The study an analysis of a problem at a new company

1. Outerwear, LTD. 1
Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Repairs in the Organizational Structure of Outerwear, LTD.
Heather Mueller
Ithaca College

2. Outerwear, LTD. 2
The Outerwear, LTD. Case Study to Create an Effective Organizational Structure
The key issue presented in the “Outerwear, LTD. Case Study” is that Outerwear does not
have an effective organizational structure, which hurts the communication within the company
(Peterson, 2000, p. 83). The lack of structure, combined with language barriers and mindless
communication, causes disorder and conflict that damages the productivity, speed, and accuracy
throughout the organization (Peterson, p. 83).
Analysis
What the management at Outerwear, LTD. lack is an effective organizational structure to
promote the company’s main objectives with little conflict. Managers and subordinates also need
to learn how to communicate with each other. The company is currently structured with a weak
line organizational structure, which is “the organizational structure of activities contributing
directly to the organization's output” (Dictionary.com, LLC., 2008). The responsibilities of each
worker are not clear, and communication between employees is imprecise and disrespectful. Dan
Bryan, the vice president of operations, brought a last minute change to a production supervisor,
without informing the operations manager, Mrs. H. (Peterson, 2000, p. 84). Since Bryan did not
properly inform Mrs. H. about this change, Mrs. H. thought the production manager was not
doing her job properly and rudely reprimanded her (Peterson, p. 84). Once the production
manager tried to implement the new change, the workers beneath her did not listen to her
because they do not speak English very well (Peterson, 2000, p. 85).
The vague responsibilities and imprecise, disrespectful communication are the two main
objectives that need to be fixed with a modified structure (Knotts, 2007). If the upper
management at Outerwear, LTD. does not create a new clear plan for the organizational structure
of the company, communication will not improve, and the company will not be able to thrive and

3. Outerwear, LTD. 3
succeed.
Solutions
The upper management at Outerwear, LTD. needs to reformat the structure of the line
organization. Each position needs to have redefined responsibilities, and each employee needs to
be informed of the changes. With clearly defined responsibilities, “each group may better
understand their role in the organization,” improving communication (Knotts, 2007). In line
organization, “each employee always has only one supervisor so the responsibilities are clear and
unambiguous” (Rothwell, n.d.). Therefore, the format of the organization should be changed.
Mrs. H. should be the head of the department with Dan Bryan beneath; also, the company should
hire another person beneath Mrs. H. to help Bryan with his responsibilities. Bryan can be in-
charge of two production supervisors: shipping and administrative services; and the new
employee can be in charge of the other two production supervisors: design and pattern
preparation and cutting operations. Then, subordinates will only report to their own production
supervisors within their division. With this structure, it will be very clear who is in power. All
changes and commands will ultimately go through the manager though, because “in a line
organization, top management has complete control” (Knotts). The upper management should
also rewrite the responsibilities of all positions and give each employee a written explanation of
their clearly defined roles and responsibilities so there will be less confusion over duties.
Another solution for the company is to have a new process for submitting all commands
and last minute changes. The company can use “multiple channels in the communication of a
single message” (Sokolik, 1970, p. 245) in multiple languages. This will assure credibility of the
message and understanding by all employees. Each message should be announced over a
loudspeaker, and delivered in a written contract to every pertinent employee, in a timely manner.

4. Outerwear, LTD. 4
The employees at Outerwear also need to be aware of being mindless about their communication
because currently, they are “not cognizant of their communication with others and put no effort
into improving it” (Waddock, 2008, p. 59). “Effective communication requires trust among
participants,” (Dobkin & Pace, 2008, p. 219) and if management is mindless, trust will never be
built. To fix this problem, the upper management should enforce mindful two-way
communication (Sokolik, p. 245). Since “each new experience influences future transactions,”
(Waddock, 2008, p. 53) upper management should positively encourage employees and get them
to submit feedback on their view of the company. With these continuing changes implemented,
communication will be more effective and concise to reduce conflicts and promote productivity.
The European Union (EU) needed a way to publish the “S series of the Official Journal of
the European Union each working day in the 20 official languages of the EU” (IDA, 2004). In
order to complete this huge task, the EU adopted the OJS Publication System, which primarily
processes notes in one language, but also translates it to the 20 other languages. The channels the
notes are delivered through are by fax, e-mail, online forms, a helpdesk, CDs, and websites
(IDA). Using multiple channels of communication in multiple languages increases efficiency and
effectiveness to save the company costs and allow the company to offer better services.
Conclusion
The course of action that Outerwear, LTD. should follow is to implement a stricter
structure of their line management system, while using multi-channels of mindful
communication. With this structure, communication will always be clear and accurate, and the
company will be able to maintain its core objectives of productivity, speed, and accuracy.

5. Outerwear, LTD. 5
References
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