In this short simulation, students dive into a leadership role at Ecotripp, an online travel agency specializing in sustainable travel. As the company transitions from an entrepreneurial venture to an established midsize company, students will apply organizational design concepts to evolve the company's structure to support their rapid growth and avoid the downfalls of a misaligned organization. Student will have the opportunity to experiment with different structures throughout the business lifecycle and understand the short and long-term effects of their choices. After getting up to speed on Ecotripp's history, industry, and current performance, students will tackle the challenge of determining the best organizational design: informal, functional, multi-divisional, or matrix. To support each design, they will adjust structural elements based on the seven dimensions of organizational structure: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization and decentralization, formalization, and boundary spanning. After making their decisions, they will experience the impact on different parts of the business, such as its people, processes, revenue, and customers. This simulation is appropriate for students in undergraduate, graduate, and executive education courses specializing in organizational design, strategy, human resource management, general management, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
This product was designed and developed to comply with WCAG 2.0 AA standards.
Company: Harvard Business Publishing
Approximate price: $10
Playtime: 30 minutes
Learning objectives: 1. Apply the 7 dimensions of organizational structure to transform the internal structure of a fast-growing and rapidly changing business.
2. Understand the impact that moving from an informal structure to a matrix structure has on the health of the business including people, processes, finances and customers.
3. Understand the pros and cons of various organizational methods that can be applied at different stages of the business life cycle.
Link to simulation home page: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/7140-HTM-ENG