CASE STUDY 2.4 Widgets ’R Us Widgets ’R Us (WRU) is a medium-sized firm speciali

CASE STUDY 2.4 Widgets ’R Us Widgets ’R Us (WRU) is a medium-sized firm specializing in the design and manufacturing of quality widgets. The market for widgets has been stable. Historically, WRU has had a functional organization design with four departments: accounting, sales, production, and engineering. This design has served the company well, and it has been able to compete by being the low-priced company in the industry. In the past three years, the demand for widgets has exploded. New widgets are constantly being developed to feed the public’s seemingly insatiable demand. The average life cycle of a newly released widget is 12–15 months. Unfortunately, WRU is finding itself unable to compete successfully in this new, dynamic market. The CEO has noted a number of problems. Products are slow to market. Many new innovations have passed right by WRU because the company was slow to pick up signs from the marketplace that they were coming. Internal communication is very poor. Lots of information gets kicked upstairs, and no one seems to know what happens to it. Department heads constantly blame other department heads for problems. Scenario Assume you are a consultant contracted to analyze the operations at Widgets ‘R Us. You have been asked to prepare a report of your findings and recommendations to present to the WRU executive staff that addresses the following points and questions: Summarize the situation at WRU as presented in the case.
What would you recommend WRU do first to begin to correct the problems? Justify your decision.
How might the existing functional organizational structure contribute to the problems? Consider either a matrix or a project organization for WRU.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of these two designs?
Select the best structural design to present to WRU.
Draw a sample organizational structure for this design. Explain how this design change would improve operations.
APA Citation; provide in-text citations. Please Avoid Plagiarism 500 Words