The executives of a company that produces electro-optical equipment for military use found it necessary toimplement project management using a matrix. The project managers reported to corporate sales, and theengineers with the most expertise were promoted to project engineering. After the first year of operation, itbecame obvious to the executives that the engineering functional managers were not committed to the projects.The executives then made a critical decision. The functional employees selected by the line managers to serve onprojects would report as a solid line to the project engineer and dotted to the line manager. The projectengineers, who were selected for their technical expertise, were allowed to give technical direction and monetaryrewards to the employees.
1. Can this situation work? What happens if an employee as a technical question? Can he go to his linemanager??
2. Should the employees return to their former line managers at project completion?
3. What are the authority/responsibility problems with this structure? What are the long-term implications?