Organizational Design at Custom Leather (Scenario)

Multiple Choice

Organizational Design at Custom Leather (Scenario)
Lacey has been hired as a consultant for XYZ Consulting. Her first assignment is to work with one of XYZ's newest clients, Custom Leather, Ltd., a manufacturer of high-end leather furniture. Custom Leather was founded more than a decade ago with the idea that great-looking, comfortable leather furniture could be custom made and delivered to customers in 30 days. Traditionally, retailers stocked leather sofas to satisfy customers' desire to receive new furniture fast, which resulted in limited colour choices and styles. Traditional sofa manufacturers produced their products in large batches on standardized assembly lines. In contrast, Custom Leather offers 13 different styles in more than 70 different colours through a select group of retail outlets. Each sofa is built to the customer's individual requirements and is shipped within two to three weeks. However, the emergence of a new manufacturing technology has enabled some of the traditional competitors to offer greater customization, thereby reducing some of Custom Leather's competitive advantage. As a result, Custom Leather's president, Miles Standish, is considering several changes to their current work processes and organizational structure.
-Many of Custom Leather's 75 employees are highly skilled and experienced artisans.While there is a division of labour,the jobs of most production workers are not highly standardized.Management has found that employees take great pride in their craft,thus requiring minimal formal rules and little direct supervision.These traits are most typical of a(n) ________ organization.

A) formalized
B) mechanistic
C) organic
D) network