chapter 13 organizational behavior

Four characteristics of external environments influence the type of organizational structure best suited to a particular situation Complex versus Simple Environments

example, a major university library operates in a more complex environment than a small-town public library book borrowing, online fulltext databases, research centres, course reserve collections, and so on A small-town public library has fewer of these demands placed on it Decentralization is a logical choice for complex environments because decisions are pushed down to people and subunits with the necessary information to make informed choices.

Functional Organizational Structure

organizes employees around specific knowledge or other resources (see Exhibit 13.4 ). Employees with marketing expertise are grouped into a marketing uni

Organizational strategy

refers to the way the organization positions itself in its setting in relation to its stakeholders, given the organization's resources, capabilities, and mission

as companies grow

that a company with a wider span of control has more employees per supervisor, more supervisors for each middle manager, and so on

Functional Organizational Structure benefits

This provides more economies of scale than are possible if functional specialists are spread over different parts of the organization. -It increases employee identity with the specialization or profession supervision is easier in functional structures because managers oversee people with common issues and expertise

team structure

This type of structure is usually organic. There is a wide span of control because teams operate with minimal supervision Team structures are highly decentralized because almost all day-to-day decisions are made by team members rather than someone further up the organizational hierarchy.

narrow spam of control is possible when

(formal hairy plays a role) (its required when employees tend to experience conflict with each other narrow spam of control is needed there. high interdependence narrow spam of control is needed when employees are doing complex task Tall organizations have a 'narrow' span of control Unfortunately, building a taller hierarchy (more layers of management) creates problems. One concern is that executives in tall structures tend to receive lower-quality and less timely information A second problem is that taller structures have higher overhead costs. With more managers per employee, tall hierarchies necessarily have more people administering the company, thereby reducing the percentage of staff who are actually making the product or providing the service employees usually feel less empowered and engaged in their work. Hierarchies are power structures, so more levels of hierarchy tend to draw away power from people at the bottom of that hierarchy

Division of Labour and Coordination and coordination of work

-Division of labour limited to ability to coordinate that work (In other words, an organization's ability to divide work among people depends on how well those people can coordinate with each other. Otherwise, individual effort is wasted due to misalignment, duplication, and mistiming of tasks.) Coordinating work can be costly

devision of labour and coordination

-Results in specialization, separate jobs for different people (Subdivided work leads to job specialization , because each job now includes a narrow subset of the tasks necessary to complete the product or service) -•Improves work efficiency (Job incumbents can master their tasks quickly because work cycles are shorter. Less time is wasted changing from one task to another. )

Other Coordinating Mechanisms formal hierarchy

-discrete supervision work is coordinated through direct supervision. the chain of command

team structure benefits

2 It tends to reduce costs because teams have less reliance on formal hierarchy (direct supervision allows quicker and more informed decision making. 53 has gained popularity because it tends to be flexible and responsive in turbulent environments

Describe three types of coordination in organizational structures standertization

Creating routine patterns of behaviour or output strategies (Standardized skills Standardized processes Standardized output)

divisional structure cons

Duplication, inefficient use of resources First, tends to duplicate resources, such as production equipment and engineering or information technology expertise Silos of knowledge - expertise isolated across divisions unless the division is quite large, resources are not used as efficiently as they are in functional structures where resources are pooled across the entire organization Executive power affected by shifting divisional structure

Functional Organizational Structure limitations

Grouping employees around their skills tends to focus attention on those skills and related professional needs rather than on the company's product, service, or client needs Unless people are transferred from one function to the next, they might not develop a broader understanding of the business (poo coordination across units) employees need to work with coworkers in other departments to complete organizational tasks, yet they have different subgoals and mental models of ideal work

Four characteristics of external environments influence the type of organizational structure best suited to a particular situation Diverse versus Integrated Environment

Organizations located in diverse environments have a greater variety of products or services, clients, and regions In contrast, an integrated environment has only one client, product, and geographic area. The more diversified the environment, the more the firm needs to use a divisional structure aligned with that diversity

divisional structurE

Organizes employees around outputs, clients, or geographic area Best type depends on environmental diversity, uncertainty Geographic structures becoming less common

problem with formalization

Rules and procedures reduce organizational flexibility High levels of formalization tend to undermine organizational learning and creativity. Some work rules become so convoluted that organizational efficiency would decline if they were actually followed as prescribed. Formalization is also a source of job dissatisfaction and work stress. Finally, rules and procedures

Describe three types of coordination in organizational structures. informal communication

Sharing information on mutual tasks; forming common mental models to synchronize work activities strategies (Direct communication Liaison roles Integrator roles Temporary teams ) is vital in nonroutine and ambiguous situations because employees need to exchange a large volume of

Centralization/Decentralization

The degree to which formal decision-making authority is held by a small group of people, typically those at the top of the organizational hierarchy. Consequently, larger organizations typically decentralize; that is, they disperse decision authority and power throughout the organization varying degrees of centralization in different areas of the company example : decentralized ;sales centralized (infotech)

Formalization

The degree to which organizations standardize behaviour through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms. In other words, companies become more formalized as they increasingly rely on various forms of standardization to coordinate work. McDonald's Restaurants and most other efficient fast-food chains typically have a high degree of formalization because they rely on standardization of work processes as a coordinating mechanism

team based structure

ab organizational structure built around self-directed team that completes an entire work

project based matrix structure

employees are temporarily assigned to a specific project team an have a permanent dysfunctional unit

Four characteristics of external environments influence the type of organizational structure best suited to a particular situation Dynamic versus Stable Environments

have a high rate of change, leading to novel situations and a lack of identifiable patterns -needs Organic structures In contrast, stable environments are characterized by regular cycles of activity and steady changes -enabling the firm to apply rules and procedures. Mechanistic structure

Organizational Structure Define

is the division of labour, as well as the patterns of coordination, communication, workflow, and formal power that direct organizational activities

project based matrix structure benefit

it improves communication efficiency, project flexibility, and innovation employees on serving clients or creating products yet keeps people organized around their specialization, so knowledge sharing improves and human resources are used more efficiently

Elements of Organizational Structure wider span of control is possible when

number of people directly reporting to the next level Other coordinating mechanisms are present• informal hairachy Routine tasks•Low employee interdependence and low interdependence . narrow spam of control is needed when employees are doing complex task flat organizations have a 'wide' span of control and

team based structure cons

the team-based structure can be costly to maintain due to the need for ongoing interpersonal skills training. Teamwork potentially takes more time to coordinate than formal hierarchy during the early stages of team development

MECHANISTIC structure

An organizational structure with a narrow span of control and a high degree of formalization and centralization, virtual rather horizontal communication -task are rigidly defined .

Describe three types of coordination in organizational structures. formal heirachy

Assigning legitimate power to individuals, who then use this power to direct work processes and allocate resources strategies (direct supervision)

Four characteristics of external environments influence the type of organizational structure best suited to a particular situation Hostile versus Munificent Environments

Firms located in a hostile environment face resource scarcity and more competition in the marketplace Hostile environments are typically dynamic ones because they reduce the predictability of access to resources and demand for output Organic structures tend to be best in hostile environments

divisional structure benefits

The divisional organizational structure is a building-block structure; (As the company develops new products, services, or clients, it can sprout new divisions.) Focuses on markets/products/clients it accommodates growth relatively easily and focuses employee attention on products or customers rather than tasks

The external environment

The external environment includes anything outside the organization, including most stakeholders (e.g., clients, suppliers, government), resources (e.g., raw materials, human resources, information, finances), and competitors.