MGT498 Strategic Management Paper

Creating an Appropriate and APA-Compliant Organizational Chart using Microsoft (MS) Word

Though MS Visio gives one access to more design features, MS Word is sufficient (and simpler) for creating appropriate and APA-compliant organizational (org) charts within a paper. There are two primary considerations: presentation view and APA formatting: 1. Presentation view – org charts are structure charts, not process charts, and appropriate org

charts can be presented in one of two views: a) Group view: companies, divisions, business units, departments, and/or teams (for

business strategy, the group view is typically the most appropriate). b) Staff view: employees with roles or titles (this is the view familiar to most employees) –

both present a hierarchical reporting structure, but in general, the two views should not be combined (e.g., a department in one box, and a department head in another box), as that can be confusing to the reader.

2. APA formatting – an org chart is considered a figure in APA, and there are two simple rules

regarding APA-compliant formatting of figures (see the Tables and Figures guide in the CWE for additional information): a) The figure has a sequential number, title, and attribution that are placed below the

figure, left justified and without indenting; in the sample below, note the figure number is italicized, and followed by a period; the figure title uses title case, and is followed by a period; and the figure attribution is slightly different than what is placed in the References (also note there is no reference, as the figure attribution is sufficient).

b) The figure is explicitly noted in the body of the paper, such as “Figure 1 presents the

organizational chart for ABC Company;” the figure should appear immediately after the paragraph in which it is mentioned, or at the top of the following page (do not use directional indicators, such as “Figure 1 is below”).

Using MS Word’s Smart Art to Create an Org Chart Figure

The following steps can be used to create an org chart in MS Word (you may find drawing your desired org chart with pencil/paper beforehand may make it easier to create the figure): 1. Position the I-beam (insertion point) where your org chart is desired – be sure the figure’s

Wrap Text option is set to In Line with Text. 2. In MS Word’s Insert menu, select Smart Art, and the Hierarchy style – be sure to use the

simplest style (i.e., no drop shadows, or 3-D figures), and black/white (i.e., no colors, or gradients); these are options in the Smart Art Design ribbon.

3. From the ribbon or floating design pane, add/remove (using plus/minus) and promote/

demote (using left/right arrows) boxes to create your desired hierarchical structure.

4. Replace each box’s placeholder text with your desired group name – be sure the font style/size is consistent with the rest of the paper.

Sample Organizational Chart (including an attribution to a company website – note the centered figure and use of double-spacing throughout)

The organizational chart for ABC Company is presented in Figure 1. Alternatively, an

indirect mention would describe the figure, and then orient the reader with a parenthetical,

such as ABC Company is currently organized into two divisions, with two business units in

Division 1, and three departments in Division 2 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Organizational Chart for ABC Company. Adapted from ABC Company: About Us, by

ABC Company, 2016, Retrieved from http://www.abc-company.com/aboutus.html. Copyright

2016 by ABC Company.

ABC Company

Division 1

Unit A Unit B

Division 2

Dept. A Dept. B

Dept. C