Flag Flapping Brewing Company Brews Formula for Success

Flag Flapping Brewing Company has a flat organizational structure with few layers of management. This structure gives all employees responsibility for implementation and access to all levels of the organization through open communication.

An organization$$s structure determines how well it makes decisions and responds to problems, and it influences employees$$ attitudes toward their work. A suitable structure can minimize a business$$s costs and maximize its efficiency. A business$$s structure can also profoundly affect its success.

Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.

Part I: Flag Flapping Brewing Company sells more than $25$ unique draft beers including India pale ales $($IPA$),$ porters, stouts, and wheat beers, and employs nearly $200$ people. The company has a flat organizational structure with few layers of management. This structure gives all employees responsibility for implementation. Although it has functional departments that vary across the company, there are usually about four layers of hierarchy in each department. There is an openness of communication that allows employees regular access to all levels of the organization, including its CEO.

Part II: This encourages feelings of passion and commitment, allowing employees to get the crux of issues rather than playing politics. The company uses technology, such as social media apps, to inform groups of decisions and encourages each employee to voice his or her opinions and ideas in response. In this way, the company has achieved a culture in which people are involved in creating ideas and coming up with better solutions together, rather than allowing one individual to come up with better solutions$$which may not be the best$$and dictating them to the rest of the employees.

Part III: The empowerment of employees means that the company may sometimes seem chaotic. However, the communication across channels ensures that the collaborative nature of getting things done is spread equally throughout the company. Although there are many meetings at which employees are encouraged to share their views, following an agenda ensures that there is efficient decision making occurring seamlessly across the company. One way the company achieves this symbiotic relationship is through an employee collaboration platform built in Microsoft Teams. Any employee can request feedback on a task or idea, and everyone is encouraged to build on the ideas. In this way, better decisions and product are ensured.

Effective communication

Multiple Choice

must be face to face.

drives motivation and commitment.

requires the use of technology.

should always be formal.