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Organisations are formed to accomplish a specific purpose with a deliberate arrangement of people, where their performance results from their implementation of strategies, affecting the organisational structure of the firm. Given that all the variables that affect any organisation differs according to their purpose and goals, it will be an unrealistic and impractical assumption to conclude that there is one best way to structure an organisation. However, we can conclude that all organisations aim to gain an advantage over their competitors by optimizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes within the organisation. By considering organisational structures that are influenced by Competitive Strategy, Supply-Chain Management (SCM) and the Cubic Contingency Model (CCM), it is evident that to gain optimal performance, organisational structures are influenced to promote the first dimensional principles of innovation, quality enhancement and cost reduction to gain that desired competitive advantage in their market place. The managers design or construction of an organisations structure is essential in improving the firms performance in the marketplace compared to its competitors (Pertusa-Ortega et al. 2010). In order to gain this competitive advantage, firms seek to develop competitive strategies that cater towards the interests and demands of the customers by considering the principles of innovation, quality enhancement and cost reduction (Schuler, Jackson 1987). These strategies will, in turn, reflect the strengths of the organisational structure and should improve the firms performance on the basis that it is aptly implemented. For example, mechanic organisational structures is often highly centralized and formalized with extreme specialization, belittling the employees roles in the organisation through ritualistic and standardized tasks. The strengths of this structure will be reliant on the size of the firm and its heavy use of formalization, which increases the productivity and efficiency of their tasks through the principles of quality enhancement and cost reduction. However, innovation may be limited to the lower-end workers due to the impersonality of the relationships within the centralized firm. Likewise, organic organisational structures will promote the principle of innovation, where the flexibility and freedom presents the workers with an incentive to work differently. These varied uses of strategic initiatives are thus crucial to a firms productivity and prosperity (Pertusa-Ortega et al. 2010). By structuring the organisation to meet the needs of the customers through competitive strategies, the firm will be able to retain its competitive advantage in its marketplace. The importance of structuring an organisation to ensure the competitive advantage of the firm is also evident in the Supply-Chain Management (SCM) model. SCM in the integration of business processes that ultimately improves the quality and cost efficiency of the product for the consumer (Cooper et al. 1997). As stated by Giunipero and Brand, under this strategic management tool, the network of organisations ultimately enhance(s) the overall customer satisfaction that is intended to improve a firms competitiveness and profitability (Cooper et al. 1997) by operating cross-functional objectives. This improves its competitive advantage by lowering the amount of excessive resources required to cater for the customers through the restructuring of business processes and management components. The extent of formalization

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and centralization within an organisation are the key determinants to a SCM structure, where a hierarchical relationship between a specified SCM department is formed with other operational departments (Kim, 2007). A firm with costreducing strategies often requires a more centralized and formalized bureaucracy in order to sustain maximum control, contributing to consistent administration and efficient coordination of the cross-functions within an organisation (Cooper et al. 1997). In comparison, more flexible and decentralized structures rely on innovative product-market strategies, appropriating to the changing dynamics of our present technologically advanced market. Thus the SCM structure will be best suited for the tall, mechanic organisational structure due to its increased efficiency in administration performance that ultimately improves the firms competitive advantage. It is evident that competitive strategies are the basis to all organisational structures, and to gain competitive advantage, individual organisations must be able to adapt to the changes in their internal and external environments (Qiu, Donaldson, 2010). The Cubic Contingency Model (CCM) is an innovative three dimensional, strategy-structure model for multinational corporations (MNCs) that focus on the three contingency variables of global integration, local responsiveness and foreign product diversification (Qiu, Donaldson, 2010). By considering the limitations of the Stopford & Wells Model (1972) and the Donaldson Model (2009), the CCM was innovated to assist managers in deciding the most appropriate strategy implementation for multinational corporations. By considering the three contingency variables, managers are able to differentiate the strategic conditions fitted by various types of matrices (Qiu, Donaldson, 2010), outlining the underlying reason why organisations cannot be limited to one best structure due to their differing variables of needs and goals. For example, many managers may avoid using matrix-structures due to its complexity, however, depending on the strategies of the organisation, managers may also not desire to be limited by simplifying their organisational structure. By innovating different ways to implement the strategies that promote the variables of cost reduction and quality enhancement, managers rely on the CCM to identify the strengths of the firm through the principles of global integration, local responsiveness and foreign product diversification. By focusing on these three factors, international corporations are able to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in the processes of their organisation, ultimately improving their competitive advantage in the international market. All managers seek to find the best organisational structure for their firm that would ultimately improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation. However, considering all the varying differences between organisations, there is no general best way to structure an organisation. The analysis of competitive strategies, Supply-Chain-Management and Cubic Contingency Model depicts the importance of achieving competitive advantage is any strategy-structure models. It is thus evident that to achieve such progress in structuring the organisation, there must be an underlying consideration for the 1st-dimensional principles of innovation, cost reduction and quality enhancement in order for the firm to achieve that competitive advantage in its marketplace.

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REFERENCES Cooper, M; Lambert, D; Pagh, J. (1997). Supply Chain Management: More Than a New Name for Logistics. The International Journal of Logistics Management. 8 (1), 1-14. Kim, S. (2007). Organizational structures and the performance of supply chain management. International Journal of Production Economics. 106 (2), 323-345. Pertusa-Ortega, E; Molina-Azorin, J; Claver-Cortes, E. (2010). A comparison of the resource-based view and the contingency approach. Competitive strategy, structure and firm performance. 48 (8), 1282 - 1303. Qiu, J; Donaldson, D. (2010). The Cubic Contingency Model: towards a more comprehensive international strategystructure model. Journal of General Management. 36 (1), 81 100. Schuler, R; Jackson, S. (1987). Linking Competitive Strategies with Human Resource Management Practices. The Academy of Management Executive. 1 (3), 207-219.

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