Question

As a student in the Principles of Management class of Ama Ghana University, you are expected to have experiential knowledge so that you can be able to solve real life business problems after graduation. To achieve this objective, the 2020 class has been divided into ten groups; and each team works in a management capacity with ten management consulting companies in the Greater Accra Region. San Consulting - the firm that your group works with is a project management company that is into Real Estate construction and management consulting. This firm which has twenty years’ experience in this business is the first choice for all individuals and companies that want quality service. You have on the contrary, observed that many of the management practices have not developed precipitously as situations in the business environment warrant. The accountant confirmed this by saying in the last general meeting that a certain percentage of San’s profit margin is being lost because of this situation. She gave the example that the surveying department spent eight labor hours generating data that had been generated two weeks ago by another unit. Due to the fact that the surveying department did not know that the data had already been created, a substantial effort was wasted and this has been a recurrent problem.

In addition, the increase in demand of the services of San’s Consulting has placed significant pressures on the five managers whose duties are not clearly defined. For instance, you have observed that any of these managers perform duties in the operations department as well as any other unit within the firm. They are not able to perform all the functions required of them due to the ineffectiveness of the organizational structure.
You and the members of your group are expected to write a report to the top-level management team regarding your analysis of the situation in the firm.
Questions
1. Explain which of the four main management functions is/are not operating as it/they should within the firm? 3 Marks
2. What recommendations will you make in your report that will help assure that this situation or similar one would not happen again? 4 Marks
3. Assume that the top-level management team has accepted your recommendations, how can their effectiveness be evaluated three months after implementation? 4 Marks
4. Discuss the organizational structure currently used by San’s Consulting and would you recommend the continuous use of this structure? If yes or no, present the factors (4) that influenced your decision regarding the right organizational structure for San’s Consulting. 5 Marks
5. Identify and discuss the main problems that the firm is likely to experience (i) if the current structure is continued or (ii) if a new structure is implemented. 5 Marks
1B) Akwamba made this statement ‘organisations cannot be successful if managers fail to pay attention to the forces in the external environment’. Do you agree or not? Justify using practical examples (9 marks)

Answer 1

San Consulting

1. There are four main management functions which work coherently: Planning, Organizing tasks & delegation, Leading, and Controlling. The main function is not operating within the firm is Organizing. Tasks which are necessary to achieve organizational plans are not been effectively organized. That is why more than one department will be handling a task.

2. I would recommend that operational tasks are organized and delegated according to functional departments (functional organizational structure). Any task that requires cross-functional efforts should attract the setting up of a project team from relevant departments. The five managers should be in charge of one operational department each, with clear assignment of authorities and responsibilities. This will ensure that they can be held accountable for their departmental results and avoid duplication of efforts companywide.

3. The effectiveness can be evaluated by checking if the problem situation is recurring and also how much is now being saved through proper delegation of responsibilities.

4. San Consulting is currently using a flat organizational structure. This is not suitable for the organization. The best organizational structure will be a functional structure, with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and reporting lines. Some of the factors that influenced my decision for choosing the functional structure are size and strategy. The size of San Consulting given its businesses and experience shows that it is not a small organization.

5. 1) If the current structure is continued, the firm will continue to witness duplication of efforts by various units, lack of coordination of tasks, and loss of profit margin, companywide. These problems are already been noticed. The only way to solve them is to put an end to the existing structure and then its replacement with a more suitable structure.

5.2) Resistance to change will be the main problem encountered initially with the implementation of a new structure. This is always to be expected. However, all stakeholders can be carried along through proper communication. Brainstorming can even be introduced to enable different contributions to be made on the way forward.

1B) I agree with Akwamba's statement. Every successful organization monitors its external environment and tries to be proactive instead of reactive to external environmental forces. Without such external environmental monitoring, the organizational may find itself in the position of IBM, Xerox, etc. The external environment is made of these factors: customers, competition, economy, technology, political and social conditions, laws and regulations, and resources.

Step-by-step explanation:

1. There are four management functions which are linked to one another. The first is planning and involves plans designed to achieve goals. The second is the organization of tasks to implement the plans. The third is the leadership that must be provided to ensure that tasks are carried out according to plan. The last is the coordination, which involves the evaluation of activities and results to monitor performance and make improvements.

2. There are four main organizational structures: functional, flat, divisional, and matrix.

3. There are two environments in which an organization operates: internal and external. The organization controls its internal environment. However, its external environment is usually outside its control. But, attention should always be paid to the external environment because of its influences on organizational success and failure.