Matrix Organization is the practice of managing individuals with more than one reporting line, that means it is a type of organizational structure in which people with similar skills are pooled for work assignments, resulting in more than one manager. I would go with Matrix organization by looking at the key advantages like: it increases cooperation and communication and unlocks resources and talent that are currently inaccessible to the rest of the organization. It also serves global customers, manage supply chains that extend outside the organization, and run integrated business regions, functions. To develop broader people capabilities and to be able to respond more flexibly.
I agree with many of the participants in here, matrix organization would be the best option to start my medical device company. There are many reasons, but one of the particular is that matrix organization is a combination of Project manager, Functional heads and Project teams. Certainly, that project managers make the project team but project teams have more authority on their work including giving feedback, any raising questions and knowledge are not limited. It allows team members to learn and experience many areas in the company. Information is passed down from project to project and between departments when needed assistance. Therefore, I think the matrix is a better option than the project-based organization.
If I were to start up my own medical devices company, I would choose the Matrix Org Structure as I think it would have enough flexibility to work under different bosses, fast to grow, and would have the space for decision making. Since the Matrix Org would have group members from different disciplinary and functional units, it would be more beneficial for my company to have a better-produced output.
Several advantages of the Matrix Org were explained on the PMI website:
"1. Project Objectives Clear -> project objectives will be balanced with the functional organization objectives
2. Project Integration -> clear and workable mechanism for achieving project integration of subsystems
3. Efficient Use of Resources -> efficient use of tools, appliances, equipment, etc.
4. Information Flow -> Horizontal & Vertical flow
5. Retention of Disciplinary Teams -> team collaborations leads to increased innovation and productive output
6. High Morale -> worker in the matrix responds first to the morale-building experience of working on a successful project resulting in visible achievements
7. Development of Project Managers -> promising candidates can easily be spotted in the multidisciplinary project environment
8. Project Shutdown -> it is not a painful event to terminate a project"
Reference:
https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/matrix-organization-structure-reason-evolution-1837
Organizational structures come in three general types 1- Functional Organization 2- Project- based Organizations 3- Matrix Organizations
Functional Organization: Functional Organization Structure is a structure used to organize workers. They are grouped based on their specific skills and knowledge.
Project based organizations: are defined as organizational forms that are necessary in the making temporary systems for the project performance. It conduct most of the project activities and provides the functional approaches of the project.
Matrix Organizations: In my opinion I recommended Matrix Organization for the company, Matrix organizations is a structure in which there is more than one line of reporting managers, it means that the employees of the organization have more than one boss. The advantage of Matrix organizations is 1- Access to expertise 2- Stability of permanent department assignments for employees. 3- Allows for focus on specific projects, products, or customers. 4- Team members have the opportunity to learn new skills.
So there may be more than just the 3 main organization types that Dr. Simon presented in the lecture: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams. Say you were to start up a medical device company that will function worldwide. What type of organization would you choose to instate in your company and why?
In my company, we have a matrix organization and I think it works pretty well. Each type of function (i.e. R&D, Quality, Manufacturing, Regulatory, etc.) has their own department with a VP, multiple Directors below the VP which oversee multiple Managers, which have a number of individuals reporting to them. As you get lower and lower in rank, the teams are broken up based on their responsibilities and the types of projects they work on, and to make sure there's alignment between functional groups, each type of organization (R&D/Quality/Mfg/RA) is organized generally the same way. This is helpful because when projects come up, you are used to working with the same individuals from the other departments, so you get to know what to expect and how to handle certain situations should they arise. Additionally, for larger scale projects, those will also have project managers, whereas for smaller projects, the R&D representative is generally the project lead. So, if I were to start a medical device company, I would probably choose the matrix organization since I've seen first-hand how successful it can be.
If I started my own company, I would choose a matrix organization. To be honest, I think the matrix organization has clear division of labor and clear positioning. Departments divided by functions and they can communicate with each other in this organization. This kind of organization is very suitable to run the whole company as a leader.
If I had my own medical device company I would probably chose a project-based organization. I have worked for a healthcare company that used a matrix organization and I noticed a lot of disorganization. Some departments were overworked and some were overstaffed and the management for these teams never noticed in the year and a half I was there because they were also bosses for other teams. Also I think that there should always be only one person who takes the accountability for a part of project, never 2 or more people. This way if something doesn't get done, there's one person who can't blame anyone else for that shortcoming.
I believe the best way to startup a medical device company would be to implement the matrix-style organizational method into the company. I believe this is the ideal method to startup a medical device company because each department has a fluid sense of communication with one another. So if there is a problem within one department, another department may be able to transmit information which can resolve the problem much faster than another organizational method. This is ideal for when each department has their own strengths and weaknesses throughout the company; this way the entire company is built together just like a puzzle of strengths which overcome the weaknesses through the power of communication and working as a team.
I would initially like my startup to be matrix based type of organisation as the resources would be limited in the beginning and a matrix based company would help my company use to resources available very efficiently and one person would be working with several projects at a time and all the people would get a chance to work with different people in all departments which would help them bond well and develop a good relationship with each other.
If I were to start a medical device company, I would choose to instate a project- based setup in my company. For starters, a positive of this setup is that information is shared between the people from different departments that are assigned to the same project. As a result, there are no silos or competition between the staff members as the success of all members is dependent on the successful completion of the assigned project. Since a potential negative of this setup is that there may not be sharing of information between different projects, I would require the project managers to respond to any information requests from other project managers to the best of their abilities. Furthermore, I prefer this organizational setup because there is only one manager (the project manager) that is responsible for the completion of the project, so there cannot be any confusion in relations to responsibility. Lastly, I believe a benefit of this setup is that it can increase staff member motivation to successfully complete a project because there may be competition between members assigned to different projects.
In starting my own company, I think the functional matrix organization structure makes then most sense. Having departments structured and separated by function would allow every aspect of the development process to be completed efficiently. Additionally, there will be cross-talk between different departments for the reason that some rely on others. Having the matrix organization allows each task of the development process to be managed almost entirely by one department, allowing easy tracking of progress and efficiency. In product development it is incredibility important to communicate between departments and stay organized in order for the project to stay on track, which are both accomplished with the functional matrix structure.
By the nature of most medical device companies being small, I think initially my company structure would start out as project-based, then evolve into a matrix structure as we grew in size and complexity. I believe that some core administrative departments like Accounting and Human Resources are better as functional departments that serve the company as a whole, rather than segments. Project management teams ordered by device product also makes better strategic sense for developing product continuity and team productivity. I happen to love interdisciplinary projects and collaborative science, believing that innovation is further expanded by the collection of more voices and diverse inputs.
I think that the matrix organization structure would be the best for most companies. It provides a well-balanced structure as the employees have to report to at least two bosses - their functional manager and product manager. It offers more flexibility and exposure to cross-functional teams and enables the team member’s exposure to various areas within this organization, and lastly, the decision making is more balanced, since there are more than two chains of command. This structure could also help the team members from becoming stagnant in their departments and keep them updated with other areas.
Every organization is different and no organizational structure is perfect, but one of the above types of organizational structure may be best for a medical device company depend on the size of the company and what growth the foresee to achieve.
Most Medical Device companies tend to go for Matrix which is a hybrid organizational structure, the matrix structure is a blend of the functional organizational structure and the project-based organizational structure. Advantages of this structure is that employees can share their knowledge and also work across the different functional divisions, allowing for better communication and can broaden their skills and knowledge, leading to professional growth within the company. The matrix structure is challenging because it can be tough reporting to multiple bosses and knowing what to communicate to them. That’s why it’s very important for the employees to know their roles, responsibilities and work priorities.
Another organizational type that I will consider going for will be the Divisional Organizational structure. This operates across several horizontal objectives. This structure allows for much more autonomy among groups within the organization. Under this structure, each division essentially operates as its own company, controlling its own resources and how much money it spends on certain projects or aspects of the division.
If I were to create a medical device firm, I believe I would do so as a project-based company at first. PBOs are more concerned with project outcomes than with organizational structure. In compared to other organizations, I feel this concentration will provide a more conducive environment for such a small group from the start. Interaction and team structure, in my opinion, will be critical to the success of such a start-up. Project teams create a strong sense of identity, which leads to high levels of commitment among team members. Project organizations can acquire and sustain a long-term body of expertise and abilities as a result of their engagement in several projects.
