MGT 3301 Chap 7 Organizational Structures and Groups

differentiation strategy

differentiation is aimed at increasing the value customers perceive of goods and services and usually succeed in flexible structures that value innovation

Global Product Structure

each product division, not the country and regional managers, takes responsibility for deciding where to manufacture its products and how to market them in countries worldwide

staff manager

responsible for managing a specialist function, such as finance or marketing

integrating roles and departments

senior managers provide members of cross-functional team with relevant information from other teams and from other divisions

5 job characteristics model

skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback

line manager

someone in the direct line of command who has formal authority over people and resources

technology

the combination of skills, knowledge, machines, and computers that are used to design, make, and distribute goods and services

Task analyzability

the degree to which programmed solutions are available to people or functions to solve the problems they encounter

job design

the first step in organizational design

Organizational structure

the formal system of task and job reporting relationships that determines how employees use resources to achieve organizational goals

organizational environment

the more quickly the external environment changes the more managers make organizing choices that result in more flexible structures and entrepreneurial cultures

Task variety

the number of new or unexpected problems or situations that a person or function encounters in performing tasks or jobs

span of control

the number of subordinates who report directly to a manager

authority

the power vested in a manager to make decisions and use resources to achieve organizational goals by virtue of his or her position in an organization

Organizational design

the process by which managers create a specific type of organizational structure and culture so a company can operate in the most efficient and effective way

cross-functional team

A group of managers brought together from different departments to perform organizational tasks that solve recurring problems

task force

a temporary group of employees responsible for solving a specific mutual problem, ad hoc committees

functional structure

an organizational structure composed of all the departments that an organization requires to produce its goods or services

organizing

The process by which managers establish working relationships among employees to achieve goals efficiently and effectively

grouping functions into divisions

allows functional managers to specialize in only one product area, each division's managers can become experts in their industry;frees corporate managers from the need to supervise directly each division's day-to-day operations;

job enlargement

increasing the number of different tasks in a given job by changing the division of labor

divisional structure

a collection of functions or departments that work together to produce the product

cross functional team

a group of managers brought together from different departments to perform organizational tasks

function

a group of people, working together that possess similar skills and use the same kind of knowledge, tools or techniques

hierarchy of authority

an organization's chain of command—the relative authority that each manager has—extending from the CEO at the top, down through the middle managers and first-line managers, to the nonmanagerial employees who actually make goods or provide services

J. R. Hackman and G. R. Oldham

characteristics model that explains in detail how managers can make jobs more interesting, it leads to high performance, satisfaction, and low absenteeism

When resources are limited managers change the organizational environment:

decentralize authority, empower lower-level employees to make important operating decisions, and encourage values and norms that emphasize change and innovation—a more organic form of organizing the more complex its strategy and technologies, and the more highly qualified and skilled its workforce, the more likely managers are to design a structure and a culture that are flexible, can change quickly, and allow employees to be innovative in their responses to problems, customer needs

when resources are available

decisions within a clearly defined hierarchy of authority and to use detailed rules, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and restrictive norms to guide and govern employees' activities—a more mechanistic form of organizing The more stable the organization's environment, the less complex and more well understood its strategy or technology, and the less skilled its workforce, the more likely managers are to design an organizational structure that is formal and controlling and a culture whose values and norms prescribe how employees should act in particular situations.

flat organization

fewer levels relative to company size

decentralizing authority

giving lower-level managers and nonmanagerial employees the right to make important decisions about how to use organizational resources

non-routine or complicated technologies

high task variety and low task analyzability; this means that many varied problems occur and that solving these problems requires significant nonprogrammed decision making.

job enrichment

increasing the degree of responsibility a worker has over a job by empowering workers to experiment, encouraging workers to develop new skills, allowing workers to decide how to do the work, allowing workers to monitor and measure their own performance

routine technologies

low task variety and high task analyzability; this means that the problems encountered do not vary much and are easily resolved through programmed decision making.

low-cost strategy

low-cost is aimed at driving down costs in all functions usually fares best in formal structure with more conservative norms, managers have control over activities and departments

contingency theory

managers design organizational structures to fit the factors or circumstances that are affecting the company the most and causing them the most uncertainty

a matrix structure

managers group people and resources in two ways simultaneously: by function and by product

global geographic structure

managers locate different divisions in each of the world regions where the organization operates.

a product team structure

managers place each distinct product line or business in its own self-contained division

tall organization

many levels of authority relative company size; as a hierarchy become taller managers' response to problems become slower, less flexible

Determine the design of organizational structure

organizational environment, technology, strategy, human resources

geographic structure

organize divisions according to the area of the country or world they operate in

market structure

organize divisions according to the type of customer they focus on

product structure

organize divisions according to the type of good or service they provide

integrating mechanisms

organizing tools that managers can use to increase communication and coordination among functions and divisions

job simplifcation

the process of reducing the number of tasts that each worker performs too far

Charles Perrow

two factors determine how complicated or non-routine technology is: task variety and task analyzability