Case 1 – Notes:

The Honeymoon Phase

- Initial excitement  Oliveira assigned to manage store in Vitoria, Brazil and
meeting with Prado to boost confidence in his ability to Complete the task.
Idea: “Get to know people first before making changes”.
- Pandora’s Box  Getting to know the first workplace, employees and meeting
with the responsible person for each field of operation. Oliveira seeks for the
operational improvement opportunities that could be leveraged to turn store’s
performance around. (Pg. 4)
The Downward Spiral
- Initiating Change  After knowing most of the things in workplace, Oliveira is
confidence enough to start working on the change needed for the stores. The
result turns out to be unexpected. Idea: “Everything goes unexpectedly wrong
and will always be like that in most situation”.
- A Vicious Cycle  The change is not implemented well and every
improvement in the store has been reversed to initial state.
- A Reality Check  Oliveira had meeting with Rodriguez to get true insight of
the problem. Knowing he is not getting any respects from any employees.
Idea: “Respect is important aspects in working cooperatively”.
Questions:
1. Describe the reasons why change initiatives proposed by Daniel Oliveria were not
implemented?
- The employees of the store are not very enthusiastic about the change, or maybe
even about their work.
- Not enough respect for Oliveria, as they believe that Oliveira does not have any
experience, and they believe that what they’ve been doing is right. They don’t
want to be corrected.
2. How Daniel Oliveria should “fix” his mistakes? Are there anything he should have
done differently?
I think rather than just giving his perception of the change, Oliveira should also give
a concrete proof. He might want to address the matter by comparing the operational
of that store with another store within the region. He might also want to encourage
the team leaders / supervisors / other employees to give their own ideas about what
change is necessary for the store.
3. How do you think Daniel Oliveria would define “leadership”?
 I think Oliveria believe that he could be a leader by simply knowing the person that
he works with. It is important, but we also have to be able to know what do they
think towards us.
Case 2 – Notes:

Questions:
1. Under what type of circumstances, do you want to adopt mechanistic organization? Why?
- Mechanistic organizational structures are best suited for environments that range from
stable and simple to low-moderate uncertainty, and are characterized by top-down
hierarchies of control that are rule-based.
- Tend to be more stable and rigid when it comes to delegated leadership roles.
- It’s a more traditional and is often the immediate way a new business establishes its
organizational chart.
- Teams are led by managers, rather than building a team within cohesive groups.
- Low differentiation of class.
- Employees are more jobs specialized and placed into certain departments.
Organizations that used a mechanistic type of structure generally do not need to change or
adapt their structures. This is mainly due to lack of innovation, creativity and quick decision
analysis not needed.
Example: Colleges, Universities.
2. Under what type of circumstances, do you want to adopt organic organization? Why?
Organization structures are used in organizations facing unstable environments and must
posses the ability to change accordingly. They have the ability to process, analyze, and
distribute information and knowledge very quickly. This ensures that they stay competitive
against other businesses.
- Organization using this structure need to communicate effectively and quickly by
spreading information.
- This is done by departments and different functional areas being closely integrated with
one another.
- Employees of lower ranking will have the ability to make important decisions. This
helps empower employees, leading to greater creativity and better problem solving.
Example: Google. Their employees are encouraged to use creative problem-solving skills
and develop new products
o Large network of authority, control and communication
o Problem solving is encouraged by all employees
o Employees are more goals-oriented than job-oriented
o Employee empowerment is encouraged.
3. How does the appropriate level of differentiation / integration affect your choice of
organizational design?
The