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Boundaryless Organizations

Several different types of $$boundaryless$$ organizational structures exist. With each, the aim is to eliminate boundaries both within the company and between the company and its customers and suppliers. Many of the boxes on an organization$$s chart are eliminated in these types of organizations, such that they require employees to remain flexible. This activity is important because some boundaryless organizations are transforming the way companies are structured and the way people perform work. Thus, the goal of this activity is to test your familiarity with the most common types of boundaryless structures.

Read the case study below, and then answer the questions that follow.

A consultant first asked four business owners to briefly describe their business and the type of organizational structure they have adopted. Here are the consultant$$s notes:

$1.$ Ken owns a credit card company that handles credit processing for various department stores in his area. The business requires being in constant alliance with the stores as well as the generation of various operating agreements between the company, banks, credit unions, and stores.

$2.$ Bobby$-$Sue owns an online clothing and shoe shop. The structure is like a matrix organization, and uses small, multidisciplinary teams that are decentralized and highly autonomous. The structure also lacks many of the formal reporting lines that are part of the typical organization$$s structure.

$3.$ Dylan owns a company that sells prebuilt desktop computers. Dylan buys most computer components from various suppliers, and his employees just assemble the parts at the plant. As such, suppliers are indeed an important part of his organization$$s structure.

$4.$ Kimmy owns a company in the college text book industry. Essential core tasks are kept in house, while the rest are outsourced. This is a great strategy for a price$-$competitive industry such as Kimmy$$s$.$ The focus is mostly on marketing and sales, while the noncore aspects of the business are left to partner companies or contractors.

Next, the consultant asked four other business owners to name a strength and a weakness of the structure they have adopted.

$5.$ Barry: $$Relatively low overhead. However, the need for frequent and intense communication with my partners can be draining.$$

$6.$ Shirley: $$I love that it$$s a dynamic place to work, but because of the uncertainty, working here may not be for every person.$$

$7.$ Abe: $$The key advantage is our ability to focus on just the core tasks. Conversely, this setup results in us sometimes losing control over potentially important jobs.$$

$8.$ Amanda: $$The structure results in reduced overhead and lets us focus more on assembly. On the other hand, the loss of control over our suppliers can sometimes affect our pricing.$$

What structure represents Bobby$-$Sue$$s business?

Multiple Choice

functional

modular

hollow

networked

virtual