Round Rock is one of the leading manufacturers of traditional ceiling fans. They have 127 different models with optional housing materials, paint and finish colors, fan blade materials, speeds, and remote capability. The production facility is located in Round Rock, Texas (just outside Austin, TX) and is mainly involved in assembly and final finishing. Most of the components are provided by subcontractors located all over the U.S. based on 3-6 month contracts.

Round Rock fans are distributed and sold through major retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe's as well as through eight intermediate distributors located in New York, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego. The intermediate distributors sell Round Rock fans to local lighting and home decorating stores within their regions. Round Rock fans are also available through internet web sites such as Lighting Universe.

Round Rock also employs 25 sales representatives with specific overlapping territories from New York to California. Sales representatives are paid a minimum base salary plus incentives and are free to sell other products (not ceiling fans) from other related companies. Pricing for each Round Rock fan depends on the individual sales agreements with the distributors, retailers, and web sites and can vary by as much as 25%. Round Rock depends on the local and major retailers for successfully marketing their products based on their historic reputation for high quality and reliability although Round Rock prepares an extensive glossy catalog for their sales force. Round Rock was profitable last year and has not seen a significant drop in sales. Finally, several of the competitors, Hampton Bay fans, for example, have negotiated long-term teaming agreements with a few key suppliers and those suppliers have begun to miss deliveries to Round Rock.

You are working with Round Rock as an organizational consultant. Since the company is considering re-engineering their entire organization, and make a recommendation of which specific structure you would recommend for Round Rock. The goal is to improve their operations and sales. Please write your analysis and recommendation of how the company should be organized. Your assignment should address the following topics:

1. Organization Structure including Departmentalization: Currently, Product Managers are responsible for managing all of the aspects of their products including unit pricing, discount strategies, distributor agreements, design options, and sales campaigns. Is there a better approach and how would you improve it? Should they use one of the more traditional structures (functional, product, process, customer, geographic) or a more contemporary structure (matrix, committee)? Choose one and support your decision.
2. Centralization: In centralized organizations, strategic planning, goal setting, budgeting, and talent deployment are typically conducted by a single, senior leader or leadership team. In contrast, in decentralized organizations, formal decision-making power is distributed across multiple individuals or teams. Describe the degree of centralization you think would be most effective at Round Rock.
3. Span of Control: Is a management principle used when determining how many direct reports a manager can have and still be able to manage effectively. Be sure to consider and explain the best span of control you recommend.
4. Teams: How could Round Rock use teams to accomplish their organizational goals and who would be in a specific team?
5. Innovative Structural Design: How can each of the four steps outlined in the Organization of the Future video be applied to Round Rock?