Case of Analysis: Tarco Gmbh. Organization and Design
1. HOSPI’s sales and production departments seem to have different organizational cultures. Can you describe the different characteristics? Are there reasons beyond the personalities of the sales and production manager that these different cultures should have developed?
These two departments, production and sales, have clearly different approaches of the organization culture. On one hand, the sales department, as the consultant identified in his analysis, takes into account heavily the external environment. For adjusting properly to the external environment, it is needed to be flexible in order to adapt to this external environment, which mainly is focused in this case on the clients, and having a quick response to the possible changes that may occur. These possible changes are different preferences of the customers, which may change very fast, as it is described in the market analysis, the customers are doctors that can share between them and between different hospitals his preferences or experiences with the products. The sales rep need to overtake these wishes and changes, identifying them and act in consequence rapidly. For this purpose, the sales department thinks that the best way to do it is giving total autonomy to the sales rep, acting and not waiting to ask before.
On the other hand, the production department takes an approach totally different to the sales one. Mostly, because of the origin of the production staff, in assembly lines, these employees were not used to planning the production, to be in charge of it. In fact, they do not believe that in this specific department, they have to be in charge of it, being autonomous in their tasks, taking decisions about their performances and actions. They prefer, for the correct functioning of the production, leave all the decisions to their supervisor, Edmundo Ferrari, and they only receive the orders. This approach suited everyone, the workers in production department and their manager.
Basically,
These two departments, production and sales, have clearly different approaches of the organization culture. On one hand, the sales department, as the consultant identified in his analysis, takes into account heavily the external environment. For adjusting properly to the external environment, it is needed to be flexible in order to adapt to this external environment, which mainly is focused in this case on the clients, and having a quick response to the possible changes that may occur. These possible changes are different preferences of the customers, which may change very fast, as it is described in the market analysis, the customers are doctors that can share between them and between different hospitals his preferences or experiences with the products. The sales rep need to overtake these wishes and changes, identifying them and act in consequence rapidly. For this purpose, the sales department thinks that the best way to do it is giving total autonomy to the sales rep, acting and not waiting to ask before.
On the other hand, the production department takes an approach totally different to the sales one. Mostly, because of the origin of the production staff, in assembly lines, these employees were not used to planning the production, to be in charge of it. In fact, they do not believe that in this specific department, they have to be in charge of it, being autonomous in their tasks, taking decisions about their performances and actions. They prefer, for the correct functioning of the production, leave all the decisions to their supervisor, Edmundo Ferrari, and they only receive the orders. This approach suited everyone, the workers in production department and their manager.
Basically,