| Course | MT140 Introduction to Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 4 |
| Paper type | Organizational structure exercise |
| Length | About 750 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT140 Unit 4
One Manager and Twenty-Six Phone Reps in October: A Unit 4 Organizational Structure Exercise
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT140: Introduction to Management
Unit 4 Organizational Structure Exercise
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Larkspur School Portraits, its staff and every figure are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
The Organization and the Complaint
Larkspur School Portraits runs a customer service team that handles orders, retakes and refunds for about 210 schools. For most of the year the team has eight permanent representatives. From late September through November, seasonal hiring brings it to twenty-six. All twenty-six report directly to one customer service manager. The complaint prompting this exercise is that representatives put families on hold for several minutes while they wait for the manager to approve routine refunds and reprints, and on busy days the hold times reach fifteen minutes.
Key Terms
The chain of command traces who answers to whom, from the owner down to the newest seasonal hire. Unity of command holds that each employee should report to one supervisor, a principle Fayol (1949) placed among his foundations of administration. Span of control is the number of employees a manager directly supervises. Delegation is the assignment of authority to another person to carry out specific duties. Robbins and Coulter (2021) note that the right span depends on factors such as how similar and routine the work is, how experienced the employees are and how much the manager's own work demands.
The Current Chart
The current chart shows the owner at the top, the customer service manager beneath her, and twenty-six representatives in a single flat row beneath the manager. A quality analyst who reviews recorded calls sits beside the manager with a dotted line to the owner, reporting to neither clearly.
This chart has two faults. First, the span is far too wide for the season. Even routine work requires approvals, coaching and problem calls, and twenty-six direct reports, most of them new, leave the manager no time to do anything but approve. Second, the quality analyst has no clear line. She finds problems on recorded calls but has no authority to coach representatives and no manager who acts on her findings.
The Span Calculation
In October the manager has twenty-six direct reports, eighteen of them in their first month. Meier and Bohte (2003) found in a study of school districts that the effect of span on performance depended on the setting and the type of work, which supports the course's point that no single span is correct. For new staff doing work that needs frequent approvals, though, a span near twenty-six leaves almost no supervision per person. If the manager spends half her day on approvals, each representative gets about nine minutes of her time a day.
The Proposed Chart
The proposed chart keeps the owner and the customer service manager. Beneath the manager it adds three team leads, promoted from the permanent representatives, each supervising eight or nine representatives during the season. The quality analyst moves under the customer service manager, with a solid line, so that her findings reach the team leads through one channel. Outside the season, two of the three team leads return to representative duties and one remains as a lead for the eight permanent staff.
Decisions That Move Down
Eight decisions move from the manager to the team leads. Team leads will approve reprints up to $40, refunds for duplicate orders, retake requests received after the deadline when a school allows them, and shipping replacements for lost packages. They will also handle escalated calls from families on first contact, assign breaks within their team, coach representatives on recorded calls flagged by the quality analyst, and approve schedule swaps within their team.
Four decisions stay with the manager: refunds over $40, any exception to a school's contract, discipline and staffing decisions, and complaints from principals.
Every routine refund the manager approves in October is a family on hold while a new hire waits for permission.
Expected Effect
The change should cut hold times, since most approvals will be handled by a team lead sitting nearby. It should also give the quality analyst's findings a route to the representatives who need them. Its cost is three team lead stipends for the season and the risk that new team leads apply the refund rules unevenly. The manager can limit that risk with a one-page approval guide and a weekly review of team lead decisions during the first season.
References
Fayol, H. (1949). General and industrial management (C. Storrs, Trans.). Pitman. (Original work published 1916)
Meier, K. J., & Bohte, J. (2003). Span of control and public organizations: Implementing Luther Gulick's research design. Public Administration Review, 63(1), 61-70. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6210.00264
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2021). Management (15th ed.). Pearson.
What the MT140 Unit 4 assignment asks for
The fourth unit asks you to examine how one department is organized and to propose a better structure. Most versions of the assignment want the key terms defined and applied: chain of command, unity of command, span of control, centralization and delegation. You describe the current reporting lines, usually with an organizational chart, explain what problems the structure causes, and then present a revised chart. Many prompts also ask which decisions should be delegated and which should stay at the top, so a short list or table of decisions is common. Base the exercise on a workplace you know or a case from the course, keeping any real employer unidentifiable. Charts can be drawn in Word or PowerPoint and inserted into the paper. Expect about three pages of text plus the charts, with the course text cited in APA 7 and at least one additional source.
How this MT140 Unit 4 example is built
The exercise opens with the complaint that drives it: callers wait on hold while the manager approves routine refunds for new hires. A key terms section defines the five concepts in a sentence each, citing Fayol for unity of command. The current chart is described in prose, the owner over the manager and twenty-six representatives in one row, with the quality analyst floating on a dotted line. The span section explains why eighteen first-month staff need closer support than eight veterans would, drawing on Meier and Bohte's finding that the right span depends on the work. The proposed chart adds three team leads promoted from the permanent staff and places the analyst under the manager. A decisions section lists eight that move down and four that stay. The highlighted line puts a family on hold behind every routine approval, and the closing section names the stipend cost.
Where the points sit in the MT140 Unit 4 rubric
The marks in this exercise tend to follow how well the concepts are applied rather than defined. A paper that defines span of control correctly but never says why this department's span fails earns less than one that ties the number to the type of work and the experience of the staff. The current and proposed charts should both be clear, labeled with role titles, and consistent with the text. Delegation is often the most heavily weighted part, so a specific list of decisions, with a limit such as a dollar amount, shows the writer understands what authority actually moves. The analysis should also acknowledge a cost or risk of the new structure, as this sample does with uneven refund decisions. Writing, headings and APA 7 citations for Fayol, Meier and Bohte and the Robbins and Coulter text make up the remainder.
Common MT140 Unit 4 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Structure exercises lose points most often when the proposed chart simply adds a layer without explaining what the new managers will decide. Another weak spot is a span of control stated as a fixed ideal number with no reasoning about the work. Some papers draw two charts but never connect them to the problem described at the start. Others delegate vague duties, such as handling issues, instead of named decisions with limits. Watch for charts with personal names instead of role titles, and for a quality or support role left without any reporting line. If your workplace is very small, a structure for its busiest season can still show the concepts well. Our team can turn a description of your department into current and proposed charts, a decision list with clear limits and an analysis that cites the course sources properly.
Get an MT140 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Where do decisions stall in your department, and how many people report to whom? Those two answers, plus the Unit 4 instructions and rubric, produce both charts, the span table and the delegation list within 24-48h, drawn to paste cleanly into a paper. The first sample is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More MT140 papers and BS in Business Administration samples
- MT140 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- MT140 Unit 2: Management Functions Analysis
- MT140 Unit 3: Planning Memo
- MT140 Unit 5: Staffing Case Analysis
- MT140 Unit 6: Leadership Style Analysis
- MT140 Unit 7: Motivation Analysis
- MT140 Unit 8: Team Communication Brief
- MT140 Unit 9: Control Measures Report
- MT140 Unit 10: Management Report
- MT106 Unit 4: Time Management Plan
- MT102 Unit 4: Assortment Plan
- LI410 Unit 4: Team Dynamics Reflection
MT140 Unit 4 questions, answered
What software should the org chart be drawn in?
Whatever produces clean, legible boxes and lines. Word and PowerPoint both include hierarchy graphics, and free diagram tools work too. Check whether your section wants the chart embedded in the paper or attached separately. Label every box with a role title rather than a person's name, and keep solid lines for direct reporting and dotted lines for advisory relationships.
Is there a correct span of control number?
No single number, and your readings will likely say so. Routine, standardized work supports wider spans than complex or varied work, and experienced teams need less supervision than new ones. State the range the paper is using, cite where it comes from, and explain why this department falls where it does. That reasoning is the part that gets graded.
Can the exercise be based on my own employer?
Yes, provided the company stays unidentifiable. Replace its name, adjust headcounts slightly if they would reveal it, and use role titles only. Your own workplace often gives the best material, because you know where approvals actually stall, and that is exactly the evidence a delegation table needs before a grader will find it convincing.
Where can I find a free MT140 Unit 4 sample paper?
This page contains a complete MT140 Unit 4 organizational structure exercise. It redraws a portrait company's customer service chart, explains the span of control problem, lists the decisions that move to team leads and includes margin notes.
How many team leads does the sample add, and why?
Three, each supervising eight or nine representatives in the season. That span suits staff who are mostly new, keeps approvals close to the phones and gives the manager time for principal complaints and contract exceptions.