Analysis of organizational structure, key positions, and supporting roles in firms

Org Structure

The Boardman Management Group has a simple organizational structure consisting of a single unit. All of the management is located in one facility, which is situated adjacent to the primary area of business. The group uses this structure because most of its business is the Baderman Island Resort. It is not known if the Group even manages the original portfolio of cottages and hotels, but there are some offsite properties that are also managed from this central location. Presumably the rationale is that these properties are not a major part of the business, and it is easier to have management centrally located than on-site.

This type of organizational structure is typically utilized for firms that have a single business, and a narrow geographic scope. All of the functions can work closely together when they are in a central location. The company's units have a higher degree of cohesion, and there are fewer barriers to communication within the company. Overall, this structure can be maintained by Boardman even if the company expanded into many more properties.

There are several key functions that support this structure. The head office will have human resources, accounting and finance, and marketing functions, in addition to operations management and strategic management. All of these are located on Baderman Island, because most of the company's business is located there. Some of these functions are also applied to the offsite properties, but those properties are not large enough to support their own managerial staff full-time, so it makes sense to have them all located at the Meredith Visitor's Center.

The one weakness of this structure is that hospitality businesses tend to benefit from on-site management. In this case, the structure will provide a much higher level of oversight at the Baderman Island Resort than any of the other properties. This could result in the other properties having more problems. However, if management of those properties was shifted to on-site management, then those properties would not be tied into the company's overall vision as much. Baderman Island would be the focus of Boardman's vision and strategy, and the other properties would be relegated to a second-tier level of status, because their management would not always be represented when key decisions are being made at head office.