Week 10: Organisational Design Flashcards
Organisational Structure
Formal system of dividing the tasks to be performed grouping these into positions with clearly defined responsibilities. It involves coordinating these taks under a chain of command to guide the organisation towards the accomplishment of objectives.
Organisation structure varies
Influenced by organisational goals, external environment, department functions.
Structure facilitates or hinders ability to achieve organisational goals
Organisational Design
The process of creating or modifying the structure and systems in addition to the vision, mission, goals, values and culture of an organisation.
When and why did the classical approaches to organisational design emerge
Emerged during industrial revolution when there was a changing nature of work. Increased urbanisation and mechanisation of work
Three theories under the classical approach
Scientific Management (Fredrick Taylor)
Fayol’s Administrative Theory (‘General principles of management’)
Ideal Bureaucracy (Max Weber)
‘General Principles of Management’
Departmentalisation is the key concept. Functionally similar activities identified and classified (e.g. Marketing department, Strategy team etc.). This leads to more effective and efficient design. Management is considered to be a separate function.
14 General Principles of management
I doubt you need to know all of these but it probably helps to know a few
- Division of work
- Authority and responsibility
- Discipline
- Unity of command
- Unity of direction
- Subordination of individual interest to the general interest
- Remuneration
- Centralisation
- Scalar chain
- Order
- Equity
- Stability of tenure
- Initiative
- Esprit de corps
Ideal Bureaucracy is the ideal structure for:
Organisations (private and public)
Features of ideal bureaucracy
- Specialisation and division of labour
- Hierarchical positions
- Recruitment based upon qualifications
- Performance regulated by abstract rules
- Interpersonal relationships
Note about approaches:
There were a couple of other approaches on the slides but I didn’t make cards for them because they weren’t on the checklist
You’re the very best best friend I could ever ask for :D
Six features on which an organisational design can vary:
- Task specialisation and division of labour
- Departmentalisation
- Chain of command
- Span of control
- Centralisation-decentralisation
- Formalisation-standardisation
Specialisation and division of work is needed because it is
Impractical in most cases for one person to complete a job and it makes personnel selection easier
Division of labour:
dividing work into different skill units and assigning them to different individuals rather than having each individual do the whole job
Specialisation
Identifying clearly definable work modules and focusing on them to develop narrow areas of expertise, leading to division of labour
Departmentalisation
There’s a model on the slides
: D
Chain of command
principle that organisations should have an authority structure linking the topmost position to the lowest.
Unity of command
principle that employee should only have only one superior to report to. Prevents conflict
Span of control
Number of subordinates a manager has directly reporting to them
Wide Span of Control
Larger number of subordinates which leads to flatter organisational hierarchy, better communication, decreased wage costs and increased employee empowerment but potentially less effective supervisor and support
Narrow Span of Control
Lower number of subordinates leads to increased supervision and support but. poorer communication. increased wage costs and decreased employee empowerment
Centralisation
Formal decision making rests with senior positions within the formal structure. Leads to increased control
and it facilitates coordination but there is slow decision-making, and employee disempowerment.
Decentralisation
Leads to faster decision-making, employee empowerment and availability of information however there is a loss of control and potential misalignment with organisation goals
Formalisation
Includes standardisation and implicit formalisation
Standardisation
Extent to which an organisation has clearly defined rules, procedures and written documents of events and process
