organization familiar present items relate organization: • Describe organizational structure selected organization. Compare contrast structure organizational structures. • Evaluate organizational functions ( marketing, finance, human resources, operations) influence determine organizational structure selected organization. My company choice is Microsoft, mainly because it best reflects one of the newest and most used organizational approaches in the 20th and 21st century. There are several interesting considerations worth pointing out in the case of Microsoft.

Microsoft uses a team-based organization, often combined or embedded on a project-based approach. The idea of a team-based organizational structure is to synergize individual skills and competencies into a larger, more overarching framework (Thareja, 2007). In the case of Microsoft and, in fact, of many other software producers, the team-based organizational structure is also determine by the necessities that arrive in software development and the particularities of the different phases in this process that require employees with particular skills at each phase of development.

As such, each project would include different phases, such as architectural design, specifications (technical and user), actual development, testing, plus a project manager (or more) to coordinate all these actions into a unitary effort. Each individual is involved at the different stages of the project development, but, at the same, coordination needs to be ensured at all stages, both horizontally (between each team members) and vertically (with other branches of the company, so that a particular project can be coordinated with the development of others. No use launching a new version of Microsoft Project, unless this is coordinated...

However, modular testing can be tried as well, with the testing team working on testing the application after each module is developed. The testing will focus on the particular functionality of that particular module rather than on the functionality of these modules in relation to the others, something that can be done after everything has been completed.
The team/project-based approach at Microsoft is also translated in the way the company is organization vertically. There are three main pillars: project management, development and testing. Each employee gets a choice on which of these pillars to develop and move upwards in the hierarchy. From an organizational perspective, this is an excellent manner of developing human resource, mainly because of a distinct specialization of all these employees.

This approach means that all training and motivational resources will be targeted towards improving the individual in the particular pillar in which he or she is operational. If he is a developer, but does not have any project management skills, he will be able to move upwards as a developer without any problem in his career. In other development companies, there is the usual practice that the developer will eventually become a project manager, as a way of moving upwards in his career.

The team-based approach practiced at Microsoft also influences the way the other functions of the organization operate. The human resources are directly linked to the needs of the team and the request for additional members in a particular project team leads to Microsoft launching a recruitment and selection process to have more people hired.

At…