Chapter 11 - Organizational structures and processes Flashcards
Organizational Process
The collection of activities that transforms inputs into outputs that customers value.
Departmentalization
Subdividing work and workers into separate organizational units responsible for completing particular tasks.
Traditional Organizational Structures
5 types of departmentalization
- Functional Departmentalization
- Product Departmentalization
- Customer Departmentalization
- Geographic Departmentalization
- Matrix Departmentalization
Functional Departmentalization
Organizing work and workers into separate units responsible for particular business functions or areas of expertise.
Advantages of Functional Departmentalization
- allows work to be done by highly qualified specialists
- lowers costs by reducing duplication
- with everyone in the same department having similar work experience or training, communication and coordination are less problematic for department managers
Disadvantages of Functional Departmentalization
- cross-department coordination can be difficult
- managers and employees are more interested in doing what’s right for their function then what’s right for the entire organization
- as companies grow, functional departmentalization may also lead to slower decision-making and produce managers and workers with narrow experience and expertise
Product Departmentalization
Organizing work and workers into separate units responsible for producing particular products or services.
Advantages of Product Departmentalization
- it’s allows managers and employees to specialize in one area of expertise
- managers and workers develop a broader set of experiences and expertise related to an entire product line
- makes it easier for top managers to assess work-unit performance
- decision-making should be faster because there are fewer conflicts (compared to functional departmentalization
Disadvantages of Product Departmentalization
- duplication; as this often results in higher costs
- can be difficult to achieve coordination across the different product departments
Customer Departmentalization
Organizing work and workers into separate units responsible for particular kinds of customers
Organizational Structure
The vertical and horizontal configuration of departments, authority,and jobs within the company.
Advantages of Customer Departmentalization
- focuses the organization on customer needs rather than on products or business functions
- creating separate departments to serve specific kinds of customers allows companies to specialize and adapt their products and services to customer needs and problems
Disadvantages of Customer Departmentalization
- it leads to duplication of resources
- it can be difficult to achieve coordination across different customer departments
- the emphasis on meeting customers’ needs may lead workers to make decisions that please customers but hurt the business
Geographic Departmentalization
Organizing work and workers into separate units responsible for doing business in particular geographical areas.
Advantages of Geographic Departmentalization
- it helps companies respond to the demands of different markets
- can reduce costs by locating unique organizational resources closer to customers
Disadvantages of Geographic Departmentalization
- it can lead to duplication of resources
- it can be especially difficult to coordinate departments that are literally thousands of km’s from each other and whose managers have very limited contact with each other
Matrix Departmentalization
A hybrid organizational structure in which two or more forms of departmentalization, most often product and functional, are used together.
Distinguishing Features of Matrix Departmentalization
- most employees report to two bosses, a functional boss and a project or product boss
- leads to much more cross-functional interaction
- requires significant coordination between functional and project managers
Advantages of Matrix Departmentalization
- allows companies to efficiently manage and carry out large, complex tasks such as researching, developing, and marketing
- helps to avoid duplication
- matrix project managers have a much more diverse set of expertise and experience at their disposal
Disadvantages of Matrix Departmentalization
- the high level of coordination required to manage the complexity involved with running large, ongoing projects at various levels of completion
- are notorious for confusion and conflict between project bosses, or between project and functional bosses
- requires much more management skills
Three parts of organizational structure
- departmentalization
- organizational authority
- job design
Three parts of intraorganizational processes
- re-engineering
- empowerment
- behaviour informality
Authority
The right to give commands, take action, and make decisions to achieve organizational objectives.
Organizational Authority is characterized by: (4)
- chain of command
- line versus staff authority
- delegation of authority
- degree of centralization
Chain of Command
The vertical line of authority that clarifies who reports to whom throughout the organization.
Unity of Command
A management principle that workers should report to just one boss.
Span of Control
The number of people reporting to a specific supervisor.
Line Authority
The right to command immediate subordinates in the chain of command.