In this module we learned about organization types and how those can affect medical device projects. What type of organization do you work in or what kind would you like to work in and why?
The laboratory company that I work with resembles the matrix-type of organization because of the way they choose to have the positions set up. For instance there is upper management, management, supervisors, team lead and the actual team of technologists. This method of dividing up power in the workplace is beneficial for creating a working environment that facilitates team work and team building properties. I actually enjoy working in this type of environment and I find that it gives me the opportunity to grow and excel.
I felt most drawn to the matrix organization. The reason I like that format is because it is more collaborative in nature than the functional and project-based methods. I am always inclined to believe that people are more apt to grow and learn from others if they in fact have the opportunity to work with others. The fact that each project manager will be able to choose their team specialists for the sake of the project lends itself to the project managers knowing everyone well. That is beneficial because they can better select the best team when they have future projects to complete. I like the elimination of silos and departments and the smooth transfer of knowledge between projects and departments. Both of those work quite well together. If groups are able to collaborate then there should be ease when it comes to sharing knowledge. As a classroom teacher, I am moving from high to middle school. I think the organizational method I can anticipate entering into is along the lines of functional. I do not know how I will feel about it, but I will soon see.
Project Organization is the type of organization that would best suit my talents. With this type of organization, people are able to gain knowledge from other members and I absolutely love this for two main reasons. One, I enjoy learning knew information because I believe the more I know, the more I have to offer society. Two, with this sharing of information, this tells me the types of relationships that can foster from these organizations.
The type of organization that I work in Matrix Organization (for the Department of Defense for the Army Medical Command). I was working in data analysis for over 10 years in Health Administration in different sectors moving around for the years. I prefer to work in and I am newly vetted (working) in the Epidemiology field. I do not have much that I can contribute as to what I do because it is new but I will share what my goals in this field are. My career and academic goals are to get my Ph.D. and be a Molecular Epidemiologist. I had direction but in the last year, I have been able to really figure out in which direction I want to go. I am already very knowledgeable in the Health Administration field specializing in Access to Care. I would like to take the years of knowledge in the field that I have and apply it studying potential environmental and genetic risk factors and balance that with how these factors can affect access to care for certain populations. How can my career goals affect medical device projects? Great question, possibly from the data and research that I produce over the long term of my career some medical device may be drafted that can aid in the corrective action of a disorder.
Ideally, if I am working on a big project with a large team, I would like to work with a matrix organizational structure. The reason for this is due to the number of tasks that may need to be completed. On large projects with many team members, it may be more efficient to report to at least two people instead of one. The idea would be for one supervisor to be responsible for a portion of the project while the other covers the other areas. Generally, more mistakes can be made when a single individual is accountable for every aspect of a project instead of multiple experts being responsible for the part of the project in which they are experts. This way, the project is completed at the highest quality and likely to be successful when communication remains open.
So the company I would like to be in is a matrix organization because a matrix organization is one that
" brings together employees and managers from different departments to work toward accomplishing a goal" it is a large sense of team working to accomplish the goal, and that way the employees feel they have the resources and materials needed to acomplish the tasks at hand. This type of business I enjoy and its a win win type senerio.
@jk299 this is a good interpretation of matrix organizations. Their design helps facilitate teamwork and collaboration amongst employees, but there are also some downsides to this type of structure. Often, there can be project overlap when you'll be involved with more than one project at a time, and this can sometimes be a hassle. But, this is one organization type that I have seen first hand, so understanding others experiences can be rewarding.
The company I work for would probably fit best in a matrix organization category. We specialize in ion channel drug discovery, so most of our work is focused on identifying promising compounds in the pre clinical stage that we can advance through the remaining process. With it being a matrix organization, there is a chief executive which would be our Site Head/Lead, and then there are functional managers, department directors, and project managers; along with staff under each. Project managers designate teams from each department, and these include molecular biology, chemistry, electrophysiology, etc. Project managers have power in our organization but probably not like those that you would see in one that's Project Based. Most of the staff know each other and interact since its relatively small, and knowledge usually transfers well between projects and departments.
DuPont Tate & Lyle LLC is a joint venture company. Tate & Lyle is a world-leading renewable food and industrial ingredients company and Dupont is a global science innovator. Individually I believe that both have a functional organizational framework. However, with the joint venture, it is more of a project-based organization. On the Dupont Tate & Lyle Bio Products website, it lists the leadership team and there is a president, CFO, vice president of technology, vice president of operations, and vice president of marketing. I worked in Research & Development and Quality Control for the DuPont Tate Lyle which started out as a pilot program on the Loudon TN Tate & Lyle manufacturing plant. From my experience, I remember having at least three managers to report to depending on the project that the research and development (R&D) lab was working on. There were times when communication was misinterpreted and working out logistics for actual work hours had to be rearranged for project timing not the company shift hours. The project-based organization is more evenly distributed with responsibility and working toward the goal of completing the project. I think the sharing of responsibility and accountability creates a work culture that is suitable for team members to be valued. I have worked for a utility company which is a functional organization in most instances and learned that process of a chain of command and hierarchy and leadership style is rigid and doesn’t value the staff or employees doing the actual work of running the company. I think I would like to explore working within a Matrix organization as my next step after obtaining my master's degree. I feel that it is the best fit for my personality and my productivity.
I currently work in a functional organization where there are various departments and an associated department manager for each. I do like this format because I get to know the people that I am working with well and we in the department will always be responsible for one specific aspect of a project. It is nice knowing that when we are done with our part of the project, it is more or less out of our hands and passed to the next department. Although I do like this system, I would prefer to work in a matrix organization. Forming temporary project teams with members from different areas is a better way to share more information, resources, and specialized knowledge that could be useful for creating more successful projects. You can also connect with more people through this structure. This format would make it much easier to follow through with projects which I would appreciate because I am always curious about what the end result is. As long as communication is prioritized, which applies to all organizational structures but mainly to the matrix, I see this structure as a very efficient way to get things done
I currently work in a functional organization. A group of scribes is selected to work on specific doctors only and we work together to complete all the charts necessary while other groups have other centers or facilities for doctors that they handle. I prefer working in this manner because I like the doctors I have been chosen to work for, I do not have to learn new dictation and get used to how other doctors like things to be done. This organization also allows for one person to be in charge, so there is no conflict with who to go along with, and less micromanaging.
I work in a project-based/matrix-based combination of an organization. There are multiple projects going on at a time and each project has a team or multiple teams. Although the teams include members of several different departments (R&D, manufacturing, distributing, marketing, customer service, and tech leads), each of whom is also a part of at least one other project for his or her position. In particular, I have noticed that knowledge and information are not shared between teams and departments as they should. In most projects, there are often multiple teams, each of which has a manager that oversees a single team. Despite the fact that communication can be lacking between departments, it is helpful to meet every week or every other week to discuss progress and any updates.
I Currently work in a functional organization job.All project are within departments and the heads has the most power.While working here advancement are very clear and you know what you have to do to be promoted.I like this functional organizations because it very clear cut in all aspects so you will know what to expect.
I work in a functional organization. Like Dr. Simon mentioned in lecture, there’s one head honcho at the top, and other department heads with staff under them. I’ve worked in a functional organization for years. I’m not sure if I prefer it, but I am used to it. Dr. Simon also mentioned in lecture that in these types of organizations, you work with the goal in mind of gaining a higher position when someone leaves. That cannot be truer. In fact, I have experienced this. When I first came to the company, I came because it was another lab job with great pay. Once I started to understand how things flowed, I started leaning toward getting my supervisor’s position one day. It has never been a dream of mine, but my supervisor’s title was Quality Manager. The Quality Manager that hired me, retired a year and a half later. The company didn’t have a good recession plan in place, so I ended up having to learn a lot of the quality manager’s job duties and became like the interim quality manager, but since I didn’t have enough experience, I didn’t qualify for the job (nor did I apply). However, that piqued my interest for obtaining that position one day. So I agree, in these types of organizations, a lot of times people work with the mindset of promotion into a better position when it opens up.
I think I would prefer to work in a functional organization because it is what I know most about.
Right now I work a functional organization. One main person has the majority of the power, and my other coworkers take instruction from the. My team works very well, and we essentially do the same tasks we always do with little variation. I think most of the companies I have worked for have been functional organizations, so this format is something I am quite comfortable with. I think I would like to move to project based company though, and have a different set of project to do, with a rotating team. In the end I would like to try all the organization types and see what is the best fit for me careerwise.
In this module we learned about organization types and how those can affect medical device projects. What type of organization do you work in or what kind would you like to work in and why?
I would like to work in a project based organization. This type of organization places a great emphasis on its ability to transfer knowledge from project to project. For the success of many companies, having access (or sharing information) within the company allows for everyone to be on the same page and work more efficiently on future projects because of that element of communication. Although this type of organization gives a lot of power to the project mangers, I do think that having a designated leader can alleviate the possibility of miscommunication amongst the team he/she leads and the other project managers.
