According to lecture, information silos are most prominent in functional organizations, meaning that the departments and project teams within the organization keep to themselves to the point that they establish their own exclusive culture. Initially, the formation of silos may be perceived as positive due to the level of cohesion required among its members, however this often leads to seclusive norms that excludes outsiders, which will ultimately threaten the organization (1). Project-based organizations are not as exclusive among departments since members from multiple projects come from the same department (engineering, QC, QA, manufacturing, marketing, etc) which facilitates intercommunication, however, project-based organizations do limit the amount of knowledge that can be shared between project teams. Matrix organizations have no information silos among projects or departments, possibly because there is a greater distribution of power among the staff, which can prevent competition between projects since they have more of a sense of equality.

On online article for improving interdepartmental communication states that the main methods for uniting departments is to organize company-wide events, such as department-specific exercises (2). My company for example, schedules meetings among its staff from technicians to upper-management to partake in pseudo-projects as a training session aimed at improving cross-communication. Other methods for improving interdepartmental communication come at a small expense from a company, such as throwing social holiday events, organizing quarterly company retreats, or even holding team lunches depending on how much a company prioritizes a cohesive work environment. Is it plausible for a functional organization to attain the same level of interdepartmental communication found in matrix or project-based organizations? In what context would it be acceptable to not prioritize such an extent of communication? Have there been any cases in which the development of a medical device was delayed or compromised due to a lack of communication?

References:
1) Stuckenbruck, L. C. (1979). The matrix organization. Project Management Quarterly, 10(3), 21–33
2) “14 Ways to Improve Interdepartmental Communication” (2018) Young Entrepreneur Council