Business 363
Case #1: It Isn’t So Simple: Infrastructure Change at Royce Consulting
Daft, Chapter 1, page 38 - 42
Answer the following questions and submit your answers to MOODLE.
Be prepared to discuss your answers in class.
NOTE: Your answers should evidence you completed the assigned readings and the case
study.
1. Who are the stakeholders and what do they each expect?
According to the textbook image 1.6 on page 24, owners and stock holders expect
financial return. Employees expect to be satisfied, paid, and to have supervision
(24). Though, I think they mostly expect money. The community expects the
company to be good and contribute (24). If the workers are part of a union then
the union expects fair worker pay and benefits (24). Management expects
efficiency and effectiveness (24). Creditors expect creditworthiness and fiscal
responsibility (24). Lastly, the government expects “obedience to laws and
regulations” and fair competition (24).
2. Would you classify Royce Consulting as a mechanistic or organic design? Explain
your answer by giving evidence from the case and referring back to the
material covered in Chapter 1.
I would classify Royce Consulting as a mechanistic design because managers were
responsible for very specific things and “managers did most of their own work”
(39). There is also a “high organizational structure” (39). This suggests a more
vertical than horizontal work environment. Because partners “had the final word”
(40), there is a centralized management style and hierarchical structure. The
centralization is also shown through the “directive style of management” (40).
This all leads to a mechanistic design because mechanistic designs are defined by
having the “decision making at the top level” (18) and they work in their own
areas, without much movement. Managers at Royce Consulting know “they had to
do what the partners asked” (39) and be available around the clock, even if they