Definition of ‘Organizational Structure’ Explicit and implicit institutional rules and policies designed to provide a structure where various work roles and responsibilities are delegated, controlled and coordinated. Organizational structure also determines how information flows from level to level within the company. In a centralized structure, decisions flow from the top down. In a decentralized structure, the decisions are made at various different levels. ttp://www. investopedia. com/terms/o/organizational-structure. asp#axzz2M6qIi3iY Organizational culture The values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization. organizational culture includes an organization’s expectations, experiences, philosophy, and values that hold it together, and is expressed in its self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations.
It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid. Also called corporate culture, it’s shown in (1) the ways the organization conducts its business, treats its employees, customers, and the wider community, (2) the extent to which freedom is allowed in decision making, developing new ideas, and personal expression, (3) how power and information flow through its hierarchy, and (4) how committed employees are towards collective objectives.
It affects the organization’s productivity and performance, and provides guidelines on customer care and service, product quality and safety, attendance and punctuality, and concern for the environment. It also extends to production-methods, marketing and advertising practices, and to new product creation. Organizational culture is unique for every organization and one of the hardest things to change. http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/organizational-culture. html different between organizational structure and culture
There is a ton of information out there on organizational culture and about every detail of it you can imagine. The relationship between organizational culture and organizational structure is an important theme that is often overlooked. The two can be difficult to clearly distinguish from one another, and even more so to clearly define within an institution. Organizational structure works within an organizational culture, but it is not completely separate. The two are very much intertwined.
Organizational culture is more of a larger picture, a more general term that refers to a large umbrella of smaller topics and issues within an organization. The structure refers to the infrastructure, and the various methods and practices within that infrastructure, that helps an organizational culture run with the efficiency and consistency that should be the hallmark of any healthy organizational structure, whether it is in a corporation, sports team, or any other set up that is large enough to create its own organizational culture.
This makes the structure an integral part of any organizational culture, but also narrows out a very specific segment of the culture as its own responsibility. Organizational structure will deal primarily with the set up of the culture. How management works, which specific responsibilities supervisors have, how a complaint is passed through the ranks-these are all issues within the organizational culture that are directly tied to how an organizational structure works. The structure is not limited to those three examples, but it would certainly include all of them.
Another common way to describe how structure works is to say that organizational structure is the way in which the interrelated groups within and organization are set up to allow them to function smoothly from a larger standpoint. The two main purposes of a successful organizational structure is to ensure effective communication between various parts of the company, as well as to increase coordination between different departments. Some theorists have even broken down the concept of organizational structure into several categories to describe the phases which businesses go through as they grow in size and scope.
The first is the pre-bureaucratic structure, which is mainly known for lacking a structure that standardizes tasks. This set up is great for small businesses, and ones that don’t have many repeat scenarios, and therefore have to be adaptive. The next level is bureaucratic, which is where there is larger organization which requires a degree of standardization in paperwork, processes, etc. While bureaucracy has a negative connotation, it can be a good thing in small doses, especially in tackling issues that will become recurring themes in larger businesses.
There is also the post bureaucratic, which has a more nebulous definition and is seen as more of a theoretical term, but might be referred to more recent, cultural based models of leading. As you can see, the relationship between organizational culture and organizational structure can be hard to tell apart, but in a fully healthy culture that is exactly what should be expected when all is functioning normally. http://www. christiane-schwieren. de/orgbe/StructureandCulture. pdf http://www. organizationalculture101. com/organizational-culture-organizational-structure. tml Explain different types of organizational structureINTRODUCTION:-Every organization has a goal and the organization structure is one of the forces that affects the goal of the organization and is designed is such a manner as to serve as an instrument to accomplish the social goal. A structure is developed to give the shape to a tentative idea thought about at the initial stage. The structure in the beginning is very simple because the size of organization is small and it becomes complex and needs plannings and a systematic approach as the organization expends.
At this stage, a well planned and designed structure emerges out. The term structure is highly abstract and illusive. Its existence is real and affects everyone in the organization. In simple term structure is the patters in which various parts or components are interrelated or interconnected. Structure establishes relationships among various positions and activities in the organization and as because such positions are held by individuals, it prescribes relationships among people in the organization. CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE:-
LINE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE:- Line organization structure is perhaps the oldest and the simplest form of organization and is also known as scalar military, vertical or departmental organizations. Under this organization the line of authority flows vertically from top to bottom. There is a single head of the organization who commands the whole affairs. The chief executive holds the authority and he delegates it to the subordinates and the subordinates further delegate the authority to their subordinates and it reaches to the bottom.
Chief Characteristics of Line Organization:- (i) It implies vertical relationships. The authority and instructions flow from the to the top bottom. (ii) The principal of unity of command is followed, i,e, each subordinate receives instructions only from his immediate superior and is responsible to him alone. (iii) This structure specifies responsibility and authority for all the positions limiting the area of action by a particular position holder. (iv) All persons at the same level are independent and are only responsible to the chief executive. 2.
DEPARTMENTAL LINE ORGANIZATION:- Under this form of organization, the entire activities of the organization are divided into various departments on the basis of some similarity headed by one departmental superintendent. Each department is self-contained unit in itself and is responsible only to the chief executive. Chief Characteristics of Departmental Line Organization:- (i) This form is very simple in both understanding and implementation. It can easily be explained to workers. They have no confusion in their authority. responsibility and roles. ii) Shirking of responsibility is not possible under this form of organization because the responsibility is fixed at each level of hierachy. Everyone knows to whom he is responsible and who os responsible to him. In this way discipline is maintained in the organization. (iii) Unification of authority, control and fixed responsibility ensure quick and prompt decision making possible. (iv) This form has the advantage of flexibility The adjustment and changes can easily to made with the changing conditions due to unified control and fixed responsibility. (v) It follows the principle of scalar chain.
The executive head at the top of the line is responsible for the acts of line personnel the commands the whole line and greater control, discipline and better direction is possible. 3. FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE:- As the nature suggests, Under functional authority relationships all activities of the organization are grouped together according to various basic functions such as production, marketing, finance and personnel etc. and each function is put under the charge of a specialist who is fully responsible for carrying out the function well throughout the organization.
Chief Characteristics of Functional Organization Structure:- (i) It ensures division of labour and enables the concern to enjoy the advantages of specialization that is based on individual proficiency and specialized knowledge. (ii) It facilitates large scale production through specialization, standardization and availability of experts specialized and technical knowledge. (iii) Due to specialized services made available to the individuals, the efficiency of workers improves at all levels of organization. (iv) The system of flexible one. Any change in the organization can easily be incorporated without distributing the whole organization. . LINE AND STAFF ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE:- This type of organization has been evolved to achieve the advantages of the two forms of organization; line organization and functional organization, The first insists two much on the unity of command while the later insists too much on decentralization on control. In order to strike a happy balance between the two, the line and staff organization was evolved. In this organization, the structure is basically that of line organization but staff officers who are functional experts are provided to advice the line authorities in the performance of their duties.
Chief Characteristics of Line and Staff Organization Structure:- (i) This system combines the advantages of the line and the functional organization. The line organization insists on unity of command and the functional organization insists on decentralized of control for specialization purposes. (ii) As because staff people are consulted before taking and decision. The quality of decision is certainly high. Some methods adopted by IBM for effective organization. A. Avoiding mistakes in organizing by Planning: As with the other functions of managing establishment of objectives and orderly planning are necessary for good organization. i) Planning for the Ideal:- The search for an ideal organization to reflect enterprise goals under given circumstances is the impetus to planning. The search entails charting the main lines of organization, considering the organizational philosophy of the enterprise managers and sketching out consequent authority relationships. (ii) Modification for the Human Factor:- If available personnel do not fit into the ideal structure and cannot or should not be pushed aside, the only choice is to modify the structure to fit individual capabilities, attitudes, or limitations B. Avoiding Organizational Inflexibility:-
One basic advantage of organization planning is the avoidance of organizational inflexibility. For example;- When performance was not as good as expected, chairman John Akers decided that it was time for restructuring. One problem was that decisions which should have been made by the marketing and main product groups were referred upward to the management committee. Another concern was the company’s ineffectiveness in identifying market riches and responding quickly with new product to fill the needs of customers. The old structure often resulted in conflicts among various groups, such as battles among marketing groups over rival products.
To overcome these problems IBM responded in several ways. For one major tasks were assigned and authority delegated to lower levels resulting in what might be considered mini IBM companies. Personal computers, for examples, were combined with the typewriter division. Similarly the midrange computer group was combined with the large main frame computer unit. Although the main frame computer instill the market leader, its market share has been ending, for some of its computing functions are now carried out by midsize computers. C. Making Staff work Effective:- (i) Understanding Authority Relationships:-
Managers must understand the nature of authority relationships if they want to solve the problems of line and staff. As long as managers regard line and staff as groups of people or groupings of activities confusion will result, Line and staff are authority relationships and many jobs have elements of both. (ii) Making Line Listen to staff:- If staff counsel and advice are justifiable at all, it is because of the need for assistance either from experts or from those freed from more pressing duties to give such assistance. Posted by Satish Raj Pathak at 10:32 PM http://ms-01-ignou. logspot. ae/2010/09/explain-characteristics-of-different. html Explain different types of organizational culture http://uir. unisa. ac. za/bitstream/handle/10500/1133/03chapter2. pdf http://www. learnmanagement2. com/culture. htm Task 2 http://btechnd. blogspot. ae/2009/06/analyse-relationship-between. html Task 3 http://www. blurtit. com/q7433503. html According to John Ivancevich and Michael Mattson, the major factors that influence individual differences in behavioural patterns are demographic factors, abilities and skills, perception, attitudes and personality.
Let us discuss them and they are as follows:- 1. Demographic Factors: The demographic factors are socio economic background, education, nationality, race, age, sex, etc. Organisations prefer persons that belong to good socio-economic background, well educated, young etc as they are believed to be performing better than the others. The young and dynamic professionals that have good academic background and effective communication skills are always in great demand. The study of demographic factors is significant as it helps managers to pick the suitable candidate for a particular job. . Abilities and Skills: The physical capacity of an individual to do something can be termed as ability. Skill can be defined as the ability to act in a way that allows a person to perform well. The individual behaviour and performance is highly influenced by ability and skills. A person can perform well in the organisation if his abilities and skills are matched with the job requirement. The managers plays vital role in matching the abilities and skills of the employees with the particular job requirement. 3.
Perception: The cognitive process meant for interpreting the environmental stimuli in a meaningful way is referred to as perception. Every individual on the basis of his/he reference can organize and interpret environmental stimuli. There are many factors that influence the perception of an individual. The study of perception plays important role for the managers. It is important for mangers to create the favorable work environment so that employees perceive them in most favorable way. The employees are likely to perform better if they are going to perceive it in a positive way. . Attitude: According to psychologists, attitude can be defined as a tendency to respond favourably or unfavourably to certain objects, persons or situations. The factors such as family, society, culture, peers and organisational factors influence the formation of attitude. The managers in an organisation need to study the variables related to job as to create the work environment in a favorable way that employees are tempted to form a positive attitude towards their respective jobs. The employees can perform better in the organisation if they form a positive attitude. 5.
Personality: Personality can be defined as the study of the characteristics and distinctive traits of an individual, the inter-relations between them and the way in which a person responds and adjusts to other people and situations. The several factors that influence the personality of an individual are heredity, family, society, culture and situation. It implies to the fact that individuals differ in their manner while responding to the organizational environment. Personality can be regarded as the most complex aspect of human beings that influences their behaviour in big way.
It can be concluded that the study of personality traits offers an opportunity to understand the individuals. It helps them properly in directing their effort and motivating them for the accomplishment of the organisational goal. It refers to the fact that different environmental factors may generate different responses. The study of these responses is very important for the organisation. Every organisation demands a particular type of behaviour from their employees and such behaviours can be discovered through observation, learning, exposure, training, etc. Ads by Google
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Is one person act which goes along about what he or she says and what they do How Does Sociological Factors Affect Behaviour? Children learn by example and peer pressure plays a very huge part in a childs behavior. Any Executive summary http://www. sba. muohio. edu/abas/1998/krokosz. pdf Introduction Conclusion 4. Conclusion. Cultural continuity and coherence between organizations and the society within they operate is the aspect which has to be addressed fully while doing any cross-cultural research [30]. It is very important to avoid the situation when the entire work is based upon author’s own view, like it is in the case of Chapman [6].
Her work concerned negotiation between American and Japanese managers, is based upon her own view what such a negotiation might be like. The view is then projected upon an experimental group who share her background and perceptions, and who confirm her hypothesis back to her. The opinion on culture influence on organizational structure fully represents my own point of view. In order to find more general and proved relationships between culture and organizational structure dimensions wide research need to be done.
Research should concern culture of many nations and many organizations formed by these nations. Also other factors, like national politics, language, etc. should be considered. Such factors can be treated as variables or as constrains for the model. One more should be considered while talking about culture: it is difficult to write dispassionately about one’s own country. We also should remember that culture is hidden when it is not contrasted with a different one. http://www. sba. muohio. edu/abas/1998/krokosz. pdf
