The kind of organization I feel that I would be most suited for is project-based one, which an organizational structure when a company’s department and personnel are organized around a particular project. One of the main reason is that I enjoy working on a project from scratch and build up because it involves coming up with a solution to a given problem after tons of research via Google and then building the idea and seeing if it works. If it does not work, back to the drawing board. Moreover, I like working in a diverse team with the different expertise to achieve a common goal. One experience I have that was like a project-based organization is my senior capstone course. In this course, we had our professor act like the project manager, who monitored the project’s progress and helped provide alternate ways in looking at a problem when the project was not going smoothly. Each team member was assigned a specific expertise.
My team and I had to develop a mobile app that trains the user’s auditory cues. In my team, we had an audio engineer, who developed the necessary sound for the game, the GUI programmer, who develop the graphic and algorithm for the game, external database programmer, who established communication (retrieval and storage of data) with the remote database, and internal database programmer, who figured out how to store and retrieve data from the phone’s database. Thus, each of us contributed to make a functional mobile application. This is why I would be most suited in a project-based organization.

When I worked at Kessler Foundation in the summer I realized that it was a project based organization, due to the fact that the Human Performance Lab was divided into separate units based on the different projects. Their were sectors for Gait Analysis, neuroimaging and exoskeleton. Within each sector their were individuals that carried a particular skill set needed to complete their project. I got involved in the nueroimaging sector where I focused on being able to produce 3D models. This allowed for EMG and EEG data collection from breast cancer survivors who underwent chemotherapy. While working on this project I had a specific role of creo design, 3D printing and manufacturing. However, since it was a project based organization I learned to work with EEGs and EMGs when my other lab members needed help. It was not like a functional organization which does not promote team work.

Reference:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-disadvantages-functional-organizational-structure-11944.html

My experience while working in industry centers around my time at Bristol-Myers Squibb where the entire department worked in primarily a project based environment. There was a common goal for the entire method and analytical development (MAD) department worked towards and each employee answered to their respective project leaders. These project leaders were responsible for the organization, effectiveness, and work output of each of their staff. The project leaders also reported to one project manager who was in charge of the entire departments direction of focus. The overall result of this organizational structure was that there were numerous teams operating at once, yet there was not much inter-team communication among them. This worked well for BMS because each team was focused on completing its individual part of the project while not having to worry about all the other components that went into the final product. As a result, a degree of specialization was achieved optimizing the overall output of the individual projects. This project based organization ultimately worked well for my department as we were able to get the desired results ahead of schedule and under the allotted budget put aside for the task.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-project-based-nonproject-based-organizations-34050.html

http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/projectbased-organizational-structure-17237.html

After working at Zimmer-Biomet and Stryker, I realized that they were both functional organizations. This means that that organization is divided into groups for different specialized functions (IT, R&D, Quality, Manufacturing, etc.). The advantage of this is because everyone who specializes in a particular area is grouped together, they can share ideas and knowledge to solve a problem. While I do not work full-time yet, I think I would be best suited for a functional-based industry. After working at these two places, I learned a lot in the respective departments that I have worked in. Almost always, I had to take what I learned from my department and go elsewhere and apply what I know to a different setting. For example, I interned as a sterilization engineer at Stryker. The things that I had to learn on microbes, I had to take to the floor and ensure that the manufacturing department and packaging department met the microbial standards. When a machine broke down in the Clean Rooms we had to ensure that all sterilization regulations and standards were being followed while the machine was being fixed. I had a great time applying what I learned to a different setting and I think a functional group would be best suited for me.

My experience while working at General Dynamics Electric Boat was it was mostly project based. Most of what the company does is to develop new products or system for submarines. The company has to stay competitive and submarine technology around the world changes fast. Every task lead or project manager has to manage a budget, schedule, performance requirements, and risk. I think that this is best suited for me because I am detailed orientated and like to work with others. My job required me to work with lots of different companies around the world and communicate effectively and be precise.

From my experience so far as a Mechanical Engineer for my company, I believe my company would be closest to a weak Matrix-based organization structure. A Matrix-based organization means that reporting relationships and collaboroations are set up in a grid rather than the traditional hierarchy of management. So employees are constantly collaborating with employees of other departments in order to carry out the goal of a certain project. The reason that it I believe it is a weak Matrix-based organization is because it still borrows some aspects of the Functional-based organization structure. There still exists a fine line of hierarchy within each department and employees are grouped by their specialty whether it be Engineering, Marketing, Quality, etc. Within this weak Matrix organization, Project Managers are more like collaborators rather than authority when overseeing a project.

References:
http://www.managementtutor.com/difference-between/difference-between-functional-projectized-matrix-organization-structure.html
http://study.com/academy/lesson/matrix-organizational-structure-advantages-disadvantages-examples.html

Hello everyone,

My experience in the Industry is mostly in the Electrical Engineering Industry. As I mentioned in my previous post, I work as a Project Manager Assistant. My undergraduate track here at NJIT is Instrumentation, so it has truly given me a little feeling of how the academia knowledge is applied in the real world. This job is a temporal one until I find one related to Biomedical Engineering but also related to electronics. Electricity has always called my attention and although the biology is fun, I think the electricity happening in the world and our own body is more fun. That would be my dreamed job. Developing Biomedical products that are very related to electronics.

Let me know what you think

Sincerely,
Roberto Pineda.

From my time at Maquet I got the opportunity to work on multiple projects. Though departments were typically split functionally, a majority of the time an individual was assigned to each project. However, based on time constraints and the work necessary others in the department would also get involved. This system was usually effective, but often resulted in some miscommunication as department heads would not always be aware of project status. Additionally, employees often felt that they were under greater pressure reporting to both the department and project managers.

Thank you,
Romany

I work at Nobel Biocare which manufactures dental prosthetics. I consider this organization as a functional based one since this organization structure is a hierarchical organization structure wherein people are grouped as per their area of specialization. Each department have its own manager who will be responsible for the performance of his team structure. This helps the organization control the quality and uniformity of performance. The advantages of this organization are that employees are grouped by their knowledge which helps to achieve better performance and since employees are very skilled, efficiency is gained because they are experienced in the same work.

I don't have any experience in the industry yet. However, I feel like a matrix type organizations is more appealing to me. I feel it like it promotes challenge and creativity. Matrix organizations have the ability to sort out the team based on the project needs. They can bring resources tailored to that specific project from anywhere in the entire organization. It will encourage others in the organization to learn about all sorts of ideas and projects going on in the organization to help them function as a part of it. It will make everyone strive to be the best so they can be assigned to projects as the managers would want to pick a strong hyprid to form a strong matrix for the intended project.

Thank you,
Lamiaa

Currently I work at Ethicon Biosurgery in Somerville, NJ. The organizational project management base is a funcational organizational structure. My work focuses on quality and regulatory performance of surgical devices mainly suture, surgical mesh, and hemostatic agents. Our division also deals with smaller side projects for devices in the R&D phase and for these smaller projects we utilize the project-based organizational approach. From my experience I believe that the project-based organizational approach is more efficient and communications are easier. The main negative critique I have of the functional based approach is that it leads to time delays since communication is not as swift. However, I believe that a functional approach is a necessity for large organizations that are globally connected since it provides better fluidity/continuity.

I don't have any experience in any industry or organization. I feel that if I work in a project based organization at the onset of my career I could develop my technical skills and learn how to work in a competitive environment. Later on I would like to shift to a matrix organizations, where my skills will be used in a proper way to create and innovate in a challenging projects. I would like to expertise myself by working on few projects in the first few years of my career. Once I get enough experience for managing a project I would like to demonstrate my mastery. So choosing a matrix company after 2 or 3 years of work experience would be a right option in my point of view.

I work in a matrix organization, where employees may report to many managers, for example in my case I work as design engineer in a functional department sometimes the company gets a project that needs a design engineer to assist the "project manager" (senior process Engineer because we do not have PMs) on certain tasks. I may be assigned to the project for a short time, or they may transfer me there while my services are required. If I am assigned there for a short time, I have to report to two bosses. Some of the advantages are that information flows through the organization, employees are in contact with many people and resources can be used efficiently, since experts and equipment can be shared across projects.
I do not have experience with the other types of organizations but I am not totally comfortable with the matrix since employees may have to report to two managers, which adds confusion and may cause conflict. If priorities are not defined clearly, people may be confused about their role and responsibility. If any resource is scarce there may be competition to use it, which may cause hostility. Finally but not less important in a matrix organization, workloads tends to be high. Employees have to do their regular work along with the additional project which can exhaust people affecting productivity.

I have not worked in industry before, nor do I have experience in any type of the organizations listed. If I were to go into industry, I would feel more gravitated towards a project-based organization. The structure of working in a group is really appealing to me because with so many different ideas will lead to curation, and curation will lead to internal quality assurance before the product is even tested. The flexibility of working on a project-based organizational structure means people are assigned to where they can really flex their particulate skill set. Instead of adopting an "assembly line" mentality, people within the entire team have an understanding and expectation of what the product is and have an increased sense of focus. One of the big downsides would be isolation. In a project-based structure, teams are self-sufficient, so there isn't much coordination with other teams. Continuity can be an issue when placed in situation where you are working on multiple projects. Overall, I would prefer this work environment and organizational structure over matrix/functional organizations.

-Talha Chaudhry

References: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/projectbased-organizational-structure-60902.html