Organisational Structure Flashcards
What are the three types of organisations?
1) For-profit: Make profits by offering G+S.
2) Non-profit: Offer services to clients rather than make profit.
3) Mutual-benefit orgs: Volunteer collectives to advance members’ interests.
Define Vertical Hierarchy of Authority and Horizontal Specialisation
Vertical Hierarchy of Authority: Chain of command who talks to whom.
Horizontal Specialisation:
Different jobs or work specialisation.
4 Common Elements of Organisations?
1) Common purpose unifying members
2) Coordinated effort: working for common purpose, realised through coordinated effort.
3) Division of labour
4) Hierarchy of Authority
3 More Elements Most Agree On?
5) Span of Control: Narrow (or tall) vs wide (or flat)
No. of People reporting directly to a given manager.
6) Authority, responsibility and delegation
7) Centralisation vs decentralisation of authority.
Who makes the important decisions?
Difference between narrow and wide span of control?
Narrow: Manager has a limited number of people reporting to them.
Wide: Manager has several people reporting to them.
Difference between tall and flat span of control?
Tall: Many levels of narrow spans of control.
Flat: Few levels, wide spans of control.
Difference between Centralised and Decentralised authority?
Centralised, decisions made by higher managers.
Decentralised: important decisions made by middle-level and supervisory-level managers.
3 Types of Organisational Structure?
1) Traditional
2) Horizontal
3) Open boundaries between organisations.
What are the 4 examples of Traditional structures?
1) Simple: Authority centralised in a single person. Flat hierarchy, few rules and low work specialisation. Usually at initial stages.
2) Functional: People with similar specialties put in formal groups.
3) Divisional: People with diverse occupational specialties put together in formal groups by similar factors e.g. products, customers.
4) Matrix: Gathers employees from different areas of the business to achieve certain goals. Short-term, disbanded after.
Horizontal
Teams that are temporary or permanent are used to improve collaboration and work on shared tasks by breaking down internal boundaries.
What are the 3 designs that open boundaries between organisations?
1) Hollow/Network: Central core of key functions, outsources other functions to cheaper and faster vendors.
2) Modular: Outsources pieces of a product rather than processes of an org.
3) Virtual: Members separated by geography. Targets a market opportunity, communicate through the internet.
Factors to consider in designing and organisation’s structure?
1) Environment - Mechanic vs organic.
2) Environment - Differentiation vs integration
3) Stage in the life cycle
Difference between mechanic and organic?
Mechanic: authority is centralised, tasks and rules are clearly specified and employees are closely supervised. Best in a stable environment.
Organic: Authority is decentralised. Fewer rules + procedures + network of employees encouraged to cooperate and respond quickly to unexpected tasks.
What are the 4 stages in the life cycle?
1) Birth: non bureaucratic stage. No written rules and few is any supporting staff.
2) Youth: Pre-bureaucratic stage, stage of growth and expansion.
3) Midlife: Org becomes bureaucratic. Growth evolving into stability. Decentralisation of functional divisions and many rules.
4) Maturity stage. Org becomes bureaucratic, large and mechanistic. Danger is lack of innovation.
