Lecture note-12-organizational-structure-and-design
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An organizational structure divides tasks into jobs, groups jobs into departments, and coordinates relationships between jobs and departments. Developing or changing this structure is called organizational design, which involves decisions about six key elements: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization/decentralization, and formalization. Common types of departmentalization include functional, product, customer, geographic, and process. The chain of command clarifies reporting relationships and authority. Span of control refers to the number of subordinates a manager oversees. Centralization concentrates decision-making at the top while decentralization pushes it down. Formalization standardizes jobs and guides employee behavior through rules.
Lecture note-12-organizational-structure-and-design
- 1. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE and DESIGN WHAT IS AN ORGANIZATION'S STRUCTURE? An organizational structure is the formal framework by which job tasks are divided, grouped, and coordinated. The challenge for managers is to design an organizational structure that allows employees to effectively and efficiently do their work. ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN Developing or changing an organizational structure is called engaging in organisational design. This process involves decisions about six key elements. 1. Work Specialization 2. Departmentalization 3. Chain of Command 4. Span of Control 5. Centralization/Decentralization 6. Formalization 1. Work Specialization Work specialization to describe the degree to which tasks in an organization are divided into separate jobs. An entire job is not done by one individual but instead is broken down into steps, and each step is completed by a different person. Individual employees specialize in doing part of an activity rather than the entire activity. 2. Departmentalization Departmentalization is the process of grouping activities into departments. Every Organization has its own way of classifying and grouping work activities. There are five common types of departmentalization. • Functional departmentalization – In functional departmentalization ,departments are separated on basis of tasks they perform. Employees are placed in these departments with shared skills and knowledge into for example, human resources, IT, accounting, manufacturing,
- 2. marketing, and engineering. Functional departmentalization can be used in all types of organizations. • Product departmentalization – Departments are separated based on a type of product produced by the company. Here, every individual department is responsible for producing and selling the type of products assigned to them. For example , a car manufacturing company, may have departments based on motorcycles, cars and trucks. • Customer departmentalization - Grouping activities on the basis of common customers or types of customers. Jobs may be grouped according to the type of customer served by the organization. It is thought that customers in each department have a common set of problems and needs that can best be met by specialists. For example: The sales activities in an office supply firm can be broken down into three departments that are retail customers, wholesale customers and government customers. • Geographic departmentalization - Grouping activities on the basis of territory. If an organization's customers are geographically spread, it can group jobs based on geography. For example, the organization structure of Coca-Cola is based on two broad geographic areas – the North American sector and the international sector, which includes rest of the world. • Process departmentalization – In process departmentalization , departments are separated based on their role in a production process. Because each process requires different skills, process departmentalization allows similar activities to be categorized. For example, in a textile mill there is a spinning deparment, weaving department, colour dyeing depertment and printing department. 3. Chain of Command The chain of command is the continuous line of authority that extends from upper organizational levels to the lowest levels and clarifies, who reports to whom. It can also be defined as : A system in which authority passes down from the top through a series of executive positions or ranks in which each is accountable to the direct superior. It helps employees answer questions such as "Who do I go to if I have a problem?" or "To whom am I responsible?" Authority : Authority means the rights contained in a manager’s position to tell people what to do and to expect them to do.
- 3. Responsibility : The obligation or expectation to perform. Unity of Command : This concept means to report to only one manager. It is important to have unity of command to avoid conflicting demands from multiple bosses. 4. Span of Control Span of control means the number of subordinates a manager has control over.Span of control also tells the number of levels and managers of an organization. If the span is wider and larger, then organization is considered as more efficient because less managers control more number of employees. 5. Centralization and Decentralization Centralization The degree to which decision-making is concentrated at a single point in the organizations. Organizations in which top managers make all the decisions and lower-level employees simply carry out those orders. Decentralization Organizations in which decision-making is pushed down to the managers who are closest to the activities. It is considered that decentralization provides opportunity for employee empowerment. 6.Formalization The degree to which jobs within the organization are standardized and the extent to which employee behaviour is guided by rules and procedures. Highly formalized jobs offer little power over what is to be done. Low formalization means fewer restriction on how employees do their work.