10/16/2016

Studenthelpcenter:TheParadoxicalTwins:AcmeandOmegaElectronics
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WEDNESDAY,APRIL13,2011

ISTHISPAPERHELPFUL?

TheParadoxicalTwins:AcmeandOmega
Electronics

Yes,absolutely

0(0%)

yes,butnotmuch

0(0%)

notreally

0(0%)

absolutelynot

0(0%)

AfterreadingthecaseoftheParadoxicalTwinsAcmeandOmega

Votessofar:0
Pollclosed

Electronics, I found Both Acme and Omega produce similar

products and offer similar services. Acme president John Tyler is a

very tough going individual and he is portrayed to be an autocratic

individual because there is one way communication in Acme. The

TOTALPAGEVIEWS

384,625

case provides an opportunity to evaluate both Acme and Omegas

organizationstructureofabusiness.Bothcompaniesusedtohavethe
same organizational structure but after they were sold to different

CONTRIBUTORS

BLOGARCHIVE

abeata

2012(4)

investors, as a consequence of this, each company has its own

dinesh

2011(183)

proceduresandcompanypolices.Followingarethesomefactsabout

sabita

both the company mentioned in the case after they became the
separatebusinessentity.
AcmeretainedoriginalmanagementandpromotedGMtopresident.They
havewelldefinedorganizationalstructureanddecisionsareoftentakenby

August(14)
June(22)
May(126)
April(21)
Apr29(4)
Apr15(1)

top management without consulting manufacturing department. And they

Apr14(6)

havewelldefinedjobresponsibilitiesandauthority.

Apr13(9)

Omegahirednewpresidentandupgradedseveralexistingpersonnelwithin
plant. They dont have organizational structure and they believe that
Organizational chart seems like artificial barrier. They have participative
management style of leadership and they dont have well defined job
specification(jobauthorityandresponsibility)

http://dineshperspective.blogspot.in/2011/04/paradoxicaltwinsacmeandomega.html

Four
criteria
testCVS
Corporat
ion
Internal
environ
mental
analysis
CVS

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Studenthelpcenter:TheParadoxicalTwins:AcmeandOmegaElectronics

Adidas
corporat
e
strategy
andcase
studies

Q.No.1WhichfirmshouldhavewonthefinalcontractAcmeor
Omega?Discuss.
The paradoxical twins describes two organizations, Acme and Omega
Electronics that are competing for the same contract for manufacturing a

The
Paradoxi
cal
Twins:
Acme
and
Omega
Electroni
cs

memory unit to be used in a photocopier. Omega, having an organic

structure, wins the race because they are able to produce higher quality
memoryunit.Ontheotherhand,Acmehavingmechanisticstructureseems
less competent and less reliable because of its low quality memory unit
whichtheyareunabletoproduceintimeandsomeofitsprototypesfailto

Competitio
nin
video
game
console
industry

work. Omega even corrects a design error in the original blueprint, which
improvesproductquality.But,boththecompanyisgivenhalftheorder,and
theywereencouraged to find the wayto reduce the costandAcmetakes
advantageofthisopportunitytoexperimenttofindwaystoreduceitscosts,

Nora
Sakari
case
analysis

whereas Omega does not. Finally Acme discovers the way to reduce the
costby20%andtheyownthecontract.Omega may havewon the battle,

Western
Union
Re
structuri
ng
decision

but Acme has won the war because its mechanistic structure fosters a
concern for technical efficiency and cost reduction in what is a routine
manufacturingenvironment.Inthisparticularcase,Acmedecidestoruna
"tight ship" (mechanistic structure) in order to increase productivity and

Hewlett
Packard
merger
case
studies

efficiency,andtodecreasecosts.Theadvantageofthisstrategyisthatthey
canunderselltheircompetition(Omega)bysellingatalowercost.Omega,
ontheotherhand,isnearlytooopposite.Theyrunamoreorganicstructure,

Costco
case
study
and
strategic
analysis

which relies heavily upon communication, delegation and teamwork. This

strategy allows Omega to effectively compete with Acme by stressing
reliabilityandbyplacingemphasisonquality.
Omegas decentralized, organic approach allowed for the building of

Apr06(1)

prototypes 10 days faster than Acme, correction of errors, and a highly

reliable prototypemuch more reliable than Acmes, which had a 10
percent failure rate. Omega was more effective when evaluated by these

FOLLOWERS

Followers(5)

criteria, although Acmes prices were lower than Omegas because of that
Acme won the competition and which was fair result in my opinion. Its

Follow

mechanistic structure provided it with the management system and

incentivesneededtoimproveandreduceitsmanufacturingprocess,sothat
AcmewonthefinalraceoverOmega.

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Studenthelpcenter:TheParadoxicalTwins:AcmeandOmegaElectronics

Q. No. 2 Describe each firms structure especially the authors

explanationoforganicandmechanisticstructures.
Acmesorganizationaldesigntakestheformofamechanisticstructure.The
term mechanistic structure is used to describe an organizational structure
thatisdesignedtoinduceemployeestobehaveinpredictable,accountable
ways."(George&Jones,2005,p.508).Alloftheemployeesworkingina
mechanistic structure have assigned duties that they must perform and are
prohibited to take on additional duties unless they are told so by
management. The internal organization is characterized by rules,
procedures,andaclearhierarchyofauthority.Decisionmakingauthorityin
the Acme is centralized in the top level management and they have top
downapproachforthecommunication.Allcommunicationflowsfromthe
toptobottomandthereisclearlydefinedjobdescription(i.e.authorityand
responsibility associated with each job). He makes his managers run the
organization with strict control, or as he phase it, a tight ship. The
president does what he wants because all the decisionmaking power is in
hishand(centralized).Acmehasaverydetailedorganizationchartsandjob
descriptions.ThisisbecauseTylerbelievesthateveryoneshouldhaveclear
responsibilities and narrowly defined jobs. Finally, there is vertical
communication in the company. Departments dont interact or talk with
eachother.Alltheinformationflowsfromtopmanagementdowntolower
managementandemployees.IfTylerwantstocommunicatetothecompany
about changes or demands, he writes memos that he passes down to his
uppermanagement,whichpassesitdowntolowermanagementandmaybe
eventuallydowntotheemployees.
Omega,ontheotherhand,hascompletelydifferentorganizationstructure
thanthatofAcme.Ithasorganicstructureandtheinternalorganizationis
characterized by looser, freeflowing, and adaptive. The term organic
structureisusedtodescribeanorganizationalstructurethatisdesignedto
promoteflexibilitysothatemployeescaninitiatechangeandadaptquickly
to changing conditions" (George & Jones, 2005, p. 508). This flexible
structure is more like a team environment in which all the employees are
abletohandleanyofthetasks.
There are no clearly defined rules and regulations and there is no clearly
defined hierarchy of authority. The decisionmaking authority is
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decentralized to the lower level of the management. This can be seen at

Omega through the departments contributing to the common tasks (when
theyweremakingthechips).SinceRawlsdoesnotbelieveinorganization
charts,taskscanbeadjustedandredefinedthroughtheemployeeteamwork.
For example: when a new member joins the engineering department, he
foundthathisrolewasnotclearlydefined.Heworkedinthedifferentplace,
in different day because of the lack of job description. Omega basically
appliesthejudgmentalapproachinproblemsolving.Theybelieveinmutual
adjustmentandtheyuseinformalwayofcommunicationratherthanusing
standardizationandwrittenrules.
Q.No.3Dideachfirmsworkflowprocessesi.e.,organizational
technologyfititsstructure?
Thoseorganizationsweremoreeffectivewhentheirtechnologymatchedthe
organizationsstructure.Specifically,forsmallbatchproduction,anorganic
structurewasbestbecausetheproductionofcustomitemsrequiresagood
dealofinformalcommunicationandadaptation.Organizationsusingamass
production technology were more effective when using a mechanistic
structure.Thereasonwasthatcontroloveracomplexandrepetitiveprocess
could be effectively exerted by rules and regulations. When a continuous
processtechnologywasusedanorganicstructurewasmoreeffective.
Inordertocompareoneorganizationsstructurewiththatofanotherorto
study the effects of structure on organizational performance or to match
structurewiththatoftechnologyandworkflowprocesses,weneedtohave
consistent ways to measure structure. Three important structure measures
arecomplexity,formalization,andcentralization.Thesestructuralmeasures
of complexity, centralization, and formalization may be combined into the
two broad and descriptive categories of mechanistic and organic.
Mechanistic organizations can be seen to operate as machines. They are
characterized by highly specialized tasks that tend to be rigidly defined,
havehierarchicalauthorityandcontrol,andcommunicationsthatprimarily
take the form of instructions and decisions issued by superiors to
subordinates.Communicationismostlyverticalfromthetopdown.Inour
case, Acme electronics is the organization that has mechanistic structure.
Thebesttechnologyortheworkflowprocessesfortheorganizationthathas
mechanisticstructureislargebatchandmassproductiontechnology.Ithink
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they do apply this technology which best as per their organizational

structure.
Inanorganicorganization,controldependslessonformaljobpositionand
more on expertise relevant to the particular problem being considered.
Communicationisbothvertical(upanddownthehierarchy)andhorizontal
(across different departments of the organization) depending on where the
neededinformationresides.Thesecommunicationsprimarilytaketheform
ofinformationandadvice.Commitmentintheorganicorganizationistothe
organizationstasksandgoals.Organicorganizationstendtobesimple,low
informalization,anddecentralized.Theyadapttoandcreatechangeintheir
environments. Omega electronics is the example of the organic structure.
Theperfectworkflowprocessorthetechnologyfortheorganizationhaving
organic structure is smallbatch technology because this technology
demands freedom to the people/employees to make their decisions so that
theycanrespondquicklyandflexiblytothecustomersrequestandproduce
theexactproductthecustomerwants.
Q.No.4Strategically,whatcanOmegadotoimproveitssituation?
Suggest changes in structure, workflow processes, strategy,
and/or other changes to help Omega become a better
competitor.Beasspecificandactionableasyoucan.
Omega is a decentralized organization, where managers and subordinates
delegate important decisions to lower level about new organizational
projects.Omega'smanagementbelievesinmutualadjustment,whichisthe
practiceofusingjudgmentonproblemsolvingandalsocreatesaninformal
wayofcommunicatingwitheachotherratherthanusingstandardizationor
written rules. There is not clear cut job analysis (job description and
specification). Sometime new employees dont know what to do for a
month and even longer. Omega's organic structure gives the employees
more flexibility to innovative thinking, and creates a unity within the
organization but it is not enough to be the effective organization. Omega
shouldhavemixorganizationstructureitmeansitwouldbebetterifthere
is mix of mechanistic and organic organization structure. There should be
formal communication channel to make sure that information is passing
downorupwhenevernecessary.Inmyopinion,thecompanyPresidentJim

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Rawls doesnt have proper control over the employees functions and
activitiesduetothelackofproperlydesignedstructureandcommunication
network. They communicate information by direct meeting which is not
goodallthetimeespeciallyduringtherushtime.Notonlythis,butalso,the
presidentspenttoomuchtimeonlisteningtosuggestionratherthanhaving
hisownclearcutidea.
Therefore, in conclusion, to solve this kind of problem they should have
transparentcommunicationnetworkwithinorganizationtomakesurethere
are no barriers in effective communication, they should define the job
authority and responsibility of each task, there should be some chain of
commandintheorganizationorthetoplevelmanagementshoulddecidein
certain things which critical to the organization. They should change the
structure to mechanistic structure and finally they should change their
technology to mass production so that they also can reduce the cost of
productionandbemorecompetitiveinthemarketplace.
To be effective, Omega electronics should have some kind of hierarchy
whereemployeesfeelthemselvesinthechainofcommandandthereshould
beclearauthorityandresponsibilityforeachemployee.Theyshouldmake
sure that they communication channel within the organization is effective
andtransparentfortheefficientandpromptflowofinformation.

References:
Jones,R.Gareth.FifthEdition,OrganizationalTheoryDesignandChange

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http://www.coursework.info/GCSE/Business_Studies/People_in_Business/T
he_Paradoxical_Twins_Acme_and_Omega_Ele_L10715.html
http://www.oppapers.com/essays/ParadoxicalTwinsAcmeOmega/131492
http://www.coursework.info/GCSE/Business_Studies/People_in_Business/T
he_Paradoxical_Twins_L120804.html

Postedbydineshat11:51AM
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