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Good day tutor,
Can you Kindly help me on this? I do not understand this particular paragraph from June 2011 Q2b
‘Johnson, Scholes and Whittington make the point that ‘one arm of the matrix has to lead in the sense that it dictates some key parameters within which the other arm must work’. In the context of the case study scenario it seems reasonable to devolve profit responsibility and work allocation to the project, leaving the functions to provide technical support and (perhaps) appraisal and competence definition responsibilities. The line manager becomes primarily responsible for the person and the project manager for the project. Such a change would require key cultural changes at 8-Hats.’So..the idea is that for each job there will be staff drawn from each function to manage it, but the functions (the remaining staff not responsible for the particular job) still remain to provide technical support etc right?
But who is the line manager here? The line manager of each function? And each line manager will manage the staff from their function? But would this not change the unity of command present at 8-hats then? The staff will still report to his current line manager as it is.
I find the best way of think about matrix structures is to consider a project team.
Members are drawn from a number of technical disciplines: their line managers are their departmental bosses. So an IT person on a team is responsible to the IT director for performing good IT work to the company’s rules and standards.
The project managers is responsible for ensuring that the project is completed on time to cost , scope and quality. So it would be the project managers who could authorise overtime working by the IT person if that were necessary; it would be the project managers who would be responsible for checking the planned project deliverables were achieved. It would be the project manager who might call a meeting between the client and the IT person do clarify issues.
So unity of command is no longer there: two different managers ‘control’ the IT person.
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