Order Description
Homework 1: Organizational Structure (5 pages, 5 references)
1. Briefly (one succinct paragraph) introduce your current (or a recent) work organization: primary products/services, approximate number of employees, government/for-profit/non-profit, etc. (If desired, you may use a pseudonym to avoid disclosing its name for confidentiality).
2. Structure Description – Apply concepts from the readings, your research, and the lecture modules to describe the structure of this organization. To what extent is it formalized, centralized, and specialized? Provide very brief examples as necessary to illustrate.
3. Structure’s Impact on Effectiveness – Applying a multi-dimensional perspective, evaluate the structure of your organization (described above) to explain how appropriate or inappropriate this structure is for it to be effective in today’s world at meeting its stakeholders’ needs. Does its current structure support it being highly effective? Or, would some other design be better?
Homework 2: Management and Technology (5 pages, 5 references)
The technology available in today’s “Information Age” affects all aspects of management—how we work, where we work, who we work with, and even when we work. Describe how technology impacts current management styles. Consider the following: how does technology drive workplace communication? How have performance expectations changed due to today’s technology? How can managers and their teams continually adapt to these technological advances? How has the globalization of the marketplace forced a more competitive workforce?
Identify a common workplace challenge, such as meeting a deadline or completing a project within budget, and compare how it may have been resolved 10 years ago versus how it may be resolved today because of technological advancements.
