問21
頻出度★★★
図によって表される企業の組織形態はどれか。 組織図（上位から下位への階層）： - 最上位：社長 - 第2階層（社長の直下，横並び）：総務・人事 ／ 経理・財務 - 第3階層：A事業担当 ／ B事業担当 - 第4階層： - A事業担当の下：研究開発 ／ 販売 ／ 生産 - B事業担当の下：研究開発 ／ 販売 ／ 生産
平成24年度 秋期 ITパスポート試験 問21
ストラテジ系企業活動 › 経営・組織論
This question's explanation and your answers so far.
解説
問 21
- ア
正解 The correct answer is ア, “Divisional organization.” A divisional organization sets up a division for each business unit — by product, by region, by customer, and so on — and gives each division a full set of the functions needed to run that business, such as R&D, production, and sales, so that the division operates in a self-contained way and is also accountable for profit. It is a decentralized form of organization. Reading the figure, two business units, Business Division A and Business Division B, stand side by side under the President, and inside each dashed-line box the same set of functions — R&D, Sales, and Production — is placed redundantly. This shape, in which every business unit holds a complete set of functions of its own, is the decisive feature of a divisional structure. On the other hand, General Affairs & HR and Accounting & Finance are not placed inside the divisions; they remain at headquarters as company-wide staff departments reporting directly to the President. This too is typical of a divisional structure: functions closely tied to a business are decentralized to each division, while indirect functions that are more efficient to manage centrally for the whole company are consolidated at headquarters. The advantages of a divisional structure are that decisions about each business can be made quickly, close to the front line; that sales and profit can be tracked per business unit, so accountability for results is clear; and that a division head can develop a manager-level perspective. On the other hand, because the functions are duplicated in every division, company resources tend to be invested redundantly, and walls between divisions (sectionalism) arise easily. The figure shows these features exactly, so the correct answer is ア.
Incorrectイ
A job-function organization (functional organization) groups departments by type of work (function) — an R&D department, a production department, a sales department, a general affairs department, and so on. On an organization chart, the functional departments line up in a single row directly under the President, and each function exists only once in the whole company. It makes expertise easy to build up and avoids duplicated resources, but in return, profit-and-loss accountability for each business tends to become unclear. In the figure, R&D, Sales, and Production appear as two duplicate sets, one under Business Division A and one under Business Division B, so the functions are not consolidated into a single set for the whole company. Therefore this is not a job-function organization.
Incorrectウ
A project organization is formed to achieve a specific purpose, such as developing a new product or introducing a system, by temporarily gathering the people needed from each department, and it is disbanded once the purpose has been achieved; it is an organization with a fixed term. What the figure depicts is a permanent chain of command with the President at the top, and nowhere does it contain any element indicating a temporary formation with a purpose and a time limit. Therefore it cannot be read as a project organization.
Incorrectエ
A matrix organization crosses two chains of command in a grid — a functional axis and a business axis (by product or by region) — so that one employee receives instructions from two bosses, the head of a functional department and the head of a business unit. On an organization chart, its hallmark is that lines extend from a single department in two directions, vertically and horizontally. In the figure, each function block is connected by a line to only one of Business Division A or Business Division B; it is a tree structure with a single chain of command, and there is no place where the two axes cross. Therefore this is not a matrix organization.
ここがポイント
- Divisional organization — a decentralized structure that sets up a division for each business unit (by product, by region, by customer, and so on), where each division holds its own full set of functions such as R&D, production, and sales and bears responsibility for profit. Decision-making is fast and accountability for results is clear, but in return the functions are duplicated across the divisions, which easily leads to redundant investment of resources and to sectionalism. Company-wide indirect functions such as General Affairs & HR and Accounting & Finance are generally consolidated at headquarters as staff departments.
- Points for telling organizational forms apart from a chart — if the functions line up only once at the top level, it is a job-function organization; if each business unit redundantly holds a full set of functions, it is a divisional organization; if a functional axis and a business axis cross and one person has two bosses, it is a matrix organization; if people are gathered temporarily for a specific purpose and disband once it is achieved, it is a project organization. First check whether the functions are duplicated and whether there is one chain of command or two, and you can tell them apart.
用語