Organizational Structure and Systems

structure

mintzberg defined his as the sum of the total of the ways in which its labor is divided into distinct tasks and then its coordination is achieved among these tasks

Mutual adjustment

Direct supervision

Standardization of work processes

Standardization of work output

Standardization of skills and knowledge

Five coordination mechanisms- these mechanisms are the processes that organization use to function

Mutual adjustment

- achieves the coordination of work by the simple process of informal communication among employees

- it is the process by which employees coordinate their efforts to produce an outcome.

Direct supervision

According to Minztberg, "Direct supervision achieves coordination by having one person take responsibility for the work of others, issuing instructions to them and monitoring their actions

- coxswain (stroke caller)

Standardization of work processes

Standard operating procedures, stringent rules, and technology can help ensure that employees are performing a task a certain way.

- standardize or specify work processes

Standardization of work output

to spevify the product of the work to be performed

ex. fast food industry

Standardization of skills and knowledge

Coordination among work activities can be attained by specifying in advance the knowledge, skills, and training required to perform the work

- coordination is achieved before the work is undertaken

1. Operating core

2. Strategic apex

3. Middle line

4. Technostructure

5. Support staff

Five Basic Parts of Organization

Operating core

a basic part of organization taht consistes of those employees who are responsible for conducting the basc work duties that give the organization its defining purpose.

Ex.

Manufacturing organization- employees transform raw goods (cloth) into a sellable product (apparel)

Service organization- dry cleaning store in which employees perform vital work functions ( transform dirty clothes into clean clothes.)

Strategic apex

it is a basic part of an organization that is responsible for the overall success of the entire organization

it is associated with the executive leadership of the organization

these employees have the responsibility and authority to ensure theat the larger goals of the organization are being met

Strategic apex

also referred to as the brain of the organization

Middle line

a basic part of an organization where it reprsents those employees who have teh day to day authority for ensuring that the overall goals set by the strategic apex are being carried out by the operating core.

embodies the coordinating mechanism of direct supervision

technostructure

a basic part of an organization in which thare are employees who possess specific technical expertise that facilatetes the overall operation of the organization.

these employees are specialists in areas of buisines that inluence the organization but these people do not perform the mainstream work of the organization (the operating core) nor are the memberes of the top managament (the strategic apex).

Ex. accounting, HR, information techonolohu, and law

Support Staff

provides services that aid the basic mission of the organization and typically includes the mailroom, switchboardm security, and janitorial services.

technostructure

give sthe advice to the organization

support staff

performs services

technostructure

primarily relie on the standardization of of knowledge and skills (through education and training requirements of its members)

support staff

reiles primarily on the standardization of work processes (as the uniform delivery of mail within the organization)

Division of Labor

refers to the the subdivision of work into separate jobs assigned to different people. Subdivided work leads to job sepcialization

Coordination

When people divide work among themselves, they require ___________________ to ensure everyone works in concert.

Informal communication

Formal hierarchy

Standardization

Coordination Mechanisms in Organizations

Informal communication

sharing information on mutual tasks; forming common mental models to synchronize work activities

-is vital in non routine and ambigous situations because employees can exchange a large volume of information through face-to-face communication and other media-rich channels.

Formal hierarchy

assigning legitimate power to individuals, who then use this power to direct work processes and allocate resources

Standardization

Creating routine patterns of behavior or output

- Direct communication

- Liason roles

- Integrator roles

- Temporary teams

Subtypes/strategies of Informal Communication

- Direct Supervision

- Formal communication channels

Subtypes/strategies of Formal Hierarchy

- Standardized skills

- Standardized processes

- Standardized output

Subtypes/strategies of Standardization

Standardized process

Quality and consistency of a product or service can often be improved by standardiziang work activities through job desrcriptions and procedures.

- less effective in nonroutine and complex work such as product design

Standardized output

This form of standardization involves ensuring that individuals and work units have clearly defined goals and output measures.

Standardized skills

When work activities are too complex to standardize through processes or goals, companies often coordinate work effort by extensiveky training employees or hiring people who have learned precise role behaviors from educational programs.

this form of coordination is used in hospital operating rooms. eg. surgeons and nurses.

Span of Control

Centralization and Decentralization

Formalization

Departmentalization

Elements of Organizational Structure

Span of Control

Also called span of management

Wider span of control

Wider or narrow span of control_

when employees perform routine jobs

Narrow span of control

Wider or narrow span of control_

when employees perform novel or complex tasks and highly interdependent jobs

wider span of control

Flat structure

-has more employees per supervisor

narrow span of control

Tall Structure

delayer

remove one or more leveles in the organizational hierarchy

Undermines managerial functions.

Increases workload and stress.

Restricts managerial career development.

Delayering is crucical because tall structure or narrow span of control is not always an effective approach to use because it is costly, senior managers in tall structures often receive lower-quality and less timely information frome the external environment because information from frontline employees is transmitted slowly or not at all up the hierarchy, and tall heirarchies tend to undermine employees ability thus delayering or delayer is important. However it also have consequences:

Centralization

means that formal decision-making authority is held by a small group of people, typically those at the top of the organizational hierarchy.

decentralize

As organizations grow, however, they diversify and their environments become more complex. Senior executives aren't able to process all the decisions that significantly influence the business. Consequently, larger organizations typically _____________; that is, they disperse decision authority and power throughout the organization.

formalization

The degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms.

mechanistic and organic structures

two broader organizational forms:

mechanistic structure

An organizational structure with a narrow span of control and a high degree of formalization and centralization.

Mechanistic structures

have many rules and procedures, limited decision making at lower levels, tall hierarchies of people in specialized roles, and vertical rather than horizontal communication flows. Tasks are rigidly defined and are altered only when sanctioned by higher authorities.

organic structure

An organizational structure with a wide span of control, little formalization, and decentralized decision making

organic structure

They operate with a wide span of control, decentralized decision making, and little formalization. Tasks are fluid, adjusting to new situations and organizational needs.

mechanistic structure

mechanistic and organic ?

operate better in stable environments because they rely on efficiency and routine behaviors,

organic structure

work better in rapidly changing (i.e., dynamic) environments because they are more flexible and responsive to the changes.

- are also more compatible with organizational learning, high-performance workplaces, and quality management because they emphasize information sharing and an empowered workforce rather than hierarchy and status.

- However, the advantages of this structure, rather than mechanistic structures, in dynamic environments occur only when employees have developed well-established roles and expertise. 37 Without these conditions, employees are unable to coordinate effectively with each other, resulting in errors and gross inefficiencies.

liability of newness

Start-up companies often face this problem, known as the________________________

Newness makes start-up firms more organic—they tend to be smaller organizations with few rules and considerable delegation of authority. However, employees in new organizations often lack industry experience, and their teams have not developed sufficiently for peak performance. As a result, the organic structures of new companies cannot compensate for the poorer coordination and significantly lower efficiencies caused by the lack of structure from past experience and team mental models.

Departmentalization

Organizational chart

departmentalization

specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together.

1. Departmentalization establishes the chain of command

2. Departmentalization focuses people around common mental models or ways of thinking, such as serving clients, developing products, or supporting a particular skill set.

3. Departmentalization encourages coordination through informal communication among people and subunits.

fundamental strategy for coordinating organizational activities because it influences organizational behavior in the following ways:

simple,

functional,

divisional,

team-based,

matrix,

network

six most common pure types of departmentalization

simple structure

- They employ only a few people and typically offer only one distinct product or service.

- There is minimal hierarchy—usually just employees reporting to the owners. Employees perform broadly defined roles because there are insufficient economies of scale to assign them to specialized jobs.

- is highly flexible and minimizes the walls that form between employees in other structures.

- However, this structure usually depends on the owner's direct supervision to coordinate work activities, so it is very difficult to operate as the company grows and becomes more complex.

Functional Structure

An organizational structure in which employees are organized around specific knowledge or other resources.

- creates specialized pools of talent that typically serve everyone in the organization.

- disadvantage: Grouping employees around their skills tends to focus attention on those skills and related professional needs rather than on the company's product, service, or client needs.

Divisional Structure

An organizational structure in which employees are organized around geographic areas, outputs (products or services), or clients.

divisional structure

sometimes called the multidivisional or M-form structure

geographic divisional structure

organizes employees around distinct regions of the country or world

(a) Geographic structure

(b) Product structure

(c) Client structure

Three Types of Divisional Structure

product/service divisional structure

organizes employees around distinct outputs

client divisional structure

organizes employees around specific customer groups

globally integrated enterprise

An organizational structure in which work processes and executive functions are distributed around the world through global centers, rather than developed in a home country and replicated in satellite countries or regions.

team-based structure

An organizational structure built around self-directed teams that complete an entire piece of work.

- wide span of contrl, high decentralization, low formalization, and usually found within the manufacturing or service operations or larger divisional structures

-Disadvantages: costly for skill straining, increased ambiguity in their roles which causes stress , high conflict, loss of functional power, unclear progression ladders

matrix structure

An organizational structure that overlays two structures (such as a geographic divisional and a functional structure) in order to leverage the benefits of both.

matrix structure

to gain the benefits of both a functional structure and a project-based (team) structure.

matrix structure

Employees work on a game project team, but they're also part of their original department.

When the project ends, they go back to their department and get assigned to a new project.

This way, they stay connected to their skills and expertise, but also stay focused on the game.

network structure

An alliance of several organizations for the purpose of creating a product or serving a client.

Nontraditional organizational structure

Organic structure

-more flexible and adaptable

-without rigid status hierarchy characteristic

- have fewer employees

- small organization

nontraditional organization

1. High flexibility and adaptability

2. Collaboration among workers

3. Less emphasis on organizational status

4. Group decision making

chain of command

the number of authority levels in an organizatio

span of control

the number of workers who must report to a single supervisor

functional structure

an organizational structure that divides the organization into departments based on the functions or tasks they perform

divisional structure

an organizational structure that divides the organization according to types of products or customers

functional structure

advantage: it creates job specialists

disadvantage: workers may become overly focused on their own department and area of specialization, and this may breed interdepartmental rivalry and conflict.

divisional structure

advantage: can easiily expand products or services merely by adding new division

disadvantage: duplication of areas

centralization

the degree to which decision-making power rests at the upper levels of the organizational hierarchy

decentralization

the process of taking the decision-making authority away from the top levels of the organization and distributing it to lower levels

bureaucracy

The prototypical traditional organizational structure is the _____________________

bureaucracy

a traditional organizational structure typified by a well-defined authority hierarchy and strict rules governing work behavior