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usinesses, then the corporate structures comprising
of strategic business units would be most
appropriate. Each unit represents a distinct business
with its own set of budgets and, customer base
and enjoys a certain degree of autonomy. Pepsi
Cola and General Mills are among the examples of
this type of structure; hotel chains may be regarded
in the same way. Finally, a matrix structure features
a dual authority in which subordinates report both
functional and product/and or market executives.
This type of structure allows for specialisation and
ease in responding to the market more efficiently.
Organisations can choose the various dimensions
of structure that it will embark upon, but
generally speaking, the degree to which these
dimensions are chosen enables the firm's overall
structure to fall into two categories: mechanistic
and organic structures. Characteristics of a mechanistic
structure include high complexity, high
formalisation, downward communication and little
decision-making authority shared by the lower level
members. In contrast, an organic structure is
characterised by a low degree of formalisation
and complexity. It has a comprehensive and
intricate information network. This structure
allows communication to move laterally and
upward as well as downward throughout the
organisation. There is also a high degree of
participation among the employees in the decision-making
process. Strategy and other forces
such as the size of the firm, technology and
environment affect whether a company follows a
mechanistic or organic structure.
Effective corporate structures serve as mechanisms
which enable tourism managers to meet their
company's objectives by implementing their strategies
successfully. Whether the strategy determines
which type of structure to adopt or whether the
structure defines what strategy one can pursue, it is
pertinent for the company to align the corporate
structure with its strategy. Every organisation has
some form of structure. Corporate structures allow
and define lines of authority. They help co-ordinate
daily activities. It is also important to remember
that not all corporate structures are static.
Companies can be flexible enough to select an
appropriate structure over the stages of the life
cycle to better suit needs in a changing environment.
Further reading
correspondence analysis 115
Olsen, M., Tse, E. and West. J. �1999) Strategic
Management in the Hospitality Industry, 2nd edn,
New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. �Analyses
different types of corporate structure and its
structural components.)
Robbins, S. �1993) Organizational Behaviour, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. �Discusses the
importance of organisations, their concepts and
applications.)
Rue, L. and Holland, P. �1989) Strategic Management,
New York: McGraw-Hill. �Covers strategic
management and how strategy and structure
plays into the success of the company.)
ELIZA CHING-YICK TSE, CHINA
correspondence analysis
Correspondence analysis is an exploratory data
analysis technique for the graphical display of
contingency tables. As an analogue of principal
components analysis, it is appropriate to
discrete rather than to continuous variates. The
input data typically is in the form of a cross-tab
indicating association between the rows and the
columns �that is, brand preference and gender or
tourism preferences and family life cycle).
Correspondence analysis performs a scaling of
rows and columns in corresponding units so that
each item can be displayed graphically in the same
low dimensional space. Basically, a big cell entree
�frequent co-occurrence) in a cross tab will be
transformed to a small physical distance between
the corresponding row and column points in the
derived Euclidean space �a two-dimensional map).
Thus, if a market research study indicates that
Disneyland is the preferred holiday destination by
couples with pre-teen children, while Hawaii seems
to be most popular among retired couples, the
column point couples with children will be placed
near the row point Disneyland, indicating strong
association and farther away from row point
Hawaii, symbolising weaker association �and vice
versa). While multidimensional scaling typically
requires subjects to provide similarities in
information concerning items, correspondence