Lesson correlates with National Business Education Association National Standards for Business Education, 1995, Reston, Virginia.
· Standard VI. Management...Achievement Standard:  Address special challenges in operations and management of human resources in international business.
        A.  Operations
· · Level 3 (Secondary) - Performance Expectation:  Identify environmental factors that influence the use of a particular organizational structure for global business operations (e.g., functional, product, geographic, or matrix).
Culture and Organizational Structure

 

TIME REQUIRED:
One 50-minute class period
 
RECOMMENDED GRADE:
Grades 9-12


 

MAJOR CONCEPTS:
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES:
Students will:
1. Describe the basic international organizational structures
2. Present the advantages and disadvantages of each structure
3. Recognize each type of structure as it exists in a current international corporation

 

MATERIALS:
Examples of each of the following types of organizational charts:  Functional, international division, foreign subsidiary, product division, regional structure, matrix organization. 
Recent annual reports from a variety of multinational corporations.  Note:  Students could be assigned the task of writing to corporations for copies of their annual reports.
RATIONALE:
Organizational structures reflect the culture of an organization, establishing levels of authority and responsibility and showing formal communication patterns.  The type of structure selected should consider the social and psychological aspects of the environment and personnel.  The task becomes more complex when a domestic corporation internationalizes its operations.  Students need to realize that international corporations face an even greater challenge in establishing line authority and responsibility while keeping channels of communication open. 
PROCEDURE:
1. Discuss and show examples of the various types of organizational structures in business.  Be sure students understand each of the following concepts:
Chain of Command
  Line and staff organization
  Formal communication patterns

2. In teams or individually, student should examine a recent annual report of a multinational corporation.
 
 

EVALUATION: Students should prepare a short report describing a corporation's structure for a class presentation.  
1. Describe type of business operations
2. Discuss the company’s international operations.
3. Assess resent financial results
 
AUTHOR:
 Dr. Lila Waldman, Murray State University, Murray, KY.
EDITORS:
Les Dlabay, Lake Forrest College, Wildwood, IL.
Robert Ristau, Eastern Michigan University (ret.), Ypsilanti, MI.

 
 
 
 
 

Click here to download Microsoft Word version of the plan including handouts.