Case Study Question and Answer

I have a question that needs to be answered based of case study reading. No Essay, just a short, but brief response. I would say paragraph at the most would be fine. ;

Case Study 2.4: Widgets ’R Us

Widgets ’R Us (WRU) is a medium-sized firm specializing in the design and manufacturing of quality widgets. The market for widgets has been stable. Historically, WRU has had a functional organization design with four departments: accounting, sales, production, and engineering. This design has served the company well, and it has been able to compete by being the low-priced company in the industry.

In the past three years, the demand for widgets has exploded. New widgets are constantly being developed to feed the public’s seemingly insatiable demand. The average life cycle of a newly released widget is 12–15 months. Unfortunately, WRU is finding itself unable to compete successfully in this new, dynamic market. The CEO has noted a number of problems. Products are slow to market. Many new innovations have passed right by WRU because the company was slow to pick up signs from the marketplace that they were coming. Internal communication is very poor. Lots of information gets kicked “upstairs,” and no one seems to know what happens to it. Department heads constantly blame other department heads for the problems

Jeffery K. Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage, 3rd Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 7/2012. VitalBook file.

Question: Cross-departmental committees and other interfunctional groups can help break down silos. Another method is to physically locate project personnel together, rather than leave them in their departments. How does this latter affect the choice of organizational structure?