Certain organizational structures may work well in some situations and yet be completely ineffective under a different set of circumstances. Consider the following very different organizational architectures for a firm: (a) A strictly hierarchical top down organizational structure where all decisions are made at the top and are then carried out by those on the lower rungs of the organizational chart. (b) A decentralized structure where different kinds of decisions are made by separate teams working independently of one another.

What are some examples of situations where each of these structures is likely to be effective as well as situations where that same structure is likely to be ineffective in achieving the organizational goals of the firms in question.