Practicing Success
Read the passage and answer the following questions. The McNeil name has been associated with the manufacturing and sale of pharmaceutical products since 1879, when Robert McNeil opened his first retail drug outlet in Pennsylvania. Growing as a producer of prescription pharmaceuticals, McNeil Laboratories, Inc. was incorporated in the U.S. in 1933, and became a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies in 1959. McNeil Consumer Healthcare began operations in Canada in an existing administrative Johnson & Johnson facility in Guelph, Ontario in 1980. McNeil Consumer Healthcare (nonprescription pharmaceutical products) in Guelph, Ontario is a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies in Canada. An important difference between Johnson & Johnson and most other companies — is the concept of decentralized management. Instead of operating as one large multi-billion-dollar corporation, Johnson & Johnson is operated as 190 smaller companies, each focused on a specific medical or product franchise and/or geographic area, with each affiliate generating multiple options for growth. Through decentralization we combine the advantages of being big with the agility and focus of smaller firms. Decentralization enables each company to stay close to its customer, maintain short lines of communication with customers and employees, and accelerate the development of talent. The Johnson & Johnson - Merck Consumer Pharmaceuticals company also operates from our Woodlawn Road facility in Guelph. |
Which of the following statement is true? |
An organization can never be completely centralized or decentralized As company size grows there is a tendency to move towards decentralized decision making There is always a need for a balance between centralized and decentralized decision making All of the above |
All of the above |
The correct answer is option 4- all of the above. Decentralisation is delegation of authority throughout the organisation. An organization can never be completely centralized or decentralized. As it grows in size and complexity, there is a tendency to move towards decentralized decision making. This is because in large organizations those employees who are directly and closely involved with certain operations tend to have more knowledge about them than the top management which may only be indirectly associated with individual operations. Hence, there is a need for a balance between these co-existing forces. Thus, it can be said that every organization will be characterized by both centralization and decentralization. |