Give examples of the organizational construct for Delta.

Exercise: Transition at a Delta Software Company INSTRUCTIONS Read the case in this exercise and answer the questions given and in the assignment. Delta is a Silicon-based software company that develops, markets, and supports an enterprise resource planning system. This offers a coordinated software package for accounting, materials management, distribution, manufacturing, supply chain planning, and human resources. On average, Delta's product costs $20 million. The company grew rapidly, at a rate of 111%, between 2000 and 2015 . Revenues in 2015 were $19.3 billion, 12 times that of 2005. Enterprise Resource Planning Industry Delta is one of four major players in the $55 billion enterprise resource planning software (ERP) industry. The others include SAP AG of Germany, Oracle Corp., and Baan Co. The ERP industry provides the programs that drive big corporations: financial software for accounting, human resource programs for personnel administration, and manufacturing packages to automate production, with a view to improving efficiencies all around. The industry saw bad times creep up suddenly. While analysts were forecasting a market of $52 billion in ERP sales by 2022, as the year approached, firms began focusing on other issues, and the market saw sales tapering off. The ERP firms' stock price fell by almost 75%. SAP, the lead player with about one-third market share, saw its stock price fall from $80 to $23 in a year. Focused on rapid growth, Delta did not see the slowing of the industry. Revenue from new product sales fell 60%, and the stock price that was approaching $60 a share, dropped to $11 a year later. Delta is the only one of the three big players that relies entirely on enterprise software for its success. While its main customers are midmarket--companies with less than $750 million in annual revenues-Oracle and SAP were trying to enter this same market segment. Delta's Origins David Dudd, formerly a sales executive at International Business Machines, saw an opportunity to develop client-server systems which link individual PCs to a bigger computer serving the whole office. He founded Delta in 1997 with a software designer, Ken Morris, and profited from the shift from mainframe computing to networking. Delta pioneered business management applications able to run on all kinds of systems and was the first company to do so using Microsoft Windows. The number of employees grew from 914 in 205 to 7,000 in 2022. Like most Silicon-based software companies, Delta built_an_informal_and sensitive corporate culture. Dudd became a legendary, even cult figure within his company. His initials, DAD, suited him appropriately for his role. He routinely schmoozed with workers, and a company rock band was named after him-the Raving Dudds. Employees see him as easy-going and not a typical CEO. The company developed its own company lingo where people ate company-funded "Delta Snacks" and shopped at the company "Delta Store." The office sometimes has a fun, "theme park" atmosphere. Nerf battles spontaneously break out. There is no dress code. Managers do not have secretaries. Giant posters of smiling employees line the hallways shouting messages such as "Just try to get me to leave!" Dudd stresses that the company is more than just making money. It is about having fun and having a heart. He has personally given over $900 million to help stray dogs and cats. At 58, Dudd considers himself a family man. He has seven children, of whom four are adopted. The company has been built on a philosophy that shuns bureaucracy. Executives answer their own phones and write their own letters. Employees are encouraged to say their thoughts and make important decisions without frequently asking others for help. "Don't ask for per- mission, ask for forgiveness if something goes wrong" is a company belief. The staff often works 70-hour weeks. Delta also has an attractive benefits package and an employee stock purchase plan. Employees receive a company laptop to use and are free to telecommute from home. Duffield says the company's main goal.is to keep its customers happy. The company spares no expense for that. Over one-third of the company's 1,000 employees are directly involved in customer service. Sometimes, the effort goes beyond. the call of duty, such as when a Delta representative helped a Florida-based company return to business following Hurricane Andrew. The company had to have its system up and running by the end of the year. The Delta technician returned to Miami on Christmas Day to ensure things went smoothly. The company's personnel policies are considered family-friendly, too. Fifty-eight percent of new Delta hires come through an employee referral service program that actively encourages workers to recruit relatives and friends. Duffield's wife, Cheryl, helped found Delta, and his brother, son, and daughter all work there. Dozens of married couples and relatives work within the company ranks. The company has a "Bring your parents to work" day. Through its rapid growth, Dudd maintained that the key challenge was retaining its corporate culture. He cites the loyalty and enthusiasm of the workforce as something he would not sacrifice in striving for the best possible growth. "Other companies would kill for the kind of commitment we have, and it is primarily due to the culture of the company." However, as the company grew rapidly and the number of employees rose, many newcomers did not feel as much a part of the family as the older employees did. The rapid growth hurt products too. The designers from human resources and designers from manufacturing became focused on their own areas, and the products each group produced did not look alike and work together as well as they should for an integrated management software offering. There were other internal problems. Bugs in Delta programs began to increase, and customers complained about poor service. "When you're growing at 80 to 90 percent a year, you can make mistakes," Dudd said. "They get covered up." When growth slows, problems begin to surface. Continued Growth The acquisitions of other software companies supported Delta's growth. In 1996, Delta acquired Red Pepper Software, a specialist in advanced manufacturing planning, but many thought Delta had overpaid for it. Dudd kept the two organizations separate in order to protect Red Pepper's brand identity and also due to his concern about the impact of the acquisition on the company's corporate culture. However, the communication between the two cultures was very poor, and sometimes an outside public relations firm acted as a gobetween. In 2017, the company acquired Campus Solutions Inc. as part of its strategy for entering the higher education applications market. In October 1999, it agreed to buy Vantive, a money-losing maker of software companies use to improve customer service, paying a 60% premium. Analysts felt that Delta needed to quickly integrate and tum that company around to avoid a negative impact. In the industry, ERP firms are looking to diversify. SAP has been undertaking major reorganization and is aiming at small clients too. Oracle Corp., the world's second-largest independent software company, also produces the Oracle database and a range of other software tools. Meanwhile, J.D. Edwards, a new company that entered the ERP market in 1997, has captured a significant share of the mid-market. He was asked about persistent rumors that Delta was for sale. Dudd admits that selling the company looked like a good idea six or seven months ago. However, as Delta's largest shareholder, he says that is no longer true. He did confirm that the company was actively seeking a new CEO to lead the company in the new'environment