Over the years, most organizations have been urged to consider changing their organizational structure so as to promote employee flexibility as well as empower them with the discretion of making decisions. As a result, organizations across the world have resorted to de-layering or flattening their organizational structures with the hopes of achieving employee flexibility and improving the operations of the organization as well. De-layering or flattening, in this case, refers to the elimination of certain layers in an organization’s hierarchy and the broadening of the span of control of managers. Research has indicated that pushing down the process of decision making to the lower organization levels not only makes employees responsible for their actions but also promotes accountability (Hirsch & De Soucey, 2006). It should, however,be noted that these changes in organizational structure have also left organizations in the midst of chaos. In fact, as organizations delayer their structure and downsize their labor force, employees, as well as managers, find themselves in working environments that have redefined their work as well as the corporate culture.
It has been argued that the primary objective of flattening organizational hierarchies which also includes the downsizing of the organization’s workforce is to encourage workers in the lower positions to participate in the decision-makingprocess of the organization. However, research has shown that in some cases, the
The main advantage associated with this alternative is that it creates better communication between employees (Browning, 1991; Suttle, 2016). Furthermore, the morale of the workforce will be increased, notably amongst the high achievers of the organisation (Hinings 1992; Suttle, 2016). An organisation that adopts a flatter structure is also considerably less bureaucratic, thus resulting in a quicker decision-making process (Suttle, 2016). Aside from quicker decisions, the ConnectUs (2015) website review also highlights that fewer organisational layers result in less wages to pay, therefore salary-related expense are reduced and enable the organisation to save
In today 's economy, change is all-pervasive in organizations. It happens consistently, and frequently at fast speed. Since the change has turned into an ordinary piece of hierarchical motion, workers who oppose change can really cripple an organization. Resistance is an inescapable reaction to any real change. People actually race to guard the norm on the off chance that they feel their security or status is undermined. Folger and Skarlicki (1999) claim that "authoritative change can create doubt and resistance in workers, making it once in a while troublesome or difficult to actualize hierarchical enhancements" (FOLGER, 1999). If the administration does not comprehend, acknowledge and attempt to work with resistance, it can
The company is geographically located in most major united states locations. It employs a hierarchal organizational design. One of the contributing factors to its success is the company’s success in providing a dining experience for its customers that excel in choices, price, customer service, and serving size. The company is known world-wide for its delicious cheesecakes with the key factor being the variety.
The decision making process at Southwest Airlines is decentralized whereby the decision making authority is delegated to lower level managers and employees. This is based on the idea that managers at the lower level have a better understanding of local factors and conditions hence are better positioned to make decisions than the senior management. The airline understands the need for empowering employees and the impact this empowerment has on the company. For instance, when the airline wanted to refurbish its employee’s uniform, instead of hiring someone outside the company, the airline invited all employees who had suggestions about the new uniform to apply. The employees who were selected for this process met every two weeks to discuss the design of the new uniforms (Thomas, 2016).
For example, within the human resources department, all HR will share information and support the training and development of each employee.
The United States Army is a hierarchical structure when it comes to chain of command. To fight a war the U.S. Army deploys a variety of specialized systems and soldiers to the battlefield. To do this the US Army has adopted the divisional organizational structure. The Army is divisional but is structured as a functional structure; Army, Corps, Division, Brigade, battalion, company, platoon, and squad (Powers, 2012).
The vertical hierarchical structure and authoritarianism in bureaucratic organizations is what distorts communication, and reduces accountability, responsiveness and commitment towards core activities (Morris, Farrell, 2007). Instead a flatter hierarchy with decentralized management would be more favourable. It would be cost-efficient as wages would be allocated to fewer levels of management. For example, Call centres in the US adopted flat hierarchies to achieve minimization in costs (Bozionelos, 2008). Subordinates at lower levels of management will be expanded which will motivate staff and provide greater opportunities and sustainability wherein management leads and engages, but does not control and delegate (Dhillon et al. 2015). And consequently,
In the American workforce today, organizations most commonly use a hierarchy system of employee roles and authority, descending from the CEO all the way to line workers for the company. This traditional system has provided a framework and has been a staple for commerce, leading to great advancement of societies around the world. This system of management has provided structure for great opportunity, but with technology advancing faster every day in a modern world hungry for innovation and efficiency, a change might be something worth considering. In today’s modern world, the Internet and big data systems are becoming increasingly popular and complex. It is now essential that organizations adapt their management structures to thrive in this new age of innovation and technology. This exploration of change has become a necessity for companies looking to take steps in a different direction than their competitors and develop a sustainable competitive advantage.
While completing the readings for the week titled “Experiments in Organizational Structure” I noticed two themes, self-managed teams and organizational culture. There was a clear divide of organizational culture between the companies such as Moosewood Collective and Zappos versus Amazon and Enron. The readings for the week were well-rounded and demonstrated that each culture had positive and negatives. However, research can enhance what organizational culture has been found to be the best culture in creating successful companies, which is not expanded on in the readings. Additionally, some of the readings focused on companies that had no hierarchy and how the lack of hierarchy allows for leaders to emerge. This idea relates to the literature on leadership in self-managed teams and how that may or may not be beneficial for a company. Therefore, this issue paper will critique the organizational structural practices that the companies in the assigned readings have been using. Additionally, this issue paper will add more insight into what has been found in research that can support or add improvements to the organizational decisions the companies in the assigned readings have made.
(c) Analyse the structure of your organisation with reference to the structural dimensions of formalisation, complexity and centralisation. Do these structural features help or hinder the ability of your organisation and/ or department to achieve its objectives? Explain, referring to relevant examples in developing your answer (750 words).
For traditional organization structures, departmentalization means that “how to group work positions into formal teams or departments that are linked together in a coordinated way” (Victoria management school, 2010, p. 272). These decisions have three types of organizational structure: functional, divisional, matrix and hybrid structures.
His 15-year experimental restructuring of Semco transformed a traditional, paternalistic company environment into a very radical workspace, where there is no human resource function and 60% of top management positions became redundant (Lloyd, 1994). Semler’s most distinctive change was employee empowerment and participative leadership. Hiring is undertaken by the workers themselves, who decide on their own salary, bonuses, working hours and goals. Semler believes that employees should deliver a final result and empowers them accordingly towards this goal. He unequivocally rejects the pyramidal structure that bears the notion of company procedures, outlining in every detail how employees should behave in every contingency. At Semco, labour unions train everybody how to read the financial statements of the company and workers participate collectively on the company’s big decisions (e.g. moving premises or buying another firm). Employee involvement at Semco is also reflected in 360-degree appraisal procedures held every six months, as well as in rotating job titles and job enrichment procedures, which offer workers a broader view of the company (Vanderburg, 2004).
From the prospective of Jackall, Jackall explains in detail, the informal rules that govern staff interaction with line officers and his opposition to the centralization of authority among them. Instead of examining the disadvantages of workplace friction like Dalton, Jackall explains how higher ranked officers can abuse their authority to benefit themselves and get away with it. Since rational theorists advocate hierarchical structures of authority, there is often times, pressure from the higher officials toward the subordinates to make commitments and goals. This, as stated by Jackall, calls for the emergence of a “management-by-objective” system, which constitutes a chain of commitments from the CEO and down the hierarchical ladder. “In practice, it also shapes a patrimonial authority arrangement that is crucial to defining both the immediate experiences and the lone-run career changes of individual managers (Jackall 158).” Jackall explains that there are informal rules, much like like a list of do's and don'ts, that subordinates
In a centralized organizational structure one individual is responsible for making all the decisions and maintains control of the company by giving direction. While Decentralized organizational structures often rely on several persons with the authority to make final decision for the company’s well being. Some benefits associated with a centralized organization are as follows: Reduction in cost in the work environment, having a focused vision on one common goal and Reduction in conflict. A Few drawbacks of a centralized organization include, No secrecy because all ideas and decisions are conveyed to all, No special attention and Delay in work. Advantages associated with Decentralization are; Huge relief is provided off the top managers, Greater use is made of employees skills and Decision making is left up to educational and well informed people.
The structure of an organisation is built in order to achieve the distinct tasks by the labour and coordination between teams to provide goods and services. Organisational structure is selected in order to have a basic work and consistency according to the situation. The most foremost factors in an organisation are skilled labours, mutual understanding among the fellows and direct control to frame a good result. A good structured organisation results in quality production, which can be taken into peoples consider through marketing. When an organisation tracks in a solid structure, management plans and tasks can be easily constructed and executed. In this essay, I have been explained about the concept of Mintzberg five