Issue:
The main issue here is related to BEC’s organizational structure and management process. As the
company started to grow and getting more business, its organization structure and process was not
clearly defined and effective. BEC has moved Project Management system after 2006, however the role
of project manager was not well accepted between the various department staff.
Because the roles and authority of Project Manager’s was not clearly defined, hence the employee will
receive directions and instruction from both Departmental Manager and Project manager and often
confused to whom they are reporting.
Analysis:
The problem faced by Beijing EAP were started when their business increased. Since, they were working
previously in unstructured way with just 6 employees, hence because of sudden increase in business
they were not able to handle the work pressure. Though BEC hire new employees and setup the new
departments, but its lack of clear role definition and process did not help them well. We analyze the this
further using Traditional Structure Characteristics:
- Span of Control: When the business of BEC increases and they started to receive projects from
more and more companies, still only two project managers were there in the institution. And all the
task was either done by both project managers. There were many departments under them, which
and number of employees but project manager role was not clearly defined, and they were not
aware of their control over the employees. Since there were many projects going on at the same
time, employees had to work on multiple tasks and face various demands from each project as well
as meeting the day-to-day requirements of their own departments. Some employees were working
on more than 10 tasks at the same time, many of which had strict deadlines.
- Flat Versus Tall: Company has restructured its organization more in flat way instead of tall way. Still
of the project was under Ms. Song and Mr. Yang. Since, company did not grow vertically, there is
not clearly defined roles and responsibilities. With two project management departments and five
other functional departments, employees working on a project would receive directions from their
department manager and from the project managers as well. When there was conflict between two
managers’ assignments, employees tended to use their own judgment to decide the priority of
tasks and would then adjust their schedules according to their decision. On the other way, project
managers felt frustrated by their relationships with managers and employees in the functional
departments. Sometimes the project managers would feel uncomfortable assigning tasks to
functional managers who were at the same level in the organizational hierarchy.
- Formalization: There was no formal defined roles and responsibilities of managers in the BECs,
hence everyone was confused. Employee were receiving direction from both Project Manager and
departmental manager.
- Centralization: BEC was lacking centralization. We see that decision making power was equally
distributed between Project Manager and Departmental manager, hence employee was receiving
instruction from both side and prioritizing their work accordingly. There was no proper
centralization of power at Project Management level.
- Complexity: The structure of BEC was very complex after 2006. The two-project management
department and five functional department with no proper roles and process defined employee
working on the project receiving instruction from everywhere. In case of any conflict employee has
to rely upon their own judgement. Overall, the structure was complex and not well defined.
Alternatives:
- Hire More employees and Project Managers:
First alternative for BEC problem is to hire more employees in project management department. As
company was receiving more and more business, it is very important for them to grow because of the
growth in business. Since, employee working on ten projects at same time, this will definitely relive
some pressure from the staff.
- Properly define the Organizational Structure and Process:
The main problem at BEC was not proper definition of roles and responsibilities. After company moved
to project management system it has not defined the roles clearly. Hence, employee were receiving
direction from both departmental and project managers. BEC must properly define the roles and
responsibilities of each manager. Also, should centralize the power to project manager. And introduce
more Project Management department as the number of projects is growing.
Alternatives Decision Criteria
Organizational Work Stress Defined Roles and Job Satisfaction
Structure responsibilities
1 Low Less Less More
2 High Less High High
Best Alternatives:
I would select the second alternative as the best alternative for BEC issue. With proper structuring and
clear roles and process, the work pressure on employees will be less and high job satisfaction. Also,
everyone will not have any confusion related to power and instruction.
Action Plan:
BEC can perform below action to implement above alternative:
➢ Define clearly the roles and responsibilities of Project manager.
➢ Appoint one head project manager in each project manager department.
➢ Give power to that project manager.
➢ Put the departmental manager as subordinate of project manager.
➢ Assign maximum 5 project to each management.
Company can monitor on quarterly and monthly basis the employee stasifaction.
