HRM 360 Ch 15 Organizational Structure

Organizational structure

Dictates how jobs and tasks are divided and coordinated between individuals and groups within the company

Organizational chart

An illustration that represents every job in the organization and the formal reporting relationships between those jobs

Work specialization

The degree to which tasks in an organization are divided into separate jobs

Chain of command

answers the question, “Who reports to whom?”. It’s how authority flows within an organization

Span of control

represents how many employees each manager in the organization is responsible for

Centralization

refers to where decision-making authority lies within an organization

Formalization

refers to how many rules and procedures there are within an organization that standardize employee behaviors and decisions 

Mechanistic Organizations

organizations that are efficient, rigid, predictable, and standardized. They thrive in stable environments

Organic organizations

organizations that are flexible, adaptive, and outward focused and thrive in dynamic environments.

Organizational Design

The process of creating, selecting, or changing the structure of an organization

Business Environment

consists of its customers, competitors, suppliers, distributors, and other factors external to the firm

Company Strategy

an organization’s objectives and how it plans to capitalize on its assets to make money

Technology

 the methods involved in turning inputs into outputs

Company Size

number of employees in a company

Simple structure

An organizational form that features one person as the central decision-making figure

Bureaucratic structure

organizational forms that strive for efficiency and that contain high levels of work specialization, formalization, centralization of authority, rigid and well-defined chains of command, and narrow spans of control

Functional structure

employees are grouped by the functions they perform for the organization

Multi-divisional structure

employees are grouped by product, geography, or client

Product structure

employees are grouped around different products that the company produces

Geographic Structures

employees are grouped around different locations where the company does business

Client Structure

Employees are organized around serving customers

Matrix structure

Organizational structure that combines a functional and multi-divisional grouping