RESTRUCTURING A SMALL RESEARCH SUPPORT UNIT

Organizations of every size sometimes need to restructure. However sma ll firms and departments (fewer than 50 persons) may lack the resource s to hire external consultants or buy specialized software to help wit h the task. The Department of Physics at the University of Virginia fa ced this dilemma in 1994. A commercial spreadsheet program was used to analyze the ''cost of doing business.'' The methodology present ed in the following case study proved useful for comparing the financial co sts of different arrangements of duties and courses of action during t he restructuring process.