ORGANIZING | Identify the advantages of matrix structures

Identify the advantages of matrix structures.

ANSWER

The main benefits of matrix structures rest with the teams whose members work closely together to share expertise and information in a timely manner to solve problems. The potential advantages of matrix structures include:

• Better cooperation across functions.

• Improved decision making; problem solving takes place at the team level where the best information is available.

• Increased flexibility in adding, removing, or changing operations to meet changing demands.

• Better customer service; there is always a program, product, or project manager informed and available to answer questions.

• Better performance accountability through the program, product, or project managers.

• Improved strategic management; top managers are freed from lower-level problem solving to focus more time on strategic issues.

Source: Management, 11th Edition & 12^th Edition- John R. Schermerhorn

Planning - Benefit Planning for Individuals and Organizations

Describe the benefits of planning for individuals and organizations.

Answer:

The benefits of planning for individuals and organizations include the following:

•       Planning improvesfocus and flexibility. Focus and flexibility are important to the performance of both people and organizations in highly competitive and dynamic environments.

•       Planning improves action orientation. Planning keeps people and organizations focused on the actions that are needed to stay competitive and to become better at what they are doing. Planning helps make people and organizations more oriented toward results, priorities, advantages, and change.

•       Planning improves coordination. Planning helps individuals, groups, and subsystems within organizations make meaningful contributions to the organization as a whole, even as they pursue their specific tasks and objectives.

•       Planning improves control. Planning facilitates control by defining objectives and desired performance results, and identifying specific actions through which they are to be pursued.

•       Planning improves time management. Each day, managers are bombarded by a multitude of tasks and demands. They work in a setting of frequent interruptions, crises, and unexpected events. Consequently, it can be easy to lose track of objectives and fall prey to “time wasters.”

Source: Management, 11th Edition - John R. Schermerhorn