2.2 Organizational structure Flashcards
Delegation?
✓ occurs when a manager gives authority for a particular decision to someone else but he still holds responsibility for the outcome of that decision.
The span of control ?
✓ Points to how many employees/subordinates are directly under the authority of a particular manager.
Mostly, various assistants and juniors are not included in the span of control
A level of hierarchy?
✓ A level of responsibility within a business.
Levels range from most senior, the chief executive officer (CEO), to the most junior, the “junior” working in the marketing department.
The chain of command?
✓ The formal route though which a decision must travel. Usually, decisions are made at the highest level and are communicated down.
Bureaucracy ?
✓ An organization that is “bureaucratic” has many rules and procedures. Is associated with businesses that are well established and have been operating for many years
✓ may have neutral (clear rules) or negative (flexible thinking and delegation are not expected) meaning
Is more related to a tall structure rather then to a flat structure
Characteristics of Centralization?
✓ When the majority of decisions are made by a small group of individuals in a senior position within the business.
✓ usually many levels of hierarchy and
✓ narrow spans of control – for effective control of their subordinates.
✓ delegation rarely happens and
✓ leadership is more likely to be autocratic.
Decentralization?
✓ Decisions are made by middle managers. Senior management is likely to retain control of key strategic decisions.
De-layering?
✓ Reduction of the levels of hierarchy by removing layers of management.
Characteristics of a flat structure?
✓ Few levels of hierarchy
✓ Wider span of control.
✓ Decentralized decision making. and delegations
✓ short command chains
A tall structure
✓ has many levels of hierarchy and
✓ narrow spans of control
✓ autocratic leadership (probable) and
✓ decision making is centralized, with less delegation.
✓ long chains of command
What is a PA of the CEO in hierarchy?
The personal assistant (PA) to the CEO is not included in the levels of hierarchy
Line managers ?
A line manager is the first layer of management above the front line workers. They’re accountable for their department, or part in the business.
A project-based organizational structure or a MATRIX
Usual for IT, architects etc.
✓ Business’s human resources are organized around many projects.
✓ Project managers run teams of employees focusing on individual projects.
✓ After the project is completed, the team is split up and reassembled to begin another project.
✓ Each team “borrows” members of different departments such as accountants, operations managers and marketing specialists.
The shamrock model (Charles Handy)
● The first leaf represents the core managers, technicians and employees essential to the business.
● The second leaf is the contractual fringe, because non-core activities are subcontracted out to specialist businesses.
● The third leaf consists of a flexible/unskilled/seasonal workforce
The process of communicating a message
The sender - encoding the message - the appropriate media - the receiver - decoding - feedback.
Importance of feedback
feedback ensures that the message has been understood and acted upon successfully.
What may be cause disruptions in communication?
● The wrong code of the massage
● The wrong receiver
● The wrong media
● A background noise.
What may cause disruptions in a communication?
● The wrong code of the massage
● The wrong receiver
● The wrong media
Communication forms?
Formal/informal:
● Verbal
● Visual
● Written
A background noise in communication?
Also called interference - anything that interferes with the communication process between a speaker and an audience.
Examples of causes - different perception of the same messages due to different culture, age etc;
A hierarchical organization?
Also used synonymously to tall structure:
Pyramidal with many layers (workers>supervisors>managers>senior managers>executives>CEO) or long chain of command with usually a narrow span of control.
Individuals tend to have specialized skills.
Decision-making typically has to go through many layers and is therefore not a quick process.
Which type of structure is characterised with:
Decisions flow from top down and information - from the bottom up.
Authority/decision-making is centralized and delegated authority, if any, is narrowly defined.
Tall/hierarchical
Which type of structure is characterised with:
Individuals tend to have specialized skills.
Decision-making typically has to go through many layers and is therefore not a quick process.
Tall/hierarchical
Which type of structure is characterised with teamwork?
Matrix
Which type/model of structure implies outsourcing?
The shamrock model (Charles Handy)
Which type of structure would adopt a company, where the processes are standardised and front line workers all know what to do? What type would be the control span?
Flat structure, wide span of control
Which type of workers will be the outsourced marketing staff working for the company? (Shamrock model of Handy)
Contractual fringe
Which type of worker will be the designer of the company, who managed to differentiate well the company products form the competitors ? (Shamrock model of Handy)
Core
Which type of structure would be appropriate for an ambitious worker to be promoted and to build a career?
Opportunity for promotion is high in a tall structure.
Which type of structure causes faster decision-making process?
Flat
Disadvantages of a tall structure?
Slow decision-making
Costly
What levels of bureaucracy is expected to be in France which has high index in Uncertainty Avoidance (Hofstede)
High
Limitations of centralisation?
Many levels of hierarchy slows down a decision making
Autocratic leadership may limit motivation, initiative and innovation
Limitations of decentralisation
Faster decisions may prove to be made by unqualified staff and may result in large damages, particularly in high risk areas
Coordination failures may result in insufficiencies.
Benefits and Limitations of Bureaucracy
Benefit:
If rules are well drafted based on research and experience, company may avoid bad decisions; Processes may be fast
Limitation:
may be inflexible when unusual event occur
