Organizational Behavior: The Foundation of an Organization

horizontal

1980s team and process oriented segments of work flow, flattens the hierarchy and dissolves departmental boundaries

three reccomendations for improving organizatinal learning

1) improve on 5 steps, use a a survey to asses the extent to which your organization is a learning org 2) realize that leader behavior, organizational culture and climate drive learning 3) learn from failure, failure occurs when an activity fails to deliver its expected results or outcomes

Four basic dimensions of organizational structure

hierarchy of authority, division of labor, spans of control, line and staff positions

what three types of design are open?

hollow, modular, virtual

what type of organizational design is horizontal?

horizontal

What is an organization?

a system of consciously coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons

Narrow span of control

associated with "taller" or more hierarchical organizations (normally bigger companies) not many people reporting to one manager

Matrix structure

combines a vertical structure with an equally strong horizontal overlay often fail because managment fails to create changes to systems that overlay the crossing authorites

Modular structure

company assembles product parts, components or modules provided by external contractes ex: Boeing Jets

What do open-systems depend on?

constant feedback from their environment

internal virtual structure

coordinate the work of geographically dispersed employees working for one organization

What are the four common denomenators of all organizations?

coordination of effort, aligned goals, division of labor, hiearchy of authority

Does organizational redesign truly improve business performance?

no

open system

depends on constant interactio with the environment for survival

Span of control

describes the number of people reporting directly to a given manager

hollow structure

designed around a central core of key functions and outsources other functions to outside companies or individuals who can do them cheaper or faster ex: the marketing, finance and HR systems are the base, they do not change, but outsouce production of the product

staff employees

do background research and provide technical advice and recommendations to their line managers (do not have direct reports)

divisional

employees are segregated into organization groups based on industries, products or services, customers or clients, or geographic locations THINK GEOGRAPHY (western division) ex: western divison, sales divison, OR GE Gas, GE electric, GE transportation etc.

networked virtual structures

establish a collaborative network of independent firms or individuals to create a virtual entity ex: movie industry

Line employees

formal descision making authorities within an organization

which three designs are traditional?

functional, divisional, matrix

Organizational Charts

graphic representation of formal authority and division of labor relationships

functional structure

groups people according to the way they perform ex: Marketing Dept., Finance Dept. HR Dept. OR the government

what are the two types of virtual structures?

internal and networked

wide span of control

leads to a flat organization many people reporting to one manager

traditional design

mid 1800s-1970s self contained within organizaiton's boundaires clear departmental boundaries reporting relationships

open

mid 1980s to now opened beyond organization's boundaries virtual, outsourcing, leverage technology, structural flexibility

virtual structure

one whose members are geographically apart, usually working with email, and other forms of information technology, but that generally appears to customers as a single, unified organization with a real physical location

What are the four factors considered when establishing spans of control?

organizational size (large orgs tend to have narrower spans of control) skill level (complex tasks require more mangerial input) organizational structure (narrow are more traditional, wide are more modern) managerial responsibilities (senior-level executives tend to have narrower spans of control)

general idea behind org design

organizations are more effective or successful when their structure supports the execution of corporate strategies

learning system

proactively creates, acquires, and transfers knowledge and changes its behavior on the basis of new knowledge and insights

closed system

self sufficient entity

organizational design

sets the structures of accountability and responsibility used to develop and implement strategies, and the human resource practices and information and business processes that activate those structures

unity of command principle

specifies that each employee should report to one manager

horizontal structure

teams or work groups, either temporary or permanent, are created to improve collaboration and work on common projects (tends to focus on work processes)

what is the general rule that applies to narrow and wide spans of control

the higher up you are, the more narrow your span of control, the lower you are, the wider your span of control

what are the three broad types of organizational structure?

traditional, horizontal and open

True or False: A learning system exsists within an open system

true

When is a modular desing useful?

when a company can identify product modules and create design interfaces that allow it to assemble parts into a working order

When is a hollow structure useful?

when a company is facing PRICE COMPETITION and there are enough companies to perform the required outsourced processes