The Ohioana Department of Development (ODOD) administers a wide variety of programs to promote economic development, facilitate business growth, and create and retain jobs. The Department uses a combination of state and federal funds, tax incentives, and collaborates with other state agencies to accomplish these goals. ODOD fulfills its mission through five program divisions, and its central administrative offices. The five program divisions are
1.Strategic Business Investment
2.Urban Development
3.Global Markets
4.Entrepreneurship and Small Business
Technology and Innovation
ODOD has a total of 464 full‐ and part‐time employees.
The information this paragraph, with slight modifications, was taken from the LSC Greenbook: Analysis of the Enacted Budget – Department of Development by Brian Hoffmeister, July 2009.
The Governor of Ohioana is an unhappy with the performance of ODOD. She thinks the Department is too slow to make decisions and to respond to the needs of businesses, particularly in the fast-paced areas of technology and energy. The Governor thinks that businesses seeking information and assistance too often get passed around from division to division to address different needs. This creates delays, confusion, and frustration among individuals and businesses seeking assistance. She also thinks that ODOD personnel are too isolated within the capital city, Cowtown, and do not understand the unique needs of the five unique regions of the State – Central Urban, Eastern Rural Plains, Northern Lake, Southern Appalachia, and Western Breadbasket. As a result, she thinks that Ohioana is losing out on opportunities to attract new businesses and to grow jobs in the state, particularly in fast-paced areas, such as technology and energy, that will be the areas of future economic growth if the state can attract and grow such businesses.
The Governor is seeking a recommendation from you regarding how to address these issues and improve the organizational performance by changing the organizational structure.
Write a 3-4 page memo to the Governor that:
Clarifies the current situation by:
-Identifies the current organizational structure type
-Identifies the characteristics that define the organizational type
-Explains how the current type contributes to the problems identified by the Governor.
Then make a recommendation for a new structure. In doing so, you should:
-Identify the type of structure you are recommending.
-Explain why the new structure will address the issues identified by the Governor.
Provide a visible representation of the new structure in an organizational chart – For an example, see Figure 1.
Finally, discuss at least two other factors, outside of the organizational structure, that may need to be addressed (or steps ODOD would need to take) to obtain improvements in the agency’s performance.
