What do we see from dissecting the question? Key phrases identified are: i. Structural change ii. Out-sourcing in the context of technological development iii. The need to show and explain the basic principles of successful structural change 1. You can put forward your understanding of structural change as an introduction to your assignment. You can quote Bolman and Deal (2008) or other theorists. Here, the question has stated explicitly that the managers or executives are kept informed or have knowledge on ICT and they are taking advantage of it. Out-sourcing part of the services under their control can also be a way for organizations to increase efficiency and enhance their performance. By out-sourcing the simple and more labour intensive services, organizations can be more focused in other more specialized knowledge and skill-based activities. I think you are familiar with the practice of division of labor. 2. Organization’s willingness to apply new knowledge on ICT is one thing, the need to influence others within the organization in applying that knowledge skill is important too. You have to ensure that individuals, teams and overall organization are all onboard. In other words, managers themselves have to understand the environment (or the changed environment) and to manage the organization and its environment. They make decisions that can continuously raise organizational effectiveness. 3. You can refer to structural assumptions. Do you remember that Bolman and Deal (2008) also use the phrase, “alignment of structure with goals and environment”? 4. As managers, you know that there are various organizational processes, e.g., strategic planning, decision making, re-organising and evaluating (you can refer to Chapter 15 under “interpretations of organizational processes”). You can then consider which of the process or processes you would like to present. You must remember that you need to show and explain the basic principles of successful structural change for big organization (as in the question, reference was made on Kodak/Citibank). 5. As we have learned in class that, a frame is a ccoherent set of ideas that enable us to see and understand better the day to day happenings. For this particular discussion, you may want to consider Chapter 15, or the slides we have used for the same chapter. You will note that in the tabulation on the four organizational processes, there is the column for “structural frame” with key focus under the various organizational processes. You can pick up the main concerns for your further research. I am sure you can write in depth what help to bring about successes to the big organization. Bolman and Deal (2008) have used the cases too in their text. 6. You can make your own decision on whether or not you think you need to cover all the organizational processes. Remember, your research outside of the course material counts towards your score. You need to state your references. 7. Let me indicate to you how restructuring works for the two case examples. Kodak has set up a Black and White Division and it also has a change in leadership. It has gone digital and new product lines have been introduced. In the case of Citibank, the reference to its success is obviously the period before the present financial crisis. Citigroup as a whole, prospered and its shares were more than doubled between 2002 and early 2007. It has established the Citibank’s Back Room facilities as a way of reducing operational costs. 8. For these successful organizations, they have shown to make effort in aligning its internal process with its external environment. In so doing, organizations have managed to overcome structural dilemmas. They were able to draw on the need for integration of the various units within an organization. They were able to demonstrate that successful organizations are those that strive for achieving a balance in aligning the different tasks despite the forces or pressures from within and outside of the organizations. You have to elaborate more in your assignment. Try to read up more. There is no one fixed approach in subjective question. So long as you are able to argue your case in the way you have interpreted the question and state the references to support the points you are making, your answer should be acceptable.