The new organisation structure does not leave any room for your former gym directors. Instead, you are going to employ receptionists who are there to open and close the gym, deal with new gym enrolments, client enquiries, and personal trainer bookings insofar as these are not arranged online. These receptionists need to be professional, service-minded, and organised. And finally, you have decided to hire a specialist in gym equipment, who will be in charge of procurement and maintenance of all gym equipment, making sure that your company is always in step with the latest trends, and that all equipment is safe and always in top working order. By applying the information in the case to Lepak and Snell’s strategic workforce segmentation framework, the receptionist role should be categorized as a:

(A) “Critical”

(B) “Critical” or “Specialist”, depending on how strategically central you assess their role to be, which is difficult to determine given the case information

(C) “Doer” or “Professional”, depending on how strategically central you assess their role to be, which is difficult to determine given the case information

(D) “Specialist”

Explanation

The receptionist role should be categorized as a Critical because as mentioned in the scenario, this job position requires professional skills and there are multiple skills required for the job. Even though, the skills aren’t unique but the receptionist is playing a strategically central role here.

Conclusion

This question is a part of the Weekly Quiz 5 section from the Organisational design: Know your organisation course. You can check out all the quiz answers to this exam in our Organisational design: Know your organisation Quiz Answers page.