WGU D080 Module 7 Study Guide | Actual Study Questions and
Answers complete solutions | A+ Graded | 2026 Updates | 100%
correct
Module 7: Organizational Structures in International Business
1. What is an organizational structure? (See definition and description in page 59—Module 7
introduction)
Organizational structure is a formal system of task and authority relationships that control
coordinate actions and use resources to achieve organizational goals. It allows for activities based
upon a division of labor by departmentalization, standardization, and specialization of functions
and tasks. It facilitates coordination and integration of activities through hierarchical supervision,
formal rules and procedures, and training and socialization. It sets the organization’s boundaries
and regulates its contact with its environment and with other organizations.
2. Define the 4 types of organizational structures. List advantages, disadvantages, and when
companies might use a given structure for each.
(See “Advantages and Disadvantages of Organizational Structures” in Lesson 29)
a) Functional/departmental structure (functional departmentalization)- Groups people
who hold similar positions, perform similar tasks, or use the same kinds of skills. This
structure would
have a CEO and then the CEO would send directives to the head of each functional
department like research and development, finance and accounting, marketing, and
distribution. Each group of specialists can operate independently, with management acting as
the point of cross communication between different functional areas. So, we are going to
have some efficiencies and have some knowledge that can be shared across different
projects, across different products, by having everybody who has the same type of skill
working together with that specialization. The disadvantages are that people may not
communicate with one another so we can have some potential decrease in flexibility and
innovation because people who are working on the same product in research and
development may not be communication with people in marketing where they may have
some knowledge that they can share to try and develop a better marketing approach for that
product or that they can share from their knowledge of the market back to research and
development. So, we can lose some of that flexibility and innovation. Functional structures
, may be susceptible to tunnel vision because you are just working with people who are all
doing the same thing.
b) Divisional Structure- Groups people together to serve the needs of products, markets,
or geographical region. The advantage of divisional structure works best for companies with a
wide variety of products or geographic regions. Greater operational flexibility, concentrating
efforts and expertise, failure of one division does not directly threaten the other division and
in multidivisional structure, subsidiaries benefit from the use of the brand and capital of the
parent company. Disadvantages are may not communicate with one another, potentially
decreasing flexibility and innovation. Cost is another disadvantage.
i. Product departmentalization- Samsung CEO has for groups of products
(Television, Computer, Smart Phones, Home Appliances).Key word to
remember is PRODUCT TYPES
ii. Market departmentalization-Water Company CEO has three types of
customers (Residential, business, government). Key word to remember is TYPE
OF
CUSTOMER
iii. Geographic departmentalization- CEO has three different geographical areas
(North America, European division, Asian Division) Key word is
GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
c) Matrix Structure- Groups people simultaneously by function and division. Taking the
geographical departmentalization areas and organizing people in each geographical area by
functioning departments like research and development, marketing, legal, finance and
distribution. A matrix is another word for table, like a table in excel. Where there are different
divisions and different columns and our functional departments as rows. The reason for this
organizational structure is to allow for specialization and help the divisional head to keep
track of everything going on. This helps people to know who to report to, so it eliminates
issues with authority. This is another way to keep track of management to employee ratio.
d) Team Structure- composed of people with complementary skills working together for
a common purpose. Less hierarchical with shared leadership and objectives. Often used by
technical companies, like google. This is not what people would normally think, teamwork
and everybody working together. This is more about multiple teams of people with
complementary skills going head-to-head against each other. People are given a particular
task that they are supposed to work on. Example: Team A and Team B are going to be working
against each other to both come up with better chat software. The idea is that the
competition is going to drive innovation and not only is team A going to come up with a good
idea, but they are going to come up with a GREAT idea because they want to try and outdo
Team B. The advantages of this are increased creativity and productivity and mutual
accountability. It generates a variety of expertise. The disadvantages are that it is difficult to
motivate individual employees when only team accomplishments are rewarded. There is also
an increased risk for intrapersonal conflicts.
Answers complete solutions | A+ Graded | 2026 Updates | 100%
correct
Module 7: Organizational Structures in International Business
1. What is an organizational structure? (See definition and description in page 59—Module 7
introduction)
Organizational structure is a formal system of task and authority relationships that control
coordinate actions and use resources to achieve organizational goals. It allows for activities based
upon a division of labor by departmentalization, standardization, and specialization of functions
and tasks. It facilitates coordination and integration of activities through hierarchical supervision,
formal rules and procedures, and training and socialization. It sets the organization’s boundaries
and regulates its contact with its environment and with other organizations.
2. Define the 4 types of organizational structures. List advantages, disadvantages, and when
companies might use a given structure for each.
(See “Advantages and Disadvantages of Organizational Structures” in Lesson 29)
a) Functional/departmental structure (functional departmentalization)- Groups people
who hold similar positions, perform similar tasks, or use the same kinds of skills. This
structure would
have a CEO and then the CEO would send directives to the head of each functional
department like research and development, finance and accounting, marketing, and
distribution. Each group of specialists can operate independently, with management acting as
the point of cross communication between different functional areas. So, we are going to
have some efficiencies and have some knowledge that can be shared across different
projects, across different products, by having everybody who has the same type of skill
working together with that specialization. The disadvantages are that people may not
communicate with one another so we can have some potential decrease in flexibility and
innovation because people who are working on the same product in research and
development may not be communication with people in marketing where they may have
some knowledge that they can share to try and develop a better marketing approach for that
product or that they can share from their knowledge of the market back to research and
development. So, we can lose some of that flexibility and innovation. Functional structures
, may be susceptible to tunnel vision because you are just working with people who are all
doing the same thing.
b) Divisional Structure- Groups people together to serve the needs of products, markets,
or geographical region. The advantage of divisional structure works best for companies with a
wide variety of products or geographic regions. Greater operational flexibility, concentrating
efforts and expertise, failure of one division does not directly threaten the other division and
in multidivisional structure, subsidiaries benefit from the use of the brand and capital of the
parent company. Disadvantages are may not communicate with one another, potentially
decreasing flexibility and innovation. Cost is another disadvantage.
i. Product departmentalization- Samsung CEO has for groups of products
(Television, Computer, Smart Phones, Home Appliances).Key word to
remember is PRODUCT TYPES
ii. Market departmentalization-Water Company CEO has three types of
customers (Residential, business, government). Key word to remember is TYPE
OF
CUSTOMER
iii. Geographic departmentalization- CEO has three different geographical areas
(North America, European division, Asian Division) Key word is
GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
c) Matrix Structure- Groups people simultaneously by function and division. Taking the
geographical departmentalization areas and organizing people in each geographical area by
functioning departments like research and development, marketing, legal, finance and
distribution. A matrix is another word for table, like a table in excel. Where there are different
divisions and different columns and our functional departments as rows. The reason for this
organizational structure is to allow for specialization and help the divisional head to keep
track of everything going on. This helps people to know who to report to, so it eliminates
issues with authority. This is another way to keep track of management to employee ratio.
d) Team Structure- composed of people with complementary skills working together for
a common purpose. Less hierarchical with shared leadership and objectives. Often used by
technical companies, like google. This is not what people would normally think, teamwork
and everybody working together. This is more about multiple teams of people with
complementary skills going head-to-head against each other. People are given a particular
task that they are supposed to work on. Example: Team A and Team B are going to be working
against each other to both come up with better chat software. The idea is that the
competition is going to drive innovation and not only is team A going to come up with a good
idea, but they are going to come up with a GREAT idea because they want to try and outdo
Team B. The advantages of this are increased creativity and productivity and mutual
accountability. It generates a variety of expertise. The disadvantages are that it is difficult to
motivate individual employees when only team accomplishments are rewarded. There is also
an increased risk for intrapersonal conflicts.
