Matrix management structure

Most contract research organizations and pharmaceutical companies are organized in a matrix management structure. This structure is called a matrix because there are project teams that span various functional departments. It may help to visualize the relationship like this ... 

A common solution to accomodate the needs of development projects is the creation of a matrix management structure. In a matrix organization a project manager is appointed, who reports directly to the higher management and, as far as it concerns the project, is usually on an equal level with the functional managers who control the resources. The authority of the project manager reaches across the functional departments. 

In August 1991, the management structure of the Fine Chemicals Division of Hickson International, pic was reorganized. The structure changed from a linear structure to a matrix in which the role of plant manager was eliminated. Instead, the plant was managed through coordination of senior operatives who were appointed to act as team leaders. 

Structure, whether it is a matrix or linear arrangement, as long as it is considered an important business function and given the required visibility, commitment, funding, and personnel. Like any business function, process safety needs its plaee in the management structure. 

The concept of successive planning is to decompose the overall decision problem into smaller subproblems and to tackle each of these with a suitable solution methodology. This decomposition often follows the principals of hierarchical planning, as most practical problems can be structured hierarchically. In the area of supply chain management, the so-called supply chain planning matrix is an... 

Here, it can bee seen that system modules are not directly matched to process structures defined in the Supply Chain Planning Matrix. Also, the asymmetry between market facing parts of procurement and sales are not intuitive. However, APS extend the perspective on business applications extending the classical tasks of ERP and transactional systems to a management and planning level. With APS implemented in multiple industries and validated specifically in the process industry (Schaub/Zeier 2003) or also for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) (Friedrich 2000), importance will further grow. 

Within firms, the hybrid or matrix concept has become increasingly fashionable in pharmaceutical companies. Project teams are created that comprise membership from departments with specific technical, organizational, and management expertise. Such teams form and dissolve as the need arises. In principle, advantages of the matrix structure include cross-disciplinary enrichment of the team s activities and crossfertilization of expertise. Disadvantages of the matrix system include a relative lack of professional development for specific technical expertise for each team member, the potential for cross-departmental rivalry, and competition for each team member s time based on the needs of the interdisciplinary project versus those of his/her technical "home" department (Verona and Ravasi 2003). These multi-functional teams have the potential to increase bureaucracy and delay innovation. At least on a small scale, it may be better to solve a problem with two people rather than with ten. 

The term matrix refers to the fact that project team members have a dual reporting relationship and therefore are known as multiply supervised employees (MSEs). The traditional matrix team concept has performed adequately. But, as initially conceived, the performance evaluation of team members was conducted only by their departmental management, so that the focus of team members was usually centered on their functional department. However, this evaluation structure was modified in the early 1990s by having each team member s performance evaluated, at least in part, by his or her project team leader. This change has greatly increased the effectiveness of the matrix team approach. 

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