Assignment: LASA-Organizational Design and Culture

Many companies find they are forced to remodel their traditional hierarchical structures, which were originally built around functional specialization and centralized authority, to compete in today's marketplace. Companies often draw on the following five tools of organizational design to make their organizations leaner, flatter, and more responsive to change. The five tools are:

Empower managers and workers

Reengineer work processes

Implementing self-directed work teams

Rapid incorporation of Internet technology applications

Networking with outsiders to improve existing capabilities and create new ones

In addition, there are many managerial tasks that shape corporate culture and the leadership skills needed to engage the full organization to produce great results. Examine the dynamics of the elements that must be brought together to create a corporate culture, such as core values and business principles, operating practices and behaviors, ethical standards and attitudes, and work climate and people management practices.

Considering the five tools of organizational design, managerial tasks and leadership skills, examine the practices followed by Wal-Mart and include the following in a 8-10 page APA formatted paper in MS Word:

-Describe which of the five tools of organizational design Wal-Mart uses to maintain and improve productivity while achieving cost savings. Use detailed examples in your response.

-Explain how work groups are utilized in Wal-Mart to accomplish the stated goals of the company.

-Describe the motivational practices used by Wal-Mart to promote better strategy execution. Include some illustrative examples in your response.

-Explain how, if at all, the reward system in the organization ties incentives directly to achieving higher productivity and performance targets.

-Explain the evaluation and feedback process used in your company to assess employee performance.

-Identify the elements in the organization that affect how cultural change is implemented.

-Describe the ethical model being used by the company.

-Present your overall opinion of the organization's corporate strategy approach. Is the strategy execution effort delivering the expected results? Explain and illustrate your conclusions.

-Describe what specific actions have been taken to delegate authority to middle and junior managers and to create a sense of empowerment among employees. Explain and illustrate your answers.