Module 5: Pros and Cons of Different Types of Organizational Structures Flashcards
What are the pros of a Hierarchical Structure?
+ helps establish a clear line of authority and reporting within the organization
+ clarifies employee roles and responsibilities
+ establishes a clear career path for employees which can in turn keep them motivated
+ allows employees to be in-depth specialists as they are more likely to have niche positions
What are the cons of a Hierarchical Structure?
+ slow decision-making
+ disconnected lower and top-level management
+ inconsistencies in communication
+ restricted information due to the very little downward flow of information to the lower-level employees
What are the pros of a Functional Structure?
+ promotes skill specialization
+ reduces duplication of scarce resources and uses resources full time
+ enhances career development for
specialists within large departments
+ facilitates communication and performance because superiors share expertise with their subordinates
+ exposes specialists to others within the same specialty
What are the cons of a Functional Structure?
+ emphasizes routine tasks, which encourages short-time horizons
+ fosters parochial perspectives by
managers, which limit their capabilities for top-management positions
+ reduces communication and cooperation between departments
+ multiplies the interdepartmental dependencies, which can make coordination and sched
What are the pros of a Multidimensional/Divisional Structure?
+ easily expand products or services merely by adding new division
+ each division operates as a separate entity, thus greater accountability
+ growth relatively easily
+ outcome-focused
+ direct employee attention to customers
and products rather than to their own specialized knowledge
+ recognizes sources of interdepartmental
dependencies
+ foster an orientation toward overall outcomes and clients
+ allows diversification and expansion of skills and training
+ ensures accountability by departmental
managers and so promotes delegation of
authority and responsibility
+ heightens departmental cohesion and
involvement in work
What are the cons of a Multidimensional/Divisional Structure?
+ duplication of areas of expertise
+ workers with similar skills and expertise may not be able to benefit from professional interaction with each other because they are housed in different divisions
+ expertise is spread across several
autonomous business units, which reduces the ability and perhaps motivation of the people in one division to share
their knowledge with other counterparts in
other divisions
+ may use skills and resources inefficiently
+ limits career advancement by specialists to movements out of their departments
+ impedes specialists’ exposure to others within the same specialties
+ puts multiple-role demands on people and so creates stress
+ may promote departmental objectives,
as opposed to overall organizational objectives
What are the pros of a Simple Structure?
+ minimal hierarchy
+ highly flexible and minimizes the walls that form between employees
What are the cons of a Simple Structure?
+ insufficient economies of scale to assign them to specialized jobs
+ difficult to operate as the company grows and become more complex
What are the pros of a Flat Structure?
+ greater interaction between top and bottom of the organization
+ focuses resources on customer satisfaction
+ improves speed and efficiency
+ adapts to environmental change rapidly
+ increases ability to see total workflow
+ enhances employee involvement
+ lower costs because of less overhead structure
What are the cons of a Flat Structure?
+ offer few promotional opportunities
+ supervision may not always be adequate since many workers report to the same supervisor
+ can threaten middle managers and staff
specialists
+ requires changes in command-and-control mindsets
+ duplicate scarce resources
+ requires new skills and knowledge to manage lateral relationships and
teams
+ may take longer to make decisions in teams
+ can be ineffective if wrong processes are
identified
What are the pros of a Tall Structure?
+ may offer lower-level employees many different promotional opportunities
throughout their careers
+ adequate supervision since each supervisor is only responsible for a few
employees
What are the cons of a Tall Structure?
+ workers at the bottom level may feel cut-off from those who are above
because they are separated by many levels
+ can become “top heavy” with administrators and managers, because the
ratio of line workers to supervisors is very low
+ executives tend to receive lower-quality and less-timely information
+ high overhead costs – necessarily have more people administering the company
+ employees feel less empowered and engaged in their work
What are the pros of a Matrix Structure?
+ highly flexible and adaptable
+ high levels of performance in dealing
with complex, creative work products
+ greater work communication and job
satisfaction
+ makes very good use of resources and expertise
+ improves communication efficiency, project flexibility, and innovation
+ makes specialized, functional knowledge
available to all projects
+ uses people flexibly, because departments maintain reservoirs of
specialists
+ maintains consistency between different
departments and projects by forcing
communication between managers
+ recognizes and provides mechanisms for dealing with legitimate, multiple
sources of power in the organization
+ can adapt to environmental changes
by shifting emphasis between project and
functional aspects
What are the cons of a Matrix Structure?
+ do not work well with all types of tasks or
workers
+ best suited for projects and products that requires creativity and innovation
but less suited for routine tasks
+ report to two bosses simultaneously can cause confusion and conflict
+ increases conflict among managers who
share equal power
+ can be very difficult to introduce without a preexisting supportive management climate
+ increases role ambiguity, stress, and
anxiety by assigning people to more than one department
+ without power balancing between
product and functional forms, lowers overall performance
+ makes inconsistent demands, which may
result in unproductive conflicts and short-term crisis management
+ may reward political skills as opposed to
technical skills
What are the pros of a Team Organization/Team-Based Structure?
+ collab with other workers to get the job
done
+ each worker is viewed as knowledgeable and skilled
+ team members have considerable input into organizational decision making
+ less emphasis on organizational status
+ more flexible and responsive in turbulent
environments
+ reduce costs
+ allows quicker and more informed decision-making
