Question Tag: Mintzberg's Model

Bluebird Group Plc is a Nigerian multinational manufacturing company with head
office in Nigeria and factories in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cote d‟Ivoire and Mali. The
company produces electrical and electronic appliances which include refrigerators,
washing machines, pressing irons, television sets and cameras. It controls about 10%
of the market for these products in the West African market.
The company hopes to improve on its performance and competitive position over the
next ten years. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic came acceleration of
developments that heralded the fourth industrial revolution (also known as Industry
4.0) which has reshaped the contemporary business environment. Some of the
changes brought about by industry 4.0 include introduction of artificial intelligence,
manufacture of smart home appliances, use of robotic and blockchain technology
which could enable the head office access all enterprise activities across all locations
on real time. Many of the competitors of Bluebird Group have started introducing
these changes into their operations to maintain and improve their competitive
position.
In order to remain competitive and maintain its leadership position in the industry,
the management of Bluebird Group Plc has decided to make requisite changes in all
its operations. Its goal is to improve efficiency, effectiveness, competitiveness,
innovativeness and ability to respond quickly to rapid changes in the business
environment. In order to achieve these, the company hopes to introduce up-to-date
cutting edge technology in its entire value chain. It also hopes to commence
production of smart home appliances to meet growing consumers‟ demand. To this
end, the company has contracted relevant vendors to supply needed equipment for
smart manufacturing and automation. It is anticipated that these changes have to be
supported by needed transformation in the company‟s organisational structure. Also,
the company intends to introduce Just-in-time production system and lean
manufacturing which will enable it produce bespoke appliances for different groups
of consumers. This is more compelling by the need to switch to team-based cross
functional approach in carrying out all its operations.

The company also recognises the need for reskilling of its workers as a fall-out of the
introduction of industry 4.0 to its operations to combat redundancy and reduce
layoffs.
The management of Bluebird Group Plc anticipates that these planned
transformations will make it necessary to take the following steps: Firstly, the
implementation of an effective enterprise-wide risk management strategy to mitigate
the attendant risks that such changes will bring. Secondly, there is the need to
implement an effective change management strategy for the anticipated outcomes to
be realised. The need for this is more evident with fear of retrenchment being
expressed by workers‟ trade unions.
You have just been engaged as a consultant to the company to advise on effective
business process reengineering and change management

Required:
a.
i. Explain briefly suitable organisational structures available to Bluebird Group
Plc. and their respective merits and demerits. (10 Marks)
ii. Advise the management of Bluebird Group Plc. on the best organisational
structure to adopt to achieve its stated objectives. (2 Marks)
b.
i. Explain FOUR Mintzberg‟s organisational configurations. (4 Marks)
ii. Drawing from the Mintzberg organisational configuration model, advise
Bluebird Group on the best organisational configuration to adopt. (3 Marks)
c. From the given scenario, identify the various risks associated with the proposed
changes to Bluebird Group Plc. (5 Marks)
d. Using the Gemini 4Rs Model, suggest to Bluebird Group an effective change
management strategy. (6 Marks)