QUESTION ONE [40] Case Study Title: Optimizing Organizational Structure at Telkom
Introduction: Telkom, a prominent telecommunications company in South Africa, has been at the forefront of providing telecommunication services to millions of customers. To ensure its continued success in a rapidly evolving industry, Telkom recognizes the need to adapt its organizational structure. This case study examines the factors affecting organizational structure within Telkom and applies the principles outlined by Badenhorst-Weiss et al. (2019) to address key organizational challenges.

Factors Affecting Organizational Structure at Telkom:

1. Technological Advancements:

• Challenge: Rapid technological changes in the telecommunications industry require

Telkom to adapt swiftly to remain competitive.

• Response: Telkom must design job roles that incorporate emerging technologies, such as 5G and IoT specialists, to ensure it remains at the forefront of innovation.
2. Market Diversification:

• Challenge: Telkom has expanded into various segments of the telecommunications market, including mobile, broadband, and enterprise solutions.
• Response: Telkom may need to reorganize its departments or teams based on market segments to facilitate better product development, customer support, and sales strategies.
3. Globalization:

• Challenge: Telkom’s reach extends beyond South Africa’s borders, necessitating coordination across international operations.
• Response: Establishing a command structure that centralizes decision-making for international operations while allowing for local adaptability can enhance efficiency and consistency.
4. Customer-Centricity:

• Challenge: Customers demand personalized services, necessitating greater focus on customer engagement and satisfaction.
• Response: Telkom can design job roles that prioritize customer interactions, create cross-functional teams to address customer needs comprehensively, and assign authority to customer relationship management units.
5. Regulatory Compliance:

• Challenge: Telecommunications is a heavily regulated industry, requiring strict adherence to legal and compliance requirements.
• Response: Telkom should establish coordination mechanisms to ensure that legal and compliance teams work closely with other departments to maintain regulatory compliance.

Application of Badenhorst-Weiss et al.’s (2019) Principles:

• Telkom should assess the evolving skill sets required due to technological advancements and design job roles that align with these changes. For example, hiring data scientists and AI experts to manage big data analytics and automation.
• Telkom can reorganize its departments based on market segments (e.g., residential, business, and enterprise) to enhance customer-centricity and product development.
• Establish clear lines of authority for international operations to ensure efficient decision-making. However, allow for flexibility at the local level to adapt to regional nuances.
• Telkom should create a well-defined command structure for international operations to streamline communication and decision-making processes.
• Implement mechanisms that ensure legal and compliance teams coordinate closely with other departments to maintain regulatory compliance. Regular cross-functional meetings and reporting structures can facilitate this.

Conclusion: In conclusion, Telkom’s ability to optimize its organizational structure in response to the factors affecting it will be crucial for maintaining competitiveness and delivering high-quality telecommunications services. By applying the principles outlined by Badenhorst-Weiss et al. (2019), Telkom can strategically design job roles, group employees effectively, assign authority, establish a command structure, and implement coordination mechanisms to adapt to the evolving telecommunications landscape and meet customer expectations.
1.1. Explain the impact of market diversification on Telkom’s organizational structure, and what are some potential strategies for reorganizing its departments to better align with market segments (10)

1.2. According to Badenhorst-Weiss et al. (2019), Identify the key principles that Telkom should apply to optimize its organizational structure in response to the identified challenges (10)
1.3. Describe the importance of a well-defined command structure for international operation at Telkom (10)
1.4. Evaluate the Matrix organisational structure and provide insights into the advantages and potential challenges Telkom might encounter when adopting this structure (10)

QUESTION TWO [30]

2.1. Meet Mary a dedicated employee at a medium-sized technology company. Mary has been working at the company for five years, and she’s been a consistently high- performing team member. Recently, however, she has been feeling increasingly dissatisfied with her job. Identify and discuss specific hygiene and motivation factors that might be contributing to her dissatisfaction using relevant examples (15)

2.2. “InnovateTech” is a dynamic technology startup known for its cutting-edge software development. The company is composed of several teams, each responsible for developing and maintaining various software products. The “InnovateTech” team is known for its consistently high performance, creating innovative and customer-centric software solutions that have gained acclaim in the industry. Critically discuss the Characteristics of High Performing Teams using real life examples (15)

Answers to Above Questions on Organisational Structure

Answer 1: There are challenges as well as opportunities available from market diversification in case of TelKom organisational structure. An analysis of the situation of TelKom indicates that the company has its presence in various segments in telecommunication such as mobile, broadband and enterprise solutions. As a result of this diversification, it has a significant impact on its organisational structure, as it complicates the process of managing each and every department, and requires specialisation, and also leads to coordination challenges as well.