organizational structure and design Flashcards
the division of labor as well as the patterns of coordination, communication, workflow, and formal power
organizational structure
two fundamental requirements of organizational structures
division of labor and coordination
leads to job specialization which increases work efficiency. tasks are mastered quickly because work cycles are shorter
division of labor
three coordinating mechanisms
informal communication, formal hierarchy, standardization
sharing information in mutual tasks. exchange large volumes of information
coordination through informal communication
serve as mediators, so their duties also include negotiating with others
liaison roles
responsible for coordinating a work process by
encouraging employees in each work unit to share information and informally coordinate work activities.
integrator roles
the organization of employees from several departments into a temporary team for the purpose of developing a product or service
concurrent engineering
the optimal coordinating mechanism
coordination
refers to routine and simple tasks
standardized process
refers to clearly defined goals and output measures
standardized output
refers to training and educational programs
standardized skill
involves creating routine patterns of behavior/input
coordination through standardization
elements of organizational structure
span of control, centralization, formalization, departmentalization
very few people report directly to a
manager. for novel / complex tasks and high interdependence
narrow span of control
manager has many direct reports. for
routinary tasks. note: hard to closely monitor.
wide span of control
the best-performing manufacturing plants currently have an average of…
38 production employees per supervisor
the degree to which formal decision authority is held by a small group of people, typically those at the top of the organizational hierarchy.
centralization
they disperse decision authority and power throughout the organization
decentralization
The degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms. Increase efficiency and compliance.
formalization
stable environments that rely on efficiency and routine behaviors
mechanistic structure
rapidly changing environments. fits with organizational learning, high-performance workplaces, and quality management
organic structure
six most common pure types of departmentalization
simple, functional, divisional, team-based, matrix, network
a structure with minimal hierarchy, broadly defined roles, and depends on owner’s direct supervision
simple structure
organizes employees around specific knowledge or other resources. specifically, they considered the possibility of creating departments around the various specializations
functional structure
an organizational structure in which employees are organized around geographic areas, outputs (products or services), or clients.
divisional structure
three types of divisional structures
geographic, product/service, client
organizational structure built around self-directed teams that complete an entire piece of work. formalization is also low
team-based structure
an organizational structure that overlays two structures (such as a geographic divisional and a functional structure) in order to leverage the benefits of both.
matrix structure
an alliance of several organizations for the purpose of creating a product or serving a client
network structure
contingencies of organizational design
- external environment
- organizational size
- technology
- organizational strategy
refers to the mechanisms or processes by which an organization turns out its product or service (under contingencies)
technology
the number of exceptions to standard procedure that tend to occur
variability
the predictability or difficulty of the required work
analyzability
