organizational goals in terms of continued organizational success.

• Functional Area 3.

  Explain the primary purpose of the functional area of an organization and why it is essential in supporting the overall organizational structure.
  Explain how the purpose of the functional area supports the organizational goals in terms of continued organizational success.

• Recommended Organizational Structure.

  Describe the type of organizational structure best suited for the functional areas you selected, and justify your recommendation.

• Conclusion.

  Explain how your recommendation will promote continued success of organizational goals.

• References page.

Your white paper should be 3–5 pages of content, well organized, and written in clear, succinct language. Follow APA rules for attributing sources that support your analysis and conclusions.

Academic Integrity and APA Formatting

As a reminder related to using APA rules to ensure academic honesty:

1. When using a direct quote (using exact or nearly exact wording), you must enclose the quoted wording in quotation marks, immediately followed by an in-text citation. The source must then be listed on your references page.
2. When paraphrasing (using your own words to describe a non-original idea), the paraphrased idea must be immediately followed by an in-text citation, and the source must be listed in your references page.

Refer to the scoring guide to ensure that your work meets the grading criteria for this assignment.

Exemplar (example) assignment: You may use the

Week 6 Assignment Exemplar [PDF]

for an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Communication should be clear, well organized, and support a central idea, with no technical writing errors, as expected of a business professional.
• References: References and citations are formatted in consistent style, with a preference for using APA style and formatting.
• Number of resources: Use a minimum of three scholarly resources related to the content of the assignment.
• Length of paper: Approximately 3–5 typed, double-spaced pages in addition to the title and references pages.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Once you have completed your assignment, submit your paper to

SafeAssign

as a draft. Review the report and correct any citations you missed or cited incorrectly before submitting your assignment for grading.

Your paper is due by 11:59 pm central standard time on Sunday.

Note: Your instructor may use the 

Writing Feedback Tool

 when grading this assignment. The Writing Feedback Tool is designed to provide you with guidance and resources to develop your writing based on five core skills. You will find writing feedback in the Scoring Guide for the assignment, once your work has been evaluated. Learn more about the Writing Feedback Tool on the course Tools and Resources page. 

 

Human Resources Scenario

Narrator

You are continuing your work as an organizational consultant for RPZ Marketing.

Regina

Poincy Zimmerman, the CEO, has called you in to attend a meeting.

Regina has also invited Human Resources Director

Carmen

Alongway to the meeting. Carmen was formerly the Director of Human Resources at Genaflek. Because RPZ Social Media Analytics was too small to have a Director of Human Resources, Carmen was asked to take this position when Genaflek was acquired.

Regina

Hi. Come on in!

Charlie

Nice to see you.

Regina

Charlie, Carmen, and I were just discussing some things we would like to have your feedback on.

Carmen

As you know, we’re trying to restructure our teams from Genaflek and RPZ Social Media analytics.

Charlie

Well, whatever decision we make needs to make it easier for me to assign resources. I have not been able to schedule consultants to clients effectively.

Regina

And why is that, Charlie?

Charlie

Well, we are branding ourselves as a one-stop-shop for all of the clients’ marketing needs. But the reality of it is very few of the consultants have expertise in both social media marketing and traditional marketing. It is hard for me to schedule consultants when there is a gap in just about everyone’s skills sets.

Carmen

I know that is a problem. I think we should consider extensive training to get everybody up to speed.

Regina

What do you mean by “up to speed,” Carmen?

Carmen

Well, we want each of our consultants to be true marketing experts.

Regina

Do we? Why not have teams of consultants that work together?

Carmen

I can see the appeal of that, but to me marketing is about establishing relationships. It is that one-on-one that people trust, and our clients are used to having that consultant that takes care of all their needs. If we assess the skills and talents I think we can get people where they need to be and get the resources that they require.

Charlie

I do not know if that is feasible, Carmen. The RPZ consultants are accustomed to being social media marketing specialists, not marketing generalists.

Carmen

I understand, but at Genaflek, that is what our consultants did. They just did not do the social media marketing components.

Regina

Okay, alright – there are a number of different directions that we can go here. I think we really need to think outside the box. What do you think?

Credits

Subject Matter Expert: Jennifer Herrera

Interactive Design: Patrick Lapinski, Kate Bendzick

Media Instructional Design: Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Instructional Design: Joe Lane

Project Manager: Laura Rosene

 Back to top

Functional Areas of a Business Scoring Guide

Due Date: End of Week 6
Percentage of Course Grade: 20%.

CRITERIA	NON-PERFORMANCE	BASIC	PROFICIENT	DISTINGUISHED
Explain the primary purpose of functional areas of an organization. 27%	Does not describe the functional areas of an organization.	Describes functional areas of an organization but does not explain their primary purpose.	Explains the primary purpose of functional areas of an organization.	Explains the primary purpose of functional areas of an organization and why they are essential in supporting the overall organizational structure.
Explain how the purpose of functional areas supports the organizational goals. 27%	Does not explain the purpose of functional areas.	Explains the purpose of functional areas but does not relate the purpose to the organizational goals.	Explains how the purpose of functional areas supports the organizational goals.	Explains how the purpose of functional areas supports the organizational goals in terms of continued organizational success.
Describe the type of organizational structure best suited for functional areas. 26%	Does not describe an organizational structure for functional areas.	Describes a type of organizational structure for functional areas but without a clear emphasis that it’s the best.	Describes the type of organizational structure best suited for functional areas.	Describes the type of organizational structure best suited for functional areas and provides justification.
Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions. 10%	Does not organize content for ideas to flow logically with smooth transitions.	Organizes content with some logical flow and smooth transitions.	Organizes content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.	Organizes content so clarity is enhanced and all ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.
Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references. 10%	Does not apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references.	Applies APA formatting to in-text citations and references incorrectly and/or inconsistently, detracting noticeably from good scholarship.	Applies APA formatting to in-text citations and references.	Exhibits strict and nearly flawless adherence to APA formatting of in-text citations and references.