Managing People and Organisations

MANAGING PEOPLE & ORGANISATIONS


BARBOUR BROWN ENGINEERING LTD


INTRODUCTION

This report has been produced to analyse the current structure of Barbour Brown Engineering Ltd. Improvements to the structure will be examined and considered in order to improve the efficiency of the management within the organisation.

Barbour Brown has the option of merging with John Colbert Civil Engineering Contractors and if this merger is to go ahead, Barbour Brown will need to restructure.

The report will evaluate five sections:

> The current organisational structure

> A more appropriate structure

> An analysis of the Contingency Approach

> Different relationships within the organisation

> Authority, responsibility and delegation within the new structure  
THE PRESENT ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

There is no clear, defined structure within the organisation however elements of the hybrid structure are present. The hybrid structure includes characters of both the matrix and functional structures.

The matrix approach is shown when Barbour Brown is completing specific projects. Existing employees with experience in specific areas are often grouped with other personnel joining the team for the duration of the project. A Matrix structure organisation contains teams of people created from various sections of the business. These teams will be created for the purposes of a specific project and will be led by a project manager. Often the team will only exist for the duration of the project and matrix structures are usually deployed to develop new products and services. The project manager must integrate the work of functional departments and the project team.
The functional approach is also shown in the case study as the civil engineers share an office, the technicians share an office and the apprentices are based in the drawing room. Functional activities refer to the grouping of jobs and tasks into the function to which they belong. Tasks and activities... [continues]

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