Instructor Resource
Lussier, Management Fundamentals 8e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Case Notes
Chapter 7: Organizing and Delegating Work
AT&T
1. To what degree does AT&T possess the characteristics of a mechanistic vs. an
organic organization?
Mechanistic organizations tend to be more bureaucratic as they focus on following many
2. Describe the type of departmentalization that exists in AT&T’s organizational
design.
AT&T is a massive corporation with many different divisions and business units. Based
3. How is AT&T a learning organization?
Instructor Resource
Lussier, Management Fundamentals 8e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
AT&T possesses a superior learning and development function that supports the overall
4. How does AT&T address job design issues for various positions in the company?
Based on the case, it says that employees are able to work on a variety of projects that are
5. If you could design the ideal job for yourself, what would it look like? What
would be the most important aspects of this ideal job for you? Why?
6. Have you ever worked for an organization that is a “learning organization”? Do
you feel that it was a better place to work because it was a learning organization?
Why or why not?
Instructor Resource
Lussier, Management Fundamentals 8e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Zappos: Strategic Reengineering or a Path to Structural Failure?
1. Is Zappos a mechanistic or organic organization? How so?
Zappos has incorporated elements of both forms of organization. Customer service
2. From the perspective of authority, is Zappos more centralized or decentralized?
Specify characteristics of the firm to support your answer.
Firms lie somewhere on the continuum of authority with centralized and decentralized
3. Explain how the move to a self-managed, self-organized structure from a
hierarchical structure was a form of reengineering.
Reengineering involves radical change and redesign rather than incremental adjustments
4. Can Zappos be characterized as a learning organization? Why or why not?
Instructor Resource
Lussier, Management Fundamentals 8e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
5. How has Zappos used job enrichment to its advantage?
Call centers typically suffer from low employee motivation and high turnover rates.
6. How do self-managed work teams factor into the new structure of Zappos?
Self-managed work teams are goal oriented, and the team plans, organizes, leads and
7. Explain the role of organization culture at Zappos. Can it be characterized as
strong or weak?
At Zappos, culture is everything. Culture drives the employee’s behaviors to match the
8. How did strategic planning factor into Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s decision to
move to a new organizational structure? What explanation can you offer for the
change considering Zappos’ continued success in its previous structure?
Strategic planning involves developing or updating a mission using long-range goals.
Instructor Resource
Lussier, Management Fundamentals 8e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
9. Search online for updates on Zappos’ structural transition. Using the
information in the case and the updates you find online, how have the firm’s
employees responded to this change? Use the four stages of the change process to
explain how people tend to react to change
The first two stages of denial and resistance can be seen in the increased attrition rate of