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ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND ORGANIC VS MECHANISTIC VS VIRTUAL STRUCTURES

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Principles of Management ­ MGT503
VU
Lesson 11.32
ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND
ORGANIC VS MECHANISTIC VS VIRTUAL STRUCTURES
3.
Job rotation is the practice of periodically shifting workers through a set of jobs
in a planned sequence.
a.
One purpose of job rotation is to combat boredom, but its success is
short-lived if tasks are too simple.
b.
Another purpose of job rotation is cross training so that there is
maximum flexibility in job assignments.
c.
A related purpose is employee development so that employees increase
their capabilities and understanding of various aspects of the organization.
d.
A potential problem is that rotating individuals may be treated as
temporary helps and their loyalty perceived as questionable.
4.
Job enlargement is the allocation of a wider variety of similar tasks to a job in
order to make it more challenging.
a.
Job enlargement broadens job scope, the number of different tasks an
employee performs in a particular job.
b.
The problem is that if additional simple tasks are added, worker boredom
may persist. Too, lower efficiency, mental overload, increased errors, and
other problems may develop.
5.
Job enrichment, pioneered by Frederick Hertzberg, is the process of upgrading
the job-task mix in order to increase significantly the potential for growth,
achievement, responsibility, and recognition.
a.
Job enrichment increases Job depth, the degree to which individuals can
plan and control the work involved in their jobs.
b.
The important job characteristics model is a model developed to guide
job enrichment efforts that include consideration of core job
characteristics, critical psychological states, and outcomes.
c.
The job characteristics model has five core job characteristics.
1)
Skill variety is the extent to which the job requires a number of
activities that require different skills.
2)
Task identity is the degree to which the job allows the
completion of a major identifiable piece of work, rather than just
a fragment.
3)
Task significance is the extent to which the worker sees the job
output as having an important impact on others.
4)
Autonomy is the amount of discretion allowed in determining
schedules and work methods for achieving the required output.
5)
Feedback is the degree to which the job provides clear, timely
information about performance results.
d.
According to the job characteristics model, the core characteristics will increase worker motivation
only if workers experience three critical psychological states.
Workers must feel that the work is meaningful.
1)
2)
Workers must know they are responsible for the outcomes.
3)
Workers must actually find out results.
e.
According to the job characteristics model, outcomes of the critical states will be higher internal
work motivation, greater satisfaction of growth needs, higher general job satisfaction, and increased
work effectiveness.
f.
The job characteristics model is likely to be used successfully under two conditions.
1)
Workers have high growth-need strength, the degree to which
an individual needs personal growth and development on the job.
2)
Workers are satisfied with other aspects of the job context, i.e.
supervision, pay, coworkers, and job security.
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Principles of Management ­ MGT503
VU
ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN DECISIONS
Organizations aren't structured the same way. Top managers put a lot of thought into how best to design
the organization's structure. That "best" design depends on four contingency variables: the organization's
strategy, size, technology, and degree of environmental uncertainty.
There are two generic models of organizational design.
1.
A mechanistic organization is an organizational structure that is characterized by high
specialization, rigid departmentalization, narrow spans of control, high formalization, a limited information
network, and little participation in decision making by low-level employees.
2.
An organic organization is a structure that is highly adaptive and flexible with little work
specialization, minimal formalization and little direct supervision of employees.
3.
When is each design favored? It "depends" on the contingency variables.
Contingency factors--appropriate structure depends on four contingency variables:
1.
Strategy and structure
One of the contingency variables that influences organizational design is the organization's strategy.
Most current strategy-structure frameworks tend to focus on three strategy dimensions:
1)
Innovation--needs the flexibility and free flow of information of the organic organization
2)
Cost minimization--needs the efficiency, stability, and tight controls of the mechanistic
organization
3)
Imitation--which uses characteristics of both mechanistic and organic
Size and structure
There is considerable historical evidence that an organization's size significantly affects its structure. Larger
organizations tend to have more specialization, departmentalization, centralization and formalization
although the size-structure relationship is not linear.
Technology also has been shown to affect an organization's choice of structure.
a.
Every organization uses some form of technology to transform inputs into outputs.
b.
The study of structure and technology found that organizations adapted to their technology and
that three distinct technologies had increasing levels of complexity and sophistication.
1)
Unit production is the production of items in units or small batches.
2)
Mass production is large-batch manufacturing.
3)
Process production is continuous-process production.
Environmental uncertainty and structure
The final contingency factor that has been shown to affect organizational structure is environmental uncertainty.
One way to manage environmental uncertainty is through adjustments in the organization's structure. The
more uncertain the environment, the more flexible and responsive the organization may need to be.
COMMON ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGNS
A.
Traditional organizational designs.
We now need to look at various organizational designs that you might see in today's organizations.
1.
A simple structure is an organizational design with low departmentalization, wide spans of
control, authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization.
a.
Its strengths are its flexibility, speed and low cost to maintain.
b.
Its major drawback is that it's most effective in small organizations.
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Principles of Management ­ MGT503
VU
As an organization grows, the structure tends to become more specialized and formalized. When
contingency factors favor a bureaucratic or mechanistic design, one of two options is likely to be
used.
2.
One option expands functional departmentalization into the functional structure, which is an
organizational design that groups similar or related occupational specialties together.
3.
The other option is the divisional structure, which is an organizational structure made up of
autonomous, self-contained units.
B.
Contemporary organizational designs.
However, many of today's organizations are finding that the traditional hierarchical organizational
designs aren't appropriate for the increasingly dynamic and complex environments they face.
1.
Team-based structures:
One of the newer concepts in organizational design is the team-based structure, which is an
organizational structure made up of work groups or teams that performs the organization's work.
2.
Project and matrix structures:
Another variation in organizational arrangements is based on the fact that many of today's
organizations deal with work activities of different time requirements and magnitude.
a.
One of these arrangements is the matrix organization that assigns specialists from different
functional departments to work on one or more projects being led by project managers.
b.
Another of these designs is the project structure, which is a structure in which employees are
permanently assigned to projects.
3.
Autonomous Internal Units:
Some large organizations have adopted a structure that's described as autonomous internal units,
a design in which there are independent, autonomous decentralized business units, each with its
own products, clients, competitors, and profit goals.
4.
The Boundary less Organization:
Another approach to organizational design is the boundary less organization, which describes an
organization whose design is not defined by, or limited to the horizontal, vertical, or external
boundaries imposed by a predefined structure.
5.
Learning Organization:
An organization that facilitate the life long learning and development of its employees while
transforming itself to respond to changing demands and needs of market.
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Table of Contents:
  1. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF MANAGEMENT:The Egyptian Pyramid, Great China Wall
  2. MANAGEMENT AND MANAGERS:Why Study Management?
  3. MANAGERIAL ROLES IN ORGANIZATIONS:Informational roles, Decisional roles
  4. MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS I.E. POLCA:Management Process, Mistakes Managers Make
  5. MANAGERIAL LEVELS AND SKILLS:Middle-level managers, Top managers
  6. MANAGEMENT IDEAS: YESTERDAY AND TODAY, Anthropology, Economics
  7. CLASSICAL VIEW OF MANAGEMENT:Scientific management
  8. ADMINISTRATIVE VIEW OF MANAGEMENT:Division of work, Authority
  9. BEHAVIORAL THEORIES OF MANAGEMENT:The Hawthorne Studies
  10. QUANTITATIVE, CONTEMPORARY AND EMERGING VIEWS OF MANAGEMENT
  11. SYSTEM’S VIEW OF MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION:Managing Systems
  12. ANALYZING ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AND UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
  13. 21ST CENTURY MANAGEMENT TRENDS:Organizational social Responsibility
  14. UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT WTO AND SAARC
  15. DECISION MAKING AND DECISION TAKING
  16. RATIONAL DECISION MAKING:Models of Decision Making
  17. NATURE AND TYPES OF MANAGERIAL DECISIONS:Decision-Making Styles
  18. NON RATIONAL DECISION MAKING:Group Decision making
  19. GROUP DECISION MAKING AND CREATIVITY:Delphi Method, Scenario Analysis
  20. PLANNING AND DECISION AIDS-I:Methods of Forecasting, Benchmarking
  21. PLANNING AND DECISION AIDS-II:Budgeting, Scheduling, Project Management
  22. PLANNING: FUNCTIONS & BENEFITS:HOW DO MANAGERS PLAN?
  23. PLANNING PROCESS AND GOAL LEVELS:Types of Plans
  24. MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVE (MBO):Developing Plans
  25. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT -1:THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
  26. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - 2:THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS
  27. LEVELS OF STRATEGIES, PORTER’S MODEL AND STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT (BCG) AND IMPLEMENTATION
  28. ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANAGEMENT:Why Is Entrepreneurship Important?
  29. ORGANIZING
  30. JOB DESIGN/SPECIALIZATION AND DEPARTMENTALIZATION
  31. SPAN OF COMMAND, CENTRALIZATION VS DE-CENTRALIZATION AND LINE VS STAFF AUTHORITY
  32. ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND ORGANIC VS MECHANISTIC VS VIRTUAL STRUCTURES
  33. LEADING AND LEADERSHIP MOTIVATING SELF AND OTHERS
  34. MASLOW’S NEEDS THEORY AND ITS ANALYSIS
  35. OTHER NEED AND COGNITIVE THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
  36. EXPECTANCY, GOAL SETTING AND RE-ENFORCEMENT THEORIES
  37. MOTIVATING KNOWLEDGE PROFESSIONALS LEADERSHIP TRAIT THEORIES
  38. BEHAVIORAL AND SITUATIONAL MODELS OF LEADERSHIP
  39. STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP MODELS
  40. UNDERSTANDING GROUP DYNAMICS IN ORGANIZATIONS
  41. GROUP CONCEPTS, STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
  42. UNDERSTANDING MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION
  43. COMMUNICATION NETWORKS AND CHANNELS EFFECT OF ICT ON MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION
  44. CONTROLLING AS A MANAGEMENT FUNCTION:The control process
  45. CONTROLLING ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE THROUGH PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY