HR Organisation Flashcards
What is an organisational structure?
The way in which a business is structured, it is shown on an organisational chart which shows links between managers and workers showing lines of authority
What is a span of control?
Number of subordinates answering to a line manager
What is a chain of command?
Line of communication in the organisational structure, the way responsibility for employees is organised
What are layers of heirachy?
Layers of authority
What is delayering?
Removing layers of the business that are unnecessary
What is empowerment?
Providing employees with more responsibility and authority, makes the individual motivated and feel valued, a form of delegation
What is organisation by product?
Known as profit centres, profits coming in are attributed to the associated product, can see which products are performing well
What is organising by system?
Splitting the business into specialist areas which operate together to make the business function efficiently. Each part has some input into the output of the product. E.G CEOS -> Production, Finance, HR, Marketing -> Products
What is a horizontal/flat organisational structure?
Management -> supervisors -> shop floor workers
Large span of control, associated with democratic leadership, delegation encouraged, good for small businesses, little room for decision making
What is a mechanistic/ vertical structure?
Smaller span of control, less democratic, more autocratic, more bureacracy, decision making slow, clear progression and promotion
What is a centralised structure?
Leader involved in all decisions and communication, associated with autocratic leaders who want firm control of the business
What is a decentralised structure?
Allows decisions to be made away from head office, can be decentralised by product or area, span of control will be wide, style of leadership will be democratic, allows for new ideas
What is a matrix structure?
Where employees with similar skills are put together to complete tasks or projects, with one manager supervising. Needs to be co operation for it to work, can be confusing, employees must be highly skilled
Why is having an organisational structure valuable?
- Shows opportunities for promotion, can be motivating
- Allow employees to know who is superior to them
- Can see where delayering can occur
- Sense of order, communication clear
What is corporate culture?
The way things are done in an organisation
What does culture consist of?
- Shared values of a business
- Beliefs and norms that affect every aspect of work
- Behaviours that are typical of day-to-day
- Strength of a culture determines how difficult or easy it is to know how to behave in a business
How is culture demonstrated?
- Recruitment/selection panel
- How they treat their employees, levels of trust, fringe benefits
- How they communicate with each other
- The mission statement
- Procedures
- Atmosphere
- Uniform/dress
- Working day
Characteristics of a strong culture
- Staff understand and respond
- Little need for policies and procedures
- Consistent behaviour
- Culture is embedded
Characteristics of a weak culture
- Little alignment with business values
- Inconsistency
- A need for extensive bureacracy and procedure
Why might a culture need changing?
- To improve performance
- If it is a weak culture
- Change of market
- Low quality standards of customer service
- To respond to significant change
Barriers to culutral change:
- Tradition and set ways
- Loyalty to existing relationships
- Failure to accept the need to change
- Insecurity
- Preference to the existing relationship
