Module 4 – Case
Organizational Structure and Culture
Assignment Overview
This assignment focuses on the importance of organizational structure and its possible impact on employees. After finishing with the Background page and readings, go to the following interview with Rosabeth Moss Kanter, who is a renowned Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and an influential business advisor. Among other things, in this interview she talks about the evolution of changes in organizational structure in the past decades, and the link to employees’ well-being and functioning.
Required Reading
Puffer, S. (2004) Changing organizational structures: An interview with Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Academy of Management Executive, 18(2).
The following article looks at changing organizational structures as open systems and the effect on managers:
Buhler, P. M. (2011). Changing organizational structures and their impact on managers. Supervision, 72(2), 24-26.
Both of these articles can be found in the Trident University Library.
Case Assignment
Write a 4- to 5-page critique answering the questions below.
- An organization’s structure can have significant effects on its members. What might those effects be? Analyze the behavioral implications of different organizational designs and use at least two examples.
- Is it possible to generalize and say that a certain structure is better than others? That is, is there a structure that is superior in terms of its effects on its members? Take a stand and defend your comments with references to the concepts in the readings in this module and any previous modules that you find relevant. Demonstrate that you have read, understood, and can apply the background materials by citing them in support of your analysis.
