Hello, 

Week 9 Class Discussion topic comes from —

Chapter Twelve “Organizing and Planning for Effective Implementation”

Strategic fit is the issue of organizational fit; the fit between a business’s competitive and marketing strategies which would involve the organizational structures, policies, processes, and plans.

Within a given business unit — when it is a part of a larger corporation — what organizational structures and coordination mechanisms are most appropriate? To answer this question, managers must look at following three factors: (1) level of technical competence of the various functional departments within the business, (2) how resources are allocated across those functions, and (3) how to coordinate and resolve conflicts among the departments.

Question #2

Now that you have accepted the job described in question 1, you have been given a $50 million operating budget for the first year. Your first task is to staff the new unit and to allocate your bud- get across its various functional departments. Although you obviously want to hire good people for every position, which departments require the most competent and experienced personnel, and which departments should receive relatively large shares of the available budget? Why?