1. HOW THE STRUCTURAL FRAME IMPACTS THE PERFORMANCE OF ORGANIZATIONS 1
How the Structural Frame impacts
the Performance of Organizations
Wen-Hsing Yang
Long Island University

2. HOW THE STRUCTURAL FRAME IMPACTS THE PERFORMANCE OF ORGANIZATIONS 2
Abstract
The structural frame is a particular view of an organization, which includes a clearly defined set
of management and employee positions, graduated hierarchy and assigned duties designed for
maximum performance and effectiveness. Every organization has its own structural framework
which depends on the products created or the services rendered, and subject to the inherited
structural frame of the original set-up. McDonald’s is a worldwide franchise of standardized
menus and limited choices that must taste the same throughout the world. Amazon, a huge online
company which delivers an enormous assortment of mostly non-food products by mail, must
manage with all the new competition that has taken Amazon’s format and limited it to a much
smaller selection. On the other side, Eastman Kodak has seen dramatic changes in technology
that it is only now beginning to assimilate. Barnes & Noble has also been hit hard by dramatic
changes in the book selling arena and it is slowly beginning to adjust. All these organizations
began with a solid frame structure but must keep an eye on the quickly changing marketplace.
The structural frame must be current, clear and concise but also adjustable in the fast paced
world of business.

3. HOW THE STRUCTURAL FRAME IMPACTS THE PERFORMANCE OF ORGANIZATIONS 3
How the Structural Frame Impacts
the Performance of Organizations
The structural frame of an organization brings huge impact on its performance, basically
playing a vital role in it. Effectiveness, efficiency and economy are the goals of a structural
frame. All organizations have their unique structure and the way of dealing customers.
McDonald’s, Amazon, Eastman Kodak and Barnes & Noble have all been impacted by dramatic
changes in technology, delivery, and customer service. Running a global organization is not
easy; it requires extended cooperation with outside vendors, delivery services, in-house
hierarchical structures and employee motivation. The frame structure is the all-important guide
to the organization, but in this fast paced, dramatic business world, it is the upper management
who must keep abreast of these changes and deal with them.
The structure of McDonald’s is machine bureaucracy hierarchy, which include many
exclusives are responsible for the decision making, goal setting, finance, operations and ensuring
smooth functioning. McDonald’s is a machine-like operation, programmed food cookers deliver
identical meals within standardized time frames at stable prices. McDonald’s Employees may get
tired of their job due to the repetition of daily tasks. The consistency and uniformity play the key
role to the company’s success (Bolman, & Deal, 2013). The taste of the food and the time frame
of the delivery plays important role for the customers. Management plays the biggest role in
decision-making for the company, since most of the employees are basically executing orders.
Recently, declining sales have prompted a removal of some layers of management and a change
in its standardized menus. According to Jargon (2014), customers desire a change in menu and
better service. Over time, the same choices in burgers and chicken sandwiches can be boring.
McDonald’s intends to match today’s diversity with geographically sensitive (cutting the US into

4. HOW THE STRUCTURAL FRAME IMPACTS THE PERFORMANCE OF ORGANIZATIONS 4
4 geographical components) menus that focus on local products, refocusing on customers’
desires (Jargon, 2014; Choi, 2015). McDonald’s intends to allow customers to order food and
pay for it electronically. A chain of an organization is not easy to manage due to the divisions
and layers, competition priority, barriers to the communication and decision making (Jargon,
2014). McDonald’s has seen a decline and it is responding appropriately.
Amazon, originally just an online book reseller, is a giant among online sales companies.
The catalog of items on its extensive site is like an encyclopedia, stretching across most
categories and serving like a giant database of products. The use of membership fees (Amazon
Prime) to enable free shipping was a brilliant concept that has spread to other companies for
example E-bay in one format or another. Amazon’s electronic book Kindle has also spurred sales
to those modern men and women who prefer e-books to real books. Amazon posted $40 billion
in revenues in 2012 and its boxes can be seen in recycle bins across the city (Bolman, & Deal,
2013). But its brilliance in allowing its customer to resell their books, cds, records and magazines
through the Amazon website has edged out used book and music stores everywhere (except
France) and allowed Amazon to obtain a percentage of every used item sold. The resale of all
items through Amazon has become a national obsession, driving resale costs lower as used items
proliferate. The structural frame here was created by the logistics of Amazon’s approach to the
market, delivering fast products to local customers and constantly reminding them of the items
they viewed by a flotilla of emails and messages. The addition of customer ratings and reviews
greatly assists customers in making decisions about products. While Amazon has soared, others
failed.
Barnes & Noble, one of the largest book sellers in America, lost $34.9 million dollars,
which is worse than previous year (Lamonica, 2015). Obviously, something is wrong with

5. HOW THE STRUCTURAL FRAME IMPACTS THE PERFORMANCE OF ORGANIZATIONS 5
Barnes but where is the problem? Changes in the marketplace, technology, delivery and service
have not informed the decision making managers in the Barnes’ structural frame. In our fast
paced business world, customers no longer have time to drive to a book store if they can
purchase it online at a discount. The enormous and luxurious book stores that are the hallmark of
Barnes & Noble have been closing across the country because they are costly to maintain and
may no longer profitable (Trachterberg, 2014) Additionally, the increasing costs of rent and real
estate have cut deeply into all store profits in urban areas. Competition from non-store sellers
like Amazon has left its damage. Although Barnes introduced the Nook as a competitor to
Amazon’s Kindle, it may be too little too late to seriously affect the market share for these e-
readers. In this case, the decision making managers failed to adjust the company’s trajectory
along the dramatic changes in the business world. It is no longer a question of having a product
at a good price available at a convenient location. Competition from Amazon is killing Barnes &
Noble (Trachterberg, 2014). Much greater innovation is needed in the structural frame of Barnes
& Noble to keep it afloat.
Similar structural issues have virtually destroyed Eastman Kodak. Eastman Kodak was
one of the largest film companies in the world. The introduction of the digital camera and the
incorporation of camera functions into cell phones have virtually eliminated the need for film.
Film processing uses chemicals. In our environmentally conscious age, businesses must respond
to customers’ preference for cleaner products. Additionally, when using film to record images, it
was necessary to produce a print to see the picture. Today, it is all digital. Compact discs have
been replaced by iTunes, dvds are being replaced by downloadable rentals through various
outlets as well as Netflix, and previously printed photographs or slides are now digital files
shared in a cloud, on cell phones, laptops, through email, social media, bulletin boards, etc.

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Digital media is a boon to the environment and many young people appreciate that as well as its
convenience. Many of the photographic changes were predicted to the company years ago ( The
Economist, 2012), but Eastman Kodak did not adequately prepare its structural frame for these
events. It has been reduced to a supplier of inks, cameras and batteries. (The Economist, 2012).
To conclude, Amazon is cresting a great wave and McDonald’s is making some difficult
adjustments to keep its customers. Barnes & Nobles is failing to make appropriate changes in
their structures to keep current and productive but Kodak is still hanging on in camera, ink and
battery production. A structural frame may run like clockwork but if the management is not
dealing with future predictions, the frame may collapse. The progress of science has eliminated
certain businesses altogether, but a business can change its focus and restructure itself when
prodded by skillful management and attentive planning. Although Eastman Kodak is still
surviving, it would have done itself a service if it had regrouped a little quicker, as Fujifilm did
with all the information provided by executive Larry Matteson (as cited in The Economist,
2012). Successful teamwork can achieve the defined goal, whether long term or short term or
both, but it must be clearly defined, carefully planned and diligently executed.

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References:
Bolman, L.J. (2013). Reframing organization. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Choi, C. (2015). McDonald’s to simplify cooperation structure, focus on customers. Retrieved
from http://www.dailynews.com/business/20150504/mcdonalds-to-simplify-corporate-
structure-focus-on-customers
Jargon, J. (2014). McDonald’s plan to change U.S. structure. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved
from http://www.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-to-change-u-s-structure-1414695278
Lamonica, P. R. (2015, September 10). Can Barnes & Noble survive?. CNNmoney. Retrieved
from http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/10/investing/barnes-and-noble/
The Economist. (2012). The last Kodak moment. Retrieved from: http://www.economist.
com/node/21542796
Trachterberg, J. A. (2014, April 17). What’s Barnes & Noble’s survival plan. The Wall street
Journal. Retrived from: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000142405270230362680
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