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SETHUKARASU Matrix Management

Key Concept

The use of matrix organization structures in businesses of all sizes is not a recent phenomenon. Case studies on the design and use of matrix hierarchies date bac to the !"#$s and earl% !"&$s 'hen companies such as (erox) *eneral Electric) and +o' Corning 'ere among the first to tout the benefits of cross,functional) matrix,dri-en organizational structures. .or these large conglomerates) the allocation of e% resources and functional roles across multiple business lines allo'ed greater producti-it% 'ith fe'er resources) 'hich ultimatel% translated into a more fa-orable bottom line. /an% businesses ha-e turned to a matrix organization structure to trac use of resources across traditional functional) departmental) and product line boundaries. A matrix can also map micro,organizations such as pro0ect and team structures 'ithin an o-erall organizational structure. 1n both cases) a main goal is to sa-e mone% b% a-oiding duplication of effort. 2ith all the possible uses for matrix organizational structures) 13m going to address t'o 4uestions5 2hat is a matrix organization structure and ho' can %ou use R673s 8rganizational /anagement functionalit% to depict it9 Then 13ll sho' %ou ho' to configure a simple product,based matrix.
What Is a Matrix?

A traditional organizational structure is t%picall% built in a top,do'n hierarch%. The po'er in the organization resides at the top and the lines of responsibilit% flo' from the top to the bottom throughout the indi-idual branches of the structure. 1n this t%pe of organizational design) responsibilit% for different business functions is usuall% not shared outside of ma0or business sectors or di-isions. 1n addition to the clear chain of command) a traditional structure has stronger departmentalization and narro'er spans of control. This leads to duplication in s ills and responsibilities across the organization. Figure 1 sho's an example of a h%pothetical product organization -ie'ed through a top, to,bottom organizational structure. :ote the duplication of core functional s ills across each product line.

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Figure 1

Example of traditional product line organization structure

A matrix organization eliminates this duplication of s ills and responsibilities b% identif%ing functions or common components that are shared b% multiple di-isions) pro0ects) or products. An organizational chart that allocates s ills or resources across the sectors or di-isional components as needed portra%s the cross,functional nature of this organizational design. 1t creates a multi,functional team approach rather than a group of some'hat redundant functional s ill sets. Figure 2 sho's an example of a product,based matrix organization.

Figure 2

Example of a product,based matrix organization

R.SETHUKARASU /atrix organizations pro-ide clear accountabilit% 'ithin a specific business function and allo' more efficient allocation of specialized s ills across the entire business. <% ta ing ad-antage of the shared ser-ices and s ills and not ha-ing to de-elop and manage those s ills themsel-es) the di-isional or product line organizations can better focus on their core business ob0ecti-es. This last point 'as one of the original dri-ing forces behind the de-elopment and popularization of matrix organizations. Toda%) matrix organizations are used to describe more than 0ust the product,based organization sho'n in these examples. .or example) man% 1T pro0ect managers use smaller matrix,st%le structures for pro0ect and team organizations to trac s ills) tas s) and resources across multiple pro0ects to ensure s ills and resources are used properl%.
Building a Matrix in SAP !"

A matrix structure in R67 does not replace the organizational hierarch%. 1nstead) it supplements that structure b% allo'ing %ou to displa% and report on relationships and tas assignments among entities that do not normall% appear in the da%,to,da% organizational setup. R67 uses organizational ob0ects) relationships) and e-aluation paths to create the matrix structure. =ou choose 'hich ob0ects > custom or standard > and relationships define that output. As an example) 13m using R67 Release ?.#C to build and use a product,based matrix to reflect m% h%pothetical example in .igures ! and ;. =ou can do it in three steps. Step 1. Define your matrix type. <ecause man% different t%pes of matrices are possible) %ou must first define 'hat t%pe of matrix structure %ou 'ish to build. /atrix t%pes define the t'o dimensions of the matrix) including 'hich ob0ect t%pes ma e up each axis and 'hich e-aluation path %ou use to read the existing structure to form the matrix. .inall%) %ou specif% the relationship bet'een the t'o dimensions that indicates their inclusion in the matrix. R67 comes predeli-ered 'ith a standard matrix t%pe of Legal) but for m% example) 1 created a ne' t%pe called Product Line.
Cre ati ng a ne ' -ia 1/* menu path Personnel ma trix atrix "rganization! Define and text description for %our Figure " t%p e in tab le T7 79

To create a ne' matrix t%pe) access table T779 anagement!"rganizational anagement! atrix Types #Figure $%. =ou first enter a name

:ext) define the t'o elements that ma e up the structure. Thin of the -ertical and horizontal axes of the matrix) 'hich are the t'o fundamental building bloc s from 'hich %ou displa% and report on the structure. 1f %ou thin of the matrix in spreadsheet terms) dimension ! ob0ects form the ro's) 'hile dimension ; ob0ects ma e up the columns. 1n

R.SETHUKARASU m% example) 13m using organizational unit @"&'ect type "A and an ob0ect t%pe called Product Line @custom "&'ect type (9A. This allo's me to assign specific organizational functions to multiple product lines. Standard relationship )*+1 identifies to 'hich product lines the organizational units are assigned. =ou ma% need to create custom ob0ects) relationships) or e-aluation paths 'hen building a matrix. =ou can build custom ob0ects such as the (9 Product Line ob0ect in table T777" -ia transaction code """T @1/* menu path Personnel anagement!Personnel De,elopment!)asic Settings! aintain "&'ect TypesA. Relationships are uni4ue three,character alphanumeric codes that define the interaction bet'een t'o different ob0ects) 'hether the% are ob0ects of the same t%pe or t'o different t%pes. =ou configure relationship codes in table T77-. -ia transaction code ""./ @1/* menu path Personnel anagement!Personnel De,elopment!)asic Settings! aintain 0elations1ips%. <ecause product line is a custom ob0ect) configuration must specif% the allo'ed relationships bet'een the organizational unit and the product line. =ou do this through the 2llo3ed relations1ips option in table T77-.. E-aluation paths contain a series of instructions that tells R67 to loo for particular ob0ect relationships and report bac the results or to use the results in a predetermined manner. R67 contains a large number of predefined e-aluation paths in table T7724. Ho'e-er) if %our matrix reporting re4uirements necessitate a structure -ie' that is not contained in these predefined e-aluation paths) %ou can create a ne' e-aluation path b% accessing table T7724. =ou do this -ia transaction code ""24 @1/* menu path Personnel anagement!Personnel De,elopment!)asic Settings! aintain 5,aluation Pat1s%. Step 2. 5sta&lis1 ,alid relations1ips among all o&'ects to &e included in your matrix. .or the desired ob0ects to appear in %our matrix) the% must contain -alid relationships lin ing them as %ou indicated 'hen %ou configured %our matrix t%pe. 1n m% example) 1 specified relationship 26) *+1 to lin organizational units and product lines. 1 used standard ob0ect maintenance transaction PP+1 to lin them prior to -ie'ing the matrix. Step $. 7se transaction PP S to display your matrix. 8nce %ou ha-e defined %our matrix and established relationships among the re4uisite ob0ects) %ou can -ie' the matrix structure using transaction PP S or access the matrix -ia standard R67 menu path 8uman 0esources! "rganizational anagement!"rganizational Plan! atrix . 2hen %ou access transaction PP S @displa%A or PP 5 @changeA) a dialog box as s %ou to specif% either a matrix t%pe or a -ariant or to use the standard selection screen that is not specific to an% t%pe @Figure *A. Setting a -ariant sa-es %ou time if %ou fre4uentl% displa% or report on the same matrix -ie'.

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Figure # Access matrix organization dialog box

$ip%

Choose %our -alidit% dates carefull% 'hen creating %our ob0ect relationships. =ou need to specif% a -alidit% period 'hen -ie'ing or changing the matrix structure) so the dates in %our ob0ect relationships dictate 'hich appear in %our matrix output. The matrix selection screen @Figure 9A allo's %ou to specif% %our desired atrix type) "&'ect :D for each dimension in %our matrix) and the .alidity period for the displa%. 1f %ou lea-e an ob0ect 1+ blan for a dimension) all ob0ects that are related to the other dimension ob0ect are included in %our output. =ou also ha-e the option of -ie'ing each dimension indi-iduall% in hierarch% format or -ie'ing the matrix itself.
Figure & Specif% the desired atrix type) "&'ect :D for each dimension in %our matrix) and the .alidity period for the displa% in the matrix selection screen

After entering selection parameters) press .B or clic on the execute icon. The output %ou re4uested) Structure dimension 1; Structure dimension 2; or atrix ,ie3) 'ill appear. Figure < is an example of the matrix -ie'. As %ou can see in the output for the product, based matrix 1 created) the units in dimension ! are the ro's 'hile the product line ob0ects ma e up the columns. At each intersection bet'een organizational units and product lines in the matrix) -alidit% dates indicate a -alid relationship. A blan box means that the t'o ob0ects that intersect at that spot ha-e no relationship in the -alidit% dates %ou specified in the selection screen. .rom 'ithin the matrix -ie') %ou can also toggle bac and forth bet'een dimension -ie' and matrix -ie' as 'ell as refresh the output.

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Figure '

+ispla% -ie' of product,based matrix

Examining the output in .igure #) %ou see that the same organization sho'n in traditional hierarch% in .igure ! has been transformed into a matrix structure. The functions that had pre-iousl% existed in each product line are no' shared functions across product lines. .igure # also sho's that not all functions need to be in all product lines.