Control and organisation

• Formal structure

  • Main aim is to improve effectiveness of organisation achieving its goal

  • The systems of the work in the organisation - tasks, work communication, workflows

  Informal structure

  • Created by staff not the organisation

  • Relationships built by employees

  • Very personal and network orientated

   

  Job Design - specification of task activities associated with a particular job

  • Job enlargement = responsible for all tasks in process of creating product

  • Rotation = workers rotate between tasks

  • Simplification = workers have 1 task to complete

  • Job enrichment - to move past specialization, we need responsibility taken, care about work measure own performance

   

  Work specialization = the degree to which the work is broken down to various jobs

   

  Departmentalization

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  Key Concepts in Organising

  • Definition of Organising: Deployment of organisational resources for achieving strategic goals.

  • Characteristics of Effective Structure:

    • Vertical organisation structure: Chains of authority and departmental coordination.

    • Coordinating Activities: Illustrated using examples of operational synergies, like those being implemented at PaperlinX for improved cross-functional collaboration.

   

  Organisational Structure Types

  Vertical and Horizontal Structures

  • Work Specialization: Breaking down tasks into jobs to enhance efficiency.

  • Chain of Command: Unbroken lines of authority indicating hierarchy within the organisation.

  • Authority: Hierarchical rights of managers to make decisions, allocate resources, and command employees.

  • Delegation and Accountability: Importance of matching authority with responsibility and the necessity of clear communication channels to foster accountability.

  Tall vs. Flat Structures

  • Tall Structures: Characterised by narrow spans of control and multiple layers of hierarchy.

    • Problems: Slowed decision-making and creativity limitations.

  • Flat Structures: Fewer levels of hierarchy provide greater accessibility and delegative capabilities.

  Centralisation vs. Decentralisation

  • Centralisation: Decision-making authority concentrated at the top of the hierarchy.

  • Decentralisation: Authority extends to lower levels, fostering quicker responses to market changes.

  Formalisation in Contemporary Organisations

  • Formalisation: Increasing trend to document roles, procedures, and accountability, balancing between bureaucratic efficiency and operational flexibility.

  Departmentalisation Approaches

  • Vertical Functional Approach: Departments grouped by similarities in skills.

  • Divisional Approach: Departments self-contained around products or geographical regions, fostering autonomy and focused decision-making.

  • Matrix Approach: Blends functional and divisional structures creating dual reporting systems.

  • Team-Based Approach: Creating teams to manage tasks jointly.

  • Network Approach: Central hub contracting specialized roles worldwide, fostering independence across departments.

  Advantages and Disadvantages of Functional Structures:

  • Advantages: Include economies of scale, in-depth skills development, centralized direction, and enhanced problem-solving capacity.

  • Disadvantages: Include poor inter-departmental coordination, slowness to innovate, and challenges related to accountability.

  Divisional

  Main types of divisional structure

  • Product/service division

  • Geographic divisions

  • Customer divisions

  Divisional advantages and disadvantages

  Advantages

  • Can focus on own client

  •  Performance easier to measured

  •  Managers have a broad training

  Disadvantages

  •  Duplication of resources

  •  In-depth expertise may be sacrificed

  • Divisions may compete rather than work together

  Team based- approach

  • Employees from functional departments - engineering and marketing etc.

  • Members report to team and department

  Advantages

  • More flexible and competitive

  •  Better coordination and corporation

  •  More moral and enthusiasm in employees

  Disadvantages

  •  Dual loyalty and conflict

  • Time and resources on meetings

  • Unplanted decentralization

  Differentiation

  • Group of specialists are normally grouped into same department - functional, divisional, hybrid

  • Vertical = how many levels of hierarchy

  • Horizontal = how many departments on each level of hierarchy

   

  Integration

   

  Formalization

  • The extent to which jobs and procedures are standardized

  • High formalization = clear job description, low responsibility, little creativity, no input as to what and when things are done

  • Lots of rules procedures and policies

  • Select people that will fit into this type of role

  • Worker scheduling and time management is high

  • Low formalization

   

  Downward communication

  • Communication from top manager down to employee

  • Communication of messages get less effective with each layer of hierarchy

  • Workers don’t know what to do when they get the message

  Upward communication

  • Communication from employees to top manager

  • Still gets distorted

  Spatial dispersion

  • The level to which the organizations offices, plant and personnel are dispersed

  • Spatial diversion is high when organization is geographically split

   

  Organization design

  Bureaucratic organization

  • Mechanical

  • Clear division of labor

  • Strict hierarchy of authority

  • Lots of rules, procedures

  • Promotion based on competency

   

  Adaptive organization

  • Organic

  • Culture that encourages worker empowerment and participation

  • Loose and informal systems

   

  • Conclusion

    • Reassessment of Structures: Importance of clearly defining roles and responsibilities across layers for better organisational health.

    • Not just about relegating authority down but ensuring adaptable structures to meet contemporary challenges.

  • Key Concepts in Organising

    • Organising: The deployment of organisational resources for achieving strategic goals.

      • Characteristics of Effective Structure: Includes vertical organisation structure (chains of authority and departmental coordination) and effective coordinating activities, illustrated by operational synergies in workplace scenarios such as those at PaperlinX for enhanced cross-functional collaboration.

    • Organisational Structure Types:

      • Vertical Structure: Organises based on a chain of command with clear delineation of authority among various levels.

      • Horizontal Structure: Emphasizes less hierarchy, promoting collaboration across departments and empowering employees.

      • Work Specialisation: Breaking down tasks into jobs to enhance efficiency.

      • Chain of Command: Defines unbroken lines of authority indicating hierarchy within the organisation.

      • Authority: The hierarchical rights of managers to make decisions, allocate resources, and command employees.

      • Delegation and Accountability: Emphasizes matching authority with responsibility and the importance of clear communication channels to foster accountability.

    •  

Control: The process through which managers regulate organizational activities to ensure consistency with established plans and performance standards. This process is essential for aligning actual performance with expected objectives.

Managerial Functions

Control is one of the four primary functions of management, alongside planning (setting goals and objectives), organizing (arranging resources), and leading (motivating and directing staff).

Control is crucial for managers at all levels, including department heads and executives, to ensure effective organizational performance.

The Importance of Control

Information Requirement: Control necessitates data collection on both standards

• the benchmarks or expected levels of performance, such as sales targets

•  and actual performance (what is actually achieved, like revenue generated).

Quality Regulation: Control is essential for ensuring high-quality outputs in various activities.

•  This can include ensuring that products are defect-free and that research output meets publication standards.

Influence on Behavior:

• Effective control systems encourage desired behaviors like adhering to safety protocols

• and discourage unwanted actions (such as unjustified absences).

• For example, promoting student-centered teaching can enhance educational experiences.

Levels of Planning and Control

Lower Management: Focuses on specific unit or individual tasks and typically has a short-term perspective (daily or weekly tasks).

Middle Management: Addresses department-level tasks and has medium-term goals (monthly quartile performance).

Top Management: Responsible for organization-wide planning and control with a long-term outlook, such as strategic initiatives affecting the next five years.

Examples:

Strategic Control: Monitoring and evaluating long-term business plan projections for loan disbursements over the next five years to ensure alignment with strategic goals.

Departmental Control: Setting and tracking quarterly loan disbursement targets to assess departmental performance.

Operational Control: Monthly performance tracking at branch levels to ensure consistent operational standards across different locations.

Roles of Control

• Coping with uncertainty - Control helps in avoiding potential problems and managing uncertainty in operations.

• Detecting undesirable irregularities - It can detect issues early, such as product defects or unusual increases in operational costs.

• To reduce costs, increase productivity or add value: Effective control reduces expenses and enhances productivity by identifying and eliminating wasteful practices (streamlining).

• It alerts managers to opportunities that arise from better-than-expected performance, allowing organizations to capitalize on favorable circumstances.

• Handling complex situations : Control improves coordination in large organizations, ensuring that departments work together towards common goals.

• Decentralizing authority : It enables decentralized decision-making at lower management levels, enhancing responsiveness to local conditions.

Barriers to Effective Control

Excessive Control: Too much control can lead to bureaucracy, stifling innovation and employee morale.

Lack of Employee Participation: When employees are not involved in the control process, it can limit the legitimacy and effectiveness of these measures.

Focus on Means Instead of Ends: Concentrating on processes rather than outcomes can lead to manipulative behaviors, undermining trust and accountability.

Overemphasis on Paperwork: An excessive focus on maintaining documentation may detract from actual performance measurement and improvement.

Relying on a Single Indicator: Basing conclusions on one performance metric can lead to an incomplete evaluation of effectiveness and outcomes.