Management Essay Sample: Structure Follows Strategy, Is That Always the Case?

Yes, structure always follows strategy because any organization has to first put out a clear strategy and then a structure has to be developed that is in line with the proposed strategy. When there is no strategy first, then there is bound to occur confusion in following sequence because there is no clear alignment and cohesion (Rothaermel, 2015). It is important for an organization to first develop its strategy before deciding on the structure to be adopted. Just like most things in life follow a systematic process, strategy and structure should also follow a process which is systematic.

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Strategy should always come before structure because strategy defines the purposes and goals of any organization and analyzes the internal and external environments in order to be able to identify any constraints and opportunities that may arise with the strategy. Once an organization is clear on the objectives it wants to achieve then it generates a vision that will provide a framework and context that is required to build an organizational structure.

A structure should be formulated with the needs of the organization in mind which can only be realized through strategic planning (Takahashi, 2016). A strategy is basically built around what is to be achieved while structure is based around how it will be achieved. Therefore it is difficult to try and develop a structure i.e. how it will be achieved without knowing exactly what it is that needs to be achieved.

A structure should be built based upon the needs of the organization as opposed to being built around the current human resources within the organization. This needs to be done through profiling where there is clarification of high level duties and responsibilities as well as key performance areas and measurements (Takahashi, 2016). This can be achieved by using the designed strategic objectives as blue-print. This framework once achieved makes it easier and faster to allocate various positions to people who are qualified for them so as to fill in the gaps from acquisition of external talent.

Some organizations have tried to implement structure before coming up with a clear strategy and this has often turned out to be disastrous. This is because the staff was not sure of exactly what they were working towards and the goals were not clearly stipulated. The employees simply worked to attain the structure and this made it quite confusing and haphazard. This is an indication that strategy is important because it gives employees the platform of what is expected of them and provides a foundation of the goals that are expected to be achieved. Strategy sheds light on the vision and mission of an organization which then leads the employees and all stakeholders to work with the goals in mind.

For this reason therefore, it is clear that structure always should follow strategy because by doing this organizations can be able to avoid confusion and in return achieve objectivity instead of subjectivity (Rothaermel, 2015).

References

Rothaermel, F.T., 2015. Strategic management. McGraw-Hill.

Takahashi, N., 2016. Strategy and Structure Follow Technology. Annals of Business Administrative Science, 15(1), pp.15-27.