Verified Document

Fontaine Corporation Why Was It So Difficult Essay

Related Topics:

Fontaine Corporation Why was it so difficult for these managers to cooperate? What are the sources of this conflict and non-cooperation?

Fontaine Corporation has a highly matrixed organizational structure that allows employees of one division to evade responsibility for results corporate-wide by relying on allegiance to their own division. This is exemplified with how difficult it is for Tom Wilson to get Remy Gentile to take responsibility for agreed-on tasks of signing a distributor for the toilet paper line and increasing investments in technology. Tom Wilson flying to Paris will not make any difference in this scenario. While an international strategy matrix exists in the firm as the case illustrates, it lacks accountability and a level of authority to corporate-wide objectives. When international strategy matrices exist without a clear line of performance requirements to shared global objectives, balkanization of strategies and aversion to...

This is exactly what's happening at Fontaine in multiple product areas, with toilet paper being the most evident.
It is also evident that the core business processes and strategies of Fontaine Corporation are also fragmented and less than optimal in performance due to this conflicted set of goals, allegiances and loyalties. The orchestrated development of new product introduction processes and combined strategies to launch and sustain products into new markets and channels is the most profitable over the lifecycle of a given product (Kolodny, 29). For Fontaine, their lack of effectiveness with the toilet paper product management tasks globally is symptomatic of a much deeper problem. The two divisions have no shared objectives apart from being members of the same company; there is no shared series of analytics, benchmarks and measures of performance that unify them. Matrix organizational structures need to have…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Kolodny, Harvey F. "Matrix Organization Designs and New Product Success." Research Technology Management 23.5 (1980): 29-.

McCollum, James K., and J.D. Sherman. "The Effects of Matrix Organization Size and Number of Project Assignments on Performance." IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 38.1 (1991): 75-.

Naylor, Thomas H. "The International Strategy Matrix." Journal of World Business 20.2 (1985): 11-.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Corporation Definition a Business Entity
Words: 711 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

However, liability is limited to the corporation and offers owners' limited personal liability, which is something that is not found in a sole proprietorship or partnership (Corporation: Definition, Formation, Maintenance, 2012). Furthermore, a corporation is also considered to be a stand-alone entity that has separate tax liabilities; as such, the corporation is responsible for paying corporate taxes on any of the profits the company makes, however, each employee is

Corporation Diversifying Internationally in the Recent Past,
Words: 3827 Length: 12 Document Type: Case Study

Corporation Diversifying Internationally In the recent past, after the onset of the economic meltdown, firms, companies and businesses at large have been resorting to less traditional methods and entrepreneurial tactics in order to combat reduced demand, much more competition and increased costs. International diversification was the answer for many firms, following in the tracks of multinational and transnational companies; many businesses have resorted to relocating their plants and facilities to gain

Corporation Ethical Role Foundations Business Ethics: What
Words: 1556 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Corporation Ethical Role Foundations business ethics: What role business society? The study business ethics study legal application moral standards business decisions. In defining business ethics, defining voluntary role business: a business behave law dictate conduct law permits conduct benefit shareholders harmful ? Business Ethics: Case Studies Selected Readings (7th Edition) Required Reading: Jennings, M. The problem investigated concerns a comparison of views in what is referred to as a stakeholder's doctrine in

Corporation the Role of Corporations
Words: 1100 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

"An important part of the second phase of the New Deal brought about an anti-monopoly philosophy," including an investigation of corporate price-fixing, the deliberate creation of scarcity on the part of some organizations, agreements between corporations not to compete, and in the abuse of patent laws"(Bryant 1998). However, the desire to limit the growth of industry power was superseded by the need to mobilize the nation for war. While

Corp Gov UAE Corporate Governance
Words: 2120 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Clearly, he companies engaged in this practice were operating with direct intention, and a roper governance system would have made this obvious and prevented it. Software Spying In another telecommunications case, a company was found to have included spyware in a company-sponsored "software upgrade" to users' cell phones, that enabled the company to collect confidential information from users' phones without their consent (Khaleej Times, 2009). Not only is this practice clearly

Corporation That I Choose Is IKEA. My
Words: 689 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

corporation that I choose is IKEA. My first choice for a merger will be with Wal-Mart. This is because IKEA is based on the hybrid position of Bowman's Strategy Clock. (Bowman elaborates on Porter's Model of how firms can compete / find their niche by explaining the cost and perceived value combinations that many firms use). The hybrid position is exemplified by IKEA employing moderate price/moderate differentiation where the company

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now