Organizational structure and management at Sara Lee Corporation

Management Theory

Organizational structure: Sara Lee Corporation

Sara Lee Corporation

Sara Lee is a world-renowned corporation. It is famous for its trusted, tested products, including Ball Park hot dogs, Hillshire Farm meats, Jimmy Dean sausages Sanex, Senseo and of course Sara Lee desserts (About Sara Lee, 2010, Sara Lee). The Sara Lee Corporation is international in its scope, and its output encompasses many types of products, although it focuses upon home-related items such as foods and skin cleansers.

Matrix structure: Three problems and proposed solution

A matrix structure of a firm makes use of "dual-reporting relationships instead of a more traditional linear management structure…In its simplest form, a matrix configuration may be known as a cross-functional work team, which brings together individuals who report to different parts of the company in order to complete a particular project or task. The term 'matrix' is derived from the representative diagram of a matrix management system, which resembles a rectangular array or grid of functions and product/project groups" (Malonis 2000). In a matrix structure, different facets of the marketing team internationally might meet together to discuss ways to brand Sara Lee worldwide. Or, when launching Sanex into a new country, the regional marketing, advertising, and IT team might meet to create a new website for the region that was uniquely responsive to local, cultural needs. The management within a matrix structure is more fluid, and the relationship of authority figures to subordinates is more diffuse.

Matrix structures are often associated with 'creative' firms, such as advertising agencies, where different ad teams have a great deal of autonomy in their decision-making. However, Sara Lee's image and the image of its other, signature products such as Hillshire Farms and Jimmy Dean sausage all have a core theme of wholesomeness and traditional 'Americana' that is used even when selling the products internationally. It is uncertain whether creative autonomy on a wide scale would benefit the firm.

Matrix structures can also be unwieldy. Sara Lee is a large corporation, and on a logistical level it might not be feasible to have so much permeability between different departments and different aspects of the organization. Also, the skills called for in advertising food might be very different than those called upon to budget the costs of labor and ingredients and relations within created matrixes might be more adversarial than productive.

Matrix structures are usually recommended for companies that operate in swiftly-changing environments: a company with as resolutely an 'untrendy' image as Sara Lee might not benefit from adopting such a structure. Also, "they are typically expensive to maintain, partly because of more complex reporting requirements. In addition, many workers become disturbed by the lack of a chain of command and a seeming inability to perceive who is in charge" (Malonis 2000). For a matrix structure to benefit Sara Lee, some centralized authority within each autonomous matrix or work team would be required, and that individual would have to be well-schooled and oriented in the company's overall philosophy.

Matrixes in organizations such as Sara Lee are best used judiciously: "Because of their limitations, matrix management structures frequently are integrated into an organization as one facet of a larger plan. For example, a research team organized to develop a new product might be placed in a division of the company that is set up as a matrix" (Malonis 2000). Work 'matrixes' devoted to different brands might be feasible, if Sara Lee wanted to give different parts of the company (such as its skincare line Sanex, or its breakfast sausage lines) more autonomy to suit the needs of specific brands or changes in demographic profiles. For example, the traditional Jimmy Dean customer might be more apt to be a working mother than stay-at-home mom (as was the case in previous eras) and thus require a slightly less homey image and marketing campaign than Sara Lee's cakes and pie. A shift to Internet-based advertising for Jimmy Dean might be more financially feasible and effective, for example. But even within the matrix division devoted to that specific brand name and function, a central intelligence and design must be operating to ensure that every part of the corporation "says it" like Sara Lee.