Referencing Styles : APA Imagine what life would be like if your product were never finished, if your work were never done, if your market shifted 30 times a day. The computer-virus hunters at Symantec Corp. don't have to imagine. That's the reality of their daily work life. At the company's Response Lab in Santa Monica, California, described as the "dirtiest of all our networks at Symantec", software analysts collect viruses and other suspicious code and try to figure out how they work so security updates can be provided to the company's customers. By the door to the lab, there's even a hazardous materials box marked "Danger" where they put all the disks, tapes, and hard drives with the nasty viruses that need to be carefully and completely disposed of. Symantec's situation may seem unique, but the company, which makes content and network security software for both consumers and businesses, reflects there realities facing many organizations today: quickly shifting customer expectations and continuously emerging global competitors that have drastically shortened product life cycles. Managing talented people in such an environment can be quite challenging as well. Vincent Weafer, a native of Ireland, has been the leader of Symantec's virus-hunting team since 1999. Back then, he said, "There were less than two dozen people, and the pace of the industry was really slow .perhaps there would be a few new viruses popping up each day , and they would spread in a matter of months, not minutes." Now, Symantec's virus hunters around the world deal with some 20,000 virus samples each month, not all of which are unique, stand-alone viruses. To make the hunters' jobs even more interesting computer attacks are increasingly being spread by criminals anting to stela information whether corporate data or personal user account information that can be used in fraud. Dealing with these critical and time sensitive issues requires special talents. The response-centre team is a diverse group whose members weren't easy to find. Says Weafer, "It's not as if colleges are creating thousands of anti-malware or security experts every year that we can hire. If you find them in any part of the world, you just go after them." The response-centre team's makeup reflects that. For instance, one senior researcher is from Hungary; another is from Iceland; and another works out of her home in Melbourne, Florida. But they all share something in common: They're all motivated by solving problems. The launch of the Blaster-B worm in August 2003 changed the company's approach to dealing with viruses. The domino effect of Blaster-B and other viruses spawned by it meant the frontline software analysts were working around the clock for almost 2 weeks. The "employee burnout" potential made the company realize that its virus hunting team would now have to be much deeper talent-wise. Now, the response centre’s team numbers in the hundreds and managers can rotate people from the front lines, where they’re responsible for responding to new security threats that crop up, into groups where they can help with new product development. Others write internal research papers. Still others are assigned to develop new tools that will help their colleagues battle the next wave of threats. There's even an individual who tries to figure out what makes the virus writers tick- and the day never ends for these virus hunters. When Santa Monica's team finishes its day, colleagues in Tokyo take over. When the Japanese team finishes its day, it hands off to Dublin, who then hands back to Santa Monica for the new day. It's a frenetic chaotic, challenging work environment that spans the entire globe. But the security experts realise that despite their teams’ best effort, THEY ARE LOSING THE BATTLE. They plan to add another line of defence and use the power of people to hunt down the cyber criminals by recruiting victims and other computer users to help them go on the offensive and track down the hackers . Rowan Trollope, senior vice president for consumer products at Symantec, says: It’s time to stop building burglar alarms to keep people safe and go after the bad guys. Thus at the introduction of its new Norton internet security system ,Symantec is now asking customers to opt in to a program that will collect data about attempted computer intrusions and then forward the information to authorities. CASE STUDY QUESTIONS 1. Analyse workflow interdependence among departments and Align organisation design and organisational strategy. Analyse organisational characteristics such as culture, change and life cycle issues in this organisation .Based on your analysis, what recommendations would you give to management? 2. Assess organisational effectiveness, use “open system” design elements to design greater connections and effectiveness for the organisation. 3. In fighting the onslaught of computer viruses, what will be the challenges of managing a team of professionals and a group of customer volunteers? Evaluate the influences of dynamic organisational processes. Would you recommend a change in the organization’s design? 4. Which of the challenges in relation to today’s organisational design issues are relevant at Symantec? How and Why? What type of adaptive organisational designs might be most appropriate for Symantec to us in order to manage most effective its professionals and customer volunteers? Explain your choices.