M is a business that sells custom made computer-based information systems. Every customer order is for a unique system, which will contain experts from many functional areas within M. Every customer expects a high level of individual attention. Some systems take only four to six months to design and form and cost less than €50,000, whereas other systems cost various million Euros and can take up to three years to complete. Projects are continually being done and started.
Identify the characteristics of the organisation that make it suitable for M to have a matrix structure.
The characteristics of M that are appropriate to it adopting a matrix organisational structure are as follows:
- The business of M having of a series of projects which are custom made, which are difficult and require staff from a number of dissimilar functional areas;
- The projects undertaken by M have dissimilar start and end dates, so the organisation is continually reassigning resources from project to project as single ends and another begins;
- The projects undertaken by M are difficult so the staff benefit from also being assigned to a technical function (like as finance or procurement) where they can share knowledge and experience with colleagues in their functional teams;