In this assignment I shall discuss three theories explaining structure choice; management choice, population ecology theory and contingency theory including their strengths and weaknesses. I shall outline and compare functional and team structures as they are the two greatest opposites, using sources to support or disprove statements. Comparisons will then be made between centralised and decentralised structures, commenting on how they relate to the contingencies outlined by the contingency theory whilst also taking into account related issues such as motivation and competitiveness. I shall then decide which theories I support and which structure type I feel is stronger.
There are three main theories which aim to explain which structure; functional, divisional, matrix, team or network, even possibly a mixture that will best suit a company. Firstly, the management choice theory highlights the influence of managers and the fact that they make the final decision, thus believing that management will select a structure which reflects their perspectives and needs and not those of the organisation. For example a “bureaucratic” manager, as proposed by Weber, will enforce a centralised structure incorporating strict rules and procedures paying less attention to the factors proposed by the contingency theory. However the theory does acknowledge that contingencies, outlined by the contingency theory, do limit the options available to managers.
Secondly the less mainstream population ecology theory, resembling Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, Hannan and Freeman (1977, pp929-964) and Aldrich (1979, pp265), also partially acknowledge the contingency theory as they recognise adaptation does take place. Yet they dispute the suggestio...
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...n Systems, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
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• Handbook of Organisational Change. Online, available at:
http://books.google.com/books?id=SEeFyb6s7mcC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=hannan+and+freeman+1977&source=web&ots=4tiYGSi7Pu&sig=_nGWoV4tEiBEDhNlLY9dfeFZX6I (accessed on 19th February 2008)
• Strategy: Definitions and Meanings. Online, available at: http://home.att.net/~nickols/strategy_definition.htm (accessed on 17th February 2008)
Smith's Influential work, The Wealth of Nations, was written based on the help with the country’s economy who bases it off his book. Smith’s book was mainly written on how inefficient mercantilism was...
Top-level managers in bureaucratic organizational structures exercise a great deal of control over organizational strategy decisions, which is ideal for business owners with a command and control style. As for the disadvantages, bureaucratic structures can discourage creativity and innovation throughout the organization. No matter how ingenious a business owner is, it is virtually impossible for a single individual to generate the range of strategic ideas possible in a large, interdisciplinary
Adam Smith, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, (London: 1776), 190-91, 235-37.
Therefore organizations have to find the perfect balance between these two structures and in this age of hyper-competition more of them are adopting a more decentralized structure in order to respond faster to the ever changing market and threats from competitors both new and existing.
Organizational structure is the linking of departments and jobs within an organization. The idea of self managing teams was a significant insight gained into organizational structure. Bolman and Deal state that self-directed teams typically produce better results and
Organizations are initially structured around tasks, and as the organization continues to grow, the structure within the organization takes on many characteristics. Not all structures are advantageous, especially if they are lacking in some areas. There is a relationship between structure and size of the organization that affect the centralization of the organization. At the highest levels, the personality of the chief executive may amend the organizations' structure. The structure within an organization helps define the roles and responsibilities among the members from each department and work group. The four general types of organization structure are functional, divisional, matrix, and project based. “Organizational structure is the skeleton of an organization” (Feigenbaum, 2013) and how these individuals relate to each another. Structure is a statement of the current affairs, not the ideas, intentions or improvement within an organization. When business leaders develop their initial plans for an organization, he or she looks at how to design a company and takes inventory of all the tasks, functions and goals of the business. The leader then develops groupings and ordering of job positions, departments, and human resources to effectively and efficiently perform these tasks. Technology, size, environment, strategy and goals affect an organizational structure and effects, whether they are categorized as mechanistic or organic.
Smith, A. (1991). The Wealth of Nations. In A. Smith, The Wealth of Nations. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
Smith, Adam. "CHAPTER XI OF THE RENT OF LAND." An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Oxford: Clarendon, 1976. 161. Print.
Wiener, Norbert, Cybernetics: Or control and communication in the animal and the machine (Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Pr, c 1961).
Smith, A., (1776), An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson
Smith, A. (2005). AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. Hazleton: A PENN STATE ELECTRONIC CLASSICS SERIES PUBLICATION. (Original work published 1776)
Organizational structure can be defined as the “formal arrangement of jobs within an organization” (Robbins & Coulter, 2009, p. 185). Having a defined and unified structure helps employees work more efficiently. Jacques Kemp, former CEO of ING Insurance Asia/Pacific, realized this need early on in his role. The company had been performing well and recently acquired another insurance company to become “one of the largest life insurance companies in Asia-Pacific” (Schotter, 2006, p. 4). However, Kemp’s proactive personality led him to seek out ways to achieve more efficient coordination between the regional office and business units (Robbins & Coulter, 2009). Kemp noticed that “most business unit managers did not even know the current corporate standards” and he began searching for a way to manage the managers (Schotter, 2006, p. 5). ING Insurance Asia/Pacific’s organizational structure was mechanistic and fairly well structured, but for a company that had recently been involved in a major acquisition and was divided across 12 geographically dispersed markets there was a great need to tweak this structure to unify the company (Schotter, 2006). If I had been in Kemp’s position as CEO, I would have made modifications to the organizational chain of command, formalized business processes, and used technology to stimulate collaboration amongst the region to help this company overcome organizational design challenges.
In order for one to evaluate and identify with the diverse business structures, he/she must be aware of the meaning and standards that makes that structure. Various businesses functions in different ways as the world is full of technology and new structures, company cultures and new ways in which companies are run. In order to fully grasp the concepts of Organizational structure and culture in the movies, I will use the Movie Up in the Air and The Devil Wear Prada movies to analyze a business scenario from them.
Organizational structure within an organization is a critical component of the day to day operations of a business. An organization benefits from organizational structure as a result of all it encompasses. It is used to define how tasks are divided, grouped and coordinated. Six elements should be addressed during the design of the organization’s structure: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, spans of control, centralization and decentralization. These components are a direct reflection of the organization’s culture, power and politics.
Organizational structure is the way that an organization arranges people and jobs so that work can be performed and goals can be achieved. Good organizational design helps communications, productivity, and innovation. Many organization structures have been created based on organizational strategy, size, technology, and environment. Robbins and Judge (2011, p. 504) listed three common structures: simple, bureaucracy, and matrix. In this post the author will describe the matrix structure, and discuss its advantages and disadvantages.