Should structure follow strategy, or should strategy follow structure? What are the managerial implications of your response to this question?

How and to what extent do the underlying values of organization development differ from assumptions associated with other types of change? What are the managerial implications of your answer to this question?

To what extent should industrial era organizing principles be applied in the conceptual or creative times of today? What are the managerial implications of applying industrial era organizing principles today?

Reference Response:

"I think one could make an argument for either side but I believe that structure should follow strategy. I see this natural sequence of events in my own life. For example, if my goal is to get all A's this semester, then I will structure my semester in a way that will give me the best chance of achieving this. Daft and Marcic support this thinking in their discussion of centralization and decentralization in Chapter seven. Centralization/decentralization is a form of organizational structure. Daft and Marcic comment that the amount of centralization or decentralization should fit the firms strategy. In other words, structure should follow strategy. A strategy is essentially a plan and as the professor said in this week's study notes, managers should organize and structure their work in ways that will allow them to execute their plans. Once again, structure should follow strategy. As a manager, you should take a look at the strategies of the organization you are in and structure your team in a way that supports those strategies. For example, if an organization wants to gain a competitive advantage with a high level of efficiency, then a vertical functional approach would be an appropriate structure. However, if flexibility is the goal, then a divisional approach would be better suited to support that goal."

"The amount of centralization and decentralization should fit a firm’s strategy. Which means structure should follow strategy. Strategy is the plan of action that describes resource activities for dealing with environment, achieving a competitive advantage, and attaining the organizations goals. Since this is such an important part of a business a manager should be able to look at the strategy of a company and have the structure of the company follow and outline the strategy. Managers should organize and structure their work in ways that will allow them to execute their plans. Following the companies specific structure will ensure that the company’s strategy will be met. I think centralization and decentralization were an interesting concept that correlated well with this week’s forum post because these are two completely different levels in a company but both are aware of how the companies structure should be. Allowing employees from the lower parts of the company to make decisions allows the people who are working to make contributions to a company that makes them feel like they apart of something bigger. Also, this allows the employees to see first-hand if their ideas are beneficial. As for centralization, this is where the cooperate level employees make decisions for everyone else in the company. For example, a retail store like Target managers should have structure follow strategy so each store has a similar feel for customers. The manager’s responsibility to communicate the strategy and help the team understand how the structure will help complete the strategy as a whole. As for layout and designs, I think incorporating decentralization should be incorporated because every store is unique to the city it is located in. "