Evaluate the extent to which the organisational structure of the Design Division contributes to the success of HD.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2022). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Understanding of:
2. relationship between objectives and structure
3. types of structure - functional, hierarchical, matrix
4. formal and informal structures
5. delegation and accountability - advantages/disadvantages
6. control, authority and trust
7. centralisation - advantages/disadvantages
8. line and staff management.
9. Making use of the business context:
10. Functional organisation of HD – Design, Manufacture, Marketing, Admin.
11. Structure successful
12. Matrix structure of Design Division
13. Design engineers work in teams for life of each project linked to drawing range of relevant skills together.
14. Teams choose own leader – delegation increasing motivation
15. Teams choose own customer liaison – link to meeting customer needs
16. HD has excellent reputation for supplying quality boards
17. HD is a successful company – grown over 20 years.
18. Structure not successful
19. Project completion dates are delayed
20. Absenteeism and labour turnover in Design Division is increasing and higher than in manufacturing which uses hierarchical structure
21. Comments from design engineer
22. Two managers to report – causes confusion
23. Constantly changing teams – creates uncertainty
24. Monitoring of progress on contracted work appears non-existent.
25. Other factors in success not related to structure
26. Self-directed graduate engineers and directors
27. Flexibility of working from home – link to motivation
28. Analysis:
29. Design work lends itself to independent self-motivated people.
30. HD has decentralised decision making in Design Division which assists skilled employees to think creatively.
31. No hierarchy in Design Division so how are decisions made? This may be a reason for late completion of projects.
32. Over capacity indicates lack of planning due to lack of strategic focus
33. Informal structure with low control, high delegation and trust resulting in motivation and better quality design of circuit boards
34. Structure contributes to lowering of morale and consequent problems of increased labour turnover which increases costs
35. Labour turnover is lower in the manufacturing division – could be because of increased sense of purpose due to hierarchical structure and closer supervision
36. Evaluation:
37. Only award EVAL if the candidate has also demonstrated APP.
38. Successful matrix structure depends on individuals.
39. Matrix structure well suited to design tasks and business objectives
40. Company obviously successful after 20 years with current structure
41. No evidence of conflicts between employees, managers and workers
42. Problems such as differing Divisional rates of labour turnover indicate that the structure needs to be changed or modified in the direction of more control, formality, and centralisation – e.g. team leaders.