chapter thirteen organization design. copyright © houghton mifflin company. all rights...

Chapter Thirteen

Organization Design

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 13-2

Chapter Objectives

• Describe the essential elements of organization design.

• Explain three classical view of organization structure.

• Discuss the primary contingency approaches to organization design.

• Identify the factors and several popular approaches that determine how an organization should be designed.


Essential Elements of Organization Design

• Organization– A group of people working together to attain

common goals.

• Organizational Goals– Objectives that management seeks to achieve in

pursuing the firm’s purpose.

• Strategies– Specific action plans that enable the organization

to achieve its goals and thus its purpose.


Organization Structure

• Organizational Structure– The system of task, reporting, and authority

relationships within the organization.• Structure – the form and function of the organization’s

activities and how these parts fit together

• Organization Chart– A diagram showing all people, positions, reporting

relationships, and lines of formal communication.


Figure 13.1: Examples of Organization Charts


Division of Labor

• Division of Labor– The way the organization’s work is divided

into different jobs to be done by different people.

– Large organizations have more division of labor than smaller ones.


Table 13.1: Advantages and Disadvantages of Division of Labor


Coordinating the Divided Tasks

• Three basic mechanisms are used to help coordinate the divided tasks:– Departmentalization– Span of control– Administrative hierarchy

• These mechanisms focus on:– Grouping tasks in some meaningful manner– Creating work groups of manageable size– Establishing a system of reporting relationship

among supervisors and managers


Departmentalization

• Departmentalization– The manner in which divided tasks are combined

and allocated to work groups.– It is a consequence of division of labor.

• The five groupings most often used are:– Business function– Process– Product or service– Customer– Geography


Figure 13.2: Departmentalization by Business Function and Process


Figure 13.3: Departmentalization by Customer and Geographic Region


Span of Control

• Span of Control– The number of people who report to a

manager– It defines the size of the organization’s

work groups• A manager who has a small span of control can

maintain close control over workers and stay in contact with daily operations.

• If the span of control is large, close control is not possible.


Figure 13.4: Mixed Departmentalization


Figure 13.5: Span of Control and Levels in the Administrative Hierarchy


Administrative Hierarchy

• Administrative Hierarchy– The system of reporting relationships in the

organization, from the lowest to the highest managerial levels.

– It results from the need for supervisors and managers to coordinate the activities of employees.

• The size of the administrative hierarchy is inversely related to the span of control.

• Organizations with a small span of control have many managers in the hierarchy.

• Those with a large span of control have a smaller administrative hierarchy.


Authority, Responsibility, and Decision Making

• Authority– Power that has been legitimized within a

specific social context and includes the legitimate right to use resources to accomplish expected outcomes

• Responsibility– Obligation to do something with the

expectation some act or output will result


Related Issues

• Delegation– The transfer to others of authority to make

decisions and use organizational resources.

• Acceptance Theory of Authority– The authority of a manager depends on the

subordinate’s acceptance of the manager’s right to give directives and expect compliance with them.


Related Issues (continued)

• Centralization– Decision-making authority is concentrated at the

top of the organizational hierarchy.– At the opposite end of the continuum is

decentralization, in which decisions are made throughout the hierarchy.

• Formalization– The degree to which rules and procedures shape

the jobs and activities of employees– Purpose is to predict and control how employees

behave on the job


Classic Views of Structure: The Universal Approach

• In the universal approach to organization design (also called the classical organization theory), prescriptions or propositions are designed to work in any circumstance.

• It prescribes the “one best way” to structure the jobs, authority, and reporting relationships of the organization, regardless of factors such as the organization’s external environment, the industry, and the type of work to be done.


Contingency Approaches to Organizational Design

• Under the contingency approach to organization design, the desired outcomes for the organization can be achieved in several ways.

• The contingency factors include the:– Strategy of the organization– Technology– Environment– Organization’s size– Social system within which the organization operates


Structural Imperatives

• The structural-imperatives approach to organizational design has been the most discussed and researched contingency perspective in the last 40 years.

• It gradually emerged from the vast number of studies that sought to address the question “What are the compelling factors that determine how the organization must be structured to be effective?”


Figure 13.6: The Structural-Imperatives Approach


Contingency Factors

• Strategy– The plans and actions necessary to achieve

organizational goals.

• Size– Generally, larger organizations have a more complex

structure than smaller ones in that large size is associated with greater specialization of labor, a larger span of control, more hierarchical levels, and greater formalization.

– Organizational downsizing aims to reduce the size of corporate staff and middle management to reduce costs.


Contingency Factors (continued)

• Technology– The mechanical and intellectual processes that

transform inputs into outputs. – Although many different ways to evaluate and

measure technology are available, there is general agreement that technology is a very important determinant of organization design.

• Environment– Everything outside the boundaries of the

organization, including people, other organizations, economic factors, objects and events.


Contingency Factors (continued)

• General Environment– Includes the broad set of dimensions and factors

within which the organization operates, including the:

• Political-legal factor• Sociocultural factor• Technological factor• Economic factor• International factor

• Task Environment– Includes specific organizations, groups, and

individuals who influence the organization.


Aspects of the Environment

• Environmental Uncertainty– When managers have little information about

environmental events and their impact on the organization

• Environmental Complexity– The number of environmental components that

impinge on organizational decision making

• Environmental Dynamism– The degree to which environmental components

that impinge on organizational decision making change


Mechanistic and Organic Designs

• Mechanistic Structure– Primarily hierarchical, interactions and

communications typically are vertical, instructions come from the boss, knowledge is concentrated at the top, and loyalty and obedience are required to sustain membership

• Organic Structure– Set up like a network; interactions and

communications are horizontal, knowledge resides wherever it is most useful to the organization, and membership requires a commitment to the organization’s tasks


Mintzberg’s Coordinating Mechanisms

• Henry Mintzberg described five methods of coordinating the actions of organizational participants:

1. Mutual adjustment

2. Direct supervision, and standardization of

3. Input skills

4. Work processes

5. Outputs


Figure 13.7: Mintzberg’s Five Coordinating Mechanisms

Reference: Henry Mintzberg, The Structuring of Organizations: A Synthesis of the Research. 1979, p.4. Reprinted by permission of Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Used with permission.


Mintzberg’s Structural Forms

• Structural Forms– Simple Structure

• Little specialization or formalization; power and decision making are concentrated in the chief executive

– Machine Bureaucracy• Highly specialized and formalized, and decision making

is usually concentrated at the top

– Professional Bureaucracy• Characterized by horizontal specialization by

professional areas of expertise, little formalization, and decentralized decision making


Mintzberg’s Structural Forms (continued)

• Structural Forms (continued)– Divisional Structure

• Divided according to the different markets served; horizontal and vertical specialization exists between division and headquarters, decision making is divided between headquarters and divisions, and outputs are standardized

– Adhocracy• Decision making is spread throughout the organization,

power resides with the experts, horizontal and vertical specialization exists, and there is little formalization


Matrix Organization Design

• Matrix Design– Combines two different designs to gain the

benefits of each; typically combined are a product or project departmentalization scheme and a functional structure.

– This structure has the capacity for flexible and coordinated responses to internal and external pressures because members can be reassigned from one project to another as demands for their skills change.


Figure 13.8: A Matrix Organizational Design

chapter thirteen organization design. copyright © houghton mifflin company. all rights...

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