Assignment:
Q: Paradise State University (PSU) is a medium-sized private university offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Students typically choose Paradise State because of its emphasis on high levels of interaction and relatively small classes. University policy prohibits classes with more than 75 students (unless special permission is obtained from the provost), and the target class size is 25 students. All courses are taught by tenure-track faculty members with appropriate terminal degrees. Faculty members teach two courses each semester.
The Business School at PSU offers only an MBA degree in one of six areas of concentration: accounting, finance, general management, management information systems (MIS), marketing, and operations management (OM). The MBA program is a one-year (two-semester) lockstep program. Since the Business School does not offer undergraduate business courses, students entering the program are required to have completed all the undergraduate business prerequisites from an accredited university. The faculty is organized into six functional departments. The table below lists the number of faculty members in each department and the average number of students each year who choose a particular concentration. Students are not permitted to have double concentrations, and PSU does not offer minors at the graduate level.
Department Faculty
Number of
Students per Year
Accounting 8 100
Finance 6 40
General management 7 70
MIS 10 150
Marketing 6 50
OM 10 30
Number of Courses Taken in Respective Departments
Concentration Accounting Finance Management MIS Marketing OM
Accounting 4 1 1 1 1 2
Finance 1 4 1 1 1 2
General management 1 1 4 1 1 2
MIS 1 1 1 4 1 2
Marketing 1 1 1 1 4 2
OM 1 1 1 1 1 5
1. On the basis of information given, develop a rough plan detailing how the Business School faculty might be assigned to cells.
2. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of adopting a cellular approach at the Business School? As a student, would you prefer a functional organization or a cellular organization? As a faculty member, which would you prefer?