Organisational Structure
Organisation Structure
An organizational structure defines how job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated. (Robbins and Judge 2001). Managers need to address six key elements when they design their organization’s structure: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization and decentralization, and formalization.
Work Specialization
Describes the degree to which activities in the organization are subdivided into separate jobs. The essence of work specialization is to divide a job into a number of steps, each completed by a separate individual. In essence, individuals specialize in doing part of an activity rather than the entirety.
For example, most manufacturing jobs in industrialized countries featured high work specialization. Since not all employees in an organization have the same skills, management can use work specialisation as a means of making the most efficient use of its employees’ skills and even successfully improving them through repetition. Less time is spent in changing tasks, putting away tools and equipment from a prior step, and getting ready for another. Equally important, work specialization is easier and less costly to find and train workers to do specific and repetitive tasks, especially in highly sophisticated and complex operations.
Departmentalization
Once jobs have been divided through work specialization, they must be grouped so common tasks can be coordinated. The basis by which jobs are grouped is called departmentalization.
Chain of Command
The chain of command is an unbroken line of authority that extends from the top of the organization to the lowest echelon and clarifies who reports to whom. Within the chain of command, there is authority and unity if command. Authority refers to the rights inherent in a managerial position to give orders and expect them to be obeyed. To facilitate coordination, each managerial position is given a place in the chain of command,
An organizational structure defines how job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated. (Robbins and Judge 2001). Managers need to address six key elements when they design their organization’s structure: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization and decentralization, and formalization.
Work Specialization
Describes the degree to which activities in the organization are subdivided into separate jobs. The essence of work specialization is to divide a job into a number of steps, each completed by a separate individual. In essence, individuals specialize in doing part of an activity rather than the entirety.
For example, most manufacturing jobs in industrialized countries featured high work specialization. Since not all employees in an organization have the same skills, management can use work specialisation as a means of making the most efficient use of its employees’ skills and even successfully improving them through repetition. Less time is spent in changing tasks, putting away tools and equipment from a prior step, and getting ready for another. Equally important, work specialization is easier and less costly to find and train workers to do specific and repetitive tasks, especially in highly sophisticated and complex operations.
Departmentalization
Once jobs have been divided through work specialization, they must be grouped so common tasks can be coordinated. The basis by which jobs are grouped is called departmentalization.
Chain of Command
The chain of command is an unbroken line of authority that extends from the top of the organization to the lowest echelon and clarifies who reports to whom. Within the chain of command, there is authority and unity if command. Authority refers to the rights inherent in a managerial position to give orders and expect them to be obeyed. To facilitate coordination, each managerial position is given a place in the chain of command,