Organizational Behavior - Organizational Structure Discussion

The organizational structure refers to how to assign, combine, and coordinate tasks in a formal setup to ensure efficient running of the entity (Tran & Tian, 2013). The six primary factors which determine the choice of the selected design are as follows.

Chain of Command

   The chain of command describes a single line of authority from the top bosses to the lowest level worker such as the ancillary employees in a firm. The chain of command depicts the manner of reporting in the company, and how instructions flow across the structure.

Work Specialization

    The work specialization shows the level of fragmentation of various responsibilities within the organization. Significant projects are often broken down into smaller and distinct tasks, and assigned to specific individuals or groups.

Departmentalization

    It represents the basic outline that explains how the individual sections of an institution combine. Most of the routine activities are usually conducted by the fundamental functional units such as the research, marketing, finance, operation, packaging, and so forth.

Centralization/Decentralization

    Centralization means the extent to which various decision-making authorities concentrate on one figurehead, for example, the chief executive officer. However, an organization may allow different sections to make their binding choices without interference from the top bosses. Such a strategy is referred to as decentralization.

Span of Control

    The span of control reveals the number of junior staffs that take instructions, and report to a single administrator. It also shows the amount of supervision that a manager will be required to undertake on a regular basis.

Formalization

    The last factor is formalization which refers to the degree of standardization of various jobs and tasks in the organization.

            There are three main types of organization structures that arise from the interaction of these variables which include the simple, bureaucratic and, matrix designs. The simple structure allows for a more extensive span of control, increased departmentalization, and centralization of authority. The bureaucratic structure has a narrow span of control, and a stronger chain of command (Tran & Tian, 2013). While the matrix design improves resource utilization through dual command, and two types of departmentalization (product and functional).

References

Tran, Q., and Tian, Y. (2013). Organizational structure: Influencing factors and impact on a firm.             American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 3(2), 229-236.              doi:10.4236/ajibm.2013.32028