Visit a local car dealership. Most managers love to talk to students about their businesses, but be sure to call ahead and talk to the general manager to explain the purpose of the visit and arrange a time. Request a 10-minute interview to discuss such questions as:
- How many employees in how many departments?
- Who heads these departments and who do they report to?
- What kinds of decisions are made at the corporate headquarters and what kinds of decisions do they make at the dealership?
- Any other questions you have that will help you complete your assignment.
When you have completed the readings and conducted your site visit:
- Draw an organizational chart for this dealership. Identify the various management positions or titles on the chart and indicate the positions/jobs that would report to each.
SmartDraw.com (https://cloud.smartdraw.com/) provides free examples, though others are also available via Google. PowerPoint also has templates for organizational charts you can use.
- Explain the current organizational structure in terms of requirements for (1) specialization (e.g., accounting vs. the body shop) and (2) decentralization, in other words, "downstreaming" authority to department heads for advertising, for example.
- Make one recommendation for a change in the organizational structure that will improve productivity or efficiency, and justify that recommendation.
- Case reports are to be prepared in Microsoft Word and should be 3-5 pages in length - double-spaced, 12 pt. type - including a cover page (course name and number, module number, session name, student name, and date prepared) and reference list.
- Use subtitles, bullets, and tables to improve presentation values.