Organizational Framework
Our group proposes the formation of a company named InstaMeet. InstaMeet will be an all-encompassing software add-on that will provide both students and professors an organized forum to enhance virtual learning. Virtual learning currently uses a small handful of vendors that provide a portal for students and professors to interact. For example, The University of Cincinnati uses the online portal, Canopy, to provide access to class discussion boards, assignments, lectures, course information, and grades. Virtual learning has been used by universities for over fifty years (“History of virtual learning environments,” 2018). Although there have been great improvements in technology, the current systems fall short of providing a platform for class interaction.
Currently, InstaMeet’s competitors, such as Canopy, provide a useful learning portal that is effective but flawed. Current users of Canopy at the University of Cincinnati have experienced gaps in learning potential due to Canopy’s lack of communication tools. For example, it is difficult to navigate certain functionalities. A large issue for Canopy is the lack of clarity in the group discussion boards that makes it difficult to follow a group discussion. This is one area where InstaMeet will have a competitive advantage. InstaMeet will provide software that will encompass all parts of the learning process. InstaMeet will be a one stop shop that will provide: Group Chats, Video Conferencing, a Mobile friendly application, Voice Messaging, and organized Group Discussion boards.
InstaMeet is an add-on software to virtual educational platforms that would allow for meaningful communication amongst users. InstaMeet fulfills the great need for connectivity that is lacking in current virtual educational portals. Although many provide forums for group collaboration, none allow for the multiple-platform connectivity and presence that are capable in external software, such as WebEx, Skype, or GroupMe. Using external software presents risks to students who often have to consent to sharing personal accounts and numbers for the sake of being connected to their fellow classmates. Our market consists of any virtual educational platforms, but specifically those that operate at a collegiate level. At the collegiate level, there is a greater need for consolidated connectivity, as these classes often happen at a faster pace.
InstaMeet will provide video conferencing, phone conferencing, file sharing, and text/instant messaging capabilities, with the added ability to connect users securely without the need for sharing personal contact information. Our product will support a desktop site with a mobile app that seeks to keep users up to date for their projects while on the go. Students will be able to send instant messages/text messages to their group members without having to input each member’s number individually. Class members will be able to be divided into teams for group projects and be divided into group. InstaMeet will make anyone within the class and groups automatically a part of the group and thus, once downloaded, everyone will have the ability to connect to their team members. Additionally, Group members will be able to send voice messages with InsaMeet’s added voice messaging capabilities, in order to make communication more efficient. Finally, InstaMeet will have video calling capabilities, so students will be able to video call from wherever they are in the world from their mobile devices. Combined, these capabilities will allow InstaMeet to be more efficient and effective and will allow education portals to bridge the gap between their outdated communication systems and the new age of instant connectivity.
In terms of a location for InstaMeet, there are several factors that should be considered in determining a place to conduct business. First to be considered are locally driven business expenses: including rental expenses, prevailing local wages, insurances rates, utilities, governmental licenses fees, zoning laws, and local tax laws (“Small Business Administration,” n.d.). As a startup company, minimizing expenses will be of great importance in keeping overhead low. With all of the above in mind, Delaware is an attractive option. Delaware attracts companies because of its favorable low tax rates (Wayne, 2012). Given that InstaMeet is a tech company, it will need servers all over the world so that data and information can be communicated as quickly as possible. Other important resources following the launch of InstaMeet will include support, market analysts, software develops to support and further develop the product.
Industry Trends, Past and Future
InstaMeet will be a part of the telecommunications industry. The industry is made up of all telecommunications/telephone companies and internet service providers. It plays a crucial role in the evolution of mobile communications and the information society. This industry has progressed quickly over the last several decades. As many companies are racing to have the fastest internet and cellular connections, the market has become highly competitive with many new innovations. Mobile networks, broadband, and the smartphone have all contributed significantly to the development of the telecom industry. This has transformed mobile devices into an extension of the computer and allows communication from almost anywhere. The industry continues to grow exponentially with new technologies emerging every year. It is estimated by the (insert region here) GSMA report that by 2020 the telecom industry will have approximately 5.6 billion unique subscribers. Studies also show that online learning, or e-learning, is projected to reach $255 billion in 2020. [GMSA Report] InstaMeet will allow students to make use of the growing telecommunications industry through the optimization of communication services for virtual learning portals.
Facilitating communication between students is InstaMeet’s mission. The company aims to make communication in virtual education as seamless as possible. Meaningful collaboration is the aspect of classroom education that has least effectively been replicated in virtual coursework. Yet, such collaboration is an indispensable hallmark of the best learning experiences. InstaMeet exists to fill this gap by integrating cutting-edge collaboration tools into the largest online education platforms.
To fulfill this mission, InstaMeet has set four major goals. The first is to add InstaMeet functionality to Canopy/Blackboard, thus reaching the majority of university students taking online courses. The second is to ensure that the InstaMeet experience is the equal of any collaboration tool on the market. The third is to expand the usage of InstaMeet to non-university platforms such as edX and Coursera. Lastly, InstaMeet’s goal is to achieve sufficient size and value to either sell the company or take it public within a timeframe to be determined by the corporate leadership and board of directors.
Describe the role that technology will play in the production of your company’s goods or service.
Technology will play a central role for InstaMeet as it is a startup technology company. Technology will be present in everything from the organizational structure to creating value for stakeholders. InstaMeet will have a customer centric model will allow it produce a customized product uniquely designed to address issues of collegiate students and professors all across the globe. By employing small batch and unit technology, the company will be able to better allocate its resources to tailor the InstaMeet experience to individual customers. At the organization level, Craftwork technology will be used and InstaMeet will have two small teams of self-managed groups for product development. One team will focus on designing the web based application and the other team will have coders having expertise in Android development who will focus on developing the mobile app. Besides the technical team, even the managers from the R&D and Sales & Marketing departments will be involved in team meetings to decide upon the real-time product features. To allow for this cross knowledge transition we will make use of an interactive real time software. The product development will follow Scrum as the Agile methodology where an iterative model will be used to develop and test the application on a sprint basis before the final product is launched in the market. Just like Zynga we will also adopt the strategy of A/B testing with certain users which will help the developers understand the taste of users.
The finished product will have features similar to WhatsApp/Skype for instant messaging, uninterrupted video conferencing, voice and video calling enabled without having the user to authenticate by creating account and signing in every time. The application portal will also have a link for online customer feedback that will help us better understand the areas of improvement.
For the top management teams especially in R&D and Marketing departments, the initial endeavours are going to be challenging. Right from business understanding, requirement gathering, dealing with the customers and finally creating value to stakeholders through innovation, all the tasks will have high variability and low analysability and hence, as per Perrow’s classification, we will deploy non-routine research technology to counter the problem.
Our product development will be a unified effort of all the employees of InstaMeet comprising of not only the technical workforce but also management teams from R&D, Sales & Marketing and Finance departments. From the task interdependence perspective there will be reciprocal interdependence which is why we will use the concept of intensive technology. To deal with unexpected situations we will have some slack resources as buffer in the very beginning.
At the input level of the organization, we will use the concept of E-engineering. InstaMeet will have an online management information system hired from a vendor where employees of all levels will be able to interact with each other and track each other’s activities. At the individual level this portal will allow the employees to track quarterly goals set by their managers, request for a leave, fill weekly timesheets and even upgrade their skill sets through online training programs. Access cards will be provided to all the employees to enter the office premises in order to track the office timings. All computers will be connected through LAN and high speed internet will be provided to ensure smoothness of the development process.
Organizational Design
Personnel Plan
InstaMeet will be made up of three departments: sales/marketing, finance, and technology. The bulk of the employees will be part of the technology department. We will have few employees working on the system architecture for our website and app, and keeping the company’s website running.
Provide a complete organizational chart and include a written narrative (explaining not just these decisions, but also the strategy behind them) to explain your:
InstaMeet will operate within a flat structure. This will allow our company to have a leadership team to create: a mission statement, sales goals, company expectations, deadlines, and detailed development plan. The CEO will have three direct reports, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), the Chief Investment Officer, and a Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Even though the organizational structure is segregated by teams, all teams will eventually learn all functions of the company. All employees will be able to have a free open forum to discuss ideas and solutions.
Chief Operating Officer (COO): the COO position will play an important role within InstaMeet. The COO will be responsible for Sales/Marketing division. It will delegate responsibilities to Manager 1 and assign tasks. The COO will set sales goals for Team 1 and report all figures to the CEO. Team members will approach potential clients and present live demonstrations of software capabilities. Another component of the position will be marketing. The COO will have a few staff members of Team 1 that will be responsible for advertising software. They will develop a marketing campaign target potential clients. Lastly the COO will be responsible for cross training Team 1 to understand functions on Team 2 and Team 3.
Chief Investment Officer (CIO): the Chief Investment Officer will be responsible for all the financial reporting and budgeting for the company. This will include: sales reporting, annual budget, employee compensation, and company updates. They will delegate responsibilities to Manager 2 and ensure Team 2 is meeting expectations. They will also cross train Team 2 to understand functions on Team 1 and Team 3.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO): the Chief Technology Officer will be responsible for overseeing all software development, coding, troubleshooting, onboarding new clients, and maintenance for current clients. They will delegate responsibilities to Manager 3. They will also cross train Team 3 to understand functions on Team 1 and Team 2.
Departmentalization Approach: InstaMeet will implement a functional method of departmentalization. We will divide work between three departments based on Sales/Marketing, Finance, and Software Development. Each will be an expert in that division and also be responsible for cross-training other teams.
Span of Management: managers will be a major part of the company. Subordinates will have the freedom to create new ideas and to problem solve, but the three managers will be responsible for consolidating ideas and reporting info to top management. The managers will hold team members accountable for actions.
Hierarchical Authority: the hierarchy of authority for InstaMeet will be flat and decentralized. Leadership will be small. It will consist of a CEO, CIO, CTO, three managers, and the three teams. The managers will oversee the three departments that make up the company.
Level of Specialization: the culture we are trying to establish at Instameet is one that is organic. When core employees are hired, they will work in the area of expertise such as Finance, Software Development, Sales, and Marketing. All employees will cross training in the other areas until we reach an organic point of joint specialization. This will be done with the help of the three managers set in place.
Degree of Centralization: InstaMeet will be decentralized structure. Having a decentralized company will allow our company to adapt to environmental changes more effectively. This environment will allow the overall team to communicate in a free and open exchange. Giving employees freedom to express concerns will allow ideas to form organically and bring new processes and ideas. The communication would be lateral vs. vertical. We feel this would create a more cohesive working environment, enhance creativity and the overall product.
Approach to Integration: InstaMeet mode of integration will be with teams. With having a decentralized structure, we will have small delegation of duties, but for the most part, we will have an open dialog between Top Management, Managers, and Team members. We want the process to be collaborative, so management will be in constant contact with all employees. With having such a small collaborative effort, it will be important to have a high level of commitment by all employees. The company will develop a forum for all employees to engage in touch points. These could include formal meetings, lunches, seminars etc. During these meetings, employees will be able to pitch ideas or discuss challenges that may have arisen. Communication and transparency will be important to be successful.
Identify which structure (functional, divisional, matrix, etc.) you have applied and thoroughly explain why you selected that structure.
InstaMeet will apply flat organizational structure. As a startup company, InstaMeet will have a small size and flat structure, thus securing the following benefits: A flat structure will lower operational costs, improve communications and improve employees motivation and satisfaction. This structure will allow our company to have a leadership team to build goals for InstaMeet.
Explain how your design approach aligns with your organizational objectives. Joel???
State whether your organizational structure is more mechanistic or organic and explain why.
Our organization structure will be organic rather than mechanistic. Given that InstaMeet is a tech company, our organizational design will be more decentralized rather than centralized. We will encourage individuals on every level to use their best judgement and make important decisions about organizational resources, to be self-starters and initiate ideas without having to heavily rely on the top. Our goal is to empower managers and members on every level to be able to make decisions when faced with issues, so that top managers can focus on long-term strategy. The mutual adjustment approach will help us in that people will be free to be creative, use their personal views, express ideas, come up with solutions, all of which will not only enrich the work environment, but will also lead to a stronger product. Our goal is to have a product that took into a consideration many viewpoints, that addressed different questions that serves a diverse population. To achieve this, we need to allow for a free flow of ideas, creativity, and initiations.
A startup tech company will stifle creativity if we aim for formalization. Having specific written rules and statements to dictate how individuals should reach a certain goal is counter-productive to the very idea of a tech company. Thus, we will not have a set of norms: standards or styles of behavior that are considered acceptable in our organization. Instead we will promote and value individuality, creativity and free expression. We will also promote joint specialization, managers and employees will be encourage to work together to reach goals or to solve tasks. Furthermore, because of the nature of our business, we need to be very flexible in order to be able to quickly adapt to changes. Technology is a fast pace ever changing area. When the environment changes so fast, it is indispensable for an organization to be able to change as quickly as the environment. We must be able to quickly redefine tasks, having a broad understanding of how multiple tasks work together will allow each member to respond efficiently and effectively to change.
Identify your organization’s sources of core competencies and explain which strategy (functional, business, and corporate) it will enact to leverage those.
InstaMeet’s sources of core competencies are efficient and easy communication. We are going to hire employees who will put us ahead of competitors because they will have a strong fundamental knowledge of other products on the market as well as what our product is attempting to solve. Because of the strong fundamental knowledge of the market, employees will be able to develop our product InstaMeet that will solve the issues that brought about the start of this company. Being a somewhat new market and new company, we will be agile in the ability to iterate our product based on feedback from other communication platforms. We will enact a functional strategy to leverage these core competencies.
Organizational Culture
Describe which performance management approach you intend to use (MBO’s, 360-degree feedback, etc.) and why.
InstaMeet intends to use a 360-degree feedback approach when it comes to performance management. By using this approach, employees of the company will be able to receive feedback from their team leaders, managers, colleagues, and external users. By allowing feedback from all angles within the company, as well as from outside the company (users and stakeholders), employees will be able to get a better understanding of how they work with everyone within the company. Employees will have the ability to evaluate the performance of other employees within the company, whether they be below or above them. This will allow for all employees to express their concerns, opinions and thoughts about their working environment. By using this approach, employees will be able to receive feedback about how they are interacting with customers and colleagues.
If your organization includes positions that are highly specialized, describe strategies you will employ to mitigate boredom associated with specialization.
The IT department will be the only team that is specialized. Given the nature of our product, we need people who are skilled in the area. In order to mitigate boredom associated with specialization, we will employ the following integration mechanisms: we will have the different teams within the IT team report to managers who are not in their teams. We will also encourage direct contact. We will have an open-door policy and encourage managers to have face to face interaction with employees in order to motivate employees to move from behind their desks. We will also have regular team meetings where managers meet with employees from the IT team and other teams to discuss and/or coordinate activities. Furthermore, we will implement cross-team monthly lunches where all employees will have lunch together and interact with others who are not in their teams. We will also have cross-team monthly meetings where each team updates and educates others on what is going on within their team in order to get others interested and educated on what they are working on. We will also encourage and nominate employees to serve on committees that are not within their teams.
Explain the type of culture you would like to embed within your organization and describe how that aligns with your organizational goals.
Describe a plan or strategy for management to use when navigating organizational politics and/or conflict, and identify ways to reduce “bad” politics/conflict within your organization (specifically by strategic application of organizational design).
InstaMeet will adopt a “conflict prevention” approach, rather than one of conflict resolution. Much of organizational conflict stems from a “perceived incompatibility in the way different team members think and act.” [“How to Preempt Team Conflict” HBR, pg. 5] Such incompatibilities arise from how different team members look at the world in profound ways. The goal will be to immunize teams from conflict by bringing those differences to the foreground and addressing them. Team leaders will be expected to spend 20-30 minutes at the beginning of each new project discussing what conflict resolution experts have termed “the five conversations.” These conversations explore the varying ways team members look, act, speak, think, and feel. Through a nonjudgmental exchange of ideas and feedback, goodwill and understanding are built up that help the team weather inevitable future conflict.
State the level of social responsibility your company will embrace, identify specific social responsibility initiatives, and explain why you elected that approach.
InstaMeet will be at the philanthropic level of social responsibility. Philanthropy can benefit the company through earning good reputation, brand recognition and bringing more business, as well as benefit the society at large. We will offer scholarships for low-income students. We will raise money on our website to contribute to those scholarships. https://www.businesschief.com/finance/4676/Corporate-Philanthropy-Initiatives-Are-Good-For-Business. https://bizfluent.com/info-8632459-four-levels-social-responsibility.html
Describe approaches that will be used by managers within your organization to ensure ethical business practices.
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/business-ethics.asp
- http://rmi-solutions.com/blog/top-five-ethical-practices-for-your-business/
Managers will play a very important role to ensure ethical business practices within InstaMeet. Behavior usually has a trickle-down effect from the managers to the employees. So, managers must act in ethical ways to serve as good examples for the rest of the company. We need our managers to lead by example and set a good standard of ethics in place. At InstaMeet we will also develop a formal Code of Ethics that will eliminate any ambiguity about what behaviors are and are not acceptable. We will provide this to every employee on their first day of work. It is crucial that managers enforce the Code. On the other end, when employees exhibit good ethical behavior our managers must praise them. We can go one step further and praise them in front of their peers whether that be verbally or through a newsletter of some sort. This will encourage others to make ethical decisions and will have long-term benefits for our company. By proactively taking measures to improve ethical business practices we will improve our company culture, brand reputation, and overall employee satisfaction.
APPENDIX 1: INSTAMEET’S ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
APPENDIX TWO: INSTAMEET’S CORPORATE CODE OF ETHICS
A. ETHICAL BEHAVIOR
The Company is committed to creating a work environment and a business culture grounded in ethical behavior in every respect. The Company is committed to fostering an environment of honesty and fairness, providing a safe and healthy environment free from the fear of retribution, and respecting the dignity due everyone. The Company is committed to pursuing sound growth and earnings objectives, and to exercising prudence in the use of its assets and resources. The Company is committed to fair competition and the sense of responsibility required of a good customer and service provider.
B. POSITIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT
The Company is committed to the recruitment, training, development and retention of competent staff. All employment decisions, including hiring, promotion and transfer, must be made solely on merit, experience and other work-related criteria.
Employees want and deserve a workplace where they feel respected and appreciated. The Company respects cultural diversity and will not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind – whether involving race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, veteran, or marital status.
C. OBEY THE LAW
The Company conducts its business in accordance with the applicable laws, rules and regulations of the cities and states where it does business. Ignorance of such laws, rules or regulations will not serve as a defense for non-compliance. Compliance with the law does not comprise our entire ethical responsibility. Rather, it is a minimum standard of performance of our duties.
D. AVOID CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Employees have an obligation to give their complete loyalty to the best interests of the Company. They should avoid any action that may involve, or may appear to involve, a conflict of interest with the Company
E. PROTECT PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
All information about the Company, including its business, operations and processes, stockholders, customers and suppliers should be considered confidential unless the information is already known to the public. This includes, but is not limited to, confidential technology, proprietary information, trade secrets, business plans, documents, pricing and records. Employees should not, without prior written authorization, acquire, use, access, copy, remove, modify, alter or disclose to any Third Parties, any confidential information for any purpose.
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