Reflection Paper on Foodcorp Simulation

Reflection Paper on Foodcorp Simulation

The Foodcorp simulation was a great exercise for this class. It was a fun activity. I felt that the materials and the situations reflected the real organizational experiences. There were thirteen roles with different responsibilities in the simulation. These roles create a structure of the organization. For example, these roles create a three level of hierarchy, two groups of products; frozen foods and dry foods, and the subsidiaries. I played the roles of senior vice president of frozen foods, vice president of production and vice president of sales and marketing of frozen foods. For these roles, I had the direct responsibilities to improve the situations that had been the issues in the frozen foods department. Our group members have also helped each other to brainstorm for the ideas to solve the problems.

The Foodcorp is a big organization of more than twenty thousand employees. The structure should help the organization achieved established goals and objectives. Therefore, the appropriate structural design is very crucial. The performance and the efficiency of the organization can be enhanced through specialization and appropriate division of labor. Foodcorp used a matrix structure but the management style of Foodcorp seemed to be a one boss arrangement. Information and decisions directly comes from the top. As we can see from the chart, group members report and communicate primarily with president. In my opinion, this style will work best in a simple organization, but not for a big organization like Foodcorp. If it relies too much on the president, the employees might face with many problems such as delays and bad decisions. Finally, Foodcorp may suffer from its structure. In my ...

... middle of paper ...

...

I really enjoyed the simulation. On the simulation day, I have a chance to strengthen the team-player skills. Although I sometimes still lack confidence to speak up due to my English skill, I believed I have improved my confidence in some level. As I can notice that I am more willing to share the ideas on the activities in this class than the previous classes. Moreover, I have learned from this simulation that it is not necessary to have only one correct choice for the ideas. Different people have different ideas depending on their perspective. Therefore, there could be many solutions for a problem, but to select the best choice; we need to consider many factors and the majority opinions. The simulation also allows me to understand how the real organizations work. It is impossible to efficiently manage the organizations without understanding the four frames.