Class 3: Organizational structures

Question 1

What is organizational structure?

Answer 1

This is the system of job and task creation which dictates how tasks are divided

Question 2

List the elements of Organizational structure

Answer 2

Division of Labour (Work Specialization).
Departmentalization.
Span of Control.
Delegation of Authority.
Centralization and Decentralization.
Formalization.

Question 3

Importance’s of division of labor are?

Answer 3

Division of labour helps minimize production errors in a business.

With division of labour, employees perform better and focus on doing part of a task rather than its entirety thereby increasing efficiency and/or productivity.

Division of labour quickens a business’ production process.

Question 4

Departmentalization types are:

Answer 4

functional departmentalization,
product-service
process
territorial/geographical
customer

Question 5

What is span of control?

Answer 5

This refers to the amount of subordinates under the supervision of a manager

Question 6

What are the approaches to determine span of control?

Answer 6

Hamilton’s theory (the human brain can only handle 3 to 6 other brains)
Graciuna’s formula (the number of subordinates increases arithmetically, relationships increase geometrically,
formula : N = n [2n – 1 + (n – 1)]
Urwick’s span of control Lyndall F. Urwick ( 4 for top tier and 8 to 10 for low tier)

Question 7

Types of organizational structures

Answer 7

Functional & divisional structures.
Vertical & horizontal structures.
Matrix structure.
Mechanistic & organic structures.