Institute for Continuing & tesol Education, University of Queensland

School for International Training

Cambridge ESOL

International Diploma in Language Teaching Management

Centre	ICTE, University of Queensland
Module No. & Name

Name: XX
Assignment Title: IDLTM: Assignment 1 Organizations Assignment
Word length: 2698
No of separate documents 2
Date submitted: 1/7/13

Idltm: Assignment 1

Organizations Assignment

Introduction

XX is a medium-sized ELICOS school with two city-centre campuses: one in Sydney and the other in Melbourne. In 2010 it was taken over by MEGT, a Melbourne-based not-for-profit group with a background in VET and work-placement programs. The LTO’s education department has retained it’s own identity and culture, but administrative side of the organization is an amalgamation and therefore XX shares Marketing, HR, Student Services, Finance, Admissions and its Board of Directors with MEGT¹

In this assignment, my main focus will be on the LTO itself and departments relating to it, rather than the whole of MEGT, much of which has no direct relationship to XX.

Part 1a: An analysis of Robbins’ six elements of organizational structure in relation to the LTO.

1. Work Specialisation

Beyond the usual duties of a teacher, our staff are also informally involved in marketing, counseling and product design. Teachers are expected to be flexible to the needs of the organisation and therefore it would be an oversimplification to regard them as specialists. Administration is more highly specialised than Education, especially Finance and Admissions, who have the most limited scope. Middle-mangers must be flexible in response to budget restrictions, which forces them to become more versatile, less specialized.

2. Departmentalisation

This is largely done by ‘function’ rather than ‘product or service’ (p.516; Robbins, 2013). There is also definite evidence of what Robbins (pg.517) describes as ‘process departmentalisation’; customers come into contact with many departments in their journey through the LTO. While geography is not a major factor, both campuses have their own teaching staff, Student Service officers and marketing staff, though in the latter case there is a fair amount of overlap in the students these staff will deal with. HR and upper management are based solely in Melbourne, which can create a feeling of disconnectedness.

3. Chain of command

At XX Sydney there are five tiers in the chain of command. The International Strategy Manager has an office in Sydney but regularly spends time in Melbourne or on business trips. The Campus Manager and (Assistant²) Education Manager are the most senior figures working exclusively at the Sydney campus. The teaching staff contains another quasi-layer: three Shift Coordinators³ who have relatively little authority but serve as a valuable link between teachers and the EM. Finally, the LTO employs around 25 teachers, which can grow to in excess of 30 during summer⁴.