130 organisational design Flashcards
what is organisational design
is the process of aligning the structure of an organisation with its objectives, with the aim of improving efficiency. the purpose is to ensure that all the staff understand the business processes, workflows, roles and responsibilities
what does organisational design help employees understand
- their role , responsibilities , who they answer to, who they need to communicate with in order to get certain information and complete certain tasks and who they are in charge of
what does organisational design help employers understand
-who is responsible for each task, delegate work effectively, assign training and support, monitor quality and quantity of work
what is authority
is the power to make decisions and take action; may include the ability to have access to certain resources, dictate the activities of other employees
what is meant by responsibility
the ultimate owner of s project or task. they have to answer for the end result-> in charge of the entire process and need to be responsible for the results
what is meant by chain of command
the paths along which communication takes place and instructions are passed down, and feedback passed up
what is meant by centralised organisations
where most decisions are taken by senior managers and passed down the organisational hierarchy
what is meant by decentralised organisations
where decision making is spread out to include more junior managers in the hierarchy
what is meant by delayering
the process of removing one or more layers in a hierarchy/ organisational structure-> can result in a flatter organisational structure with a wider span of control
(-)/(-) of centralised organisations
(+) greater uniformity, quicker decision making
(-) these structures are less responsive to localised external pressures, lead to demotivated staff who are not being given the opportunity to be involved in decision making
(+)/(-) of decentralised organisations
(+) each department has authority to make decisions-more responsive to changes in individual/local markets. -motivated-given opportunity to make decisions
(-) may lead to poor decisions as branch managers at not be as experienced as managers in the head office
(+)/(-) of tall structures
(+) control, responsibility clearly defined, each worker knows how they fit into the organisational design
(-) the information received by managers can be distorted by the layers it must pass through, very long chains of command-instructions are out of date
(+)/(-) of flat structures
(+) increased motivation as a result of the delegation of authority , decisions are made faster, empowerment of workers
(-) workers may not like the extra responsibility and may be demotivated by it, workers may not have the skills ability to make decisions
(+)/(-) of matrix structures
(+) allows individuals with specific skills to contribute to a number of different projects, helps ideas and innovation spread throughout the business, improved flexibility/motivation of workers
(-) an be expensive as ICT, office staff may be needed, co-ordinating a team from different departments is hard as culture/methods of operation can be very different
what is empowerment, (+)/(-)
involves giving people a grease control over their working lives-> employees plan their own work, make own decisions and solve their own problems
(+) higher motivation- more productivity- higher profits
(-) short term -disruption of training and costs
